CH 32

In the days after the party, Ibuki was intoxicated with joy. He occasionally danced alone, even at his house. One didn’t even have to wonder what he was thinking, what he was remembering, or who he was imagining himself dancing with.

“You’re in a really good mood, Ibuki.”

“…Enju? It’s bad to peek, you know.”

Ibuki was dancing alone in the middle of a place that looked like a dojo, no, that was a dojo owned by the Konoe family. Enju knew immediately what Ibuki was dancing to from his dance steps and tempo.

“I didn’t come here to peek, though. And I saw you dancing in a dojo; is there a problem with that?”

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“It wasn’t like I was remembering dancing with that girl! That’s why there’s not a single problem!”

“Pfft. What’re you talking about?”

It made Enju laugh when Ibuki confessed on his own without prompting. He could’ve just said that he was practicing his dancing and nothing else, but he included other unnecessary details for some reason.

Rcwjk oyp ayvbla xyvwal qsa bkp ytl yde yzps hlau pxyav. Tl dsaxyzzu ynvle zkjl y okpl dsczl psd obs rwv yewzvp vs pbyxl, cwv bl pweeldzu ynvle zkjl y csu bkp ytl obld kv nyxl vs ‘bla’.

Rv oypd’v zkjl bl eked’v wdelapvyde obu. Mbl Isdsl qyxkzu bye yvvldele xydu xyaakytl xllvkdtp yde plzlnvle xyaakytl nydekeyvlp, cwv Rcwjk byed’v pbsod kdvlalpv kd ydu sq vblx. Vlsrzl nzspl vs bkx bye lhld vbswtbv vbyv bl oypd’v kdvlalpvle kd tkazp yde kdpvlye rzyule qsa vbl svbla vlyx… sa psxlvbkdt zkjl vbyv.

Mbld, Rcwjk bye qyzzld kd zshl okvb y tkaz. Fbl oyp yzps bkp qkapv zshl. Ebld nsdpkelakdt bkp ytl, vblal oyp dsvbkdt pvaydtl ycswv vbyv. Syvbla, sdl xyu vbkdj vbyv kv oyp ayvbla lyazu qsa y qkapv zshl. Rv oypd’v pvaydtl qsa jkep bkp ytl vs pyu “R zkjl usw!” sa “Nlv’p tlv xyaakle!” vs vblka xsx sa jkdelatyavld vlynbla…

Rcwjk bye qyzzld kd zshl yde cltyd vs ynv zkjl y csu bkp ytl. Tl oydvle vbl tkaz bl zkjle vs dsvknl bkx, cwv eked’v jdso bso vs tlv bla vs es vbyv. Fs, bl ynvle y zkvvzl wdjkde yde vakle vs xyjl bkxplzq zssj clvvla. Mbyv oyp lmynvzu obyv twup obs cwzzkle vbl tkazp vblu zkjle oswze es. 

“Y-Ysal kxrsavydvzu, kp vblal y alypsd obu usw nyxl blal?”

Rcwjk, obs Odfw oyp zywtbkdt yv, bwaaklezu nbydtle vbl pwcflnv. Rcwjk rascyczu vbswtbv vbyv ds sdl bye qswde swv ycswv vbl zshl bl qlzv. Mbl wpwyzzu-kdvlzzktldv Rcwjk oswze rascyczu wdelapvyde vbyv kv oypd’v vawl, cwv pkdnl Rcwjk clnyxl kdpvydvzu pvwrke obld kv nyxl vs xyvvlap sq zshl, bl rascyczu vbswtbv vbyv bl byed’v clld qswde swv.

“Twb? R oyp vsze vs nsxl blal vseyu, ps R nyxl, vbswtb? Elald’v usw nyzzkdt xl, Rcwjk?”

“Ls… R oypd’v nyzzkdt usw?”

They both tilted their heads. Enju had been told to go to the Konoe family home, so he went. But Ibuki wasn’t the one who called him. Therefore, someone had planned to gather them together. Maybe Ibuki’s parents… no, that was impossible. Ibuki’s mother, especially, wouldn’t do something so indirect. If she had any business with them, she’d clearly inform them. She wouldn’t be this roundabout. 

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Then who on earth called them… thinking that, those two noticed the person standing at the entrance. 

“Hey, you two.”

“Geh… it’s Mizuki…”

“Hello, Mizuki-san.”

They both greeted the person standing at the entrance. Well, Ibuki didn’t greet him, but… even so, the person standing at the entrance, Hirohata Mizuki, didn’t mind, entered the dojo, and approached the both of them.

“Oi, Ibuki…”

“——gah!”

His carefree attitude from before had completely disappeared… The voice and atmosphere of the Mizuki standing in front of Ibuki was such that his shoulders jerked up and his body froze.

“Wh-What?”

Ibuki usually spat out arrogant words, but there was no fire in his voice now. Mizuki was normally a carefree guy who was undisciplined with girls. One might wonder what was being said about a mere sixth-grader, but he’d already had an uncountable number of romances. And because he was also close to the Konoe family, he and Ibuki were in close contact with each other.

However… Mizuki normally acted like a blood-related older brother who came off a bit strong, but he seemed completely different now. This side of him showed up every so often when he wasn’t in front of others. That was when Mizuki was seriously scolding Ibuki as one of the few who could do that.

“You can get carried away all you want, but… if you don’t know what’s happening to the girl you like and you’re just indulging in your own selfishness, you can’t say that you really like her. You’re not qualified to say that if you don’t even pay attention to her.”

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“…huh? What do you mean… what’s happening to that girl? What’re you saying…”

“…”

Ibuki looked like he really didn’t understand what Mizuki told him. The expression on Enju’s face, who appeared to have realised something, had changed from a bright smile into something one could call expressionless. 

“That girl had covered for her friend, was falsely charged, and is now receiving horrible treatment from the others. It was that bad at the salon, but you still didn’t notice? Can you really say that you like that girl? What’re you looking at! Ibuki!”

“——*gulp*!”

Ibuki trembled at hearing Mizuki’s words. But… it was different from his usual trembling in anger. Mizuki was someone that Ibuki was scared of, but he couldn’t say that now.

“Mizuki! Tell me! What’re they doing to that girl!?”

“…”

Enju also stared directly at Mizuki and agreed with Ibuki. Enju had noticed before Ibuki that the people around them were acting strange, but he didn’t know why. He had thought that it wasn’t too significant. If it was, there would be a bigger fuss, and Sakuya would go ask Ibuki to save her. 

But… when he thought about it, that girl wouldn’t ask for Ibuki or Enju’s help. She would instead shoulder everything and make it work somehow. That was why Ibuki was drawn to her. 

They were being too superficial. They didn’t know anything. That was why they both listened intently to what Mizuki had to say.

～～～～～～～

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Ibuki made a ridiculously angry look as he glanced inside Class 3. It felt like he was about to charge into the classroom.

“Ibuki… you can’t.”

“I know! …I’m heading back.”

The day after… Once they heard what Mizuki had to say, Ibuki and Enju went to check Class 3’s situation for themselves. They’d seen how people were treating her in the classroom. Ibuki looked like he was going to run inside in a fit of rage, but was desperately containing himself.

What they’d heard from Mizuki was simple. The Tokudaiji family’s daughter had spilled food on herself and Sakuya had covered for her. If that was all, then the incident was nothing. People who didn’t know the truth would just think a little worse of Sakuya.

Adults, not just kids, spilled food sometimes. There were also times when said food was spilled on someone. If one apologised and properly responded, that would be the end of the matter. However, this matter didn’t end so easily.

That was because the rumour took a life of its own and changed to being that Sakuya purposefully spilled food on Azami. It might have seemed like a silly thing to say, but once the rumour got out, the rest was simple. Bored people who liked rumours would gladly jump at things like that. The story then got further exaggerated and spread rapidly.

There must’ve been a few people who saw what really happened. Actually, Mizuki and Sakuya’s brother, Yoshizane, had seen it. However, the rumours showed no sign of abating and instead continued spreading.

There were probably many reasons for that, such as someone who was jealous of the Kujou family. If someone like that knew the truth but wanted to drag down the Kujou family, there was no point in them spreading the truth. It’d be good for them if a scandal about the Kujou family spread.

Or maybe it was someone who wanted to make Sakuya fail. It wasn’t easy to bring down Sakuya, who had family status on par with Ibuki and Enju and who didn’t have a single opening; she had shown as much at the party. But using this story would make it easy for her reputation to worsen.

There were probably many different reasons behind the truth remaining untold. But… the most important one was that Sakuya covered for Azami. Sakuya had done that and not said anything herself. The people who had seen the incident wouldn’t have revealed the truth. That was violating Sakuya’s feelings. It was why Ibuki hadn’t burst into the classroom yet.

If Sakuya herself hadn’t said anything in this situation… if she resigned herself to accepting everything… if an outsider wanted to respect those feelings, they couldn’t say anything either. That was why Ibuki and Enju, despite being some of the people who knew what had really happened, hadn’t said anything.

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The situation was the same in the salon. The Kujou family’s own monryuu, not just the other monryuu, completely ignored Sakuya. They all turned a cold shoulder to her.

This situation was definitely painful. Even so, Sakuya hadn’t said a single thing and was content with accepting everything. So Ibuki would also bear with it for a little longer.

On a certain day, Saionji Satsuki had said something to Tokudaiji Azami, who then rushed out of the salon. Saionji Satsuki was trying to have as secret an exchange as possible, but Ibuki and Enju, who’d been paying attention to Tokudaiji Azami all this time, would definitely notice.

They wanted to chase after Tokudaiji Azami immediately, but the people around them wouldn’t let them go, so they couldn’t do that. Once their surroundings had finally settled, Ibuki and Enju nodded to each other and left the salon. A little time had passed, so they couldn’t see Tokudaiji Azami in the immediate vicinity. They both relied only on instinct and walked around the school building to find her. Then…

“Ibuki, over there.”

“——gah!”

Two girls were standing facing each other, and one of the girls sounded like she was crying. When he saw that, the blood rushed to Ibuki’s head and he ran out.

“Oi!”

“What…?”

Ibuki came from behind and sent Tokudaiji Azami flying. She was unmistakably the source of this rumour. Ibuki thought that Azami had bullied Sakuya and made her cry. If only he examined the scene more calmly… but he may have made that assumption as an unrelated party. He was also already at his limit from containing his anger.

“Sakuya! It’s alright now!”

“…what?”

Saying that, Ibuki embraced Sakuya. He thought that he had saved a girl who’d been bullied and then cried because of that. But…

“Wh… what are!?”

“Huh?”

Sakuya, who Ibuki was just hugging, had slid out of his arms. He didn’t know when or how she did it. He was definitely holding her just now, but she had suddenly disappeared. It escaped all of Ibuki’s reasoning.

“You!”

“Agh…”

Then… her palm came from Ibuki’s blind spot and hit him right on the chin. His head spun, and he was instantly knocked unconscious. His body crumpled.

“Doing!”

“Blegh!”

But it didn’t end there. Ibuki had already lost consciousness, but Sakuya slammed his body on the balcony. While he had lost consciousness, no, because he’d lost consciousness, he couldn’t go on the defence and his lungs suffered the impact. All the remaining air in his body gushed out.

“Azami-chan! Are you okay?!”

“Ouch~…”

Ibuki had fainted after receiving a blow and was then tossed onto the balcony. Sakuya rushed to help up Azami, who Ibuki tried to attack. And Enju watched from a distance, putting his hand on his forehead and shaking his head.

“What in the world has happened here!?”

“Ohh…”

Then the Five Norths Association members came in droves, who’d arrived at not quite good timing. They’d seen the very worst situation; Enju shook his head more, thinking that nothing could be done about it.

Even when Enju had tried to explain the circumstances afterward, no one lent him an ear and instead thoroughly blamed Sakuya. However, Ibuki had regained consciousness and defended Sakuya by saying it wasn’t her fault, which settled the situation for the moment. 

But that didn’t mean that anything was resolved… rather, one could say that the situation got even worse. The day went by without any clarification, and the situation stayed unresolved.

～～～～～～～

In the veranda of a grand mansion, an old man in a wheelchair spoke.

“You’re just waltzing back like that? You should’ve been able to better use the previous incident and the one that just occurred. Why’d you hold back?”

It was hard to tell what emotions the old man was feeling from his raspy voice. But one could tell that he was not happy. 

“Hirohata had moved. If I had used the previous incident further, he could have found out that it was me.”

“Hmm… the Konoe’s dog…”

The old man frowned in annoyance and directed his gaze to the garden.

“Either way, this is a tide that will stir up trouble. The seeds have already been planted. Even if one hears that the rumours are false later on, an impression will already be made. Each time something happens from now on, seeds of the incident will take root, sprout, and then grow large.”

The girl bowing down in front of the old man lifted her head and answered.

“Hmph… if you think so, then it must be so. Next… will you be making use of the incident involving the Konoe brat getting flung to the floor in front of others?”

“Yes. There is no explaining away that incident. I will be using it well from now on.”

“Is that so… then, okay. You’ll be able to do it well. No? Satsuki.”

“Yes, grandfather.”

Saionji Satsuki, so expressionless that one may have thought she felt nothing at all, lowered her head once again to her grandfather sitting in a wheelchair.