Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume27 Chapter5 3

"Why?" Part 3

"Here you go."

Steam rose from the liquid that had been poured into the flask lid.

"Thanks … This is?"

"Oolong tea. I brought it from home."

Touko-chan said, deftly raising the long, slender flask. It had apparently been in her handbag all along, but Yumi hadn't realized until just now.

They were seated on a bench on the train platform. Waiting for the next train to arrive. It was impeccable timing, as Yumi was just starting to feel thirsty.

"Thanks."

After blowing on the tea to cool it, Yumi drank the tea and returned the makeshift cup to Touko-chan. Then Touko-chan poured herself some and drank it.

From M station they'd taken the bus to a private railway station. Then they'd caught a train to this station. It looked like they had to transfer to another train to reach their ultimate destination. Touko-chan may have chosen this circuitous route because it was the least expensive. They probably would have been able to get there quicker using JR trains, but that would have taken them over their 4000 yen budget.

(Huh? The budget?)

Yumi was taken aback, and stood up.

"I didn't bring any lunch with me."

"Neither did I."

Touko-chan said, unconcerned, as she sipped her tea.

"Ah, right."

So, sit down. Since she'd gone to the trouble of preparing tea, Yumi has assumed she'd also brought lunch.

"It's here."

Touko-chan said, closing the flask lid. The train could be seen decelerating in to the station.

Yumi didn't know whether it was because it was Sunday, or whether it was always like this, but the train was fairly crowded. She caught glimpses of people with backpacks, and people wearing mountain-climbing boots. There must be somewhere along this train's route that would make an enjoyable hiking or mountain-climbing day-trip.

There weren't two seats free next to each other, so they stood by the door. The train slowly started to move.

While the train stations themselves were more or less the same, as the number of stations they passed grew, so did the number of fields, or woods, or mountains between them. It really brought home the sensation that they were gradually moving further and further away from Tokyo.

"When I said I would take over the hospital, my grandfather was overjoyed."

Touko-chan said, out of the blue. Yumi had been gazing at the scenery, and the surprise made her turn from the glass window to look at Touko-chan.

"Although this is a fairly old story."

"That's okay."

Yumi nodded. She wanted to hear Touko-chan's story.

On the bus, and on the trains up until now, Touko-chan hadn't said a word. Well, of course she'd made the minimal conversation necessary to purchase tickets. But when Yumi had turned to her and tried to start a conversation to stave off boredom, Touko-chan would politely listen, and when asked a direct question would only responded with a 'yes' or 'no,' so the conversation didn't advance.

Yumi had been wondering what Touko-chan was thinking about.

Which was why she'd decided to wait quietly. She believed that Touko-chan would put those thoughts into words in due course.

"The hospital, it's your grandfather's, right?"

She'd heard that Touko-chan's paternal grandfather ran a small hospital in the foothills of a mountain in one of Tokyo's surrounding prefectures. From memory, it was the hospital that Sachiko-sama's deceased grandmother had been admitted to the previous year.

"Yeah."

After nodding, Touko-chan turned away, gazing at the scenery outside. Above the grove of trees, the crows stretched their wings.

"My father didn't become a doctor. He was an only child too."

The 'too' was probably because Touko-chan herself was also an only child.

"It's only a small hospital, but the people of the surrounding area, and the patients that come from far away, all adore it. So it would be a shame for it to shut down when my grandfather eventually retires due to old age."

"And so … "

"I thought I could become a doctor, or, if necessary, marry a doctor, and started making plans."

"–"

Despite her youth, she'd already planned out her future. Yumi stood in admiration. Even though she was a year older, Yumi hadn't yet contemplated a future career, or even what she'd do after graduation. Well, perhaps she was taking things a bit too lightly.

"But, just thinking about it showed how impossible it was."

Putting her forehead to the glass window, Touko-chan let out a sigh.

"Huh?"

"There was an insurmountable obstacle."

At that point, Yumi remembered the conversation she'd had with Touko-chan about the blank map. While the map was still blank, it held open the promise of all possibilities, but once she started drawing she realized it hadn't turned out the way she expected it to. This felt like the same kind of conversation. Despair for her future – although it may be too strong a comparison, it was that kind of feeling.

"My grandfather intends to retire in three years' time."

"Three years … "

Yumi furrowed her brow.

"So what will happen to the hospital?"

"At the moment, there's a married couple in their 40s who are both doctors and assist my grandfather – the hospital will be entrusted to them. Neither my grandfather nor my parents thought I was being serious when I told them that I'd take over the hospital."

She had said that it was a fairly old story. In that case, it might have been when Touko-chan was in elementary school, or perhaps even younger. Adults, in general, would be pleased to hear a young child talking about her future. And on the off chance that they did remember it, they'd probably just consider it a happy memory.

However, it wasn't just an inconsequential memory to Touko-chan.

"In three years' time, I'll have graduated high-school, but even if I'm enrolled in a medical degree at some university, that's a long way off having a medical license. So then I considered marriage, but to get married at that age I'd still require parental consent."

"And your parents?"

As Yumi asked this, she felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead. Why was Touko-chan being so stubborn about this?

"I asked them. Of course, they said no. If it was because I loved someone and wanted to be with them, then that was one thing, but getting married for the sake of the hospital was foolish, they said."

"Sounds about right."

It seemed like an extremely sensible position. Whereas Touko-chan's was far more out there. However, taking over the hospital seemed to be that important to her. As though it was the meaning of her existence.

"It felt like there was no need for me anymore. That since they'd found a replacement for me, my usefulness had ended."

"Huh?"

"So I ran away from home."

"That was the day … "

Yumi mumbled, remembering, and Touko-chan nodded.

"That's right."

Touko-chan's fight with her parents, and visit to the Fukuzawa residence after being brought there by Yumi's younger brother Yuuki, had taken place during the second semester exam break. After eating dinner with them, Touko-chan's cousin Kashiwagi-san came by to pick her up and she went surprisingly quietly. Even so, Yumi had heard that Touko-chan's mother had received such a shock when her daughter ran away from home that she was bedridden for a short while.

She hadn't heard why Touko-chan ran away from home.

Kashiwagi-san had offered to tell her, but she hadn't asked. Based on the conversation with Shimako-san, Yumi had vaguely suspected that she may have been worrying about whether to follow her father's occupation or not, and it looked like the real reason was somewhat similar to that.

However.

"I'm sorry. I'm not sure I understand."

If Touko-chan wanted to be a doctor, then she would have to study. It was easy to see that a result of that might be succeeding her grandfather at his hospital, however, she seemed to be stubbornly tormenting herself with the idea that she absolutely had to take over the hospital no matter what.

"Oh, you don't?"

Touko-chan smiled slightly. It looked like that may have been the reaction she was aiming for all along.

The train stopped at a station. Touko-chan still wasn't showing any sign of getting off the train. She hadn't checked the station name either, so it looked like she knew where she was going based on the landscape outside, or something.

The pair moved away from the doorway, making room for people to get on and off. Seven people exited through the doors and two got on. After a little while, the doors closed and the train once more started moving.

Gradually it picked up pace before settling in to a steady rhythm. Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack, click-clack, …

"I mean, there's people lined up to take over the hospital, right?"

Yumi resumed their interrupted conversation. Touko-chan's grandfather's retirement wasn't going to cause the immediate closure of the hospital. She should have welcomed the news that she didn't have to take over straight away.

Listening to Touko-chan's story, Yumi didn't think there was anything she could do. Naturally, she didn't have any sage advice to offer.

However, Yumi thought it would be fine if she just listened, and conveyed her own thoughts. She was led to this conclusion because Touko-chan had chosen her to tell this to.

"Ah … although if they're going to abuse the patients, or bulldoze the hospital to put up apartments once they're put in charge then that's another story."

Yumi mumbled, and Touko-chan clearly refuted this.

"They're wonderful people."

Touko-chan said they were currently assisting her grandfather not only with patient care, but also with the hospital administration. They'd apparently both been patients at the hospital when they were children, so considered their work a way of repaying that debt of gratitude.

"So, it should be fine to let them take over the hospital for now, right? You could revisit this later on if you become a doctor, or if you marry a doctor."

"But."

"Even if you don't take over the hospital, no-one's going to think less of you. After all, your father didn't take over the hospital, and no-one thinks less of him, right?"

"My father and I are very different. For me, being the heir to the house of Matsudaira became the foundation of my existence."

Again with this. Her stubborn side was showing on her face.

"Why?"

Touko-chan couldn't answer this question. Or rather, she went silent instead of answering.

Even though Yumi had thought she was getting closer to Touko-chan, it looked like they were still some distance apart.

No, that's not right, Yumi thought.

The door she leaned against swayed in time with the click-clack of the tracks. Outside the window, the landscape rolled past. The as-yet-unseen mountains, the trees and the sky all urged them onwards.

Even though they were both silent, it didn't feel like they were a long way apart. They were simply taking a short break, exhausted from the conversation.

She was, undoubtedly, drawing closer to Touko-chan.

Yumi felt that change within herself, much like how they were drawing closer to their destination.

Click-clack, click-clack.

Waiting at their journey's destination was, undoubtedly, Touko-chan's true self.