CH 88

On Monday, after school had ended, Saionji Satsuki lowered her head in front of her grandfather.

“Was that newspaper your doing, grandfather?”

“Newspaper? What’re you talking about? Tell me in detail.”

“Yes…”

Satsuki, who thought that it was clearly her grandfather’s work, had a question mark start floating on her head. As asked, she told him what had happened today. Her grandfather, listening to her words, closed his eyes and stroked his chin. Then, he opened his eyes and began to speak.

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“I see now… kuku! The Kujou’s suffering is delightful. …but, Satsuki, what are you going to do if you lag behind the other players? Have you forgotten your role?”

“——gh! I-I am sorry…”

Satsuki, who was being glared at, lowered her head in a panic. From her grandfather’s words and behaviour, he wasn’t involved with this matter at all. And, originally, she had to use the incident  to make the Kujou family fall. She had only remembered when her grandfather pointed it out. Satsuki just lowered her head.

“Txrb… olzz, kv kp qkdl… R okzz ldfsu oyvnbkdt vbkp wdqsze. Iwjwjw.”

“…”

Fyvpwjk fwpv pvyule pkzldv yde zsolale bla blye yp bla taydeqyvbla zywtble sxkdswpzu.

～～～～～～～

Ohla pkdnl vbl dlopryrla oyp pvwnj wr, Ggyxk yde vbl svblap bye tsdl clusde vblka sod taswr yde tkhld y rszkvl lmrzydyvksd vs tkazp qasx svbla taswrp. Ysal vbyd byzq vbl nzypp bye plld obyv bye ynvwyzzu byrrldle obld Lkpbktsak oyp pwaaswdele kd vbl nzyppassx. Mbyv oyp obu fwpv lmrzykdkdt vbyv vbl sdl xkpvyjld yavknzl oyp y zkl oswze aykpl iwlpvksdp ycswv vbl obszl dlopryrla yde alewnl kvp clzklhyckzkvu.

Mblal oypd’v xwnb vbyv Ggyxk yde vbl alpv nswze es. Mblu nswze rwczknzu zssj qsa vbl nwzrakv xsal vbsaswtbzu yde pralye vbl oasdteskdtp sq vbl rlsrzl kdhszhle—kd svbla osaep, vbl csup yde Tytkoyay Fbksd—obknb oswze xyjl kv lypkla qsa vbl zklp vs cl alvaynvle. Fbl vbswtbv vbyv, cwv Fyjwuy blaplzq pllxle vs byvl vbl kely, ps vblu nswze sdzu nsdvkdwl bsdlpvzu lmrzykdkdt zkjl vbkp.

“Jwv obu osd’v Fyjwuy-nbyd lmrzykd xsal nzlyazu~?”

“Zwgwakby… usw… esd’v usw jdso sq Fyjwuy-pyxy’p jkdedlpp? Rq ol blyhkzu eldu vbl yavknzl, ol’zz cl pralyekdt obyv byrrldle ycswv vbspl pvwrke csup vss, usw jdso? Rq ol es vbyv, obs’p rasczlx es usw vbkdj kv’zz cl?”

“That’ll be the boys’ problem, right? But isn’t that their just desserts?”

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Yuzuriha answered Azami. Yuzuriha could understand that much. But that happened because of the boys themselves, so she was wondering what was so bad about just spreading it.

“That’s definitely true. But… if we do that, the class would be a mess. That’s why Sakuya-sama wants things to go as smoothly as possible… She can still endure even though she’s receiving groundless criticism.”

“I see…”

Everyone kept silent at Azami’s explanation. It was true that the reason that Azami stated was part of the reason for Sakuya’s actions, but Sakuya herself was prioritising other things.

If she humiliated others to clear her name, there was a high probability that her reputation would drop because of that. Someone would be planning to do something similar. In that case, they could make use of this incident. Sakuya was thinking that and progressing carefully. It didn’t mean she was unconditionally thinking of the other person.

But to Azami and the others, Sakuya, who would even sacrifice herself for the boys and Hagiwara Shion, was an angel, no, a goddess.

Strong, noble, beautiful.

Calm no matter what happened, and wouldn’t lose to any hardships. Her perfect behaviour hadn’t crumbled, not even once. She was the ideal young lady.

Because of that, she’d definitely have a lot of enemies. They themselves were envious while ever so slightly jealous at the same time. Even they themselves couldn’t get rid of their jealousy, so how jealous and envious were those who had never interacted with Sakuya?

But… they would never become Sakuya’s enemies. They were definitely a little jealous unintentionally, but… even so, it was impossible for those who’d directly experienced Sakuya’s kind soul to betray her.

Even if they ncould only do a little… as long as it was for Sakuya… at the very least, they wanted to do something. Azami and the others thought that while fighting hard to dispel the false rumours regarding Sakuya, even just a little.

～～～～～～～

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A few days after the newspaper had been posted, the culprit had already been caught and the rumours had calmed down. They weren’t completely dispelled, but it was still many times better. If they just continued acting honestly, the rumours would completely disappear eventually. She thought that, but…

“Morning!”

“Azami-sama, good morning.”

“Greetings, Azami-sama.”

When she entered the classroom as usual in the morning, she didn’t see Sakuya, who was usually there. She got… a bad feeling.

“Azami-chan, morning…”

“Yuzuriha, where’s Sakuya?”

Yuzuriha, who usually greeted Azami energetically, was strangely out of energy. And, when Azami asked the question, her brows lowered and she shook her head. No one knew why Sakuya wasn’t here.

That very morning, Sakuya had attacked Kuwahara Katsura and was currently being questioned. Only a few people knew of the morning chaos, but none of them were here, so Azami and the rest still knew nothing.

The people who came earlier knew of Sakuya and Kuwahara’s exchange from the broadcast, but Azami and the rest weren’t told of it. Without knowing about what had happened, right before class was about to start, at the time when almost all the students ha arrived at school, an edited video of what had happened this morning suddenly displayed on the academy’s monitor. 

“What!”

“This is…”

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Unnecessary parts were deliberately edited out of the video, and it was clearly edited maliciously. The portion where Kuwahara tried to hit her was cut out, so those just watching the video didn’t know the full sequence of events.

They just saw Sakuya hit, straddle, subdue, grab Kuwahara by the hair, and hold his head up. After that, she evilly laughed with the Kujou family’s Yoshizane, her older brother. It was edited to make it seem like the two of them were making fun of the innocent Kuwahara. On top of that, she yelled at the students who witnessed it.

From just seeing that video… you could only assume that it was Sakuya’s fault. Azami and the others didn’t honestly believe that, but… For Sakuya, whose bad reputation had already spread countless times, this video was a fatal blow.

～～～～～～～

Sakuya returned to the classroom on Friday, but she was still strong. As if to reassure them, she was still smiling warmly after that had happened.

If that was her, she absolutely wouldn’t act like that. She’d cry, wail, rage, and get appropriately mad. Even so, Sakuya didn’t make a fuss. She was calm, composed, and even cared about calming everyone down.

“Aaaaaah~~! Sakuya-sama… aaaaah~~! Why’re you so perfect!”

That Sunday night, Azami was rolling around, feeling agonised. Just thinking about the perfect Sakuya-sama, who she idolised, made her roll around a ton.

“Azami, let me come in.”

“Huh? Yes.”

Her mom called and entered the room. Her dad and mom sat in front of her, and Azami got a little nervous while wondering what was happening.

“Azami… it seems you have a relationship with the Kujou family’s daughter, of all people?”

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“Huh!? That is…”

The surprised Azami got confused and avoided their gaze. To the adults, her behaviour alone was enough.

“What is the meaning of this? Associating with the Kujou family’s daughter, who has done such things!”

“S-Such things is…! However, what happened at the party was an accident!”

Azami attempted to contradict her mom. Sakuya didn’t mean to dirty her dress. Even her mom should’ve known that. Even so…

“We should mention that time as well, yes? In reality, it does not matter who soiled that dress. In the first place, the Kujou and Tokudaiji are enemies. If we are looking down on the Kujou family, it is outrageous to get along with them!”

“——gah!?”

Azami cowered at her mom’s anger. To a first-grader, their parents were the ultimate figures of authority. No matter what outrageous method they were forcing onto the first-grader, they had to follow it. 

“Also, Azami. Yesterday, there was a Touka Academy parents’ association meeting… That… It’s hard to say, but that Kujou family kid has a lot of problems, right? I haven’t heard anything good about her, you know? Even if what happened between you and her was a misunderstanding, she’s still caused plenty of disturbances at the academy. As your papa, I don’t permit you to associate with that girl.”

“Even you, father!?”

Even her dad, who’d never said anything about her circle of friends, was against it. She knew that some commotion had happened on Saturday, and it looked like there was a parents’ association meeting at Touka Academy. They probably heard a lot of false rumours at that meeting.

“That is wrong! Sakuya-sama is…”

“Silence! Azami! You… on your outing in November… were you not planning to go with the Kujou daughter?”

“Um… that is…”

She averted her gaze once again. That outing was definitely among the seven of them. Of course Sakuya was included within those seven.

“Cancel the outing you have planned in November. If someone of the Kujou family is there, I do not permit it. Additionally, I do not allow you to associate with the Kujou daughter from now on. That is fine, yes?”

“——gh! Mother!?”

Azami was opposing her mom’s one-sided words. But…

“Papa thinks the same way. If you can’t keep that promise, we’ll have no choice but to reduce your freedom for the time being, okay?”

“Oh…”

Azami’s so-called “freedom” was just freedom that her parents granted her. If her parents forbade her from going outside, then she couldn’t go out. She knew that her mom didn’t hold good feelings for the Kujou family. But even though she hid Sakuya away and moved quietly… even her father who’d helped her do that was against it. Azami had no options.

Azami couldn’t do anything. She just had to… obey what her parents said, distance herself from Sakuya, and cancel the outing. That was the only path left.

～～～～～～～

On Monday, she went to school feeling miserable. Just a… just a short while ago, she could hardly wait for each day to pass. She wanted it to be November as soon as possible. Even so… she only felt pain when coming to the academy today.

Today… she’d have to make the announcement to everyone once she got to school. The announcement that she couldn’t go out with them…

Everyone was looking forward to it so much, but… Everyone promised “Let’s go out, all seven of us”, but…

When thinking that, her vision started getting blurry. But she kept it together and headed to the academy. At the very least… she had to properly announce it… she just had to do that. With those feelings alone, Azami headed to the academy.

The atmosphere in the academy was strange. It was completely different from the past Touka Academy. No, maybe nothing had really changed. Maybe she just felt it was different because her own feelings were different. There was nothing fun at school. Meeting with everyone was painful.

But… what was this? Everyone else was gloomy. Then, looking at them, Azami noticed. So that was what happened. That was it. Everyone looked around at each other and noticed. The parents’ association meeting that had happened on Saturday… everyone else knew about it.

The problem was when to say it. When to broach the topic… saying that was scary. Frightening. What would Sakuya do? Would she throw them away like she didn’t care about them anymore? When she imagined that, she had a pain in her chest.

In that strange atmosphere, Azami and the rest waited, thinking painful thoughts as the time drew closer and closer.

～～～～～～～

It was lunch break, where they could leisurely talk. That time had finally come. The time when the seven of them would gather… and head to the cafeteria excitedly. But today was different. They gathered at a hallway that was near the empty special classrooms.Then, Azami opened her mouth.

“Sakuya-sama… actually… there was a parents’ association meeting on Saturday… and my parents had found out about my association with you. And also… my parents believed those false rumours… They had told me that I can no longer associate with you… and that I had to cancel our outing…”

Sakuya just calmly closed her eyes. As expected… she’d be thrown away. She was going to say that she didn’t need Azami, who couldn’t even convince her parents.

“Sakuya-chan, sorry!”

“Me too…”

Everyone else started saying that they had the same circumstances. Akane, Tsubaki, Yuzuriha, Renge, and even Saionji Satsuki; all of their parents learned about what happened at the parents’ association meeting on Saturday and were forbidden from interacting with Kujou Sakuya. All of them had said that they had to cancel today’s outing. They couldn’t gather together anymore.

Since this was Sakuya, the strong, perfect Sakuya, she’d just laugh gently and say that they didn’t need to worry. Azami expected that, but…

“Sakuya-sama…”

Azami saw something unbelievable. A single stream of droplets flowed down Sakuya’s cheek.

“…huh? …what?”

Sakuya looked surprised herself and touched her cheek. But… the stream didn’t stop, and started overflowing from that single stream.

“Huh? What?”

Bewildered at the dripping tears, her face distorted…

“Sakuya-sama…”

“Uu… *gulp*… aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Suddenly, Sakuya let out a loud cry and tears gushed out. That Sakuya-sama, that strong, beautiful, flawless Sakuya-sama who didn’t care about her own appearance was letting out a loud cry and sobbing like she was just a kid.

“Uu… waaaaah!”

“Uu, ugu, aaaaaah!”

“*hic*… gu… aaa!”

With that as a signal, everyone burst into tears at the same time. Azami also screamed and started crying.

“Sakuya-samaaaaaa! Aaaaaaaa!”

Everyone hugged each other and just kept on crying. The seven of them cried together in the hallway right up until the adults came, hearing the noise.