Why was Master here? Master said that he didn’t have any other disciples apart from me. Even so, Master seemed to have some business with the Konoe family?

“Oh? Sakuya-chan, do you know Momochi-sama?”

“My unworthy disciple.”

“He is my master…”

Sorry for being an unworthy disciple… this crazy gramps…

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“Well! So that’s how it is! It’s no wonder…”

Mrs. Konoe nodded as if she understood something. I had no idea what she understood.

“Oi! Sakuya! What’re you talking about!? Hurry and go!”

Mbld Rcwjk eayttle xl yzsdt okvb bkx. R oyp xsal kdvlalpvle kd obu Yypvla oyp blal vbyd kd Rcwjk…

“Rcwjk, ts okvb Odfw-jwd qsa y xkdwvl. R byhl psxl cwpkdlpp okvb Fyjwuy-nbyd.”

“Ebyv!? R caswtbv Fyjwuy!”

Gv Yap. Isdsl’p osaep, Rcwjk zssjle pwarakple yde pdyrrle yv bla. Jwv yp vbl xsx, pbl oyp vbl pvasdtlpv. Rcwjk nswzed’v okd ytykdpv bla.

Ohld vbl “Gaastydv Vakdnl” kd vbl tyxl nswzed’v okd ytykdpv Yap. Isdsl yde oyp vynvqwz. Fs vbkp qkapv-tayela “Bdqsavwdyvl Vakdnl” nswzed’v okd ytykdpv Yap. Isdsl.

“R’zz alvwad Fyjwuy-nbyd yqvlaoyaep, ps rzlypl zlyhl!”

“Bw…”

Yap. Isdsl pyke vbyv, yde Rcwjk cynjle sqq. Fll. R vbswtbv vbyv’e byrrld. Rv’e cl lypkla kq bl eked’v alpkpv yde kdpvlye scklekldvzu alrzkle, cwv…

“Absolutely! Sakuya! You absolutely can’t just go back home! You have to… you have to come!”

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He was clinging onto me… like a small dog holding onto my sleeve and growling. Sh*t… even though he was Ibuki… don’t make that face! Don’t look at me like that! It was just a little… just a little dizzying! I loved puppies and kittens since my last life!

“I understand. I will not go back home, so please do as you are told.”

“You’re sure? You have to be absolutely sure!”

Hey, stop insisting! Were you a puppy that wanted to play!?, Puppies and kittens kept forcing you to play forever and ever, even when you got tired and stopped. The current Ibuki reminded me of that.

“I said that I understand. Hurry and go!”

“—yes!”

Once I yelled, Ibuki straightened and left with Enju. They were probably going to Ibuki’s room or somewhere like that.

“Hmm… Ibuki seems to be quite the henpecked child.”

“Huh? …oh!”

Uh-oh… I’d yelled at Ibuki in front of Mrs. Konoe… Had I done that? Had I actually, really done that?

“Oh, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Ibuki was at fault this time, and for him to listen to you, Sakuya-chan, is quite the accomplishment. And for you to have said your true thoughts, Sakuya-chan… right? Won’t you marry my Ibuki after all? Right? Sakuya-chan?”

“If we are discussing fiancés and engagement, I must refuse.”

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I made my refusal clear. I wouldn’t respond vaguely so that Mrs. Konoe could refer to it. I would still say I was clearly against it even if that meant Mrs. Konoe would like me less. I wouldn’t give a vague reply that could leave ill will afterwards.

“Such a clear statement~. I’m getting more and more interested.”

Don’t take interest! Or at least don’t make me marry a cheeky brat like Ibuki! I’m begging you, so please!

“Well, it’s fine. It will happen by degrees”.

“No, I refuse.”

By degrees meant there’d still be another time. I would absolutely refuse being Ibuki’s fiancée. I wouldn’t give a vague reply or be evasive. I would firmly refuse no matter what happened.

“Then… which is Sakuya-chan learning from Momochi-sama?”

“Which?”

What did “which” mean?

“All of it.”

“Oh, I see… so that’s how she captured Kuwahara Katsura so cleanly.”

“Huh? Huh?”

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I was the only one who didn’t get it. What were they talking about?

“Have you already forgotten? The Hundred Earth style dance is the assumed form taken on to hide from society. You are the one who best knows that it’s true form is the Hundred Earth style martial arts, right?”

“Oh… oh~…”

Come to think of it, it was like that… That kind of background was there too… All of it was just daily insane training to me, so it had become normal.

“Is it okay to simply tell people that the Hundred Earth-style dance is merely an assumed form?”

But that was the reason I didn’t notice immediately. If the martial arts was a confidential secret, was it really okay to tell Mrs. Konoe so easily?

“That’s why I told Ibuki and Enju-kun to go over there. But of course your auntie knows, so you don’t need to worry.”

“I do not think that the word “auntie” fits you, Konoe-sama. You could pass for a big sister.”

Looking at the current Mrs. Konoe I couldn’t think of her as an “auntie”. She was probably younger than my mom. Since she was a mother with a kid in first grade, the youngest she could’ve been was in her twenties. I didn’t know how old she actually was, but she was definitely very young.

“Now~! As expected of Sakuya-chan! You understand well! And yet Ibuki and Enju-kun just call me “auntie”!”

“Hahaha…”

The topic of conversation changed even though I brought that up myself. It was true that Mrs. Konoe was like an efficient older sister, but this wasn’t the time to get sidetracked. 

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“Oh~… then why is Master in your dwelling?”

“There were actually a lot of things going on behind the scenes to save you during the previous chaos, you know? Momochi-sama obtained the video that played on the screen and those voice files. But I didn’t expect you’d be a disciple of his, Sakuya-chan~.”

…hm? Video and voice files? Obtained? Maybe… no way… had he been doing something ninja-like? Like hacking into somewhere to steal the data?

No, no… there was no way…

That was a normal crime, and no matter how much of a martial arts master he was, he wouldn’t actually do something so like a ninja in anime or manga. He wouldn’t, surely?

“Black-clothed people from the Touin family played that processed data. I defeated and captured them in the auditorium broadcast room. That scuffle wasn’t included in the task, so we’re discussing it now.”

“…”

As I thought… this gramps… was really a crazy gramps, right?

“Master… you were not doing something illegal, correct?”

“*sip sip sip*…”

Staying silent and drinking his tea… he had absolutely done something illegal. He definitely had…

“I would not like to be introduced as your disciple once you are caught for trespassing!?”

“Such tomfoolery. I would not be caught.”

Why was he so confident…? Don’t look down on security systems now, okay? In my house, if you carelessly opened a door or window or even touched something, a sensor would detect it and automatically alert the police, you know?

“Of course, I would not fail… and if I do, I can at least ensure my own end.”

“——guh!?”

Master’s words and that spirit… made me shiver. He said it so lightly, but… I knew from his spirit that his resolve wasn’t light. Master saying he’d ensure his own end meant… just thinking about it made me shudder…

“Nevertheless, you became a disciple of the Hundred Earth-style, Sakuya~. Momochi-sama haa even permitted you to become his disciple, I see? He will normally not grant it no matter how many times one pleads, though?”

In the first place, were there any strange kids who wanted to be disciples of this crazy gramps? I didn’t think they’d last with just the dancing, you know? I often endured those types of things at first. It was normal for me now, so I didn’t think anything of it, but… that was just because my sense for it had gotten weird…

“Well… putting aside the facade, there is no successor for the true side… to the point where you’re the last disciple I can entrust everything to.”

“Master…”

For some reason… I felt embarrassed when he suddenly looked at me so kindly and said that. It was like a grandpa looking at his real grandchild.

Wait, was I getting emotional!? Was I stupid? Who was I kidding? Why would I have to take over for this crazy gramps? Make someone else do it!

Oh, but there was no one else to take over him. I could understand…

But still, why did I have to take over for that crazy gramps!? My thoughts were in an endless loop! But…

“You have… provided your assistance at that time, Master… Thank you for that.”

This and that were different. I didn’t care about that right now. Everyone had worked hard behind the scenes… For this many people to work hard to save me…

Kaya-san, Satsuki-chan, Azami-chan and the others who helped on the surface weren’t the only ones helping. The Konoe and Takatsukasa families helped too, as well as even Master, who helped from a place I didn’t know about. I was here now because so many people supported me. I couldn’t forget that.

I was happy I came here today. I was happy I got to listen to Master. He never said anything like that when I went to the dojo. If Mrs. Konoe hadn’t told me, I would’ve never known that he helped me behind the scenes. I was grateful to Ibuki and Enju for that.

“Hmph! In the first place, you’re filled with openings. I’m thinking about making your training from now on much harder.”

“Yes! I am in your care!”

Master turned away from embarrassment. He was easy to read. Wasn’t it bad for a ninja to have expressions that readable? But… just for right now…

“Oh! Right. I promised to return you to Ibuki, Sakuya-chan. Sorry for keeping you here. Then, I’ll show you to Ibuki’s room.”

Mrs. Konoe said that as if she just remembered, then instructed a nearby servant to guide me. Maybe we’d talked for a little too long.

“Thank you too, Mrs. Konoe. I am happy that we were able to converse and I heard about what Master did.”

“No, you are welcome. But if you want to thank me, won’t you marry into our family as Ibuki’s wife?”

“I absolutely refuse.”

I really had to be constantly on guard with Mrs. Konoe. It looked like she wanted Ibuki and I to marry no matter what.

How was this like in the game? In the game “Blooming Flowers in Love”, Lady Sakuya and Ibuki were marriage candidates. But who decided on that and how? Did the fathers decide themselves, thinking that they could merge companies? Did the in-game Mrs. Kujou push for the marriage? The adults wouldn’t decide to make them marriage candidates just because Lady Sakuya was chasing after Ibuki.

Without the adults conversing, agreeing, and deciding, the decision couldn’t have been made. Then… at that time, what did the in-game Mrs. Konoe think of making Lady Sakuya Ibuki’s marriage candidate… that wasn’t really discussed in the game “Love Flowers”.

Lady Sakuya was just a minor rival, so that factored into it, but… I didn’t have much information to help me safely survive in this world.

“Oh, and also… I will keep the fact that you are studying the Hundred Earth style a secret, so rest assured. Big sister’s also going to keep quiet until you properly announce it, Sakuya-chan.”

“Huh? Thank you?”

Why? Why did I have to keep it a secret? Was it something like being that crazy gramps’ successor was embarrassing? Or maybe I’d get swamped with requests and that’d trouble me?

Well, it was fine. It was the same as telling Mrs. Konoe to keep quiet that I was studying under the Hundred Earth style. I’d keep quiet too. I wouldn’t needlessly inform others, and I’d certainly be facing multiple inconveniences if people knew me as that crazy gramps’ successor. Thinking that, I said farewell to Mrs. Konoe and Master. Then…

“I have kept you waiting, Konoe-sama, Takatsukasa-sama… huh?”

Guided by the Konoe family’s servant, I arrived at Ibuki’s room. I knocked on the door, entered immediately, greeted them, and then…

“Ya! Wait! Wrong!”

“No, Kujou-san! This was an accident!”

“Oh~… it appears that I have interrupted something, so I will return home now…”

What I saw when I opened the door… was Ibuki and Enju, half-naked, their bodies intertwined. It looked like the BL ship Ibuki x Enju was really true. And Ibuki was below while Enju was rolling Ibuki’s sleeves up. Apparently Ibuki was the bottom and Enju was the top.

“Then, farewell…”

“No! Wait!”

“Kujou-san! This is a misunderstanding!”

I wanted to escape the unpleasant atmosphere, but in the end, Ibuki and Enju cornered me and made a ton of excuses. Apparently the moment Enju stood up, he had fallen down on Ibuki, who then spilled his drink on Enju…

Ibuki had also fallen, and his drink had spilled too, so they hurriedly removed their clothes to check if they hadn’t been burnt.

Hmm… these were excuses one had regularly heard. I really wanted to say You think something that rare would happen so conveniently!, but the both of them were just making excuses, so I pretended that I understood.

Then I asked why he’d called me to the Konoe house, but it looked like he didn’t have any business with me. If anything, he just wanted to play with me… he gave me that ridiculous answer.

Calling me and then showing me a scene of both of them tangled together… did these guys want to come out to me about their sexuality and relationship?