CH 112

Girls Are A Cut Above

It was finally lunchtime, and everyone gathered to head to the salon. It was a route that I, Azami-chan, and Satsuki-chan were used to, but to everyone else, it was a heart-thumping experience.

“There’s no way that someone like me’s invited to the Five Norths Association salon…”

“Yeah. It’s so nerve-wracking!”

They were absolutely lying. Renge-chan said that and Yuzuriha-chan answered, but they didn’t look nervous at all. Yuzuriha-chan looked as airheaded or casual as usual; she said she was nervous but wasn’t acting like it.

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“Is this really okay?”

“It is not that grand of a place, however? I am of the opinion that everyone’s rooms are more extravagantly wonderful, so you do not need to think much of it…”

Tsubaki-chan was still saying those things when we were walking here, so I replied. The salon was high-end, but that didn’t mean there was anything special about it. It was just a slightly high-end room. It looked like a high-end hotel’s lobby or something.

R vbswtbv lhlausdl, obs olal yzz qasx nswav dsczl qyxkzklp, bye bswplp taydela yde xsal bktb-lde vbyd vbkp… rascyczu? R byed’v tsdl vs vblka bswplp, ps R oypd’v pwal, cwv… Gv vbl hlau zlypv, vbl vbkdt zsnyvle kd vbl pyzsd olal pkxrzla vbyd vbspl kd xu bswpl yde assx. Ebld R nyxl, R oyp nyzx, ps vblal oyp rascyczu ds alypsd qsa lhlausdl lzpl vs cl dlahswp.

“Zsw yal vawzu y ckt dyxl vs cl yczl vs pyu ps, Fyjwuy-pyxy…”

“Twb? Ggyxk-nbyd, obyv eslp vbyv xlyd?”

“Rv kp dsvbkdt…”

R ypjle obyv Ggyxk-nbyd’p xwvvlale osaep xlydv, cwv pbl eked’v ydpola. Ohlausdl oyp shlaalynvkdt… Rv oyp fwpv y zkvvzl pyzsd, cwv lhld ps… Elal vblu clkdt olkaezu plzq-nsdpnkswp clnywpl vblu nsdpkelale kv vbl blyeiwyavlap sq vbl xupvlakswp satydkpyvksd nyzzle vbl Wkhl Lsavbp Gppsnkyvksd?

Rd vbl qkapv rzynl, vbl Wkhl Lsavbp Gppsnkyvksd oyp fwpv y rzynl oblal bktb-pvyvwp qyxkzklp kd Mswjy Gnyelxu tyvblale, pkrrle vly, yde vyzjle ycswv aydesx vsrknp, cwv… Ebld pyukdt vbyv, vblal oyp dsvbkdt yppsnkyvksd-zkjl ycswv kv. Rv oyp fwpv y tyvblakdt sq rlsrzl okvb qall vkxl.

“Elzz… ol byhl yzalyeu yaakhle, ps zlv wp ldvla okvbswv elzyu.”

“*twzr*…”

I announced that in front of the salon door, and everyone looked meek. I wanted them not to over-exert themselves.

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“Greetings.”

I opened the door like usual and entered. But there was almost no one inside at lunch. I hadn’t seen a single person aside from us up until now. Even so, I called out a greeting as usual. It was a little embarrassing. But, shockingly, I got a reply back.

“Greetings, Sakuya-chan.”

“Kaya-san!? Why’re you here!?”

I saw Kaya-san inside the salon from the door that was thrown open. Why was the middle school Kaya-san here at lunch? Wouldn’t she have made an appointment with someone?

“I had thought to eat lunch here. Maybe you guys thought the same, Sakuya-chan?”

“Huh? Yes, that is true… that is quite true… What an amazing coincidence…”

There was no way it was a coincidence! Kaya-san hadn’t eaten lunch at the salon a single time before this. And how did a middle schooler come on the exact same day that we did? There was no way we coincidentally, miraculously, managed to cross paths.

Yesterday… when I had that conversation with Ibuki, Kaya-san hadn’t come yet. Even so, she knew that we were having lunch here today from someone. That was why Kaya-san came too. I knew that much.

“O-Oogimachisanjou-sama! G-Greetings.”

“Oogimachisanjou-sama, hello~.”

Everyone noticed Kaya-san and nervously greeted her. I was only worried about Yuzuriha-chan greeting her casually, but she didn’t mind. Since Kaya-san wasn’t mad, I decided it was better not to say anything unnecessary.

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“Oh! Sakuya! You’ve come! Speaking of, why’re you here, Kaya!?”

“Konoe-sama, please do not call my name so casually. I feel violated.”

Scary… Kaya-san was scary… And could she go that far against her own monryuu head? If she didn’t want to be called that, couldn’t she have just ignored it?

“Wait! The entrance is blocked, but! Hurry and get in!”

Then I heard Sakura’s youthfully excited voice from behind. The salon was no longer controlled and descended into chaos.

～～～～～～～

We entered the salon and took our seats. We hadn’t selected them ourselves; instead, servants standing by from each of our families had prepared our own packed lunches. The table was set up so the ten of us could sit and face each other, but things were calmly prepared with the addition of Kaya-san.

The servants from the Five Norths Association families were calm, but servants from the other families were quite nervous. It’d be great if everyone and their servants weren’t that nervous, but… No one would chew you out because you messed up at the Five Norths Association, you know? If only they were more relaxed, but…

“Now, Sakuya-chan, let us eat?”

“Kaya-san? You seem quite close to me?”

Everyone’s packed lunches were prepared and we started eating, but… Kaya-san was really near me. In the end, Kaya-san had secured the seat beside me… Why was she so eager to do that…

Huh? I kinda felt like I’d gotten a little sister, somehow?

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“Hey! Sakuya and my seats are too far away!”

“That is not true. You two are sitting across from each other. Would you like something more than that?”

Kaya-san was quick to rebuke Ibuki’s dissatisfaction. As expected of Kaya-san. She said whatever she wanted and did whatever she wanted to Ibuki.

“I want to be beside Big Sister Sakuya too!”

“Sakura… do not say selfish things.”

Please don’t claw at each other any further. If not, a lot of problems would start happening, but…

“Now, Sakuya-chan, aah.”

“Huh…?”

Then Kaya-san looked supremely satisfied and opened her mouth. Huh? Huh? What was this? What should I do?

「うるうる……。お姉さんのあーんは受け取ってもらえないのかしら？」

“Won’t you feed Big Sister?” she asked, teary-eyed.

“No… um…”

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Was this good manners? No, it was definitely bad manners, right? It couldn’t have been good. She knew that and yet asked me to feed her in this place; I didn’t know what Kaya-san wanted. Wait? Did she want me to act unmannered in front of everyone?

“Oogimachisanjou-sama, I will assist with the meals. Please eat your own meals. Now, Sakuya-sama, say aah.”

“Huh!? Momiji!?”

What on earth was going on? Momiji was standing in front of the table and trying to spoonfeed me. The table was laid out so I was facing Ibuki and the rest, but we weren’t perfectly across from each other. There was an empty space in between the two tables that made the arrangement look like an equal sign. It was there for the servants to walk around and wait on us.

They could also wait on us from behind, but there was an open space in the front so they could go around to the front. The servants would normally not stand between guests, but this room wasn’t made for dining. We forced the salon to be a place for dining, so of course this would happen.

Even so, servants from other families weren’t standing in front of us. Only Momiji was standing in front of me and spoon feeding me. Maybe it was because Kaya-san was at the seat of honour and I was beside her, so she didn’t want to disrupt the others. We were sitting in the middle seats, so maybe Momiji didn’t want to walk in front of the rest just to reach me.

“*hiss*! *hiss*!”

“Um… Kaya-san?”

As Momiji was going to spoon feed me, Kaya-san started threatening Momiji. Those hisses were kind of cute, but what about hugging me while eating?

“Agh! How cruel! I also want to spoon feed Big Sister Sakuya! Now, Big Sister Sakuya, say aah.”

“Even you, Azami-chan…”

Even the person sitting on the other side of me, Azami-chan, tried to spoon feed me. I wanted them to wait a little. I didn’t know the situation anymore. What was this situation?

“Then, shall I feed you from behind?”

“Wait! You too, Satsuki-chan!?”

Even Satsuki-chan, who should’ve been sitting far away from me, went behind me. I had no idea what she was doing or why she was doing it.

“How mean! Me too!”

“Then, I will as well…”

Yuzuriha-chan shuffled over too. With that, everyone surrounded me. What was this!?

No, it was good, though? I didn’t feel bad at being surrounded by cute girls. Rather, it was welcome! But was it okay for such a heavenly thing to happen…

Maybe I had died without knowing and all of this was a dream? If not, this was way too happy. How on earth had this happened…

“Ahaha… you’re popular, Kujou-san.”

“Takatsukasa-sama…”

Enju, sitting across from me in the boys group, said that. Was he being sarcastic? It was a little irritating…

“But why is everyone acting like this so suddenly…”

“We are showing Konoe-sama so that he will not go near us.”

Kaya-san immediately replied to me. It looked like they wanted to show Ibuki. Ibuki was actually staring with excitement in his eyes. It was really creepy.

“Is that why you were all doing this as well, everyone?”

“Huh? I just wanted to do such things with Big Sister Sakuya? If the opportunity is there, I will always take advantage of it.”

Oh, that was it… Azami-chan was just taking advantage…

“Sakuya-sama is defenseless against boys. I am not vigilant enough against Oogimachisanjou-sama, but I must first keep the bad insects away.”

“Momiji…”

It had been… a while since I had talked to Momiji like this. After the party, we were a little awkward… Well, I was acting awkward, but I felt a little unsettled. Momiji was Momiji, just like I thought.

“I did not want to fall behind.”

“Satsuki-chan…”

Everyone cheerfully surrounded me and spoonfed me. I thought to refuse in the beginning, but I couldn’t refuse now since it had gone this far.

“Then, first have this. Sakuya-chan, say aah.”

“Aah.”

Kaya-san spoonfed me and I ate a Japanese-style rolled omelette. The soup stock in it was well-seasoned and delicious. 

“How is it?”

“Yes. It is very delicious.”

I gave my honest opinion. I had no reason to lie here. Anyway, it was really delicious. As expected of the Oogimachisanjou family’s cooking. 

“Really? That’s great! I made it myself.”

“Huh!? Kaya-san!?”

That was surprising. When I asked her further, it looked like she’d received a lot of help. No, it was the opposite. Kaya-san had helped the chefs a little and cooked it. The soup stock was prepared for her and all she did was mix the egg and cook it a little, so it was a little unreasonable to say that Kaya-san made it. But Kaya-san had definitely cooked it with her own hands.

“Hmph~… In that case, I should have made food for Big Sister Sakuya as well…”

“Now, now… I cannot eat that much anyway, so that is something for another time…”

Azami-chan said that and I stopped her for now. I didn’t know how good Azami-chan was at cooking, but it was dangerous to get a second-grader to cook. I was happy that she said she wanted to make food for me, but if she got injured because of that, it’d be sad and troubling. 

“Sakuya-chan.”

“Sakuya-sama.”

“Say aah.”

“Um… wait… aah….”

Everyone fed me in turns. I was happy, embarrassed, and this was all very good, but I wanted them to think about the capacity of my stomach. I couldn’t eat that much in my whole lifetime. I was still a kid and a girl. I also hadn’t eaten many large meals, so I was a small eater.

“Um… if I eat too much, I shall grow fat. And my stomach…”

“Oh! But a fat Sakuya-chan will also be cute, right?”

“Aha! That is true! She will surely be very cute!”

Oi… what did that mean… were they talking about mascot character-like cuteness? That was not acceptable as a young lady of the Kujou family. In the first place, my mom would kill me if I got fat.

Oh? But wait? If I got really fat and ugly, would Ibuki no longer want to marry me?

But, you know… becoming an ugly pig because of that was another thing… I didn’t mean to say that being fat meant you were ugly. I meant becoming an ugly pig for Ibuki to hate me, not that being fat meant that you were an ugly pig. I didn’t want that to be understood.

In the world, there were fat cute girls and fat handsome guys. They weren’t ugly because they were fat; rather, they were ugly and fat. I thought slightly plumper girls were cuter than girls who were all skin and bones… but it didn’t matter what I liked right now.

“I also want to spoonfeed Big Sister Sakuya~!”

“Sakura, please remain silent.”

Don’t make this unnecessarily complicated. And I had no interest in a guy spoon feeding me.

Anyway, I didn’t know what to make of Ibuki and the others asking to come, but I had an unexpectedly fun lunchtime in the end. The guys had become air. Was this Kaya-san and Momiji’s plan? Those two were frightening. I realised that this time again.