Maria-sama ga Miteru Volume 24 Chapter 6
Wednesday.
For better or worse, the day of the candidates speeches had arrived.
There were no cla.s.ses in the afternoon. The first- and second-year students gathered in the auditorium to listen to the candidates give their speeches.
"At any rate, Im relieved. I was all on edge thinking you were going to withdraw your candidacy, Yumi-san. It looks like I shouldnt have been concerned at all."
Shimako-san had finished eating her lunch first, and was refilling Yumis cup with j.a.panese tea as she said this.
"Actually, I was thinking about it for a lo~ng time."
Yumi answered as she ate her lunch. Whether it was better to finish eating quickly and get some more practice for the speech, or to eat slowly and aid her digestion, that was the question.
"Oh, you were really considering it?"
Shimako-san asked, surprised. Sachiko-sama was also in the room, but she didnt have much of a reaction - only raising one eyebrow.
"Yeah."
"May I ask why you decided not to?"
Shimako-san sat down beside her, still holding the teapot, so Yumi nodded and started to tell her story.
"A few days ago I had the chance to talk to the mother of a student at school."
"Go on."
"She told me that her daughter was cheering for us. So you see."
Yumi closed her lunch box lid.
"Even though Im worried about Touko-chan, I cant forget about all the other students who are supporting us. Since Ive already nominated, I shouldnt drop out midway through. If I did that, Id be letting everyone down. If Touko-chan was the best person for the student council, then shed win even without any tricks from me. On top of that, regardless of how I felt, if I withdrew then Touko-chan would probably feel humiliated by having the win handed to her. And arriving at that conclusion, Ive prepared to face today. End of story."
Clap, clap, clap.
Applause was coming from somewhere. Shimako-san was still holding the teapot, so she couldnt be the one clapping her hands. That left -
&h.e.l.lip; Clap.
Surprisingly, the sound of applause was coming from Sachiko-samas hands.
"You should give your speech just like that. Your expression, your manner of speaking, it was all wonderful."
"Onee-sama."
Sachiko-sama hadnt offered any advice up until now, even when shed been shown the draft scripts or listened to Yumi rehea.r.s.e. To hear her suddenly talk like that, it made Yumi feel like she was about to cry.
Shimako-san put her hand on Yumis shoulder and gave it a soft shake. Come on, pull yourself together. That sort of thing.
"Is Rei-chan here!?"
Just then, Yoshino-san burst into the room.
"&h.e.l.lip; Not yet."
"I went to the third-year chrysanthemum cla.s.sroom, but they said she hadnt arrived yet. So I thought she might have come straight here - "
So that was it. Yoshino-san had taken a detour over there which was why she was so late in getting to the Rose Mansion.
"I told her she had to be at school before lunch. Its such a critical time when her cute little pet.i.t soeurs about to take on the speech meeting, and shes off wandering around like some hobo &h.e.l.lip; "
Letting her anger run its course, Yoshino-sans words got a bit confused.
"Now, now. Youll feel better if you eat your lunch. Youre probably irritated due to low blood sugar."
"Uh - "
"Come on, have a seat."
Yoshino-san was motioned to sit down and poured a cup of tea. Yumi knew the truth. Yoshino-sans irritation wasnt due to "Rei-chan" or low blood sugar, it was due to nerves about the speech a.s.sembly that was just around the corner. But because Yoshino-san didnt want to admit that, she put the blame on "Rei-chan."
"You might be right. Im kinda hungry &h.e.l.lip; I think."
Just when Yoshino-san had regained a little of her composure, Noriko-chan finally arrived.
"Sorry Im late."
"What happened?"
Shimako-san asked.
Noriko-chan typically came straight here at lunch and after school. The question was about whether something had come up that she had to do, or if her fourth-period cla.s.s had been in one of the specialist cla.s.srooms. It wasnt a cross-examination, more of a conversation opener.
"Lunch in the cla.s.sroom."
"I see. And?"
"Mustard and taramasalata sandwich."
There was silence for a little while. Who did what?
"Ah."
Noriko-chan put her hand to her mouth and Shimako-san smiled.
"Its okay. You were with Touko-chan, right?"
"Yeah. I was kind of worried about her."
She was a bit worried about Touko-chan, so she didnt want to leave the cla.s.sroom, so she ate her lunch there. But from the sounds of it, it wasnt as though they ate their lunch together, she just watched Touko-chan from within the same cla.s.sroom.
"So, tell us, how did she look?"
Yoshino-san asked, waving around the wiener she was holding in her chopsticks. Looking like a superior officer receiving a report from a subordinate theyd sent out scouting.
"She was calm. She didnt look at all like someone who was about to give a speech in less than an hour."
"Hmm."
Yoshino-san muttered, sounding bored. She probably wouldnt have been satisfied unless she heard Touko-chan was shaking in her boots.
But a shaking Touko-chan would have felt fake. She was calm. That sounded a lot more realistic.
"How about that."
Yumi absent-mindedly muttered as she adjusted her candidates sash.
"A mustard and taramasalata sandwich."
That was a bit unexpected.
Before long, the group of five headed to the auditorium.
There was still fifteen minutes until it started, but even so there were quite a few students heading to the auditorium already.
Come to think of it, it had been like that last year too. Some of the students who were excited by the election had forgone their lunch break and headed to the auditorium as soon as fourth period was over to reserve some seats. The disinterested students probably arrived at the last minute, while those who were only somewhat interested arrived in dribs and drabs after theyd finished eating.
Rei-sama was waiting in the backstage area.
"Rei-chan!"
The moment she saw Rei-sama, Yoshino-san cried out and rushed over to her.
"I didnt think you were coming!"
Puffing up her cheeks like a blowfish.
"Huh, but I promised you, didnt I? I got delayed and was running a bit late so I thought Id change plans and come here directly. Hm? Whats the matter? You were going to pieces because your Rei-chan wasnt here?"
Rei-sama the hobo poked her cute little pet.i.t soeurs puffed up cheeks.
"You idiot."
Yoshino-san laughed and the mood completely dissolved. Resting her head on Rei-samas shoulder, she said, "You idiot," once more.
The strange thing was, that "You idiot" sounded like "Thank-you."
A short distance away, Noriko-chan was holding Shimako-sans hands and speaking like she was chanting a spell.
"Do your best, onee-sama. Im cheering for you. Youre going to be fine. I believe in you."
The words of encouragement that she hadnt received from her onee-sama last year came raining down on Shimako-san from her pet.i.t soeur a year later.
"Also &h.e.l.lip; um, fight!"
It was like she was trying to make up for last year, although Noriko-chan wouldnt have known about that.
"Noriko."
Shimako-san looked really happy.
Even if Sei-samas words about, "If youre elected, you have to see it through to the end," had been the ultimate encouragement to Shimako-san, there was no way Noriko-chan would have been able to reproduce that.
Their position as onee-sama and pet.i.t soeur were different, as was Shimako-sans relationship with each of them, as well as their personalities. But more than that, Shimako-san herself was different to the person she was a year ago.
As a result, Noriko-chan telling her to fight was probably the ultimate encouragement to Shimako-san now. With Noriko-chan cheering her on like that, how could she not?
As Yumi fondly watched the Yellow and White Rose soeurs, Sachiko-sama took her by the hand and said, "Come here."
"Youre shaking. I was like that too."
Her onee-sama squeezed her hand tightly, like Yumi had done last year.
"Alright? Its only natural that youre nervous. You shouldnt worry about whether you can step up or not. Youve already stepped up magnificently."
"Really?"
Yumi asked, a little bit surprised.
"Yes. Theres absolutely no need for you to show anything other than your self. But dont you think it would be a shame if you kept hiding what it is you already possess? Thats why I want you go out there and let those students in the auditorium get a good look at the real you. If you can do that, youll be a huge hit."
Sachiko-sama looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I believe in you."
"Onee-sama."
"Wha~t?"
"Please."
"Yes?"
"Please hug me."
Then, without any hesitation, Yumi was softly enveloped.
"Like this?"
"Like that."
The onee-sama embraces and protects. That phrase echoed in her mind.
"Sorry. Just a little bit longer."
Even though it should have been enough, she wanted just a little bit more. As though her appet.i.te for her onee-samas affection was insatiable.
Looking over Sachiko-samas shoulder, Yumi saw that Touko-chan had finally arrived.
The pet.i.t soeur supports.
Regardless of what Touko-chans feelings were, there was a stone weight in Yumis heart called Touko-chan.
Her onee-samas presence was warm.
Touko-chans nomination and their compet.i.tion in this election had not changed Yumis att.i.tude towards her one bit.
* * *
At one oclock, the head of the electoral committee started the speech meeting.
After the welcoming address from Hanae-san, the committee chair, the candidates were called onto stage, wearing the sashes with their names on them.
"Matsudaira Touko-san, Toudou Shimako-san, Shimazu Yoshino-san, f.u.kuzawa Yumi-san, please go out in that order."
The four candidates followed the whispered directions from the committee member stationed backstage, and stepped out onto the stage.
Dazzling lights. Thunderous applause. She felt like she was being swallowed up by this atmosphere that was different again to their school festival play.
In the center of the stage, the mic was set up on an imposing podium. As well as that, there was a pitcher of water and a gla.s.s - although Yumi wasnt sure whether it was for them to actually drink or just for show.
The four candidates sat down on folding chairs that were located behind and to the right of the podium, from the audiences point-of-view. On the other side, to the left of the podium, a committee member sat at a desk with a stopwatch and a bell, to time their speeches. Shed ring the bell to let them know if they were going over their allotted time.
They were going in the order they registered, so the first one to stride to the center of the stage was Touko-chan.
Touko-chan started by questioning the hereditary manner in which the student council leaders were typically chosen and then emphasized her own freshness and youth.
Maybe it was because she was used to acting on stage, but she spoke fluently, seemingly without effort.
"I have no complaints with the current Yamayurikai. But why dont we let a fresh breeze blow through there? Lets open wide the windows of the Rose Mansion!"
Yumi instinctively applauded, forgetting that Touko-chan was labeled as a rival or enemy. Yoshino-san quietly said, "You idiot," and Yumi returned her hands to her lap. There was no other meaning to Yoshino-sans, "You idiot," it was, purely and simply, "You idiot." Telling Yumi to remember her own position.
The next to take the stage was Shimako-san.
Shimako-san spoke candidly about working as part of the current student council, presenting their current achievements, and describing the benefits of having someone as a Rose for two consecutive years. Additionally, she promised closer co-operation with the various committees, emphasizing the importance of proactive partic.i.p.ation.
"Ive learnt a lot from the two third-year Roses this year. I believe its my duty to put that experience to good use, and to help the Yamayurikai develop even further."
Shimako-sans face shone with more confidence than usual. Presence. The difference to last year was probably because she had the track record to back it up now.
If Shimako-san was for the committees, Yoshino-san was for the clubs.
"Prior to my surgery during autumn of my first-year in high-school, my body was always weak and I was never able to take part in club activities. But when I started second-year, I joined the kendo club, and for the first time I knew what club activities were like from the inside. From that, I got to see up close what was missing and what was superfluous with the clubs. Even though the Yamayurikai is small, were here to help everyone have a happy school life. Lets start by improving that through club activities. Even if Im elected, I wont resign from the kendo club. Ill keep trying my best along with everyone else."
If she was following her rehea.r.s.ed speech she would have stopped there, but Yoshino-san kept going.
"Earlier, one of the candidates made some remarks about a hereditary lineage, but were here holding an election, so that surely doesnt apply to us. And I certainly dont think theres anything wrong with following in the footsteps of your onee-sama. When youre talking about a ma.s.sive project that takes many years to accomplish, dont you think the pet.i.t soeur that has been carefully guided might have an advantage?"
Shed obviously been annoyed by Touko-chans speech and wanted to briefly rebut it, but now that shed started it didnt look like she could stop. The speech shed written had been refined down so that it was logically organized and easy to understand, but as she kept on saying things that popped in to her mind it was only natural that shed go off track.
The bell rang out, ring, ring.
"Shimazu-san, please finish your speech."
Shed hit the time limit.
"Whats wrong with tradition?"
Ending with that question, Yoshino-san stepped down from the podium. After returning to her empty folding chair, it looked like there was still more she wanted to say as she muttered, "I wonder if theres something wrong with that stopwatch."
Unfortunately for Yoshino-san, its timing was correct. Compared to Touko-chan and Shimako-san, who had both finished within the time limit, Yoshino-sans speech was noticeably longer.
Following her was the final candidate, Yumi.
Yumi was neither a committee member nor a club member. She couldnt appeal to either of those. Instead, she talked about what she saw as the ideal shape of the Yamayurikai.
"The first-years in the audience probably wont know her, but my onee-sama, Ogasawara Sachiko-sama, had a wonderful onee-sama called Mizuno Youko-sama. Youko-sama had - "
Yumi wanted to make Youko-samas dream, of a Rose Mansion that ordinary students werent afraid to enter, a reality. This year they had tried various things, like hosting a tea party and inviting first-years in as a.s.sistants, but it still wasnt enough. It would take time, as step by step these sorts of achievements piled up, and even if she was elected as one of the next Roses that didnt mean it would happen all at once.
She concluded her speech with an appeal to keep advancing, like tomorrow follows today, followed by the day after, and to not stagnate or regress.
From Youko-sama to Sachiko-sama, and then to Yumi. It could even be called a lineage. The contents of her speech were in direct conflict with Touko-chans fresh breeze, but Yumi was satisfied with it.
Touko-chan should walk the path that she believes in.
Even now Yumi wanted Touko-chan as her pet.i.t soeur, but she had no intention of forcing her own opinion on Touko-chan. And if she turned away from her principles, she would never become Touko-chans onee-sama.
Let them see who you really are.
Being elected and becoming soeurs were, in some ways, alike.
Illuminated by the dazzling lights, Yumi thought this as she bowed to the large audience.
Thursday and Friday pa.s.sed by a lot quicker and easier than expected.
And then it was Sat.u.r.day.
Voting for the student council executive took place in each and every first and second-year cla.s.sroom during the afternoon homeroom.
Every student had to write the name of a person they wanted as a Yamayurikai member on the ballot papers distributed by the electoral committee.
The electoral committee members would then gathered the ballots into an envelope, seal it tightly, and take it back to the electoral committees office, which was being used as a counting room. There the counting would begin, with the results to be announced later that day.
In the area of the ballot form used to write the name of the person she was voting for, Yumi wrote the words "f.u.kuzawa Yumi" in bold letters.
Since n.o.body could possibly follow a student council leader who didnt believe they were suitable for the job.
The results were expected to be announced at 2pm.
Even if they waited at the bulletin board in front of the auditorium, it wouldnt make the results come any quicker, so they decided to eat their lunch in the Rose Mansion and wait, for now.
"I suppose I am a bit worried, after all."
Sachiko-sama sighed, pushing her side dishes around with her chopsticks. She seemed to have lost her appet.i.te, just like last year, even though it wasnt her election.
"Really? Im starving. Itadakima~su."
Yumi opened her lunchbox and started eating immediately. Ooh, todays lunch was victory cutlets. Her mom was superst.i.tious.
Crunch crunch, munch munch.
Everyone else had their lunchboxes open, but for some reason only the sound of Yumi eating echoed around the room.
"What is it?"
Noticing everyones gaze she looked to her onee-sama. Although in truth her mouth was stuffed full of food, so it was closer to "Wha hi hi?" than "What is it?"
Sachiko-sama seemed amazed as she asked:
"When did you become so bold?"
"Bold?"
"Yes. Its incredible."
"&h.e.l.lip; That doesnt sound like a compliment though."
"It is. And some admiration too."
Sachiko-sama picked up a large piece of her lunch and popped it into her mouth, simply because she didnt want to lose.
Then the Yellow Rose and White Rose soeurs joined in too, and the Roes Mansion was transformed into a "Hearty Eating Party."
She hadnt become bold.
Shed simply done what she had to do. And shed realized that, at this point, whether she sat around worrying or not, it wasnt going to change the results.
They left the Rose Mansion at 1:40pm and headed to the auditorium.
When they arrived at the bulletin board, they found a group of impatient students already anxiously waiting for the results.
At the head of the group was Touko-chan.
"Yumi-sama, this way."
Upon noticing the candidates, the other students made way so their group could move to the front.
"No, its alright."
"No, youve got to have your photo taken for the Lillian Kawaraban when the results are revealed."
Yumi spotted Tsutako-san squatting in front of the bulletin board. She looked to be on standby, ready to get a photo of the candidates when the results were put up.
Yumi stood next to Touko-chan, although still maintaining a suitable distance. Shimako-san and Yoshino-san stood next to her too. Sachiko-sama, Rei-sama and Noriko-chan lined up behind them.
"Here they come."
Mami-san came running from the direction of the school building, like a messenger. Behind her, the Electoral Committee members could be seen walking towards them with an air of composure. The leader of the group, Hanae-san, was holding what looked like a rolled up poster. The results were probably written on that.
They couldnt tell who had won based on the expression of the approaching committee members. Obviously, they werent about to say anything until the paper had been unfurled either, and they were all expressionless, like theyd been ordered to put on a poker face.
The electoral committee members arrived in front of the auditorium at 1:50pm.
Without a word being spoken, the crowd split apart to form a path, and the committee members proceeded to the bulletin board.
Hanae-san unrolled the poster. It looked to be two sheets of paper, with a blank white one on top, so that the results wouldnt leak out while they were putting it up.
"We will now reveal the results of the election for the next student council leaders."
After the results had been put up on the bulletin board, the covering sheet of paper was removed.
Yumi followed the lettering with her eyes.
Over and over, she was lit up by a cameras flash.
The cheering of the crowd rang in her ears.
"Yumi-san."
Yoshino-san hugged her around the neck.
She had to catch up.
Her five senses, or her brain that had to a.n.a.lyze their input, were overcome by the situation. Or rather, they seemed to be leading her somewhere with incredible speed.
Around and around, she started feeling dizzy.
"Congratulations Yumi."
Hearing Sachiko-samas voice, she came to her senses.
"I &h.e.l.lip; "
"Whats the matter? You should be happy, you won."
She followed Sachiko-samas pointing finger to where her name was written on the sheet of paper, with a red flower seal attached beside it.
- f.u.kuzawa Yumi.
The red seal was used to denote the election winners. There was one next to Yoshino-san and Shimako-sans names too.
There was nothing next to Touko-chans name.
Yumi looked beside her.
Touko-chans gaze had just dropped from the bulletin board, and she looked to be about to quietly leave from the throng of people excited about the formation of the next student council.
Yumi raised her hand and was just about to call out to Touko-chan to stop when she looked around for just an instant.
Touko-chans eyes met Yumis and she bowed her head. Then she turned and left.
Having taken a single step forward, Yumi stopped and couldnt move any further.
It was at that moment that Yumi realized. Something was definitely off. She hadnt understood anything about Touko-chan.
Touko-chan hadnt run in the election to hara.s.s them, or anything like that.
Nor was it because she simply wanted to be a Rose.
It wasnt because she couldnt accept Shimako-san or one of the boutons either, and it wasnt even close to being because she thought shed beat Yumi and reverse nominate her as soeur.
"Yumi-sama."
Noriko-chan said, taking the directionless Yumi by the hand.
"I was watching Toukos face the moment the results were revealed. And then &h.e.l.lip; and then I finally understood."
Noriko-chans face was pale. Yumis expression was probably the same as hers too.
"Touko wasnt looking to win."
Yumi thought, "Ah, I knew it."
If Noriko-chan was thinking that too, and it wasnt just Yumi, then they were probably right.