CH 56

“Has it gone well?”

“Yes…”

Satsuki nodded. She didn’t need to ask what “it” was. Her grandfather was most concerned with taking down the Kujou family at the moment. He only discussed that topic with Satsuki.

Satsuki’s reply was a lie. It wasn’t going well at all. She thought that when gossip spread about the Tokudaiji Azami matter, it would go well. However, it didn’t actually go well at all… Rather, the Tokudaiji faction had been ensnared, which helped cause the current situation.

She then thought of making use of the fact that she beat up Konoe Ibuki, but that failed. The Five Norths Association didn’t isolate and exile Kujou Sakuya because of that; instead, the incident strengthened her relationship with the Konoe and Takatsukasa families.

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Nothing was going well. She failed no matter what she did. And that was inevitable.

Satsuki didn’t want to fail. Her plans weren’t bad. A normal person would’ve already been thrown out of the academy. But not Kujou Sakuya.

Kujou Sakuya was too sharp. She went above and beyond all of the plans Satsuki conceived. She made use of everything and took advantage of everyone. Satsuki and the brains around her couldn’t outwit Sakuya. They couldn’t make Sakuya fall with their plans no matter how hard they tried.

Gde Iwfsw Fyjwuy oyp y pvwddkdt ynvsa. Fyvpwjk, obs oyp yzoyup oyvnbkdt Fyjwuy, jdlo vbkp. Iwfsw Fyjwuy xyel wpl sq hyakswp ekqqlaldv qynlp elrldekdt sd bla ywekldnl.

Gv vkxlp pbl zssjle tsse-dyvwale yde zkjl pbl oswzed’v bwav y qzu; yv svbla vkxlp pbl zssjle elyvbzu nyzx, zkjl pbl’e jkzz psxlsdl okvb bla tygl yzsdl; psxlvkxlp pbl zssjle zkjl yd kddsnldv tkaz; svblap zkjl y hlvlayd vynvknkyd. Fbl wple hyakswp qynlp vs vaknj, ldpdyal, vbalyvld, yde nyfszl rlsrzl, cwv yzoyup nyxl wr sd vsr. Fbl oldv ps bktb vbyv Fyvpwjk nswzed’v alynb bla…

Jwv, clnywpl sq vbyv, pbl nswzed’v tkhl wr. Fyvpwjk lmkpvle vs qwzqkzz y aszl. Tla lmkpvldnl oyp xlydkdtzlpp okvbswv vbyv.

Mbyv oyp obu Fyvpwjk ydpolale vbyv vs bla taydeqyvbla. Fbl nswze sdzu pyu vbyv pbl oswze ycpszwvlzu xyjl kv ts olzz sa vbyv kv oyp tskdt olzz. Rv oyp qsackeeld qsa yd yzvladyvl ydpola vs rypp bla zkrp.

“Rp vbyv ps. Nlyhl.”

“Zlp. Vzlypl lmnwpl xl.”

Tla taydeqyvbla, obs byed’v vyjld y pkdtzl zssj yv Fyvpwjk, pyke vbyv. Fbl zsolale bla blye sdnl ytykd yde lmnwple blaplzq.

～～～～～～～

Today was the day she planned to play with Kujou Sakuya. She didn’t know what on earth Kujou Sakuya was planning. The shops near the place where they were meeting were rather inadequate. These shops weren’t at the level that families whose children attended Touka Academy would make use of. What in the world was she planning, bringing her to this place?

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It wasn’t something to panic over. She could behave as usual. Satsuki had trained vigorously up until now. She was a student attending Touka Academy, raised in the upper class, and this was child’s play compared to the upbringing she’d received.

Satsuki had memories of choking up blood from spending all her time training. Satsuki didn’t do a single childlike thing and always trained while other people played. She studied and learned everything, like etiquette and governance. Even though Satsuki may not have had the talent, her efforts wouldn’t lose to anyone. She had that confidence.

It was fine. No matter what happened, she could exhibit all the things she’d learned before.

“I am sorry for keeping you waiting, Sakuya-chan.”

“Oh, Satsuki-chan, greetings. It is not our meeting time yet, so do not worry. I merely came early.”

She lowered her head towards Kujou Sakuya, who came earlier and was waiting. Satsuki had also planned to come early, but she didn’t think that Kujou Sakuya would be waiting for her. She asked what she was planning from here on out. What on earth were they going to do in this place?

But Satsuki was suspicious of her answer. It looked like they were buying things from these shops. She couldn’t read her true intentions at all. But since she’d said that, she had no choice but to obey. They both entered the shops in this area and looked at their products.

Then, another incomprehensible thing happened. Sakuya showed her clothing that was quite poor-quality. It was clothing positively suited for someone attending Touka Academy. What was she planning by recommending something like that… Satsuki racked her brain, seriously trying to read Sakuya’s intentions.

“(Satsuki-chan… at these shops, let us… buy clothing that normal people would wear, change into them, and run away.)”

“Huh?!”

Upon hearing her purpose, Satsuki was surprised. Why was she planning to to that? She was a lady of the Kujou family, so she would receive adequate scolding after doing such a thing. She planned to escape despite that, which Satsuki didn’t understand. Rather, she agreed with the Kujou family.

She herself wouldn’t get scolded that harshly. She could just use the excuse that she was following Kujou Sakuya’s plan. If she said that she was doing this so her opponent wouldn’t find her suspicious, she’d be forgiven for being a little reckless. After thinking for a while, Satsuki was on board with Sakuya’s suggestion.

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～～～～～～～

They brought the cheap clothes they’d bought in advance and changed into them. But how good was the execution of their plan? Satsuki didn’t notice at first, but they timed their exit when others of the same generation were exiting as well. But that wasn’t true. That was what Sakuya was aiming for.

They entered the toilet when other kids were entering as well, quickly changed, and disappeared into the crowd of kids so the attendants wouldn’t see them. Sakuya thought that far ahead and even timed when they were entering the toilet. She couldn’t scorn that. Satsuki felt chills at Sakuya’s skilful performance. It absolutely wasn’t at the level she’d expect of her classmates. 

Sastuki had changed into a cheap T-shirt and Sakuya had changed into pants and a large hat that hid all of her hair. The hat was large so it stood out a lot and hid facial features: two birds with one stone.

As planned, the attendants didn’t notice and were fooled as planned. She wanted to applaud Sakuya’s excellent skill.

Then, once they’d lost the attendants, they headed towards a large shopping mall. She had seen it while driving, but didn’t know what kind of place it was. She had heard of “shopping malls” from TV, but had never actually entered one.

Satsuki had pretended to go to the toilet and called her attendants. She told them that she escaped, as Sakuya planned, and not to worry or make a big fuss. Then she also instructed them to check if Sakuya’s attendant was aware of this development.

It looked like Sakuya’s attendant was also unaware of the development and was seriously going to contact the police. She was told to stop and that it was all according to Sakuya’s plan, so there was no need to worry about their escape. It looked like there wouldn’t be a big fuss now.

Even so… it was surprising that she would remain silent towards people of her own family. What was she planning to do if Satsuki hadn’t contacted them and a big fuss had broken out…

“Oh…”

Then, Satsuki realised. Maybe… what if… Sakuya had purposefully not informed the Kujou family? In anticipation of what was going to happen!

Satsuki thoughtlessly contacted her and Sakuya’s attendants. She took steps to make less of a fuss. Satsuki had shown that through her own response. She had shown that “The Saionji family had a way to keep the Kujou family from making a fuss”. If that was all part of Sakuya’s plan, Satsuki had carelessly shown her hand.

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That was a big mistake… Satsuki, who was already at an overwhelming disadvantage, had even shown her hand. The thing that she had been preparing for months and planning to save for an important time was revealed. This wasn’t as simple as just being scolded for escaping.

Basically, it was something like this. Sakuya took the risk of getting scolded for escaping to find out what the Saionji family’s trump cards were. It would be a complete defeat… that was what she was planning to do with this escape.

But… once Satsuki thought that and gave up on everything… she noticed that she felt slightly excited.

She had followed a completely predetermined route up until now. It was all for her role. But if she completely threw away that role and was just an elementary school girl… the world overflowed with colour. Her once-monochrome world was now filled with such bright colours.

The plastic food models in the restaurant area were all assortments and sets that she’d never eaten. It was fun just looking at them.

Eating at a table in the food court in the middle of the crowds. She ordered and brought the food over by herself without a waiter. She got the food and prepared it herself. Interesting. The food wasn’t that good, but it felt fresh.

They entered the row of shops one by one. In the shops she always went to, the employees opened the door and greeted people, constantly there as they explained what a product was and consulted with the customer as they bought things. But here, the employees didn’t explain anything.

Everything was unusually fresh. The clothes, the general goods, and the small accessories she bought were all cheap. Everything was useless garbage. That was how it should have been, but… for some reason, all that trash glimmered to Satsuki.

It shouldn’t have been interesting to go to the rooftop carpark… but even seeing a rooftop carpark was fresh. Did the wind ever feel this good before?

And, when they went up to the rooftop carpark… it looked like something was happening. Kids the same age as her were surrounded by older people. It looked like a fight. Sakuya went inside the circle of the fight and broke it up without hesitation. Could Satsuki do that?

The self-defense skills Satsuki had learned might do something against those opponents, but she couldn’t break up the fight like Sakuya did without hesitation. Satsuki had thought of various things before that. But Sakuya walked towards them the moment she saw them.

Then she threw them down one by one so easily that it was like the people being thrown had agreed to it beforehand. Satsuki’s self-defense skills weren’t as good as that. She was also a good fighter, so she understood part of Sakuya’s aberrational talent.

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How much work had she put in to achieve that level of proficiency? Satsuki had put in effort; she remembered being tossed to the floor countless times and coughing up blood. But… How much effort had Sakuya, who was clearly better than her, put in…

As she thought that, the five older ones were defeated in mere seconds. Satsuki ran up to Sakuya. If they were here longer, the situation might turn bad, so they left right away.

They returned to the shopping area and looked at the stores. She was troubled that her shopping expedition had been interrupted because a disturbance like that had come up.

“Oh! Sakuya-chan, please look at this.”

“Huh? Oh… that is rather cute.”

They were both looking at the small glass figures in the accessory store they entered. There were lamé and stars inside the round glass ball. It was sparkly and beautiful.

“It is beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It is… oh! Right. Then, let us buy this as a set.”

“Huh?”

Saying that, Sakuya took two of those small glass balls and headed to the counter. She held hands with Satsuki while standing in line.

“Both are paid together, but please put them in separate bags.”

“A present from your boyfriend? Yes. Here you go.”

Once it was paid for, the employee gave them the glass balls in bags one by one. She said that with a pleasant smile when she noticed they were holding hands.

“B-Boyfriend…”

When she said that, Satsuki could feel her face suddenly warming up. When she looked over at Sakuya… their eyes met. Her face grew steadily redder and she looked down.

What on earth was she doing? She didn’t know herself. But… when she walked with Sakuya holding hands like this, it felt really nice.

～～～～～～～

When she got home… she finished giving various reports and sat at her desk in her room. She carefully removed the glass ball from the bag and placed it on top of her desk.

“It is a cheap thing that does not suit my room.”

As she said that, she pushed it with her finger and it rolled. Nothing was funny, but the corners of her mouth rose and she grinned.

“By all rights, such a thing should not be in my room… it is for the role. If I am asked about it tomorrow, I must say that I am keeping it in custody.”

As Satsuki said that, she placed the glass ball in a transparent case so it wouldn’t get dirtied, wouldn’t break, would absolutely be safe, and would be easy to look at.