"A Notice from the Yamayuri Council When watching "Maria Watches Over Us ~Printemps~" please have the room brightly lit and sit well away from the television set." "The new school term began and we became second-year students." "Taking the places of the Lady Roses who graduated," "Lady Sachiko has become the Rosa Chinensis," "Lady Rei the Rosa Foetida, and Shimako the Rosa Gigantea." "Next, we have the Maria Festival being held in the middle of May." "The priest will be bringing the medallions to be presented to the first-year students on that day, so we are to meet him in the morning to receive them." "That task will fall to the two boutons." "Yes, ma'am." "Yes, ma'am." "And Rosa Gigantea, with regards to the roses to be pinned to our chests..." "S-Shimako?" "Shimako." "Oh, yes...?" "The maidens, who flock to Mother Maria's garden, pass through the tall gates today yet again with innocent, angelic smiles." "Their pure hearts and bodies are clad in deep-colored uniforms." "So that the pleats of their skirts are not disturbed and so that their white sailor collars are not set aflutter, it is customary here to walk slowly and with decorum." "The Private Lillian Girls' Academy, a garden of maidens." "Maria Watches Over Us Printemps" "In the morning mist, Asamoya no naka the white path goes on." "tsuzuku shiroi michi" "The birds sing." "Tori no saezuri" "We exchange greetings." "Aisatsu kawashinagara" "At times, the clouds hang low, Toki ni kumo ga tarekomete and the sun may grow dim." "hizashi kagerou tomo" "But I will walk with my chin up, Sesuji nobashite aruku for I know, watashi wa shitteru kara that above those heavy clouds..." "omoi kumo no ue wa ...is the blue sky." "aol sora" "Cherry Blossoms" "Shimako is acting strange." "What?" "She seems sort of listless, like she has no energy..." "And whenever she has some time, she apparently goes behind the auditorium alone to look at the cherry blossoms." "Cherry blossoms, huh?" "I see." "What is it?" "The cherry blossoms played a part in bringing Shimako and Lady Sei together, so..." "They did?" "I hear it was under the cherry tree that Lady Sei gave her the rosary, too." "With Lady Sei gone now, I want to be there for Shimako, but..." "[Year 2, Pine Class]" "Come to think of it, this will be the first time you and I are in the same class." "Yes, finally, after 13 years, all the way from kindergarten." "I wonder if Shimako is still allowing herself to be lost in her memories." "Or could she have something else troubling her?" "Well, let's just wait and see until the cherry blossoms scatter." "If Shimako still isn't back to her old self at that point, we'll go talk to Rei and Lady Sachiko about it." "My dear sister?" "Is something wrong with that?" "No..." "During spring vacation," "I was hoping that something fun would happen, but nothing happened." "On top of that, with the new school term, we don't get to spend much time together, so..." "I'll take that sorrowful expression, thank you!" "Tsutako!" "And Mami!" "The caption will be," ""The Melancholy of the Rosa Chinensis en bouton."" "So, what happened between you and Lady Sachiko?" "So?" "What happened?" "!" "Oh, I can't believe I'm in the same class with them, too!" "I am different from those girls." "I knew that, even before I entered this school." "That day, if only it hadn't snowed..." "These cherry blossoms will be past their prime after today..." "It would have been a shame to enjoy them all by myself, so it's perfect that someone else has come to see them." "Is it because the cherry blossoms are so beautiful that you have forgotten?" "What?" "How to speak." "I just remembered how..." "G-Good day." "Good day." "I'm so glad." "I was worried that we would not have a chance to speak, even though you had joined me here." "Um, do you come here every day?" "Yes, pretty much, ever since the cherry blossoms started to bloom." "Drawn out here by this tree..." "There are many other beautiful cherry trees, but I don't feel specially drawn to them as I am to this tree." "I wonder why that is..." "Standing alone among gingko trees..." "Because it's all by itself, and yet, it can blossom so beautifully..." "Yes, it really is exactly as you say." "I should go now." "Um, in your hair, too." "Thank you." "Let's meet again." "Yes." "Looking up at cherry blossoms and becoming lost in thought..." "That's not exactly unusual behavior for a teenage girl." "In truth, Shimako must want to see you, Rosa Gigantea." "But she is resisting the urge..." "Well, I should hope so." "It's still only been a month since I graduated." "The high school and college buildings are a stone's throw away from each other." "Being so close and yet not really, it must be..." "So?" "Are those the only troubles you wanted to discuss?" "What?" "Isn't there something going on with you, too?" "During the cherry blossom season, Sachiko can get irate or listless, so..." "But it's kind of like hay fever, okay?" "As always, you know everything, don't you, Rosa Gigantea?" "Well then, I have a lecture to go to." "And would you stop calling me Rosa Gigantea?" "After all, Shimako's the Rosa Gigantea now." "Then..." "Lady Sei...?" "I'm not too keen about that, either." "What would you like to be called?" "Sei." "Or possibly Miss Sato." "Personally speaking, I'm on a "Miss Sato" kick right now, by the way." "See you." "Where were you?" "I am very sorry!" "Please do not respond in a way that does not answer my question." "We were to discuss the Maria Festival after school today." "You cannot tell me that you had forgotten about that." "N-No..." "And after the Maria Festival, there's the Yamayuri Council Welcoming Ceremony for the first-year students." "You had not forgotten that too, I hope." "Of course not." "So, where were you?" "Um, I was meeting a friend whom I had parted with when the school year ended." "And thus, you did not make it to our meeting on time." "Who's that?" "Toko." "But dear sister Sachiko, I find myself so amused by this person." ""Dear sister..." "Sachiko"?" "Toko, stop calling me that." "But that's what I've always called you." "At the very least, while we are at school, call me "Lady Sachiko" or "Rosa Chinensis."" "Mixing public and private matters is not good." "Let me introduce you, Yumi." "This is Toko Matsudaira." "She's a new student." "She dropped by, because she wanted to see the Rose Mansion." "Nice to meet you." "I'm a relative of dear sister Sachiko's." "I had heard you were a distant relation." "But a relative, nonetheless." "So, dear sister, about today's discussion..." "It's been canceled." "What?" "Because Rei was unable to attend." "Then what did I get relentlessly reproached about my tardiness for?" "Dear sister Sachiko, this place is so comfortable." "I've fallen in love with it." "Maybe I' ll come visit again." "Don't overdo it, now." "Yumi, you'd better watch out." "If you don't pay attention, you're going to lose your dear sister to her." "But..." "I'm my dear sister's petite soeur..." "Noriko." "Um..." "I'm Toko, I'm in your class." "You still don't remember my name?" "I'm sorry about that." "I was just at the Rose Mansion." "The Rose Mansion?" "It's sort of like the office of the student council." "I went because the Lady Roses were there." "Lady Roses?" "Yes, there was a meeting about the Maria Festival." "The Maria Festival?" "Noriko, you really don't know anything about Lillian, do you?" "The Maria Festival is a festival that is unique to Lillian." "I see." "It's called a festival, but we don't set up shops and there are no presentations like for the school festival." "We adorn all the Mother Maria statues here at the academy with flowers, and in place of classes, we have mass." "Also, in your first-year in high school, there's something to look forward to after the mass." "Our dear sisters in the student council hold a welcoming ceremony for us." "Oh, look." "Those are the Lady Roses." "Starting from the front," "Rosa Chinensis, Rosa Foetida, and Rosa Gigantea." "During the Maria Festival, the Lady Roses will welcome us as their new little sisters." "It's her..." "It's her!" "Shimako... seems happy...?" "Shimako has been behaving strangely." "I am aware of that." "When the Rosa Gig..." "I mean, when Lady Sei left," "I imagined that she would become listless." "A kind of reactionary thing, if you will." "No matter how they looked, those two were still emotionally dependent on each other." "For our part, we were planning on taking advantage of that fact." "Taking advantage?" "Wouldn't you like to see Shimako open up?" "What?" "Up until now, Lady Sei had posted herself in front of the door, so it was difficult, but now..." "I see..." "But lately, Shimako seems oddly happy somehow." "You're right." "Could it be that you have the door open, so we'll know immediately when Shimako comes?" "Right." "When Shimako arrives, we suspend this discussion." "Do you two know Shimako's story?" "Whenever I have time, I travel to temples to admire Buddhist statues, and yet, to find myself ending up enrolled at a Catholic school..." "The day before the exam for my first choice high school," "I was in Kyoto to see the Kannon statue that is put on exhibition only once every 20 years." "But on my way home, the bullet train service was suspended due to heavy snow and I ended up enrolling at Lillian, which I had tested for out of respect for my great aunt." "I had not expected such a young person to come here." "Um, is the Miroku statue that you have here really the work of Yuukai?" "That is how it has been passed down to us." "But you are neither a scholar nor an appraiser, so perhaps you need only view it without any worldly thoughts?" "Yes, Sir." "Ah, here we are." "I have brought the Miroku statue." "This is my daughter, Shimako." "I have some business to attend to now, so I will leave you two young people to it." "Why?" "Why is she here?" "Would you like to see it?" "It's beautiful!" "I feel as though my spirit is purified!" "The Miroku Buddha by Yuukai is not an object connected with Shoguji Temple." "Rather, it's been passed down in our family from generation to generation." "We rarely show it to people, but it seems an acquaintance of my father's prevailed upon him to show it." "Because there was a lady who loved Buddhist statues..." "I never imagined that it would be you." "I'm so sorry." "We only get one bus every hour on non-business days." "N-Not at all..." "Don't move." "[Shoguji Temple]" "So, no questions...?" "What?" "About how I am the daughter of a temple household, and yet, attend Lillian Girls' Academy..." "And about how that is contradictory..." "Shimako and Noriko!" "Oh, what will happen to the two of them?" "!" "What will happen?" "!" "What will happen?" "!" "Oh what, oh what will happen?" "!" "What a problem!" "What a problem!" "My secret's going to be out in the open!" "What will happen?" "!" "What will happen?" "!" "Oh what, oh what will happen?" "!" "Mother Maria, Mo-Mo-Mother Maria!" "She's watching!" "She's watching!" "Mother Maria, Mo-Mo-Mother Maria!" "She's watching!" "She's watching!" "Gingko!" "Gingko!" "Cherry!" "Cherry!" "Gingko!" "Gingko!" "Cherry!" "Cherry!" "Next time on " Maria Watches Over Us,"" ""The Cherry Tree Among the Gingkos"."