Maria-sama ga Miteru Volume 28 Chapter 16

~ Let me pa.s.s, let me pa.s.s. ~

~ What is this narrow pathway here? ~

~ It's the narrow pathway of Maria-sama. ~

~ Please allow me to pa.s.s through. ~

~ Those without good reason shall not pa.s.s. ~[1]

( - hey, wait.)

Minato pulled herself up, as though she'd been singing aloud and not just in her head.

"Which club are you from?"

The security guard seemed gentle, but his expression said he wasn't about to compromise when it came to his job, as he looked at Minato and waited for a response.

"Err, it's the manga club &h.e.l.lip; "

Minato said as she reached into her bag, pulled out a bath towel and used it to wipe away the sweat running down her face.

"The manga club? Ahh - "

The security guard looked towards the last group he had just let in.

"Yeah, that's right. Those are my friends. I just fell a bit behind. Hey, sempai, Ryouko-sama."

Minato called out, waving wildly at her friends that were steadily receding down the narrow pathway of Maria-sama, err, the path lined with ginkgo trees, entreating them to come and help her.

She was being checked on the way in, even though they'd only gone off-campus to go to a public bathhouse as part of their on-campus summer vacation camp. Since there were young ladies staying at school, obviously there had to be someone keeping a strict watch so that no suspicious people could enter the campus. The security guard had the important job of keeping track of the number of girls that left, which club they belonged to, as well as the time they left and the time they returned.

Incidentally, since Minato was wearing jeans and a T-shirt as well as having short hair and a stick figure body, she looked like a boy at first glance, but she was a 100% genuine student of Lillian's Girls Academy. Just as she was realizing the extent that her ident.i.ty was normally proven by her school uniform and school ID card, the security guard said:

"That's odd. I've confirmed that the manga club had eight people leaving, and eight people returning."

While the security guard shook his head as he held the notebook in one hand, her friends had noticed the commotion and returned to the gate.

"What's the matter, Minato-chan?"

"That was cruel of you, sempai. Running off and leaving me behind."

Minato complained to the club president, Ryouko-sama, who was the first one to arrive.

"Left you behind? You were with us just a minute ago, Minato-chan."

Ryouko-sama said, seeking confirmation from the other club members on the camp. One, two, three, &h.e.l.lip; there were six uncertain nods of agreement, excluding Ryouko-sama.

"Just a minute ago?"

Minato asked.

"When we went through the gate, right?"

"Huh?"

If she'd been with them when they entered, then she wouldn't have been stopped, alone, at the gate.

In the end, the security guard checked the numbers once more, and there were eight, so this time around Minato was allowed to enter with the rest of the group.

"Well, that is strange. Last time around, the security guard counted eight people."

"What could that mean?"

Taki-sama, the club vice-president, asked.

"The only thing I can think is that there are two Minato-chans."

After saying that, Ryouko-sama turned to face Minato, grinning broadly.

"Watch out, Minato-chan. If you see your doppelganger, you'll die in a couple of days."

- Geeze, give me a break.

 

* *

 

"So, why did you fall behind, Minato-chan?"

Ryouko-sama asked, as she was stuffing her face with a piping-hot deep-fried croquette. Their dinner menu was that, plus a side-salad, pickled vegetables, miso soup and a donburi meat and rice dish. At home, rice was usually a side-dish in a smaller bowl, but strangely enough, they ate a lot of the larger, donburi rice dishes on camp.

"We pa.s.sed a stone monument on the way back, and I stopped to read its inscription. I called out, asking you to wait up."

Minato answered, somewhat peevishly. If they had waited, then she wouldn't have been stopped by the security guard.

"I didn't hear you."

At the time, Ryouko-sama had been walking in front, talking loudly to Taki-sama about their evening dinner menu, so she may not have heard.

The meals for students partic.i.p.ating in on-campus camps were provided by the university's cafeteria. It was the beginning of August and there were a number of other clubs having their camps at the same time, so the dining hall was quite lively.

"So, what was written on the Kōshin pillar?"[2]

"The Kōshin pillar said &h.e.l.lip;. hey, wait, how did you know it was a Kōshin pillar?"

"We went to the same public bathhouse during our camp last year too. Didn't the old pillar look like it'd be good material?"

Listening to Ryouko-sama's explanation, Minato was crestfallen and hung her head in shame.

"No way, I was even thinking of using it as a hint in the manga I'm writing for the school festival."

Minato had been scooped by her senior. Simply because she had the disadvantage of being born later.

"So use it?"

"Huh? But weren't you going to?"

"I thought about it, but I can't really see myself using it. And since my manga's going to be a love romance set in the French royal palace, a Kōshin pillar wouldn't fit. What do the rest of you think?"

Ryouko-sama asked the other second-years. Incidentally, there were only first- and second-years partic.i.p.ating in their camp.

"It wouldn't go well with my parallel universe fantasy either."

Then the 'boys-love' specialist Taki-sama shook her head too.

"I've tried to use it a couple of times too, but never got anywhere. When writing boys-love, I've wanted to use a setting like our neighbors, Hanadera Academy. But I always get frustrated when I'm writing it. Because it doesn't feel real. There's nothing I can do about that, I'll never know what things are really like over there."

Then the second-years started saying some ridiculous sounding statements, like, "I wonder if it's true that they all wear loincloths for swimming lessons at Hanadera," and, "Aren't the teachers all Buddhist monks?" and everyone got quite excited.

But as excited as a group of girls got talking about an all-boys school, the opposite, ie. a group of boys talking about an all-girls school, would surely get far more excited.

Minato stayed out of this derailed discussion, and Ryouko-sama said to her:

"So you see, Minato-chan, we'll hand over the Kōshin pillar to you and your horror manga. Oh, hey, why don't you mix that together with the doppelganger?"

"Huh..."

"Yeah, one day protagonist M was walking past the Kōshin pillar on the way to school, when she was stopped by the security guard. 'Hey, didn't you just walk past here a minute ago?' he says."

"Ooh, that does sound good."

The other students had reached a lull in their conversation about boys schools, and so they jokingly intervened in her conversation.

"Oh, what's wrong? You look so gloomy, Minato-chan."

"Well, if the protagonist sees their doppelganger they'll die after a few days, right? Using myself as the model is a bit &h.e.l.lip; "

"It'll be fine, they don't have to see their doppelganger at all."

There didn't seem to be any basis for her statement that "It'll be fine," but Ryouko-sama was definitely full of confidence. Nonetheless.

"Can you even call it a doppelganger then? Wouldn't it just be another student that looks like her wandering around &h.e.l.lip; ?"

"Well, that could be fun too."

"But even if it was fun."

It wouldn't be a horror manga, Minato thought.

 

* * *

 

"&h.e.l.lip; I'm bored."

Someone muttered as they lay on tatami mats spread out across half the cla.s.sroom.

"Nights without TV sure are long."

That was the switch, and it was followed by a rapid succession of voices saying things like, "There's nothing to do," and, "I should have brought a game."

For the first and second nights of the camp, the boredom itself had been interesting, but by the third night it felt like the boredom was just boring. They'd lost interest in sitting on their futons and playing cards for a second successive night.

Normally Minato would draw manga when she was bored, but having had plenty of time to do that during the day, she'd had enough of her beloved club activity.

No matter what the club activity, they were probably all pretty much the same. Consequently, the lights went out at 10pm. If they were going to be bored, they might as well sleep. But it was shortly before 9pm. They'd spread their futons out early since they had nothing else to do, but there was still over an hour left until lights-out.

It was in that languid atmosphere that the club president, Ryouko-sama, stood up and said:

"Alright, let's have a test of courage."

"A test of courage?"

"You're bored, right? Everyone on your feet, stand up."

With Ryouko-sama prodding at them the upset club members reluctantly stood up. But their eyes glistened faintly.

"The location is the auditorium. Well, it starts at the five or six steps in the stairway that lead up the auditorium. I'm going to leave this there."

As she said that, Ryouko-sama held up a lens with film attached, a.k.a. a disposable camera. She must have bought it at the convenience store, when she stopped in there on the way back from the public bathhouse.

"You have to pick it up, then go to the front of the auditorium and use the camera to take a picture of yourself as proof, then put it back on the stairway."

"But why the stairway- "[3]

Minato got that far before she figured it out.

"N, no way!?"

"You got it. That's exactly what it is. The stairway and ghost stories are connected. If you encountered a ghost there, we could discuss it - wouldn't that just be perfect?"

If she only wanted to make a bad pun, there was no need to go all the way to the auditorium. There were a bunch of stairways in the school building itself.

"Putting it in the school building would be boring, right? Anyway, pick a piece of paper. Two people to a group. I'd like everyone to go one at a time, but we wouldn't be finished before lights-out."

This time around Ryouko-sama held out strips of paper about 1cm wide. The papers had the letter A, B or C written on them, which only became visible after they were drawn. She'd been doing something secretive over at a desk in the corner just before, and apparently this was it.

"Oh, there aren't enough."

There were eight club members partic.i.p.ating in the camp. But there were only six pieces of paper.

"I'm going alone as the vanguard. And Minato-chan will go, alone, as the rear guard."

"Hey. Alone?"

"You're scared? Even though you're drawing a horror manga?"

"I draw it because I'm scared. On the flip side, if I ever was in a scary situation, I'd never be able to draw it."

"I see. I choose to draw boys-love because it's something that I'll never be able to experience myself."

"That's exactly it, Taki-sama. Ten points for you."

Without pausing to admire Minato, the other six girls hurriedly drew pieces of paper, a.s.signing themselves to a team.

"Ahh."

Having missed her chance to get in on the draw, Minato had the misfortune of going alone.

"Everyone okay? Make sure you take a photo with yourselves in it. There'll be a penalty for any club members who aren't in the photos when they're developed."

"Awww."

"Well, what were you expecting? That you could just wander around the school building for a bit, come back and say that you'd been there?"

"Have some faith in me."

As the older girls laughed, it was obvious that they didn't consider skulking around the school building to be a test of courage on the same level as going to the auditorium.

"Even if you don't lie, the penalty still applies if you're not in the photos. This camera can take 27 photos. Basic math tells us there's three photos per person. &h.e.l.lip; Right, as a bonus prize for going by herself, Minato can take five photos."

"Umm &h.e.l.lip; that leaves one photo remaining."

It may have been inconsequential but Minato was troubled by it, so she asked.

27 - 7 x 3 - 1 x 5 = 1

Minato smiled and said, "You don't get it, huh."

"Always leave one candle lit when you're doing the Gathering of 100 Supernatural Tales." [4]

"Huh?"

"Terrible things happen when the final candle is blown out. You've never heard of this?"

"I've heard of it."

It was a popular subject in horror manga. The hundred stories that must never all be told. Much like the urban legends of the ghost schools.

"So it's up to you, Minato-chan, to ensure the last photograph remains."

"Alright."

Minato responded gravely. The 100 Supernatural Tales were that scary.

"Okay, I'm off."

Ryouko-sama gleefully departed. Surely she'd be better suited to writing a horror manga than a royal romance?

So then. Ryouko-sama returned after just ten minutes.

"It sure is lonely out there by yourself."

She said, smiling brightly. Poking fun at Minato, who would have to face the test of courage on her own later. Was this person a s.a.d.i.s.t?

When Ryouko-sama arrived back Group A set out, and they were gone about 15 minutes. Since they went as a group of two, they were probably chatting as they walked and then posing for their photographs, which added to their time. They looked pretty relaxed when they said, "We're back."

Group B were quick. They took about seven minutes and when they returned their faces were ashen.

"Well, we heard a strange noise - "

It looked like they both started sprinting after being surprised. But they didn't want to face the penalty either, so they held it together long enough to take their photos. It'd be interesting to see what kind of photos they took.

Group C returned, with an expression that differed from both Group A's relaxed look and Group B's petrified look.

Having just returned, they questioned the other two groups.

"How many photos did you lot take?"

Before anyone had a chance to ask why, Taki-sama from Group C continued angrily.

"When we went to take our photos, eighteen shots had already been taken. Even if you'd used all your photos, there should only have been fifteen taken."

Taking more than your share of photographs was a clear violation of the rules.

"If we'd taken our full six then that wouldn't have left five remaining for last placed Minato-chan, so we restrained ourselves to only three."

"Hold on a minute."

Ryouko-sama stopped her.

"I only took one photo."

Group B and Group C continued in the same vein.

"We took four photos."

"We took six between us, but &h.e.l.lip; ?"

Taking their statements at face value, one, four and six totaled to eleven. So who took the missing seven photographs?

" &h.e.l.lip; The counter could be broken."

An irrational idea popped into her head and Minato desperately fought to drive it out.

"On a camera from one of the industry's leading manufacturers? That's a bit troubling."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything. We'll know when I get the film developed."

"But we don't know now."

"We don't have to know now. Go on, off you go."

Ryouko-sama smiled as she ushered Minato out of the cla.s.sroom. - Ryouko-sama's sadism had been confirmed.

Just as Minato had expected, the school was a scary place at night.

The cla.s.srooms being used by groups having on-campus camps, and the hallways around them, were brilliantly lit and lively, but one step outside that area and a dark and silent world opened up. It was a warm and sultry night, but it also felt oddly cool.

Fortunately, her route didn't take her past the science labs, but she still had a bit of a shock when she unthinkingly walked past the school infirmary.

"&h.e.l.lip; Eek!"

The poster of the human body that hung on the corridor wall looked especially ominous in the dim light.

(Even in the school building, you can still have a proper test of courage.)

Clutching her chest, Minato unsteadily advanced. After going out the emergency exit, the sky was expansive and the stars were distant. Even so, it wasn't as dark as she had expected because the outside lights shone down here and there. Under normal circ.u.mstances they were probably turned off after the students had gone home for the day, but were left running all night while the on-campus camps were taking place.

The tree branches swayed noisily.

(If you look closely, everything has a rational explanation.)

Minato walked on, repeating this within her head. The words were a charm she used to prevent herself from breaking into a run like Group B.

After repeating this to herself countless times, Minato arrived at the auditorium. The entrance to Milk Hall, which was in the same building, gaped wide open and the inky blackness seemed to beckon her into another world.

(Don't look at it, don't look at it.)

In her mind, Minato applauded Ryouko-sama for skillfully choosing this downward sloping staircase for the photography location. There were countless other stairways around the grounds, but because this one was delving down into the ground it made it many times more frightening.

Minato hurried past the entrance to Milk Hall and around to the front of the auditorium, where she had to take the photo. The camera had been in the middle of the staircase and very easy to spot.

"Alright."

All she had to do was take a photo of herself using the camera and return and her job would be complete. Minato let out a sigh of relief, but then she casually glanced at the film counter and gulped.

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

The number showing on the display was 2. In other words, 25 photographs had been taken. But Group C said that they had left Minato enough film to take five photos. In which case, the display should have read 5.

"Ahaha."

The camera had to be broken, after all. Minato momentarily laughed, but rather than cheering her up it seemed to deepen her unease.

(But what if it isn't broken?)

Something had been pressing the shutter. She felt a shiver run down her spine and didn't want to think about it any more. She didn't want to think about it, but at any rate, it only left her one shot to work with.

Failure was not an option. After checking the flash setting, Minato turned the lens to face herself. From that position, her face should be visible. She was a bit concerned, but since she was both the photographer and the subject there was nothing she could do about it.

(In five, four, three, two &h.e.l.lip; )

Just then.

"Would you like some help?"

"Aaaaargh!?"

Surprised by the voice that suddenly called out to her from behind, Minato flailed her arms wildly. If she'd only flailed her arms it would have been fine, but by instinct she &h.e.l.lip;

Click.

"Ah"

She'd clenched down on the shutter.

"I'm stupid, stupid, stupid."

Even though that had been her last chance. She was willing to bet that her face hadn't been captured in that shot.

"What the h.e.l.l were you doing, scaring me like that!"

Minato turned around. At that time she still thought it was someone from her club.

"I'm sorry."

The moment she saw the contrite looking girl Minato was again surprised, but for a different reason. She almost doubled over from horror.

"I didn't mean to alarm you. But you looked like you were having trouble taking the photo by yourself, so I called out to you. Oh my."

The person smiling amiably at Minato was herself.

Doppelganger. If you catch sight of your double, then you'll die a couple of days later.

"Don't we look alike?"

"Look alike&h.e.l.lip; ahh."

When Minato heard this, she came to her senses.

Their height, slender body type and short hair were both exactly the same, but they only looked like each other because on closer inspection they were distinct human beings. They may come from the same genetic lineage, but their faces weren't completely identical. And their voices differed in both timbre and tone.

"We're even wearing the same color T-shirts."

"Ahh, this."

Minato plucked at the hem of her T-shirt.

"My mother bought it for me, saying that since I look like a boy I should at least wear a pink T-shirt."

Minato found herself wondering why she was telling a stranger this, but found herself unable to stop.

"But I don't think it really suits me."

Minato probably made this excuse because, although they were both wearing jeans and a T-shirt, it clearly looked better on the other girl.

"Not at all. You look so cute. The pink matches your voice."

She said it with no trace of malice whatsoever, and smiled so sweetly, that Minato's sense of inferiority was blown away. In truth, Minato envied her voice just as much as her figure. She yearned for a voice that was just a touch lower, like that of the girl in front of her.

"I'm Minato. And you are?"

"Ariko."

Minato felt that they could be friends, and it wasn't just because they looked like each other.

"By the way, Ariko-san, what's a girl like you doing all alone in a place like this?"

"Oh. You're asking me that, but you're doing the same thing, aren't you Minato-san?"

"So you're on a test of courage?"

"Exactly. But the people in your group only have to take a picture of themselves, right? That's nice."

"So it's worse for you then, Ariko-san?"

"More or less. You've heard of a scavenger hunt, right? It's kind of like that, the first-years have to go out and fetch things that the seniors decree."

"Ohh, that's horrible."

"But, I adore that senior."

Minato found her resistance drooping limply after this unexpected statement from Ariko.

" &h.e.l.lip; Is she your onee-sama?"

Minato asked without thinking, and was answered with a shake of the head.

"It looks like they prefer one of my friends."

"Ah, I'm sorry."

From just that brief exchange it was obvious that Ariko's club wasn't the same happy-go-lucky place as the manga club. Well, there were all kinds.

"It's okay, I'm fine with it. Setting that aside, I'll take the photo for you. Hand me the camera."

Ariko held our her hand for the camera. Minato nodded in agreement, but couldn't bring herself to hand it over.

"What's the matter? There's still film right?"

"There is, but &h.e.l.lip; "

Ariko turned pale when Minato explained that the last piece of film was like the final candle in the 100 Supernatural Tales.

"So that stuff-up was your only shot, Minato-san? I'm so sorry. How can I apologize?"

"I said it's okay. It was my lack of guts that made me surprised by your voice."

Minato said, self-deprecatingly, but Ariko didn't laugh.

"What happens if you don't take your photograph?"

"There's a penalty."

"And how many people are there after you?"

"I'm the last one."

Thereupon Ariko clapped her hands together.

"Is that all? Then you might as well take your photo, right? Use the last piece of film."

"But what about the 100 Supernatural Tales?"

"It'll be fine. It's not a candle, you know."

"But what if my soul's sucked - "

"Minato-san, what century are you living in?"

Ariko laughed so hard she clutched her stomach. After laughing for a short while she suddenly said, "I'm thirsty." Before Minato started to look around for the closest drinking fountain, Ariko raised her index finger.

"Say, do you want a juice? My treat."

"Huh? No, I'm fine."

"You don't have to be so restrained. It's a goodwill offering. I wanted to get some strawberry milk, but since it's summer vacation I don't suppose they'd have any."

"That's what you'd think. But I saw our club president drinking one this morning."

"Ooh, where'd she get it from? You have to show me."

"Show you? She got it from Milk Hall, of course."

Minato pointed. The only place at school that sold strawberry milk was Milk Hall. Naturally, Milk Hall was closed at this time of night, but to be more precise it was the vending machine outside of Milk Hall.

"Alright then, let's go."

Ariko walked off and Minato followed after her.

"Wait, where are you going? It's this way - didn't I just say it was at Milk Hall."

Ariko, who had overshot the entrance, hastily stopped.

"Ahaha, I'm just a bit absent-minded."

Were there really any students who were so absent-minded that they'd mistake where Milk Hall was? What if she was being led astray by a trickster racc.o.o.n or fox? These were the kind of thoughts Minato was having as she followed Ariko, who was skipping happily down the stairs in front of Milk Hall. She even seemed completely undaunted by the darkness.

"Here it is. Thank-you, Minato-san."

Ariko danced rapturously as she fed the coins into the vending machine, then handed one of the two packs that it spat out to Minato.

"Sorry, I forgot to ask what you wanted, so I got you the same thing as me, Minato-san."

"That's okay. Thanks."

The red 'sold-out' light was glowing next to the b.u.t.ton for strawberry milk. It looked like they got the last two.

Even though she was supposedly thirsty, Ariko didn't puncture the milk carton with the straw.

"Say, how about a photo to capture this feeling. One with the both of us in it. Let's go back to where we were before."

Ariko took Minato by the hand and climbed the stairs, going back outside. And like that, she jumped for joy in front of the auditorium.

"Hold the strawberry milk up beside your face. See, it matches the color of our T-shirts, we look like twins."

Ariko held the camera up to face them, as they stood cheek-to-cheek. Minato posed, still silent. It no longer mattered to her whether or not Ariko was some kind of spirit animal. The photograph would probably be good inspiration for a future manga, but she was also partially resigned to her circ.u.mstances.

"You're sure? It really is the last piece of film."

"It's okay. I know how to use the camera. Alright, here we go. Three, two."

Just then.

"Minato-chaaaaan."

From far away, a voice called out her name.

"Wah."

Click.

"Ah."

Just as the camera shook wildly, the light of the flash and the sound of the shutter enveloped them.

"I'm so sorry. I even said I knew what I was doing, and it ended up like this &h.e.l.lip; "

As Ariko earnestly apologized, the voice from before could be heard coming from the school building.

"It's okay. You bought me the strawberry milk as a pre-payment."

Minato said, laughing.

"In that case, I should go."

"Okay."

Minato nodded and Ariko tossed the camera back to her.

"See you later."

"Yeah, later."

At the time, Minato didn't think to question why Ariko ran off in the direction of the ginkgo-tree lined path, rather than towards the school building where the camps were taking place. Perhaps a part of her thought that Ariko really was an entirely different type of being.

"Minato-chan."

Minato was brought back to earth by the cries of Ryouko-sama that were getting steadily louder.

"When 10:00 came around and you still weren't back I got worried. I'm so glad you're fine."

"I am not fine. I wasn't able to take my photo all alone."

"Oh, my. Then I suppose some kind of penalty is in order for you then."

Ryouko-sama said, as she took the camera from Minato's hand.

"Speaking of which, what is the penalty?"

"I haven't really had time to think of one. Let's see. Be my pet.i.t soeur. How about that?"

" &h.e.l.lip; And you're okay with that even if I saw my doppelganger and will die in a couple of days?"

"Really? If you're going to die, at least wait until after you've finished your ma.n.u.script for the school festival."

"You're more concerned about that than my life?"

"Hahaha."

Ryouko-sama hugged Minato around the shoulder and laughed.

"So why do you have that strawberry milk?"

"A spirit fox gave it to me."

Minato responded completely seriously.

"Say Minato-chan, wouldn't a folktale be better than a horror manga?"

Ryouko-sama said, looking fondly at Minato.

 

* * * *

 

Come the next morning, the strawberry milk hadn't changed into anything else and remained obviously strawberry milk.

The film was taken to be developed, which was completed the following day, so they were all able to verify its contents while still on camp.

The final result was that no-one had to undergo the penalty.

It was determined that Minato appeared in the photos taken immediately after those of Group C. A set of three photos, in varying poses.

But Minato had indeed failed to take a photograph.

Because that was Ariko. n.o.body said anything, so Minato allowed everyone to continue under the impression that those three photographs were of her.

In the end, they never determined who took the few photographs interspersed between the club member's photos. They must have been taken by a human, but why would someone take photos of trees and buildings?

The seniors in the club may have done it as a way of making Minato frightened but, if so, that was a pretty low act.

"Hang on, this isn't you, Minato-chan."

Ryouko-sama suddenly said, out of the blue, one day about six months later. That was when Minato decided to become her pet.i.t soeur.

The true ident.i.ty of Ariko remained a mystery. Minato thought about it from time to time. Her feelings about it were conflicting, she wanted to know but she also thought it might be better off left alone.

 

"Hey, Tsutako-san. This is a spirit photograph."

When second-year came around and Minato was placed in the same cla.s.s as Takeshima Tsutako-san, she showed her the picture of Ariko.

But the only comment the unfocussed photograph elicited from Tsutako-san was, "I couldn't call it a good photo, even if I was trying to flatter you."

 

Translation courtesy of Wikipedia: This is the traffic light melody mentioned in 'April Deja-vu.' The Tenjin Shrine from the original has been replaced with Maria-sama. The j.a.panese Wikipedia has some pictures of these at and the English Wikipedia has some basic information about the beliefs at In j.a.panese, stairway (階段) is p.r.o.nounced the same as ghost story (怪談) and discussion (会談). Minato stops because she realizes the terrible pun Ryouko has made.