Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume2 Chapter3 3

Unexpected Consequences. Part 3.

"They're pretending to be Yoshino-san."

Tsutako-san said with distaste, as they walked down the hallway after school.

"Pretending to be Yoshino-san-"

It was such a blunt but fitting explanation that Yumi momentarily lost her words. Miyuki-san during the afternoon was very much like Yoshino-san, or at least like the Yoshino-san image carried by the girls surrounding her. Weak, loveable, cute… Right, just like the image Yumi herself carried until recently.

"Just you watch. There'll be more."

"No way."

"I'm willing to bet on it."

Yumi didn't know what Tsutako-san intended to bet, but it couldn't have been much of a deal, so she ignored that statement and kept moving the discussion along.

"So how do you pretend to be Yoshino-san?"

"They call out their onee-sama in front of Maria-sama with a tragic face, then return the rosaries."

Yumi screamed inside when she heard that.

"Th, then, Miyuki-san wasn't the rejected, she's the one that started everything? And even though she's the one that rejected, she was crying like that?"

"Right."

Tsutako-san replied simply. On top of that, she was raising her camera and clicking the shutter every so often, so she was clearly disinterested. The topic was so disinteresting to her that even she took a "how stupid" stance.

"Yumi-san, okay? In life, even if two people like each other a great deal, sometimes it becomes necessary to split up for a bit. Can you imagine Yoshino-san returning the rosary with a smile?"

"I don't…"

"If anything, you'd imagine her silently crying, right?"

That was true. She could easily imagine Yoshino-san returning the rosary while suppressing her tears. But she couldn't imagine her laughing or even being angry while doing it. But Tsutako-san said Yoshino-san had brought up the topic of the split in a fit of anger.

"The repercussion of printing is strong. Because when you read the article, you feel like you were there."

That's right. That extra.

It was written to imply that Yoshino-san was a tragic heroine. Unable to stand her own dependence on Rei-sama. That she thought Rei-sama, the future Rosa Foetida, needed a stronger, more dependable little sister. Her fit of anger was a cover for her own insecurity.

"A tragic borne out of her elder sister being Rosa Foetida en bouton. An artistic piece."

Boutons basically are converted to being a Rose as soon as the upperclassmen graduate. That's why Roses and Bouton are often directed to choose little sisters both for their affinity as well as their character.

"…"

She suddenly felt ill. She'd never given it much thought yet, but Yumi realized that meant next year she would be Rosa Chinensis en bouton. She worried if she was capable of living up to that title, having seen Sachiko-sama and Rei-sama.

"Yumi-san, you're over thinking things. Shimako-san is Rosa Gigantea en bouton this year, so she'll be Rosa Gigantea next year."

Even though it was someone else's problem, Yumi couldn't help but feel horrified by the prospect of being in that position. It could be quite stressful for Shimako-san.

"Well, even if you're the sister of an en bouton, it doesn't mean there's no way for you to not be a Rose in the future."

Tsutako-san patted Yumi's shoulder, but she didn't know if those words were praise or extra pressure.

But. Even though the prospect of becoming a Rose in the future was enough to shiver her, the idea of not living up to Sachiko-sama was even worse. That being said, there would be pressure following her all the way until graduation for being Sachiko-sama's sœur, so she suddenly felt worried about her heart.

"Tsutako-san, you said they were pretending to be Yoshino-san, so would they have been acting?"

She asked her sudden curiosity out loud. Then, Tsutako-san looked at the tall window at the stair's landing and groaned, "Hmmm." It was well into autumn, so the afternoon sky was heavy and cold. Even so, the leaves that stubbornly stuck to the trees looked like warmth to the eyes, with their dark-colored, round forms.

"Hard to say. They're probably doing it out of seriousness, but…"

"What do you mean?"

"They're obviously just being influenced, but they probably feel like they come up with everything on their own. I mean, the matter of Rei-sama and Yoshino-san must be clearly etched into their minds. But they probably look at it is just an impetus. Even though they probably only really bothered to think about it in the past two days, they imagine that they always felt anxious about not being a fit for their onee-sama. And so this is the right time to distance themselves."

Maybe because the people in question weren't in hearing range, Tsutako-san relentlessly plowed on, criticizing the following break-up girls.

But, what if the girls had actually been anxious about it all along? Right. Just like Yumi, they always wondered, "Am I worthy of her?" and then with lack of confidence, while they mulled around in melancholy, Yoshino-san popped up, and they felt she had beaten them to the punch?

When she said that, Tsutako-san cackled and said, "If it's just chance like that, would there be three pairs in just lunch-break alone?" In that case, it did seem like things were going too neatly. Tsutako-san's insightfulness was admirable.

"You sound like you actually watched it."

"Truth be told, I did. Miyuki-san, who could line up alongside Yumi-san in a competition for 'Most Stereotypical Girl,' returning her rosary with watery eyes."

Tsutako-san lifted her camera, appealing that she, of course, captured that moment on film. When Yumi looked a bit angry, Tsutako-san justified herself, saying she had simply been passing by, emphasizing that she'd happened upon the scene while taking a walk during lunch break. But along the way, she'd also snapped photos of the other two pairs. –What a troublesome friend.

"But, why are they pretending to be Yoshino-san? Is there anything to be gained?"

As they went down the last step, Yumi asked. They were to split up here, with Tsutako-san going to her club house, and Yumi going to the Rose Mansion, but she didn't want to leave in the middle of the conversation.

"It must feel pleasant? Being a tragic heroine."

"A tragic heroine…"

Yoshino-san did have the image of a tragic heroine, and Yumi was a girl, too, so she'd imagined herself being the main character of a sad story once or twice, but-.

"I guess they're that bored of life? They wanted excitement."

Of course, that wasn't part of their calculations, Tsutako-san pointed out.

"Lillian students are fundamentally quite blessed, after all."

Students that attend from kindergarten can study all the way through university as long as they have a bit of academic skill and as long as their household assets remain in place. Of course, there're some that transfer into the academy in the middle, or some that leave to take exams for other schools, but it's the type of school atmosphere where the term "Examination War" is wholly out of place. Without examinations, the school has a rather laid-back atmosphere. Being laid-back is a lovely thing borne from surplus, but sometimes it can bring boredom.

"If days were more thrilling, this kind of disease wouldn't be so contagious."

"Disease."

"Yes, it's a disease. They're so bored and desperate that they can't find anything to do, and just when their souls are so paralyzed that they don't even know what they're looking for-"

Yoshino-san did something completely unexpected.

"It had such an impact that they had a spell cast on them without them realizing it."

"I get it, that makes sense."

Yumi finally felt like she got on the same page as Tsutako-san. If every day were dynamic, there would be no time to be bored, but not everyone lives like that. Had she not become Sachiko-sama's sœur, Yumi might have been rather bored, too. She didn't have a club she was devoted to, like Tsutako-san.

"Then would that mean the reason for the rise in popularity for the 'Lillian Kawaraban' is because it caters to the desires of the bored girls? Like they're peeking in on the daily lives of the Yamayurikai staff – something they can't do on their own?"

"That's probably a part of it. That's why as long as they report properly, they're allowed to do those things. But suddenly interviewing people without immunity, like before with Yumi-san, or printing an article without checking with the people in question is detestable."

This indignation came from Tsutako-san, who made it a habit to secretly take photos of girls in their gymnastics uniforms. Although Tsutako-san always checked with the people before using any of them, so she wasn't as bad.

"It's not right to place all the blame on the newspaper club, but Yoshino-san's actions should have been condemned, but instead it became justified, and then fashionable, and that's where the problem is."

Tsutako-san predicted, "It won't end with three pairs," and left for the clubhouse in a different courtyard.

Things were going out of hand. And she was already overwhelmed with thoughts of how to rectify Rei-sama and Yoshino-san's situation. If things were to continue to spread to other students, it was feasible that everyone would stop being sisters, and that would lead to the Lillian tradition crumbling.

(What can I do…)

Although she was heading straight to the Rose Mansion, she stopped and turned around. She thought, the number one medicine would be to settle things between Yoshino-san and Rei-sama, then report it to everyone. Impersonation crimes tend to stop when the original is solved, after all. … Even if this wasn't quite the same.

She thought the best course of action was to convince Yoshino-san to re-accept the rosary. But she was absent today, too. Rei-sama was probably at her club, but discussing it with the one who was rejected would be futile.

So her next thought was the line that connected everyone. Rosa Foetida. She didn't know why Rosa Foetida was in an ill mood, but her cute sisters were in a crisis. She thought Rosa Foetida should be willing to help. Everyone said it was hard talking to her because she wasn't herself, but in all sincerity, if Yumi explained things, she might come up with a way to solve things. And if Rosa Foetida came up with a plan, Yumi was willing to make it happen.

She was conveniently at the first floor, so she went to peek at the shoe boxes. Rosa Foetida was in third-year chrysanthemum class. Come to think of it, even though they were all in different grades, Rei-sama and Yoshino-san were both chrysanthemum, Yumi mused, as she looked through the small lockers.

(… Rosa Foetida's real name.)

She'd heard it before, but she couldn't remember. Not only Rosa Foetida, but Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Gigantea were almost never called by their real names, so she couldn't recall any of their full names, either.

She had no choice but to go through attendance numbers, confirm their names, and then guess which locker belonged to Rosa Foetida.

(I'm really a fool.)

After feeling down for a moment, she pumped herself back up and began working. Just then, she noticed the figure of a student in front of her. When she stepped aside to allow her to retrieve her shoes, she noticed it was Rosa Foetida herself.

"Rosa Foetida!"

Yumi ran over, overjoyed. But she listlessly turned around, and on top of her teary eyes, one of her cheeks was quite red.

"Wh, what-"

What happened, she wanted to ask, but couldn't.

Rosa Foetida turned her face to the side again and covered her red cheek with her left hand, as if she wanted to hide it from Yumi's sight.

(- No.)

It was because the sight of Rosa Foetida covering her cheek doubled up with the Hanadera student council president. When he was slapped by Sachiko-sama, he, too, held a hand to his cheek. So Yumi immediately understood. Rosa Foetida had been hit by someone.

She only saw it for a moment, but Rosa Foetida's face looked extremely painful. She thought that such a powerful slap wasn't justifiable, no matter who the person was.

"What?"

Rosa Foetida calmed herself and asked. But asking for help from someone looking to the side was difficult. Plus, at that moment, she felt Rosa Foetida was in a bigger bind than Rei-sama and Yoshino-san.

"I'm sorry, I'm actually in a bit of a hurry. So if you want something, make it quick."

Rosa Foetida seemed to sigh.

"No, in that case it's alright. I'm sorry for stopping you."

There was no way she could make it quick, and Rosa Foetida seemed to be in a terrible situation, too, so she decided not to consult with her today.

"Yumi-chan."

Rosa Foetida turned around, remembering something, after she'd started walking away. She was still covering her left cheek.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry, but could you-"

"I won't tell anyone."

Yumi quickly shook her head. Rosa Foetida might have chosen to leave at this time, when there were fewer students walking about, because she didn't want people to see her face.

"It's not like I'm hiding it, but it is a bit uncool."

"No, it's not…"

Yumi didn't really know what she wanted to say with "no, it's not," but she saw Rosa Foetida walk off to the main entrance.

"Gokigenyou."

Yumi watched her form grow smaller in the distance.

Where, when and who slapped her? There aren't very many people in the school who can hit Rosa Foetida.

(I wonder if she's alright…)

She wasn't the newspaper club, but she was definitely curious.

When Rosa Foetida vanished into the campus woods, Yumi went back into the school facilities and sighed. With Rosa Foetida looking like that, the future looked grim. She remembered what Katsura-san had said, earlier. "Rosa Foetida is peaceful and secured with a 3rd-year, 2nd-year and 1st-year." There were no definite in the world, she felt.

Yumi realized Rosa Foetida had gone home without changing her shoes when she was just about to reach the Rose Mansion. She thought about going back, but enough time had passed that it would have been futile to chase Rosa Foetida, and Yumi was already quite tired as it was.

But perhaps it was a blessing amidst all the misfortune.

The way she looked, Rosa Foetida wouldn't notice she was still wearing her indoor shoes until she made it home. After all, she seemed to be completely oblivious to her sisters' crisis.

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