CH 29

A few days after the Konoe family’s party ended, the people around me had changed quite a lot.

First, my mom. She hadn’t said a word to me after that party. I thought that she’d get mad the moment we returned home, but I was completely wrong. She instead hadn’t called out to me or had a single conversation with me after that day.

I guess that meant she was seriously mad…

If she had just raised her voice and yelled like usual, she’d still be mad, but that’d just be normal levels of anger. She must’ve been ridiculously angry to not say a word to her daughter for days.

And, even at school…

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“Greetings…”

“——Aah!”

“Oh…”

Ohlausdl iwknjzu ayd yoyu obld R tallvle vblx. Jlqsal, R’e yv zlypv tlv psxl jkde sq alrzu. Mblu olal pyukdt kv zkjl “Ebyv’p wr okvb bla?”, cwv vblu pvkzz alrzkle obld R tallvle vblx. Jwv kv oyp ekqqlaldv dso. Mblu yzz bwaaklezu ayd yoyu obld R tallvle vblx. Mblu eked’v vyjl sdl zssj yv xl yde fwpv ktdsale xl. Gzxspv ds sdl ynvwyzzu alvwadle xu tallvkdt.

“Qallvkdtp, Fyvpwjk-nbyd.”

“…nsxl okvb xl qsa y plnsde.”

Fkdnl yzxspv ds sdl alrzkle vs xl, R tallvle vbl xkdsakvu vbyv eke: Fyvpwjk-nbyd. Jwv vseyu, pbl pvsse wr, tayccle xu yax, yde oyzjle yoyu okvb xl clqsal lhld lmnbydtkdt tallvkdtp okvb xl. R oydvle bla vs yv zlypv zlyhl bla cyt sd vbl vyczl… cwv kv qlzv zkjl R nswzed’v pyu vbyv. Fyvpwjk-nbyd qlzv alyzzu kdvldpl.

Ebkzl Fyvpwjk-nbyd eayttle xl yzsdt okvb bla, ol yaakhle yv vbl Wkhl Lsavbp Gppsnkyvksd pyzsd. Jalyj vkxl oyp pbsav, ps dsv xydu rlsrzl nyxl vs vbl pyzsd, cwv vbl pyzsd kvplzq oyp srld qasx vbl xsadkdt. Rv oyp fwpv vbyv xsadkdtp olal cwpu ps yzxspv ds sdl oldv swv sq vblka oyu vs ts vblal yv vbyv vkxl. Grryaldvzu rlsrzl nyxl yv zwdnb, cwv R byed’v, ps R oswzed’v jdso. Mbyv oyp yzz kdqsaxyvksd qasx xu casvbla, yqvla yzz.

Mbl essa Fyvpwjk-nbyd srldle zle vs yd wdkdbyckvle zyde; kv zssjle zkjl ds sdl bye nsxl vbkp xsadkdt. Fbl nzsple vbl essa yde piwllgle xu pbswzelap aktbv yqvla. Fbl vbld xshle ps bla qynl oyp aktbv kd qasdv sq xkdl, yde srldle bla xswvb.

“Fyjwuy-nbyd! Ebu’e yzz vbkp byrrld!?”

“Twb?”

I didn’t know what she meant when she said “all this”, so I couldn’t answer even if she asked ‘why’. What was she even talking about in the first place…

“A horrible rumour is spreading about you, Sakuya-chan! That’s why everyone is avoiding you, right?”

“Oh… they’re definitely avoiding me because of the rumours?”

I now knew the cause of my current situation. I had really wanted to ask why everyone was avoiding me.

We weren’t particularly close, but they’d at least respond when I greeted them. However, they’d been avoiding me lately. The people attending Touka Academy were all from very high-class families, so I thought they wouldn’t resort to obvious bullying. I also thought that there must’ve been some reason why they were doing it. If Satsuki-chan knew something, then I wanted her to tell me.

It wasn’t like I was going to kill myself because of shock, but, as expected, I was kind of concerned when I was blatantly ignored like this. I wanted to apologise and improve myself if I had done something, but I couldn’t do that if I didn’t know what specifically.

“Sakuya-chan, you intentionally spilled food on Tokudaiji-san, your rival for Konoe-sama’s fiancée, to sabotage her… so a rumour that you would do anything dirty to defeat your rivals has spread…”

“Oh… Ohhh…”

Well… the rumour itself was taking a big leap, but I could see why they thought that I had spilled food on Azami-chan. At that time, Azami-chan had spilled food on herself and got flustered. I thought that she didn’t want the surrounding adults to laugh at her, so I immediately said that I had spilled the food and lowered my head.

I thought it’d be alright if we stood down and cleaned her dress, but someone who looked like Azami-chan’s mother had come and my mom had come too, so the matter became huge.

It was definitely rash of me, but I didn’t regret anything. Azami-chan would’ve greatly embarrassed herself at that rate. Compared to that, I didn’t care if they said I was careless and spilled food on Azami-chan’s dress, and so dirtied it.

Basically, spilling something was a big mistake, but it was something that could’ve happened to anyone. The problem was what’d happen after the food was spilled and the clothes were dirtied: you had to follow-up with the proper response afterward and it’d be alright. That was why it’d be fine if I had spilled the food, as long as I responded properly.

But the timing was bad or something…  Azami-chan’s mother and my mom had come right before Azami-chan and I had withdrawn, so the problem had become completely unmanageable. I thought that if I apologised and Azami-chan forgave me, then we stood down and cleaned her dress, the matter would be resolved, but…

“Sakuya-chan… since I wasn’t able to see everything, I’m unsure, but… did you really spill food on Tokudaiji-san’s dress on purpose?”

“Uhh… well… perhaps I had spilled food onto her dress and dirtied it. It was not on purpose, however…”

I didn’t really plan to explain anything. But I hadn’t intentionally spilled the food to dirty her dress. I hadn’t spilled the food in the first place, so I hadn’t done anything, let alone on purpose…

But I wasn’t planning to tell Satsuki-chan what really happened, even though she was Satsuki-chan. I would never say that I took the blame for Azami-chan spilling her food and being unable to handle the situation afterwards. I wouldn’t do something so arrogant.

“I know that you’re not the type of person to spill food on someone else’s dress on purpose. But then why’d you leave the matter alone like this? This rumour is a hot topic with everyone, and it’s grown rather large.”

“Is that so…”

So was that why everyone was ignoring me?

“And also… I don’t really want to say this, but… it looks like Tokudaiji-san spread that rumour… I thought that she had opened up with you too, Sakuya-chan, but… as expected…”

“…no. It’s okay. Thanks, Satsuki-chan.”

It looked like Satsuki-chan thought that Azami-chan intended to spread that misleading information, but I didn’t think that was true. Azami-chan wasn’t the type of girl to do that.

She couldn’t tell anyone that she had spilled the food now, so perhaps she said that I did it. That was okay. I acted so that others would think that way too. But Azami-chan hated cowardice and was the type to say what she wanted to say to someone’s face, no matter who they were.

She was the one that knew best that she herself had spilled the food, and she wasn’t the type to spread demeaning lies about someone. If she had done so anyway, there must’ve been some reason why. 

So I wasn’t planning to question nor blame Azami-chan. I had volunteered myself already, so I was okay with her saying I spilled it. Regardless of her actual intentions, I wanted to do something to help her if she had to lie that I spilled the food.

“L-Lessons are starting, so let us head back to the classroom.”

“Sakuya-chan…”

I patted Satsuki-chan, who looked like she was going to cry for some reason, on the shoulder, and the both of us exited the salon, heading to the classroom.

～～～～～～～

If Satsuki-chan’s information was correct, I now knew why everyone was ignoring me. I had already acknowledged that I had done it at the time, so I couldn’t say that the rumour was wrong now. That was why the only thing I could explain was that I had spilled food on Azami-chan’s dress, but not on purpose.

But I wouldn’t say that if no one asked, so I’d only answer if prompted.

Well… all the students were currently ignoring me, so no one would probably ask, but…

I wasn’t just ignored in class. They even ignored me at the Five Norths Association salon after school. I always quietly sat in the back alone, so it might’ve looked like nothing had changed. But you could clearly feel the difference in atmosphere from that day onwards. That was because of what Satsuki-chan talked about this morning.

The Five Norths Association members had all come to that party. Therefore, they also heard that rumour the earliest. It definitely became a hot topic on that day, right after they went home. That was why they ignored me the day after.

People still started conversations and talked to me up until now, even though I sat in the back. But now, no one talked to me as if I didn’t exist. And they’d completely ignore me, even if I asked them something.

Well, I hadn’t spoken to them ever since they’d ignored me once or twice, so maybe those people were just like that. I couldn’t confidently say that everyone was ignoring me, but… it really did feel like that. There were people looking at me with clearly sharp gazes.

It looked like my brother could feel the atmosphere in the salon as well. My brother was the only one talking to me like usual, but he sensed the atmosphere of the salon and sometimes looked scary. My brother would sometimes glare at the other members, even though he’d never seen them ignoring me when I talked to them.

“Sakuya, let’s go home already?”

“Huh? Okay…”

It was still early, before the time a car would come to pick us up. But my brother said that and stood up. He hurried me and we exited the salon together. I said farewell to everyone but no one had replied. When that happened, my brother looked absolutely furious. Was Yoshizane-kun really a sixth-grader?

“The car has still not come at this…”

“It’s alright. I asked it to pick us up at this time from now on.”

My brother said that as he held my hand, looking forward. I didn’t know what expression he was making right now. But the strength of the hand enveloping mine showed how my brother felt.

～～～～～～～

I was training in the Hundred Earth style today, so there wasn’t any problem if I came earlier. I had a set lesson time at Raihoukai, so I couldn’t do anything even if I did get there early. Compared to that, the fitness club “Grande” and this Hundred Earth style didn’t have a set start or end time, which was convenient now. I could do more training if I came earlier.

“…essentially, something like that has happened.”

“Hmph! You got unlucky, but your thinking was also too naive, Sakuya.”

I consulted with Master about my current situation, and he replied with those words. They weren’t replying to me. My thinking had definitely been too naive.

If I had apologised, Azami-chan accepted my apology, and the stain on her dress was cleaned up, it wouldn’t have become such a big topic. As Master said, it was bad luck, or rather, if both our moms hadn’t separated us halfway through, it wouldn’t have gotten this bad.

However, there was no point in talking about what had already happened. What I thought was going to end up in me failing, people getting mad at me, and fingers pointed behind my back developed into an unthinkable situation. I consulted with Master to see if I could do something about that, but…

“You could probably use this.”

“Use?”

“Exactly. It doesn’t matter if you actually spilled the food. What matters now is that you publicly acknowledge that you spilled the food and apologise. If done well, it can be used to affect both sides of the rivalry.”

I did understand what Master was saying, but wasn’t he overthinking?

“Even if you and that lady aren’t enemies, that doesn’t mean the same applies to your families. There’s a high possibility that those Tokudaijis will use this incident to their advantage against the Kujou family.”

“I see…”

Was that so…? Azami-chan definitely wasn’t that bad a person. Rather, she was the type to say complaints to your face rather than secretly spread bad rumours about people. But if what Master said about the Tokudaiji family was true, maybe there was someone who thought to use this situation.

I didn’t know everything about the other members of the Kujou family, and I also didn’t know about the relationship between the Kujou and Tokudaiji families. Lady Sakuya and Azami-chan had a master-servant relationship in “Love Flowers”, but that didn’t mean the families themselves were the same. To begin with, this place was subtly, or rather quite different from the game. This was a situation where I couldn’t just rely on my game knowledge.

“What should I do?”

“Hmm… what you should do will change depending on what you want to do. Sakuya, what do you want to do?”

It was like what Master said. What I should do would change depending on whether I wanted to dispel the rumours or spread them and blame the other party.

“I want to…”

But what did I think? What did I want to do?

Honestly, I didn’t know. I was definitely troubled that strange rumours were spreading… but maybe not to that extent. I didn’t really care if everyone was ignoring me; Satsuki-chan still talked to me like she did before. I felt like it wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to talk to people I didn’t care about.

But… it couldn’t go on like this… Then… what did I want to do?