Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume23 Chapter6

A Chill Breeze

Part 1

"Would you like soba or udon for dinner?"

Sayako-oba-sama asked, after they'd seen off the two gentlemen and returned to the Japanese-styled room.

"No."

As expected, Sachiko-sama, Rei-sama and Yumi all declined.

"Why don't we start by finishing off what's left here? If we're still hungry after, we can think about what to have then, right Sachiko?"

"Right, right. There's rice in the cold room, so if absolutely necessary we could make rice and tea, or rice gruel."

"Agreed!"

The three of them knew that if Sayako-oba-sama got it in her head to cook something, it would most likely turn into an extravagant affair.

For example.

If she wanted to have some bread, she'd start by measuring out the wheat flour.

She would intend to make a boxed lunch, but it would turn into dinner.

She'd made enough mille-feuille that they had a mountain left over even after sharing it with other families.

As a result, they couldn't rule out the possibility that if she made udon or soba, she'd start by grinding the flour and it wouldn't be ready until late into the night, or, if she did use pre-made noodles, that she would cook so much of it that they'd be eating it for the next three days. – Such was the terror of Sayako-oba-sama's cooking.

And there was still food left over on the table from when the party had started. There was no need to add any more to this amount. It made Yumi queasy just thinking about it.

"I suppose … "

Sayako-oba-sama tentatively acceded to their persuasion.

"But I've already had enough of that."

Unaware of the situation, Yoshino-san spoke her mind.

"That's for sure."

Finding a strong ally, Sayako-oba-sama staged a revival.

"How about you, Shimako-chan and Noriko-chan? Would you like something different to eat?"

"Umm – "

The focus shifted to the bewildered White Rose soeurs. Indeed, they probably would prefer something different to eat. But they were wise and mature enough to realize that there was something that Sachiko-sama, Rei-sama and Yumi were desperately trying to avoid.

"Um, well, I think it would be a shame to waste what we have – "

Indeed. From a moral point of view, that was the conclusion that mature people would arrive at.

"Then it's settled. Let's reheat it."

Rei-sama stood up, declaring the matter settled by majority rule, five against two. Yumi stood up too.

With this sort of thing, the sooner they started the better. Lingering just led to –

"But still."

Despite not lingering, the opposing faction kept trying to overturn the decision.

"Doesn't it sound like they're just trying to endure it? Really, they've had enough too. That's why they said what they did about not letting it got to waste, right?"

Yoshino-san quickly pointed out. The White Rose soeurs couldn't object, since it probably wasn't entirely wrong. Rei-chan had been on her way to the kitchen but doubled back, sighing as she addressed Yoshino-san.

"Alright, let me ask you, what do you think we should do, Yoshino? Should we have soba or udon, turning a blind eye to the small amount of pizza, yakisoba, sandwiches and other items remaining and throwing them away? "

"… Well, where's the problem with having it for breakfast tomorrow?"

Yoshino-san answered, turning sulky.

"That kind of short-sighted thinking, delaying something undesirable because you're solely chasing after short term fun, never works. And when tomorrow comes, you're just going to say that you don't want to eat it then, right? You're always doing this, Yoshino – "

Ah – now it had started. This pattern of events, where they each said what they wanted and didn't back down, wasn't going to lead to a resolution. Typically, Yoshino-san would resort to violence in the end. But this wasn't their home. They should probably show some restraint – well, they'd probably forgotten that already. Yumi started to think about how she should stop this.

"Won't you stop your sisterly quarreling?"

Sachiko-sama forced her way in to the conversation.

"We're just talking about what to eat, right?"

Just talking about what to eat, but be that as it may, they were talking about what to eat. Having been told to stop, they entered into something of a ceasefire, but neither side was giving an inch.

"Um, how about we search for a compromise, that meets both of your requirements?"

Noriko-chan offered up a plan for resolving the matter.

"Our requirements?"

"Right. Basically, you don't want these leftovers kept for later, right?"

" … Yeah, I suppose."

Things would get even more confused if they were to mention Sayako-oba-sama's cooking, so the correct response was not to say anything. At any rate, as long as it didn't involve cooking anything new, it wasn't wrong.

"And Yoshino-sama has had enough of this food and wants something that tastes different."

"Right. But, is there any compromise possible that accommodates those two points?"

"That is the question."

Despite it being her suggestion, apparently Noriko-chan hadn't followed it through to any concrete conclusion either. The contradiction was they had to eat the leftovers, while eating something different. So, how should they settle this?

"Ah."

Yumi had a flash of inspiration.

"I know. We just have to use the leftovers to make something that tastes different!"

"Huh?"

Everyone looked at Yumi with suspicion. As if to say that it might be fine for just one dish, but how would they use the wide variety of leftovers?

"Well … "

Despite being the one to say it, Yumi had no confidence either. But Rei-sama alone sided with her.

"No, we can do it."

"You can't make something that tastes awful just for the sake of making something different."

"Well, come and watch."

So, with that, they all moved to the kitchen and the Rei-sama Cooking Show began. It was definitely a show. Even Yumi, who had volunteered to be her assistant, got a good look at Rei-sama's incredible skills up-close.

"Yumi-chan, crack open an egg. Then add some honey and fresh cream … ah, milk would be fine too."

Rei-sama made a mixture like that used in French toast, soaked the sandwiches Sachiko-sama made in it, then cooked them in a frying-pan until they were golden brown.

"There, the French sandwiches are done. Yumi-chan, next I'll need you to dissolve some flour in water. Ah, Sachiko, where do you keep the herbs and spices?"

"Ah, here, chef."

Sayako-oba-sama cheerfully held out a rack containing lots of small spice jars. Initially she'd been on the same side as Yoshino-san, but it looked as though the cooking show had been so interesting that she'd switched allegiances. On closer inspection, everyone other than Yoshino-san had been converted into Rei-sama's assistants.

Step by step, the remaining yakisoba, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and exploded calamari were roughly chopped and added to the flour mixture.

"The pizza … is okay too, I guess."

In the end, the French fries, Sayako-oba-sama's salad and the de-boned chicken were all submerged in the sludge.

"What's the point in chopping up the okonmiyaki, just to make okonomiyaki?"

Yoshino-san snorted, anticipating what would happen next.

"It doesn't really matter what it's called."

Rei-sama laughed, and shot back. Apparently it looked like she really was going to use the leftovers to make okonomiyaki. Yumi had been thinking that this was a possibility, and it looked to be the case.

"You just wanted it to taste different, right, Yoshino?"

Rei-sama took some of the jars of spices and added random amounts (or so it looked, but she might have calculated it) of seasoning. As a result, the white sludge turned into a yellow sludge.

That smell was:

"Curry!"

"Ding-ding-ding, Yumi-chan. Now, let's cook it."

Rei-sama quickly cooked the curry-flavored okonomiyaki in the pan she'd used earlier for the French sandwiches.

"Get it while it's hot."

With that, everyone quickly returned to the party room and sampled the food.

"Ooh."

The French sandwiches were incredible – they were sweet, and the cheese in the middle had melted just a smidgen. Since the theme was leftovers, they'd also taken the opportunity to toast the crusts that Sachiko-sama had cut off when she made the sandwiches. Smothered in maple syrup, they were so delicious that it was hard to believe they were castoffs.

The curry-flavored okonomiyaki ended up like some foreign cuisine. She'd been worried about the addition of the potato salad and the French fries, but they made a nice counterpoint. It was pretty much impossible to tell that it was a re-use of leftovers.

"Oh well."

Amidst all the praise, Yoshino-san was the only one with a sour look on her face.

"It's so annoying. Rei-chan's cooking is good."

Apparently she'd been planning on laughing and saying, "I told you so," if the food had been awful. But still, it should be far, far better to be annoyed and eat something delicious than it would be to laugh and eat something awful.

That's Yoshino-san for you.

Part 2

After dinner, Sayako-oba-sama led them in the tea ceremony and they ate the majuu buns and chocolates and lollies that Yumi had brought, then after that they all helped to tidy up.

Washing the dishes, vacuuming the floor, wiping the tables. It wasn't all that different to what they did in the Rose Mansion, but the change of location made it feel somewhat special.

The excitement they felt as they worked was probably due to this being an overnight trip. Usually, no matter how much fun they had together as friends, when evening came they had to return to their own homes.

But tonight they could stay up talking for as long as they liked. If they were feeling drowsy, they could sleep. If they were feeling awake, they could stay up all the way through to daybreak if they wanted.

Such fun.

Such happiness.

And yet.

Why was it that the moment she thought about happiness, a chill breeze seemed to blow through her heart?

Her feelings of fun and happiness weren't fake. They were one hundred per-cent genuine.

"It's in a different room to your other feelings, right?"

Yoshino-san said.

"Huh!?"

Yumi asked, startled.

"Did I just say something!?"

"Yeah. Something about how you were having fun and feeling happy, but there was a cold wind blowing."

Noriko-chan answered.

"… That's not good."

She'd been talking to herself even though there were two other people beside her.

The three boutons were heading to the bath. That said, it's not like they were all going to a public bathhouse together.

Setting aside Sayako-oba-sama, the girls were using the three separate baths in two shifts. Coming up with groups was troublesome, so in times like these they usually just split into groups based on the Rose colors. Then, in accordance with Lillian's tradition, the older girls were given preference. Thus, the second shift of Yoshino-san, Yumi and Noriko-chan were walking together. It was about time that their onee-samas should be getting out of the bath.

With the kimono off and her body released, Yumi was feeling looser – and apparently her mouth was feeling looser as well.

"And? What about this room for my feelings?"

After Yumi recited the words she'd heard some time earlier, Yoshino-san started to explain.

"Well, for example, even if your "Onee-sama room" and "Friends room" are full to bursting, if there's another room that's empty you might still feel like something's missing."

"Another room?"

"The petit soeur room."

"I don't have that room."

She'd never had a petit soeur. There shouldn't be a petit soeur room. If the room had been there before, then she should have felt that breeze blowing the whole year, since she didn't have a petit soeur.

"Not yet."

Yoshino-san smiled.

"But you've been renovating for Touko-chan. Recently."

"Oh."

"That's how it is. Right, Shimako-san?"

"Huh? Shimako-san?"

Yumi looked around, wondering where Shimako-san was, just as Shimako-san emerged from the guest room and called out to her petit soeur, saying, "Sorry for making you wait, Noriko."

"That's how it is? … How what is?"

Shimako-san asked, as she held onto the towel wrapped around her wet hair. Just like she'd said earlier, her sleeping clothes were pajamas and not a yukata.

"I want to ask you about how you felt when you made Noriko-chan your petit soeur. Did it decrease how much you liked us, your friends?"

Shimako-san answered, "Not one bit," to Yoshino-san's question.

"Then, all your feelings for your onee-sama, were they redirected towards Noriko-chan?"

"It wasn't like that at all. It had nothing to do with the Yamayurikai members or my onee-sama – my thoughts and feelings for them didn't change from before to after I met Noriko-chan."

After she'd said this, Shimako-san mumbled, "Ah, I see."

"That's what you were saying, right Yoshino-san? In that case, yes, that's how it is. The house they were living in stayed as it was. But the number of people had increased, so it was like the rooms in the house increased accordingly."

"So a renovation?"

"Something like that."

Yoshino-san nodded, satisfied.

"So even though Yumi-san's built a room, she doesn't have a petit soeur to occupy it, so there's a cold breeze blowing through her heart right now. It's only natural. So don't worry about why it's happening. That's not a good thing to do. Put all your effort into getting ready."

Yumi looked on in admiration while Shimako-san also inhaled audibly.

"That was a good speech, Yoshino-san."

"It's because I'm currently doing some renovations of my own."

"I see."

When Spring came, Yoshino-san was planning on making Arima Nana-chan, who was two years her junior, her petit soeur. That may have been why she could understand Yumi's feelings.

A person's heart as a house?

Thinking about it like that made it easy to understand.

It really hit home when she was climbing into the bath that Sachiko-sama had used.

That her onee-sama's room and her friends' rooms were, indeed, so full to bursting that nothing more could fit in.

Part 3

When she got out of the bath and returned to the Japanese-style room, she saw that the futons were already laid out.

"Ooh."

Feeling excited, she impulsively dived onto them. Her stern onee-sama was missing, so she moved her arms and legs like she was swimming freestyle for a bit. Although, naturally, she didn't get anywhere.

The futons were arranged in two rows of three, with all of the pillows towards the center. In other words, everyone's face would be visible when they tossed around in their sleep.

Last year there had been three girls so they only had one row, and with two rows it was a bit tight. They could open up one of the sliding doors to join two rooms together, but with the extra space it would be colder and, above all else, it was more fun to have the futons right next to each other on these sort of overnight stays anyway.

The table and their luggage were in the next room, beyond the sliding door. Last year, that was where Kashiwagi-san and Yuuki's futons had been laid out. And then. And then – .

(Huh?)

She felt there was one more event before bedtime.

(What was it?)

The pillow-fight was between the boys. Getting wrapped up in her futon by Sei-sama was after the lights were turned off. But hadn't there been something before that?

(Umm.)

There was something before the lights were switched off. From memory, Sayako-oba-sama had come to see them –

(Ah.)

"I know. It was Nagakiyo."

"Nagakiyo?"

Shimako-san, hanging her wet towel up on a hanger, was the first to ask. Then everyone joined in, asking, "What's this?"

"You write out a palindrome that starts with "Nagakiyo" and put it under your pillow. It's a charm to make your first dream of the year a good one."

While Yumi was explaining, the sliding door to the hallway opened and Sachiko-sama entered.

"Oh my, you remembered it all."

"Ahaha."

As she was feeling good about being praised, Sachiko-sama rebuked her.

"But be that as it may, why are you sprawled out across so many futons? Pick one place to sleep already."

"Oka~y."

No mention was made of her swimming antics and she obediently stood up, off the futons. Sachiko-sama smiled gently and said, "Can you all come with me for a minute," and beckoned them into the next room. In her hand she held the paper bag that Kashiwagi-san had given her.

"Although you fold the paper into a sailing boat after you write the palindrome on it."

Once everyone had sat down at the table, Sachiko-sama continued to speak.

"Remember how one of the squares in the sugoroku game earlier had instructions to fold paper cranes? That used up most of the origami paper we had in the house."

Since it was close to the final square, one of the teams that landed on it had to keep going back there again and again because they couldn't roll the number they needed, resulting in them making a surprisingly large number of origami cranes. About the amount you'd make for a sick loved one.

"And we used most of the decorative paper in my room for nagakiyo last year."

"Um, in that case, couldn't we just use lined paper or wrapping paper? Cut it into a square and it's just the same as origami paper."

Noriko-chan said, after raising her hand.

"Yes. That's what I was thinking too. That we'd have to do that. But, there's no need. See."

Then Sachiko-sama placed the paper bag from before on top of the table.

"It's Suguru-san's gift."

From inside, she pulled out pieces of beautiful decorative paper. They were all different colors and patterns. As the brightly colored paper was spread out across the table, it was just like watching a huge patchwork tapestry being made.

Kashiwagi-san had probably been thinking of Nagakiyo when he bought these. Although he wouldn't have known that they'd be low on origami paper.

Perhaps he'd been imagining Sachiko-sama's smiling face as she looked at the pretty paper.

Perhaps he was satisfied just by giving the gift and wouldn't have minded if Sachiko-sama hadn't happily accepted it.

But Sachiko-sama had been overjoyed to receive this. Kashiwagi-san was again showing Yumi his maturity.

"My mother's already taken a piece of paper so choose whichever you like. There's calligraphy pens and felt-tip pens over here."

At first everyone was acting restrained, but this was a gathering of girls. Soon they were all chattering away as they picked their favorite piece of paper. Unusually, even Rei-sama was in high spirits. Apparently she quite liked this sort of thing.

"Yumi. Write out the poem for everyone to copy."

"Ah, okay."

At Sachiko-sama's prompting, Yumi reached for the closest piece of paper. She turned it over and wrote on the back, so as not to blemish the lovely pattern.

Na-ka-ki-yo-no (Of the long night)

To-o-no-ne-fu-ri-no mi-na-me-sa-me (everyone awakens from a distant sleep)

Na-mi-no-ri-fu-ne-no (the surfing boat's)

O-to-no-yo-ki-ka-na (pleasant sounds)

"See? It reads the same forwards as backwards."

Yumi put on a little bit of a patronizing air, having learned this a little bit before the others.

"I see. Like a long version of to-ma-to."

"Shi-n-bu-n-shi."

"Ko-i-ke Ke-i-ko … -san."

"Ah, we have someone with that name in our grade."

She felt like she'd heard this conversation somewhere before. It looked as though they all thought alike.

Once everyone had copied the poem, Yumi started folding her paper into a boat. Just by saying it was a sailing boat, the group was split into those that knew and those that didn't. Those that didn't know the sailing boat probably wouldn't know the double-hull canoe either.

"Well, do you know how to make a pinwheel?"

"Yeah."

Those that didn't know – the Yellow Rose petit soeur Yoshino-san – said, "Like this, right?" and folded a pinwheel.

"Then you fold that diagonally like this."

By following Yumi's instructions, Yoshino-san's sailboat was completed.

"Ah, we call this the trick boat at home."

With that, she had Yumi hold the tip of the sail and said, "Like this," and folded the prow of the sailboat down, turning the sail into the prow. It was a child's game, to take turns playing the trick on each other. That sort of simple game could keep children interested for quite a while.

Their sleeping positions were decided by ladder-lottery. Yumi was in the middle of the bottom row, with Noriko-chan on her left and Rei-sama on her right. In the top row, Yoshino-san was in first position, Shimako-san in the middle and Sachiko-sama in third. Soeurs and classmates were all completely split up.

"I'm turning out the lights."

Sachiko-sama said.

"Huh!?"

This came from the bouton trio. They wanted to stay awake for longer. They wanted to talk some more. They didn't want their fun time to be ended completely by turning the lights off.

"We have to wake up at 6:30 tomorrow, so we should get to bed early."

"6:30!?"

Yoshino-san grumbled, "We don't even have school tomorrow." That's when Yumi remembered that they'd woken up early last year too.

"That's right. Everyone has to tidy up their futon and then we'll make breakfast."

They had to occupy the kitchen before Sayako-oba-sama, lest their breakfast become lunch or dinner.

"If you'd like, Yoshino-chan, we could have soba or udon. What do you think?"

Sachiko-sama asked of Yoshino-san alone. It was the dinner menu they'd rejected earlier.

"… No, that's okay."

Yoshino-san had jumped on board with Sayako-oba-sama's proposal simply because she didn't want to eat leftovers, not because she was desperate for noodles.

"Then how about the more traditional New Year's foods, like mochi rice cakes and zouni soup?"

"I suppose."

The pair of third-years discussed tomorrow morning's breakfast, still standing atop their futons.

"There's still some prosciutto left over from the sandwiches I made, and there's plenty of eggs, so we could do bacon and eggs."

(Uh, you don't cook prosciutto, onee-sama.)

Just as Yumi was thinking how much of a waste this would be, Rei-sama said, "We could just have the prosciutto as is."

"It feels like that might be lacking some vegetables, though. Although it does match the New Year's colors of red and white."

"Ah, in that case, I could make a radish salad. I saw it on TV earlier."

"Rei … "

Sachiko-sama muttered. She didn't say anything else, but the continuation was probably, "You'd make a good housewife." Yumi thought so too. Everyone would surely agree with that.

"Any objections?"

Rei-sama asked, now that their conversation had ended. It was just like home room. Since no-one raised their hand, the menu for tomorrow's breakfast was decided.

Sachiko-sama set the alarm clock then turned off the lights. The hands of the clock informed them that it was just after 11.

Without taking a vote, the lights were dimmed low. It was hard to see in the gloom, but Yumi and Sachiko-sama were probably the only ones smiling.

"Night."

"Good night."

Yumi pulled the blanket up to her neck and moved her pillow into a comfortable position, then groped around for her treasure ship beneath it.

Don't worry, it's there. Since she'd gone to the effort of making a charm to bring her pleasant dreams, it'd be annoying if it went missing due to her tossing and turning in the night, so she placed it inside the pillow cover.

Turning to the left, she could see the back of Rei-sama's head. Yumi idly thought, "I guess she sleeps on her side."

Turning to the right, there was Noriko-chan's profile.

Even though she usually seemed so mature, her sleeping face looked very young.

Although there were plenty of people in different grades at school despite their birthdays being only a few days apart. Yumi was born in April, so she was at least a year older than Noriko-chan.

One year, it was a remarkable thing. She'd seen one year old babies, and they were already capable of walking and saying words. That was how much development could happen in a year.

Noriko-chan's sleeping face looked so innocent, even though she was her friend's petit soeur. If that had been her own petit soeur, what would her feelings be?

Even though thinking about it wouldn't help anything.

If her rosary had been accepted back then, that may have been Touko-chan sleeping beside her. These thoughts came to her unbidden as she looked at the sleeping face of Touko-chan's classmate, Noriko-chan.

Shimako-san had Noriko-chan by her side, and when Spring came it looked as though Yoshino-san might finally get Nana-chan by her side. It would be good if Touko-chan was by her side.

She didn't even have to be smiling. She could be sulking, or looking stern, or acting un-cute.

Either way, as long as it was Touko-chan, it would be good.

She'd been expecting it, but Touko-chan made an appearance in her first dream of the year.

Outside the window of Yumi's room was, for some reason, Touko-chan's room. The pane of glass separating their rooms had clouded over.

Yumi wanted to see Touko-chan's face, on the other side of the glass. No matter how hard she wiped, she could only clear half of the cloudiness of the glass.

Even though it was completely unscientific, inside the dream, Yumi understood.

"So that's it."

Since both of the rooms were inside, the glass wouldn't clear up unless Touko-chan also wiped clean her side.

"Touko-chan, wipe clear your side."

Yumi pleaded.

But Touko-chan didn't respond. Yumi could definitely see the shape of someone that looked like Touko-chan, but they didn't utter a word.

"Hold on a minute," would have been fine. "I don't want to," would have been fine too. Yumi just wanted her to say something, anything.

Since she wasn't saying anything, there was no hint as to how Touko-chan was currently feeling, or what she was thinking.

"Touko-chan."

She must have made some mistake.

How could she find out what it was?

Yumi kept wiping clean her side of the glass as she cried. That way, there was still the chance that some day the other side of the glass might miraculously clear up.

As she single-mindedly wiped at the glass, Yoshino-san and Shimako-san appeared.

"What are you doing, Yumi-san?"

"Uh, nothing."

Yumi hastily jumped away from the glass and pulled the curtain closed.

"It was nothing."

"Really? Then how about we continue the party?"

The pair smiled as they pulled Yumi by the hand, saying, "Come on."

"Uh."

Looking over her shoulder, there was the Rose Mansion. But it was a strange space, with parts of the Ogasawara's Japanese-style room mixed in – like the flower alcove and the tatami mats.

It was hard to tell if the party was for Christmas or the New Year. Even the participants – Sayako-oba-sama was there but so too were Nana-chan and Tsutako-san. Naturally, she could also see the faces of Sachiko-sama, Rei-sama, and Noriko-chan.

"Come on, have a seat. Everyone's been waiting for you, Yumi-san."

"Ah, but I – "

Have to wipe away the window. Besides.

"What's the matter?"

"… Nothing."

She'd have liked to invite Touko-chan, if possible. But with the window closed, she couldn't call out to her.

What on earth should she do? She couldn't even wipe clean the window, let alone open it.

"Let's sing, Yumi-san."

"Ah, okay."

Yumi looked at the curtain covered window.

She was probably still there.

If so, may she remain as oblivious as possible to the lively party taking place here.

– In her dream, this is what Yumi prayed for.

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