Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume24 Chapter4
Information Session and Clandestine Meeting
Part 1
"There will be an information session regarding the student council elections starting at 3:45pm today. Would all first and second-year students who are considering running in the elections please come to the Electoral Committee's office, next to the staff room, at that time. Also, please understand that we will not be accepting nominations to run in the election today. I repeat, there will be – "
The same announcement was repeated a couple of times over the school PA system all throughout the time allotted for cleaning, immediately following homeroom.
There were some students who were surprised by this sudden announcement, but there had been a notice about it in the bumper end-of-year special edition of the student newspaper, the Lillian Kawaraban. Going back even further, the Electoral Committee had placed a notice on the committee bulletin board on the first of December, after the School Festival Committee had disbanded on the last day of November and relinquished their space on the board, so it wasn't really all that sudden.
Even so, there were some students who heard the announcement and, thinking there were others who didn't yet know, had kindly gone looking for Yumi and the others to inform them.
In truth, while they had left the school buildings to dispose of the rubbish, they could still faintly hear the announcement, and a copy of the notice on the bulletin board had been delivered to the Rose Mansion the previous year, and the editor-in-chief of the Lillian Kawarban was a classmate, so Yumi had been informed of this many times already, but still she gratefully accepted their kindness. Because the message they all wanted to convey was, "You're running, right? Give it your best."
When cleaning was over Yumi met up with Yoshino-san and they visited the second-year wisteria class to get Shimako-san before heading towards the Electoral Committee's office. It was just after 3:30 so they were a bit early, but even if they went to the Rose Mansion they wouldn't be able to do anything in five minutes, and it was much better than being late.
Their meeting place, the Electoral Committee's office, was next to the staff room. In case someone had missed it during the announcement, or read the notice but completely forgot the location, there was a huge sign on the door saying "Electoral Committee," so anyone that walked past it was unlikely to forget.
There was a group of students in the hallway, gathered around the door. Initially, Yumi had been surprised by how many people were intending to run, but that wasn't the case.
"Ah, Rosa Gigantea."
One of the girls called out, noticing Shimako-san. Then all the gathered students turned to face them.
"Rosa Foetida en bouton, Rosa Chinensis en bouton … !"
The group of students left the door and surrounded the trio. Two, four, six … almost twenty in all. The wave of humanity that surged past the staff room door would surely have surprised any teacher that opened it to head home.
"Good luck in the election, Rosa Gigantea and the two boutons. We're cheering for you."
"Ah, thank-you."
The group of students had gathered to see the candidates who would attend the information session. They were all first and second-years. The third-years weren't allowed to vote, so even if they were interested they wouldn't be quite as worked up about it just now. Plus they had to think about what they would do after graduation.
In the crowd was a face she knew.
"Look this way please. Just once."
The photography club's ace, Takeshima Tsutako-san, called out, holding her camera. When they all instinctively turned in her direction, she clicked the shutter and got them good.
Beside her was Yamaguchi Mami-san, from the newspaper club. She was probably going to write an article about the student council elections for the Lillian Kawaraban. The image of a huge headline reading, "Rosa Gigantea and the Red and Yellow Boutons Attend Information Session Together" floated into Yumi's mind.
"… Noriko."
Shimako-san said softly. Yumi hadn't noticed and neither had Yoshino-san from the looks of things. But Noriko-chan was indeed there, standing a short distance away from the throng of girls.
Everyone noticed Noriko-chan and she stepped forward almost like she was pushed.
"Will you attend the information session?"
Yumi asked.
"Don't be absurd."
Noriko-chan stepped back, waving both hands. But she was obstructed by the crowd, so there was nowhere for her to step back to.
"You don't have to run. You could attend as Shimako-san's assistant."
"No. I just came to see her, because I was a bit nervous. So that's enough for me."
This time Yoshino-san put her arm around Shimako-san's shoulder and dragged her over to right in front of Noriko-chan.
"Then look to your heart's content. Come on, come on."
Squeals came from the onlookers, but not from Noriko-chan or Shimako-san. The pair in question kept smiling and spoke to each other.
"I'll be waiting in the Rose Mansion."
"Okay. I'll see you there."
"Take care, onee-sama."
It was kind of incredible. Yumi thought that if she was in the same situation, she'd be blushing and fidgeting and jumping around. Honestly, Yoshino-san had probably been expecting that too.
Still, it was just like the White Rose soeurs to be that composed. The spectacle was so beautiful that Tsutako-san snapped some photos without asking for permission.
"People who are attending the information session, please come inside."
A member of the Electoral Committee opened the door.
"Okay."
The trio responded and went inside. No-one else followed them. They were free to come in and listen, but they were probably afraid of being mistaken for someone that was going to run. The second-years probably remembered the uproar that Kanina Shizuka-sama's nomination had caused, while the first-years would have heard rumors about it.
Inside, on what would be the teacher's platform in a classroom, there were five desks lined up, and in the students area there were five rows of three desks facing them.
"Those attending, please take a seat in this section, starting from the front."
They were pointed to the 5x3 block of seats and sat down alongside each other. Nobody else had arrived to announce their candidacy just yet.
"Really, we didn't need fifteen desks. But we sort of had to make it look good."
One of the Electoral Committee members joked, taking her seat on the platform. Yumi recalled that this was Hanae-san. They'd been in the same class once during primary school. Since she took the seat in the middle, that must make her the head of the Electoral Committee for this year.
"Typically, there's three candidates. At most, there'd be five or six, don't you think?"
It wasn't yet 3:45pm, so they were just chatting. It may have been out of consideration for the candidates, so they didn't get bored.
"It looks like there'll be more committee members than candidates again at this year's information session."
There were five desks in front of them, and there were five students other than Yumi's group in the room, so it looked like there were five committee members attending the information session today. Incidentally, there were two Electoral Committee members from each first and second-year class. A meeting with all the members wouldn't fit in here, so they probably held those in some other room.
"Usually it's … laid out more like an office, I guess."
One of the committee members said, noticing Yumi looking around the room.
Hanae-san looked at her watch. Yumi followed suit, looking at her own left wrist.
There was still about three minutes to go.
(Ah.)
After checking the time, Yumi noticed there was a clock on the wall right in front of her. For Hanae-san, it was behind her back, so she'd probably decided against turning around to look at it.
As usual, her thoughts showed plainly on her face, and in front of her Hanae-san trembled with suppressed laughter. Seeing Hanae-san like this, Yoshino-san and Shimako-san looked confused.
Well, of course. In the middle of their conversation she'd looked at her watch and then suddenly started laughing, so they'd be wondering what was so funny.
"I suppose we should get started."
Hanae-san announced, finally getting her laughter under control, and the four other members that had been standing and sorting documents took their seats.
"The information session for the election of the next student council executive will now begin. I look forward to working with everyone here."
Yumi wasn't sure whether it was proper protocol or not, but they started with everyone standing and bowing, which seemed to fit the mood in the room.
"First, we'll distribute a print-out to everybody. This isn't just for attendees of this information session, anyone that comes to the Electoral Committee's office can ask for a copy. So if you're aware of anyone that intends to run in the election but was unable to attend today, please let them know. We'll be handing them out from today up until the deadline for nomination in the election."
The trio nodded, looking at the print-outs they'd been given.
"We'll start by going over what's written there, as well as a couple of supplemental items, then we'll answer any questions you may have. Alright then."
Hanae-san was about to start reading the first point when there was a sudden commotion outside the room. They stopped for a moment and everyone looked towards the door.
"That's a bit concerning."
Hanae-san said, and the first-year on her left stood up and went to have a look.
Actually, Yumi had thought she'd heard voices talking outside since around the time they stood and bowed, but it was the hallway out there. Since it was after school, there was usually a fair amount of student traffic, so she'd accepted that a certain amount of conversation would carry into the information session.
But the volume had steadily increased, to the point where she could no longer say that it was just that. Basically, it was becoming a hindrance to the information session.
How to explain it? It felt like there was a heated argument going on, with a certain amount of belligerence. It may even have made it to the level of a quarrel.
The first-year committee member opened the door. With that, the volume grew louder then suddenly dropped. As expected, the fiery conversation was interrupted by someone emerging from the room.
After questioning the ringleader in the disturbance, the first-year committee member returned and whispered into Hanae-san's ear.
"The information session is open to all. They can come in."
This was the first thing Hanae-san said after hearing the report.
It sounded like someone had shown up late, tried to enter and then got into a dispute with the students waiting outside.
Anyone could attend the information session. So was the reason for the dispute just because that student wanted to enter the room? At any rate, Hanae-san decided that understanding the circumstances was the highest priority, so she asked her junior about the details.
"What the heck are they doing anyway? Why do they think they have the right to get in the way of another student?"
"Well, it looks like at first they thought she was just going to be an observer. And since everyone else was holding back, they thought it'd be unfair for one person to go in, that sort of thing."
"An observer… ?"
"And there's not enough space in here for everyone that's out in the hallway."
The group of students outside straining to hear what was going on inside probably wouldn't allow a solitary student to pompously sit in on the information session. Although they probably would have allowed Noriko-chan, since she was Shimako-san's petit soeur.
"I see. So then that girl said she wasn't just going to observe?"
Hanae-san asked the younger girl, and at this point Yumi and her friends who had been silently listening all exchanged glances. Hold on, time-out.
She wanted to attend the information session and not just to observe. That meant that she had to be planning on running in the election.
Which would fundamentally change the nature of the election. The nominations weren't closed yet, but if there were four or more people participating then it would be an actual election. With three people, it was merely a vote of confidence.
"That's right, she said she was thinking about running. At which point they told her that it was too late already. Then they started arguing about whether she could go in or not."
"I see. And once they started arguing, neither side wanted to back down. What a troublesome bunch."
Hanae-san sighed in exasperation. Such a bother it had become.
"Ah, um."
Yumi instinctively jumped into their conversation, even though a potential candidate that had come to listen to the information session may not have had standing to address this matter. Beside her, Shimako-san and Yoshino-san both looked at her with expressions that said, "What are you planning on saying, Yumi-san?"
"What is it?"
Hanae-san allowed Yumi to voice her opinion.
"You have to let her in, right? Even if she is late, I heard voices out there arguing before the information session began, so if she hadn't been blocked by the other students she would have made it here just in time."
They could run in the election even if they didn't attend the information session. But if they were going to run, obviously it would be better for them if they could attend the information session.
The new candidate may be a rival, but she was also a compatriot, doing her best to achieve the same goal. She already had enough of a handicap going up against an incumbent and the petit soeurs of the two other incumbents.
Yumi thought it would be unfortunate if that girl were to get off to a late start because of this. It wasn't like Yumi was trying to be a goody-two-shoes, it's just that it felt wrong.
"Of course. No-one said anything about barring entry. The announcement, the notice on the committee bulletin board, the article in the Lillian Kawaraban, none of these mentioned preventing people from entering who showed up a minute late."
"So then – "
Hanae-san nodded.
"Let her in. Ah, it's okay. I'll do it."
Hanae-san stood up. Indeed, it would be easier for the second-year head of the Electoral Committee to convince the girls to stop blocking the door.
Hanae-san left the room then returned not long after, and looked at Yumi with a conflicted expression. Then she said, "Come in," and motioned to the girl behind her.
When she saw who it was, Yumi was lost for words.
Not just Yumi. Shimako-san, Yoshino-san, and the other Electoral Committee members also had their mouths wide open in shock.
"Gokigenyou. Pardon the intrusion."
Standing there was Touko-chan.
Grinning like a Cheshire cat, her ringlets bouncing like electric drills.
Part 2
Noriko was walking down the school hallway.
She was heading towards the location of the information session because she wanted to look at Shimako-san's face.
Since she was only going for a look, it wouldn't take long. She thought she'd have plenty of time to return to the Rose Mansion, prepare some tea and wait idly.
In truth, she hadn't been planning on going until a few minutes ago. After classroom cleaning, she'd gone to the Rose Mansion and performed a basic tidy-up, boiled some water in the electric kettle and was wondering what she should do next when she looked at the clock and saw it was 3:35pm.
She knew when the information session would start.
It was ten minutes until 3:45pm. Would Shimako-san have gone to the information session already? Noriko was alone on the second-floor of the Rose Mansion when she thought this.
Knowing Shimako-san, she would get there with plenty of time to spare. But, if she had to take care of the cleaning journal, for instance, then there was a chance she would be doing that about now. The instant she thought this, Noriko stood up from her chair and started walking towards the school building.
She wanted to meet Shimako-san, just for a moment. No, even getting a glimpse of Shimako-san going in to the information session would be enough. And if she'd already gone in, Noriko thought she'd just walk up to the door and then head back. Even that would be better than staying in the Rose Mansion and doing nothing.
She could see Shimako-san any time. They'd been together yesterday, and Shimako-san had said that she'd come to the Rose Mansion after the information session today. So maybe she wasn't really going because she wanted to see Shimako-san.
But it was hard to keep waiting and thinking about Shimako-san in a place without her. Basically, she just couldn't sit still.
There were plenty of people crowded around the staff room.
Attending the information session was a way of declaring one's intent to run in the elections for the student council executive. They'd all probably gathered here to see who the candidates for the next student council executive would be.
From the chatter flying around, she overheard that none of the three had arrived yet. The photography club's ace was there, as was the head of the newspaper club.
Before long, Shimako-san, Yumi-sama and Yoshino-sama arrived. From a distance, Noriko watched the trio get engulfed.
Shimako-san looked particularly at ease, smiling at the students that called out to her. Seeing this, Noriko's nerves were instantly soothed.
It was probably for this reason that she'd come. Noriko understood this about herself.
After exchanging a few words with Shimako-san, they parted and Noriko headed back to the Rose Mansion. She thought she'd have plenty of time to return to the Rose Mansion, prepare some tea and wait idly.
She was walking lightly down the corridor when she spotted Touko coming the other way.
"Touko … "
Noriko came to a stop. Touko smiled with sickening sweetness when she noticed her.
"Wait."
Noriko grabbed her by the arm, since it looked like Touko was going to just keep walking.
"We have to talk."
"We do?"
"Yes, we do."
Rosa Chinensis had told her not to intervene in Yumi-sama's affairs, but Noriko couldn't just sit and watch in silence. Yumi-sama was one of her compatriots in the Rose Mansion, but Touko was her friend. Didn't she have a right to hear Touko's side of the story?
"Sorry, but can we do it tomorrow?"
Touko said coldly.
"Tomorrow?"
"I'm a bit busy right now."
"Alright. Tomorrow."
Noriko released her arm. It didn't have to be now, and they were in the same class so there would be plenty of opportunities.
"You're not going to have the day off tomorrow, are you?"
"I'll be here. You're so untrusting, Noriko-san."
Touko smirked, then turned her back on Noriko.
When she returned to the Rose Mansion, Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Foetida were there on the second-floor.
"Keep up the good work."
Rosa Foetida said, sipping on a cup of tea they'd prepared.
"It shouldn't be long until they return."
Rosa Chinensis offered Noriko a cup of tea.
"… Thank-you."
It was only a minor thing, but for some reason the two third-years seemed far more mature than usual, and consequently far more distant.
Part 3
"Touko-chan, why are you – "
Yumi managed to squeak out, watching as Touko-chan sat down in the chair the committee member indicated, next to her.
"Attending the information session will be useful for the election."
In other words, she wasn't here to be an observer, she was planning on running in the election.
"But you're a first-year."
"Oh? But then, Shimako-sama was a first-year last year. There's nothing unusual about it."
But that was because there was a two year gap between Shimako-san and the previous Rosa Gigantea. As Rosa Gigantea en bouton, it was only natural that she'd follow in those footsteps and run as a first-year.
(But.)
Thinking about it, wasn't the "tradition" at Lillian's, where the boutons became the next Roses, itself kind of strange?
Of course, in a democracy, the question of whether that "tradition" was okay would be answered by an election. Nonetheless, the boutons were typically promoted to Roses.
Like last year, when the second-year Kanina Shizuaka-sama, Rosa Canina, lost the election.
In Shimako-san's case, she was very level-headed and generally held in high regard, so she may still have been elected even if she wasn't a bouton. But there must have been some that weren't cut out to be student council leaders (or didn't win their elections).
Given that, what about her own situation? Yumi pondered this.
She had attended the information session because she'd been ordered to do so by her onee-sama. But was that enough for her to become one of the next Roses? She'd become close to everyone as a bouton, but wasn't that a measure of the greatness of her onee-sama, Ogasawara Sachiko?
Yumi believed that she was the only one who could be Sachiko-sama's petit soeur.
But that was different to being a student council leader.
She wouldn't say it was Touko-chan, but couldn't there be someone out there somewhere in high-school that was more fitting than her?
Yumi remained silent as Touko-chan opened her pencil case, took out a mechanical pencil and thumbed down on the end of it.
Click, click, click.
Why was it that Touko-chan was running in the election?
"Well then, let's resume the information session. The print-outs – "
She could hear Hanae-san's voice from somewhere far away.
The words the first-year committee member wrote on the blackboard seemed like cryptic codewords and didn't stick in her mind either.
That said, she wasn't feeling sleepy. Her mind was surprisingly clear. But it wasn't turned outwards.
Why, why, why?
Her thoughts were turned inwards, repeating this question over and over.
She heard soft scratching as someone wrote a note on their print-out. Maybe the topic being discussed was something important.
She heard Shimako-san's voice clearly, her hand raised as she asked her question. But she couldn't understand what she said.
Everyone was standing up, so she stood up and bowed her head too.
"What's the matter? Are you okay?"
Yoshino-san shook Yumi's shoulder.
Touko-chan left the room first. The five committee members had started tidying up, wiping clean the blackboard and moving the desks.
Despite attending the information session, nothing had made its way into her brain.
"Did your mind go blank because of Touko-chan?"
Shimako-san whispered. Indicating that she had been surprised too.
"Oh wow, Yumi-san really is blank."
Yoshino-san laughed, looking at Yumi's print-out.
"No helping it now. You can copy ours later. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask. We're friends, so we've got to help you."
"Yeah. Thanks."
She'd said they were friends, and Yumi really was thankful. From the bottom of her heart. But not really for allowing her to look at the notes she'd forgotten to take herself. Even if they hadn't been able to do anything for her, just that in itself was enough to be thankful for.
And so, as thankful as she was, she was just as apologetic towards someone. That sort of feeling.
| Return to Main Page | Back to The Opening Ceremony's Spoiled Child | Forward to First-Year Camellia Class is Normal |
