Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume24 Chapter6 1

Beneath the Mask. Part 1

Wednesday.

For better or worse, the day of the candidates' speeches had arrived.

There were no classes in the afternoon. The first- and second-year students gathered in the auditorium to listen to the candidates give their speeches.

"At any rate, I'm relieved. I was all on edge thinking you were going to withdraw your candidacy, Yumi-san. It looks like I shouldn't have been concerned at all."

Shimako-san had finished eating her lunch first, and was refilling Yumi's cup with Japanese tea as she said this.

"Actually, I was thinking about it for a lo~ng time."

Yumi answered as she ate her lunch. Whether it was better to finish eating quickly and get some more practice for the speech, or to eat slowly and aid her digestion, that was the question.

"Oh, you were really considering it?"

Shimako-san asked, surprised. Sachiko-sama was also in the room, but she didn't have much of a reaction – only raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"May I ask why you decided not to?"

Shimako-san sat down beside her, still holding the teapot, so Yumi nodded and started to tell her story.

"A few days ago I had the chance to talk to the mother of a student at school."

"Go on."

"She told me that her daughter was cheering for us. So you see."

Yumi closed her lunch box lid.

"Even though I'm worried about Touko-chan, I can't forget about all the other students who are supporting us. Since I've already nominated, I shouldn't drop out midway through. If I did that, I'd be letting everyone down. If Touko-chan was the best person for the student council, then she'd win even without any tricks from me. On top of that, regardless of how I felt, if I withdrew then Touko-chan would probably feel humiliated by having the win handed to her. And arriving at that conclusion, I've prepared to face today. End of story."

Clap, clap, clap.

Applause was coming from somewhere. Shimako-san was still holding the teapot, so she couldn't be the one clapping her hands. That left –

… Clap.

Surprisingly, the sound of applause was coming from Sachiko-sama's hands.

"You should give your speech just like that. Your expression, your manner of speaking, it was all wonderful."

"Onee-sama."

Sachiko-sama hadn't offered any advice up until now, even when she'd been shown the draft scripts or listened to Yumi rehearse. To hear her suddenly talk like that, it made Yumi feel like she was about to cry.

Shimako-san put her hand on Yumi's shoulder and gave it a soft shake. Come on, pull yourself together. That sort of thing.

"Is Rei-chan here!?"

Just then, Yoshino-san burst into the room.

"… Not yet."

"I went to the third-year chrysanthemum classroom, but they said she hadn't arrived yet. So I thought she might have come straight here – "

So that was it. Yoshino-san had taken a detour over there which was why she was so late in getting to the Rose Mansion.

"I told her she had to be at school before lunch. It's such a critical time when her cute little petit soeur's about to take on the speech meeting, and she's off wandering around like some hobo … "

Letting her anger run its course, Yoshino-san's words got a bit confused.

"Now, now. You'll feel better if you eat your lunch. You're probably irritated due to low blood sugar."

"Uh – "

"Come on, have a seat."

Yoshino-san was motioned to sit down and poured a cup of tea. Yumi knew the truth. Yoshino-san's irritation wasn't due to "Rei-chan" or low blood sugar, it was due to nerves about the speech assembly that was just around the corner. But because Yoshino-san didn't want to admit that, she put the blame on "Rei-chan."

"You might be right. I'm kinda hungry … I think."

Just when Yoshino-san had regained a little of her composure, Noriko-chan finally arrived.

"Sorry I'm late."

"What happened?"

Shimako-san asked.

Noriko-chan typically came straight here at lunch and after school. The question was about whether something had come up that she had to do, or if her fourth-period class had been in one of the specialist classrooms. It wasn't a cross-examination, more of a conversation opener.

"Lunch in the classroom."

"I see. And?"

"Mustard and taramasalata sandwich."

"…"

There was silence for a little while. Who did what?

"Ah."

Noriko-chan put her hand to her mouth and Shimako-san smiled.

"It's okay. You were with Touko-chan, right?"

"Yeah. I was kind of worried about her."

She was a bit worried about Touko-chan, so she didn't want to leave the classroom, so she ate her lunch there. But from the sounds of it, it wasn't as though they ate their lunch together, she just watched Touko-chan from within the same classroom.

"So, tell us, how did she look?"

Yoshino-san asked, waving around the wiener she was holding in her chopsticks. Looking like a superior officer receiving a report from a subordinate they'd sent out scouting.

"She was calm. She didn't look at all like someone who was about to give a speech in less than an hour."

"Hmm."

Yoshino-san muttered, sounding bored. She probably wouldn't have been satisfied unless she heard Touko-chan was shaking in her boots.

But a shaking Touko-chan would have felt fake. She was calm. That sounded a lot more realistic.

"How about that."

Yumi absent-mindedly muttered as she adjusted her candidate's sash.

"A mustard and taramasalata sandwich."

That was a bit unexpected.