Maria-sama ga Miteru Volume 25 Chapter 6 Part2

After school.

She went to the clubhouse for the first time in a while, and in the drama club's clubroom she spotted the club president.

"Ah, Touko-chan."

"&h.e.l.lip; Gokigenyou. I apologize for my prolonged absence."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Ah, it's a shame about the election."

"No &h.e.l.lip; "

Touko glanced at the calendar hanging from the wall to confirm her suspicions. As she'd expected, there were no club activities scheduled for today.

The club president was seated at a desk, writing something. It could probably be summed up as "solo overtime." Touko only got a quick look at the doc.u.ment, but it seemed to be some form that had to be submitted to the Yamayurikai council.

None of the rooms in the clubhouse were all that big. For the larger clubs, it wasn't possible to fit all their members in the room, so they used cla.s.srooms or gymnasiums for club activities. The drama club was one of those clubs - their clubroom was used as an office and a storeroom.

"Well, regardless of the result, it's the experience that's important. Even when you've forgotten about it, it may still prove useful to you at some point. You'll be able to broaden your acting skills."

"Like, in a political drama?"

Touko smirked - there weren't many high-school plays around that theme.

"Sounds good. How about a role as a female senator?"

How about it? Touko didn't respond, she simply nodded and said, "Hah."

"All sorts of things were decided while you were away, Touko-chan. I wanted you to hear about some of it prior to tomorrow's club activities, so I'm glad we met today."

The club president stopped filling out the form and set it to one side on the desk.

"The drama club has decided to put on a performance for the Third-Years' Send-Off, but - "

"President."

Touko interrupted her.

"I came here today to get a resignation form."

It was better if someone about to leave the club was not informed of their future activities. She'd planned on saying goodbye properly after filling out the resignation form, but with things the way they were she had to say something.

" &h.e.l.lip; What are you saying?"

The club president stood up, the color draining from her face.

"So you see."

She cast her gaze across to the cabinet in the corner of the room, which should hold the resignation forms. It should be in either the second or third drawer, alongside the "application to join" and "partic.i.p.ation in a training camp" forms.

"I don't understand. Does this have something to do with your loss in the student council election?"

As she said this, the club president nonchalantly moved in front of the cabinet. Surely she wasn't thinking that the first-year club member in front of her would force her way over to the cabinet and s.n.a.t.c.h a resignation form, so she was probably just trying to hide it from Touko's sight.

"No, it's for personal reasons."

She probably wasn't going to accept such a vague explanation. Typically, people would say it was for personal reasons when the actual reason was hard to say.

But, if she was asked if there was something concrete preventing her from doing club activities, Touko wouldn't be able to offer a clear answer.

She liked to act.

But, right now, practicing acting was hard on her. Her father wanted her to live her life as she pleased. But doing what she wanted made her feel guilty, like she was tearing her family apart.

And now her mother was mentally unstable on occasion. Touko wanted to reset things, and think them over more carefully next time.

But she couldn't quite find the words to express that.

"If you're not getting along with some of the older club members, I have some ideas about that."

"Huh? Ideas?"

It was hardly the first time that she wasn't getting along with some of the other members. But, alas, those seniors she didn't get along with weren't enough to make Touko leave the club.

"There's not much time before the third-years' send-off, so we've decided to split into three groups and perform three short scenes. You and me are doing a two-person play. What do you think? Doesn't that sound exciting?"

"Uh &h.e.l.lip; yeah."

Even though she planned on resigning, she was still getting a little excited. It wasn't just about this two-person play - deciding on a new program always got her heart pounding.

It was like setting some ingredients down in front of a chef and saying, "Why don't you make something with these?"

And then the rehearsals.

She liked the rehearsals too. Repeating the same scenes over and over, until she didn't know whether she was the chef or the ingredients, then serving it up in the actual performance as a piping hot meal. Here you go, eat my magnificent dish.

"Right now, I'm looking for a script that will suit you. One that will let you showcase your acting ability to its utmost - that's the sort of play I want us to do."

The club president's eyes shone as she spoke, and looking at her Touko thought, "She and I are the same." She loved drama, and was always focused on doing whatever it took to put on a good performance, doing whatever it took to ensure both the audience and the cast enjoyed themselves. That was probably why she got along with someone as socially maladjusted as Touko herself. Of course, she had her own talents too.

"You're doing all this for me &h.e.l.lip; "

But it would all be in vain if Touko resigned.

"Touko-chan. Even after I've stepped down, I want you to show up and partic.i.p.ate in the drama club."

"Uh &h.e.l.lip; ?"

"I plan on taking entrance exams next year, so I'll be stepping down relatively early. When that happens, you may find yourself isolated within the club. So I thought that the day may come when you'd talk about quitting the club."

The club president let out a long sigh.

"Even on your own, you should have a part to play. Even if it annoys the other club members, you shouldn't have to hide your talent. That would be our drama club's loss, and I think it would be such a shame for you too. It'd be better if you were the next club president, and pulled everyone forwards. You could leave the boring management stuff to someone else, and focus on planning and production. Or devote yourself entirely to acting. However you want it to be. But stay in the club, and act. There's so much that the other club members can learn from you. That's why I don't want you to quit."

(Ahh - )

Even though she'd come to the clubhouse determined to quit, her heart was thumping with excitement at the vision of the future that the club president was painting.

How good would it be if that came to pa.s.s?

But it probably wouldn't turn out that well. Touko's relationship with the other club members wasn't particularly good by any standard. Even if the current second-years stepped down at the same time as the club president, it wasn't like it would all be settled then. She didn't have a wonderful relationship with her fellow first-year club members either.

Given that, this was a dream. An ephemeral dream, given to her by Maria-sama, as she resigned from the club.

"Therefore."

The club president said something completely unexpected.

"Be my pet.i.t soeur."

"Huh?"

Despite Touko's surprise, the club president kept talking.

"If you're the club president's pet.i.t soeur, you won't be as easy a target, right? Even next year, after I've stepped down, you'll still be the pet.i.t soeur of the former club president - the effect won't wear off that quickly."

Her speech came to a halt, as though it had been cut off mid-way through, or completely drowned out.

"But, I."

In that moment, Touko had no idea how to respond. She had never once considered the possibility of the club president being her onee-sama.

Looking at a floundering Touko, the club president suddenly smiled and asked:

"f.u.kuzawa Yumi-san?"

"Mm &h.e.l.lip; "

"I thought as much. You like Yumi-san, don't you?"

Touko couldn't answer that question.

"I can tell, because I'm always looking at you the way you're looking at Yumi-san."

Not answering was the same as providing an answer. Even so, Touko was afraid of putting it into words, of expressing that outwardly.

"Yumi-san's a wonderful person. So I thought it would be great if you could become her pet.i.t soeur and find your happiness that way. That's why I've never said anything until now. But every time you get close to Yumi-san, you get hurt and back away. It's strange. Even though she's always unarmed, never holding a knife or anything like that."

That was exactly right.

Yumi-sama wasn't at fault. Touko would flail around with the weapons she used for self-defense and end up slashing herself and shedding blood. And on occasion, she'd hurt her opponent too.

"I'm sure the problem lies with me."

"I know. It's true. If you don't change, you'll never be able to walk with Yumi-san."

She had no way to respond to that. There was no need to either.

The club president wasn't chastising Touko, or urging her on. She was simply looking at it from a step removed, and saying what she thought.

"But if it were that easy to change oneself, no-one would ever suffer."

The club president smiled. Touko smiled too. That was true.

But Touko didn't really know if she actually wanted to change herself.

"It's so painful watching you suffer."

The club president put her arm around Touko's shoulders and pulled her closer.

"Just forget about Yumi-san already. I'll look out for you."

Touko closed her eyes in that gentle embrace.

Life would probably be easier if she agreed. Nothing to worry about, nothing to yearn for. She would probably be able to lead a quiet life.

"&h.e.l.lip; Touko-chan?"

However, Touko quietly extricated herself from the club president's inviting arms.

"I'm sorry."

She couldn't decide right now. There was no way she could choose the club president just to cut off all contact with Yumi-sama.

"I see."

The club president sighed, "I figured as much." Then she turned around and took a piece of paper out of one of the cabinet drawers.

"Here."

She was holding out a club resignation form.

"&h.e.l.lip; President."

"Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying I recommend this, or even that I approve of it."

When Touko was reluctant to accept it, the club president folded the B5-sized piece of paper in half and forced it into her hand.

"Think of it like a charm. Then, when you feel up to it, carry it with you and come to club activities. You'll feel a bit better knowing you can quit at any time, right?"

Then the club president added, "I'll be waiting for you," which Touko gratefully accepted.

"Of course, you don't have to be mindful of me. When you want to use the form, use it. Although I'd be overjoyed if you didn't. But there are all sorts of "personal reasons.""

Then the club president sat down in her chair, and picked up the form she'd been working on earlier.

Touko bowed deeply and left the clubhouse.

Since it looked like the club president wanted to be alone - her face down, concentrating on the paperwork.

In that case, Touko thought that the sooner she disappeared the better.