CH 85

“Sakuya, what on earth is this?”

“Yes… um…”

Right now, my mom was interrogating me. Before our evening meal, my mom and dad made me sit in front of them. As they showed me a picture of the newspaper today, my mom questioned me.

Since I’d asked my family’s people to keep the newspaper as proof, they’d also gone to report to my mom and dad… Then, my mom and dad were keeping the real newspaper as proof… and because of that, showed me a picture on purpose when questioning me.

“…Answer this one thing. Is what is written here true?”

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“No. It is all misconstruction and lies.”

Mom, who thought that I wouldn’t be able to answer after she suddenly asked me “What was this”, instead asked me a single, simple question. If she wanted to know whether the story was true, of course I’d say that it wasn’t.

“Then, why were these lies written?”

“Mbyv kp… R es dsv jdso.”

R bye ds kely obs sa obu eke vblpl vbkdtp. Ysal kxrsavydvzu, R’e cl alynvkdt ekqqlaldvzu kq R eke jdso. Rv oyp vaswczlpsxl clnywpl R eked’v jdso.

“*pktb*… ol byhl yzps plld kv. Mbyv rzynl oblal usw olal pbswvkdt yv vbl Lkpbktsak qyxkzu nbkze… Ohld kq usw pyu vbyv oyp qyzpl, usw es dsv byhl ydu nsdhkdnkdt rsola…”

“Zlp…”

Yu xsx xyel y qynl vbyv nswze cl vyjld yp lmyprlayvksd sa alpktdyvksd yde pyke vbyv. Rv zssjle zkjl, lhld vbswtb pbl pyke vbyv, pbl pvkzz clzklhle obyv R oyp pyukdt.

“R clzklhl vbyv uswa kdvldv oyp dsv pkxkzya vs obyv oyp oakvvld sd vbl dlopryrla, Fyjwuy. Tsolhla, R nyddsv xyjl y fwetlxldv cyple sd sdzu vbyv. Mlzz xl vbl vawvb vbyv usw yal jllrkdt bkeeld.”

“Zlp…”

R vsze xu xsx yde eye obyv bye byrrldle. Yu casvbla yzps zkpvldle okvb vblx.

I told them about Nishigori Yanagi and how hard he’d worked for the sports festival, even doing individual practice at his own house. How he was so frustrated that he fought and cried over the running order, but still came to terms with his own feelings and did his best as the first runner. And how, on the day of the sports festival, Hagiwara Shion made him trip and fall over.

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My parents and brother had seen all of this. It had happened in front of the other students and the guardians, so you couldn’t say that my words were lies. What I was saying had unmistakably really happened.

But… what was written there was clearly a misunderstanding filled with evil intent. Nishigori and I didn’t have an exchange like what was written on the newspaper.

Then, the picture taken in the classroom. That was when my classmates were placing responsibility on Nishigori since he’d fallen, and I went to stop them. You couldn’t tell what was happening from just the picture taken at the scene. The newspaper gave that kind of explanation, so people who’d only seen the picture might’ve thought the explanation was be true.

Then, the last picture in the garden. That was definitely the scene where I’d called out to Hagiwara Shion and questioned her. But what was written on the newspaper was clearly unreasonable and had no basis in reality. I was only asking Hagiwara Shion why she had injured Nishigori Yanagi.

As a result, Hagiwara Shion explained the incentive behind her actions. It was really a pointless reason, but… since this had been said, Hagiwara Shion was made out to be the official victim.

If I wanted to refute what had happened, I would publicise the bad things the boys had done while bullying Nishigori and Hagiwara Shion’s bad deeds.

These guys had to suffer the consequences of their own actions, so they needed social sanctions. I didn’t actually think that, but… there was another reason why I was hesitating to do that. In order for me to refute their argument, I’d have to publish the truth of what had happened at each of those times. Then the question came to what I’d do about getting the evidence to prove it, but… anyway, spreading the truth would be good for me.

But I wouldn’t do that, or rather, I didn’t really want to do that… if I spread bad things about other people to save myself, then… there was a high possibility that people would think that I’d place blame on others and make someone else out to be the villain to save myself..

If I thought normally… objectively… and calmly…. If a misunderstanding about me spread, I could correct it by spreading the truth. Anyone would be able to understand that.

But if I did that, the people whose evil deeds would be exposed and who’d be blamed would be the boys who were bullies and Hagiwara Shion. For some reason, whenever someone was denounced like that, there were always people who covered for them.

Thinking normally… I was doing this to clear myself of a crime I didn’t commit, but if someone else was denounced because of that, people would brandish conspiracy theories and cover for that person.

If I strung someone up, denounced them, and ran away to protect myself, the boys and Hagiwara Shion might meet a horrible fate because I spread that. People would criticise me and try to protect them. That influence would always exist.

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Even if that happened, it was normal to think of it as those guys’ just desserts. And if they hadn’t made such a fuss, I wouldn’t need to clear myself of that crime, publiscise their actions, and ask others to condemn them. Even so, if that turned out to be effective, people would wonder why I did that, make a fuss, and make me out to be the villain.

The problem with that strategy was that it was already my loss the moment my reputation as a villainess spread. A certain amount of people wouldn’t believe me even if I presented proof and completely rebutted their argurments. They’d accept what they were first shown without question and would stubbornly believe that.

Then, correcting it meant exposing the sins of those who committed the real evil. Others would say that I was acting demeaning and making up lies to save myself, when I was really the one who was being looked down on and who others were making lies about…

Since that happened, I was already too late. If I showed clear proof and the criminals acknowledged their crimes, a portion of people absolutely wouldn’t acknowledge me. At the very least, they’d think that the information they’d first seen was correct and doubt me.

“Sakuya… I have said this earlier, but I will believe me. However, what has happened at this time is your loss. This is your mistake.”

“I have no excuses…”

I lowered my head towards my mom. It was like she said. What had happened this time was my mistake. My loss. I was off my guard.

“Even without this incident, you stand out. Be aware that someone may target you at all times, and be careful.”

“Yes…”

I wanted to argue with the standing out bit, but I couldn’t say that now. I wasn’t a lady who stayed in the corner and lived without standing out… but I could never slip or let my guard down. Ignoring whether I was being targeted, my master got angered and said I should never show my flaws. But I’d completely created openings for myself.

“Then… what are you planning to do?”

“Um… I do not know…”

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I answered honestly. I really didn’t know what to do.

“Sakuya… leave it to papa…”

“Huh?”

My dad, who’d been silent up until now, said that. But his face was… contorted with an anger I’d never seen before.

“Send the evidence to forensics immediately! Then, contact Touka Academy and seize the security cameras in the school! Even the cameras in the vicinity that our group set up! Get the police to investigate the street cameras! Right now!”

My furious dad immediately gave those orders to our family’s people surrounding us.

“Wait! Wait! P-Please wait, father!”

If I continued leaving this up to dad, something terrible would happen. If he treated it that seriously, I wouldn’t be able to undo it.

“Wait for what!? Would I stay silent when my daughter… Sakuya gets called a criminal! I don’t care who or where they are, I’ll thoroughly destroy them! I’ll make them regret picking a fight with the Kujou family!”

Uwah! This didn’t compare to Kaya-san… This father was pretty scary when he snapped… his eyes were completely glazed. If I left him alone, it might even get to a court case.

“Mother and brother, please stop father!”

“Oh… I do not think I have any reason to stop him, though?”

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Uwah! My mom’s face was also super mad! She was laughing on the outside, but it absolutely wasn’t from happiness! It was a completely different anger than what she’d felt towards me!

“Brother, if it’s you, then…”

“Hmm… I won’t stop father and mother. And I also don’t have any reason to stop them, you know?”

Uwah! Useless! This parents and child were useless! People said that the more gentle someone was, the more scary they’d get when mad, but my dad and brother really proved that, My mom was more angry than usual, but… speaking of that, it’d be pretty terrifying if you got these people mad, as expected! This might really involve a brush with the law or a court case! I-If that happened…

“Papa…”

“Immediately catch the criminal… hm?”

I called out to my dad, who was horribly angry. This was my only option.

“Papa.”

“Wh-! What! Sakuya… say that one more time…”

“Papa, calm down. Alright? Sakuya doesn’t want you to do that. Ok, papa?”

Magic to calm my dad down. If this didn’t work, I couldn’t do anything. Now… what would happen!?

“O-o-oh, that’s right. That’s true. Papa won’t intrude and do something that Sakuya doesn’t want. Then, what do you want to do, Sakuya?”

Alright! It worked! If it wasn’t effective, I would’ve given up, but it was a relief that it worked. My mom shook her head and my brother shrugged his shoulders at my dad, who had stopped running wild. It looked like the two of them didn’t plan to continue pointlessly searching for the criminal.

“If we act like Papa said, it’ll definitely become an all-out war with the other person’s house. Let us use a more peaceful method and correct the lies and misunderstandings first, okay?”

“Yes, yes. That’s true. Just like you said, Sakuya. Oi! Ignore the previous orders. First, think of a way to restore Sakuya’s honour. But hold the evidence. Our opponent must’ve thought about the camera footage. The footage in Touka Academy might’ve already been seized by the culprit. Check and leave behind the video evidence from our group’s cameras in the neighbourhood to preserve it.”

“Yes! At your request.”

My dad, who’d returned to a modicum of calm, gave appropriate orders. That was true. Security cameras, for example, had to be immediately checked; if no problems occured after a set period of time, old items would get slowly overwritten or erased.

The opponent must’ve also known about Touka Academy’s security cameras. Still, the fact that they did all this must mean that they had the method or idea of doing something about the security camera footage from the beginning. If the commotion got too loud, we’d definitely ask for the footage. There must’ve been something that kept them safe even if we asked that.

Some device so that the cameras wouldn’t record… but that’d be noticed by the surveillance… or would it? I didn’t know how Touka Academy’s security was organised. Someone wasn’t always watching the footage, so I couldn’t really say anything.

Other than covering or tampering with the camera, could they have removed the recording storage medium from the beginning? It didn’t matter if it showed up on camera; there wouldn’t be a problem if there was no videotape or storage medium in the first place. No matter how much it recorded, it’d all be limited to that camera.

If that was it, did they have an ally in the surveillance team? That surveillance team member could tamper with the camera, erase the data captured, or throw away the memory file…

But that left proof easily. If they do anything in the surveillance room, they’d be quickly found out to be one of their collaborators. I didn’t think they’d be that stupid if they came this far.

“It is not as simple as correcting lies and misunderstandings. What do you plan to do?”

“Uh… that is… I still do not know…”

At my dad’s words, I hung my head. If there was an easy method to do something about this, I wouldn’t have been worrying in the first place.

“…this is not a problem that can be resolved immediately. First, let us eat.”

“Yes.”

At my mom’s words, we started dinner. I knew that if I did what my dad said, it’d be resolved quickly. Identify the person who put up the newspaper by obtaining physical evidence and the carma footage. Then, get the other person to apologise and retract their statements in a public place and do a trial; then, reporting a crime or taking it to court. If that happened, the truth would come to light even if I didn’t want it to.

But if I did that, I’d be getting into an exhaustive fight with the person who put the newspaper up, and the people whose crimes I put out into the open—the boys and Hagiwara Shion—would resent me. I would definitely be resented, even though they were paying for their own mistakes. If that happened, there would be quite a few people who’d be punished for this incident.

If a scandal like that happened in Touka Academy with this much of a fuss behind it, the family that caused it would be, well… probably expelled. It was easy to say that the opponent was bad or that they were paying for their mistakes, but… if it went that far, people might start talking about how Lady Sakuya expelled those she didn’t like.

In the end, without a good solution coming to mind, I finished dinner that day and went to sleep.