Maria-sama ga Miteru Thirteenth Novel - One Page of Midsummer, Part 2

Maria-sama ga Miteru 13th Novel - Manatsu no Peeji, One Page of Midsummer

Part 2

Together with Oji-san


Materials with Broom and Dustpan


1


In front of Maria-sama where the path parts, a voice was heard from behind, "Please wait one moment, Nijou Noriko-san."


Noriko lifts her head from her folded hands and looks over her shoulder. "Yes?" She thought it a dreadful custom, to have to put her hands together, but did it from the time she entered the school, because of public opinion. Now if she didn't, she felt bad. Probably onee-sama's influence.

A lone upperclassman approaches her with a greeting and a comment about the heat. She is wearing the Lillian uniform, with a pair of sunglasses, her hair pulled into a high bun on the back of her head, and carrying a blue striped handbag, wearing black mules. While at first glance, it seems a fashion mismatch – after looking a while, you could see a balance there. But to do so, you'd have to abandon a prejudice against the school uniform.

"So the Yamayurikai is working on preparations for the school festival, I hope? It's appreciated." The girl walks along with Noriko, as if it's a matter of course. The flow of words keeps Noriko from asking what her business is.

Done with homework, or do you have free time, the questions keep coming. Noriko answers "mm" or "ah", but the girl continues to walk with her. Because Noriko does not understand her intention, she keeps her answers short. What on earth does she want?

Eventually, the girl stops, forcing Noriko to stop to. She holds out a box of Oolong tea, which Noriko refuses with, "no, that's okay." She asks if it's some kind of bribe, and the girl says no bribe intended, so Noriko apologizes for being rude. The girl smiles, sticks a straw in the box and begins to drink. Not really having a reason to take a rest under the blazing sun with this random sempai, Noriko bows and starts to walk away. The girl once again asks her to wait and runs after her.

The girls asks about the meeting with the members of the Hanadera Student Council – what was it like? With such casual words, she broke into a completely different topic. "I heard that upon meeting those members, Rosa Chinensis fainted? Is that true?"

Noriko is glad she didn't take the oolong tea, since she lied about it not being a bribe. She declines to discuss it and excuses herself in a tone that indicates irritation and boredom.

The sempai asks her to wait once again. (E: The first time it was a very polite request. The second time it was a little less polite. This time it's said as a command.) She keeps following Noriko. She passes Noriko, and stands in front of her, like a schoolyard bully.

Noriko heaves a sigh and asks her what she wants. The girl smiles and says she lied – she really wants a favor from Noriko. She goes on to say that since this is a Catholic school, the library won't have materials on Buddhism for her free research. They are standing outside the library.

Because she's wondering how this person knew she had information on Buddhist images, Noriko's a little slow to think, "what's she going to gather this for anyway – summer vacation is almost over."

"That person" gives her a friendly smile and inquires about the site her friends gather. Noriko says that you have to have a password. The girl asks if Noriko can get her in, after all, aren't they acquaintances? They go into the library.

Noriko says okay, but it's just a board for amateur enthusiasts. She really isn't trusting this girl, but doesn't sense anything malicious. Noriko goes on to say that a large public library would have as much or more materials. The girl says she's doing that too. She thinks its no big deal to give the girl the home page address. As the girl starts to copy the address, Noriko points out that that one is wrong, and
make a correction, saying that Takuya-kun emailed her last night with the new address. The girl starts to copy down the address (in a way that says that she's not really net literate), and asks suddenly if Takuya is Noriko's boyfriend.


Because of the sunglasses, Noriko's at a loss as to what the other girl is thinking. She answers, "Just a friend." The girl (who I am sure must be Minako), asks if he's a guy. Noriko says, yes, an older guy. But still just a friend. The girl says, "If he's a boy, he's a boy-friend." Noriko answers, only if you stretch the meaning of the
word. Seeing that Noriko was getting irritable, the girl apologizes, says she didn't mean anything by it and speeds up taking down the address. Closing her notebook, she takes the other tea out of the bag and gives it to Noriko, who begins to protest. The girl says it's all right – it's in thanks for the address. The girl looks into her bag, then beats a hasty retreat. Noriko wonders what just happened. It was like running into a Kitsune. (E: Definitely Minako, then...)


Wanting to get the bad taste out of her mouth, Noriko decided to look for Shimako. She leaves the library and heads to the Rose Mansion. It's 12:45. The oolong tea is lukewarm. She wonders why that girl made her wait.



2


While adding water to yesterday's barley tea, Noriko tells the whole story about what happened in one gush.

Shimako wonders if the home page was just a pretext for learning about the day before. Noriko stuffs the oolong tea into the fridge.


Shimako points out that if the girl had waited only a few more moments, then Shimako would have come along. And no one else but them was at the Rose Mansion. So either Noriko was the actual target...or that person was looking for something else, like info about the day before.

But, Noriko points out that that person knew about the day before already.

"That person, that person – you mean Tsukiyama Minako-sama." She had obviously worn sunglasses and changed her hairdo to disguise who she was. Noriko heaves a frustrated sigh. Shimako, who never criticizes others, has nicknamed Minako "Komatta-chan" (Trouble girl.)

Shimako asks if she didn't know Minako's face? Noriko ducks her head...no. But she assures Shimako that she didn't say anything about the day before, with her left fist raised.

Noriko, of course, has been exposed to numbers of guys, but the honor of the Roses fell a little with a member fainting at their first meeting with a number of male students. They parted with an agreement to meet again, but they still didn't want Rosa Chinensis' dislike of men widely known. Right now, it's a major drain of energy for the Yamayurikai to keep Sachiko-sama on an even keel.

Noriko has a thought and changes the subject. She tells Shimako that the photo printout on the table is a present from Takuya. Shimako identifies it as Amida Nyourai and says it's a pretty photo. They discuss getting Takuya (whose family name is Shimura) permission to get into the inside portion of Shimako's family's temple.

When Shimako gives a little nod, Noriko thinks that every little motion she makes is filled with grace. Even the first time they met, she thought Shimako had Maria-sama like nobility.

But, Shimako says, this must be bad for you, too. Noriko can't think what she means, so Shimako responds that she's being a carrier pigeon between Shimako and Shimura-san.

Noriko replies that she and Takuya-kun send email daily anyway, so it's not a problem. Shimako laughs and says that she's a little jealous of how close they are. Noriko can tells she means it nicely.

Shimako suggests, suddenly, if Noriko's free tomorrow, they could all go to some museum or other together, and this way, she can meet Takuya-kun.

Tomorrow? Noriko squeaks.

Shimako's eye twinkle, but then she closes them and asks if she'd be a bother.

Noriko says no. She'd told Takuya-kun previous about calling Shimako "onee-sama" and the whole Lillian tradition. He'd been interested – and had even brazenly written once that he'd like to sit and drink tea with Shimako one day and chat with her.

Shimako says she'll leave the arrangements to Noriko, who replies that it'll be fun!

As Noriko is talking about it, the biscuit door opens suddenly and Rei comes in asking –what will be fun? Noriko had been so excited, her voice was audible outside. She tells them that they are planning a trip to see Buddha images.

Yoshino enters and jokingly says that she's jealous that they are so friendly. Noriko tentatively invites them to come along, but they decline, because they don't want to interfere.

Noriko pours them some tea, and Shimako turns to Rei to ask if someone and she spoke between the time they entered the gates to here. Rei asks – do you mean if someone addressed me, or I addressed someone? The way Shimako had put it, it could be a passive or reflexive verb... Japanese is difficult. (E:I swear to god that that was in the actual novel!)

Rei says she was addressed. Noriko and Shimako meet each other's eyes.

Yumi told her that she'd be late, Rei says. Nothing major – Sachiko forgot her slippers, so has to go back to the shoe boxes and get a pair.

Oh, Yumi, okay.

Putting the glass container of tea back in the refrigerator, Noriko walks over to the window, and sees Yumi waiting outside the mansion. Shimako wonders out loud why Yumi doesn't come in to wait for Sachiko, since it's so hot out. Yoshino downs her glass of tea in one long swallow and answers. "Sachiko has borrowed Yumi's slippers, so Yumi won't come into the Rose Mansion until Sachiko returns."

Shimako thinks that sounds like Sachiko. She would be extra fastidious after what happened the day before yesterday.

So, Minako-sama didn't approach you? Noriko is disappointed for a moment.

Yes, they did see her, Rei says, confirming with Yoshino – she had an interesting disguise, but it was definitely her running for the bus.

Just as the energy leaks from Noriko, the door opens and the Red Rose sisters enter. Sachiko greets them with an unusually chipper hello, how is everyone, which oddly contrasts with the ugly blue vinyl guests slippers she's wearing.


3

The acting director of the Lillian Jogakuen newspaper club asks the Managing Director why she called her out here so suddenly. The Managing Director (in name only), Tsukiyama Minako, starts the conversation off with, "What are you doing, lollygagging?"

Yamaguchi Mami replies, "Since I got your call, it hasn't even been 30 minutes."
She checks her watch to confirm. She's sweating under the leather band, which is gross.

Minako says she has something for the new semester special – Mami says that she got that, but didn't understand why Minako couldn't have just told her. They drink disgusting coffee in front of the K Station. Mami had run out with just enough time to grab her purse. She's wearing a t-shirt and denim skirt.

Minako says that as she's retiring from the newspaper that she loved so dearly, she's just kindly holding out a hand to keep her cute little sister from losing her way. She's wearing a summer dress and cardigan, and a wide-brimmed hat, like a movie star.

"Kind, huh?" Mami asks. In other words, you got bored with studying for the college exams.

Minako protests that the summer practice test reference book was awful.

Mami heartlessly replies that that's exam life, even though she'll get preference for Lillian U., she still has to do it, so she should just do it right from the beginning.

Minako thinks that she can't be blamed for wanting a change of pace.

Mami says that she can't rely on Minako, look at what happened last month, when she completely lost the White Roses on their trip. Minako says she lost sight of them. Mami snaps that she personally saw them at the summer house (but didn't get an interview), so how could Minako have lost sight of them?

Minako counters, smiling, maybe it was a vision?

Takeshima Tsutako-san got a picture. Mami insists.

Just a teeny little one from behind, Minako rebuts. Minako takes Mami to task for not having gathered great material to reward the readers with a summer special. Mami insist that it *is* summer vacation, but Minako calls her soft. It's useless to wait until the enemy has come and gone and then just bring up a broom and dustpan. All they'll get is small dust at that point.

Minako's words rekindle the flame to investigate in Mami. Minako tells her about the plan for the meeting of the two student councils. Mami says that that's the first time she's heard of it. Of course, Minako says, it was top secret. Mami wants to ask how Minako learned of it, but decided to keep her mouth shut. But, Minako goes on, when they got to the meeting place, Sachiko frothed at the mouth and collapsed. Mami
asks why, but Minako doesn't know. But what was really on Mami's mind is how Minako learned of this.

Minako proposed heatstroke as a possible reason, but thinks it was more likely that she was overwhelmed by the meeting with the Hanadera council. Mami remembers how flashy Kashiwagi was last year – even now, there are plenty of fans of his among the Lillian students.

To summarize – yesterday on the way home from exam prep school, Minako was doing some shopping for her mother. She stopped in the café to cool down, and there was the Hanadera Council. She was one person – they were many. It wasn't hard to overhear them. She tried to confirm what happened with Noriko, but found her too steadfast.

Minako launches her other scoop at Mami – Rosa Gigantea en bouton has a lover! By pressuring Noriko with a Kawaraban article on this, they may be able to break her on the other matter. Mami asks who the guy is. Minako says she doesn't know – that'll be Mami's job. Mami accuses Minako of making him up. Minako pulls out a file and reads off information. Shimamura Takuya: 4th year at private college, 21 years old, Lives in Tokyo with his family of four. Hobbies – viewing Buddhist statues. Minako tells Mami how she got the info – and how she knows they are going out on a date to view statues. Mami is impressed. Of course, Minako got it all off of Takuya's website and daily diary.

Minako assigns Mami the task of finding out where and when Noriko and Takuya are meeting. She can't, because she's got a practice exam tomorrow. Mami is expected to get a good picture - preferably of the two of them together. Mami isn't confident that she'll be able to boldly take a photo of a strange man.

Minako tells Mami to go home and prepare for the assignment by going online and checking out Takuya's website - just like preparing for an exam.


4

Type in the address, hit enter and the top page of Takuya's Buddha Altar appears. Nice name - very fitting. Behind the name is a CG of a Japanese Buddhist shrine, with many Buddhas. Very surreal. Mami clicks on "Self-Introduction". She reads Takuya's profile. Among his other interests is Aikido and skiing. Exactly what Minako had already told her.

She clicks back and finds a note that says that because of skiing, Takuya broke his foot and was unable to see a Kannon statue that is unveiled every 20 years (E: the one Noriko saw, and got stuck in Tokyo by an unexpected snowstorm, so she missed the exam to the school she really wanted to go to...that statue) so he's giving up skiing to focus on statue viewing so that kind of thing never happens again.

Mami thinks skiing is cooler, but then, Nijou Noriko might be different. She clicks around, amazed at the extent of his obsession about Buddha images. The history of Buddhism, trivia, points of distinction, Q&A, reports of viewings, etc, etc. She checks out the "Mandala BBS", but the contents were too deep for a beginner to
understand. Totally dejected, Mami starts to leave, but sees a small square button in the corner. It looks like a Tatami mat. Mami clicks it, and ends up at a new page. Shimura Konoushin, Takuya's relation, apparently an uncle, with whom he is a rival.

Takayasu's web page appears to be a diary, written by Takuya of Konoushin's actions. Mami finds this site far more interesting than the Buddhist image stuff. When she finishes reading and logs off, Mami is shaking with excitement. She's got a much better grasp on Takuya-kun, and wonders if he's.... Tomorrow's event will be very
interesting.

The Meeting Place


1

Shimako puts her shoes in the foyer, and walks down the hall, she tells her father she's going. Her outfit smells slightly of incense. She's wearing a white summer dress with a blue floral pattern. She tells him that she's going to look at Buddha images with Noriko. Dad says that Noriko's a good kouhai - teaching Shimako to appreciate images of Buddha. Rare at Lillian, he expects. And he guesses that
they'll be meeting up with Shimura-san? Shimako nods. Dad wonders what kind of a person he is after all, he's much older.

Shimako reflects meekly. She was just copying Noriko's form of address by calling him "Takuya-kun", she'll be more formal hereafter. He says that it was just like her to take his meaning that way. He asks her if she'll deliver a letter to Shimura, since she's meeting him.

She takes the envelope and leaves. As she walks out, she thinks about her father and her. He's known for being not entirely interested in people - yet he's interested today. And she wonders, offhandedly, if she and he are really related (in that way one does with parents, not seriously). All of a sudden a shout from behind startles her - it's her father. As she presses on her chest to calm her heart, he tells
her that the JR line going into town is stopped.

Well, she thinks, that's important information.


2

As she was deciding what to wear, the phone rang. She had a light pink blouse in one hand and a blue and white sweater set in the other as she answered.

"Noriko?" Shimako never began a phone conversation with just her name. It must be important. Shimako tells Noriko that the JR line is stopped - did she know? This is definitely worth a phone call. Shimako says that there was an accident on the line. She should be able to get a private line train - will Noriko be okay? Noriko goes blank. She's been here five months, but if the JR is down, doesn't really know how to get around. Shimako tells her she ought to be able to catch a bus. If she can get to the Yamanote line, she's okay.

Noriko experiences a moment of soeur-ness, when she admires Shimako's care, attention and cleverness.

She chooses the blue sweater and a white skirt, then leaves quickly. Sumireko smiles after her, wondering if it would be possible.


3

Mami failed. She got to the station and the trains were stopped. She asks when they'll run and is told "soon." But it's obviously a lie. She gets on a bus, but it doesn't move. Commuters are coming in, waiting for a train.

She gets on a train and takes a seat. Mami can see some old guy touch a young woman's leg and the reactions of the people around her as the irritation and wave of anger moves around the carriage.

Mami thinks that the irritation that's coming out of her body in waves must be visible. "Oh, Takuya-kun. I'm on the train, but I'll be late. Can you wait for me? I want to see what you look like." To shut out the irritation outside her, she amuses herself by "calling" Takuya in her head. She wonders if he's stuck on a train too.


4

Takuya wasn't on the train. It was 10:30, and her irritation was growing - but not for the same reason as everyone else.

Takuya has arrived with some time to spare. He had done some window shopping and was walking around the fountain wondering where Nori-chan was. He decided it's his enemy's doing. He did it - Konoushin. He tells himself the story of how Konoushin knew he was supposed to meet a girl so he followed him here... oh, but wait, Mom told him that Konoushin had gone to work.

He's a little uneasy about meeting Noriko, about introducing himself - calls himself a lolicon in his head. He was talking about her once and a female classmate of his criticzed him.

Yes, he definitely didn't want Konoushin seeing Noriko.

He walked around and around the train station building, reeling out a strategy to himself.



Looking for Takuya-kun!


1


On the first floor of the café in the station building, sits a man, alone. He looks a around 70. Very romance school - pale, ashen face with black hair. Pale green summer suit, bright yellow t-shirt - a fashionable old guy. He keeps checking his wristwatch. It's just about eleven o'clock.

A person walks in, the waitress asks if they are alone, or waiting for someone. The person answers ambiguously, then heads towards the man in the window. She takes the seat next to him, order coffee. After a moment, Mami addresses the man.

Romance School guy lifts his head and looks at her with a "huh?" look. After five seconds, he says she's mistaken him for someone else.

She apologizes. He asks if she's one of those girls who comforts lonely old guys. She says, no, she's not the enkou- type. It worries her a bit that he thought that. But he says he's relieved and she says she is as well.

He officially hands over the seat to her. She tries to find an original line and decides on saying that her boyfriend is unfaithful. He says, "that's raw."

She goes on to say that he is supposed to meet a girl in front of that fountain. He wonders where she learned that, which brings her to a stop - she hadn't figured that far along. She says from a friend of her fictitious boyfriend. She pulls out a camera - she's going to get a picture of him as proof. The old guy says he's going to hang around, to see what happens. Mami doesn't object. She tells the waitress that she's paying for his coffee and orders an apple soda. The old guy orders a sandwich set, since they'll be there a while. He smiles conspiratorially.


2


As Mami thought, this position had a great view of the area in front of the fountain. About 20 people were sitting or standing around, waiting to meet someone. She didn't see Noriko. The old guy asks if her boyfriend is there, but she can't answer, because of course she has no idea what Takuya-kun looks like. If she can get a two-shot of Noriko and Takuya, then she'd know who he was.

Noon on a Saturday...moreover, it's summer vacation. There's five, six guys in their twenties waiting around in front of the fountain. Taking into consideration the larger area - maybe ten. One of them is likely to be Takuya-kun, but there's no certainty. In fact, one of Mami's complaints about his home page was the lack of a picture. She tells the old guy that he's not here yet.

She wonders if the delay on the JR line is what's keeping Noriko. The clock strikes eleven - she's late. She watches to see if any of the young men visible look up at the clock as it strikes.

Mami can't believe her eyes - she does she someone she knows, but it's not Noriko. Shimako has arrived. She wonders if Noriko was planning on introducing her boyfriend to her onee-sama. Minako would cry tears of joy at this.

The old guy can see here staring, and asks if that's the girl her fictitious boyfriend is supposed to meet. She says yes, figuring it won't really hurt Shimako. He comments that the girl is pretty, then apologizes. Mami is a little slow to realize why. Of course if this really was the woman her boyfriend was cheating on her with, she'd feel that any compliment would make her feel bad. The waitress brings their orders.

(There's a series of events that involve flag colors and the old guy losing his contact which I am not translating.)

Mami thinks she sees Takuya.


3

He's about 170cm, medium length, light brown hair with a slight wave. Baby-faced so he looks more cute than cool. She thinks he looks like someone she can't remember...some idol maybe.

The old guy keeps asking questions about the guy - where did they meet, how long ago? Mami's losing her patience. He goes on to say that it's rather suspicious that Mami's boyfriend and the woman he's cheating with are roughly fifteen meters away from one another, and don't seem to notice each other. She says they are just pen friends. Bzzt. Casting mistake on her part.

She sees Takuya-kun look at Shimako and she wills him to recognize her as Noriko's onee-sama, with one fist clenched. But...he doesn't.

She drinks her apple soda and waits for Noriko to show.


4


They guy who is Takuya (she thinks) and Shimako do absolutely nothing for the longest time.

Mami offers to pay for lunch. The old guy takes her up on it - and orders another coffee to her dismay. He confides that he too is waiting for someone. Mami doesn't know if he's lying or not. All she knows is that she's getting a bit of a headache. She starts ignoring the old guy. He suggests she order dessert - she says no, but he persists. She gets a little short with him. He suggests a truce - after all, she lied to him about the boyfriend.

She counters that he lied about his contacts, since he was able to read the menu from quite a distance away. He agrees he's been caught.

He asks why she lied about the guy being her boyfriend. She asks why he thinks she lied. He says - because you're a boy. She says, no, and thinks, "I'm a cute girl, how could you mistake me for a boy?"

He proposes a 3000 yen bet - if she's lied, she loses. He says that that guy has never met her before. Of course, he's right.

She's figures it out - the reason he pretend to lose a contact was because that guy turned towards the window and HE didn't want to be seen. So...the person he was waiting for was that young man. So, that means he couldn't be Takuya-kun, either. But he says he's not waiting for that young man.

Mami asks why he's here's then and he says that he's like her - he wanted to observe the young man without being seen. Mami puts it all together in a flash - "You're Konoushin-san?" The guy is totally freaked - how does she know that name? But he says no, he's not Takuya-kun's uncle. Mami doesn't believe him - he protests too much. She looks at the young man and thinks she can see a family resemblance between them. It wasn't that the young guy looked like an idol - it was the old guy he looked like.

The oji-san asks her not to call him by that name, please. If he's not Konoushin, she can't think who he might be otherwise. But then, the Konoushin Takuya wrote about seemed gloomy, not a dandy like this guy. So Mami changes her question. She asks if the guy outside is Takuya-kun. The old guy says he doesn't remember the kid's name - he's old, after all. If he's that senile, she thinks, he ought not to be walking around. He's not that senile. She decides to be honest with him. She tells him that Takuya is her friend's boyfriend. She says that Noriko won't introduce her to him. The old guy asks why and she says that she's part of the school newspaper club. 'Nuff said.

He asks why she's hiding though, and she admits that Noriko is, within their school, a kind of idol. He thinks this is hysterical. But when she asks whether he was here to see Takuya-kun's girlfriend, he says maybe. But, Mami continues, Noriko hasn't appeared yet. He didn't repudiate being called Konoushin, Mami notes. He asks who the actress playing the "lover" is. Shimako, that is. She says that she's Noriko's onee-sama, erm, not really but a sempai...and he interrupts with "No, don't bother, I got it. You got to Lillian Girls School."

She'll never underestimate old folks again.

He asks where she knows the names Kounoshin and Takuya. She says the Internet - and he says, oh, Takuya's Shrine? He knows about the page - of course. If he asks her about the other page - the page where Takuya talks about Konoushin, she's going to answer with "no comment."

She asks him to return the favor - he tells her that the flag the food looked like before was the flag of Guinea. She thinks of him as a tanuki. Crafty. And she smiles bitterly as she says he knows a lot. He says he's retired and has a lot of time to study things.

He says it's 11:30. Mami comments that Shimako is heading this way - she's going to go. He says he'll stay. He convinces Mami to stay and, as it happens, Shimako does not go into the café - she buys a can of tea and returns to her place at the fountain. She wonders how he knew.

Eventually the young guy makes to leave. Mami assumes he'll go look at the Buddha images by himself, but the oji-san says no. Then he excuses himself. Mami's surprised - she figured he'd stick around until the resolution of this drama. He picks up the check - she says she'll pay it, but he insists it's a treat for the interesting story. As he's leaving he says, Takuya-kun didn't know Shimako's face...

Mami states for a moment, then says she never said Shimako's name...

She tries to sort it all out in her head, when she sees, at last, Noriko arrive. She grabs her camera, and goes over the headline for the article "White Rose Sisters One Page in Midsummer." Because Minako's title didn't have enough punch.

As she focuses on her subjects, she can see a light green figure enter the screen. With her naked eye she confirms (the most obvious punchline in the history of the world...)the old man from the café heads towards to the two girls - one who looks like a western doll and one who looks like a Ichimatsu doll. The two girls stand, take one another's hand and run up to the old guy in the light green summer suit. Mami is stunned - so dumbfounded, in fact, that she completely forgets to take a picture.

Watching his back as Takuya-kun walks away, Mami can see the old guy makes a peace sign (or v for victory) at her over his shoulder.

Continued in Part 3

Tags: Maria-sama ga Miteru, Marimite, One Page of Midsummer, Manatsu no Peeji, Noriko and Shimako