Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume6 Chapter4 ２

Dessert. Part 2.

"…"

Yoshino had come out of her room because her mother had told her that her friend was here, but when she saw who was standing there, she was lost for words.

"Gokigenyou. Can we talk for a bit?"

Her frilly dress could be seen poking out from underneath her coat. Her wavy hair that appeared to have been styled with a curling iron was already wilting, no longer able to defy the passage of time.

In the entrance was her hated rival for Rei-chan's love, Tanuma Chisato.

"… I guess. Although are we really friends?"

"What else could I do? It would look suspicious if I didn't say we were friends, right."

"Well, that's true."

Chisato-san's position was actually 'Rei-chan's fan,' but it would seem a bit odd if she said that when visiting Yoshino. Certainly, it was convenient for both Yoshino and her family that Chisato-san had called herself a friend from Lillian's.

"Won't you come in?"

Her mother had called out, asking 'Why don't you invite her inside?' so, unpleasant though it was, Yoshino reluctantly asked her in.

"It's okay."

Chisato-san shook her head and said she'd be going home soon.

"So? Why did you come here? If you're looking for Rei-chan's house, it's next door."

"I know."

"And what about Rei-chan? You didn't come here together?"

"No. She'd still be riding her bike now."

"Bike?"

Yoshino left Chisato-san in the entry and went outside. Rei-chan's usual bike was definitely missing from the Hasekura family's bike shed.

"What do you mean? Are you saying that Rei-chan rode her bike to K station today?"

She asked, returning to the entry. Chisato-san said 'Yeah' and nodded, looking slightly proud.

"Rei-sama was so incredibly kind. When we were planning the date, I said I wanted to see a movie. And she said 'Let's do that, then.' And then she said 'But if we do that, we won't have any money left over for lunch or train fares, right? So we can each make a box lunch and eat them in the park.' Rei-sama's cooking was really good. She even ate my failed attempt without complaining."

"Uh huh. So what is it you want to say?"

"It's about Rei-sama's kindness. I was fine because I used my commuter pass to get to K station, but Rei-sama doesn't have a commuter pass, does she?"

"Well, yeah. Since we walk to school."

"So she rode her bike there, for my sake. Because the 3000 yen had to include transportation. And we have to write a report, so the numbers have to match up."

That was pretty stingy of her, Yoshino thought. Because she wanted to see a movie, they had to bring their own lunch. Because she wanted to see a movie, Rei-chan couldn't catch the bus. While they were doing that, Yoshino had been eating her extravagant lunch and reading her book.

"Because it was dark, Rei-sama took me home."

"Huh?"

"She said that I didn't have to write it in the report. To say that we had split up at K station."

"… I don't understand what you're trying to say."

"She bought a ticket with her own money, and accompanied me to my home."

Now it made sense.

Saying that they had split up at K station was camouflage, to hide the fact that the budget had been blown by Rei-chan spending several hundred yen of her own money in order to properly escort her date home. Just what you'd expect from Mr. Lillian. Impeccable, wouldn't you say?

Yoshino understood Rei-chan's immense popularity.

"She even went as far as buying a magazine at a convenience store in my neighborhood."

"That's typical of Rei-chan, being so serious. She'd even prepared an excuse about doing some personal shopping to go to the station closest to your house."

"That's what I'm talking about. Rei-sama's kind, right?"

Yoshino knew about kindness. But in Rei-chan's case, it went beyond kindness to stubbornness. Not just Mr. Lillian but Mr. Perfect.

"So? What is someone that was escorted home like a princess doing in a place like this?"

Unable to see the theme of the conversation even after all this time, Yoshino was getting irritated. Just having Chisato-san standing here in front of her wasn't putting her in a good mood.

Yoshino couldn't believe her ears when she heard Chisato-san's response to her question.

"Me? I returned home for a few moments, then headed out again."

"Ehh?"

Involuntarily she cried out. All of the effort Rei-chan had gone to by buying a train ticket and escorting Chisato-san home had just been casually tossed aside, hadn't it?

But that wasn't the only surprising part. What Chisato-san said next was even more amazing.

"I quietly followed Rei-sama and caught the same train to K station."

"Huh? Then? No way... Did Rei-chan – "

"She didn't know. I was in a different carriage, and she was reading her magazine. Then I caught a bus and came here ahead of her."

"That's pretty stupid, yeah?"

The words were out of her mouth before she knew it. The pussy-cat image she hid behind while at school was too restricting. They didn't have time to mince words.

"I know it was stupid. I get it."

Chisato-san shot back, angrily.

Well, that was probably true. There was no need for Yoshino to objectively point this out. Chisato-san would have been able to realize subjectively that her own behavior was quite odd. But if she hadn't realized her strange behavior, it may have explained their confusing conversation.

"Once more, why?"

Yoshino asked, after she had calmed down. Chisato-san's response to her question was curt.

"Because I had something I wanted to tell you."

"Something you wanted to tell me?"

You've already said plenty, Yoshino thought. About how kind Rei-chan had been.

"The movie was fun. Rei-sama listened to my request and took me to see a romantic movie even though she probably wasn't interested in it."

"Well, that's …"

That's precisely her tastes, Yoshino thought. Chisato-san must have believed the incorrect information that had been printed in the Lillian Kawaraban, so she didn't know Rei-chan's preferences. There's no doubt that Rei-chan would have happily watched the romantic movie.

"We also went window shopping. There was a cute antique doll but it was expensive, so we only looked at it. And Rei-sama accompanied me everywhere we went."

Chisato-san continued.

"We couldn't go to the zoo or the amusement park because they have an entrance fee, but we walked around the lake in the public park. They had rowboats that some families and couples were using, but I was content just to watch. Because Rei-sama was by my side. When I would turn to look at her, her smiling face would be looking only at me."

"So, what. You came all this way just to give me your report?"

"That's right. Something wrong?"

Chisato-san grinned evilly. Her matter-of-fact attitude was grating.

"I came to brag to you. About how fun my half-day date was with Rei-sama. About how kind Rei-sama was. I"

Chisato-san's voice faltered at that point.

(Huh?)

The proud look on her face that had been so grating gradually contorted and then the tears tumbled down in large drops.

"… Hey, why are you crying?"

Yoshino was trying to understand, but Chisato-san just gave a small sniffle and cried. The half-day date was fun, right? Rei-chan was kind, right? So why was she crying and looking so miserable?

"Chisato-san..."

Yoshino gently put her hands on Chisato-san's shoulders. Even if she was an annoying rival for Rei-chan's affection, there's a temporary truce when your opponent is crying.

Chisato-san slowly raised her downcast head.

"I saw you, Yoshino-san."

"Huh?"

"On the pedestrian bridge, in front of the park."

"Oh, really?"

She had failed, and been seen. Even worse, it was by the person she least wanted to be seen by.

"So I thought I'd make you jealous by clinging to Rei-sama's arm."

"Then you succeeded splendidly. I was so jealous I wanted to slap you."

Yoshino was starting to get angry just remembering it.

"I hated you, Yoshino-san."

"Oh, really."

Yoshino hadn't thought that Chisato-san liked her, so it didn't come as a shock. Indeed, it would have been worse if Chisato-san had told her that she liked her.

"Before your surgery, you had the image of a tragic heroine, and Rei-sama was always by your side, helping you out. That was exactly how I interpreted it."

"I wasn't forcing her to do that, you know. Rei-chan enjoyed fussing over me."

"That's something else that I can't stand."

"What now?"

Even though Yoshino thought she was offering up a truce, Chisato-san showed no indication of letting up her attack. Yoshino was troubled. Not wanting to brag, but she didn't really have a lot of patience.

"How you're monopolizing gentle Rei-sama's affection. After flaunting it during the Yellow Rose Revolution, you simply got back together with her."

"Hold up"

"And how you call Rei-sama, 'Rei-chan.'"

"Chisato-san. You're – "

"I've always hated that, but, just for today, I didn't think there would be anything for me to hate."

Chisato-san paused momentarily, then continued in a barely audible voice.

"Rei-sama wasn't aware of it, but she called me 'Yoshino' five times today."

"Huh...?"

"No matter what we talked about, it wasn't long before Yoshino-san popped up. 'How Yoshino did this' or 'when I came here with Yoshino.' … So I was jealous of you. But I couldn't say anything to Rei-sama. When I got home, my anger wouldn't go away, so I …"

" – Chisato-san."

"I know it's not fair to complain to you about it."

Chisato-san started to sob uncontrollably.

She was hurting. It was only natural that she would be crying. It wasn't just her anger that had driven her to do this.

Chisato-san was pitiable.

You couldn't help but feel for her.

"I'm sorry."

Yoshino embraced Chisato-san.

It was Rei-chan's fault.

It was all Rei-chan's fault.

"I'm sorry my older sister is so insensitive."

In the cramped entry, the two of them embraced and continued to weep, until the end.

Like fools, until the end.

Like friends.

Until the end.