Even though quite some time had passed, the rumours had shown no sign of stopping. People would normally start getting bored and the rumours would disappear with the appearance of the next topic. But it was like someone was constantly adding fuel to the fire so it wouldn’t burn down.
I had become friends with Kaya-san and other members of the Five Norths Association, like those who headed the Konoe, Kujou, Takatsukasa, and Tokudaiji factions or monryuu, so the previous problems weren’t touched on much. There were obviously people who didn’t agree or were dissatisfied, but their number had gradually thinned in this past month.
It had become a situation where the only way I could dispel the rumours was to show through my actions over time. That was why, whether at school or in the Five Norths Association, I always moved around with Ibuki, Enju, and Kaya-san, as well as Satsuki-chan and another related party, Azami-chan.
A lot of strange rumours about me had spread, but their credibility would decrease if the involved parties Ibuki and Azami-chan were friendly with me. The Tokudaiji family held a lower status than the Kujou family, so I could threaten them to stay silent and force them to obey. However, it was a big deal that the Konoe family, which held higher status than the Kujou family, or rather, was the top family, and the “Arrogant Prince” Ibuki were on good terms with me.
Neither I nor the Kujou family could threaten Ibuki or force him to bow down. The fact that Ibuki, who I had apparently beat up, was reasonably friendly with me should’ve weakened the basis of those disadvantageous rumours.
Of course, I couldn’t deny that I’d punched and kicked him. But if Ibuki and I weren’t holding grudges about it and considered it a non-issue, then others couldn’t complain. To prove it, I started talking with Ibuki more and walking around with him, but I wasn’t happy about that.
If I talked and walked with Ibuki in front of everyone, it’d be proof that neither of us considered me hitting and punching him as a problem. Thanks to that, the rumours involving Ibuki and Azami-chan had decreased in tone.
That didn’t mean that the situation had become normal again. That was nothing short of curious. How was that possible? No matter how you thought of it, it was strange that the rumours had gained a life of their own, but the people involved in them were already on good terms.
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“Rv’p pvaydtl vbyv vbl awxswap byhld’v ekle esod lhld vbswtb vbkp xwnb vkxl byp rypple yde yzz kdhszhle ryavklp yal qakldezu okvb lynb svbla.”
“Zsw yal vbkdjkdt vbyv yp olzz, casvbla…”
R’e ypjle xu casvbla qsa bkp srkdksd kd vbl nya tskdt bsxl, yde bl oyp vbkdjkdt vbl pyxl vbkdt. Rv oyp elqkdkvlzu vss wddyvwayz.
“Mbl qynv vbyv y xsdvb’p rypple yde vbl awxswa’p vyjld y zkql sq kvp sod xlydp vbyv…”
Fsxlsdl’p pralyekdt kv… vbyv’p obyv bl oydvle vs pyu. Yu casvbla eked’v ynvwyzzu pyu kv, vbswtb. El pbswzed’v pyu psxlvbkdt nyalzlpp. Zspbkgydl-jwd jdlo vbyv olzz. R jdlo vbyv vss, cwv xu vsdtwl sqvld pzkrrle yde R sqvld ynvle yduoyu, ps R bye dsvbkdt cwv yexkayvksd qsa bkx. Eyp bl alyzzu y pkmvb-tayela? Yyucl bl oyp ynvwyzzu vaydpxktayvle, usw jdso?
“Ju vbl oyu…”
“Tx?”
Yu casvbla, blyakdt xu xwvvlale osaep, vwadle vs qynl xl. R byed’v xlydv vs pyu psxlvbkdt vs bkx, vbswtb. Esaep bye fwpv vwxczle swv sq xu xswvb.
“Oh, no… it is nothing.”
“…alright?”
My brother didn’t question me further. He knew that I hadn’t planned to say anything, so he thought that asking me further was pointless. I hadn’t spoken on purpose, so asking further would get him nothing.
A month had passed since the rumours had been spread. Basically, that meant… it was nearly a month since my mom hadn’t spoken to me. My mom hadn’t said a single word to me after that.
I was still talking normally with my dad and brother. But I hadn’t spoken a word with mom. Even during mealtimes when we were all gathered together, my mom was the only one who didn’t open her mouth. She probably spoke to my dad and brother when I wasn’t around, but she made sure not to say a word when I was.
I had to do something about that too… Though I was thinking that, I didn’t know what to do. I thought that the issue would be resolved with time, but that didn’t seem true. Rather, I didn’t know what to do now that so much time had passed.
Haa… all these problems tired me out… I thought that someone like Lady Sakuya would be living a carefree life, but that wasn’t true at all. Rather, her life was filled with problems; maybe it’d be more relaxing to live as a slightly poor ordinary person. I’d often heard that rich people had worries that only other rich people understood, but I finally experienced what they were talking about now that I was in this position.
～～～～～～～
I got out of the car, entered the dojo, and lowered my head towards Master.
“Please take care of me today.”
“Mhm.”
As I was doing Hundred Earth style training, I suddenly got the idea to ask for Master’s opinion, so I opened my mouth.
“Master.”
“What?”
He hadn’t gotten mad and said “Don’t get distracted while training!” or something, so I quickly explained the situation. I’d already explained some details before, so all I had to do was tell him what happened afterward.
By the way, he’d really get mad at me if I called out to him during training where I really had to focus. I wasn’t stupid and had been following under the Hundred Earth style for quite a while, so I knew that much. I only called out to him because it was safe to talk now.
“…essentially, that has happened. What are your thoughts, Master?”
“First, there’s definitely someone spreading the rumours behind the scenes.”
Well, that was true. Anyone would think that once they knew just a little bit of the situation. The problem was who did it, why, and how the rumours could be dispelled.
“What do you think I should do?”
“If you want to immediately dispel the rumours, catch the culprit and denounce them. If you can’t do that, you have to get the two involved to spread information more proactively.”
Hmm… Master was thinking the same too… Then, I had to do it…
“If you want to take your time and be thorough, you’ll just have to show everyone through your own actions. Well, I’d also prepare that…”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Master, who had been thinking almost the same thing as me, had an idea, so I asked what it was.
“What, it’s nothing big. If an opponent challenges you to a war of information, you must accept their challenge.”
“Um…?”
I had a bad feeling about this. Speaking of, Master looked pretty evil. When he made that face, he wouldn’t say anything good.
“Don’t show through your actions, but instead compile convenient information and spread that. Then, find out who started the war of information and trap them.”
“Hmm…”
That was easy to say, but would it really turn out that well? Also, I didn’t really want to take revenge against the person spreading rumours or make them atone…
“You don’t believe me. If you leave it to me, your reputation will change, the culprit will be identified, and they’ll be chased down in three days. What’re you going to do?”
What’re you going to do? Well, not that… you’re making a seriously evil face, gramps… Come to think of it, ninja were originally spies and information gatherers who manipulated information. Ninja in games and anime were superhuman who freely used ninjutsu to fight, but it was actually a plain behind-the-scenes job.
“I did not plan to do such things to my opponent. Additionally, I do not wish to cause you trouble, Master…”
“Hmph… well, if you’re interested, tell me anytime.”
Why’d he sound so disappointed… Did he want to bully elementary schoolers? No matter how often he said “war between families”, my opponent was still in elementary school, you know? I didn’t want to do anything to the person who spread the rumours anyway. I was fine if the weird rumours about me disappeared and everyone talked to me normally.
But… the only thing I could do was wait and show through my own actions… there was no shortcut to gaining people’s trust, and it wasn’t easy to regain once lost. I knew that, but who knew first graders could suffer this much from human relationships… I was completely incompatible with the rich people’s world…
～～～～～～～
The next day, Azami-chan had said something strange when I was eating lunch with her group.
“Sakuya-sama! Could I come to your house for a play date?”
“…huh?”
My hands stopped at hearing Azami-chan’s words and I stiffened. Azami-chan? Coming to my house? For a play date?
“Could we come as well?”
Hearing that, Tsubaki-chan also said something. I’d already been talking with everyone for nearly a month, so Azami-chan’s group was able to converse with me like this. Akane-chan still acted a little stiff, but she was still a lot more friendly than she was previously. At the very least, I was able to eat lunch and talk with everyone like this.
“Tsubaki… restrain yourself at times like these… it is just big sister Sakuya and me…”
Azami-chan grumbled something, but I pretended that I didn’t hear.
“Oh… then, is everyone fine with this? It is an empty house, however…”
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
“I want to go too!”
Once I’d said that, everyone responded. I looked towards Akane-chan, who was the only one who hadn’t replied.
“Then… I will… go too.”
“Yes. Let us then have a play date together.”
Yay! Akane-chan was coming too. The situation would get troublesome if Akane-chan was the only one who hadn’t come. But Akane-chan didn’t seriously hate me, so I didn’t think that would happen.
Having a play date with the girls… hang on! I could agree that energetically, but what would we play? What did elementary school girls do? Play house? Marbles? Juggle beanbags? Cat’s cradle? Jump rope? I didn’t know…
“I was supposed to be the only one with big sister Sakuya, but…”
Azami-chan… you were still saying that… I definitely wanted the both of us to play together, but wasn’t it better to play with everyone? The problem was in what and how to play since I didn’t know at all…
I also had plenty of lessons daily. I had breaks originally, but all my free time had been occupied with Hundred Earth style training after Ibuki’s party. Master had said that the number of days and the time I was going still weren’t enough and that he wanted to increase it, so I couldn’t just return to my normal date and times.
“Then, when shall we do it?”
“Uh… my schedule’s full this week…”
“I am only available from the sixth to the tenth…”
Huh? Huh? What was this conversation? Were these people really first graders? Everyone had started checking their own schedules and stating when they were available… seriously… I thought elementary schoolers would be more like… “Let’s go to XX today!” “Yeah!” or something… I thought it’d be like that, but… these kids were following schedules perfectly planned for this whole year, you know…
“Hmm… then, let us do it on the Thursday the week after next.”
“Alright.”
“Yep. That day’s fine.”
Everyone checked their own plans and we decided the appointed day and place. Hmm… this was a conversation unimaginable for a couple of first graders meeting… it was an exchange that office workers would be having…
“Oh!”
“Huh? What is it? Is it inconvenient for you, Sakuya-chan?”
I’d suddenly said something, so Tsubaki-chan faced me and asked that worriedly.
“No… that is not so. Do not worry. Ohohoho…”
Uh-oh… with my current schedule, that day was a Hundred Earth style training day… Putting the other lessons aside, could I really just tell Master that I was going out with my friends and ask for a break that day… if I did, maybe I wouldn’t get out safely…
If he just got mad, then I was fine. The problem was that my days were completely filled with Hundred Earth style training, and I would definitely die if he ran me into the ground to make up for missing one day of training.
But now that we’d finally decided on a day that was good for everyone, they were all talking about how they were looking forward to it and stuff. I couldn’t pour cold water on top of that. As I was thinking that it couldn’t be helped, I readied myself to tell Master.
They’re finally going to find out that she practices Hundred Earth style, huh? Pretty sure her Master is going to prepare something special on that day.