Chapter 16: Return Gift

After that, I’d single-mindedly thought about measures against Ibuki, but couldn’t think of any good ones. Plus, the fact that Ibuki had given me a present in front of everyone was bad. Everyone who was there probably thought that I owed Ibuki a present. Whenever anything happened in the future, people might think that “He gave Kujou Sakuya a gift, but she…”.

Hmm… maybe that was his goal too…

Giving me a present like that in front of everyone didn’t just mean there would be witnesses to the event; others would hear about it, and eventually, everyone would know that I received a gift from Ibuki. Then, if Ibuki had a request for me afterward, he could just say “Kujou Sakuya’s ungrateful,” if I refused.

Oh no… this was bad… if I let it continue like this, it’d get super, super bad. If I didn’t do anything…

But what should I do? Returning a gift I’d already received would only worsen our relationship. It’d also destroy Ibuki’s reputation, which would become even more reason to target me. I really wanted to go back to the time when both of us didn’t know each other, hadn’t traded anything and didn’t have any pent-up resentment. The dream-like idea that such an amazing feat would happen in real life was…

“Brother…”

“Hm? What is it?”

I called out to my brother, who was in the car that picked us up with me. My carefree, optimistic brother answered me with a smile.

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“Ps usw jdso Isdsl-pyxy’p zkjlp yde ralqlaldnlp?”

“Twb? Rcwjk’p? Ebu’al usw ypjkdt xl vby… sb! Txx~bx. Fs kv’p vbyv jkde sq vbkdt.”

Rv zssjle zkjl xu casvbla wdelapvsse. R sdzu bye sdl prlnvynwzya kely vs elpvasu vbkp bsrlzlpp pkvwyvksd.

“Rcwjk-jwd zkjlp nbsnszyvl.”

“R-Rp vbyv ps…”

Tlu, Isdsl Rcwjk… eke usw tkhl xl nbsnszyvl clnywpl usw uswaplzq zkjl kv? Rpd’v vbyv fwpv rknjkdt vbl vbkdt vbyv usw’e oydv vs lyv…? Gzps, bl oyp y jke yqvla yzz, pyukdt vbyv bl zkjle nbsnszyvl. Elzz, bl oyp yd ynvwyz qkapv-tayela, ps bl oyp vlnbdknyzzu y jke, cwv…

Gde yzps… kp vbyv ps… Rcwjk zkjlp nbsnszyvl. Mbld, vblal oyp sdl vbkdt R pbswze es.

“Jasvbla, xyu R vyjl y pzktbv elvswa?”

“Yep, alright.”

I said that, at which my brother smiled and nodded. It looked like he understood my spectacular idea. As expected of my reliable older brother, who you wouldn’t think was an elementary schooler.

My plan was extremely simple. If getting a present meant I accumulated some debt, I’d be paying off the debt if I got him a return present. Since Ibuki liked chocolate and I was going to give him something he liked, the return gift would also be simple. No way I could give him a box that clearly just had its contents swapped, so I had to give him different chocolates.

“Momiji! Stop by the usual store!”

“…of course.”

I communicated that to the front seat. There was a partition in between the driver’s seat and the passenger seats, so I asked Momiji, sitting in the front seat, to go to the store I wanted.

My brother and I were actually supposed to be on the way to Raihoukai, but plans changed and we’d be making just a small stopover.

　　～～～～～～～

Before heading to Raihoukai, we entered a confiserie¹ A confiserie is a shop that sells sweets. . The chocolates Ibuki bought were from a world-famous brand. If I had bought the same brand for a return gift, it was no different than returning the gift he’d already given me. That was why I thought of buying my chocolate from another brand.

My brother had just vaguely said that Ibuki liked chocolate, but there were many types of chocolate. I didn’t know any detailed information, like the specific type he liked. This was where I thought boys were no good. They just said “I like candy”, or “I like chocolate”, so you didn’t know any concrete details.

There were many different types of chocolates and candies. You may like one chocolate, but dislike another, even though they were all technically chocolate. A normal girl would have asked and remembered the type and brand of chocolate the other party liked, but a crude boy wouldn’t have thought that far. I thought many boys didn’t give good presents because of this.

Well, my brother didn’t have enough information anyway, so it couldn’t be helped. More importantly, I’d have to think of what to get Ibuki with this hint I got…

Something… Was there really nothing else? He liked chocolate, so… right! I remembered now!

Come to think of it, there was a Valentine’s Day event in “Love Flowers”. I’d played “Love Flowers” tens of hundreds of times, but I held almost no interest in the male characters, so I forgot about it. The Valentine’s chocolate the protagonist chose to gift Ibuki was… right… yeah, that was it. Nama chocolate² Come to think of it, there was a Valentine’s Day event in “Love Flowers”. I’d played “Love Flowers” tens of hundreds of times, but I held almost no interest in the male characters, so I forgot about it. The Valentine’s chocolate the protagonist chose to gift Ibuki was… right… yeah, that was it. Nama chocolate² Nama chocolate is a type of ganache, made from melted cacao and fresh cream that’s sprinkled with cocoa powder on top. It tastes very rich and it practically melts in your mouth. . Ibuki liked nama chocolate.

Uhm… the protagonist had some conversation with Ibuki… She picked out some chocolate, then went and gave it to him. They had some conversation about “the nama chocolate that he received from his first love”. From then on, Ibuki liked nama chocolate… His favourability towards the protagonist rose with that conversation.

So basically, I’d decided on giving Ibuki nama chocolate as a return gift. While I was at it, I could then get some for myself. I wanted to eat it with Azami-chan and Sakuya-chan. But, if I ate that chocolate at the Five Norths Association on the same day I was going to give Ibuki the chocolate, it’d look bad. I bought a small bundle of chocolate so I could eat some not in the salon, but in the classroom.

“Are you purchasing anything, brother?”

“Nope. I’m alright.”

It looked like my brother wasn’t buying anything. He didn’t particularly dislike sweet foods, but… maybe I should give him some chocolate. One to give Ibuki, another to bring to school that I’d eat with Azami-chan, Satsuki-chan, and the others, and another for my family to eat… oh! Right! I’d be going to Raihoukai from now on, so why not buy some for Ms. Ayame that we could eat together?

“Sakuya.. are you buying this much?”

“Of course!”

What was my brother saying? One of these was for you, so it wasn’t like you could object, you know? Stop looking at me like I bought a huge amount of chocolate because I really loved it.

“Then, let’s go.”

Holding the large amount of chocolate I bought, my brother and I finally headed to Raihoukai.

　　～～～～～～～

At Raihoukai, I took lessons from Ms. Takatsuji Ayame. They were lessons that were made to be better than Touka Academy’s.

“Ms. Ayame, I have bought chocolate from my favourite confiserie. Let us eat some together.”

“Kujou-san… we’re in a cram school and in the middle of lessons right now, though…”

I’d know even if you didn’t mention it. Were food and drinks forbidden during cram school lessons, though?

“The brain needs nutrition. Additionally, there are occasions when you are thirsty, correct? Are providing sugar to the brain and preventing heatstroke not natural things?”

There was a time in the past when people were told not to drink water during club activities, but preventing heatstroke had now become a natural concern. You probably couldn’t say that ingesting water wasn’t allowed because this was a cram school, or because we were in the middle of lessons. Well, that was just sophism, but still.

Wasn’t it alright? I didn’t think we should be munching on sweets, but it was perfectly alright to take a short break and quietly eat sweets, right?

“*sigh*… as expected of Kujou-san… also good with her words…”

Ms. Ayame sounded slightly exasperated, but, whether because she gave up or gave in, she agreed. I had gotten my teacher’s permission, so I immediately took out the chocolate I’d bought earlier. I’d left the other chocolates in the car, but I was thinking about eating these ones with Ms. Ayame, so I brought it.

“Huh!? Isn’t this from that famous shop!?”

“You know of it too, Ms. Ayame?”

That place was my favourite, and I thought it was a hidden shop, but apparently, Ms. Ayame knew about it too. Well, not a hidden shop per se: there was a sign on the front, so anyone walking past could notice that it was a store.

“I wanted to eat it just once, but with my low salary, it was a luxury item I could never, ever buy…”

Ms. Ayame was crying for some reason. This cram school was one where rich kids went to; a school that oozed luxury. Even so, was the teacher’s salary here that low?

Incidentally, this shop was definitely slightly expensive, but a normal working adult could pay for it fine. It wasn’t that eye-poppingly expensive. It was cheap enough that I could buy it with the salary I got in my previous life.

Well, my previous self definitely wouldn’t buy it, though. I would rather buy yuri goods or games than chocolate. That was about how much it cost.

“Then, please go ahead.”

“Thank you! *nom*… that’s good!”

I opened the box and presented it to her, and Ms. Ayame, her eyes sparkling, stuffed her cheeks and exclaimed loudly. Surprised, I hurriedly lifted my index finger to gesture for my teacher to quiet down.

“Ms. Ayame, you were quite loud.”

“I am sorry… it was just too delicious, so…”

I agreed that it was delicious, but she was overdoing it. It wasn’t that good, you know? However, no one would feel bad when food they themselves liked was praised as “Delicious” or someone said, “I like this”. At Ms. Ayame’s interest, I cheered up and was about to eat a bite…

“Is something delicious?”

“…”

Just as I was about to take a bite, I could hear an angry-sounding deep voice from behind me. Anyhow, it looked like I couldn’t eat the chocolate. 

　　～～～～～～～

Many different incidents happened at Raihoukai. I went to buy my prized favourite chocolates, then thought about eating them with Ms. Ayame, but because her voice was so loud, the cram school director found out. They said that food and drinks weren’t allowed during lessons and took the chocolate from me, so I didn’t eat any in the end.

I got it back once the lessons ended, but I had planned to eat them with Ms. Ayame as refreshments during the lessons, so I just gave them to her. There wasn’t that much in it, so if I split it with everyone, I could only give each person a small amount. Ms. Ayame and I could’ve probably eaten it together if we weren’t discovered, but… she had also been careless.

Once I got home, I’d still have the portion I bought for my family. I’d really love to go to that confiserie often, but…

When I went home, I was pressed on why I decided to buy so much chocolate on a whim. That was within expectations. So, I explained to them that I bought it as a return gift for the chocolates Ibuki gave me.

“Oh. For the Konoe family’s Ibuki-kun… Sakuya, if you’re that friendly with him, then what about just trying a betrothal with him…”

“Father! I said that I would absolutely refuse!”

It looked like dad still hadn’t given up on getting Ibuki and I married. That was what I thought he was doing. Maybe he thought that since I was a kid, he could mention it countless times and I’d eventually go with the idea. But, unfortunately! I would unconditionally refuse to be one of Ibuki’s marriage candidates. That’d rocket me straight towards destruction flags.

It wasn’t an individual problem in the first place, but a problem for the whole Kujou family. If I’d gotten betrothed to Ibuki or became his marriage candidate, that’d be a bad thing for the Kujou family. The family would fall at best, and there was a route where they all died at worst, so it was best not to get into bad relations with the Konoe family and Ibuki.

“Ibuki-kun gave her… hey… Yoshizane, is that true?”

Oi, mom… why’re you checking with my brother? Was the fact Ibuki gave me chocolates that strange? No, it was strange… I thought it was strange myself, so it wasn’t like I didn’t understand my mom’s feelings.

But what was up with her doubting what I said and asking my brother to confirm? Don’t you think that’d normally hurt a kid? I think I’d be plenty hurt if you asked someone else to confirm what I said because you had no faith in what I was saying. Much less, doing that towards a child at an impressionable age.

“It is true. She received the chocolate at the Five Norths Association salon, so many members of the Five Norths Association had seen it.”

“I see… but why would Ibuki-kun do that to someone like Sakuya…”

Oi… my mom said “someone like Sakuya” in the end. What a cruel mom. If I was a real first-grader, I’d be growing up as a spoiled, sulky kid, you know. Well, I had an adult’s mentality, so it wasn’t like I couldn’t understand my mom’s feelings, so it was fine, but…

Speaking of that, I felt that Sakuya’s mom was very different from how she was in-game. Her game mother felt like an altogether high-handed larger version of Sakuya. When they were together, they were loud and troublesome, like a supremely domineering and arrogant mother-daughter duo. I didn’t think this mom was like that. I could see her as a normal, nagging mother.

Would mom’s personality change from now on…? Did her personality change because I’d reincarnated as Sakuya…?

Speaking of that, mom only felt like the mom in-game right after my past life’s memories came back to me. She was like a normal mom now, disappointedly nagging, but… that was definitely my fault.

At any rate, I was able to properly explain why I had randomly bought the chocolate, so I ate the chocolates I had bought for my family and headed to my room.