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 s.h.i.+mako-san. It felt like that was the only place they would meet.
”Gokigenyou.”
They hadn't made any sort of arrangement, but there she was. Standing up from the tree trunk she had been leaning against, she quietly smiled at Noriko.
”I can't believe you're actually here &h.e.l.lip; ”
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 came here for cherry blossom viewing.
”I wanted to see you.”
Noriko said what was in her heart.
”Me too.”
s.h.i.+mako-san said, looking right into Noriko's eyes. Silence descended upon them and Noriko tried with all her might to find what to say.
”Um &h.e.l.lip; I've been thinking about it, and not saying anything isn't necessarily the same as telling a lie. On top of that, in your heart, you're a Christian, right s.h.i.+mako-san? You can't do anything about the fact that you happened to be born into a family that runs a Buddhist temple. I don't think you're doing anything to betray G.o.d &h.e.l.lip; sorry, I can't put it into words all that well.”
s.h.i.+mako-san had been quietly listening, but at last she spoke, looking straight at Noriko.
” &h.e.l.lip; You put it into words wonderfully.”
”Ah, um &h.e.l.lip; ”
Feeling embarra.s.sed by being 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 sublime would it have been to gaze 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 something. It would probably seem strange if she kept looking away and fidgeting.
(That's right.)
Noriko remembered she hadn't achieved her main goal, which was to persuade s.h.i.+mako-san that she shouldn't quit school.
”I-I'm.”
”Huh?”
”I'm a Buddhist statue enthusiast, but I'm still coming 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 my entrance exam, but a huge 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 exam for the sake of my great-aunt's pride.”
Fuwaah.
s.h.i.+mako-san's face suddenly grew very close. Just as Noriko thought this, she felt s.h.i.+mako-san's arms entwined around her neck.
”Huh &h.e.l.lip; !?”
It took a while for Noriko to realize she was being embraced.
”Thank-you. That's enough.”
”s.h.i.+mako-sa - ”
”It's all right. I don't want to leave just yet. I was waiting here this morning because 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 s.h.i.+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 becomes public knowledge and that causes a problem, then I think I will have to leave this school after all.”
”But s.h.i.+mako-san, you like this school don't you?”
”Of course.”
s.h.i.+mako-san smiled fondly as she looked in the direction of the high-school building.
”I've come to like it more and more every day, even despite the troubles. Although that would have been unthinkable around this time last year.”
”Then - ”
”Even so, there's no point to coming here if it causes trouble for someone else. I can study Christianity anywhere, and follow the teachings of Jesus.”
”s.h.i.+mako-san &h.e.l.lip; ”
It was like she was chasing herself away. s.h.i.+mako-san seemed somehow pitiable, and Noriko felt her chest tighten.
”You can't be more carefree, I suppose.”
”Carefree?”
While s.h.i.+mako-san looked perplexed, the bell for cla.s.s rang.
”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 swallowed this last sentence.
”Shall we go?”
s.h.i.+mako-san walked half a step ahead.
Somehow, a miraculous relations.h.i.+p was born.
It's about time we had a talk about school - that was what Sumireko-san had said.
”I suppose.”
Noriko answered as she sipped her tea. At first glance Sumireko-san had been a bit slipshod in making the royal milk tea but, wonders never cease, it actually tasted quite good. You could probably say she'd mastered the skill. Her grandfather's family had a rather long pedigree, so perhaps Sumireko-san had been a proper lady back in her youth. Still able to remember the thousands of cups of tea she'd prepared for guests in salons or at tea parties.
”Yep. We haven't discussed school once since you started going there. Have you made any friends?”
”Friends? &h.e.l.lip; To the degree that I can talk to them during 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 well with older people.
She occasionally met s.h.i.+mako-san beneath the cherry tree. They didn't arrange 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 s.h.i.+mako-san was busy because her commitments as Rosa Gigantea pulled at her, and the time Noriko spent waiting and thinking about her was surprisingly enjoyable.
Before she knew it, Noriko had become quite adept at spotting s.h.i.+mako-san in a group of students. Whether in the hallway, or out on the campus, or in the courtyard, Noriko felt as though she could easily spot her, no matter how many students she was surrounded by.
Occasionally she wondered.
Just what was it that existed between the two of them?
Empathy?
(That's not it.)
Friends.h.i.+p?
(It seems like it has a slightly different nuance to that too.)
She liked s.h.i.+mako-san. It felt comfortable being 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 something for s.h.i.+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.”
Sumireko-san laughed, holding out the box of chocolate truffles.
”Huh. How can you say it's trivial?”
”I don't know what it is you're worrying about, but look back on it in ten years.”
”Ten years &h.e.l.lip; ”
To someone who was currently 15 years old, ten years seemed like an absurdly long amount of time. Unlike a certain someone who had lived more than 4 times 15 years.
”Say, Sumireko-san. What if there was a devout Christian who thought that she was constantly betraying G.o.d 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 some reason, Noriko thought it was okay to discuss this with Sumireko-san. Expecting some of that wisdom of the elderly.
”I don't really know. What if she came clean before G.o.d and asked for forgiveness?”
”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, Sumireko-san stood up and opened the refrigerator door.
” - or there could be some kind of brouhaha, I guess.”
”Brouhaha?”
”Yep.”
She rummaged around in the refrigerator before eventually returning with a small, plastic-wrap covered bowl.
”If there was some kind of brouhaha, then it would sort things out once and for all, for better or worse. Then you wouldn't have to worry about it.”
”I see &h.e.l.lip; ”
But she wasn't just about to stumble over something like that. And it went without saying that it wasn't something 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 sweet with 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 cla.s.srooms and Noriko looked around restlessly until the person who called out to her stepped out of the cla.s.sroom.
”Ah, s.h.i.+mako-san.”
Touko and the other girls who had been walking with Noriko squealed when they saw who it was. Like fans who'd accidentally b.u.mped into their favorite pop star.
”Do you have a moment?”
Noriko nodded, and s.h.i.+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 &h.e.l.lip; ”
For a while now, s.h.i.+mako-san had been addressing Noriko by just her name, without an honorific. It just seemed so right that it felt like she'd been calling her that since the beginning.
”Don't worry about me. I know you're busy preparing for the Maria Ceremony. You're getting in early and staying back late, right? How's your body holding up?”
”I'm fine &h.e.l.lip; Thank-you.”
s.h.i.+mako-san's expression changed 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 to meet, so she shouldn't feel bad about not making it there.)
Noriko thought, ”Well, that's just like her though.”
s.h.i.+mako-san lowered her voice slightly.
”I was wondering, do you like juzu?”
”Juzu?”
”Yes. I remembered there was an image of Buddha in the juzu I inherited from my grandmother &h.e.l.lip; ”
”Please, I'd love to see it!”
Noriko's voice suddenly grew louder the moment she heard the word Buddha. s.h.i.+mako-san shushed her, then laughed quietly.
”I thought you'd say that. Wait for me at that spot tomorrow at lunch, please.”
”Alright!”
s.h.i.+mako-san said, ”See you tomorrow,” and then returned to her cla.s.sroom. On her way back, she smiled sweetly at Touko-san and the other girls who had been watching them.
”Do you have sewing next period? What are you making?”
”Skirts. Rosa Gigantea.”
”I see. I hope you all make wonderful skirts. Do your best.”
”Y-yes!”
(Ahh &h.e.l.lip; It's incredible, even Touko-san's stuttering.)
The first-years looked like they were struck first by s.h.i.+mako-san's gentle manner and then by her friendliness. Noriko sometimes forgot about it, but at times like this she remembered.
That s.h.i.+mako-san was Lillian's Girls Academy High School Division's idol, Rosa Gigantea.
”Um, Noriko-san.”
”Yes?”
Noriko raised her head after she finished cutting the navy-blue cloth. When she turned around, she saw that a student who usually sat a fair distance away was standing right behind her.
It wasn't particularly unusual to see students out of their seats in the chaos of the home economics sewing room. The big group tables were cluttered with four people's cloth.