CH 43

Well, joking aside, I really did have to think of what I was going to do. Considering the required preparation time, I would embarrass the Kujou family again if I didn’t hurry and start.

As far as I was concerned, I was fine with inviting everyone to just play like first graders as I showed them the normal me. But if I couldn’t do that, then I had to think of something else.

“What to do… what could we do?”

My mom, suggesting this and that, was restlessly worrying too. It looked like my parents had planned to entertain them by holding something like a party. I had rejected that, of course, so now they were worrying about what to do.

“Sakuya’s learning from that etiquette teacher, right? Why not ask him?”

“Ask Mr. Momochi…? I see! Let us do that! That is a good idea!”

Uwah… I wanted this to stop… In a way, this was becoming more complicated than a party. If it was going to be like this, it’d be easier to host a normal party.

“Master Momochi has said I could host a tea ceremony. However…”

“Fyjwuy! Tspvkdt y vly nlalxsdu!”

Yu xsx, allzkdt qasx pwarakpl yde zssjkdt vbwdelapvawnj, vssj y qlo pbyjkdt pvlrp yde rzynle csvb bla bydep sd vbl vyczl. Vzlypl oykv. Ebyv oyp okvb vbyv alprsdpl?

“R es dsv vbkdj vbyv usw nyd bspv y vly ryavu1, Fyjwuy! Rv kp pktdkqknydvzu clvvla vs bspv y ryavu, kp kv dsv!?”

Txx… Ebyv kd vbl osaze oyp xu xsx vbkdjkdt… R oyp byrru vbyv R’e xyel wr okvb bla, cwv R oyp tlvvkdt vs jdso obyv pbl oyp vbkdjkdt xsal yde xsal vseyu…

“Xb… kpd’v vbyv y tsse kely? Fyjwuy’p pvkzz pkm. Fbl dllep vs cl kdhszhle kd vbspl qsaxyz nlalxsdklp, aktbv? Mblu’al bla nzspl qakldep, vss, ps kpd’v kv tsse raynvknl?”

“Plya! Zsw yal vyzjkdt ycswv Fyjwuy, ulp!? Ps usw vbkdj pbl nyd es pwnb vbkdtp?”

Ebyv oyp vbkp… Ebu oyp xu xsx rwvvkdt xl esod ps xwnb vseyu? Eyp vbkp “vbyv”? Eyp pbl alzlypkdt yzz bla alpldvxldv vbyv bye ynnwxwzyvle shla vbl rypv xsdvb? G dsaxyz qkapv tayela oswze pwzj sa tlv xye yqvla clkdt valyvle zkjl vbkp…&dcpr;

“Fyjwuy nyd es vbyv xwnb. Sktbv? Rq usw’al osaakle, usw nyd ypj bla vs pbso usw. Gzps, pbl nyd’v nbsspl vs bspv y vly ryavu sd bla sod. Ebyv ycswv pbl ypjp vbspl qakldep sq blap qkapv?”

I couldn’t help but think that my dad was just amusing himself. I was learning the Hundred Earth style, but I wasn’t half that good yet…

“…understood. Mr. Momochi has suggested the idea, which means he also approves… your mother will observe you tomorrow, Sakuya. You may not tell your friends before then. It will be a problem if you inform them and you all decide to host a tea party.”

“Yes…”

Something weird had happened… Thus, I’d be returning home quickly tomorrow so I could show mom my tea ceremony etiquette.

～～～～～～～

Two days after mom and I had made up in the dining room… I had returned home early so that I could perform the tea ceremony in front of mom. Then, at lunch today…

“Azami-chan, about you and the others coming over to play…”

“Yes, Sakuya-sama? What would you like us to do? …oh! Perhaps it is inconvenient for you?”

As we were relaxing at lunch, I brought that subject up and everyone noticed. But because of Azami-chan’s misunderstanding, everyone was a little panicked: some girls had even pulled out their schedules, thinking that the dates had changed.

“Oh, no. I am sorry for phrasing it in a way that is easy to misunderstand. There is no problem with the day and time, but… since everyone is coming, my mother and Mas… my teacher have suggested holding a tea party. What are your thoughts, everyone?”

Azami-chan’s expression clearly stiffened once I said that. I hadn’t seen wrongly. Her expression clearly stiffened. Speaking of, it was still slightly stiff now. From her reaction, I could guess that maybe Azami-chan was bad with tea ceremonies and tea parties. My tea ceremony etiquette was also unsuitable to show to others, so I could understand how Azami-chan felt.

If possible, I wanted Azami-chan and the others to refuse. If they did that, I could just say we shouldn’t have a tea party without the blame falling on me. It’d probably be easy to persuade mom too.

So maybe I shouldn’t have asked, said that they refused, and convinced mom afterwards, right? But if I did that and mom somehow heard that I hadn’t asked, it’d become a problem. That was why I did ask. It’d be best for me if everyone refused, though.

“A tea party…”

As I glanced at everyone, Akane-chan let out a dry laugh while her eyes were darting back and forth. Maybe that meant she also hated tea parties. Yep, doing great. This was very good. If the faction leader, Azami-chan, and the shock troop leader2, Akane-chan, reacted like this, then the overall response was practically decided.

Those attending a tea party had to prepare kimono and other stuff as well, so I couldn’t suddenly decide on my own. If we talked like this and it resolved in the way of “We can’t do that”…

“Well! A tea party,, yes! That sounds good~… Let us do that, absolutely!”

“Geh…”

Azami-chan and Akane-chan both reacted in an unladylike manner at Tsubaki-chan’s unexpected words. Well, let’s pretend I never heard that. The bigger problem was Tsubaki-chan. I had no idea why, but Tsubaki-chan, and just Tsubaki-chan, seemed to be going with the idea. This was bad…

“Sakuya-sama… I would like to check just in case. This is not a tea party where we will drink black tea and talk, but a tea party where we will be conducting a tea ceremony, right?”

A panicked Azami-chan asked for confirmation. She had probably noticed that Tsubaki-chan had confused it for a Western tea party and had thought of correcting her.

“Yes. It is a tea party where we will be conducting a tea ceremony. Is that okay with everyone?”

I affirmed Azami-chan’s words and, when I glanced at Tsubaki-chan…

“That is alright. Let’s have a tea party by all means, yes? It is perfect to debut my new kimono.”

Uwah… Tsubaki-chan knew it was a tea party where we’d be making the tea, and said those words on top of that… Everyone else was…

Azami-chan’s eyes were a little wider than usual. You could practically hear the “ding” of a failure bell in a game show. Akane-chan’s eyes were darting back and forth too. “No” was written all over her face. The other girls looked neutral. It looked like they were thinking that they couldn’t do anything if a decision had already been made. However, seeing as how they were casually talking about kimonos, maybe they had kimonos they wanted to debut as well, like Tsubaki-chan.

“I look forward to your tea party, Sakuya-chan. Right? Azami-sama.”

“Ri-… right…”

“Ahaha…”

Tsubaki-chan was the only one who seemed enthusiastic. Azami-chan’s soul was leaving her body, and Akane-chan could only let out strained laughter. What was this chaotic situation…

～～～～～～～

We had planned a tea party like Master said, so I went to report it to him.

“As you said, Master, we have planned a tea party…”

“I see. Hmph… Good! Then, you will be living here from today until the date of the tea party! You will receive intense training from here on out!”

No, no… what was he saying? This crazy ninja was…

“Firstly, I cannot live here. Secondly, I cannot afford to miss school. The tea party is a gathering of mostly inexperienced children, so it is not an exceedingly formal occasion…”

There were things that I couldn’t do, but the people with me were just six years old. I did go through a tea ceremony demonstration in front of my mom to obtain permission, but we were all beginners, so I didn’t need to think that hard.

“Though that might be so…”

“Master! Have you not always told me that it is important to pay attention to and consider your guests at a tea ceremony? If I place too much importance on form and etiquette towards beginners, it will prove to be a burden on them! Therefore, I must break down the tea ceremony to some extent.”

“Hmm…”

Master closed his eyes and groaned. Yep, there you go. Yeah, yeah, you really thought you could scam me every time? There were things that I couldn’t do, but Azami-chan and Akane-chan were probably bad with tea ceremony etiquette. If I received them far too formally, they’d be burdened. That was just an excuse for me being unable to do it, but that was fine. If I said something like that, Master probably wouldn’t be able to insist on anything.

“However…”

“There are no ifs or buts. Master, have you not said that the Hundred Earth style is not a conservative style that honours tradition, but instead one that adopts new concepts and changes itself? This tea ceremony takes inspiration from new and modern ideas.”

“Nngh…”

Yes! I won! I came up with some reasoning to use against what Master was always saying so that he couldn’t respond. It looked like that went well. It was rare to see such a quiet Master. It’d be great if I could always corner him like this, but…

“Then, I’d also like to experience this tea party you’re holding, Sakuya. Once I see that, I can decide what to do afterwards.”

Huh!? What… I’d already demonstrated it to my mom, but I had to do it again with Master?

Well, okay. The tea party that I wanted to do was an easygoing one you’d do in a school club. Clubs that seriously followed tea ceremony etiquette might get mad, but I wanted something more… I was imagining something more relaxing.

There was something like a tea party club in the school I attended in my past life. Of course, I hadn’t participated, but I knew something of the club’s activities. They gathered in the clubroom, drank tea, ate sweets, and talked with each other. They had followed some tea ceremony etiquette or something, but that was how they spent most of their time.

If you asked me how I knew this, I had actually seen that when I passed by the clubroom’s open door. I’d heard the conversations of the tea party club or something in the classroom and elsewhere. I also heard about it from people who actually went to the club to try and stop it.

That was what the tea party club or something did in my past life. I wanted the tea party I was holding now to be like that. Not strictly following each rule of etiquette, but instead doing something simple and talking peacefully about this and that with everyone.

If I brushed over the portions of etiquette I didn’t know, it’d also help Azami-chan and Akane-chan, who were probably bad with tea parties and tea ceremonies. It may disappoint Tsubaki-chan, who was expecting a super-genuine tea party. I, the host, couldn’t do that, and neither could most of the participants, so I thought doing something like that was alright.

“Then, go!”

“Huh!? Right now!?”

Master stood up and headed towards the garden. Maybe I had to start the tea ceremony now? Mom didn’t really get mad that I was doing that style of tea ceremony, so I didn’t think that Master would either, but… Speaking of that, Master thought rather flexibly, so maybe he wouldn’t get mad at a modern, carefree school club tea party.

But it wasn’t something to debut to people. There was also a high possibility I’d need intensive training even if I did receive permission. I didn’t even have two weeks left, so I was hoping he’d go easy, but Master didn’t compromise. If he said that I had to train for the tea party, then he’d make me do that.

Even though I said that, that was what Master had said, so I had no right to veto his decision. I went to the garden tearoom in the end and demonstrated the tea ceremony I was planning to hold with Azami-chan and the others.

～～～～～～～

Master had said that this was good enough. But he also said that tea ceremony would be the focus of Hundred Earth style training from now on. Now that he’d seen what I was planning to do, there were portions that he deemed inadequate or that I couldn’t do. He said that it was good for a tea party itself, but that he wouldn’t forgive bad results from me.

Well, no matter how close they were with me, I didn’t want to embarrass myself too much, so it was quite good if Master taught me.

I was worrying about Tsubaki-chan… She was hoping for the real thing, so maybe she’d get disappointed. If she took an interest, that was good, but if she got mad, what should I do… 

I was horribly unused to human relationships… and I was the type who had no idea what people were feeling… Well, I just had to do what I had to do…