CH 40

I would be doing swimming training at the high-end fitness club “Grande” today. The Hundred Earth style also did swimming sometimes. However, Hundred Earth style swimming and Grande swimming were completely different things, so I still needed both of them. If I stopped going to Grande and instead studied the Hundred Earth style, I might’ve been able to increase my swimming training, but… I didn’t want to increase it.

It had gotten pretty warm lately, so it didn’t hurt to enter the water. Well, it was still June, so it was probably still too early to enter. It was cold enough that I worried I would get a heart attack from the way-too-cold outdoor pond.

But leaving that aside, the Hundred Earth style swimming training was a little strange. It involved holding a weight up for hours upon hours while treading water, swimming sidestroke, swimming with weights on, entering the water while objects were being thrown at me or while I was being shot at; bows were even fired. I didn’t get why at all.

Swimming training at “Grande” was an oasis in all the things I was learning. There was a bulge in my teacher’s pants, so that was a little… but that didn’t mean I disliked or hated Mr. Kohori, I just wasn’t happy to see a bulge in a man’s boomerang pants…

Huh? Come to think of it, why had I only seen Mr. Kohori swimming…? A gym would have many different trainers, but… what was this? Maybe there were some that I just hadn’t seen? Well, alright, I guess… it wasn’t really related to me…

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Mr. Kohori seemed to be watching most of the barrel madams… no, wives who came here. I thought that was because he was popular, but the possibility that no one else was here emerged. The reverse might’ve been true; maybe Mr. Kohori was too popular, so the other trainers just never got a turn, but…

So I walked through Grande’s reception area and entered the women’s changing room. As expected, the only ones here were round barrels.

Hmm… the lineup was the same. They had all come here longer than I did and should’ve come in on days when I had my lessons, but why hadn’t these madams changed at all… Were they really doing this seriously?

“Xb, Fyjwuy-nbyd!”

“Qallvkdtp.”

Mbl xyeyxp ynvle zkjl vbyv, cwv vblu olal pvkzz okhlp qasx tsse rzynlp. Mblka ckavb qyxkzklp yde bwpcydep olal iwkvl tsse; vblu nswzed’v cl wdelalpvkxyvle kd vlaxp sq qyxkzu. Mbl wrrla-nzypp tyvblale kd vblpl rzynlp, ps kq usw wdelalpvkxyvle, ynvle awel vsoyaep, sa sdzu tyhl y rlaqwdnvsau alprsdpl vs vbl rlsrzl usw xlv blal, usw’e pwqqla pwcpvydvkyz nsdpliwldnlp yqvlaoyae.

“Fyjwuy-nbyd, usw zssj nwvl vseyu vss. Eydv y nydeu?”

“R okzz cl pokxxkdt yqvlaoyaep, ps R okzz ynnlrv vbl vbswtbv clbkde vbl tlpvwal…”

Eydv y nydeu? Tydt sd, oyp pbl yd Xpyjyd ywdvkl…? Gzps, R oyp tskdt vs pokx, usw jdso…

“Xb? Rp vbyv ps? Rpd’v lyvkdt nydeu yqvla pokxxkdt tsse?”

“Xb… Xb~… ulp, vbyv kp vawl. Mbld, R okzz alnlkhl kv. R pbyzz lyv kv yqvlaoyaep.”

If she said that, then I had no choice but to accept. Also, kindergarteners and those in lower elementary would definitely be interested in eating candy after swimming. I didn’t know why. Maybe to replenish the lost energy, but maybe it didn’t have any special meaning… The world was different, so maybe that had changed too. I didn’t know quite well, but…

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Even though you refrained once, you had to accept if they offered the item again like that. Depending on the country, region, or time, you may have to refuse twice or thrice, or you may not be allowed to refuse the first time, but the etiquette here wasn’t as strict.

It was just that even if I had indirectly refused like earlier, I had to accept if the item had been offered again. If I refused too firmly, my reputation would decrease.

“Sakuya-chan really is cute and honest.”

“Really, really. She’s completely different from my kid.”

“Will you come and become my kid’s bride?”

“Ahaha… thank you. I am keeping Mr. Kohori waiting, so I shall leave now.”

They all sounded like aunties talking to each other, but they were still upper-class wives. It was smart to be polite but still maintain the proper distance.

“Sakuya-chan, many rumours have reached our ears.”

“We are on your side.”

“We are. We know that you’re not a horrible kid like the rumours say.”

“Okay?”

As I was exiting the changing room, the wives called out to me. I stopped, turned around, and lowered my head.

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“Thank you!”

I kept my head lowered a little longer… Once I lifted it, I made eye contact with each and every one of the wives, communicating my gratitude, then left the changing room.

After all, the only way to understand people was to talk to each other. It was a lot easier for people who I’d almost never interacted with to believe the rumours and talk bad about me. But that wasn’t true for the people I’d talked to. I’d come to understand that well.

I had been avoiding human relationships up until now. But I couldn’t do that. The people around me thought bad about me even though I hadn’t done anything. That was why it was important to talk daily with others so they could understand me properly. I should’ve known that, but I only realised now, so I slapped my cheeks to fire myself up. Then, I first went over to Mr. Kohori.

～～～～～～～

“*gasp*!”

I lifted my head after swimming the length of the 25 meter pool and inhaled the air.

“Sakuya-chan, you’re amazing… you can already swim 100 meters…”

“Thank you. However, my time is terrible…”

Mr. Kohori wasn’t a swimming coach but instead a sports gym trainer, so he praised me plenty. A coach for competitions would severely pursue times and scores, but this was a training gym, so it had a different purpose. The goal was not to scold their students and drive them harshly; instead, they cared about giving the proper praise, paying attention to them, and helping them continue.

Of course, there were places that taught fitness and training that harshly pushed their students. But this was a high-class fitness gym for madams, so it was different from those places.

I thought that I gained some stamina from my swimming training at the Hundred Earth style, but I still swam slowly. I couldn’t do anything about the fact that I was a kid with a small body and no muscles…

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“If you go to a proper swimming school, Sakuya-chan, I think you’ll be able to aim higher.”

“Thank you. However, I am fine here.”

Mr. Kohori said that. While I was happy, I thought that it was half lip service. Someone with my swimming ability couldn’t aim higher in swimming. Anyhow, walking on the side of the pool was faster. Thanks to my training here and in the Hundred Earth style I had been able to swim longer, but the crucial portion, speed, hadn’t improved. I couldn’t aim to be a swimmer like this.

I was a lady of the Kujou family in the first place, so I couldn’t aim to be a swimmer. Also, it was very convenient for me to stop by Grande on the way back from school. I didn’t know if there was a swimming classroom in a better location, but it was easy to stop by here on the way home and it had a good location.

I wasn’t sure about the high-end fitness club when Yoshizane-kun first recommended it to me, but he did a pretty good job. This was a pretty ideal location. And if I did say I wanted to change to a classroom… what’d happen?

Before, my mom would say something to me. So, if I couldn’t persuade my mom, I couldn’t do lessons. But now? My mom wouldn’t open her mouth at all. So if I asked her about changing the location of my cram school, fitness club, or the Hundred Earth style, would it actually change?

I’ve said this multiple times, but I didn’t feel like changing those three. I probably couldn’t find a cram school more convenient than Raihoukai, or a fitness club more convenient than Grande. Also… I didn’t feel like quitting Hundred Earth style at all.

It was definitely a school I couldn’t mention in public, but… my training with Master was still fun. Once I mastered it, I wanted to hold my head high and tell everyone about the Hundred Earth style. So I couldn’t quit halfway through. I had to master the Hundred Earth style!

“I will swim two more laps, then end for today.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Yes.”

He talked a lot about swimming too much before but now left me to my own devices. Of course, he watched me so I wouldn’t drown and would stop me if I practiced too much. However, he came to listen to what I was saying a little. When I thought about how he first made me wear floaties, it was a rather large change.

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After that, I swam 100 meters twice and my swimming for today ended.

～～～～～～～

Once I’d finished swimming, I tasted the candy the madams gave me.

“Hmm. It’s sweet.”

It felt like the candy was giving energy to my tired body. It obviously wasn’t actually that effective, but it felt like the sugar was piercing my tired body or something.

They’d given me candy like any Osakan auntie, but this was relatively expensive candy. I didn’t know what shop it was from or how much it was, but I knew it wasn’t the cheap candy you could buy at a supermarket or 100-yen store1.

“Are you already leaving, Sakuya-chan?”

“Yes. I shall go home for today.”

“What about having a marriage meeting with my son, if you like?”

“Umm… I shall give it some thought…”

It was scary to be asked to go to a marriage meeting without hesitation. I myself thought that I was still a first-grader, but marriage meetings already happened in first grade in this world. People considered it late not to have one or two marriage candidates at this age. It was normal to have selected some candidates, while they may not have been decided on, and hold conversations involving the families and companies.

I didn’t have any candidates, but… come to think of it, what about Yoshizane-kun, who was part of the Kujou family like me? He was the heir and a sixth-grader, so it wouldn’t be strange for him to have a fiancée, but…

Then what about Azami-chan? Or Satsuki-chan? Ibuki and Enju didn’t have fiancées too… was there something strange with just the people around me?

Of course, my classmates appeared in the game “Flowers Blooming in Love”, so it wasn’t like I didn’t know. If the game started like “I have a betrothed who I love that was decided on long ago”, the story wouldn’t progress. 

Well… a “childhood friend and lovey-dovey betrothed” might not exist, but a “lady who I really don’t want to marry and who’s following me around but I have to deal with it because of her family status” would…

Let’s say that Ibuki and Lady Sakuya were fine with that. There was also the aspect of Ibuki using Lady Sakuya as a bulwark to please the people around them. But what about Enju? He was a distinguished son from the Takatsukasa family, which held the top status even in this country. I thought there was something strange with Enju not having a betrothed or a fiancée2.

Then, what about Azami-chan and Satsuki-chan? In the game “Love Flowers”, they were in highschool, so most everyone had a betrothed already. Even so, those two didn’t have betrotheds. It wasn’t just those two. The world was apparently structured with everyone having a betrothed, but there weren’t many characters who clearly had a fiancé.

While it was still a game, I thought it was because of a lot of things. For example, characters like that may have been in the setting, but they played a minor role, so each and every one of them didn’t appear in the game. Or that those involved with the protagonist were romance dating sim characters, so of course they wouldn’t have betrotheds.

But now that it had maybe become the real world?

Azami-chan and Satsuki-chan’s lovers, betrotheds, and fiancés didn’t appear for the sake of the game’s convenience. But if this was real life, wouldn’t their families force something onto them when they grew older, if not now?

The Tokudaiji family was trying to get Azami-chan to marry Ibuki. The Saionji family was probably doing the same too. Maybe that was why Azami-chan and Satsuki-chan hadn’t been forced to get engaged. But what would happen if they grew older and they couldn’t marry Ibuki and Enju?

A chill… and then a thump… something inside me was discomposed.

When some guys I didn’t know who popped out of nowhere went to steal Azami-chan and Satsuki-chan… what would I do…? What would they do…?

Maybe their marriages were for their sakes. It wasn’t something an outsider like me could endorse or oppose… But… what was this feeling… I really… didn’t want them stolen away…

What if it keeps them both from being happy as women? Is that something I should stop?

I thought that, but… my chest stung from just imagining it.