CH 111

We were second-graders for quite a while; it was halfway through the rainy season, and nearing the end of June. We second graders had the same classmates so we were all quite close. We had also gotten used to the academy in first grade, so we knew mostly everything.

But there was one problem with that…

“I have gotten bored of the cafeteria menu…”

“Me too~…”

We had gone for one whole year last year, and for over two months this year… we had exhausted all our food options on the cafeteria menu.

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The standard menu hadn’t changed much, but every year—no, about every month—the menus would change. The rich kid school Touka Academy wouldn’t skimp on costs. You could eat cuisines that real chefs cooked to an extent you wouldn’t expect from a school cafeteria.

But the changes in menu were just seasonal and didn’t change much every year, so the menu just changed a little. Even though the specials changed, the same menus were just cycled between every time. The fact that we’d be forced to eat the same thing for six years was a little cruel.

It was really delicious, though? The foods weren’t something that an elementary schooler would be able to eat normally. I wasn’t asking for too much. Even thought I was thinking that…  it couldn’t be helped that you’d think we were too particular about our food, 

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Mbl Wkhl Lsavbp qyxkzklp olal vbkp nswdvau’p vsr qkhl. Mblu olal vbl qyxkzklp alktdkdt shla vbl nswdvau. Mbl tkazp yaswde xl, nsxryale vs vblx, bye y pzktbvzu zsola pvyvwp. Fkxrzu rwv, vblu olal kd vbl nswdvau’p vsr 100.

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“What should we do…”

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“That is true…”

Everyone ate the cuisines they’d gotten bored of while talking about what to do next. Ibuki and Enju had obvious reasons, but you could understand why Kaya-san didn’t go to the cafeteria too. It wasn’t a place that the Five Norths Association members went to eat. Far from it; there were few from court noble families who came to eat there normally. We had been eating for a year despite being from court noble families, but… 

Our group was big. The cafeteria was the most convenient place for seven people to eat lunch together. If I said that the situation was endurable, they’d get mad. Thinking from society’s viewpoint, chefs who had the potential to earn stars were cooking. You could even say it was the height of extravagance.

Even so, eating the same food everyday was unbearable for those young ladies from court noble families. We had compromised a little on the food so we could all eat together. But that had a limit… if we didn’t do something…

“It is the rainy season, so we cannot go outside and eat our packed lunch there…”

“Well… we could get seats without eating from the cafeteria menu… and eat our packed lunch here…”

We could do that… but there was something unpleasant about going to the cafeteria on purpose only to eat packed lunch there…

If the weather was good, we could go to the courtyard and eat our packed lunch outside, but… unfortunately, it was now the rainy season, so it rained a lot. We didn’t know when it was going to rain, so we couldn’t take the risk and go outside.

“Hmm… oh! Then let us do this. What about we bring packed lunch and eat at the salon? Not many people come there, correct?”

“Huh!?”

“A-Are we permitted to enter the Five Norths Association salon?”

For some reason, Tsubaki-chan started shaking and spoke formally. Why was she that scared…

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“Huh? Are we not allowed to?”

I thought it was okay, but… I had heard that there were people who came to the salon for lunch, but despite going there during lunch a couple times, I had never seen anyone but us. Since no one was using it anyway, we could make use of it during lunch, right?

“There is no rule that states those who are not members cannot enter the salon…”

“It is open during lunch, however…”

At Satsuki-chan’s words, Azami-chan’s eyebrows lowered and she looked troubled. It wasn’t a direct rejection, but the two of them were hinting at one.

“Is there something wrong?”

I didn’t really want to eat at the salon. But if we could secure a place where the seven of us could eat packed lunches, that’d be great.

For example, grouping together seats during lunch when food was being provided at normal elementary schools didn’t happen. If you were to eat in the classroom, you had to leave the seats as they were, and so could only eat alone in your own seat.

In the first place, it was rare for such large groups to gather together during lunch, so from the surrounding’s perspective, the seven of us hanging out all the time was rare. Sakura was also popular and surrounded by a clamour of girls, but the group went to the cafeteria to eat lunch as well.

And there were people who laid out picnic blankets or even tents outside when the weather was good and ate lunch there, but… that was only when the weather was good. No one chose to eat outside during the rainy season when it always rained.

“Well, either way, everyone is tired of eating food from the cafeteria menu, correct? Then, let us bring packed lunches tomorrow. After school, I shall ask the president if we may use the salon.”

“The president…”

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“Konoe-sama…”

“If Sakuya-chan asks Konoe-sama, it’ll be done in one go!”

Everyone looked at each other, but only Yuzuriha-chan was quite optimistic. Speaking of that, what did “it’ll be done in one go if I asked Ibuki” mean?

～～～～～～～

I had something to ask Ibuki after school today. Well, even if I had nothing to ask, I wouldn’t skip going to the salon. Even so, I had to go today.

“Greetings.”

I opened the door, said my greetings, and headed to my usual seat. Wait, no. I couldn’t do that. I had business with Ibuki today.

“Konoe-sama, may I take some of your time?”

I called to Ibuki, who usually came earlier than me to the salon and was surrounded by members of his monryuu.

“O-Oh! What is it, Sakuya?”

After I just called out to him, he sniffed and looked very satisfied… why was he so looking forward to it…? After I called out to Ibuki, the surroundings got a little noisy, probably because I rarely talked to him. Especially at the academy, I never started the conversation with him. The fact that I called out to him despite that was surprising.

“I actually… wish to use the salon to dine with my friends at lunch. May I do that?”

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When hearing my words, the buzz from the surroundings got louder. There were also people whispering something. Maybe I couldn’t after all? It wasn’t really forbidden to use the salon at lunch nor for those who weren’t members of the Five Norths Association to enter the salon, but… if I couldn’t, he was probably thinking of other methods to say that I couldn’t.

“Those are the usual court noble family kids, right?”

“Yes, that is true.”

Us seven were always together, so the members knew well who was surrounding me.

“Court nobles, huh…”

“In that case, well…”

The faces of the other members of the Konoe monryuu softened a little. When I first said that outsiders were coming in, their faces looked scary.

“Include me too! Then it’s okay!”

“Huh…?”

Include Ibuki? In my lunch circle?

“Oh… Konoe-sama? If you were to join a gathering of girls, what would happen?”

I was indirectly warning him not to enter a gathering of girls since he was a guy. But that didn’t seem to get through to Ibuki.

“Got it. Then, Enju’ll join us too. That’ll be okay, right?”

“Huh? Me?”

Enju, who was suddenly brought up, looked a little troubled. But he knew that Ibuki wasn’t asking. He laughed bitterly as if he was giving up.

“Oh! Then, Sakura too!”

Why you too… Sakura, who was listening to our conversation, raised his hand. It’d be better to eat at the cafeteria at this point… Should I refuse…

“The management of the salon is the president’s, that is, my responsibility. If the salon is being used, there’s obviously a need for me to supervise. Am I wrong?”

“*sigh*… I understand… then, I will not use the salon.”

“Yep, yep. You seem to have understood. So tomorrow, at this spot, hey! Sakuya! Why’re you stopping!”

Did he think that I agreed? Or did he just hear my initial “I understand” and took that as agreeable? Ibuki, who suddenly realised what the words I said meant, panicked and snapped at me.

“I do not mean to place such a burden on you, Konoe-sama. I was even forcing a male to enter a female gathering, which I do not mean to do to you, Konoe-sama. However, if it is no longer an issue…”

“You can’t! Come tomorrow! I’ll be coming too! You bring along those people too! Okay!?”

Oh… even though he said he didn’t want people to come… basically, why did I have to eat lunch with Ibuki, Enju, and Sakura. My fun time with everyone was turning into a time of suffering.

“Alright! If you don’t come, that’s mean! Absolutely come!”

“*sigh*… I understand, so please do not yell so loudly…”

He’d probably keep following me until I agreed with him, so I reluctantly nodded. Everyone, sorry… This was supposed to be a fun lunchtime, but now it had become something weird.

Azami-chan and Satsuki-chan, who were also part of the group, looked worn out. We seemed to be feeling the same way; we didn’t want to get involved with Ibuki and the others…

～～～～～～～

While we were in the academy, everyone said that they wished to bring packed lunch tomorrow. Our chefs would have to make preparations today after all. When I went home, I asked my mom if I could bring a packed lunch and told her that I had to eat with Ibuki and the others at the salon.

My mom massaged her temple and twitched, but she gave up. I apologise, mother. I had just done unnecessary things this time and inconvenienced both my mom and everyone in the group. I didn’t think that Ibuki would say “Include me too”…

Was he just going to force his way into a normal gathering with only girls? Did he have any reserve or consideration? Girls had secrets that only girls knew. It’d be weird if a guy got mixed into that. Ibuki was probably unpopular because he didn’t knew that.

My brother was laughing, but this wasn’t a laughing matter. And for some reason, Momiji looked absolutely frightening. I asked her if she was mad and she answered that she wasn’t, but she was clearly angry…

I wouldn’t be carrying my packed lunch with me; servants would give it to me when the time came. From just thinking that I was bored of the cafeteria lunch, all of this had happened and I caused trouble to everyone… From now on, I shouldn’t be careless so weird things wouldn’t happen…

～～～～～～～

With this and that happening, a new day dawned. I arrived at the academy and told everyone what Ibuki had said. I talked to them individually once they arrived at the academy.

“Whaat! K-Konoe-sama will be joining us?”

The usually-calm Tsubaki-chan yelled that surprisedly…

“Ahaha~… it’s become quite the troublesome thing…”

Even the spontaneous Yuzuriha-chan with bottomless excitement looked troubled…

“I-I will leave early!”

Renge-chan wanted to go home…

Did everyone hate Ibuki that much? Well, maybe they did hate him… At the very least, he had done nothing to make them think well of him. We only had to endure it today, so I somehow calmed everyone down and the time for us seven, Ibuki, Enju, and Sakura to eat lunch had come.