Chapter 11: Five Norths Association

Once the teacher had finished talking and they were dismissed, Ibuki went straight to Enju.
Ibuki and Enju were in the same class, but it looked like that girl was in another one.

“Oi, Enju! Let’s go look for that girl!”

“Haha.
Ibuki, you really are interested in Kujou-san.”

The same Ibuki who didn’t show a shred of interest towards the girls around him, no matter how much they fawned over him, had been talking about Sakuya almost daily ever since he went to Touka Academy’s interview.
Enju thought that was strange, and agreed to go meet her.

Kujou Sakuya; that girl was different from the others.
It wasn’t just because she was the lady of the Kujou family, which ranked after Ibuki’s family.
She unashamedly expressed her opinions to Ibuki, who everyone admired and obeyed.
Even his close friend Enju didn’t normally say things that bluntly.

Of course, Ibuki would listen if Enju was the one saying it.
But whether he’d change his attitude was a different matter.
If Enju were to say things bluntly, there might be results, but he’d have to be careful with the backlash.
There were also many cases where Ibuki didn’t change at all.
Enju understood that bluntly saying every single time would be pointless, so normally, he only gently warned Ibuki.
He was only blunt during important times. 

But that girl called Kujou Sakuya said things even Enju wouldn’t dare say.
And Ibuki reacted differently than when other people warned him.
Up until now, if anyone aside from Enju gave him weird warnings, he’d aggressively defeat his opponent.
That ‘defeat’ didn’t mean wielding violence.

For example, he would thoroughly hound his opponent on their weaknesses and mistakes, as well as reason with them until they couldn’t say a word.
“Why did you do this?” and “Did you really have to do that?”; Ibuki used that reasoning and the foundation of his opponent’s warning to ask what the heck it was and thoroughly deny each and every point they brought up.

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Odfw qswde vbyv pvaydtl.

“Fs vbld… kq ol’al plyanbkdt qsa bla, es usw jdso obyv nzypp pbl’p kd?”

“Mbyv’p obu ol’zz qkde swv dso.”

Rcwjk elnzyale vbyv nsdqkeldvzu, yde Odfw psqvzu pktble.
Rcwjk oypd’v yd keksv; ayvbla, bl oyp iwkvl pbyar.
Tl oyp y xyd sq ynvksd yde bye vbl okzz vs qszzso vbaswtb okvb bkp elnkpksdp.
Jwv, vblal olal yzps snnypksdp obld bl yppwxle vbyv lhlauvbkdt oswze ts bkp oyu.

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Sktbv dso, yzz vbl nzypplp olal pvyavkdt vs zlyhl.
Ohld kq bl aydesxzu plyanble qsa Fyjwuy, pbl xktbv’hl lmkvle bla nzyppassx clqsal bl’e lhld qswde bla, pkdnl bl eked’v jdso oblal pbl oyp.

Rcwjk clzklhle, qsa ds ryavknwzya alypsd, vbyv kq bl oydvle vs xllv psxlsdl, bl nswze xllv vblx.
Rv bye clld zkjl vbyv wr wdvkz dso.
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Jwv vbyv oswzed’v osaj dso.
Tl byed’v rasxkple Fyjwuy bl’e xllv bla, dsa eke bl pwxxsd bla, yde vbl pvweldvp olal yzz eskdt vblka sod vbkdt.
Jlnywpl sq vbyv, kv oswze cl yzxspv kxrsppkczl qsa Rcwjk vs xydytl vs xllv bla kd vbl xkeezl sq vbkp nasoe fwpv clnywpl bl oydvle vs.

“Tyy… Rcwjk… Iwfsw-pyd’p kd Uzypp 3.”

“Alright.
Then, let’s go to Class 3.”

As he said that, he casually walked toward Class 3.
The class divisions were posted on large papers.
If anyone was suspicious, it’d be normal for them to check.
But there was no one who was willing to do that towards Ibuki.
That was another harmful effect of the environment he’d lived in.

There was almost no one he himself would go to meet.
Instead, if he had business, he’d summon them and they’d come.
So, feeling anxious about others, worrying about others, and looking for people; these were things he fatally couldn’t do.
That would be bad enough even if there weren’t any particular problems involved.

You’d think that Ibuki would have had the opportunity to notice some problem and fix it, but unfortunately, he didn’t.
It isn’t good if everything goes your way.
But, Ibuki himself didn’t know that, and the still-young Enju didn’t know how to explain to him and put it into words to warn him.

“Over here.”

They had arrived in front of Class 3 without needing to push through the crowd.
Because Ibuki and Enju were walking together, this crowded hallway became even more crowded.
In Touka Academy, there weren’t any idiots who’d block the way of a child of a Five Norths family.
Especially Ibuki and Enju, whose faces were widely recognised in high society.
there wasn’t a single person in Touka Academy who didn’t know their faces.

The pair who’d arrived at Class 3 took a peek inside.
The person they were looking for, Kujou Sakuya, was still there.
If it was Ibuki, he’d want to end this fast and immediately execute his next action.
He was rash, or rather, hated wasting time; that kind of person.

Compared to that, Sakuya was just calmly sitting in her chair, unmoving.
The classrooms, hallway, and other places were buzzing with noise, but the area around Sakuya was a peaceful space where it felt like all that sound disappeared.

Ibuki and Enju were entranced at that sight.
They could only look, unmoving; the sight unreal like a scene in a painting or movie.
If it was Ibuki, he would have burst into the classroom and called to her.
Even so, Ibuki stood there for who knows how long.

As the noise around her quieted down, Sakuya calmly stood up and was about to leave the classroom.
Ibuki and Enju, who were in front of the door looking at that sight, made eye contact with Sakuya at the exit.

“Oi, look at me.”

“…”

So brusquely… he said that, unlike the usual Ibuki.
His gaze was slightly averted.
He couldn’t look directly at Sakuya.

“Oi! Don’t ignore me! You can hear me, right?!”

But, without a single change in expression, Sakuya went to walk past him.
Normally, that’d be impossible.
There wasn’t a single girl before who’d ignored Konoe Ibuki calling out to them.
Instead, they went to him of their own accord, even though he didn’t call them.
Also, if Ibuki replied to them even slightly, they’d scream excitedly just because of that.

Even so, Ibuki tried to start a conversation with this Kujou Sakuya, but she didn’t reply to him, and purposefully ignored him as if he didn’t exist.
Unable to take it, he blocked Sakuya’s path and called to her once again.
Sakuya made a completely annoyed face, and opened her mouth.

“*sigh*… I have told you that “Oi” is not my name, correct?”

“Ku… kuku… you’re the first person who acted like that towards Ibuki.
Now I know why he’s so interested in you.”

Enju tried hard to hold back his sudden laughter.  Ibuki, who’d just felt annoyed no matter how many girls chased after him, now experienced the reverse, where he was chasing a girl and she considered him annoying.

He didn’t think Ibuki’s feelings were love.
At least, not right now…

It was unmistakable that Ibuki was interested in Sakuya, but he didn’t think those emotions were love or affection.
For now, he was probably just curious and annoyed at this person who was completely different from the other people he’d encountered.

But… he thought.
For Ibuki to be so interested in a girl… no, in a human being, was unprecedented.
If their relationship progressed even further, or…

As he was imagining that, Enju noticed that at the same time, he strangely didn’t want to see that happen.
But, more than anything, he wanted to see what would happen with this interesting development. 

“Now, please don’t look that annoyed.
We just wanted to accompany you a little.
Kujou Sakuya-san.”

“Hey! Come with me!”

“*sigh*…”

Enju said that, and Sakuya, somewhat unwillingly, agreed to come with them.
Like so, the three of them walked around Touka Academy.

　　～～～～～～～

The place Ibuki and Enju brought Sakuya to was a room with a splendidly fine door.
Sakuya stared at the crest engraved on that door.

“This is…”

The room’s door, which was far grander than the principal’s office, was decorated with a hanging peony flower in the middle of a wisteria crest.
The crests of the Five Norths families were either peonies or wisterias.
In other words, the crest engraved on this door combined both the peony and the wisteria crests.

It was a little confusing and hard to see, but this crest was the Five Norths crests, a symbol that inspired awe not only inside Touka Academy, but also among the people standing at the top of the country.
Not just in Touka Academy’s elementary, middle school, highschool, and university, but even after graduation, this crest, called the “Hanging Wisteria Peony”, had immense influence.

“Do you know nothing?! This is the Five Norths Association salon.”

Saying that, Ibuki opened the door.
Inside the gorgeous room, upperclassmen were relaxing.

“We’re here!”

“Aah, Ibuki-kun, welcome.”

“Greetings, Konoe-sama.”

As Ibuki unhesitatingly said that, he entered the room.
Noticing that, the upperclassmen greeted him.

“Hello, everyone.”

“Enju-kun came too, it seems.”

“It’s been a while, Enju-kun.”

Following that, Enju greeted the people in the room too as he entered.
Everyone already knew each other, so there weren’t any introductions and it was just friendly.
But, in the Five Norths families, there were very few families of the same rank as the Konoe and Takatsukasa families.
Most of them were from the Seven Shining or lower, and while they were upperclassmen and therefore, interacted with them casually, there was a clear difference in power.

“Oh? And this girl is?”

“I am sorry.
I am called Kujou Sakuya.
Please treat me well, everyone.”

They looked at the girl who entered last, after Ibuki and Enju… everyone in the Five Norths Association was captivated by her, and couldn’t respond.
It was unthinkable that the person who’d just entered today was a first-year.
As a sixth-year, you had acquired distinction and culture.
Even those sixth-years thought that Sakuya’s conduct was far too beautiful.

“Oh~… you’re Sakuya-chan.
When I heard about you from Yoshizane, I thought he was just an idiot brother, but after seeing the real person, I have to agree.”

“Yeah, me too…”

The upperclassmen were nodding in agreement.
From what Kujou Yoshizane said, his little sister, Lady Sakuya, was an amazing person.
But, those stories were common, and it wasn’t uncommon for families to exaggerate because of their own favoritism.
Parents would say their child was awfully beautiful, but when actually seeing them, they were truly awful; those kinds of things were normal here.

But what about that? When actually meeting her, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that her older brother, Kujou Yoshizane’s stories were in fact modest.
Her speech and conduct were both elegant, at a level unthinkable of a first-year.

“Brother?”

“Aah, you came, Sakuya.”

Then, Sakuya found her brother, and tilted her head.
Why was her brother here? No, he was the eldest son of the Kujou family, one of the Five Norths families, so of course his name was entered into the Five Norths Association.
She had also heard about the Five Norths Association from before, so of course she’d know about it.
That wasn’t the problem…

“Today is the day the newcomers from the Five Norths families debut at the Five Norths Association.”

“Huh…? I was not told of something like that, however?”

The Five Norths Association held an absurd amount of power in Touka Academy.
Even the teachers and principal couldn’t oppose them.
It could even be said that Touka Academy was made up of donations from the Five Norths Association.
From establishment to the present, the school had always had aid from the Five Norths Association, so there was no one who’d dare oppose them.

Debuting at that Five Norths Association was a rather important event in itself.
Even so, Sakuya hadn’t heard a single thing about it.

“Our parents had told me to talk about this to you.”

Even so, she couldn’t understand why.
She knew why her parents wouldn’t tell her.
Then, why would her brother not mention it? That explanation was unsatisfactory. 

“I told Ibuki-kun to escort you, Sakuya.”

“——huh?”

At her brother’s shocking confession, Sakuya stifled her surprise so no one would see.

“You said that you and Ibuki-kun had bad compatibility, right? So… you know.”

It wasn’t “So… you know,” at all.
Sakuya understood that her brother had cared too much, and so did something unnecessary.
Once again, she was stricken by despair but hid it so people wouldn’t notice.
She wanted to say that because of her brother, who she thought was her ally, caring too much, she was suffering more and more and being driven into a corner.
But, she swallowed those words.

“I-I see… I am sorry for making you worry as well as causing you trouble, brother.”

“It’s fine.
I thought it’d be nice if you could spend your time here in Touka Academy peacefully.”

At her brother’s further unsettling statement, Sakuya’s face secretly twitched once again.