Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume22 Chapter3.3

Part 3.

"At least, let me take some group pictures."

Tsutako-san said.

Sachiko-sama had brought the two first-years inside. One side of the party felt very tense, while everyone on the other side was so well mannered that there seemed to be a coldness bordering on rudeness present. Those who milled about in the middle were spending time picking which side they wanted to go to, and as soon as a gap set in within the crowd, the Photography Club's ace walked in.

"Gokigenyou, everyone. I'm sorry I'm late. Thank you for inviting me again this year. Am I the last one? No, I can't see Yoshino-san..."

"Yoshino...."

As if reacting to the sound of a needle dropping, Rei's face scrunched in tension. Right then, the very person in question, Yoshino-san walked in with her guest.

"I'm sorry for leaving everyone waiting ... huh?"

Perhaps it was because the room felt different than what she expected it to look like; Yoshino faltered. The room did not match a single aspect of what she had imagined it to be while coming here.

"Ah, ... um?"

When Yoshino realized that she had missed the time for introductions, her mind blanked, and she stood up in desperation.

Fight, Yoshino-san.

Until Yoshino-san smoothed everything over with the others and Nana-san, Nana-san could not do anything of her own.

"...."

That said, even Yumi's mind was drawing blanks as Yumi tried to think what she could do to get the stale air of the situation to circulate once more.

Perhaps Yumi should instead spend her time trying to properly greet Kanako-chan and Touko-chan, who seemed to work like an on-off switch.

But then Yumi would be abandoning her friend's middle school girl, Nana, who would be meeting with the Yamayurikai for the first time.

Everyone's attention seemed to be focused on Nana huh? That was weird.

Now that everyone was here, shouldn't they start the group welcomes? But if they were planning to do welcomes, then why hadn't they been done already? If they started the welcomes now, it would seem very sketchy.

While everyone had been chewing over their own thoughts, they watched as a new person entered the room. It was the wrong time to come in, and it had left Yoshino seemingly down.

That was when Tsutako-san said.

"Well then. At least, should we get the group pictures out of the way?"

"Huh?"

Well then? Why now? Yumi looked up at Tsutako-san's face.

"Come on, some people here have to leave early, don't they? Plus I was thinking that this sort of tense picture would be good, especially in a group picture. Also, is there anyone who isn't here yet?"

Two, four, six, eight, in total ten people. No-one was late. Yumi shook her head, and Tstutako-san clapped her hands together and exclaimed "Perfect".

"Could everyone please form there into two lines? The three Roses and Kanako-chan, please line up behind Yumi-sama. Those names I didn't call please line up in front of her."

Tsutako-san dispatched the instructions crisply.

"Uh, could the people in the back line please crouch a little? Great, that's perfect."

Everyone had formed their two lines perfectly. At least, with everyone moving around, perhaps the social emptiness that had opened up would fill up.

The room had been filled with the question "Who is she?" when Nana walked it, but now with all of the filling in empty spaces, and the standing up straight, the room's atmosphere became conducive to conversation once more.

Touko-chan was not anymore throwing sour looks everywhere.

Kanako-chan seemed to see this change in Touko-chan and fell more at ease, relaxing the tight smile she had on, and secretly letting out a sigh of relief.

"Kanako-chan."

Yumi spoke softly without turning to Kanako-chan, and instead looking toward the camera.

"Thank you."

"Huh?"

"For everything."

Thank you for coming despite having previous obligations.

Thank you for pulling Touko-chan here with you.

"Ah. Is it because I did something a little out of the ordinary for me?"

Kanako-chan turned herself slightly, and whispered absent-mindedly.

"Yeah. It doesn't seem like something in your character."

But isn't that a happy feeling? Yumi groped her hand around behind her, not being able to see because of the shadow being cast by the line behind her, and gripped Kanako-chan's hand.

"I'll be taking the pictures now! Everyone, please watch my hand! Ah, it's time to glitter! Alright, great. Then, click!"

Tsutako-san clicked the shutter twice and said "Thanks for all the hard work" and once more clicked the shutter. It seemed like these tense moments did indeed make good pictures.

Yumi and Kanako-chan took their hands apart and laughed. Kanako-chan's smile was completely different than the one she had on before, natural but completely majestic.

The structure of people that had sprung up for the picture began to dismantle itself spontaneously. Sachiko-sama said.

"I was thinking we should draw straws now, but what does everyone else want to do?"

And while Sachiko-sama was hearing for input from everyone in the room, the question had really been directed to Yoshino-san.

"Draw straws..."

Yoshino-san looked at Nana-san. Nana-san knew no-one in this entire gathering except Yoshino-san. Perhaps Nana would be better off staying next to Yoshino-san, so Sachiko-sama had asked Yoshino about it.

"I don't mind."

Nana-san unexpectedly chirped. She held on hard for a middle school student.

Even Sachiko-sama thought the same thing, but simply stared at the girl, nodded her headed satisfactorily, and said "great".

"Then, after everyone's seats are decided, we'll start the introductions."

Yumi began placing ten trump cards on the table in succession, one by one. The number of chairs available in this room, after all, was only ten. It was the Ace of Clubs down to the Ten of Clubs.

In the circular area above, Yoshino-san began placing the Hearts from Ace down to Ten within a box. She then placed a handkerchief over the box.

"Please pick one card per person from this box."

Each person would part the handkerchief, pick up a card, and if her card had the same numerical value as one already on the table, then she would become the owner of that seat.

"Each outcome is equally likely to be drawn. Please line up from that end over there."

Rei-sama told Nana-san. Yumi wondered if Rei was simply watching out for the guest. If the line was in order of age, then Nana-san would be last. And if the line were to be made from this end, then Nana-san really would be last.

It may have been the lucky draw, but obviously being able to pick your own card felt much more like Kujihiki rather than taking a card by default because it was the last remaining. It was the active, preferred over the passive. That fine distinction was very important. Even though it often made no difference in gatherings such as these.

Yumi stuck cleanly Rei-sama.

"What's wrong Yuuumi-chan?"

Rei turned behind her, and said. Maybe that was it.

"I thank you for your consideration, but I'm will not be last."

"Huh?"

"Shah."

Yoshino-san, who was bringing over the box now, held up her finger.

"There's no way now for you to take my spot before me."

"Ahh...."

Yumi nodded deeply in understanding.

Yoshino too had perhaps just understood this, because she made an elevated face. But just as Rei-sama had said earlier, everyone was equally likely to get a seat. Just because Yoshino was picking her card right behind Nana-san had no guarantee that she would be sitting next to her. But Yoshino was probably trying as feverishly as possible to reign in fate.

Yumi drew her card, Rei-sama drew her card, and the last to draw a card was Yoshino-san. Everyone looked at their own card, and the card of their neighbors, and even though they were numerically close together did not mean they sat close to each other in seating order.

As soon everyone had finished looking through the cards, Yumi went back to the table area.

"So then, let's try to hand out table positions. This seat --"

The table itself was circular, so Yumi could have started handing out table positions from anywhere on the table. She started from a narrower portion of the table, what had been dubbed the "birth seat". It was the four of Clubs.

"Who holds the Four of Hearts?"

"..... Me."

Yoshino-san raised her hand. She had the irony of being the last to pick and yet being the first to be seated. As Yoshino's seat was being picked, Yoshino was musing to herself about which seat would be nice to sit in, but now she stopped.

"Next. Who has the three?"

Yumi walked counterclockwise.

"Me...."

Touko-chan answered as Yoshino-san was rotating left and right. From that instant, Yoshino-san's right neighbor had been decided. Her left neighbor would be decided by the last cardholder.

"Next."

As she drew the next card, Yumi looked at it "It's Five, huh?". Five was the card that Yumi had drawn. She had no preference about the choice, but selfishly Yumi thought about how Touko-chan had come to her house a few days ago, and for some reason the two hadn't met up since then.

But.

"---- The Seven of Clubs."

It seemed that no-one was getting what they had expected.

The seat that everyone thought would belong to Five instead went to Seven, which was the card that Shimako had drawn.

Next to Shimako-san was Kanako-chan who had drawn a Six, but next to her Sachiko-sama who had drawn a Two sat. And then the next birth seat Eight.

"Me."

Nana-san sat down.

(Even though she's a Seven she got the seat Eight huh?)

As Yumi continued to smile while chewing over her thoughts, Yoshino-san who sat far away seemed to fall prostrate to the table in her shock.

It wasn't when she was handed the last card, but when she had realized that she wasn't sitting next to Nana-san. And that place was the complete opposite, the farthest possible seat away from Nana's.

Ironically, the seat next to Nana-san's was a Five, Yumi's seat.

(If there was any way to change the seating order, then I would.)

But, if you let people choose their seats, then there's no point in playing Kujihiki. Then they could have simply announced in the beginning "Please sit next to xx-san".

And now with all that was going on, Yumi had to get back to work. On the other side of Yumi was Rei-sama who had drawn a Nine, and next to her was Noriko-chan who had drawn a Ten. And finally, on the left side of Yoshino-san was Tsutako-san.

(It didn't happen, did it?)

Kujihiki was just that sort of an equalizer. Yumi was referring to Tsutako-san's Ace when she knew that it didn't happen.

Then again, if Tsutako-san had drawn another card, she would have had to ask herself "How could the Photography Club ace draw x?".