Chapter 36: The Azami Group

Every break time, Azami-chan went to my seat and talked forever. She looked very happy, and not a trace of her previous sadness could be seen. I was happy that she felt better, but also thought we were standing out too much in the classroom. I wanted to spend my time quietly and not stand out, but…

Then, I ate with Azami-chan’s group at lunch time. She promised that we’d have lunch together and Azami-chan’s followers always ate lunch with her, so we naturally came to eat with each other.

Everyone gathered at a table in the cafeteria then sat down. To put things bluntly, ‘everyone’ was Azami-chan’s usual group but with me included too. Because Azami-chan’s group was the same as before, it felt like they thought of me, the extra person, as an eyesore.

I didn’t hate Azami-chan bothering me by saying “Sakuya-sama, Sakuya-sama!”. Probably not many people hated a cute child saying “Hey, pay attention to me!” like a puppy.

But was this really okay? I thought that maybe this wasn’t a very good sign. Azami-chan only paid attention to me and ignored all the other girls. Maybe they felt unhappy that their former leader wasn’t paying attention to them and was instead always going to a girl that she had almost never talked to before.

Of course Azami-chan might say “What’s wrong with me doing something for myself?”. If she wasn’t planning to commit a crime or trouble anyone, then she could do anything she wanted. But I’d be sad if that meant she left the other girls behind and their relationship worsened. I wanted to be good friends with everyone.

I wouldn’t say anything if this was about them and another group. I didn’t know anything about the fights they had with other factions or groups, but… Azami-chan’s group was one that was good friends throughout “Love Flowers”. I’d be very sad if their relationship worsened because of that.

“Umm… Kujou… -san? Have you learned your manners from somewhere?”

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“Zsw xyu nyzz xl Fyjwuy, Mpwcyjk-nbyd.”

“Mpw-Mpwcyjk-nbyd…”

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“Bxx… vbld… Fyjwuy-pyd?”

“*pokhlz*!”

“Agh!”

The moment Tsubaki-chan called me “Sakuya-san”, Azami-chan glared at her.

“Tsubaki! It’s Sakuya-sama, right!”

“I-I am sorry, Sakuya-sama!”

“H-Hold on, Azami-chan…! Oh, Tsubaki-chan, you may call me “Sakuya-chan”, okay?”

Azami-chan said something nonsensical, so Tsubaki-chan paused, flustered. I then casually encouraged her to call me “Sakuya-chan”. I didn’t want everyone to respect or fear me. Rather, I wanted them to… act friendly around me, and incidentally, laugh and chat with me.

“*sniff sniff*…”

Tsubaki-chan looked like she was going to cry as she switched between looking at me and Azami-chan. She looked slightly cute but also pitiful, so I had to stop Azami-chan… 

“Azami-chan! You and I decide how you would like to call me!  But you do not decide how Tsubaki-chan and I should call each other! Do not force that!”

“Oh… I am sorry, big sister Sakuya…”

Oh no… Azami-chan looked sad. Maybe I said too much…

“I am sorry, Azami-chan. Perhaps I have said too much. But do not force that.”

“Yes…”

Azami-chan seemed to have reflected on her actions and quieted down, so maybe let’s continue talking. What to talk about, though…

“Oh! We were talking about my manners, yes? I am attending a dojo.”

There was a possibility that the conversation would take a weird turn if I said the Hundred Earth style, so I didn’t say that. No one would know now…

“…a dojo?”

“You don’t go to an etiquette classroom or have a home tutor…?”

“Since you’re going to a dojo, it’s almost like you’re learning the Hundred Earth style.”

“No way~… being accepted to learn the Hundred Earth style… you know?”

Geh! How’d they get that much information from a single sentence? Did I say something wrong? Or maybe there was something so different with my etiquette that you could immediately tell I learned it from the Hundred Earth style? It sounded like she was saying everyone had learned in a classroom or from a home tutor. It looked like saying that I went to a dojo was a bad thing. Come to think of it, that was true. There was something weird with learning etiquette in a dojo! I only noticed now!

“Ho-Hohoho! I simply attend the etiquette classroom located in the building in front of the station.”

“Oh, that place…”

“Ir’s pretty hard to get in there, too…”

“As expected of the Kujou family, I guess.”

Uh-oh… I somehow fooled them, right? I had only gone to that etiquette classroom once, but I wasn’t lying. I just said it to mislead them! If anyone attended that school, thought what I said was strange, and then found out, that’d be its own problem. But, it looked like no one attended that school.

And also… the Hundred Earth style was definitely a landmine… I had thought of doing what my dad said about holding my head up high, but maybe it was better to hide it. I didn’t plan to lie, but let’s hide it as much as possible from now on.

I then talked to everyone like that, but Akane-chan kept her distance, or rather, didn’t enter the conversation much. She talked to girls apart from me, but she cut our conversations short when I tried talking to her.

I didn’t think that she hated me or absolutely didn’t want to talk. I just felt like she was still observing the situation, or rather, felt some sort of wall that said we couldn’t become instant friends. 

Compared to that, I slowly got closer to the other girls and was able to hold a normal conversation with them. They still didn’t know how distant they should be and were somewhat reserved, but that’d get better in time. Some of the girls, like Tsubaki-chan, tried their best to have a normal conversation with me. I felt they’d gradually open up as well if we spent more time together like this.

Maybe there was some way I could get Akane-chan to open up… I was originally not going to do anything bad and become friends with her over time, but…. I was worried if it was really okay for her to continue observing the situation and avoiding me. If I could, I wanted to be friends with Akane-chan.

Well, the first-grade Azami-chan had taught me how to socialise. That was how bad I was at it. There was no way I could’ve known or come up with a way to become friends with a girl in elementary that easily… I spent lunch break thinking about whether I should just leave the matter to chance.

　　～～～～～～～

In the afternoon lessons, I did some Raihoukai work to kill time, and school had ended. I didn’t really want to, but I still had to go to the Five Norths Association. Thinking that, I stood, and Azami-chan approached my seat.

“Sakuya-sama! You are going to the salon, correct? Shall we go together?”

“Azami-chan… yes, I am. Well then, let us go.”

I didn’t have any reason to reject her, so I accepted her offer, but… for some reason… something worried me…

Oh… right… I knew now…

I hadn’t talked to Satsuki-chan at all today apart from greeting her in the morning. That was because Azami-chan stuck to me. I didn’t dislike it; rather, there was part of me that welcomed it. However, I wondered how Satsuki-chan was feeling about how I’d acted today.

For example… what would she think if a close friend of hers suddenly made new friends and grew distant? She’d probably feel lonely, mad, regretful, and lots of other emotions, right…? At the very least, there wouldn’t be anyone feeling good about it.

Had I made Satsuki-chan feel like that today? I hadn’t thought that far, but… No, you could say that unnecessarily bad things had happened because I hadn’t thought that far. Basically, I hadn’t realised that I wasn’t thinking about how Satsuki-chan might feel. 

“Azami-chan, can I invite one more person?”

“Huh? Okay… well…”

Hearing what I said, Azami-chan turned to look over at Satsuki-chan’s seat. She probably knew who I was going to invite. Both of them were part of Lady Sakuya’s faction in “Love Flowers”, but right now their factions, monryuu, and groups were completely different; rather, their relationship was almost hostile.

I didn’t know how their two groups had grown closer in “Love Flowers”, but they were clearly not on good terms now; they were closer to enemies. But I’d purposefully invited Satsuki-chan while Azami-chan was here with me. If I could, I wanted to mediate their relationship and help them grow closer.

“Sa~tsu~ki-chan.”

“Sakuya-chan… what is it?”

I called out to Satsuki-chan from behind and she turned to look at me, looking slightly surprised. But I didn’t mind and stated my business.

“Shall we head to the salon together?”

“Huh? But…”

Satsuki-chan looked around and then looked behind me. She probably saw Azami-chan standing there.

“Let us “all” go together?”

“I see… if she agrees as well, I am fine with it.”

Saying that, Satsuki-chan looked at Azami-chan and stood. It looked like she said okay. Then, let’s go.

“Well then, let us go.”

“…”

Hmm… Satsuki-chan and Azami-chan had this strange atmosphere. But they didn’t seem to be saying anything publicly, so maybe I should just watch… It wasn’t like they’d suddenly become as close as people who’d been best friends for decades. They’d just have to become slightly closer like this, I guess.

We talked a little about this and that and arrived at the salon. I opened the door and was surprised.

“I do not agree! A person who has done that to Konoe-sama does not belong in this salon!”

“Now, now… Kaya-chan, you should calm down too.”

“Who are you to decide who belongs or not!? If you have any complaints, you should leave!”

“Hold on, Ibuki… you said too much…”

Four people were having a war of words in the middle of the salon. No, two were placating, while the other two were arguing.

One was Oogimachisanjou Kaya. Her family status was lower than that of the Seven Shining family, but, as a sixth-grader, she was one of the central members of the Five Norths Association. She was also part of the Konoe family monryuu, so she was close to Ibuki.

Kaya-san was arguing with the head of the monryuu himself, Ibuki. But, if anything, Ibuki looked just mad, while Kaya-san was giving him good advice.

Hirohata Mizuki was calming Kaya-san, and Enju was pacifying Ibuki. I didn’t know what happened, but I didn’t want to get involved. Because I’d opened the door, though, a lot of people looked over at me. It was impossible to slip away unnoticed now.

As I was thinking about what had happened, I was at a loss for words and froze.