Maria-sama ga Miteru

Chapter 240

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"Quit it."

Rei took her lips off the straw that was stuck into her milk box and said:

"You"re laughing because you"re reminiscing about something."

"Reminiscing?"

Sachiko was considering what it could have been, but now that it had been mentioned the memory had vanished. She raised her gaze that had been lowered a little while ago, but that sensation still remained.

"Sorry, that was rude of me."

They were sitting opposite each other, and by themselves, having lunch when she had suddenly started giggling in the middle of their conversation. It was probably a bit awkward.

"I don"t mind."

Rei tore a hole in the plastic bag to free the bread roll, then cut it in two and offered one of the halves to Sachiko.

"If you don"t mind, I"d like it if you shared your amusing memory with me."

It was almost approaching 1pm in Milk Hall. Usually, there would be hardly any spare seats but today was the day before the high school graduation ceremony and afternoon cla.s.ses had been canceled. Presently only about one in four seats were occupied. The reason it was still open seemed to be to accommodate those students who were saying goodbye, as well as to satisfy the hunger of the teachers who were preparing for the ceremony tomorrow. There were also some students who came to buy food and drinks, but didn"t stay to eat. A while ago, some students from the arts club had bought a sizable number of pastries.

Perhaps out of respect the other students maintained a distance, creating this unusual image of the pair of Roses, Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Foetida, sitting alone in the normally busy Milk Hall.

Even so, from the distance Sachiko could hear murmurs such as "I wonder what they"re doing here?" If they had just come up and asked instead of whispering to each other, she would have answered them. They had some minor matters to attend to in the afternoon, and having lunch in Milk Hall seemed like a good way to end.

"What"s this?"

Sachiko asked, taking the offered bread.

"It"s a bread roll with yakisoba noodles. You"ve never heard of it?"

"Of course I have."

She knew that such a thing existed in the world. What"s more, she knew that they were sold on campus, having witnessed one of her cla.s.smates order one. And although she didn"t go there often, she had seen them on sale at a convenience store. She couldn"t remember, but she thought she might have even tried one at some point. It was major player in the bread-roll world.

But it was just carbohydrates on top of carbohydrates. Earlier they had eaten spicy potato-salad wrapped in a bun.

Not being accustomed to buying lunch, Sachiko had left it up to Rei to choose, but she was starting to wonder if this really was a normal combination. While she had taken her turn as the person on duty collecting the lunches, she had hardly ever ordered anything herself.

"It wasn"t anything major."

Rei was still fixed in her listening pose, so Sachiko responded after taking a bite of the yakisoba bread roll.

"I was just wondering if they had a search through the Rose Mansion for any items that we may have forgotten. That kind of thing."

The yakisoba bread roll was surprisingly good. The taste was somewhat reminiscent of traditional New Year"s foods.

"Ahh, on that. Yoshino said they were doing that today. Searching the rooms on the first floor of the Rose Mansion."

"Oh, is that so. Then we"ll definitely have to go there after we"re done."

Rei"s pet.i.t soeur, Yoshino-chan, is also her cousin and next-door neighbor, so they would talk on the way to and from school. Because of that, Rei was always well-informed.

"Is looking for lost items really that interesting? I"d guess that there aren"t any items that you"ve forgotten anyway, Sachiko."

"True."

The previous year"s Roses had been inattentive, and would go out leaving their personal effects scattered around. After having to deal with this, Sachiko and Rei were more cautious in their daily lives. Even so, Sachiko had been slightly worried about it, so yesterday morning she had secretly checked whether or not she had left anything behind. Consequently she was confident in her perfection.

"It amuses me to think about what Yumi"s face will look like when she realizes that I haven"t left anything behind."

"Ahh, is that it."

"Yeah."

Sachiko finished the last of the tea in her carton.

"Well there"s still plenty to enjoy yet."

Rei smiled coyly. That was the look she got when thinking about the future.

"You"re right. Well, should we get going?"

As soon as they stood up to move off, everyone"s gaze turned towards them.

Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Foetida.

After tomorrow, they would no longer be called that.

The pair stopped momentarily at the vending machine in front of Milk Hall.

"Which should I get?"

"I just had tea, so something else would be good."

"I"m fine with something else milk-based. Milk coffee it is."

Just like with the bread rolls, they each put in exactly half the amount in coins and bought three milk coffees.

"I wonder where they are?"

Stepping outside she looked up at the branches of the cherry tree. While the flower buds were starting to expand, it looked like it would still be a number of days until they blossomed.

"If we go by her usual behavior..."

Rei was talking to herself as she pulled out her notebook.

"&h.e.l.lip; she"d probably still be in the third year cla.s.sroom."

On the way to their destination cla.s.sroom they were surrounded by several of their juniors.

Since this happened outside the third year Chrysanthemum cla.s.sroom, Sachiko a.s.sumed they were waiting because they had some business with Rei. One, two, three, &h.e.l.lip;. Only her eyes moved as she counted them. Seven people all up. A mixture of both first and second year students.

"Umm, Rosa Foetida. Could you please sign our autograph books?"

One of the students asked, acting as a representative for the group.

"You don"t mind?"

Before responding to the students, Rei sought confirmation from Sachiko. Because they were traveling together, Rei was probably concerned about making her wait.

"Go ahead."

Having said that, Sachiko slipped out of the huddle of students.

Standing before her now, this was Hasekura Rei.

Sachiko only knew a small part of Rei"s school life, since she was in a different cla.s.s and not involved with Rei"s kendo club.

Having been set free from the tyranny of exams, Rei would probably happily sign whatever she was asked. A rumor had gone around that Rosa Foetida wouldn"t refuse to sign autograph books and she would probably still be getting requests tomorrow, even though it was the day of the graduation ceremony.

Sachiko smiled wryly.

It had probably been towards the end of February when, during one of her free periods, a student had held out a notebook, that was bound like a paperback, towards her and asked if she would sign it. She had been incredibly busy at the time, although she couldn"t remember with what, and had flatly refused without putting any thought into the decision. This happened in public and some people apparently took it to mean that Rosa Chinensis wasn"t going to sign anyone"s autograph book. The precedent of the Valentine"s Day chocolates may have had something to do with it, but from that point on no-one had asked her to sign their book. It wasn"t that she was feeling jealous as she watched Rei, but she did regret it somewhat.

Mainly for that student. She should have signed because that girl had been the only one to work up the courage to ask her. Even if she was in a hurry, she could have taken the notebook and returned it afterwards. If that wasn"t possible, she could have at least asked for the girl"s name and cla.s.s. - But, unfortunately, she couldn"t even recall the girl"s face.

"Rosa Chinensis"

Someone suddenly called out to her as she was watching Rei standing in the side of the hallway, still signing away.

"Are you busy right now?"

It was an unknown junior. No, Sachiko had the feeling that she had seen this girl somewhere before, but couldn"t remember her name.

"Not at all, as you can see."

She had time to spare while she waited for her popular friend.

"Would you like to sign my autograph book?"

"Yeah, sure."

Sachiko had been leaning against the wall but stood up straight when the book and felt-tipped pen were offered to her.

"I wonder what I should write."

She asked as she accepted the items, and got the response of "Your name."

"It"s okay if I just write my name?"

"Yeah"

Rei seemed to be writing something more than just her name. She was probably changing it for each person, or taking requests. When she had heard the phrase "Heart, physique, technique," she had unintentionally blurted out "Sumo wrestling?"

And as for Sachiko.

It was a bit shaky because she had stayed standing as she signed, but she wrote her name wholeheartedly. - Ogasawara Sachiko.

"Thank-you very much."

"You too."

"Huh?"

"I"m glad you came back."

"You actually remembered?"

"Truthfully, I wasn"t sure when I first saw your face."

Sachiko brushed her fingers against the autograph book she had just returned. Her conviction came because she had recognized it. Conversely, if she had just seen the book it probably wouldn"t have been enough either. The face and the autograph book were a pair, and because of them she had recognized the girl she had initially refused.

"I"m sorry I turned you down back then."

"It"s okay. You said what you did because you were in a hurry. So I thought I"d wait for an opportunity when you weren"t busy."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Really. Sachiko had hastily rejected her, but it seemed as though her feelings had been properly conveyed. Sachiko smiled.

That"s nice.

At least in the eyes of the girl in question she wasn"t seen as a complicated and hard to get along with senior.

"Umm, could you do the same for us?"

The students who had received Rei"s autograph had timidly made their way over. They seemed to have noticed that Rosa Chinensis, who was rumored not to sign anyone"s book, was pleasantly chatting with a student holding an autograph book.

Sachiko let out an exasperated sigh then relented.

"But I"m only going to write my name."

She couldn"t match Rei"s level of service, but Sachiko thought she should probably follow her example.

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