Maria-sama ga Miteru Volume 7 Chapter 9

"Oh no."

By the time I woke up, it looked like I'd be cutting it close to get to school on time. I just put on my uniform and left without having breakfast.

"You answered me when I called out to you, so I thought you were awake."

My mom was panicking. But I was a high-school student, so it wasn't my parents' fault if I was late. Even so, my alarm must have stopped at some point. I just couldn't be late.

When I got to the main road, I saw the bus coming behind me, so I forced my leaden body to sprint. I made it to the bus stop just in time, boarded the bus, and breathed a momentary sigh of relief. But the bus was crowded, and the man next to me reeked of alcohol, so for the first time in ages I felt carsick.

The bus I changed to at M station was filled mainly with Lillian students, so there wasn't the smell of alcohol, but despite that I kept feeling worse and worse, and couldn't get back to normal.

I wasn't late to school, but I was completely exhausted by the time I made it to the classroom.

"You're not looking well, are you okay?"

Shimako-san asked, concerned, when she saw my face.

"Yeah. My energy's my sole redeeming feature."

But my magical spell wasn't working today.

Near the end of forth period, I collapsed.

I kept urging myself on, repeating "energy" in my mind, but in the end it was no good.

I'd been called upon by our teacher to answer a maths problem, and as I was facing the blackboard, chalk in hand, I felt disoriented, then shook violently.

Somehow, I was able to calmly analyze the situation - it was the scene you so often see in TV dramas or manga books. The chalk snaps, then falls to the floor in slow motion, followed by the graceful collapse of the heroine.

But reality was non-fiction. In a TV drama, they can do numerous takes, cut and start again if it's no good. To say nothing of the fact that I wasn't the heroine type.

Even after I'd turned pale and everything had gone dark, I was still alert enough to think, "At this rate, I'll fall and hit my head," and, "I don't want brain damage," so I crumpled at the knees, landing on my butt and preventing it from being a serious accident.

But because of that, I guess everyone thought it was just a joke at first. I had a faint but distinct memory of hearing a moment of laughter as I sat there, unable to stand up.

Maybe it's at times like this that your true character shines through.

It's a pitiful story, but that's the truth.

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the bed in the school infirmary.

I had a hazy memory of Shimako-san and Tsutako-san carrying me here, my arms around their shoulders. After that, it looks like I slept for a while.

"Too much work and not enough sleep, huh."

The school nurse asked, seeing me open my eyes.

"But it's not exam time, so what on earth have you been doing?"

"… All sorts of things."

"All sorts of things, huh."

The nurse repeated my words, then clapped her hands together as though remembering something.

"Ahh, right. You're Ogasawara Sachiko-san's petit soeur, aren't you?"

"What's that about my onee-sama?"

I sat up on the bed. No matter the circumstances, the name "Ogasawara Sachiko" would always draw a response from me.

The nurse laughed.

"She came here at lunch. You shouldn't worry her like that."

I could kind of remember it. Her hand touching my forehead, her eyes looking at me with concern.

"Do you feel up to eating your lunch?"

"… Yes."

I climbed down from the bed, and started to eat my lunch hunched over the nurse's desk. One of my classmates had brought my coat and lunch box, so I didn't have to go back to the classroom.

Since I hadn't had breakfast, there's no way my stomach was full. But even when I brought the food to my mouth, I could only swallow tiny amounts.

I was crying.

I'd been so stupid, I didn't know what to do.

(Silly Yumi. It's because you pushed yourself too hard.)

On the surface, my onee-sama's words were as cold as her hand had been. But they also contained a warm sorrow. By touching my forehead she was definitely trying to convey something to my heart, but that left me feeling even more depressed.

Once more, I'd burnt out too soon.

That's how I always was.

I'd get engrossed in something, get carried away all by myself, push right to the edge, and then overstretch and fail.

Sachiko-sama had watched me sleep for about 15 minutes, then left.

I knew that for Sachiko-sama, who was busy preparing for tomorrow's "Third-Years' Farewell Party," fifteen minutes of lunch time was an incredible amount of time.

I looked at my watch. It was right in the middle of sixth period.

(Take your time and rest.)

Those words were still floating around the infirmary. It seemed like Sachiko-sama had left them there on parting, and my tears flowed once more.

I truly felt like I wasn't worthy of her kindness.

"Oh? You're in a bad enough shape to be crying, but you're still eating? What's going on?"

I turned around, and Rosa Gigantea was standing in the doorway, a befuddled look on her face.

"Or is it that you're feeling unwell because the nurse is forcing you to eat?"

"Ah, don't say such disrespectful things, Satou-san. It's not like she's being kept in detention until she finishes eating."

The nurse appeared from deeper in the room with a strained smile on her face.

"Ah, pardon me. I didn't realize you were there. I came to pick up Fukuzawa. Is it okay if I take her with me?"

Rosa Gigantea had arrived wearing her coat and carrying her school bag. From that I could clearly tell that she was going to take me home, and not back to the classroom.

"You're going to escort her, Satou-san?"

"Yeah. My class is only doing self-paced study, and her shepherd asked me to."

"Her shepherd? Ah, you mean Ogasawara-san?"

"Yes."

Right in front of me, the nurse and Rosa Gigantea laughed openly. Still, shepherd. It was indeed true that Sachiko-sama was always helping me.

"Umm, I'm fine now."

I'd finished forcing my lunch down my throat. While I had collapsed, it was because of the combination of fatigue, lack of sleep, no breakfast, and motion sickness. Now that I'd had some sleep and eaten lunch, all of the causes had been addressed.

"I know, I know."

Rosa Gigantea nodded, listening to my appeal. But even as she agreed, she methodically gathered up my now empty lunch box, put it in my bag and otherwise prepared to leave.

"Umm."

"I know you're fine. But even so, that's all for today."

Her tone of voice was kind, but left no room for argument.

"I have to get the flowers … and the auditorium has to be set up … "

With lingering regret, I counted out my after school duties on my fingers. Then Rosa Gigantea reached down and grabbed my hand, squeezing it into a ball.

"Someone else will take care of those things. All the tasks were clearly assigned, right?"

" … Yes."

"Then they'll all take a share of your tasks, Yumi-chan. That's what friends do."

"If you were there, they'd all be worried about you instead. Right?"

As expected of Rosa Gigantea. She knew all about falling down. I didn't say anything back to her, I just hung my head and looked down.

Rosa Gigantea escorted me all the way to bus stop at the south gate of M station, where I transfer to my second bus. I stubbornly refused her offer to escort me home.

They'd find out sooner or later, but for now I wanted to keep the fact that I collapsed during class and left school early a secret from my family. Things were a bit down at school, and I didn't want to drag that feeling into my home.

"Alright."

Rosa Gigantea relented, sensing my reluctance. If I'd been staggering she probably would have insisted on accompanying me, but I was walking fine and the color had returned to my face, so she probably judged that I was okay.

"Sachiko won't be angry."

As we parted, Rosa Gigantea slipped something into my handbag.

"Drink this, you'll feel better, and tomorrow you'll be right as rain."

On the bus, I took it out to have a look, and it was some kind of energy supplement drink.

When I got home, I had some of the energy drink to see what it was like. It tasted a bit like kid's cough syrup. A warmth spread throughout my body, but even after I drank it all, there wasn't really much other effect. Maybe that meant that my body was already back to normal. Assuming my body was still in a bad state, the only evidence of that now was my aching limbs.

"What's that?"

Dad asked, looking on in surprise, when I went to throw the empty bottle in the kitchen bin just before dinner.

"One of the seniors gave it to me."

"Don't you go to an all-girls school?"

"Yep."

"I guess there's old geezer high-school girls out there."

That was exactly how she was, so I couldn't offer a defense of Rosa Gigantea. But my mom was nearby and I didn't want to shatter her illusions, so I made absolutely sure not to mention the name "Satou Sei."

I phoned Sachiko-sama just after 8:30, to apologize for what happened.

The feeling of tension I had about calling my onee-sama hadn't really changed from before. But this time around, I wasn't as nervous about what I would do if one of her family members answered the phone, instead that nervousness was targeted at my onee-sama.

I clung to Rosa Gigantea's statement that Sachiko-sama wouldn't be angry, and rushed into the real thing, without doing a rehearsal.

Ring-ring, ring-ring, ring-ring … After ringing five times, Sachiko-sama herself picked up the phone.

"Hello."

"Yumi?"

Surprisingly, my onee-sama said my name before I could.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I worried you."

"You really did."

Harsh words, but her voice was light. Conceitedly, I thought this was because she was relieved to hear my voice.

"I took some time to reflect. That it may have been because I put too much of a burden on you."

"No."

I wholeheartedly rejected that notion. The collapse was solely due to my own ineptitude, and my onee-sama was in no way responsible for it.

"I missed breakfast, and I haven't been getting enough sleep, and I had motion sickness on the bus. It was all of those things added together."

" - You haven't been getting enough sleep?"

"It's because I've been practicing my party performance."

"Party performance - ?"

Then I remembered that we'd been keeping the party performances a secret and thought I'd blown it, but Sachiko-sama didn't question me further.

"So tomorrow - "

Before Sachiko-sama could finish her question, I answered forcefully.

"I'll be there, definitely. I'm going to get a good night's sleep tonight, then eat all my breakfast and head to school."

I rattled off like a machine-gun, before Sachiko-sama could say, "will you come to school?"

"I see."

Sachiko-sama said, after a bit of a pause.

Make sure you do. - I could tell she was smiling wryly.

Chapter end