Maria-sama ga Miteru Volume 24 Chapter 7

"Oh, you're by yourself?"

The short-haired, tall and slender young lady opened the door and stepped inside.

"Noriko-chan was here until a little while ago, though - "

Sachiko answered, stopping her hand that had been reaching out for the tea leaves.

"She left in a bit of a hurry. I don't think she noticed me on the ground floor."

The second-floor of the Rose Mansion.

Only the two third-years were present, which was something of a rarity of late.

"I see. I suppose she was heading to the room beside the staff room."

"Presumably."

About now, the information session for the election of the next student council was taking place at the aforementioned location. Noriko-chan wasn't planning on nominating herself, but her onee-sama, s.h.i.+mako, was scheduled to attend the meeting. So it was probably weighing on her mind a little, and she decided to take a look.

Right, just a little. Only intending to be gone about as long as it takes for the kettle to boil.

"The room's been cleaned."

"It looks like Noriko-chan did that."

Sachiko answered, as she prepared the tea for the first time in a while. She set out two cups, then deliberated for a little while, and got another one. The water had boiled, so she should be back soon.

"That girl was a good buy."

Rei said, taking a reference book out of her bag.

"A good buy &h.e.l.lip; yes, I suppose. But while she obviously has her talents, she's also been brought up well."

"What are you saying?"

"It's easier to master the skills with good role models close by."

A pleasant aroma came floating out of the rose-petal black-tea leaves as the hot water was poured over them. It was like being in a flower garden. Sachiko inhaled deeply.

"I see. The current second-years are all hard workers."

All three of them were happy to help. How important was that? More than quick wits, more than a smooth tongue, more than good grades, it was a talent that was vitally important to this place.

"Of course, that's the result of your brilliant leaders.h.i.+p, Rei."

To which Rei laughed.

"I think you mean yours, Sachiko."

"I'm no good."

Sachiko denied it.

"No good?"

"At leaders.h.i.+p, or helping others, or teaching &h.e.l.lip; those sorts of things."

As she said this, she offered the cup of tea she poured. Rei accepted the cup, and raised her hand slightly, to indicate thanks, as she closed the reference book she'd been looking at.

"You think so? But considering all that, Yumi-chan has grown up straight and true."

"That's due to her nature, wouldn't you say? Even without any effort on my part, she's kept growing and growing. The best I could do was not stifle her."

Which was why, from time to time, she was at a loss for what to do.

"Sachiko &h.e.l.lip; are you by any chance worried about what happened yesterday."

"Huh?"

Yesterday.

Yumi had snapped over something trivial. Normally Sachiko would have ignored having her own words thrown back at her, but she'd been quite fl.u.s.tered by how tenacious Yumi was.

"It's not only that."

Sachiko felt down, wondering why it was that every time something happened to Yumi, she wasn't able to calmly take care of her pet.i.t soeur like Mizuno Youko-sama had. It wasn't limited to just yesterday.

"That was Yumi-chan's infantile regression."

"Infantile regression?"

"You know, when a much younger sibling comes along and suddenly the older child starts acting spoiled, or wanting breast milk even though they were weaned long ago, or wetting themselves, that sort of thing."

"I had no idea. I'm an only child."

As she said this, she realized that Rei was also an only child. So was this considered common knowledge to Rei, or was it something she'd learned recently because she had to know it for a test?

"But it's not as though Yumi has a little sister."

"Having a sibling is just one cause. It's the sense of danger, of having their mother taken away, that causes the infantile regression. If they go back to being a baby, they'll be taken care of. Their position is threatened if they can't attract their mother's attention. Although, in Yumi-chan's case."

"Yeah."

"In April, you'll no longer be here, Sachiko. Don't you think that feeling of isolation could give rise to that sort of insecurity?"

- Graduation.

The onee-sama that she had relied on until the day before would suddenly be gone.

"But that's - "

Not something that was unique to Yumi.

"I'm going to graduate too, but Yos.h.i.+no will have Nana-chan as her pet.i.t soeur, right? And s.h.i.+mako already has Noriko-chan."

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

Indeed.

Even if she had her precious friends, they weren't soeurs. The soeur relations.h.i.+p at Lillian's Girls Academy was unique.

"But I'm sure Yumi-chan understands all this herself. So, I think the reason her anxiety is coming to the surface now is because she was rejected by Touko-chan. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, definitely."

Having finally found a pet.i.t soeur, she was refused. It would seem unlikely that she would be able to quickly produce a new pet.i.t soeur. On top of that, she had her onee-sama's graduation. It wouldn't be unusual for her to be dispirited.

"You can't spoil her. Thinking about the future, the purest form of love may be to push her away, so that she can stand on her own."

"&h.e.l.lip; That could be difficult."

"It's not difficult at all."

Rei explained it clearly. That skins.h.i.+p was okay, even though the pet.i.t soeur longed for the warm bosom of her onee-sama.

"I'm not talking about that. At the moment, I find myself struggling as hard as I can to become independent of Yumi."

"Huh."

Sachiko confessed to her surprised friend.

"I've been able to mature through being strict on Yumi, or having to help her. If I was good enough to have Yumi in the palm of my hands, I'd be able to do anything. But if I do this poorly, I'll be the first to crack. Then we'll both fall together."

"So that's how it is &h.e.l.lip; At any rate, your acting's been top-notch."

Pretending to be unconcerned, pretending not to notice Yumi's gaze, that sort of thing.

"Although I'm getting desperate. Ever since I was young, I've been accustomed to not showing my emotions, but that's quite difficult to do with Yumi."

"It's tough being an onee-sama."

Rei took a deep breath.

Sachiko nodded - it really was.

"Rei &h.e.l.lip; you look like you've got it tough too."

Like how she chose to sit entrance exams to separate from Yos.h.i.+no-chan, and with Nana-chan, who was still in middle-school.

"Ah, not too much."

Even though Rei had said "not too much," she'd still been worried about her pet.i.t soeur who'd gone to attend the election information session, so she'd come to the Rose Mansion to wait and see. - Sachiko smiled, watching the face of her friend enjoying the scent of the tea.

Noticing her gaze, Rei looked up.

"You know, earlier."

"Yes?"

"You said something about Yumi growing up straight all on her own. I don't think that's quite right. You're like the water, or the sunlight, or the nutrients. Without you, there'd be something missing and she'd wilt."

Hearing this impa.s.sioned speech, Sachiko asked, "Is that so?" to which the rea.s.suring response was, "It is."

"Thank-you."

Her mind was eased a little just by being able to agree with someone. Then, like a couple of old tea-drinking companions, they faced each other, occasionally letting their gazes entwine as they admired each other's distance.

A brief, lazy time.

An afternoon without pet.i.t soeurs.

"It's good to have tea mask-free like this from time to time."

Rei said.

"Mask-free?"

"It's from kendo, when you don't wear the face guard."

"Hmm."

It was the first time she'd heard this phrase.

"Mask-free, huh. I've learned something new today."

Sachiko smiled and sipped her tea.

Thinking that she'd like to remain mask-free for just a little while longer.

Just a little while longer.

Just until the stairs creaked and Noriko-chan returned.