Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume5 Chapter5 6

St. Valentine's prank. Part 6.

"Ah, Yoshino-san?"

Along the way, she thought she saw a familiar person, so she called out. But once that person turned around, she deeply regretted calling out… still, she couldn't take it back.

"What."

Her face was full of displeasure. Which meant, of course, that her treasure hunting ended in failure.

"Yumi-san?"

"Nuh-uh."

While walking, Yumi replied negatively, and formed an X in front of her with her hands. Yoshino-san's face softened. Even though they were looking for different cards, they both had the same feeling, as the sisters of boutons.

"But, if we couldn't find them, then maybe no one found them."

Yoshino-san gradually began to regain her usual positive thinking.

"Maybe."

But-. Yumi thought.

The person who she'd run into at the greenhouse mentioned the soil had a different color. So it might have been where Sachiko-sama had hidden the card, and someone might have beaten both of them to it. Actually, that was probably the case.

The emergency exit nearby was open, so they wiped their feet on the mat before walking into the buildings.

"Yoshino-san, where did you look?"

"After I shook off Rei-chan's fans, the library."

"Library?"

"I opened all the books about knitting and cooking at the library."

Ah. She attacked Rei-sama's hobbies. Because the treasure was just a thin piece of paper, books would be a good hiding place.

But then she'd realized that hiding the card in borrowable books could end in disaster, especially if someone decided to borrow the book between when the card was hidden and when the event would start, so Yoshino-san did a 180 degree turn in her mind.

"So, I went to the martial arts building."

"How straightforward."

"Well Rei-chan's pretty straightforward, isn't she? I tried to think through her, but instead I just ended up being the same as everyone else. … Everyone was there, at the martial arts building. Though that meant we didn't have a lack of hands in turning over the tatami."

Yumi felt like she was eccentric for digging through dirt, but Yoshino-san's checking under the tatami was fanatical:– There are always people stranger than you, she reaffirmed herself. Luckily it was listed as off-limits on the map, otherwise people might have jumped into the lake in Maria-sama's garden.

When they finished passing through the buildings and made it to the courtyard, they found many participants already there, and some students were coming out of the Rose Mansion. The newspaper club, the boutons, and some fans who'd soaked into (apologies for the language) the Rose Mansion.

"Ahh, ahh, thank you for participating, everyone."

Perhaps she'd tired of raising her voice; Minako-sama had found a handheld megaphone and began talking into it. The murmurs quieted, and everyone began to listen. There were far less people gathered than had started. There were people who didn't care to see the results as well as people who'd withdrawn midway through. Maybe there were some who were still heading to the courtyard, and some who were so immersed in looking around that they missed the broadcast.

"Well, it's becoming late so I'll jump right to the results. First of all, two of the cards were found."

Some shouted in excitement, while others cried, "Ehhh." For what it was worth, Yumi was more along the lines of, "Oh well," while Yoshino-san pumped her fist, "Yes!"

Two being discovered meant one was void. That's why Yoshino-san must have thought she'd won. In her case, the handwritten card or dating ticket wasn't important – she could ask Rei-sama for those anytime she wanted. What she wanted was to prevent anyone else from getting their hands on them.

And Yoshino-san was probably right.

Rosa Gigantea should have found Shimako-san's card, and Sachiko-sama's card had been dug up by someone.

"When I call your name, please step forward."

The murmurs didn't stop this time, so Minako-sama was forced to raise her voice even with the megaphone. And then things became quiet as everyone waited in anticipation for the names.

"First, the one who found the white card-"

Just as Minako-sama said that, Rosa Gigantea showed up, saying, "Yumi-chan thanks."

"Huh?"

Why was the person who needed to be walking forward in a moment sauntering around in the back, Yumi was about to point out, but then she heard a name other than Rosa Gigantea.

"Second-year wisteria-class, Kanina Shizuka-san." (-Eh!?)

And a wave of surprised cries swept through the crowd. "Eh-!?"

An "Eh-!?" of disbelief. Because everyone knew about Shizuka-sama and Shimako-san's relationship.

Shizuka-sama, who'd challenged the boutons and been defeated in the election. Everyone was surprised she was a fan of Shimako-san. Even Yumi, who knew that wasn't entirely the case, was taken aback in astonishment. Because she didn't know Shizuka-sama was even taking part.

The commotion was the BGM as Shizuka-sama stepped forward.

(… Which means Shizuka-sama really did find it.)

Wow, Shizuka-sama. She was really unpredictable.

"Whew."

Rosa Gigantea whistled.

"So it was Shizuka."

What did she mean, so it was Shizuka. Yumi glared at her – how could she not find it with such a big hint? But it didn't get across to Rosa Gigantea at all, who just looked back, "Why're you glaring at me?"

Shizuka-sama's winner's interview began.

Congratulations, thank you. How do you feel? Actually I'm quite surprised. –After that sort of introduction, the interview went into the important questions.

"Where did you find Rosa Gigantea en bouton's card?"

They were passing the megaphone back and forth so it was taking a bit. Yumi was sure she'd hear, "The first floor of the Rose Mansion."

But.

"The committee board."

She felt like toppling over in surprise. How could that be!?

Because Shimako-san was definitely hiding something. If she wasn't hiding her treasure, what was she doing? Or maybe she'd quickly changed hiding places because Yumi'd seen her.

"Rosa Gigantea en bouton, was it indeed on the committee board?"

Minako-san brought the megaphone to Shimako-san for confirmation. And Shimako-san replied.

"Yes, I placed it on the board."

She was unmistakably clear.

Wow, Shimako-san. How audacious. She'd thumb tacked her card on the corkboard the size of a tatami sheet, the one every committee used to post announcements to students. And she'd actually posted it under, "From the environmental care committee," so there was a bit of cynicism about how little the students paid heed to the announcement board attached to the hiding place. Of course this was possible only because Shimako-san's card was white.

"Then, why did Rosa Gigantea just say 'thank you' to me…"

But her question was drowned out by Yoshino-san's "kyaaa."

That told the whole story. A number of students who'd had their names called walked to the front, and they were lead by one person proudly holding the yellow card.

"Then it was Rei-sama's card that was found."

"Ugh…"

After her wail, Yoshino-san's dejection was difficult to look at. She wasn't really anywhere close to tears, but she'd lowered her shoulders and tried not to look toward the front.

Not concerned about that, Rei-sama looked on as the students played rock-scissors-paper with each other, under the direction of Minako-sama.

Yoshino-san had the right to feel dejected. After all, she was supposed to have shaken that group of students off. And the card was found in the library.

Actually, Rei-sama had hidden the card in a non-borrowable book about pricing during the Edo period. Rei-sama's fans had probably acted like they'd lost sight of Yoshino-san and just followed her. And when Yoshino-san went straight for the cooking and knitting books, they were confused, and instead followed their own gut feelings. They believed the information that was presented in the "Lillian Kawaraban" survey some time ago. Which meant unfortunately, Yoshino-san knew too much about Rei-sama.

The student who'd won the rock-scissors-paper tournament was happily answering the interview. But Yoshino-san probably deserved to win, Yumi thought.

On one hand it looks like the straightforward Rei-sama had played a misdirection on everyone and hidden it in a strange place, but Rei-sama was straightforward after all, having hidden it in a place she felt Yoshino-san would look. And that was the end of the game.

Maybe she was overthinking things. But Yumi'd seen Yoshino-san looking through that book before. Rei-sama was so straightforward that she'd stuck her card in a book Yoshino-san liked to read. Wasn't that the truth?

"And so only Rosa Chinensis en bouton's card was not found."

Yumi snapped back to reality at Minako-sama's words.

That's right, if Rei-sama's card was found, that left the crimson card. That meant no one had found Sachiko-sama's card.

She felt conflicted. The joy that no one else had found it, and her chagrin and not being able to find it herself. But then the same thing as Yoshino-san could have happened to her, so she tried to be as happy as possible.

"As planned, we will retrieve it and return it to her. For more details, look forward to next week's 'Lillian Kawaraban.' It'll be a special edition about the treasure hunt. With the help of the photography club, we have plenty of photos of everyone searching around, so it should be fantastic. Everyone who finds themselves on the 'Lillian Kawaraban' may receive a copy of their photo."

Minako-sama was stirring up the crowd. And to her side, the photography club ace Takeshima Tsutako-san posed with her camera.

Finally, the boutons handed out bite-sized chocolate wrapped in silver paper to everyone who'd stayed for the results. A participation prize, of sorts. Even Sachiko-sama who didn't like presenting chocolate for Valentine's Day wasn't able to get out of this. So there she was handing chocolate to many people.

Yumi lined up in Sachiko-sama's row and received chocolate.

And even though she'd received it directly from Sachiko-sama, she was so hungry she immediately popped it into her mouth.

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