CH 75

In the end, a couple days passed without me asking Ibuki about Nishigori. I didn’t want to get involved in something troublesome from asking too many questions, and there was no real harm done apart from me getting annoyed when we fought…

And while it was true that Nishigori was irritating when he picked fights with me, he was serious in everything else. He ran seriously during practice in PE class and even properly practiced the baton pass with me for the relay. He didn’t cut corners or give up because he viewed me as an enemy.

Since he normally acted like that, I kind of understood what he was thinking. He was a first-grader, so his reason for acting that way wouldn’t have been complicated.

He probably wanted to win the relay no matter what. I didn’t know why he wanted to win, but he’d originally picked a fight with me because Lady Sakuya was too slow and would lose the relay or drag him down.

And his fixation with the running order… He genuinely thought that he was faster… no, I didn’t think it was that. I would guess that… Well, maybe I should just leave it there. I didn’t have anything to prove it. It was just a guess, and there wasn’t much point in knowing if the guess was right or not.

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The one thing that I could say was that Nishigori’s time had improved quite a lot lately. His form was good and his time had significantly improved. Maybe he had confidence in his running before, but that was all self-taught. His form had improved a lot in this short period of time, maybe because a trainer was teaching him.

A person who was already the world’s best runner wouldn’t see a huge change if they trained a little and learned form. Compared to that, a person who hadn’t trained nor had learned form would probably see a great improvement if they learned a little about form.

Nishigori was probably working hard at training with a trainer at his house. IUt was impossible for him to have improved this fast without doing that.

Elzz… wdqsavwdyvlzu qsa bkx, bl pvkzz oswzed’v cl yczl vs okd ytykdpv xl…

Tl bye elqkdkvlzu pktdkqknydvzu kxrashle, cwv R oypd’v ps cye yp vs zspl vs bkx yqvla bl vaykdle fwpv y zkvvzl. R bye yzoyup clld vaykdle cu vbyv naygu tayxrp. Rq R zspv vs psxlsdl obs’e sdzu pvyavle vaykdkdt alnldvzu, kv oswzed’v lhld cl qwddu.

Rq bl oydvle vs awd zypv vbyv cyezu, R’e cl qkdl okvb poyrrkdt rzynlp kd vbl awddkdt saela, cwv… bl bkxplzq wdblpkvyvkdtzu pyke vbyv bl oydvle vs akr vbl zypv rspkvksd yoyu qasx xl sd vsr sq okddkdt ytykdpv xl, ps R nswzed’v es yduvbkdt ycswv vbyv… R vbswtbv kv oyp oasdt vs ts lypu sd bkx yde zspl, cwv sd vbl svbla byde, Lkpbktsak oswzed’v cl yczl vs clyv xl cu vbl lde sq vbl vlax kq bl nsdvkdwle zkjl vbkp. Gp lmrlnvle, csvb srvksdp olal yddsukdt…

～～～～～～～

Ebld R nyxl vs vbl pyzsd yqvla pnbssz, Iyuy-pyd pllxle zkpvzlpp qsa psxl alypsd. Fbl bye clld ynvkdt ralvvu pvaydtl zyvlzu, cwv pllxle vs cl lhld xsal ps vseyu.

“Iyuy-pyd, byp psxlvbkdt byrrldle?”

“Yx… olzz…”

Fbl oyp yoqwzzu kdyavknwzyvl. Fbl’e dsaxyzzu czwdvzu pyu obyvlhla pbl oydvle vs pyu, cwv vseyu pbl oyp fwpv iwklv yde zkpvzlpp. Ebyv bye byrrldle vs Iyuy-pyd vs xyjl bla ynv vbkp oyu…

“Oogimachisanjou-san’s tired because she’s challenged by her duties as a sports festival executive committee member.”

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“Hirohata-sama…”

Mizuki had made a rare appearance at the back seats that we’d taken over. Then, I was able to somewhat guess what had happened from his explanation. In the end, it was something like that.

At any rate, she had actually replaced one of the sports festival executive committee members… If she had that role, her work and time spent on preparations and meetings would increase. That might be challenging for people who didn’t normally do that. 

“I was surprised when I heard that Oogimachisanjou-san would be replacing one of the committee members, but I was even more surprised when I saw her actually doing the work seriously.”

Oi, Mizuki… you were laughing, but I didn’t think that was something to laugh at. You couldn’t laugh at someone approaching their work seriously. 

“Hirohata-sama, it is rude to laugh at people who are approaching the work seriously. Please apologise to Kaya-san.”

I looked straight at Mizuki and said that. He looked a little surprised. His expression then turned serious and he faced Kaya-san.

“I’m sorry, Oogimachisanjou-san. I was being thoughtless. I didn’t plan to laugh at you who was working so seriously.”

“No, I do not mind. If you wish to apologise, please head over there immediately. Do not interrupt my private time with Sakuya-chan.”

Both Mizuki and I froze with strange expressions on our faces at Kaya-san’s words. What was this… something like… this person was already too far gone. In the first place, this wasn’t our private time or anything…

“Th-Then, sorry for interrupting. I’ll go over there.”

Mizuki, who wasn’t discouraged, said that and went somewhere else. What on earth was that…

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“More importantly, I’m happy that you did that for this big sister, Sakuya-chan! Thanks! I love you, Sakuya-chan! Okay? I want to thank you, so can’t you come over to my house today?”

“Oh~… no~… my mother has forbidden me from going outside without permission…”

It was true that she’d grounded me, but showing her authority had become my trump card when I wanted to reject something. …no way, had my mom anticipated this?

Had my mom given me a reason to reject people when I was receiving invitations left and right, even if that reason made her out to be the bad guy?

Was I overthinking? But this was undoubtedly my strongest play. I was the type who couldn’t say no if other people pressured me into doing something. If my mother had forbidden me to, then I could stand firm and reject them. Since a parent was the one forbidding it, the other person would fold easily. Maybe my mom had thought that far…

“Then, I will go to your house, Sakuya-chan. It will be okay if I explain to mother-in-law then.”

“No! That! I have lessons today!”

If Kaya-san came, it’d be a touch-and-go situation between her and my mom. My mom seemed to like Azami-chan, but was rather cautious of Kaya-san. She didn’t seem to hate Kaya-san, but if they argued, something troublesome might happen again.

“Then, when are you free? Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow?”

“No~… that’s~…”

I didn’t have a day when I was free. Every day was packed with lessons. I somehow managed to survive the day while pacifying Kaya-san.

～～～～～～～

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“Master… do you have any guidance regarding the party I will be attending?”

“I do. That’s why we’re doing this now, right?”

“Does this have some sort of purpose?”

“Just stay quiet and do as I say.”

In the end, Master didn’t explain anything. That was normal. He was giving me special training for Ibuki’s party, but he didn’t explain what the point of said training was.

I was forced to remain in a half-sitting position like I was sitting in an invisible chair, or rather a position where my waist was lowered, while transferring the contents of one plate that was on the table in front of me to the plate beside it.

And that plate held small things that looked like salt grains. He told me to pick up those grains with chopsticks and transfer them to the plate beside it, but I was supposed to pick up a grain? And there was no way I could pick them up one by one.

Additionally, there were many different types of those salt grain-like things mixed together. I had to sort through them. I didn’t want to imagine why they were all mixed together…

“Hmph… for now, that amount is fine. Then, put the ones you think are okay on this and eat it.”

“Um…”

It looked like he wanted me to put the grains I’d sorted on tempura. Was this, as expected, the usual thing…?

“What’s wrong? Hurry and eat.”

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“…yes.”

I cautiously placed the salt-like things on the tempura. The ones on the other plate that I’d sorted through were all of different colour, shape, and size from salt. That was why everything remaining should’ve been salt… I took a bite…

“*choke*!”

The moment it entered my mouth, I spit it out, collapsed from my half-sitting position, and fell over. My mouth hurt! I writhed in pain on top of the floor.

“Fool. Being unable to distinguish salt and poison is… quite deplorable.”

It was poison like I thought! This crazy gramps! If he liked poison that much, then he should eat some himself!

“The look in those eyes says… you want me to eat it too?”

“…”

Since I was writhing in pain, I couldn’t reply. I definitely thought that, but this crazy gramps didn’t seem concerned at all.

“I would not eat the poison in the first place, but… look, I will eat as you wish me to. What about it?”

“——ngh!?”

I saw something unbelievable. This crazy gramps got salt from the same plate, put it on top of his tempura, then ate it, but nothing happened. What was that? Even though I had to spit it out the moment it entered my mouth because it hurt so much… Even though I was writhing in pain on the floor…

“To me, this much is nothing. If you can’t sort them, should we train so that you’ll be okay after eating it like I am?”

“I absolutely refuse!”

No way. If I let him do that, I could see myself being forced to eat poison. In the first place, I asked him to train me so that I wouldn’t fail at the party, not so that I’d be okay after eating poison. This time was…

“Master! I had asked you to teach me manners so that I would not fail at the party. Is this not different from training for the party?”

“Of course I’ll teach you etiquette too. You’re already capable at etiquette. But you need to be trained to remember how to deal with assassination, no matter the situation.”

I already learned etiquette? No, it was true that I was always learning things, but…

“You need to be able to pick up and sort through even salt grains in any situation. And if possible, get passing marks with your chopsticks usage.”

“Huh!? Then, was that special training for my chopsticks usage?”

Being in an unstable half-sitting position while using large chopsticks to pick up, identify, and sift through small salt grain-like items was definitely a hard task. At first, I was unable to pick them up, so I had figured out a bunch of things about using chopsticks, but…

“You need to find and remember the best way to use chopsticks even in a dangerous situation. Your chopstick handling is now adequate.”

So that was it… basically, I was now able to use chopsticks to pick up various things without dropping them. My chopstick handling before wasn’t the best, so that meant that I couldn’t grab or would drop some things.

“But this isn’t the end. You may now know good chopstick handling for the party, but there’s a great amount of other things that you need to know.”

“Yes!”

Right. Master’s training was pretty weird while I was doing it, but when I learned it properly, it was all for my own good. That was why I had to approach it with all my might!

～～～～～～～

It was past mid-September, or rather, late enough that you could say it was late-September. Today was a Saturday so I wasn’t going to Touka Academy, and tomorrow was a Sunday, so I had a break on that day too. I had plenty of time, so I couldn’t make any excuses about my time or convenience.

“Sakuya… you’re okay with this, right?”

“…yes.”

No, I wasn’t okay with it at all, but I couldn’t say “I am not” right in front of my mom. If I didn’t want to attend, then that was that, but I’d already prepared myself for the worst earlier. Saying that I wouldn’t attend because I didn’t want to was the same thing as being a selfish kid. If you didn’t do something just because you didn’t want to, you wouldn’t be able to do a good job. Work was something you had to do properly even if you didn’t want to do it.

To me, this was the same thing as work. If I made things difficult even after it was already decided, that was something a kid would do. That would not be forgiven in a young lady who was part of the Kujou family.

“Then, I am off.”

“Do not act rashly.”

“Yes!”

I got in the car with mom seeing me off. Today was the decisive battle: the day of the Konoe family’s party that Ibuki had called me to.

At the last party, there was the mess involving Azami-chan. I didn’t attend the party after that, so I didn’t know the details. This party was my revenge match. This time, I’d succeed in not messing up and acting in a way that wouldn’t stain Kujou Sakuya’s name.

Well, though I was saying that, I probably didn’t need to be that nervous. Let’s relax a little. If I was too nervous, I’d probably fail even more.

This party was just one with my friends and acquaintances gathered. Even thought it was a Konoe family party, let’s just think of this as practice and relax.