Chapter 38: Immediate Return

Ah~… I thought that exciting conclusion was the end… Well, since this world had become reality, a happy ending wouldn’t be the actual end. Instead, it’d continue today, tomorrow, and the day after until my death. If this was a story, it’d end prettily, but reality wasn’t as kind… It was going to be a lot harder to settle everything.

For starters, I was now walking, head lowered, back to the salon, even though I’d just left… But the more time passed, the harder it’d be to go back… If I were to return, I had to do it today and retract my statement.

But, you know… it was pretty embarrassing to speak that sharply, and then just return in under thirty minutes. Agh… what should I do…

And even if my return to the salon went smoothly with only a little embarrassment on my part, that didn’t mean the other problems were solved. After all, I finally knew why Ibuki had sent Azami-chan flying. It looked like the matter had become pretty troublesome.

Intentionally spilling food on Azami-chan’s dress seemed to be a more serious issue than I thought it was. I thought that it’d just end with people getting mad and criticising me, but in this noble society, rumours like that could be fatal.

The rumour had also been rapidly embellished, so people knew of me as a heinous, ill-natured young lady. Ibuki, hearing that, had thought Azami-chan was spreading those rumours to paint herself as the victim. He thought that Azami-chan and I were arguing, so he came to save me and sent her flying.

The fact that Ibuki had jumped to the wrong conclusion was problematic. It wasn’t even funny since it had made the whole incident unnecessarily complicated.

Well, I’d leave the matter of Ibuki aside for now, and instead continue sorting out the matter of Azami-chan. The rumour that I was a heinous, ill-natured young lady who would dirty Azami-chan’s dress to kick her down had spread. I had to dispel that rumour so it wouldn’t cause a large scandal that would raise destruction flags for the Kujou family.

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Additionally, Azami-chan didn’t hold much influence, and she wasn’t a leader despite being one in terms of family status because she was a first-grader. However, she could do something about the Tokudaiji monryuu.

Satsuki-chan said apologetically that since she wasn’t the head of a monryuu nor a natural leader, she couldn’t influence the factions or monryuu, but just having Saionji Satsuki-chan of the Seven Shining Families was huge.

However, forcing people to obey orders from above or silencing people who wouldn’t agree would lead to problems later. That was why the matter wouldn’t reach a conclusion if I just forced them to obey; instead, they had to look like they actually agreed.

Well… there weren’t many Five Norths Association members, and maybe it wouldn’t be impossible to give them an explanation and persuade them if we had a direct conversation. So maybe it wasn’t that big of a problem. I needed a lot of power and authority, though…

Anyway, the bigger problem was rumours from other students. The Kujou family was put in a rather dangerous situation from the matter of Azami-chan’s dress and the scandal involving me hitting Ibuki, which were both unfitting of a lady. I was doing it to protect Azami-chan, so I didn’t regret anything, but maybe I should be more careful when I raise my hand to strike from now on. 

Huh? I wasn’t thinking about not raising a hand to strike at all, but instead being careful when I had to? That? That was normal. It was normal to protect yourself if you were being attacked. I wasn’t thinking of hurting people, but I didn’t plan to let off people who came to attack me. 

There were rumours about me and Azami-chan, but the matter with Ibuki had already spread rather far. It looked like people were giving me the cold shoulder. This was bad. But I really did hit and throw him to the floor… this was a complicated situation.

The fact that I’d hit and thrown Ibuki was unchanging, no matter if I misunderstood or made a mistake. Even if Ibuki were to tell everyone “I made the first move, so she just retaliated,”, it’d be meaningless. 

That wouldn’t stop the rumours, but those spreading strange and interesting rumours wouldn’t ask “Why’d this happen?” but instead slowly spread rumours saying “Something like this happened”. One could say that Ibuki telling the truth would only inform more people that I’d really hit and thrown him to the ground, and that wouldn’t do any good.

But that didn’t mean I could pretend it didn’t happen now. The Five Norths Association members had seen, and if I tried to pretend it didn’t happen when so many people knew, they’d talk about coverups and coercion again. People’s rumors were truly a danger.

“We’ve talked this much but haven’t been able to find a solution…”

“We’re cornered…”

The sixth-graders Mizuki and my brother were at the centre of discussions and they’d brought up many ideas, but, as expected, they weren’t able to come up with a good solution immediately. It couldn’t be helped, so all of us first returned to the salon.

“Konoe-sama! I am very sorry!”

“…”

The moment we returned to the salon, Kaya-san lowered her head towards Ibuki. But Ibuki and Enju were clearly dissatisfied. Mizuki was also holding his hand to his forehead and shaking his head.

“You understand nothing! What would an apology to me do?!”

“Yes… understood. Kujou-sama, I am very sorry.”

After apologising to Ibuki, Kaya-san turned towards my brother and I and lowered her head. She didn’t agree, since she had bowed towards the Konoe family first and only then lowered her head towards us. She was just trying to save Ibuki’s face; that was what she was saying. 

Ibuki acknowledged his own shortcomings. Additionally, a head-on collision between the Konoe and Kujou families wasn’t beneficial for both sides. She took that into account and formally bowed, while expressing that she didn’t agree. Kaya-san was formidable herself, being able to show how she felt through something like that.

The Oogimachisanjou family wasn’t in the Five Norths families, nor even the Seven Shining families; they didn’t hold a particularly high family status within the Five Norths Association. That was why Kaya-san desperately acted tough. If she gave in to the difference in family status, she’d never be able to get back up again…

“Oogimachisanjou-sama… regarding the incident, it is true that I did punch and throw Konoe-sama.  As you raised your hand against me to seek retaliation, I twisted your arm. Perhaps it is true that I am a hooligan unsuited to this place. However, I was merely acting according to my own sense of justice. I can confidently say, without any shame, that I did nothing wrong.”

“…”

Kaya-san lifted her head and looked directly at me. Her eyes looked like she was searching for what I wanted to say. That was why I continued. 

“I have understood that you have acted in this manner and thrown words at me because of your unbending conviction and justice, Oogimachisanjou-sama. Neither of our beliefs is righteous, and neither is evil. This is a result of a clash between them. However, there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I believe that it is good.”

“This is… good…?”

I wasn’t able to properly say what I wanted to say, and Kaya-san scowled. Well, since I’d said that this situation was good, you could think of me as lording it over her. Ibuki had recognised his own mistakes and apologised, and had even ordered Kaya-san to apologise. She had then done that now. Saying that “it was good” sounded like I was happy with my triumph. But that wasn’t what I wanted to say. 

“Oogimachisanjou-sama, you hold your own beliefs. I have mine. There will be times when these beliefs will clash, yes? There is no need for us to hide our feelings and simply not allow them to clash, or to just be friendly with each other on the surface. One only truly gets to know someone else when they exchange opinions like this, correct?”

“…”

She lent me an ear to listen to what I was saying. Kaya-san wasn’t a bad person after all. Because of her devotion to the Konoe family and Ibuki, she’d say what she wanted to a member of the Kujou family, despite them being of higher family status than her. 

“Oogimachisanjou-sama, please continue to point things out for me if something occurs in the future. We shall discuss our opinions, and there will perhaps be times where I admit my own shortcomings. Or maybe we will not grow to understand each other no matter how often we talk. Even so, I would like you to express your true feelings from now on, Oogimachisanjou-sama.”

“You’re saying we haven’t reached a conclusion, so we’ll keep on arguing?”

。

She glared at me scarily while saying that. So, I replied with a smile. 

“If one thinks that the other has made a mistake, they will point it out to stop it. If they have a difference in opinions, they shall discuss it, disregarding status. One must be able to do those things in order to become friends. However, you and I are already able to do this, Kaya-san, so we are friends.”

“—–huh! W-… what…”

I gripped the flustered Kaya-san’s hand. I enveloped it softly in my own hands, and she jerked and looked up.

“You and I are already friends, Kaya-san. Therefore, please call me “Sakuya”.”

“—-hmph! —–hmph!”

Was she angry or embarrassed? Was she smiling or was her expression stiff? With an indescribable expression and pale face, Kaya-san withdrew her hand and stepped away from me. 

“S-So… if something happens from now on, I shall mercilessly point it out! Sa-… Sakuya… -chan…”

Her face was turned away, and she blushed while saying it. For some reason… she reminded me of a big Azami-chan. Well, Azami-chan would probably get mad if I told her, though…

“Yes. Please take care of me. Kaya-san.”

“——ah! Get in and close the door already, please! How long are you planning to leave it open!?”

Kaya-san said that as she turned around and walked away from me.

“Fufu, she got mad immediately, Sakuya.”

“Brother… that is true. Then, let us enter and close the door. Kaya-san may get mad if we were to leave it open.”

“Ahaha.”

Nothing had been resolved, but, in the middle of the flabbergasted Five Norths Association members, I had made another new friend.