Maria - Chapter 2 Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, January 1990. Written by Takeuchi Naoko. Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.0, September 2000. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Good morning, my god. Every day in the dorm is like a field trip. Do you know how many times I was nearly late for class, from talking with my roommate Ema every night? (We even speak French during class!) But I've decided. I will definitely find you. "Oh, maybe I shouldn't write this," she thinks. "He is always near you." "I wonder what was meant by what that person said," she thinks. "Maybe I could see him again." Ema sits up in bed. "Good morning, Maria." "Good morning, Ema!" says Maria. "Is there breakfast on Sundays?" "If you go to the lounge, you can eat whenever you want," says Ema. "You're up early. Going somewhere?" "Ehehe. It's a secret." "Oh! Maria!" says Ema. "Be sure to make the eight o'clock curfew! And also, also, your going-out card!" "I know!" says Maria. "See you later!" She leaves the room. "Loud girl..." says Noa, lying in bed with Ema. "What is she so excited about this early in the morning?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maria puts the card next to her name in on the board at the door, indicating her departure. "I'm going out!" she calls. She goes outside. God, finally, finally it's the Sunday I've waited for. She sees Kazuma stepping out from the bushes. "Huh!?" she thinks. "It's Kazuma-kun! Did he sneak into the girls dorm again!? But what is he wearing his uniform on a Sunday morning for?" They stand together at the bus stop. "You can't do that," she says. "Boys are banned from the girls dorm." "Are you going to turn me in?" says Kazuma. "Since the performance by Kazushi's band had finished, I couldn't go home. I didn't have any choice, so I spent the night." "He- He spent the night!?" thinks Maria. "In the girls dorm!?" "I- I can't believe it," she says. "That's wrong." The bus to Shiba Park Medical Center pulls up to them. "Where are you going?" says Kazuma. "Wh- Wherever!" says Maria. She gets on the bus. "That's amazing," she thinks. "S- Spending the night, I guess he must have a girlfriend. He really is popular." She looks at him through the window as the bus departs. "He always looks sullen," she thinks. "I see... Since he has a girlfriend, he doesn't waste his smiling face." She sticks out her tongue at him. "Nyah nyah, you bully." Kazushi joins Kazuma at the bus stop. "Hey, Kazuma, you didn't get on the bus?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh Maria," says her mom. "You'll always be my kid, so I can tease you." "I came all the way here, and even you're teasing me?" says Maria. "Come on, I don't need a visit," says her mom. "Go somewhere with some girls from your new school. You have to make friends." "I've made plenty of friends," says Maria. "Oh, Mom, you're wearing a beautiful bracelet. I want it." "No," says her mom. "Please?" "No." "Please!" "No!" "Fine, I'll take it!" Maria grabs the bracelet from her mom's wrist. "Oh, Maria, don't!" Maria turns and bumps into someone. "S- Sorry..." she says. "Hey," says the man with the moustache. "You look cheerful." "Oh!" says Maria. "H- Hey! What are you doing here!?" "Maria, how rude," says her mom. "Introduce yourself to my doctor, Maie-sensei." "No way! No way!" thinks Maria. "What's going on!?" "How do you do..." she says. "Come on, this isn't the first time we've met," say Maie. "Now then, you're a forgetful one, aren't you?" "He lived next to us a long time ago, when your dad was alive," says Maria's mom. "You probably don't remember because you were little," says Maie. "Is that so?" says Maria. "You didn't say anything the other day. You're the one who said 'how do you do'." "Is that so?" says Maie. "His teasing attitude is just like that jerk's," thinks Maria. "So he was a neighbor a long time ago? If that's true, maybe Daddy Longlegs is along the same line. I don't want to ask this bully." "I was often asked by you to play the piano," says Maie. "Don't you remember? That's too bad." He puts his hand on her shoulder. "Big, warm hands..." she thinks. "By any chance," she says, "was the garden filled with roses...?" "Yes, it was," says Maie. "You played in there often, didn't you?" "The place with the roses was your house!?" says Maria. "Yes, I remember, I remember! It was the only one with roses! I loved it." "Just the roses?" says her mom. "That's cruel. Even though you were teased and teased, you kept going to his house. You even promised to be his bride. Right, Maie-sensei?" "I- I did!?" says Maria. Maie puts his finger to his lips. "Shhh." The PA system beeps. "Maie-sensei, telephone." "Well, don't excite your pretty mom too much," he says. Maie leaves the room. "Be thankful to him," says Maria's mom. "He graduated from Green Garden as well, so he took care of all the formalities for you." "Oh?" says Maria. "But what about Daddy Longlegs?" "Oh!" says her mom. "He asked Maie-sensei to do it. That's it, they're old acquaintances, he and Daddy Longlegs." "There must be a reason you won't tell me..." God... You, and mom, and the others are so mean. Full of mysteries. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I'm back!" "Maria!" says Ema. "You're early. Just in time!" She shakes Noa, who is lying in bed. "Hey, Noa, wake up," she says. "Quit it now..." says Noa. "I was up late last night." "I'm thinking of having a tea party," says Ema. "I called Kazuma and Kashi-kun as well." Noa sits up suddenly. "Come on!" she says. "I'm low on sleep. It's Kazuma's fault! He woke me up in the middle of the night." "So you came to our place last night, Noa-chan?" "Ema! Let me stay here! I'm sleepy!" "Noa-chan! It's three in the morning!" "Right," says Noa. "That Kazuma... There's no one I can rely on but you!" "What?" thinks Maria. "So Kazuma-kun spent the night in Noa-chan's room. But, but, the two of them alone in the middle of the night..." "Don't say such an indecent thing, Noa," says Kazuma. "Like I was the only one..." He and Kazushi stand in the doorway. "What are you talking about, Noa," says Kazushi. "Kazuma, Kazuma... I was there, too." "Oh, what?" says Maria. "The two of you stayed there together? I see." "Fuyumi-san," says Noa. "You had a date today, didn't you? You were so excited. Is he from your old school?" "Oh- Oh, no way," says Maria. "I was paying a visit to my mom." "Oh?" says Kazushi. "Daddy Longlegs, eh?" "Yeah, isn't it great?" says Ema. "I'm so jealous. I'll look for him, so we can cooperate, Maria. Who could it be?" "I was thinking it might be my mom's doctor," says Maria. "You even promised to be his bride. Right, Maie-sensei?" "Yes, it's possible!" she thinks. "He does know me well." "That is a likely possibility," says Kazushi. "But if that's the case, why hide it?" says Noa. "He knows your mother well. If you say it's an old acquaintance of your mother's past neighbor... Your dead father..." "You fool," says Kazuma. "It's your mother who's paying the money. It would be normal for someone else to pay. She's putting herself into the role of Daddy Longlegs." "Oh!" says Kazushi. "Daddy Longlegs might be a relative of your roommate." "Right here!" says Ema. "It's actually me who's your Daddy Longlegs, Maria!" They laugh. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Aren't you going to bed, Maria?" "Yeah," says Maria. "I'll go to bed after I write this letter." "I see," says Ema. "I have to be up early tomorrow for day duty, so I'm going to go ahead and go to bed. Good night!" "Yeah, good night!" I want to know about you, but why can't I? Any small thing would be fine. I still haven't received any reply. "It's not... my mom..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maria picks up the clock at 8:35. "Oh no!" She runs through the school hallway. "I overslept at last!" She runs into the classroom. "Miss Maria!" says the instructor. "Have you gotten used to the dorm and started slacking off?" "I- I'm sorry!" says Maria. "All right. I'll have you do these ten English composition problems." "T- Ten problems!?" The bell rings. "Maria, I'm sorry!" says Ema. "I must have..." "Oh, no," says Maria. "It was me, I shut off the alarm clock and went back to sleep." "It may not look like it," says Kazushi, "but English is my specialty. Let me take care of it." "Kazushi-kun, come over here!" A girl takes him aside the classroom. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" he says. "Instead of having Daddy Longlegs, is she Cinderella?" says one of the girls. "Oh, or maybe she's the little match girl," says another. "She's late from selling matches in the middle of the night." "She is good at ingratiating herself." "Hey!" says Ema. "What...?" thinks Maria. "Since she doesn't have money," says one girl, "she's in debt to Daddy Longlegs." "Everyone has been thinking like that...?" thinks Maria. "It must be difficult without a father." "Stop it!" says Kazuma. "I don't have a mother either. Being a scholarship student, my scholarship makes me in debt to the school." Maria's eyes water. "Oh, I can't," she thinks. "I really didn't want to cry, but..." "What's going on," says the instructor. "You again!? Miss Maria! Take your seat! Let's begin." Kazuma grabs Maria's hand. "She looks like she's not feeling well, so I'm taking her to the health center," he says. He takes her out of the classroom. "Why is this person helping me...?" she thinks. They enter a room with a piano. Maria sneezes. "Oh, my nose is running!" she says. "That's not clean," says Kazuma. He gives her his jacket. "Wear this." He sits down at the piano and begins to play. "They can't hear this in the classroom?" says Maria. "I have to go back," she thinks. "They can't hear it," says Kazuma. "But just a little longer..." she thinks. "What piece is this?" she says. "'Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,'" says Kazuma. "Oh... He smiled," thinks Maria. "I felt... he might be saying merry Christmas to me." She smells the jacket around her shoulders. "A man's scent...?" she thinks. "So... warm..." "I've remembered a little," she says. "A long time ago, there was someone who often played piano for me. It must have been a warm, gentle feeling like this... I was little, but I said that I'd be his bride. Ehehe." "Did you love this person...?" says Kazuma. Maria's heart pounds. "Shall I show you something nice?" he says. He takes out a photograph of a young man and woman together. God... "What?" thinks Maria. "Is this... Mom?" Why... "This is my mom," she says. "It's my mom, right!? She's wearing a uniform." ...does he have such a photo...!? "But this man... I've never seen before. It's not my dad. Who is he!?" "It's Maie-sensei," says Kazuma. "Maie-sensei!? It can't be!" says Maria. "But why are he and my mom..." The bell rings. Kazuma leaves the room. "Hey!" says Maria. God, what's going on? She goes back to the classroom. "Maria!" says Ema. "What a relief! Are you all right? Kazuma took you out of here all of a sudden. I was surprised." "Kazuma-kun's not here..." thinks Maria. "I didn't have the heart to thank him for lending that to me. Why does he have this picture!? Could it be from before my mom met my dad?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: The "little match girl" is a reference to a Hans Christian Andersen poem. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" is a piece from the film of the same name. Here is a piano version. Original manga copyright © 1990 Takeuchi Naoko. English translation copyright © 2000 Alex Glover. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Manga of Takeuchi Naoko | Maria