Maria-sama ga Miteru

Chapter 53

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"I haven"t heard anything about that."

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san said.

 

 

 

 

"Neither have I."

 

 

 

 

Shimako-san was in the same boat.

 

 

 

 

"Yumi-san, I think you"ve been tricked by Rosa Gigantea."

 

 

 

 

That was the opinion shared by my two cla.s.smates.

 

 

 

 

After calling the Roses, I"d phoned Yoshino-san and Shimako-san at their houses, to tell them what I"d heard from Rosa Gigantea. As a result, we came to school a bit early today and were currently holding a strategy meeting in the library.

 

 

 

 

The reading room had high ceilings, so it was cold early in the morning. Still wearing our coats, we held a clandestine, face-to-face meeting. Because you could never tell when the boutons would show up at the Rose Mansion.

 

 

 

 

"Since Yoshino-san hasn"t heard anything from Rei-sama, I think it must be false information."

 

 

 

 

After thinking it over during the night, I was leaning towards it being a prank too. That Sachiko-sama wouldn"t prepare a tape, instead singing as she performed a ballet dance, was simply beyond belief.

 

 

 

 

"But "The Dance of the Little Swans" is real."

 

 

 

 

Shimako-san said, after flipping through a ballet reference book. On the page she held open was a color photograph showing four dancers in swan costume holding hands and dancing elegantly. The library was a pretty convenient place for a meeting, since we could look over reference material easily.

 

 

 

 

"It is too."

 

 

 

 

I groaned. Rosa Gigantea"s lie had been a bit too specific.

 

 

 

 

"But would Sachiko-sama dance it alone?"

 

 

 

 

She had a lot of pride, so it seemed like she"d avoid making herself a target of ridicule.

 

 

 

 

"She would if Rosa Chinensis asked her, right? Or if they said she wouldn"t be able to do it, she"s the type of person who would just to prove them wrong."

 

 

 

 

Oh Yoshino-san, sharp work.

 

 

 

 

"When I think about it, there"s a chance Rei-chan would get fired up too. And since she"s shy, she wouldn"t want to tell me about it."

 

 

 

 

We"d done an about face and were now heading in the "might be true" direction. In that case.

 

 

 

 

"I guess we should prepare something then."

 

 

 

 

"Even if we don"t need it, it"s better than the alternative."

 

 

 

 

"Let"s keep it a secret from our onee-samas."

 

 

 

 

We looked at each other and agreed. With our plan in place, the next thing was who would do what.

 

 

 

 

"I"m not that good at comedy."

 

 

 

 

Shimako-san looked troubled.

 

 

 

 

"It"s okay, don"t worry."

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san patted Shimako-san on the shoulders, to rea.s.sure her. n.o.body expected her to do a comedy routine.

 

 

 

 

"Let"s see. Shimako-san, you"re a master of the arts, aren"t you? You can perform traditional j.a.panese dances, right?"

 

 

 

 

"&h.e.l.lip; Yes."

 

 

 

 

Shimako-san agreed dubiously. In contrast, Yoshino-san seemed to be enjoying herself. She looked like she really loved this sort of thing.

 

 

 

 

"Can you dance improv?"

 

 

 

 

"What do you mean by improv?"

 

 

 

 

"I mean, could you dance to some non-traditional music? Without ch.o.r.eography, could you make it up yourself?"

 

 

 

 

"If I knew the song, I could manage."

 

 

 

 

"Okay. Since you"ll be as busy as the other boutons, how about you dance to some music that we organize for the event."

 

 

 

 

Like a dictator, Yoshino-san was rapidly making decisions by herself. Well, we didn"t have much time, so that was probably a good thing.

 

 

 

 

"So, I won"t know the music until the performance itself?"

 

 

 

 

Shimako-san still seemed uneasy.

 

 

 

 

"Well, that"ll make it more interesting, right?"

 

 

 

 

Really?

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san was up to something. n.o.body expected Shimako-san to do a stand-up comedy routine, but it looked like Yoshino-san was trying to steer it in a comedic direction.

 

 

 

 

"So then, Yumi-san and I will be in charge of laughs."

 

 

 

 

"Laughs, huh."

 

 

 

 

I got a very different treatment to Shimako-san.

 

 

 

 

"I"ll do a magic show. Yumi-san, you can do some kind of party performance."

 

 

 

 

"Wha, a party performance!?"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san took an "Introduction to Party Performances" book off the shelf and held it out to me. The other book she was holding was about magic, for her own use.

 

 

 

 

"But I can"t do a party performance."

 

 

 

 

I wailed. I"d never done any kind of party performance in my entire life. Not only that, but I"d never even seen one either.

 

 

 

 

"Quit complaining, there"s no time. Yumi-san, I"m sure you"ll be able to put on a funny show."

 

 

 

 

The Rose families were skilled at flattery.

 

 

 

 

"I guess I haven"t got a choice."

 

 

 

 

Reluctantly I took hold of the "Introduction to Party Performances" book.

 

 

 

 

Nevertheless. Wasn"t that a backhanded compliment?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Yumi-san."

 

 

 

 

At lunchtime, as I was hurrying to the Rose Mansion carrying my lunch, a voice called out to stop me.

 

 

 

 

"Will Rosa Chinensis en bouton be present at the Rose Mansion during the lunch break?"

 

 

 

 

It was Saeko-san. She was the pet.i.t soeur of the head of the flower arranging club. Usually we didn"t speak much, well, about as much as normal cla.s.smates.

 

 

 

 

"Yeah, probably."

 

 

 

 

I nodded, thinking she"d be there.

 

 

 

 

"But there"s still a lot of preparation to be done, so I"m not sure if she"ll be there for the entire time."

 

 

 

 

I added, just in case. The boutons had been really busy lately. Like only coming to the Rose Mansion to eat lunch. Plus there were lots of guests that came to see them while they were eating.

 

 

 

 

"Hmm, that"s a pain. I suppose Shimako-san would know."

 

 

 

 

She looked around restlessly, but Shimako-san was so busy she"d probably left the cla.s.sroom already.

 

 

 

 

"What was it about?"

 

 

 

 

I asked, and Saeko-san responded with, "Well, the truth is," as though she were about to start gossiping.

 

 

 

 

"It"s about the "Third-years" Farewell Party." The flower arranging club has been asked to set up a display in the auditorium."

 

 

 

 

"Yeah."

 

 

 

 

This I knew. The "Third-years" Farewell Party" was organized by the student council, but it was open for all students to partic.i.p.ate, either through clubs or as cla.s.ses, to hold displays or put on performances and liven things up. - Although, embarra.s.singly, I only learned this information at yesterday"s meeting.

 

 

 

 

"We were wondering when we should bring the arrangements in. We"d like to know when we can start setting up, and when we have to be done by."

 

 

 

 

"Ahh, that"s not part of Shimako-san"s domain. &h.e.l.lip; Alright, when I see my onee-sama, I"ll ask her. Is it okay if I get back to you later today?"

 

 

 

 

"Really? That"ll be great, thanks."

 

 

 

 

Saeko-san squeezed my hand tightly.

 

 

 

 

It was exciting thinking that I was helping out with the student council work. And in this way I was helping my onee-sama too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Ah, Yumi-san."

 

 

 

 

On the staircase, a second-year student called out to me as we pa.s.sed.

 

 

 

 

"Brilliant timing. I"m from the art club. We"ve finished the signboard for the "Third-years" Farewell Party," so can you let the boutons know to pick it up from the art club"s room as soon as possible."

 

 

 

 

"Ah, okay."

 

 

 

 

So that"s setup time for the flower arranging club, and signboard for the art club.

 

 

 

 

So that I wouldn"t forget, I crossed two of my fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was exhausted by the time I got home, probably because my normally unused faculties had been running at full capacity.

 

 

 

 

The work had built up after the initial task, and I"d now become something of a convenient messenger to the hard-to-reach boutons.

 

 

 

 

After school, I"d made the round trip between the Rose Mansion and the club rooms twice, on errands for the story telling club and the dance club, plus I"d had to stop in at the office and use the payphone to check if the flowers we"d ordered had arrived at the florist yet. Despite all this, I still had it easier than the boutons.

 

 

 

 

I was so tired that I listlessly munched on the dinner side-dishes of sauteed lotus root and burdock. In the bath, it felt like I was about to fall asleep right there and then.

 

 

 

 

"Now then."

 

 

 

 

When I got out of the bath, I wanted to climb into bed straight away, but there was still one task I had left to do.

 

 

 

 

"Yumi-chan, what on earth are you looking for?"

 

 

 

 

My mother called out dubiously upon seeing her daughter rustling through the closet.

 

 

 

 

"Well, a couple years ago, dad got really into party performances, didn"t he?"

 

 

 

 

The father in question was out tonight having drinks with a client to celebrate the completion of their new building. I didn"t know what time he"d be back, so I made a guess about where that stuff would be and started looking. The closet had looked like a good place to keep some small props. The truth was, I still hadn"t decided what to do for the farewell party.

 

 

 

 

"Ah, you mean that cla.s.s reunion trip to the hot springs?"

 

 

 

 

"Yeah."

 

 

 

 

I picked through the contents of the cardboard box we"d christened the "Junk Box," looking at each item in turn. A yoyo and a pocket-size ball-and-cup game. A procession of items, mainly promotional goods that would be forgotten about whether thrown away or not, greeted me with a cheery, "Good day," or, rather, "Good evening."

 

 

 

 

"What was it that dad did, do you know?"

 

 

 

 

"Hmm, what was it? I think it was Nankin Tamasudare [1] or that one where you draw a face on your stomach and make it move[2]."

 

 

 

 

Mom yawned. It was 11 o"clock at night.

 

 

 

 

"Either way, it was a comedy act, right?"

 

 

 

 

"Yeah. That"s the type of person he is."

 

 

 

 

And since his blood flowed in my veins, it was only natural that I"d be put in charge of comedy.

 

 

 

 

"Oh, there"s lots of magic tricks."

 

 

 

 

"Ah. Yuuki might have used those."

 

 

 

 

Mom asked, "How about these?" But Yoshino-san was already doing a magic act, so they were no good.

 

 

 

 

"Oh? What"s this?"

 

 

 

 

Mom asked, pulling out a furoshiki cloth bundle and setting it on the tatami mat floor.

 

 

 

 

"You mean there"s something in the closet that you don"t know about, mom?"

 

 

 

 

"It happens from time to time."

 

 

 

 

When either dad, myself or my younger brother Yuuki didn"t want to disturb her, and just put it in the closet ourselves, or else if it was something that made so little impression that she forgot about putting it in there.

 

 

 

 

"It"s the former."

 

 

 

 

Mom smiled as she said this.

 

 

 

 

"Are you sure you"re not the culprit here, Yumi-chan?"

 

 

 

 

"I have no memory of it whatsoever. Should we open it?"

 

 

 

 

"Go ahead. If someone didn"t want it found, they would have put it somewhere else."

 

 

 

 

Her reasoning was solid. Our family generally considered the closet a shared s.p.a.ce.

 

 

 

 

"Now then, what will we find?"

 

 

 

 

My heart beating with excitement, I picked at the knot with my fingers. But it was tight, like an official seal. Perhaps the person that tied this knot never intended for it to be opened, and had put a curse on it like the Egyptian pyramids.

 

 

 

 

Just as I decided I wouldn"t look if it contained something like photos of naked women, the knot came undone.

 

 

 

 

What appeared inside was -

 

 

 

 

"What"s this? Ca.s.sette tape, hand towel, 5 yen piece and &h.e.l.lip; a sieve?"

 

 

 

 

Mom and I looked at each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

for a theoretical overview. for a practical demonstration. I don"t know what else to call it: Literally it would be "belly dancing," but that means something quite different in English.
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