Volume 9 Chapter 4 (1/2)
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Monday
Arriving at school slightly earlier than usual, Noriko went straight to that cherry tree At the spot behind the auditorium
She had a feeling that if she went there she would see shi+mako-san It felt like that was the only place they would meet
”Gokigenyou”
They hadn'tup froainst, she quietly smiled at Noriko
”I can't believe you're actually here … ”
Noriko said without thinking It was a miracle
”Then why did you come?”
”Why - ”
Pretty much all the cherry blossom petals had already fallen from the tree It was a bit hard to use the excuse that she ca
”I wanted to see you”
Noriko said as in her heart
”Me too”
shi+ht into Noriko's eyes Silence descended upon theht to find what to say
”U anything isn't necessarily the sa a lie On top of that, in your heart, you're a Christian, right shi+ about the fact that you happened to be born into a family that runs a Buddhist te to betray God … sorry, I can't put it into words all that well”
shi+, but at last she spoke, looking straight at Noriko
” … You put it into words wonderfully”
”Ah, um … ”
Feeling e looked at, Noriko instinctively averted her eyes
In truth, if she had been a statue of Buddha or Maria-sama and the eye contact was one-way traffic, how subliaze upon her But she was a real live human, and a peerless beauty at that, so it was a bit nerve-wracking Even though they were both girls
Noriko had panicked, thinking she had to say so away and fidgeting
(That's right)
Noriko reoal, which was to persuade shi+mako-san that she shouldn't quit school
”I-I'm”
”Huh?”
”I' here”
What she'd blurted out may not have been all that sensible But now that she'd started speaking she couldn't stop, and had no choice but to plow on ahead
”I went to Kyoto to see a Buddhist statue on the day before e snowstorm stopped the bullet-train and I couldn't return home, so I lost my chance at my first-choice school I used the money put aside for entrance exams to my backup schools on the trip, so the only option I had left was to accept entry into Lillian's, when I'd only sat that exareat-aunt's pride”
Fuwaah
shi+rew very close Just as Noriko thought this, she felt shi+mako-san's arms entwined around her neck
”Huh … !?”
It took a while for Noriko to realize she was being embraced
”Thank-you That's enough”
”shi+mako-sa - ”
”It's all right I don't want to leave just yet I aiting here thisbecause I wanted to tell you that”
”Really?”
Suddenly, all the strength drained from Noriko's body So there was no need for her stupid speech, her self-important declaration
”But”
Noriko pried herself away from shi+mako-san and asked:
”Just now, you said ”yet?””
She was just a little bit hung up on that
”That's right Things have returned to before I met you - to the way they were earlier If it becoe and that causes a problem, then I think I will have to leave this school after all”
”But shi+mako-san, you like this school don't you?”
”Of course”
shi+mako-san sh-school building
”I've come to like it h that would have been unthinkable around this time last year”
”Then - ”
”Even so, there's no point to co here if it causes trouble for someone else I can study Christianity anywhere, and follow the teachings of Jesus”
”shi+mako-san … ”
It was like she was chasing herself away shi+mako-san seehten
”You can't be more carefree, I suppose”
”Carefree?”
While shi+
”But I never thought I'd be able to have a conversation like this at school”
”I'll be there for you whenever you want someone to talk to”
So you don't have to worry all by yourself - Noriko sed this last sentence
”Shall we go?”
shi+mako-san walked half a step ahead
Somehow, a miraculous relationshi+p was born
It's about time we had a talk about school - that hat Sumireko-san had said
”I suppose”
Noriko answered as she sipped her tea At first glance Su the royal ood You could probably say she'd randfather's faree, so perhaps Sumireko-san had been a proper lady back in her youth Still able to reuests in salons or at tea parties
”Yep We haven't discussed school once since you started going there Have you made any friends?”
”Friends? … To the degree that I can talk to the lunch or after school”
”What would you call them, if not friends?”
”Maybe you're right”
Noriko thought, ”But she's older than me”
Sumireko-san was also older than her So was Takuya-kun Maybe she just got on ith older people
She occasionally met shi+e it When they felt like it, their legs carried them there
There had been times when they met, and times when they hadn't But even when they didn't meet, Noriko hadn't felt disappointed She knew that shi+antea pulled at her, and the tily enjoyable
Before she knew it, Noriko had becoroup of students Whether in the hallway, or out on the cah she could easily spot her, no matter how many students she was surrounded by
Occasionally she wondered
Just as it that existed between the two of them?
Empathy?
(That's not it)
Friendshi+p?
(It seehtly different nuance to that too)
She liked shi+ beside her
But was that by itself enough? Was just being able to understand the other's feelings enough of a connection?
Recently, Noriko had been thinking that she wanted to do so for shi+mako-san But she had absolutely no idea what she could do
”I don't know”
Noriko slumped over the table
”Oh, fret, fret Fretting over trivial things is the privilege of youth”
Su out the box of chocolate truffles
”Huh How can you say it's trivial?”
”I don't knohat it is you're worrying about, but look back on it in ten years”
”Ten years … ”
To someone as currently 15 years old, ten years see amount of time Unlike a certain someone who had lived more than 4 times 15 years
”Say, Suht that she was constantly betraying God as she lived? How do you think she could be helped?”
”What? Are you worrying about yourself?”
”I'm not a devout Christian”
”I see”
For soht it was okay to discuss this with Su some of that wisdom of the elderly
”I don't really know What if she caiveness?”
”Then it would turn into a big ordeal”
”Then what if she gave up Christianity?”
”Whoa, that's extreme”
”Otherwise, there's what I said earlier, ”time” Time heals all wounds”
As she said this, Suerator door
” - or there could be souess”
”Brouhaha?”
”Yep”
She ru with a small, plastic-wrap covered bowl
”If there was sos out once and for all, for better or worse Then you wouldn't have to worry about it”
”I see … ”
But she wasn't just about to stu that it wasn't so she'd be able to do herself -
”But, you know, Riko, if that's all you think about, it'll eat you up”
Sumireko-san returned to the table and slipped a piece of pickled daikon radish into Noriko's sith chocolate mouth
”Noriko”
In the hallway leading to the home economics room, she stopped when she heard her name called
It was alongside the second-year classrooms and Noriko looked around restlessly until the person who called out to her stepped out of the classroom
”Ah, shi+mako-san”
Touko and the other girls who had been walking with Noriko squealed when they saho it was Like fans who'd accidentally bumped into their favorite pop star
”Do you have a moment?”
Noriko nodded, and shi+mako walked her over to a quiet spot near the staircase It had been quite some time since they'd talked face to face
”I'm sorry, Noriko I haven't been able to make it out to see you all that much … ”
For a while now, shi+ Noriko by just her naht that it felt like she'd been calling her that since the beginning
”Don't worry aboutfor the Maria Cereht? How's your body holding up?”
”I'm fine … Thank-you”
shi+ed to one of relief She'd probably called out to Noriko instinctively when she saw her, wanting to explain why they hadn't met
(How conscientious of her We hadn't arranged toit there)
Noriko thought, ”Well, that's just like her though”
shi+htly
”I ondering, do you like juzu?”
”Juzu?”
”Yes I ree of Buddha in the juzu I inherited frorandmother … ”
”Please, I'd love to see it!”
Noriko's voice suddenly grew louder the moment she heard the word Buddha shi+hed quietly
”I thought you'd say that Wait for me at that spot tomorrow at lunch, please”
”Alright!”
shi+mako-san said, ”See you tomorrow,” and then returned to her classroom On her way back, she sirls who had been watching them
”Do you have sewing next period? What are you ?”
”Skirts Rosa Gigantea”
”I see I hope you all make wonderful skirts Do your best”
”Y-yes!”
(Ahh … It's incredible, even Touko-san's stuttering)
The first-years looked like they were struck first by shi+entle ot about it, but at times like this she remembered
That shi+h School Division's idol, Rosa Gigantea
”Um, Noriko-san”
”Yes?”