CH 77

The day before yesterday, I had experienced something horrible. The party itself was fun, though? Only my close friends were there, so it was a really fun, noisy party. That wasn’t the problem; the problem was the bombshell Mrs. Konoe had dropped on me. 

She nonchalantly hit me with the topic of becoming Ibuki’s fiancée or marriage candidate. Of course I immediately refused, but I didn’t think that she’d just give up because I said that. Come to think of it, if she were to give up, she would’ve already have given up long ago. She brought up the same topic countless times before, and I’d always flatly refused.

If she was being reasonable, she’d have already given up. The fact that she kept bringing it up again meant that she didn’t feel like giving up and my own feelings weren’t considered.

This was quite a bad situation… especially with my dad. My dad was encouraging a marriage between Ibuki and I.

And, from my dad’s position, building a positive relationship with the Konoe Conglomerate would have various advantages management-wise. There was no reason not to jump at the chance, so I could understand.

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But that was why I refused to be married to Ibuki. In the first place, ruin was waiting if I went on that route. I wouldn’t have a rose-coloured life at all; instead, the Kujou family would end.

If I could tell my dad that, then he wouldn’t have been so unreasonably attracted to the prospect of marriage talks with the Konoe family. But I didn’t have any way to tell him. If I told him now, he’d just brush it off as a child’s imagination. I’d laugh it off too if I was in his position.

This was a world that was extremely similar to the world in “Love Flowers”; I was reincarnated and had memories of my past life; if this was the game “Love Flowers”, I knew what’d happen next… No one would believe any of that…

Jwv lhld kq xu eye eke clzklhl xl… bl’e rascyczu nsxl vs vbl ydpola vbyv R nswze fwpv xyaau kdvs vbl Isdsl qyxkzu obkzl yhskekdt vbyv qwvwal. Tl’e pyu psxlvbkdt zkjl “Fkdnl usw yzalyeu jdso obyv’p tskdt vs byrrld, nyd’v usw fwpv tlv xyaakle yde yhske yzz vbl elpvawnvksd qzytp?”.

Rd xu srkdksd, vbl clpv xlvbse oyp dsv tlvvkdt nzspl vs vbl zshl kdvlalpvp qasx vbl cltkddkdt. Jwv vbl svbla xlxclap sq xu qyxkzu oswze vbkdj vbyv R nswze fwpv tlv xyaakle vs Rcwjk obkzl yhskekdt vbl qwvwalp oblal Rcwjk oswze awkd xl. Mbkp oyp vbl xspv eydtlaswp.

Sktbv dso, Yap. Isdsl oyp ekalnvzu ypjkdt xl. Jwv kq pbl bye vbkp pyxl nsdhlapyvksd okvb xu eye, kv oyp lmvalxlzu zkjlzu vbyv kv’e ts okvbswv y bkvnb. Tl’e cl elzktbvle yde obszlblyavlezu nssrlayvl okvb vbl Isdsl Usdtzsxlayvl.

Yu xsx bye vs es bla clpv vs yhske vbyv. Fbl oyp ytykdpv Rcwjk yde R xyaaukdt. Rq xu eye eke oydv xl vs xyaau bkx, yzz R nswze es oyp clzklhl vbyv xu xsx oswze pvsr bkx. Elzz, vbl clpv srvksd oyp vs tlv Yap. Isdsl vs tkhl wr yde dsv cakdt kv wr vs xu eye…

Mbyv oypd’v psxlvbkdt R nswze elnkel; Yap. Isdsl oswze es yp pbl zkjle, yde R nswzed’v es yduvbkdt ycswv vbyv. R oyp alyzzu byrru yde bye ldfsule vbl ryavu vs vbl qwzzlpv, cwv xu xsse oyp awkdle yv vbl zypv xkdwvl…

“Qallvkdtp, Fyjwuy-nby… byp psxlvbkdt byrrldle?”

“Fyvpwjk-nbyd, tallvkdtp. Lsvbkdt byp byrrldle, vbswtb?”

Rd vbl xsadkdt, Fyvpwjk-nbyd tallvle xl yp wpwyz, vbld pweeldzu pyke vbyv. Rv oyp y dsaxyz xsadkdt yde dsvbkdt bye byrrldle vs xl, vbswtb.

“You seemed so happy the day before yesterday, but… if something has happened and you cannot talk about it, I will not pointlessly pry. If you wish to discuss it with me, however, I will always listen.”

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“Umm… thank you.”

I was happy that Satsuki-chan was saying that, but the matter really wasn’t that serious. Did my face look that horrible? I thought I looked pretty normal when I checked how I looked before I went out, though…

I was thankful that Satsuki-chan cared, but I couldn’t really discuss it with her, so I went to my seat for now and the day progressed as usual.

“Morning!”

“Good morning, Azami-sama.”

“Azami-sama, greetings.”

Azami-chan came to school as usual. Then, she went in front of me, and, as usual…

“Good morning, Sakuya-sama! The day before yesterday was quite fun! Ah, what has happened to you? Has something specific happened? Do you feel unwell?”

“Greetings, Azami-chan. Nothing in particular, though?”

Even Azami-chan, who’d come over, was worrying about me. Was I acting that strange? I wasn’t really worrying myself, but…

As for things that were bothering me, that was probably just what Mrs. Konoe said to me as the party was ending. The topic of whether I’d become Ibuki’s marriage candidate… That was the only thing that was worrying me, and I thought that probably wouldn’t happen anyway.

I was the only one Mrs. Konoe had told. If my mom knew, she’d stop it. That was why I cared about it, but I wasn’t really worrying… Well, that was what I was trying to do…

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“If something happens, you can always tell me!”

“Y-Yes… thank you…”

I was thankful that Azami-chan also said that, but I hadn’t planned to pay that much attention to the matter…

～～～～～～～

Today was the last day of separated practice for our individual events in PE. Next, we’d be focusing on whole-group practice with marching and entering, so today was the last time we’d be practicing for the individual events. I didn’t care what was planned today in PE, but Nishigori had decided with the teacher that we’d be having a final match today, so I had to care now.

“Kujou Sakuya! I already know that you’re not a burden! Pretend I never said that! But! I will win and be in the last position for the race!”

“Oh… however, it does not matter to me who is faster, or who is first or last in the running order…”

Honestly, I didn’t feel motivated. I wasn’t really fired up for the relay or the short-distance race themselves… or rather, people might get mad at me for saying this, but I wasn’t really that interested in the sports festival itself, or rather… I’d think that everyone would want to win if they appeared, but to me, who had memories of my past life, this was all just child’s play.

However, some children might be taking it seriously. I wasn’t about to make fun of them or drag them down. But, you know… it was my honest opinion that it might be a little hard for me to have the same zeal.

“Then, the winner of this race will be last, yes?”

“Yes.”

The both of us nodded at the teacher’s final checks. I really could just give him the win, but… that was rude, so I should stop.

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Nishigori had seriously trained in preparation for this day. If I just handed the position over, it’d be rude to hold back on purpose and lose. I wasn’t going to go all out like “I’ll defeat you using my full power!”, but I wouldn’t lose on purpose.

“Then, take your positions… ready, start!”

At the teacher’s signal, we took off at the same time. Of course, we were the same at the start point. But that was only at the start point. I didn’t go so far as to check, but Nishigori didn’t enter my line of sight from that first moment onwards. The sound of his footsteps was slowly getting farther away. After some running, I was midway through the race, then passed the goal. I had turned around, but Nishigori was still in the distance.

“Yes. Then, is it okay for Nishigori-kun to be the first runner, and Kujou-san to be second?”

“Yes…”

The teacher, who’d come from the start point, said that, and Nishigori nodded. Since he himself had decided those terms, he couldn’t say anything now when he’d been thoroughly defeated.

“Kujou Sakuya!”

“…yes.”

I thought that everything had been settled, but Nishigori had called to me loudly, so I looked over at him. Tears of frustration were flowing down his face. This boy was shedding his tears without hiding them. But his eyes weren’t the eyes of a loser. They were filled with frustrated tears, but they still displayed a strong will.

“I, I was… going to win against Ibuki-kun! Ibuki-kun’s the second runner for Team One! I was going to win against Ibuki-kun there!”

“Is that so…”

In the game “Love Flowers”, Ibuki definitely had excellent athletic ability and wouldn’t lose in any sports. I didn’t know how good Ibuki’s athletic ability was in this world, but if this was a world like the game, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have outstanding athletic ability here too.

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Originally, Nishigori Yanagi, a member of the Nishigori family under the Konoe monryuu, was going to challenge its head, Konoe Ibuki, in a serious battle. And he was planning to win it. It wasn’t like I didn’t know how many times he must’ve had those thoughts.

“We’ll win! Absolutely! Uu… *sniffle*… absolutely win!”

As Nishigori was heaving with sobs, he glared at me while saying that without even wiping his tears. Then, I had one answer. 

“We will definitely win.”

I couldn’t answer by saying “This is a relay, so it’s not related to you” or “Let us take proper measures”. No matter how accurate the jab, it was expressly forbidden to say “Doesn’t that depend on you, the first runner?”. If I said that, Nishigori would become too much of an embarrassment.

If I was that insensible with those horrible lines or even included some accurate jabs, he’d wouldn’t just explode. If that happened to me, I’d skip school.

That was why I didn’t say anything inelegant but instead promised that we’d win. I didn’t care either way, but…

Well, I wouldn’t lose on purpose. If we could win, I wanted to win, and I’d try my absolute best. I didn’t plan to be a burden to my teammates. If we were going to try, I wanted to win. We had those same feelings.

“Why’re you speaking so arrogantly? If you, the first runner, is too far behind, Sakuya-sama won’t be able to win. You should work hard first.”

“…”

Azami-chan~! That was harsh! Everyone thought that. We all understood that. But she didn’t absolutely have to say that… Nishigori’s eyes looked half-dead… His eyes were sharp and had sparkle in them earlier, but now his eyes were like those of a dead fish…

“Uh… uhm… then, shall we continue practice…”

“Y-yes, let us. Now, everyone! Today is the last day of practice for your individual events. Please return to your own practice.”

At my words, the teacher came to their senses, urged everyone to practice, and broke up the gathering. But Nishigori was the only one to stand still, seeming somewhat depressed.

～～～～～～～

The seven of us were gathered together again in the cafeteria today. I was pretty happy that we’d always gathered like this lately. This was the exact line-up of Lady Sakuya and her followers that was in “Love Flowers”.

Of course, I didn’t think that everyone here were my followers or subordinates. They were my important friends. They were called “Lady Sakuya and her followers” in-game, so I just referred to them the same way for convenience.

When I got into this academy—no, a little while after I got into this academy, I didn’t think that the day would come when the seven of us would meet like this.

I thought that before we’d entered school, or right after we’d entered school, everyone would become Lady Sakuya’s followers like they were in the game. But, in reality, some time passed and it was nothing like that at all. Far from it; Azami-chan and Satsuki-chan were at odds, which worried me a lot. Then, Satsuki-chan and I both joined Azami-chan’s group.

I was originally lonely, so I was fine, but was it okay for Satsuki-chan to go away from her own group? That slightly worried me. Her group was probably doing well somewhere that I didn’t know about, but since I was with her everyday like this, I forgot about that situation.

“Could we go to this shop on our outing?”

“Hmm… but won’t that mean we’ll be going to too many shops?”

“Sakuya-sama, what do you think?”

“Huh? That is true…”

As I was thinking, everyone was lining up magazines and maps while searching for shops we could go to during our outing. Which shops should we go to, where should we take a break; a thorough plan was being formed.

When I was an elementary schooler, we’d just go to random places on our outings… I thought that was also important.

“Oh… but I want to go here~.”

“But if we do that, we will lose time on the journey to the shop.”

Everyone was really serious. How could we get where we wanted to go in the limited time that we had? It was important to plan beforehand so we knew the answer to that question.

If we could go anytime, then we could definitely just go to random places. If that failed, we could just do it next time. But for people like us, who had limited time, we couldn’t do that. If we missed this opportunity, we didn’t know when it’d come around again. This seven of us meeting up might only happen once a year.

When I thought about that… I could understand everyone’s serious splanning. It was also proof that everyone was looking forward to this outing and that they really wanted to go.

“I am really… looking forward to it.”

“Yes!”

“I cannot wait!”

Everyone smiled and replied to my muttered words.