CH 30

“I’ll be on your side no matter what happens, Sakuya.”

“Brother.”

As we rode the car home, Yoshizane-kun, looking serious, suddenly said that. I could tell without a doubt whether that serious expression showed how angry he was at the situation or if it was just a front. Yoshizane-kun was truly on Lady Sakuya’s side. I was stupid, but I could still understand that.

“Thank you, brother.”

“I’m frustrated. You’re being attacked for something you never did, and are being ignored by everyone… but I thought about what you wanted and didn’t say anything. But… if you’re struggling, please tell me. If you want to tell the truth, I’ll help you. Please remember that.”

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“…yes.”

Maybe Yoshizane-kun had seen me covering for Azami-chan. He had been beside me when the dance ended, so he wouldn’t be too far away from us. I thought he hadn’t noticed since he was talking with Hirohata Mizuki about various things after the dance ended. If he had noticed, though, of course he’d act like this.

I lowered my head towards my brother and continued thinking in the car. As Master said, what did I want to do? My response would completely change depending on the answer to that question.

Ebyv eke R oydv vs es? Ebyv pbswze R es?

～～～～～～～

Ohld vbswtb y qlo eyup bye yzalyeu rypple, R nswze qllz lhlausdl’p yvvkvwel tlvvkdt osapl yde osapl. Elzz, vblal oyp y rsppkckzkvu vbyv R oyp fwpv clkdt ryaydske, cwv R eked’v vbkdj R oyp fwpv kxytkdkdt kv…

R oyp y zsdlzu rlapsd obs eked’v byhl ydu nzspl qakldep kd vbl qkapv rzynl, ps usw nswze pyu vbyv vblal oypd’v xwnb sq y ekqqlaldnl, sa lhld vbyv vblal oyp ds ekqqlaldnl yv yzz. Rv oyp vbl pyxl yp clqsal, lmnlrv rlsrzl snnypksdyzzu zssjle yv xl yde obkprlale vbkdtp.

Mbld, vblal olald’v ydu rasczlxp… oyp obyv R oydvle vs pyu, cwv vbyv oypd’v vawl. Rq xu cye alrwvyvksd pralye qwavbla, kv’e nywpl vaswczlp qsa vbl Iwfsw qyxkzu. Rv oswzed’v cl y rasczlx kq R oyp vbl sdzu sdl obs vblu pyke vbkdtp ycswv yde ktdsale, cwv kv oswzed’v lde okvb fwpv vbyv kd vbkp dlktbcswabsse.

Mbkp dlktbcswabsse oyp sdl vbyv oyp alyzzu yddsukdt okvb vaykdkdt nbkzeald, yde eked’v ekpvkdtwkpb vbyv kdekhkewyzp olal kdekhkewyzp yde qyxkzklp olal qyxkzklp. Rq psxlsdl xlpple wr, vblka obszl qyxkzu oswze cl nakvknkple yp olzz. Mblu eked’v qsatkhl jkep fwpv clnywpl vblu olal kd vbl qkapv tayel; vblu kdpvlye rzynle vbl cawdv sq vbl nakvknkpx sdvs vblka ryaldvp yde qyxkzu.

Rq kv oyp fwpv xu rasczlx, kv oswzed’v cl yd kppwl vbyv R’e ycpszwvlzu byhl vs es psxlvbkdt ycswv… cwv, yp lmrlnvle, kv oswze cl ekqqlaldv kq vbl Iwfsw qyxkzu oswze cl kdnsdhldkldnle kq R zlqv vbl rasczlx yzsdl… cwv obyv eke R oydv vs es yduoyu?

“Fyjwuy-nbyd, nswze usw nsxl shla?”

“Huh…? Okay…”

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Satsuki-chan called me after lunch, and the both of us moved to a place that wasn’t very popular. Maybe she wanted to talk about something?

Once we entered an empty courtyard, Satsuki-chan turned around and opened her mouth.

“I did not want to say this, but the monryuu under Tokudaiji-san are spreading bad rumours about you… I think that it will not be good if the issue is left alone like this… what will you do? Sakuya-chan.”

“Is that so…”

Even though she asked me what I wanted to do, I didn’t know. However, I felt like this could cause a war between Azami-chan and her faction and me and the Kujou family faction. If I made too much of a fuss, that’d only please the people who wanted a fight between us. 

At the very least, I didn’t think that Azami-chan herself wanted a war, and didn’t spread the rumours on her own. Maybe others in the faction were attempting to use the previous incident to fight with the Kujou family, or maybe someone who wasn’t part of the Tokudaiji or Kujou families was using the situation to make both families destroy themselves…

You may be right if you say that I’m overthinking, but this was a world where such things really happened. In this world where even small scandals were exaggerated daily to exhaustively insult others, you couldn’t accuse me of overthinking.

“Thank you for worrying, Satsuki-chan. However… I am not quite sure, so…”

“If you take too much time, the rumour, whether it is false or true, will begin to take root. Be careful with your decision, okay? But… I am on your side, Sakuya-chan. Please do not forget that.”

Satsuki-chan crossed her arms and stared at me as she declared that. That alone made my chest tighten…

“Thank you, Satsuki-chan.”

The best I could do was squeeze out those words.

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～～～～～～～

I thought carefully once I got home. It wouldn’t be good to drag the matter out and leave it unresolved.

…alright! I’d have a proper conversation with Azami-chan tomorrow. I’d have to start from there first.

“Lady Sakuya, do you have any orders?”

“Oh, Momiji… no, I am alright. Please withdraw for today. Many thanks.”

“Certainly. Excuse me.”

I checked that Momiji left, then threw myself down on the bed. I hadn’t decided on anything yet. But if I first met face-to-face with Azami-chan and talked to her…

～～～～～～～

“Greetings.”

“…”

“Greetings.”

“——agh!”

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When I greeted everyone today, no one greeted me in response. I had my memories from my past life, so I was mentally an adult and better off. A real first-grader probably couldn’t endure this. They could probably endure getting bullied directly, but being ignored like this was pretty effective.

“Satsuki-chan, greetings.”

“Greetings, Sakuya-chan.”

Even now, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that only one person replied to me, which was relieving. I’d probably get a little sad if even Satsuki-chan ignored me.

However, Satsuki-chan would experience problems if I followed her around. I’d just have to greet her quickly and secretly when I passed by her.

“Morning…”

“Azami-chan, morning.”

“Greetings, Azami-sama.”

“Good morning, Azami-sama.”

When Azami-chan entered, she greeted the room and everyone responded simultaneously. I wasn’t exactly losing my nerve or envying her, but there was a huge difference in how she was treated when she came in.

Well, that was fine. That was true before too, so it wasn’t like it had just started now, but… more importantly, Azami-chan seemed weird. Did the people around her not notice? Or maybe they did notice but left her alone?

This had definitely happened before… That was when… Satsuki-chan was feeling down and acting strange. At that time, Azami-chan had said… if you notice that your friend is acting strange, go ask why, even if you have to force your way through…

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That was why… I definitely had to talk to Azami-chan… I absolutely had to, not just because of myself, but also to ask why Azami-chan was acting strange. That was something a friend would do, right? Azami-chan…

～～～～～～～

Time passed awfully slowly today. It was still lunch break. For some reason, time seemed to pass much slower at times like these. At the same time, I felt the unpleasant rapid beating of my heart. It wasn’t the thumping that happened when you were excited or blood rushed to your head; it was more like when you’d lost all colour, but your heart just kept on beating.

Even though I ate at the cafeteria, no one came up to me. I previously didn’t share a table with people I didn’t know, but now, the seats around me were all empty. No one even came to the seat beside me.

Well, I didn’t care about them and there was plenty of space to sit in. Maybe it was a good thing; in fact, it was probably a good thing, but…

It’d be hard for me to eat with Satsuki-chan and talk to Azami-chan after lunch like before. Even if I did want to talk with her, the followers surrounding her were glaring impressively at me. Not just that; they’d also threateningly called me tons of different names. This definitely wasn’t a situation where I could peacefully talk to Azami-chan.

And if Satsuki-chan sat at the same table as me, she’d also be inconvenienced. In the current situation, there was a high possibility that she’d be subjected to the same things just because she was close to me. I could persevere, but an environment like that would probably be too painful for a first-grade girl.

Being alone like this made time feel like it passed slower. I had to spend time like this, bored and alone. It felt significantly longer than usual.

I was alone anyway, so why not organise my thoughts and simulate my conversation with Azami-chan? I’d first talk about what happened at the Konoe family party, and then about Azami-chan not feeling well this morning. Let’s discuss those two topics with Azami-chan. It wouldn’t be good if I was stuck in this depressing situation forever. 

After that, I continued simulating my conversation with Azami-chan until just before the bell rang.

～～～～～～～

It was finally after school. After school had even come on this day that felt so long. I’d just have to call Azami-chan somehow…

“Sakuya-chan… can I talk to you?”

“Satsuki-chan? Yes, I am available, however…”

As I was heading to the salon, Satsuki-chan called me in the middle of the hallway and I accompanied her. She had started to walk away, so I thought that she wanted me to follow, and we headed to some balcony. It was the same balcony Azami-chan and I came to when we talked about Satsuki-chan.

“Sakuya-chan… Tokudaiji-san is acting strange today, yes?”

“Mhm… I thought about talking to Azami-chan today, but… she’s acting weird today, so I wanted to ask her about that too… I can’t talk to anyone in the salon, though, and even if I do try, no one’s going to come near me, so I don’t know what to do.”

Azami-chan was tightly surrounded by her faction, or rather, her followers, even in class. Just trying to get near them would make them threaten me. It really wasn’t a situation where I could have a calm conversation with her.

And that was the same in the Five Norths Association salon. Azami-chan was surrounded by upper-class kids who her family had monryuu relationships with, so it’d cause a big fuss if I even got near her. This wasn’t an environment where I could peacefully talk to Azami-chan, and we also couldn’t call each other using gestures like before.

In the first place, if they knew that I wanted to talk to her, they’d be constantly surrounding her, and it’d be absolutely impossible for me to talk to her.

When I thought about it really well, I’d simulated my conversation with Azami-chan, but not how I was actually going to summon her, and just her, for that conversation. I could not peacefully talk to her in the current situation.

“Yes… if you approach them now, Sakuya-chan, it will result in a big fuss… understood. Then, I shall call Tokudaiji-san. Sakuya-chan, please wait here.”

“…huh? Is that okay?”

Satsuki-chan and Azami-chan themselves didn’t have a bad relationship. They were probably much closer than they were at first. But the same couldn’t be said for the people surrounding them. The Saionji monryuu and the Tokudaiji monryuu didn’t have a good relationship. Well, both monryuu were under different families in the first place, so their relationship wouldn’t be the best just because of that…

Satsuki-chan and Azami-chan hadn’t directly or publicly made contact previously. That was why I was wondering if it was okay for Satsuki-chan to call Azami-chan. And if the monryuu found out that Satsuki-chan was planning to lead her to me, then they wouldn’t just get mad at me, but at Satsuki-chan too…

“Please don’t worry. I will call Azami-chan here, so please wait, Sakuya-chan.”

“Oh…”

I didn’t have any room to say anything, so Satsuki-chan grinned, said that, then immediately left the balcony to go inside the school building. If she said that, I had no choice but to wait. If I moved on my own and we passed by each other, it’d become overly complicated. I had to wait here until Satsuki-chan brought Azami-chan.

…it had been quite a while. I didn’t think it took this much time to go back and forth from the salon, but… speaking of that, I hadn’t said anything to my brother, so maybe he was worried. Maybe he thought I couldn’t bear that bed-of-thorns salon, so I ran away.

“Kujou Sakuya…”

“Azami-chan.”

I thought that while gazing at the sky, until I heard Azami-chan’s voice from behind me.