CH 102

I thought I hadn’t seen her at all today, but here she was. No wonder I hadn’t seen her. The logical part of my brain leisurely thought that as if it was looking over my shoulder.

But those logical thoughts conflicted with the opposite thoughts in my brain. Why was Momiji with my brother? There was no doubt hat my brother’s partner was Momiji. I had absolutely no idea.

Momiji was a young lady with the Ichijou name. Even though she was in a difficult situation due to her family position and circumstances, she was still a young lady shouldering the name “Ichijou Momiji”. That was why there was nothing strange for Momiji to attend parties as the young lady of the Ichijou family.

It was normal for a family like the Ichijous to be invited to and attend various parties, so much so that people wondered why she hadn’t attended such parties up until now.

Right… that was it. That was what I doubted.

Advertisements

If Momiji was acting as the young lady of the Ichijou family, why hadn’t she attended a single party up until now? And why did she suddenly come with my brother as her partner? I didn’t know that.

Up until now, Momiji hadn’t attended other parties or such events. That was because she was always with me.

I had received invitations from various places, not just those related to Touka Academy, to attend parties. And I hadn’t made an appearance at most of those parties. Both my mom and I decided to avoid appearing at parties and socialising with high society. That was why I hadn’t participated in almost any parties apart from those held by the Konoe and Takatsukasa families.

Ebld R alflnvle vbspl kdhkvyvksdp yde pvyule yv bsxl, Ysxkfk oyp yzoyup okvb xl kd vbl Iwfsw bswpl yp xu yppkpvydv. Jypknyzzu, usw nswze pyu vbyv Ysxkfk ycpszwvlzu byed’v yvvldele vbspl ryavklp lkvbla. Zsw nswze yzps pyu vbyv Ysxkfk bye yzxspv ds qall vkxl. Ohld obld pbl oyp qllzkdt pknj yde eked’v osaj, pbl oyp yv vbl Iwfsw bswpl. Ysxkfk… zkhle yv vbl Iwfsw bswpl.

Mbyv oyp obu kv oyp kxrsppkczl qsa bla vs yrrlya yv ydsvbla ryavu vbyv R oypd’v alzyvle vs yv yzz. Ohld sd vbl ayal snnypksdp vbyv pbl oyp sd hynyvksd sa bye vs zlyhl vbl bswpl vs tlv psxlvbkdt, pbl oyp swv sq vbl bswpl qsa vss pbsav y vkxl vs yvvlde y ryavu. Rv oyp yzxspv kxrsppkczl qsa bla vs vyjl sqq vkxl qasx osaj vs yvvlde y ryavu.

Fs obu… oyp Ysxkfk… yvvldekdt vbkp ryavu? Gde yzps… yp xu casvbla’p ryavdla…

Pke Rcwjk yde Odfw elnkel vbkp? Ms xyjl Ysxkfk xu casvbla’p ryavdla?

Mbyv oyp kxrsppkczl. Jlqsal kv oyp elnkele vbyv R oswze ryavdla okvb Rcwjk, vblu pyke vbyv vbl rykakdtp bye yzalyeu clld plvvzle sd vbl hlau dktbv vbl kdhkvyvksdp olal bydele swv. Gv vbyv vkxl, Iyuy-pyd yde R byed’v elnkele sd swa ryavdlap ulv… lkvbla oyu, kv oyp pwprknkswp. Gv vbl hlau zlypv, xu ryavdla clkdt Rcwjk oyp yzalyeu elnkele clqsal, cwv yv vbl hlau zlypv kv oypd’v rwczknkple.

Rv oyp byae vs vbkdj vbyv Rcwjk yde Odfw vsze xu casvbla vbyv bkp ryavdla oyp tskdt vs cl Ysxkfk yv vbyv pvytl. Mbyv xlydv xu casvbla yde xu ryaldvp bye elnkele qasx vbl vkxl ol alnlkhle vbl ldhlzsrlp vs vbyv lhldkdt. Xa… Ysxkfk vsze xu casvbla vs xyjl bla bkp ryavdla…

Mbl Iwfsw qyxkzu eked’v byhl vs cl vbl sdlp pyukdt kv. Yyucl… Ysxkfk oyp yzps y nydekeyvl qsa obslhla oswze clnsxl xu casvbla’p ryavdla, xyucl pbl’e yzps alnlkhle yd kdhkvyvksd…

Ebld R vbswtbv ycswv kv, vblal olal xydu bursvblplp R nswze nsxl wr okvb. R bye vss zkvvzl kdqsaxyvksd ps R nswzed’v elnkel.

“Momiji…”

Advertisements

“Sakuya-sama.”

I looked up at Momiji, and she looked down at me. On top of her clothes, hairstyle, and makeup being different… the person standing in front of me felt like someone I didn’t know…

“*hiss*!”

“…”

As Momiji and I were staring at each other… that threatening cat- or snake-like sound came from behind. Kaya-san hugged me from behind and pulled me away.

“Um… Kaya-san…”

“*hiss*! *hiss*!”

“…”

It was pointless… Kaya-san, who looked as if she was threatening Momiji, pulled me away from her. Come to think of it, I’d let go of Ibuki’s arm at some point. The shock at seeing Momiji probably made all the strength in my arm leave. Well, I didn’t care about Ibuki, but…

“Uh, um… well, please enjoy tonight, everyone.”

In this strange atmosphere where you couldn’t say anything, Enju forcibly brought his sloppy introduction to a close. Sparse claps came from the surrounding participants watching the situation from afar. This was somewhat… it was already dragged out…

Kaya-san had dragged me along and I was now separated from Momiji, with Ibuki chasing after me. My brother and Momiji were walking around the hall, arms still linked.

Advertisements

What was this? What kind of situation was this? I still couldn’t understand, but the party continued and all I could do was go with the flow.

～～～～～～～

The party continued and I sat in a far-away seat while drinking a beverage. I hadn’t interacted with my brother and Momiji after that. Azami-chan, Satsuki-chan, and Kaya-san were near me. Of course, you had to attend this party with a partner, so their partners were nearby too.

“Sakuya-chan, do you want to eat something? Should big sister get it for you?”

“No, I am fine…”

If this was the usual boring party, then I’d at least eat some delicious food as a distraction, but I didn’t feel like doing that at all.

Momiji did attend parties. This would be said every time, but she was a young lady shouldering the Ichijou name. Rather, it was discussed why she didn’t attend any parties. It wasn’t strange that she was attending today’s party.

Did I dislike the fact that my brother and Momij were partners? …no, it wasn’t that. My brother and Momiji were close even at home, and she had a good relationship with my parents. I wouldn’t think anything of it if my brother and Momiji became partners now. If I was concerned about those things, I wouldn’t like that Azami-chan, Satsuki-chan, and Kaya-san were getting partners instead.

At this party, you had to pair up with someone, so I wouldn’t get jealous if she became someone’s partner. If I worried that much, I’d have to worry about who she’d be with during the academy’s various pair and group projects as well as dance partners.

Then what was this feeling? Why was I feeling like this?

…is that so? I understood. Why I was feeling depressed, feeling blue, or rather, feeling down.

That was because Momiji hadn’t told me anything. I was fine with her going to the party and being my brother’s partner. I wasn’t against it.

Advertisements

But why didn’t she say a single word to me? That was why I was down, or rather felt horrible, or rather felt unsatisfied.

Why had my brother, parents, and Momiji kept quiet about this? Had they thought I’d make everything difficult if they told me? Would it be troubling if everyone knew, and they thought I’d spread it so they didn’t tell me?

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t come up with a good reason. All I could think was that they didn’t trust me or something troublesome would happen if they told me. Even if that wasn’t true… my parents, brother, and Momiji did things that could be interpreted that way.

Why? Was I that loose-lipped? Was I the type of person who’d throw a tantrum and say that I didn’t want Momiji and my brother to be partners?

This unclear feeling… was something like that.

“Then, everyone, it is time for the participants to dance. Please clear the area in the center.”

The announcement came in and people scattered to the sides. It looked like it was time for the dance. The boy-girl pairs gathered in the open space.

“Oi, Sakuya! Come with us!”

“…yes.”

Ibuki grabbed my arm and dragged me along. Well, I thought that’d happen so I wasn’t surprised. Azami-chan, Satsuki-chan, Kaya-san, my brother and Momiji gathered in the center, took the appropriate distance, and took their partner’s hands.

In the quiet atmosphere and slightly dimmed lighting, calm music started playing. I matched up with the live music playing and danced leisurely, but… as usual, Ibuki was way too bad at dancing…

I was matching up with the music, so I could dance to it, but Ibuki’s steps and movements were strange. It felt like he was moving how he wanted to; he wasn’t coordinating with the music at all. He wasn’t interested in coordinating with his partner at all. If he didn’t coordinate, the dance would get messy.

Advertisements

Looking at the other pairs, Enju and Satsuki-chan were dancing flawlessly. The two of them had knowledge and cared for the other partner, so even their breathing matched up. Mizuki and Azami-chan had a height difference, but thanks to Mizuki covering for that, there was no problem.  

And my brother and Momiji… were dancing beautifully. 

They were dancing more perfectly than everyone else as if they’d been dancing together for a long time. 

After we danced to countless songs, the music stopped. Then, applause came from the audience. That applause was probably for my brother and Momiji though. Their dancing was something else. It was very beautiful. 

“Kujou-san, would you dance with me next?”

“Huh? Oh… yes…”

The pairs changed and we danced again. Like what I assumed when he danced with Satsuki-chan, Enju was quite easy to dance with. Since he tried to accommodate me too, all we had to do was take half a step forward and the other would take half a step back. We just danced flawlessly, nothing more. It was satisfactorily flawless.

I then changed partners and danced with Mizuki. Mizuki was good at leading women. He danced differently from Ibuki’s selfishness and Enju reservedly accommodating the other party; Mizuki was good at leading the whole dance and rousing his partner. To girls who liked to be led, he was probably a good partner to dance with. It seemed his reputation as a womanising playboy wasn’t just for show.

“Sakuya, dance with me next?”

“Yes…”

Then… I next danced with my brother. My brother was good at coordinating and leading his partner. He wasn’t just a playboy; maybe it was related to the age and experience he had as a sixth-grader. Maybe it was normal to be this good when you became a sixth-grader.

But… I honestly didn’t have any fun dancing with my brother. It was probably because that hazy feeling from earlier still hadn’t cleared up.

Why wasn’t I told that my brother’s partner was Momiji? Why’d he go out earlier and say he was going to meet with his partner? I had a lot of things I wanted to say and a lot of things I thought about. Since I was thinking that, I couldn’t focus on the dance itself and didn’t have fun.

To the people watching, my brother and I’s dance must’ve been quite safe. It was neither good nor bad. The dance was simple and without any mistakes, but it didn’t have any good points either. We were just dancing like we were giving an example. It couldn’t have been fun watching us dance.

“I shall rest for a while.”

“Oh, then I’ll escort you over there…”

“It is fine. Should you not take care of your partner, brother?”

The song ended, I rejected my brother’s offer to escort me and rested close to the wall. I wasn’t actually tired. This was just play compared to Master’s training. Since I’d already danced with the four of them, I’d already fulfilled my basic duties.

When Ibuki danced with the others, like Satsuki-chan and Azami-chan, horrible things happened. He stepped on their feet, they stepped on his feet, they knocked into each other, they danced too far away from each other… Ibuki fundamentally had no skill in dancing. Maybe it was more a problem with his personality. It was probably because he didn’t care to match up with his partner or the music.

Everyone else was, well… they were dancing safely; without any mistakes and neither good nor bad. To the adults watching, there was no one particularly eye-catching. Apart from one person dancing…

When you looked from afar, Ibuki and Momiji were dancing together. Even Azami-chan and Satsuki-chan, who were able to match up with their partners, couldn’t dance well with Ibuki, but… Momiji was able to dance well with Ibuki. Momiji was the only one who danced with Ibuki without stepping on his feet, him stepping on her feet, hitting him, or dancing too far from him.

No matter who she danced with, she managed to fit well with the man and match up with him. She also had an appeal that enchanted those watching her dance. Momiji was part of the older group among the members dancing. Middle school and high school Five Norths Association members were also invited, so ther were people of the same generation as Momiji and in some cases even older, but Momiji’s appeal was more overwhelming among to the surroundings.

She was a young lady among young ladies. She captivated them so that they couldn’t take their eyes off her. I was enchanted too by watching from a distance.

The dance then continued for a while, the adults mingled too, time passed, and the party neared its end. Ibuki and Enju brought me to the center of the hall again. Mrs. Konoe was there too… I got… a pretty bad feeling…

When I thought that, it was already too late.

“Good evening, everyone. I shall discuss the purpose of this party.”

This was the Takatsukasa family’s party, but… Mrs. Konoe declared that. She wasn’t even hosting the party and it was going to end soon, so why was she declaring this so suddenly… thinking that, the surroundings buzzed quietly. Then…

“Tonight’s party was held for my idiot son by his friend, Takatsukasa Enju! It was held to congratulate… my son, Konoe Ibuki! And Kujou Sakuya-chan! This is a party to celebrate those two becoming marriage candiates!”

“…huh?”

I couldn’t understand what Mrs. Konoe said. When I looked beside me… Ibuki was sniffling, and looking to the other side, Enju was chuckling black-heartedly.

“…huh?”

When I looked at the other guests in surprise, my mom seemed stunned while my dad looked pleased for some reason. Did my parents not know? What about my brother…?

“Fufu.”

He laughed… did he know? Did my brother… know?