CH 21

Satsuki-chan’s smile now was different from the one she used to keep up appearances; it had become a smile from the bottom of her heart. Nothing had been resolved, but if she was feeling a little bit better, then there were results in pressing her and listening to what she had to say.

“Thank you very much, Sakuya-chan.”

“——uh!”

She said that while… smiling so brightly… her smile pierced my heart.

It wasn’t that I felt s*xual excitement for her, nor saw her as an object of romantic interest. No matter how much I liked yuri, I wasn’t a lolicon or a p*dophile. But Satsuki-chan’s smile and words just now held huge destructive energy. If no one was around and everything could go my way, I’d be hugging her tightly and giving her kisses.

“…I-I shouldn’t be thanked, but Azami-chan instead…”

“…what do you mean?”

Satsuki-chan looked a little puzzled at what I said and asked me to confirm. She probably couldn’t understand what I meant just from that sentence.

“Zlpvlaeyu, R bye dsvknle vbyv usw olal ynvkdt pvaydtl cwv eke dsv oydv vs vyzj ycswv kv, ps R yppwxle vbyv kv oyp clvvla dsv vs ralpp usw yde jlrv xu ekpvydnl. Tsolhla, Ggyxk-nbyd vsze xl vbkp: “Rq usw’al bla qaklde, usw’zz ypj ycswv kv yde tkhl bla yehknl, lhld kq pbl vbkdjp kv’p byae vs pyu sa blpkvyvlp,”… sdnl R blyae vbyv, R vbswtbv kv oyp vawl, ps vbld R nyzzle swv vs usw ulpvlaeyu.

“Fs vbyv’p… obyv byrrldle…”

Fbl pvyale yv vbl vyczl, zssjkdt zkjl pbl oyp nyalqwzzu vbkdjkdt. Sktbv dso, kv nswzed’v cl pyke vbyv Fyvpwjk-nbyd yde Ggyxk-nbyd’p qynvksdp olal sd tsse vlaxp, cwv… xyucl vbkp’e blzr vbl csvb sq vblx tlv nzspla?

Gv vbl hlau zlypv, Ggyxk-nbyd pllxle yaastydv cwv nyale ycswv Fyvpwjk-nbyd. R oydvle vs fwpv nsdhlu vbyv.

“Ggyxk-nbyd bye ypjle xl obu usw pllxle sqq. Mbld, obld R pyke vbyv R bye ypjle usw cwv usw eke dsv alrzu, pbl tsv ydtau. Ggyxk-nbyd kp ryukdt yvvldvksd vs usw. Fbl yzps osaaklp ycswv usw. R oydv usw vs fwpv alxlxcla vbyv.”

“Bdelapvsse… vbydjp, Fyjwuy-nbyd.”

Lsvbkdt bye ynvwyzzu clld plvvzle, cwv… R byed’v clld yczl vs blzr yv yzz, cwv… lhld ps, obld R zssjle yv Fyvpwjk-nbyd’p lmralppksd, R nswze vbkdj vbyv kv oyp y tsse vbkdt R’e ralpple bla yde bye y nsdhlapyvksd okvb bla. Gzz bykz swa taynkswp Ggyxk-nbyd. R alyzzu bye vs vbydj bla dso.

～～～～～～～

In the Five Norths Association salon that day after school, Azami-chan was restless. It was really easy to tell. She probably wanted to ask how my conversation with Satsuki-chan turned out, but she was currently surrounded by her faction. If she came to me again, they’d definitely think that something had happened yesterday and wonder what it was.

Let’s go lend Azami-chan a helping hand. Thanks to her, Satsuki-chan was feeling a little better. Since that happened because I’d taken Azami-chan’s advice, maybe I should give her something like a report on how it turned out.

“…”

I looked over at Azami-chan and she noticed, looking back at me. After checking that no one else was looking at us, she made a small gesture. Then, I stood up from my seat in the back and got out of the salon.

We could’ve actually done everything without getting out of the salon. And by ‘everything’, I mean anything you’d need to do. If you wanted to go pick flowers, then you could open a door in the salon to head to the attached establishment. We didn’t really need to exit the salon.

Of course, that didn’t mean that no one ever went out. There were people who went outside when they wanted to have a phone call or conversation that they didn’t want anyone to hear. Just because they were all Five Norths Association members didn’t mean that they had to stay inside the salon at all times; they were sometimes in other places too. 

But if Azami-chan exited immediately after I did, then, blatantly speaking, that was really blatant. That didn’t mean there was any proof, though. If Azami-chan exited right after I did, people might think that we had some sort of secret conversation, but they wouldn’t have proof that we had a secret conversation or indeed any sort of conversation. 

We could conduct a conversation someplace secretly where no one could see or hear us, so no matter how suspect others thought we were, we could say it was just their imagination since they didn’t hold any evidence or conclusive proof. That was what I assumed, but…

“Hang on! Wait!”

Azami-chan said that loudly as she quickly ran after me. She was a mature child, so I thought she’d understand the need for silence, or rather, be quick on the uptake, but maybe I’d overestimated her…

“Azami-chan… let’s… move quietly…”

“I told you to wait!”

I lowered the tone of my voice to tell her to be quieter, but Azami-chan, with a loud voice as usual, noisily followed after me.

～～～～～～～

I entered an empty balcony and turned around to see Azami-chan, who was following behind me. She was clearly mad.

“Wait! People might hear, but you still! Don’t ignore me and just walk off!”

“Haa… Azami-chan… if you talk that loudly, there is no need to exit the salon, is there not…”

If she called towards me that loudly the moment we exited the salon, then everyone inside it could clearly hear her. Since Azami-chan had got out right after me and told someone to stop the moment she got into the hallway, no one would be wondering who she was talking to.

“Azami-chan, you were also doubting whether to talk inside the salon as you did not think it would be good for the factions to hear us, correct?”

“Exactly! So I signaled to you to get out and go to the hallway, but you’re already leaving! You didn’t get what I meant at all!”

No, no… I did understand, you know?

“Were you planning to talk in front of the salon? That is the same thing as telling those inside to please listen to your conversation. I had thought we would exit the salon as if we did not know each other, then go different ways and have our discussion afterwards, so I created enough distance for you to follow me…”

I explained my plans to Azami-chan. A short while after I exited, she would leave the salon too. I would be waiting in the hallway outside, and Azami-chan would pretend she didn’t know who I was as she followed me. We’d then walk until we made it to a place where we could peacefully talk. After that, we’d have our conversation.

Even so, she exited the salon quite early and yelled at me to stop right in front of the salon. She also called out to me as she was following me… at this point, it was already very obvious that we’d arranged to exit the salon so we could talk about something outside. I explained that to Azami-chan.

“I-I knew that!”

No… if you knew, then you’d definitely exit the salon a little later, or at least not pointlessly call out to me in such a loud voice and instead stay quiet, right?

Did you get it? No, you just charged into the situation, right? All the excuses in the world couldn’t justify that… I didn’t want to say something so inelegant, but… it had to be said, you know?

“More importantly, how did it turn out?”

She changed the subject… well, alright, but… it wouldn’t matter if people knew that we’d gone outside to have a conversation. There wasn’t any reason why I couldn’t talk to Azami-chan, and everyone had one or two things they didn’t want anyone to hear.

“She did not tell me what she was specifically worried about, but I had listened to her. That seemed to relieve her.”

“So you don’t know a single thing?! What even is that? Huh? Huh?”

Was she… really worried about Satsuki-chan? I wanted to ask that. She sounded like just a curious onlooker…

“Even if I had heard the full story, I would not tell you. If you would like to hear it, you should ask Satsuki-chan yourself. It is not something I will discuss at a whim, and it is a mistake for you to ask that information from me.”

“That’s… well, that’s true… I am sorry.”

She was a good kid… would a normal first-grader listen to my admonishments and just apologise? Instead, they’d normally say ‘It’s fine, isn’t it?’ and question me further. But Azami-chan realised her own mistakes and apologised. That was something adults couldn’t easily do. No, maybe they couldn’t do it because they were adults.

“I cannot tell you the details, but I was able to face Satsuki-chan thanks to you, Azami-chan. Thank you very much. I also think that a weight was lifted off Satsuki-chan’s shoulders. Perhaps my conversation with her made her feel slightly reassured. That is also thanks to you.”

“W… well, yes? I’ll accept your thanks. If she’s better, that’s great. Please think about your friends properly from now on.”

“Yes… that is painfully true…”

I told myself I was thinking about how Satsuki-chan was feeling, but instead just distanced myself from her. I was just using the excuse that she might’ve not wanted to talk about it, or might not have wanted me to ask so I could conceal my fear of plunging into her soul.

What would I do if she didn’t want me to see her truest self? What would I do if she hated me? I worried about those things, and couldn’t ask her about it. I told myself that she didn’t want to say what she was worrying about too to fool myself.

But could you really call that being a true friend? Wasn’t that how an ‘acquaintance’ who you knew superficially would act? Thanks to what Azami-chan said, I understood that.

“From now on, I will be with Satsuki-chan… and you too, Azami-chan, even if you do not want me to be there, are feeling down, or I have to force my way in.”

“What?! Why’re you including me too!?”

Azami-chan, looking slightly embarrassed, abruptly turned her head to the side. That action was also cute.

“Of course… because to me, both you and Satsuki-chan are my precious friends.”

That was why I squeezed both Azami-chan’s hands with my own. I squeezed those hands like I was wrapping them inside my own…

“Y-You’re an idiot! Why would I ever wanna be…”

“You are my important friend.”

“…”

I stared at her, saying that. Her face became red and she stiffened up. She really was shy. If I could do whatever I wanted and follow my delusions, I would’ve definitely hugged Azami-chan. I thought that someone would see me, though, since it was a school balcony, so I restrained myself, but…

“I-I don’t care!”

“Oh…”

Azami-chan shook off my hands and ran down the hallway.

“Azami-chan, you cannot run in the hallway.”

My warning, which I said in too small a voice to be heard, echoed in the empty hallway.

～～～～～～～

“Sakuya, did something good happen for you to be grinning that much?”

“Huh? No, well…”

At the dinner table, dad said that, and I used the right words to evade. I could say that a lot of things had happened, but if I said that it was a normal day when nothing in particular had happened, then it wouldn’t be anything more than just another day in my life.

Even so, was I grinning that much? Maybe I was unconsciously smiling. I felt like Satsuki-chan and I had started to become closer friends, and I had gotten closer to Azami-chan as well. At this rate, it’d be like in ‘Love Flowers’, no, even better; maybe we’d really get to the yuri romance I’d imagined.

I didn’t really want physical contact. More like… I wanted to laugh and flirt with girls about my age… I’d like that.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Mom was looking at me strangely, and dad was smiling with me too, maybe because he was happy I was in a good mood. In that weird atmosphere, I left the dining room hurriedly and went back to my room.

“Lady Sakuya… Lady Sakuya, you are…”

“Hm?”

As I returned to my room, Momiji started saying something to me, so I turned around and asked her to repeat.

“No… is there anything else you would like me to do?”

“Hm~… no, you can retire for today. Thank you, it is much appreciated.”

“Yes… excuse me.”

Did she just want to ask me about work? I thought she was going to say something else, but… well, she’d probably tell me again if she had something to say. There was no way I could tell what she wanted to say, or what she had to say.

I went to bed, happy that I had become one step closer to Satsuki-chan and Azami-chan.