CH 95

“That is alright.”

“…huh?”

I doubted my own ears and stupidly asked her to repeat.

“I said that it is alright.”

“…oh, yes…”

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At the dining table when I returned home, I told mom about Kaya-san inviting me to play with her. I also told her that because of that, Satsuki-chan and Azami-chan forced me to play with them. That was her reply.

I still didn’t process it and tilted my head. Mom said that it was okay? She’d told me before that I was forbidden from playing or going on outings with everyone, and I was asking her if I could go to this outing again along with three others, but… she agreed so quickly? Was that even possible?

“What is that look on your face… if you do not wish to go, Sakuya, please refuse yourself. I have already given you permission after all.”

“Bx… xsvbla… obyv byp byrrldle yzz sq y pweeld? Gal usw qllzkdt wdolzz?”

Yyucl pbl’e lyvld psxlvbkdt olkae? Xa xyucl pbl’e tsvvld pknj ps pbl qlzv olyj? Gv vbl hlau zlypv, vbkp oypd’v vbl pyxl rlapsd yp vbl wpwyz xsx.

…sb! Yyucl… pbl’e poyrrle cseklp okvb psxlsdl lzpl?

“Ebyv kp vbyv pwrrsple vs xlyd? R yx dsv qllzkdt wdolzz.”

“Z-Zlp!”

Fkdnl pbl oyp kdvldvzu tzyakdt yv xl, R pvayktbvldle wr yde alrzkle. Fnyau… qasx vbkp hktswa, kv eked’v pllx zkjl pbl oyp pknj sa qllzkdt olyj. Fbl nswze jkzz y clya okvb vbyv tygl yzsdl…

“*pktb*… vbspl plhld tkazp… vbspl tkazp olal iwkvl blzrqwz vs usw kd vbl ralhkswp xyvvla. Mblalqsal, kq usw byhl sdl okpb vbyv usw oydv xl vs blya, R okzz zkpvld. Vzlypl ypj vbl svbla tkazp obs yal rwpbkdt qsa vbkp swvkdt kq vblu byhl ydu okpblp yp olzz. Gp zsdt yp kv kp rsppkczl, R okzz taydv kv.”

“Bx… vbyv kp… obyv lmynvzu eslp vbyv xlyd?”

The seven probably were Kaya-san, Satsuki-chan, and Azami-chan’s group. The problem was that even if she said she’d listen to whatever they wanted, how would she respond? Without knowing that, there was nothing I could do.

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“That is true… for example, some sort of reward… some sort of special ticket… or if they wish to play with you, Sakuya, I will consider it.”

“I understand… I will ask everyone tomorrow.”

They probably wouldn’t need something monetary. They were all already rich young ladies, and giving money would probably be rude. I thought what mom meant by special tickets were very rare tickets that money couldn’t buy, participation tickets, or something similar that she could prepare.

Kaya-san, Azami-chan, and Satsuki-chan said that they wanted to play with me. I could safely assume that I could secure my mom’s permission as long as the dates worked out. The problem was if anyone else wanted something. I doubted they’d accept anything from my mom if she offered them it as a thank-you.

Well… I could just ask them tomorrow. If they said something like they all wanted to play together, then the amount of times I’d be playing with all seven of them increased. Arranging a date would be a problem, so that would get complicated, but… what would happen depended on everyone.

～～～～～～～

The next day, I told everyone about what my mom said about thanking them when we gathered at lunch.

“Oh~…”

“Sakuya-chan, you must obtain your mother’s permission when you go on outings or play, I see.”

“I did not think she was that strict.”

“Yes…”

They may have brought this up before, but everyone else thought that she was more lenient. On days when you were free and planned to meet your friends, you just had to tell your parents about it. That was something that every family did. That was why they didn’t think that mom was that strict.

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But unfortunately, I couldn’t arrange plans on my own without getting permission from my mom. I didn’t think it was that strict, so part of me was surprised. To Azami-chan and the rest, who could just quickly consult with their moms, I could understand why it was harsh, but…

“But even if she says that so suddenly…”

“I don’t have anything that I want now anyway~…”

Everyone thought intently.

That was also true. I thought that it’d turn out like this. Everyone wasn’t really troubled with their things or lifestyle. That was why I thought they might say that they didn’t really need anything as a thank-you.

“Then I will use your wishes so that I can play with Sakuya-sama! Sakuya-sama, that means that! We will be able to play five times!”

“Azami-chan…”

Azami-chan said that she wanted to use the other four’s wishes so that she could play with me. But that couldn’t happen. Even if everyone said that it was fine, I wouldn’t nod to that.

“What selfish things are you saying? I will not acknowledge that.”

Satsuki-chan stood in front of Azami-chan, who was pressuring me. As expected of Satsuki-chan. That was true. To force someone else to give you their portion…

“Then at the very least, Tokudaiji-san can have three times and I can have three times!”

Oh… Satsuki-chan… that was wrong, right? That wasn’t it… you didn’t mean that, right?

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“Um~… if that is the case, I want to play with Sakuya-chan too.”

“Tsubaki-chan?”

Tsubaki-chan hesitantly raised her hand and said that sort of thing. I didn’t think that Tsubaki-chan would say that…

“Oh! Then, me too~! I want to play with Sakuya-chan too!”

“Even Yuzuriha-chan…”

Right after Tsubaki-chan’s words, Yuzuriha-chan said that and raised her hand. If it continued at this rate, it really might turn into me going on an outing with all seven of them…

“Then, what about we all play with Sakuya-chan?”

“It seems we must.”

“Well, in that case…”

Oh… Renge-chan put a stop to it. Once she’d said that, Azami-chan and Satsuki-chan had no choice but to back down. Even so, you couldn’t just ask people to give up their thank-you favours.

“So that, let’s pick a day!”

“Yes… we must align our schedules, so it is better to decide quickly.”

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Satsuki-chan supported what Yuzuriha-chan was saying. Everyone had already gotten excited over playing with me. I couldn’t say that it would be hard for me to play seven different times.

“Then, what about you include big sister too!?”

“Huh!? Kaya-san!?”

The student sitting behind us closed their newspaper, and it turned out that the person sitting there was Kaya-san. …why a newspaper? Actually, what was Kaya-san doing here?

And when you looked carefully, the newspaper had a hole in it. It looked like Kaya-san sat behind us—no, she would’ve sat in front of us from her perspective—hid her face wih a newspaper, and made a hole in it so she could look over here.

“If you are deciding on a day when we should meet, will it not be more effective to discuss which days are convenient for all of us so that they do not overlap?”

“That may be a good idea…”

No… that was fine, but I was still curious on why Kaya-san was hiding behind a newspaper and sitting in behind us? And the fact that she’d opened a hole in it and looked from there was something out of a movie or anime…

“Then, let’s all write down days that are convenient for us.”

Kaya-san~… don’t just do what you want to… well, it was okay, though? It was fine, but…

“For me, this day and~…”

“What about what’s convenient for Sakuya-chan?”

“We don’t have to ask that, right? For starters, let’s write down days that are good for us, then ask Sakuya-chan’s mother afterwards.”

Hm… that was a good idea, but? That was a really good idea, but? But well, saying that it was okay to ignore me… was kind of cruel…

“Oh! On this day, I can…”

“Hmm~… this day’s fine for me too~…”

Well… it was fine. Everyone was having fun talking and picking days. Just looking at that made me feel somewhat excited.

“Oh! Sakuya-sama, what are you laughing about?”

“Fufu, it is nothing. Nothing at all…”

～～～～～～～

For some reason, Kaya-san was sticking really close to me today. We usually only met at the salon, but she was with me when I was walking to the salon today. It made me wonder if she was lying in wait for an ambush. That was fine, but…

“Greetings.”

“Oh! You’ve come! Sakuya!”

…maybe I should just go home.

No… I did think that I wanted to be friends with Ibuki and Enju from now on? I was going to cooperate with them, you know? But still… I couldn’t patiently say nothing towards him being annoying. At the very least, I’d be more accepting and would go along with him if he was a little more serious, but… it was hard to endure his annoyance.

“Greetings, Konoe-sama.”

“When should we have our date?”

“…huh?”

What was he saying now? “Our date”? Ibuki and I? On a date?

I wasn’t gonna do that, though? If he asked me, I’d still refuse. This and that were different. In the first place, friends didn’t go on dates. Since Ibuki and I were going to be friends and friends didn’t date, I wouldn’t go on a date with Ibuki. That was the natural conclusion.

“Sorry, Kujou-san. Please ignore Ibuki. I have something to say, so may I?”

“*sigh*… Greetings, Takatsukasa-sama. As for what you have to say?”

Enju, pushing aside Ibuki, started conversing with me. This was rare. Normally, Enju just watched Ibuki from a short distance, but…

“Yeah. The Takatsukasa family’s holding a party. Oh, and this is your invitation.”

“Oh… yes…”

An invitation to a party…? Honestly, that was really annoying… but since it was given in front of this many people, I had no choice but to accept.

“I must secure my mother’s permission to go on an outing, so may I reply on a later date?”

“Yeah. I’ll wait for a positive response.”

Saying that, Enju stepped aside. He understood that I couldn’t just go on an outing. My brother or Mizuki probably told him.

“Oi, Enju! Why’d you interrupt!”

“It’s fine… Ibuki, please settle down. It’s not bad for you either. Listen to me for a second.”

Ibuki and Enju were having some whispered secret conversation. Well, it wasn’t related to me, and receiving a party invitation was pretty standard. I thought that my mom just wanted to manage my life, so I couldn’t simply go to parties.

The other members were also holding the same invitation that I’d received, so invitations were probably distributed to all of them already. Since the salon members were invited, it must’ve been a pretty big event. I couldn’t simply participate in a party, so I had to say something to my mom…

When I got home, I’d consult with her on the dates of Kaya-san, Azami-chan, and the others’ outings.

～～～～～～～

“I permit everything.”

“Every… thing…?”

I told her about everything—my outings with Kaya-san and the rest, the Takatsukasa family’s party—and she said that she’d permit everything. If she said that I couldn’t go to the Takatsukasa party, I’d be fine with it, but…

However, the Takatsukasa family’s party had a strange condition included. The participants had to come in pairs… and of course, those were boy-girl pairs.

“Then, brother, come as my partner to Takatsukasa-sama’s party…”

“Sorry. I’ve already decided on a partner, and you can’t go with family.”

Oh… then, I didn’t have a partner…

“Mother… it seems that I cannot participate in Takatsukasa-sama’s party.”

You had to attend with a partner. However, I didn’t have a partner. Therefore, I couldn’t attend the Takatsukasa party.

“Sakuya… why do you think that I gave you permission to attend this party… Takatsukasa-sama and Konoe-sama have lent their help with the previous matter. Could you be so impolite towards those people?”

“Konoe-sama has also helped out, so you should attend with Ibuki-kun, Sakuya.”

Oh… aaaaaaaaaaaah!

So that was it… so that was how this was gonna be… my brother already having a partner, mom permitting me to go, and whatever Enju was whispering to Ibuki about; it all led to this!

This was basically a completely fixed game! I now had to pair up with Ibuki and attend the party! And my brother and mom approved. Basically, I had no way to refuse now.

Aah! Sh*t… I was trapped!

…It couldn’t be helped. I just had to go to this party in a pair… the Konoe and Takatsukasa families had definitely helped… just this party… I had to go with Ibuki…