Maria-sama ga Miteru

Chapter 57

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I went to the Rose Mansion the following day, and when everyone first saw me they were initially relieved, but then switched to a reproving expression.

"Did you have breakfast?"

Sachiko-sama asked, as she put the roses back into a bucket after cutting off their stems.

"I ate it all up."

"Tell me if things get tough."

"Okay."

I actually wanted to reply with, "I"m fine," but that would probably be taken as false bravado, so I responded meekly.

The roughly 200 roses that I was supposed to receive, and a small amount of water, were all arranged in a bucket. They"d be put in vases to decorate the stage, then at the conclusion of the ceremony one would be given to each of the third-years.

The color of the roses was salmon pink. A blend of red, white and yellow. It was the color that everyone had decided upon.

"Alright, we should get going soon."

At 8:00am, we stood up.

The whole-school "Third-years" Farewell Party" was going to take place during the morning.

Yoshino-san took the roses from the bucket, wrapped a piece of newspaper around them, said, "Here," and handed them to me.

"You know, because of my heart condition, I"ve always been a weakling. So I know how you"re feeling better than anyone, Yumi-san."

"Right, right. Don"t worry about it. I"m used to Yoshino."

Rei-sama said, then she and Yoshino-san lifted one of the hibachi oven sized vases borrowed from the flower arranging club.

Similarly, the art club"s bold signboard was carried by Sachiko-sama and Shimako-san. Two beautiful women lined up together performing manual labor. It was the sort of idyllic scene one would pray for.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a little bit further."

They"d call out from time to time, as we headed towards the auditorium.

I wanted to cry. But they weren"t the self-loathing tears of yesterday afternoon, they were tears of happiness brought about by my grat.i.tude to my friends.

But Shimako-san"s cry caused those tears to quickly evaporate.

"Oh no, Yumi-san."

"What? Gyaa!"

I wailed like a monstrous child. Since the roses had only been simply wrapped in newspaper, the water that they had until recently been sitting in had tricked down the stems.

"I"m so sorry."

Yoshino-san earnestly apologized, but that didn"t achieve anything. We were out of the school building, so there was nowhere convenient to set them down temporarily, and everyone else was busy carrying other things so there was no-one I could get to help.

I had no choice but to run to the a.s.sembly hall, but by the time I got there the front of my skirt was soaked.

In the end, I had to attend the formal "Third-Years" Farewell Party" in my sweatpants and sweatshirt.

My uniform was hanging up in the Rose Mansion. It would probably be dry by the time I went home, but being the only person wearing their gym uniform in a sea of school uniforms was a huge mental blow.

"What happened?"

Other students insensitively asked, when they saw me in the auditorium. At first I tried to carefully explain, but that took too long and was kind of annoying, so after a while I simply answered with, "It"s easier to move around in."

"Oh, my, you didn"t wet yourself?"

As I listened to this frivolous drivel, I idly thought about the reason why this had happened.

Maria-sama, this is my penalty for pushing myself too hard, right?

I looked out the entrance of the auditorium and up at the sky, but there were clouds in the way, so the blue sky was too far away to be seen.

The party had been a great success.

The desire of the school clubs and other groups to do something for the seniors that they were indebted to shone through, the musical program went just as rehea.r.s.ed and was magnificent, the displays that lined the auditorium entrance and lobby were all masterpieces.

Well, that was my opinion.

One of the goals of the "Third-Years" Farewell Party" was, obviously, to be entertaining, but a large part of it was also to rea.s.sure the graduating seniors.

We"ll take good care of all that you"ve built. So you don"t have to worry about us anymore. - That message came through loud and clear.

Having successfully organized this big event, the three boutons were already splendid Roses. I was still a small, green rose bud, and all I could do was keep going, but without overdoing it and melting down.

As I handed out roses to the graduating seniors, I glanced over at Shimako-san and Yoshino-san.

It"ll probably be fine.

If I can avoid overestimating, or underestimating, my own worth, and if we can all rely on each other like now, then we"ll surely see it through together.

"There"s nothing painful about filling in for someone you like."

That"s what Shimako-san had said when I apologized to her about making her pick up my slack.

"You would have done the same for me, right Yumi-san?"

That"s right, Shimako-san.

I"d happily do the work of Shimako-san, or Yoshino-san, or Sachiko-sama, or Rei-sama, or any of the Roses, or Tsutako-san, or Katsura-san, &h.e.l.lip; any of the people I loved.

The roses, their stems cut short, were pinned to the third-years like corsages.

My eyes were dazzled by the brilliant, proud flowers.

The color of the chosen flowers was a mixture of red, white and yellow.

I"d never considered it before now, but salmon pink had become my favorite color.

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