CH 90

Sakuya, who’d arrived at the academy, seemed to be smiling faintly like usual as she took her seat. Her behaviour was absolutely beautiful. Even though she was receiving treatment like that, she still looked calm and went to school everyday without losing her composure.

Her classmates, no, even the people who’d just known of Kujou Sakuya from this matter, everyone couldn’t understand how she was so calm despite receiving that treatment.

If they were in the same position, they’d run away immediately. They’d quit school or at the very least apologise and cry while saying they wanted to be forgiven. Even so… Kujou Sakuya did none of that. She didn’t show any guilt; she instead walked openly, or rather, with a small smile on her face.

That was overly terrifying. They felt scared at something they couldn’t understand. Even though her situation was like this, they saw a monster in Kujou Sakuya, who was able to walk calmly. That made Kujou Sakuya seem even farther from people.

The lesson was almost about to start, but a few seats were still empty. Sakuya knew well who sat in those seats.

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Saionji Satsuki, who always arrived early in the morning, Tokudaiji Azami, who entered cheerfully and who most of her classmates greeted, and the others, Higashiboujou Akane, Kitakouji Tsubaki, Kawabata Yuzuriha, and Mushanokouji Renge. All of the people Sakuya knew had their seats empty. Even so, time continued and things proceeded smoothly.

“Huh~… I have not received previous communication, but there is an assembly today. Everyone, move to the auditorium.”

While the six of them weren’t there, the advisor said that and everyone headed to the auditorium in droves. But the students who entered the auditorium were shocked. Except for the center, where the students were gathering, parents were crowded in the surroundings, back, and even on the second floor.

Ls xyvvla bso usw vbswtbv ycswv kv, vbkp oyp ekqqlaldv qasx y pkxrzl obszl-pnbssz ypplxczu. Rv oyp psxlvbkdt vbyv yzz vbl ryaldvp obs nswze yvvlde bye tsdl vs. Mbl pvweldvp, pldpkdt vbkp pvaydtl yvxsprblal, olal yzz qzwpvlale.

Mbld, obld vblu pyl vbl nszzlnvksd sq rlsrzl sd pvytl, vbyv pwarakpl pralye lhld qwavbla. Mbyv oyp clnywpl kv oypd’v y vlynbla, vbl rakdnkryz, sa vbl csyae nbykaxyd pvydekdt vblal; kv oyp Yap. Isdsl. Ohlausdl yvvldekdt vbkp ynyelxu jdlo vbl Isdsl qyxkzu’p qynlp. Fbl bye yrrlyale, tyhl y pkxrzl kdvasewnvksd, vbld pvyavle vyzjkdt kxxlekyvlzu.

“…vbyv kp yzz qsa xu caklq tallvkdt. Zsw xwpv yzz cl osdelakdt obu R byhl pweeldzu nsxl blal. Mbyv okzz cl lmrzykdle. Jwv clqsal vbyv, R xwpv kdvasewnl vblpl nbkzeald.”

Fyukdt vbyv, plhld tkazp yrrlyale: Fyvpwjk, Ggyxk, Gjydl, Mpwcyjk, Zwgwakby, Sldtl, yde Xstkxynbkpydfsw Iyuy zlyekdt vblx.

～～～～～～～

Rd vbl aso cu vbl prlnkyz nzyppassxp, vblu yzz bwttle lynb svbla yde jlrv sd naukdt. Mbl vlynblap plryayvle vblx kd vbl dyxl sq rasvlnvksd, nsdvynvle vblka qyxkzklp, yde qsanle vblx vs ts bsxl. Xd vbl nya sd vbl oyu bsxl, Ggyxk alyzkple bla xkpnsdnlrvksd vss zyvl.

Iwfsw Fyjwuy oyp pvasdt, dsczl, yde clywvkqwz.

Lsvbkdt ytkvyvle bla; ds xyvvla obyv pbl oyp oayrrle wr kd, ds xyvvla obyv byrrldle, pbl’e pvyu nyzx, pxkzl, yde kv’e yzz cl iwknjzu alpszhle.

She never got angry, never panicked, and never cried. She was the perfect lady with no flaws whatsoever.

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That was really stupid. What was she looking at? There was no such person. Everyone worried. Everyone got annoyed. Everyone cried. That was normal. Even adults worried, made mistakes, and cried. There was no way a first-grade girl the same year as her could be so monstrous as to even transcend humanity.

And… what was so wonderful about such an illusion?

Not getting mad, not getting flustered, not making mistakes. A human perfect in everything… If that person really did exist, they wouldn’t be interesting at all. Someone like that only existed in fiction; if they really existed, they’d be boring.

Kujou Sakuya wasn’t like that. She didn’t smile on the surface to keep up appearances like usual; she smiled from the bottom of her heart. She was an airhead who was scatterbrained and completely out-of-touch with people’s sensibilities. There were times when she puffed out her cheeks when she got mad that made you wonder if she was pouting.

What on earth was she looking at? Sakuya wasn’t a soulless illusion constructed on ideals. She was a normal girl who lived in the real world, so she must’ve laughed, got mad, and cried.

Right… Sakuya-sama cried because she was Sakuya-sama. She had forgotten something so simple. Wasn’t she the same as those who didn’t see the real Sakuya-sama and instead saw a combination of ideals and illusion? Then she couldn’t say anything about her own classmates.

That was why… she couldn’t just watch Sakuya-sama do everything by herself.

She had been doing that up until now. She had left everything to Sakuya-sama, thinking that she didn’t need to do anything extra because she was perfect in everything. If Sakuya-sama had orders, then she could execute them. If she didn’t have orders, she could stay silent and leave it to her. That was what she thought.

But that wasn’t true. Azami had already noticed. That Sakuya was imaginary. She… if she was a friend of the real Sakuya, then she wouldn’t stay silent and leave everything to her but instead had to act to save her. That was… what friends were.

“Go to Konoe-sama’s estate!”

“Huh? I have been instructed to drive to your own house… and the appointment…”

“Enough already! Head to Konoe-sama’s house!”

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“Y-Yes!”

Azami yelled that as she pressed the communication button to the driver’s seat beyond the partition. The driver was a Tokudaiji servant, so it’d be normal for them to bring Azami home despite what she said. But, overpowered by the intensity that Azami said “Konoe house” with, the driver immediately changed the route.

She didn’t have an appointment; this was a sudden visit. The person she was looking for might not even be there. Even so, Azami prepared herself and headed to the Konoe estate.

～～～～～～～

She arrived at the Konoe estate without an appointment. Azami still visited the house without hesitation and headed inside.

Through good fortune, the person she was looking for—Mrs. Konoe—seemed to be in the house. In reality, everyone in the Konoe family was busy, so it was nothing but coincidence and good luck that she was able to meet her without an appointment. Led into the estate, she met Mrs. Konoe.

“Oh… you are… Tokudaiji Azami-chan, yes?”

“Yes. I apologise for the sudden visit. However, there is something that you must hear.”

She had a lot of things she needed to say. Forgetting to thank her for the previous party and skipping over etiquette, Azami looked straight at Mrs. Konoe and made her request.

“Hmm… you “too”, it seems.”

“Me “too”?”

When Mrs. Konoe said that, a group of girls appeared from behind.

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“Saionji Satsuki! Tsubaki and Renge too?”

The girls who appeared from behind… were the people who came here earlier than her. Then, one more…

“Madam, Kawabata Yuzuriha-sama has come to pay you a visit. What would you like to do?”

“Even Yuzuriha…”

“Fufu, it’s fine. Let her in.”

With barely any pause, Yuzuriha and after her, Akane, came, and everyone was gathered.

～～～～～～～

The six of them sat in front of Mrs. Konoe in a line. Then, the six related parties told Mrs. Konoe what had happened.

“Hmm… I see… I have certainly heard fragments, but I was not told the full story. So that’s what happened.”

Mrs. Konoe had definitely seen what had happened at the sports festival. But Mrs. Konoe had a different impression than the others.

Mrs. Konoe understood from the beginning that Sakuya was giving the fallen Nishigori Yanagi a loud pep talk, not scolding him. That was why it was difficult for her to understand that she was thinking differently from the rest.

From Mrs. Konoe’s perspective, Sakuya’s actions at the sports festival were superb. She didn’t think for an instance that Sakuya was declaring something as rude as taking down the Konoe family. Rather, she highly appreciated her spirit of fighting fairly in sports.

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That was why she didn’t understand why other people felt that Sakuya was acting cold or scolding the person who’d fallen over. She also didn’t understand how people thought that she was asking someone of the Konoe monryuu to topple the Konoe house.

And she hadn’t actually seen the newspaper; she only knew of it through hearsay. She wasn’t able to clearly understand everything, and the people who she’d heard the story from had abbreviated and falsified parts, so she didn’t know the full story.

The Konoe family was told what happened, but they weren’t told the full, honest truth. People didn’t say what they were reluctant to say or exaggerated the story to blame the Kujou family, so there were plenty of discrepancies in the story. It was a good thing that the involved parties—Azami and the others—had told the full details.

They had told her everything about Kuwahara Katsura attacking Sakuya and her turning the tables. Mrs. Konoe considered the result of her daily training splendid and did not think Sakuya was being overly violent or unladylike.

“I am happy that I have heard the full details from your mouths. Then…”

“Madam, Oogimachisanjou-sama has arrived.”

“Oh, I see…”

There were still lessons at school, but another person visited without an appointment. Mrs. Konoe laughed bitterly and welcomed in Kaya too.

“Konoe-sama! Forgive my unreasonableness! Lend me your power so I can save Sakuya-chan!”

Kaya, who learned that Sakuya and the others were sent home at lunch, left the academy early and went to the Konoe’s house. Even though her parents had already been informed, they still hadn’t moved. If they didn’t come to a settlement now, it might be too late. Kaya, who thought that, left school when she heard that Sakuya and the others were sent home and went to the Konoe’s house.

“Please lift your head, Kaya-chan. Look, everyone else is surprised too.”

Kaya, who was groveling on the floor, lifted her head when she heard “everyone”, and… the people there were…

“Weren’t you all… sent home?”

“Oogimachisanjou-sama, are there not lessons being conducted at the academy?”

Both sides closed their eyes to the others’ behaviour and quipped that.

“Puh!”

“Aha!”

“Ahaha!”

Everyone… was worried for Sakuya in the end. Then, everyone moved without even thinking about their own place. It wasn’t related to their faction, monryuu, or anything else. Everyone here wanted to save Sakuya. They were all friends who’d wholeheartedly gathered together.

“The actors have gathered. Then, let us continue talking.”

“Yes!”

Kaya included, everyone started talking. They exchanged information and thought of measures from now on.

“I understand most of it. …then, you may think it painful, but… everyone, sever all contact with Sakuya-chan.”

“Huh!?”

“Wh-Why?”

Everyone was surprised at Mrs. Konoe’s words. It was at the very moment when they thought they’d support Sakuya from now on. Everyone had gotten angry at Mrs. Konoe, who seemed to be saying that they should just abandon Sakuya.

“The opponent is powerful, cunning, and well-prepared. If you publicly cover for Sakuya-chan, they may make use of that too. Besides, we have to gather proof to get out of this situation. We have to make them think that their plan is going well so that they let their guard down.”

“That’s…”

“But…”

Everyone looked worried. Above all, doing so would cause more pain to Sakuya than to themselves. They already knew that. Sakuya wasn’t perfect. She wasn’t some imaginary ideal who had no soul. She was a human who cried and felt sad. Cornering Sakuya even further was…

“Listen! This is… for the future… Even if… even if Sakuya-chan hates or gets mad at us, this is the only way to fix the situation!”

“Oogimachisanjou-sama…”

Kaya… said that, tears flowing, hand gripped into a fist, and biting her lip so hard that it might draw blood. Everyone here could understand her conviction and thoughts.

They couldn’t allow it. Even if this was all for Sakuya, she might yell that they betrayed her. She might even say they were no longer friends. Even so… to save Sakuya, they had to do what Mrs. Konoe said.

“Let’s gather information as quickly as possible. You all… yes. First, do not contact Sakuya-chan and act as your parents and others tell you to. After that… persuade the boys in your class and Hagiwara Shion to give testimony. Do that, okay?”

“Yes!”

Then… Kaya, Azami, and the others left. A painful decision had been made…

“Those kids also have it rough~.”

After Azami and the others left, she heard a slightly calm voice from inside that didn’t seem to fit this environment.

“Yes… it was hard for me to say too.”

“Well! Even for you, Konoe-sama?”

“Oh? Now what could that mean? Takatsukasa-sama?”

Mrs. Takatsukasa appeared from further inside the room. Then, one more person…

“Sakuya-chan seems to be surrounded by truly amazing friends. Sakuya-chan herself is amazing, so perhaps that is why she was able to make friends like that. I envy you, Kujou-sama.”

“Sakuya herself has a ways to go, but… she is certainly blessed with the right people… I shall have to reward those girls later on.”

After Mrs. Takatsukasa, Mrs. Kujou appeared. The Takatsukasa and Kujou wives were there since before the seven of them had come. Both of them had observed the kids coming here from further inside the room, and only Mrs. Konoe responded.

“Those kids do have it tough, but… the opponent will not fall with ordinary methods… we must be patient for now…”

Konoe, Takatsukasa, and Kujou had decided to act together on this matter, and a secret meeting was being held at this very moment. Even if all three families were assembled, they had to be careful with their actions. If the kids were easily thrown into confusion, they might do just as their opponent wanted.

They were told to cut off all contact from Sakuya, which was a horrible thing for children. Even so… they had no choice if they wanted to do something about this matter. Somehow… resolve this matter even just a little. That was the best the adults could do.