Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume8 Chapter1 1

Lost Items. Part 1

"Yu-mi-chan."

A voice called out to her, then before she had a chance to turn around she was embraced from behind, like wings closing around her body. She'd been right in the middle of cleaning, using a bamboo broom to sweep the tree-lined path, so was at her most vulnerable.

"Gya … "

Yumi instinctively started to cry out, but since she'd become quite accustomed to this sort of attack she toned it down and ended with a comparatively restrained, "Ahh." This was her response to the almost-graduated Rosa Gigantea's request.

But something felt off, and as she tilted her head in puzzlement, the disappointed voice of her sexual harasser reached her ears.

"Hmmpf."

"… "Hmmpf." ?"

She got a surprise when she looked over her shoulder. There was Rosa Chinensis.

"Is this a joke?"

Hastily she jumped away.

In a sense, it was a bigger shock than when she was embraced. Why was the honor-student Rosa Chinensis engaging in this sort of game? Look, over there, not ten metres away, Yumi's classmates were looking at them, frozen to the spot.

"Tch."

"Tch?"

Even the way she was talking was a bit strange. It was a strange, new sensation, like the vengeful spirit of Rosa Gigantea had switched bodies.

"I failed at hugging Yumi-chan's soft body."

Rosa Chinensis sulkily kicked a pebble.

"Sei said you roar like a baby dinosaur, so I was looking forward to hearing your voice."

"…"

Yumi couldn't think of anything that would be an appropriate comeback. So she silently watched the pebble that Rosa Chinensis kicked as it tumbled off the path and disappeared into the bushes.

She'd got stuck on the word "Sei."

Recently, the Roses had been referring to each other by their names. Whether this was something arranged, or coincidence, she didn't know. But Yumi had witnessed that sort of scene numerous times.

She wasn't coping particularly well with hearing the real names of the Roses flutter around. In the past she thought nothing of it when she heard their names, but recently it had been rubbing her the wrong way.

When Yumi entered high-school, the Roses were already the Roses. So hearing their real names felt out of place. Even though the three of them had only been called Roses for one year of their eighteen.

So for the Roses to return to using their real names was a way of saying that they were no longer everyone's onee-sama, and Yumi didn't like that.

It was unfair, although she had no right to make such a complaint. She thought that they shouldn't be acting like they've graduated already, since the ceremony hadn't taken place yet.

"I thought I'd give it a go just once."

"What are you talking about?"

"Being the Yumi-chan-hugging-monster. I won't be able to do it once I've graduated, right?"

Yumi heard this as her way of saying she didn't want to leave it undone. She felt a bit sad, since it meant Rosa Chinensis was already looking beyond Lillian's. It was a lonely feeling, like she was being left behind.

"Since I'm not going to Lillian's University and all."

This year's three Roses had all declined the option of priority placement at Lillian's University, instead choosing the path of entrance exams. Even though they were all brilliant students and would have been accepted into any course at Lillian's University. Such a waste. Well, they were actually more brilliant than Yumi imagined, because despite Lillian's Girls Academy not really preparing them all that well for entrance exams, they had passed their exams and been accepted, so would all be university students from April.

" … You'll have to come and visit some time."

"We'll see."

Rosa Chinensis smiled softly. But that was all.

Yumi knew that "We'll see" wasn't "Yes." Rosa Chinensis probably knew it too. When April arrived and her new school life started, she may not look back at Lillian's Girls Academy.

Rosa Chinensis wasn't the type to get nostalgic and come back quickly. If she'd thought it hard to leave, she wouldn't have applied to another university and would have stayed at Lillian's. She was that kind of forthright person.

"Yumi-chan, you've almost finished cleaning, haven't you? Are you doing anything after that?"

"No, not really. I was just going to go to the Rose Mansion like usual … "

While the "Third-Years' Farewell Party" and the "Roses Going Away Party" were safely completed, the boutons were always busy with something, so Yumi was going to help out. The second-years had it tough because the third-years were all comfortably retired, and their petit soeurs weren't yet reliable. It was even worse for Shimako-san, who wasn't a second-year, so didn't have a petit soeur to act as her personal assistant.

"Hoho, the Rose Mansion. Come with me then, just for a little while."

"Come with you?"

Rosa Chinensis picked up the broom, handed it to one of Yumi's classmates who was also cleaning, saying, "Can you take this?" then put her arm around Yumi's shoulder and started walking away.

"Ah, umm, Rosa Chinensis."

Taking someone away without their consent, that was kidnapping.

"It's fine, don't worry. You should spend some time with your grandmother every once in a while."

So, the place that her "grandmother" dragged her to was Milk Hall.

"Come on, don't be shy, drink up, drink up."

"Okay … "

Hot milk wasn't the sort of thing Yumi could gulp down, even if urged to. To make matters worse, she was supposed to drink it directly from the bottle. When Yumi grumbled about this, Rosa Chinensis lowered her voice and said:

"Silly Yumi-chan. What would happen if warm milk came in a carton?"

"What would happen?"

She timidly asked. The topic of the conversation was milk, but it looked like it was going in a hair-raising direction. However.

"A hot milk carton would be ominous, no?"

"Huh?"

Rosa Chinensis' answer didn't do anything to reassure her.

"The milk carton might erupt if it got too hot. Or there could be problems with the quality. That's the sort of thing I'm talking about."

"Ah, that sounds reasonable."

Then Rosa Chinensis laughed and said, "Calling it ominous was just a joke though." Oh, so that was a joke, huh.

"And that's why you shouldn't drink hot drinks through a straw."

"Why's that?"

The mention of a straw had been unexpected, so Yumi thought it was still a joke and prepared to laugh, but Rosa Chinensis answered without smiling.

"Because you'll burn your mouth."

Completely serious.

" … Did you, perhaps, try it as an experiment?"

"Of course. During my seventh winter. Using miso soup."

Straw, seventh winter, miso soup. Were those the key words she had to use in an improv sketch?

"But, why?"

"Who knows. The spirit of adventure, perhaps."

A seven year old child with the spirit of adventure. That was incredible.

"Your parents didn't stop you?"

"Why would they? It was something their child was interested in."

It's not as though she was going to die from burning her tongue. Rosa Chinensis' household seemed to be quite enthusiastic about learning. Because of that, they'd produced such a strong lady.

"What?"

"Ah, nothing. I just thought you'd be able to study hard and give the men a run for their money."

As soon as she said it, Yumi thought, "Oh no." She'd brought up the topic of graduation on her own. Would her tear ducts be getting another workout?

Since Yumi had been at Lillian's since preschool, until now she'd never really thought about going to another university. Much less a co-ed one. She didn't have Sachiko-sama's fear of men, but she had a hunch she wouldn't be able to study peacefully if there was a guy at the desk beside hers.

"Yep. That's right."

"And the law department. You could be a lawyer or a prosecutor."

"I wonder."

As she said this, Rosa Chinensis stood up, then walked over to the vending machine by the wall, came back and sat down again facing Yumi.

"I set my sights on the law department because I'm interested in law. Lillian's university doesn't have a law department, so I had to go somewhere else. And when you're studying, it doesn't really matter if there's boys there or not, right?"

"I suppose."

"Well, Eriko's interested in the unusual, so whether it was a girls school or a co-ed school was important to her. Hey, did you hear?"

"About what?"

"To keep herself entertained, Eriko took the entrance exams for a bunch of different faculties. She didn't care whether it was humanities, or science, or anything else. Then she passed them all, so as a last resort she decided by picking one out of a hat."

So that's why she was in the Fine Arts department. Up until now, Rosa Foetida had never said a single word about liking art.

"A true masterpiece."

Still, even though she made fun of her close friend, Rosa Chinensis had made her choice not because it was her number one hope, but because she thought that taking the entrance exam on the best day of her life (Valentine's Day) had been a good omen.

"But best of all was Sei."

Tears fell as Rosa Chinensis laughed.

"Umm, tell me Rosa Chinensis, why did you choose to study law?"

Seeing the tears accompanying the laughter, Yumi quickly changed the topic. She'd had quite enough of talking about the people she loved going far, far away.

"Well, in my case."

Rosa Chinensis took a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at the overflowing tears.

"I realized I wanted to become an artist, and that's the ideal situation."

"Huh!?"

Had Yumi misheard? What she heard Rosa Chinensis say just now was that she was going to the law department, but she wanted to be an artist. But wasn't Rosa Foetida supposed to be the one going to the Fine Arts college?

"Figuratively speaking."

Rosa Chinensis laughed. As she laughed, she poked the attached straw into the carton of strawberry milk she'd bought from the vending machine earlier.

"With art, you don't study it because you're looking for a job, you just enjoy painting, then when you realize that, you want to become an artist. Isn't that how it is?"

"So you're studying law because you want to become a lawyer?"

Even as she asked, Yumi couldn't keep herself from watching what Rosa Chinensis was doing with her hands. After finally putting the straw in, she immediately took it out – what was she planning on doing?

"Right. Although saying I wanted to do something to help people sounds more persuasive."

But the other way was fine too. It might even be more persuasive coming from a teenaged girl.

"Well, I'm glad you're not studying to be a surgeon, Rosa Chinensis."

"Why's that?"

"Because it would mean you just enjoyed cutting up people's bodies, then you realized that, and decided to become a surgeon."

"… I wouldn't want that sort of surgeon operating on me even if I was dead."

"Well, you wouldn't be dead when they started."

Yumi answered with a straight face.

"That's for sure!"

Rosa Chinensis voice rose as she laughed without restraint.

"You really are funny, Yumi-chan!"

"Hey, what exactly are you doing with your hand while laughing so hard!?"

As soon as she saw what was happening, Yumi grabbed Rosa Chinensis' wrist, but it was too late.

"What am I doing? Surely you can tell just by looking."

After blowing on the milk to cool it, Yumi had managed to drink about a third of her bottle, and it was into this empty space that Rosa Chinensis poured the strawberry milk. Squeezing it out the hole previously occupied by the straw.

"Wh-wh-wh"

While watching Yumi sputter in confusion, Rosa Chinensis asked:

"Why? Is that what you wanted to ask?"

Coolly throwing a lifeboat. Right, that. That's what Yumi had been searching for.

"Didn't you say you couldn't drink it when it was hot?"

"I did, but."

That didn't mean she wanted it diluted with strawberry milk. At least if it had been coffee flavored milk, Yumi could have thought of it as a cafe au lait that was heavy on the milk.

"But it had already cooled."

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Yumi-chan. You won't be the only one with this bad memory."

Rosa Chinensis poured it into her own milk too. Because there was air in the pack, it drained quickly. Then she took a single mouthful, and her impression was:

"It's not that good, is it?"

"…"

So, why do it? That was the obvious retort, but Yumi didn't say it. Because she could guess the answer. This was obviously something Rosa Chinensis had wanted to try once too.

"Exactly."

"Huh?"

Yumi looked up as she struggled to drink her lukewarm strawberry milk, and Rosa Chinensis was smiling.

"You're sharp, Yumi-chan."

"Wha?"

"But funny despite that."

"Umm."

Not knowing how to react, Yumi reached out for her milk again. Rosa Chinensis continued on, unconcerned.

"That's why I think you're worthy."

"To be chosen to experience the hot strawberry milk au lait … ?"

Then Rosa Chinensis shook her head, "No." Her silky black hair gently touched her left and right cheeks once before settling down.

"To be Sachiko's guardian."

"Huh?"

"Yumi-chan."

Rosa Chinensis smiled at her and spoke softly.

"Take care of Sachiko for me."

" … O … kay."

"She's not charmingly innocent, but she's my irreplaceable petit soeur."

It was at that point that Yumi realized that Rosa Chinensis had invited her there to hear her final request.