Maria-sama ga Miteru Novel Vol 22 "Mirai no Haku Chizu"

[kj1980]

DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SPOILED






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Kashiwagi Suguru calls Yumi's house that Touko has ran away from home.

Yuuki brings Touko to the Fukuzawa household when he found her wandering near her neighborhood.

Touko become the first person to come into Yumi's room (not even Sachiko-sama has ever been into Yumi's room)

Touko seems to have something bothering in her mind.

Touko eats dinner at the Fukuzawa household.

Yumi senses something different with Touko - a sense of wanting to be closer to her.


On this year's Yamayurikai's Christmas Party, the invited members include: Sachiko-sama, Yumi, Touko-chan, Kanako-chan, Rei-sama, Yoshino, Arima Nana (Yoshino's soeur candidate), Shimako, Noriko-chan, and Tsutako-san.

Yoshino wants to surprise everyone by bringing Nana-chan (a 3rd year Lillian Middle School student) as a highly potential soeur candidate.

But with Nana alone, that might be a little worrisome so Yoshino asks if Yumi can bring Touko-chan and Kanako-chan as well, as they were a big help to the Yamayurikai.

At the Christmas Party, several things are known such as:

Rei will not be going to Lillian University, which pisses Yoshino off. But in the end, it was Rei's decision to "move on from being over-protective of Yoshino" and they both reconcile.

While on the other hand Sachiko will go to Lillian University, which pleases Yumi a lot.



In the end, Touko-chan leaves the Christmas Party with Yumi chasing after her.

Touko-chan talks with Yumi about how her future is uncertain, that the world is not as easy as she saw it was when she was a child, certain problems that we (the readers) do not know about. Hence the title "Mirai no Hakuchizu" = "The Blank Map of The Future"

I cannot leave her behind, yet she is walking further and further away.

What should I do?

I thought that I can almost feel her inside me. But Touko-chan is now walking away with the problems that she has put inside herself deeply.

How can I grasp her?

How--?

"Touko-chan!" yells Yumi.

Touko-chan turns around and looks back.

The two faces each other in front of the Statue of St. Mary.

Yumi suddenly says, "Touko-chan, will you become my petit soeur?



It was the only answer that Yumi could think about at that moment.

"....huh?" replied Touko-chan after five seconds of confusion.

"...or am I not suitable for you?" shouted Yumi

Am I too weak to help Touko-chan when she needs help?

"Yumi-sama..."

Yumi walks over to Touko-chan, who is still standing with her eyes wide open.

Yumi remembers about the tradition and removes her rosario from her neck - the one that Sachiko-sama gave to Yumi a year and two months ago.

That was when Touko-chan's lips angled upward

"Why thank you so much Yumi-sama, you are so kind"

"....what?"

"Did you really think I was going to say that?"

Yumi froze there as she held the rosario's necklance in the shape of a circle.

Touko-chan is smiling. But her smile is not of happiness. Many raging and dark emotions are welling inside of her right now which she is containing behind that smile.

Touko-chan misthought that Yumi-sama felt sorry for her.

Whereas, Yumi finally realized that Touko-chan was the one that she chose from the bottom of her heart.

Sachiko-sama and Yumi exchanges their Christmas gifts.

Sachiko-sama realizes something wrong with Yumi.

"Did something happen between you and Touko-chan?"

Yumi sensed that if she started explaining, tears would flow so she cut to the chase

"She declined my rosario..."

"I see"

"Why? I didn't say it because I felt sorry for her"

I knew at that point that Touko-chan was to be my petit soeur. Why? Which part of Touko-chan caught my attention. I can't explain. But it was certain. If I were to say it the way Shimako-san would, it would be "it's was just because."

It was just because, I really yearned for Touko-chan at that moment.

But my feelings did not reach her.

Sachiko-sama: "Touko-chan is not the only first year student"
Yumi: "But.."
Sachiko-sama: "[Let me finish] But, if you think that way, you wouldn't have offered your rosario to her"

That's exactly right. Now that I know that Touko-chan is the one for me, I cannot think of anyone else but her as my soeur.

Sachiko-sama: "Then don't give up. When Shimako declined I didn't give that much thought. But when you did, it was different. I became aggressive and vowed strongly to myself that Yumi will become my petit soeur. I did everything that I can...and see? You are right beside me right now."

Yumi recalls how Sachiko-sama went to tooth and nail.

Sachiko-sama: "So what if she declined on your first try."
Yumi: "Yes"
Sachiko-sama: "Stay high. Being declined is nothing to be ashamed of"
Yumi: "Yes!"


Sachiko-sama: "But it does hurt doesn't it?"
Yumi: "Yes. Umm....I'm sorry, but may I cry right now?"

Sachiko spread her arms and brought Yumi into her

Yumi cries deeply in Sachiko-sama's arms.

[to be continued]

[Sean Gaffney]

Awesome synopsis, kj1980, thanks! It sounds like a great book.

I do wonder what's going on with Touko. Is it just the other students shunning her? Or something deeper? Still, fight on, Yumi!

[LucifersGirl]

Wow.. what an awesome story. Thanks a lot for the synopsis, kj.
I can't waited to know what's going on with Touko and how things will turn out.
I'm glad to see Sachiko doing a good job as Yumi's soeur, being all supportive and understanding. I wonder if she's actually hurt the same way when Yumi reject her.
Go Go Yumi!

[shadowWizz]

*at a loss for words*
WOW... Awesome...Cool...

Thanks for the sneak peek into the novel.
It was really great. There are very few doing novel translations for this novel. Glad to have seen this here.

[toriayumi]

Cool **
A blow to anti-Touko fans....kj when u say [to be continued] is tat the end of the novel or u haven't finish it....plzz say u haven't finish it

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by toriayumi

Cool **
A blow to anti-Touko fans....kj when u say [to be continued] is tat the end of the novel or u haven't finish it....plzz say u haven't finish it

No, "to be continued" means that the next story will be carried over to the next novel.

[GreyGhost]

Many thanks for the translation/summary. Always nice to know what's going on in the series.

[philip72]

Thanks so much for the summary kj1980. Now that Saicoink is gone, your pretty much my only source for the novels now.

[Lyca]

Thank you for this post christmas present kj1980.

[kj1980]

My love points for Yoshino's petit soeur candidate Nana-chan increased a bit in this novel as well.

[Lights]

I also heard that there was a bit of interaction between Shimako and Noriko, could you please shed some light on that?


And yes! Nana-chan is awesome!
I can see it already:

Eriko > Nana > Yoshino > Rei.


Poor Rei. *sigh*

[kyoko_fd]

Thanks for the sypnosis, it's really a tremendous treat to be able to know what's happening, thanks again.
Just wondering, are there any mentions of the graduated rosa(s)?

[Razor-X]

kj1980, if you could (and please don't go out of your way), could you summarize how your feelings about the characters changed in this novel? Since most of us can't read the novels, and we're all waiting to see how characters change and react, what would you say happened to the characters? Again, if it takes too much time... don't go out of your way for me, .

[Akai Hikari]

Well the novel as a whole is quite heavy in nature (as can be seen above) with plenty of character interactions.
The Rei x Sachiko chapter at the end of the novel is really something. You've never seen Rei and Sachiko communicate in that manner before. It really does flash the word 'graduation' in front of you at every paragraph and every line.
This ties in with the Yoshino outburst at the party concerning Rei-chan's future. They do reconcile, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a twist or two left...especially with the added spice of Nana.
The going is tough for Noriko since she 'knows' about Touko (how much we don't know...it's also implied that Kanako 'knows' a lot as well...ie.everything) and is on the Yamayurikai side. I don't think I've seen her happy and relaxed in a long while.

I'm not sure if I can get enough energy to write as much as kj but I'll see what I can do sometime soon.

[Potatochobit]

i like Touko. shes spicy.