CH 113

Yesterday was challenging, but it was fun in its own way. Today we had returned to the cafeteria and talked about yesterday while dining.

“The Five Norths Association salon was amazing!”

“That is true. And the fact that we did not merely enter but also dined there was…”

“Apart from the Five Norths Association members, we are the only ones who have done that…”

I listened to everyone talking about various topics while tilting my head. I said this multiple times but the Five Norths Association was not off-limits to outsiders, and people could eat lunch there. That was why they let people go there for lunch and why there was a kitchen in the back.

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We were quite exhausted from yesterday and there was no talk of dining at the salon from today onwards. That was why we were eating at the cafeteria like usual.

The salon was beside a kitchen and it also had a bathroom. There was an antechamber for the waiters and a full backyard. It was impossible for them to do what we did yesterday in an empty classroom. There was no kitchen or antechamber, but it also couldn’t be provided for us to eat there.

Because we couldn’t use the salon, we decided to eat at the cafeteria for the time being. Once the rainy season was over and the weather got better, we could prepare packed lunches and eat outside, but for now, we’d be eating at the cafeteria.

El nswze pvkzz csaaso vbl pyzsd, cwv Rcwjk, Odfw yde Fyjway olal kaakvyvkdt. El vbld elnkele vbyv ol’e ayvbla rwv wr okvb clkdt yv vbl nyqlvlaky vbyd lyv okvb vblx. Gp lmrlnvle, lhlausdl oyp qle wr okvb Rcwjk.

Ebu bye bl clnsxl pwnb yd Bdqsavwdyvl Vakdnl… R byvle bkx kd vbl tyxl, cwv yv zlypv bl oyp y rasrla Gaastydv Vakdnl… Mbkp osaze’p Rcwjk oyp vss ekpyrrskdvkdt.

Elzz, R eked’v alyzzu nyal bso Rcwjk vwadle swv, cwv R byvle vbyv ol bye vs lyv okvb bkx lhlau pkdtzl vkxl ol csaasole vbl pyzsd. Jlnywpl sq vbyv, ol nswzed’v wpl vbl pyzsd yduxsal.

“Rq Isdsl-pyxy oyp dsv blal, ol nswze ekdl yv vbl pyzsd, cwv wdqsavwdyvlzu…”

“…”

Ls sdl pyke yduvbkdt, cwv vblu yzz lyadlpvzu dseele. Gp lmrlnvle, lhlausdl oyp fwpv dsv pyukdt kv cwv vblu nsdpkelale Rcwjk y dwkpydnl… Rd vbl tyxl, Nyeu Fyjwuy’p taswr ynvle zkjl “Fyjwuy-pyxy kp vbl sdzu ryavdla qsa Isdsl-pyxy!”, cwv…

“Nlv wp clya okvb vbl nyqlvlaky wdvkz vbl aykdu plypsd ldep…”

“Nlv wp es vbyv…”

We eventually settled on that. Then, everyone got enthusiastic praising the salon again. Maybe I should stop talking about Ibuki in front of everyone. The tension had lessened.

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～～～～～～～

The rainy season had ended and summer was beginning. We were walking to the cafeteria today when a guy as annoying as Ibuki came. Many girls were accompanying him…

“Big Sister Sakuya! Would you come to my house to play?”

“…huh?”

What was he saying? Why did I have to come to Sakura’s house to play? I wanted to say “You know I’m going to refuse, right?”, but if I were to reject him like that in front of all these people, that’d offend him. There was also a high possibility that there’d be backlash from the first-grade girls.

I didn’t know why a gross guy like that was so popular. He wasn’t only popular with first-grade girls, but also with upperclassmen girls. Maybe they just found him interesting, but it didn’t look like that was it. Sakura really had popularity with the girls.

Of course, just because he was pampered and popular didn’t mean that they considered him as a romantic love interest. There was a possibility that they were fawning over Sakura like he was a mascot or a cute pet, and I didn’t think that all his followers liked him as a member of the opposite sex… Even so, I could only wonder why this him…

Well, that was fine. Sakura was popular probably just because he was interesting, and that wasn’t related to me. The bigger problem was that if I bluntly refused in front of this crowd, there was a high possibility that there’d be backlash. If that happened, it’d be the game Lady Sakuya’s predicament all over again. It’d be bad if I made those girls my enemy.

“Sakura… though you say such things so suddenly, I also have my own circumstances. And you must have your own things that you must do, correct? If you have the free time to bother me, please improve yourself.”

“I see… yes! Big Sister Sakuya! I understand!”

He understood? Wasn’t he very perceptive? Good job…

“I will not fail to improve myself! However, I am inquiring like this because you have your own circumstances, Big Sister Sakuya! If I do not ask, we will not be able to meet! So please tell me the days when you are available!”

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Oh~… why was he so insistent… play with your own followers…

“Sakura, what about you play with the girls around you first? It is important to make friends with your classmates. If you have the free time to play with me, please use that time to instead get closer to your classmates.”

“You have been worrying about me that much, Big Sister Sakuya! But it is fine! I am already friends with all the girls in the first grade!”

Huh…? Friends with all his classmates? That couldn’t be true, right? Did he think that he was friends with someone after a brief conversation? If he didn’t think that, there was no way he’d become friends with everyone in first grade after three months.

In the first place, I was already in second grade but was only friends with those six and Kaya-san, you know? Was he trying to assert that I had only made seven friends in a year and three months while he had made friends with everyone in first grade after just three months? Don’t call such a shallow association “friendship”.

“Anyway, we cannot block the walkway like this forever. Let us continue this conversation later.”

A large group of girls was accompanying Sakura, so we had been causing quite the disturbance. I didn’t know what people would say about us if we blocked the walkway like this. And I was thinking about how to reject Sakura’s invitation, but I couldn’t think of a good idea at the moment. Let’s postpone it for now and run away from this place.

“That is true… I do not mean to cause trouble for you, Big Sister Sakuya! Let’s go, everyone!”

“Yes.”

The crowd of first grade girls under Sakura started walking. What was that group… Was Sakura more popular than Ibuki…?

～～～～～～～

After that, Sakura frequently came up to me and asked me to play with him. I was able to think of a proper reason and run away, but he was quite persistent. What was his goal? Why was he following me around so much even though we’d almost never met before?

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Was it because he genuinely wanted to play? Because he wanted us to become friends?

That couldn’t have been true. If that was it, we would’ve met more and spent more time with each other before. Even so, why was he doing this so suddenly? I didn’t know what Sakura’s goals were. But the one thing I did know was that he wasn’t doing this because he genuinely wanted to play or become friends.

“Haa!”

“Gah!”

“You are not putting yourself into it! When training, focus on the training!”

“Y-Yes! I am sorry!”

Master got mad at me for thinking idly while training. The latest training had gradually increased in topic from the previous focus on jujutsu and aquatic arts. I had also started learning horsemanship, Japanese archery, and swordsmanship, but… there was no mercy.

Getting hit by a weapon hurt, but Master still hit me without any reservations. No, did he know what having reservations meant in the first place? For example, it still hurt when he hit me with a wooden sword even if he went easy on me, you know? He was holding back, but I still felt incomparable pain.

And caring for horses was quite hard. Having trust with the horse was important for horsemanship, so I had to clean its hooves and install its saddle all by myself. The horse was quite big and had a far too different physique from me, so it was hard. I even had to brush it…

“I feel that joujutsu1 is better than swordsmanship…”

I rarely carried around a wooden or bamboo sword. That was because I was a young lady of the Kujou family. A young lady couldn’t always carry around a wooden or bamboo sword. Therefore, joujutsu was more usable because you could pick up a rod that had fallen somewhere. Thinking realistically and in terms of my position, wasn’t joujutsu the better option?

“What?”

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“Oh… it is nothing…”

Master glared at me, so I averted my gaze and shut up. I had thoughtlessly opened my mouth. I didn’t mean to complain about Master’s training policy. Or rather, it was generally a good thing since I had said unnecessary things about it…

“Alright. Then, I’ll add joujutsu from now on. Here.”

“Huh!? Wait!?”

Master walked briskly, took out a somewhat short cane from the hidden weapons, and tossed it to me. The moment I receieved it…

“Ugeh!”

The cane hit my stomach and I fell to the floor.

“What is it? Don’t you want to do joujutsu? Stand. The enemy won’t wait for you!”

That may have been true, but there probably wouldn’t be an enemy who was so merciless… I just wanted to have enough talent to be able to fight someone when I got in a little trouble… I’d want to buy some time and then call the guards. This wasn’t wartime, so I wouldn’t kill or be killed by anyone. Something was wrong with this crazy gramps.

“Fuu!”

“Oh? A surprise attack? You’re still too naive.”

I tried to get a hit in on that gramps, who was looking down on me, by shoving the cane towards me, but he turned and avoided it. He caught the cane with his foot and tripped me.

“Now, now. What’re you going to do?”

“Kuuu!”

This crazy ninja! I just said that maybe joujutsu was good for the environment I was in, not that I wanted to do something like that suddenly? In the first place, he hadn’t taught me a single thing about joujits. I wouldn’t be able to battle with an instructor so suddenly, you know! Stop this already!

“Hmph… I do not think it is good to recklessly rush in.”

“Ukya!?”

He caught my legs, arms, and seized my weapons. I couldn’t get my hands or feet out. Or rather, I said that I hadn’t learned a single thing about joujutsu prior to this, right!?

Aah… And this gramps hadn’t taught me a single thing about freeing myself from my hands or feet being captured… we just did practice for real combat every single time. If he suddenly did this to me, I’d get beat up… It was the same for water combat. He hadn’t taught me a single thing but still shoved me into that lake… He told me to ascertain which was poison. To do that, he constantly got me to eat poison until my body was used to it without teaching me a single thing.

Come to think of it, I had quite the eventful life… Master had exquisite control; he managed to keep me alive and not kill me, but…

“If you think that I will just let myself be hit, you are making a big mistake!”

“Oh! If you say so. Then try hitting me once. If you get one hit, then I will listen to whatever you have to say.”

“Please do not forget those words! Haa!”

I watched gramps’ movements carefully. First, I copied him. So that the useless me could become a little stronger, I first had to perfectly copy Master’s movements. Then… on top of that, I had to keep attacking out of Master’s expectations. That was all I had to do. 

After all, I knew that there was no way I’d be able to be better than Master overnight by just copying him. The important thing was… to at least be able to steal the general concept, then think of a method to suddenly attack him!

“Here!”

“Hmph!”

He shoved the cane that I attacked him with upwards… How much of a monster was he that he was able to use such a thin cane to hit another thin cane… but that was fatal.

“Ku… kuku!”

I saw… the cane Master attacked me with fall downwards…

“Haa!”

I let go of the cane and punched him. Sure, it may have been joujitsu. But that didn’t mean you only attacked with a cane. Although we were practicing joujitsu, I would let go of the cane and strike him with my fist. If I did that…

“You’re too slow.”

“Guee!”

Master avoided my fist and used his cane to trip me from behind. Then he pinned me down by stepping on my back and it was all over.

“Well… you did good for your first time.”

“Gununu… thank you… very much…”

Damn it… I got the feeling that it was impossible to get a hit on this crazy ninja…