Chapter 226 (2/2)
But after dinner, Kisshouin-san’s girls finally called me out for a chat
“How dare you show Reiksama such disrespect!”
“Unforgiveable!”
“It’s because of you that Reiksaely!”
After a lengthy session of being chewed out by thean to smile darkly
Scary…!
“Satoirlfriend in Second Year”
“Eh-!? How’d you know that!?” I blurted
“Do not ht of our information network,” I arned
“It seems that you intend on buy her a souvenir in Paris,” somebody else continued
“Matching accessories, was it?” another mused
So this hy people feared the secret police…!
The ring of girls around htened
My back was to the wall, with nowhere to run
“You have a lovely girlfriend,” I was told neutrally
“Ah, well…”
“I trust you have not forgotten that Reiksama’s cousin Ririnsan is in Second Year”
“And that Ririnsan adores Reiksama”
“It wouldn’t take much to break you up”
They were taking her hostage…
“If you understand, then have a good think about your attitude towards Reiksama”
“If you want to enjoy the rest of your high school days, that is”
“Your abuse has greatly saddened Reiksama!”
“I understand,” I said “I a I’m very sorry”
It was never a good idea to go against a group of girls, so I obediently lowered my head
“By the as that white stuff that Kisshouin-san threw at me?”
Even withit off
I could actually still feel some, so I wanted to take a shower already
“…It was salt”
“Hah? Salt!? Where did you get so much salt?”
She couldn’t have brought it with her froe fist full, after all
Even Kisshouin-san wouldn’t
But then where did she get it?
“W-, Who cares about that!” one of theed the subject
“More i Reiksama the respect that she deserves!”
“Just who do you think Reiksama is!?”
“Eh…?”
Well, she was obviously…
“My friend”
Kisshouin Reika, that soft-hearted, earnest weirdo with a weakness to praise, was my friend
I’ers, and I’m not picky about who I interact with either
That said, when I entered the high school section andto be class rep withht
Kisshouin Reika──
ABoss of all the girls
Rumour had it that if you crossed her, her subordinates would have you disappear into the abyss…
Well, jokes aside, the point was that a ‘class representative’ was just a glorified odd jobs position
nobody would believe that a ly clean up after their class Not only that, but I wasn’t looking forward to bending backwards to avoid hurting her pride and feelings
While I was feeling rather gloomy, Akizawa suddenly called out toto be class rep with Kisshouin-san?”
“Uh, yeah Hey, speaking of which, aren’t you supposed to be pretty close with her?”
I vaguely recalled theuess? It’s more like irl that came to the festival? Uh, fukioksan…?”
“Yup”
Akizawa’s childhood friend was a prientle ya her a childhood friend, but she was probably his girlfriend
“Kisshouin-san and I went to craether in priot to know Sakurako too, and now the two are best friends”
“Ohhh~?”
He just called Kisshouin Reika his friend without batting an eyelid
This guy was kind of a her soht up”
“What are you talking about?”
“Since ere kids her ive her soht back up Even Sakurako says that as long as you give her food, that girl… Ah, never to her without being biased She’s easy to ood girl”
With that said, he left the classrooirl, huh?
I considered withholding ement for the moment
…But as if a member of the Pivoine, and Kisshouin Reika no less, would be the type to cheer up just by eating soan my tenure as class representative with Kisshouin-san
I have to ad there as her followers carried out her ith nothing e I had of ‘Kisshouin Reika’ but e began working she proactively gathered the forms from everybody, and would head off to hand them in at the Student Council like it was a matter of course
She even replaced the classroo honest she was actually doing a better job of it than I was
Akizaas right; I really shouldn’t have judged by appearances
Another happy surprise was that having her around made form collections abnormally efficient
Even the newly enrolled Externals knew that going against her was a bad idea, to say nothing of the Internals
Co went crazy smooth for us
Thank you, Kisshouin-san
Of course I couldn’t just leave everything to her But when I told her that I’d take the forms to the StuCo room, she just snatched them out of my hands
Uh, hey, you don’t have to panic like that I’
Ah She just tripped over e onto the for earnest…?
I had the feeling that she had so back to those Externals, it was clear froe wall between the Internals and theh
Still, with Zui’ran’s unique traditions, maybe it was harder to assimilate here
As the class representatives it was our job to reach out to theether
I liked the idea, but was it even possible to guarantee that ether in the cafeteria? I was also worried that the upperclass their own corner of the cafeteria
When I voiced my concerns, Kisshouin-san just proudly flashed the red peony badge on her chest, and everything was resolved
Ooh, as expected of a Pivoine!
When I clapped my hands, the corners of her irl actually pretty weak to flattery?
That same day we stayed back after school to tally up the print-outs
Kisshouin was tapping away at her flashi+ly decorated calculator when she let out a tired sigh
“Are you feeling unwell?” I asked
“Eh…? Ah, no, I ah
Her trade a little flat
I suddenly recalled what Akizawa said about giving her sweets
After fishi+ng throughfor a while I pulled out a cheap Tirolian chocolate
Would she even eat this?
I decided to test it anyway
“Kisshouin-san, would you like some chocolate?”
“My! This is a Tirolian chocolate!” she said as a sparkle returned to her eyes “Oh? Have I seen this flavour before…?”
So she knehat they were
“Apparently it’s region-liion-liotten those existed… What a grievous oversight…!”
Eh? What was?
I watched her clench her fist in regret for a while before she accepted the chocolate from me and popped it in her ed into a blissful smile
“As expected of a limited edition Yummy…!”
“I see Good for you”
The chocolates were pretty s to finish
She looked a little forlorn that it was over, so I asked her if she wanted another one
“I am fine One was plenty Thank you for the treat”
“Are you sure? I still have a bunch left, so you don’t have to hold back”
“…Truly? Well, if you say as much, could I trouble you for just one more?”
And that was how Kisshouin-san happily ate another region-li how happily she’d eat cheap chocolate
She was part of the Pivoine so I would have expected her to befrom co
“Thank you very much, Satoenerous heart”
“Huh? Oh, nah, you’re exaggerating It was just a bit of chocolate”
“My, I have heard that a bit of chocolate has saved soet its worth”
We’re s in thefinished her 10 yen chocolate, Kisshouin-san produced a rather flashy-looking thiain with renewed vigour
Just what the hell was in that chocolate
Akizawa hadn’t been exaggerating
A few days later, Kisshouin-san approachedup to e into my hand
“Quickly! Hide it before we are spotted! Now! DEWIT!”
Eh… Kisshouin-san was an illegal goods dealer?
It was against et involved with that…
I snuck a look into the package and saw Tirolian chocolates decorated with cute al
“What’s this about?”
“Shh! Be silent! Think of this as a sign of ht? It was soh special channels”
“…The black market?” I tried
“The internet”
That’s just mail delivery, Kisshouin-san
“If you needaway
For aled away in cuffs
Be careful you don’t get stopped by the police, Kisshouin-san~
As we continued working together as class representatives, I gradually began to realise that despite her lofty position and social power, the girl herself was fun to talk to, and a little bit air-headed
I began to see how far you I could push her before she got angry, but the ansas ‘pretty far’
Even if she did get a little y and a dessert would be all it took for her to say,
“Honestly, Satoht?”
The Queen of the Pivoine eak to bribery
One day I caught her staring at my hair
“Is that your natural hair colour? It looks like you have used a little dye”
“Ah, you realised?”
“That is against the rules,” she grinned at me
“Well what about your curls, Kisshouin-san? Isn’t that a perm?”
“These are natural,” she insisted
Liar
Closer to the root it wasn’t curly at all Geez, no choice
“Please find it in your heart to overlook ht thistowards her
“You are quite the sinful one,” she said, grinning wickedly like soistrate
The Queen of the Pivoine could be bought over with a 100 Yen lolly
I continued poking fun of her after that
One day I was rabbed by each arht were the Pivoine Queen’s closest aides, Kazami Serika and I towards Reiksa unacceptable”
“You had better not forget your place”
…Was I going to disappear into the abyss!?
Could it be that e was because of these two?
One day Kisshouin-san asked me a difficult question
“Sato me?” she frowned
Geeehhhh! Why did she know that!?
I pretended to be calm as I asked her where she heard that
Apparently it had been Mizusaki that had told her
Why would you tell the person herself, Mizusaki!?
Was that guy an idiot!?
Kisshouin-san had quite a few nicknames
Most of the “Maki Maki Makkie” and “D(olly Gi)rll”, but the one we used the hter and destruction
It was originally because of her curled hair, and how scary she was supposed to be when she got angry, but obviously I couldn’t tell that to Kisshouin-san herself!
But then after the name became popular, ondered that if she was Kali, as the shi+va she was supposed to be dancing on!?
Could it be one of those two…!?
Everyone wondered, but nobody had the guts to coh to want to reatest powers in the Pivoine
All of us wanted to graduate safely…
“You okay, Satomi?” Mizusaki suddenly asked fro PE together
“Why are you asking?”
“You’re class representative with that Kisshouin Reika girl, right? Have you been having a lot of problems?”
“None at all”
It seeood iiven her ie
I used to be the same way after all
Still…
“She’s probably not the kind of girl you think she is Kisshouin-san takes being a class representative s her own thiave litter on it”
I basically regurgitated what Akizawa told me
“…Huh”
“Ah! That reminds me! Why the hell did you tell her about her nickna my lifespan here!”
“Yeah, ht after I said it”
What the hell! Beto disappear into the abyss at this rate!
For the athletics carnival she dressed up as a mouse, and then for the school festival she dressed up as a sheep butler without cos
By this point I didn’t find her scary at all
But unlike the girl herself, her followers flooded us with co dressed up as a mouse!”
Even after she persuaded her friends, when they saw the ain
“A grey mascot costume!? She’ll look like a dirtied youkai of poverty!”
“She can’t wear a iant rat!?”
“A giant rat…? They’re going to turn Reiksama into a coypu!”
“At least try and aim for a cute hamster!”
But Kisshouin-san didn’t seem too unhappy when she had stood in front of the mirror and waved her butt around to rey dress and mouse ears
It wasn’t much of a costume but the event was a success in the end, so all ell
I h…
When she put on the sheep ears for the school festival, we got a lot of custo scary, as well as a number of VIPs thanks to Her Majesty’s connections
With the three great powers of the Pivoine there, the hallway became packed with students
Thanks to that, Café Sheep Dolly had incredible sales As the class rep, I couldn’t be happier
The death glares fro else of note was that at some point Iwamuro became acquainted with her too It was a completely unexpected co into 3rd year I ended up with Kisshouin-san again Not only that, the two of us were the class representatives again
What was dangerous was that Kazami and Imamura were in the same class too, but luckily there was nobody else troublesome
More importantly, with Kisshouin-san here, nobody was reckless enough to voluntarily start trouble
I had thought the year was going to be s suspiciously
The dude see his hardest to curl into a ball
“What’s wrong, Tagaki?”
If I was reaki was an External Student that had joined in high school
“If so’s up, you can tell aki turned his head here and there toan his story
Huh Couy who accidentally ran histhat happened near the end of our 2nd year
Takamichi Wakaba was an External Student on a scholarshi+p
Soraffitied her locker, and so
In the end it turned out that Kisshouin-san had been resting in the infir back to class when she noticed the locker
Coincidentally, classes had just ended, so other students had spotted her standing by the locker as they left their classroo the vandalis of Takamichi Wakaba, her position at Zui’ran was a little aard
While Zui’ran was a school filled with the children of japan’s e household on a scholarshi+p through outstanding grades
Not to say that alone was enough to h to threaten the position of Zui’ran’s poster boy, our flawless Emperor
It wasn’t a pleasant matter for a lot of Internals
The finisher was that that sairls that approached him, had now taken an interest in her
Apparently Takairls, and that hero of justice Mizusaki began standing up for her too
Of course this just irls
Not that I could bla, but you should think things through a little rades, and the threeattention to her
These weren’t anything to fault her for, but jealousy knows no reason Girls began slandering her as sucking up to uys ere beaten by her joined in as well
Even the previous president of the Pivoine had begun targeting her, but Kisshouin-san stayed neutral like it was none of her business
I wasn’t that well-inforirl drama, but apparently Kisshouin-san leaned towards syround for the locker incident Tsuruhana’s group took the opportunity to blame it on Kisshouin-san
Naturally she denied it, but it was a little sketchy because she was actually holding the , Kisshouin-san…?
Things were looking pretty bad for her but the victiht shot down the accusation, so in the end it didn’t go beyond suspicions
I myself ht be a bit of an oddball, but she’s not the type to do things like this”
Back in 1st year he hadn’t had a great impression of her, but contrary to ht”
In our boys hierarchy, the Es were pretty peaceful In contrast, Tsuruhana would occasionally start trouble to try and topple Kisshouin-san, so incidents popped up from time to time
She had been the leader of a failed revolt back in middle school as well
We named it the ‘Tsuruhana Rebellion’, but after the locker incident it was rena Rebellion’
After all, the locker incident had turned into the ‘Tsuruhana Winter Rebellion’
The Tsuruhana Winter Rebellion was a revolt in the second year of high school led by Tsuruhana’s group, who had been defeated in a previous Rebellion It culminated in a massive three-way battle in the cafeteria between Kisshouin-san’s forces, Tsuruhana’s forces, and uys had been sent crazy glares when they said “Girls are dairls that people knew as ojousama?
The one who stopped it in the end was Zui’ran’s absolute monarch, the Emperor
In the days that followed, I wondered whether this would finally put an end to the trouble started by Tsuruhana’s group
That hen I happened to chance across Enjou-kun calling Tsuruhana herself out into an empty hallway I could faintly hear his voice while I was passing by
“I usually don’t get involved in arguone a little overboard this ti Kisshouin-san then I’ll be taking her side, so what do you intend on doing?”
So that was how the ‘Tsuruhana Winter Rebellion’ came to a close
And because of her two revolts, she ended up with the nickname the Tairno-Masakado of Zui’ran Incidentally one of the three irls in our grade all have such terrifying nicknaaki, he was afraid of retribution because of his involvement in it
To be fair his careless remark really did cause a lot of people to suspect her, but I didn’t think Kisshouin-san was the type to cling onto grudges like that
“Have you apologised to her properly?”
“Y-Yeah… We both went to a Spring craised there And on the advice of one of her friends, I also gave her soive you?”
“She said that she didn’t mind at all…”
“Isn’t that fine then? She accepted your pudding, right?”
“Well… yeah…”
In h for her to forgive you for s
“It’ll be fine,” I said with a clap on the back “Why are you so damned scared anyway? You’re as white as a cheet C’ sweet and cheer up, yeah?”
“Yeah… You’re right Maybe I’ll go for soaki did as I suggested and ordered a custard pudding
That hen Kisshouin-san’s group entered the cafeteria
“Reiksa today?”
“Cre of enjoying some today”
Crema Catalana is very si that in a crema catalana the custard uses only milk and no cream, and that in a crema catalana the custard is not baked in a bain-marie water bath
“Ahh! Come to think of it, it’s been your favourite recently”
“It has I was looking forward to having it again,” she smiled happily
Unfortunately she was struck by cold reality
“I’o”
Immediately she beca in there!”
“Who was it that obstructed Reiksalared into the crowd in search of the culprit who had taken the last one
It was Tagaki…
The pudding that Tagaki had ordered was the cre forward to
Tagaki… You really have the worst ti before you touched your actual lunch…
Were you that worn out?
The guy himself was pale, frozen with his spoon in his , Tagaki
The president of the Soccer Club was a guy named Azumi
The Soccer Club at Zui’ran was one of our most famous clubs, and Azumi was its ace
He wasn’t on the sast the girls You could say that he was pretty well-known here
Unfortunately for hion’, that popularity was in danger
“Dainagon? As in the fat azuki beans?”
“Ahh, because his name is Azumi!”
“‘Sup, Beans?”
And that was hoas nicknamed Beans
Theabout the beans!” but it was too late for hiuy…
Out of curiosity I asked the culprit about the origins of the name, but responded with a look of surprise
“My! I would never give a pet nanified naon who lived during the Heian Period, known for his prowess in keht it was a pun… Ah, speaking of azuki red beans though, how do you prefer your ohagi? Koshi+an or tsubuan? Incidentally, I prefer tsubuan”
Ohagi are sticky rice balls covered in sweet red bean paste The paste is fine and sh and coarse in tsubuan ohagi
“Eh? Ahh… If I had to say, I guess tsubuan?”
“My Then how do you prefer your sakuramochi? Choumeiji style or Doumyouji style? Incidentally, I prefer Chou of sweet pink-colored rice cake (mochi) with a red bean paste center, and wrapped in a pickled cherry blosso, especially on hina parties The ball-style Douion, while the wrap style Chouion, including Tokyo
“Ahh… I suppose I prefer the one with the skin folded around the red bean”
“The same as myself, it seems Then when it comes to the leaf, are you the type who eats it, or…?”
Even though ere supposed to be talking about Dainagon Azumi’s name, somehow it turned into a conversation about sakura of leaf-wrapped desserts’, whether I preferred sakuramochi or kashi+wamochi?
The topic of Azumi was kicked aside just like a soccer ball
Farewell, Azumi
“You’re kind of a weird aren’t you, Kisshouin-san?” I couldn’t help but mutter
“Huuh!?” Her eyes shot wide “What do you h I’ve never been called weird before!?”
“Ah, ht”
“Of course I aet people who say stuff like “I’ people ished they eird The real weirdos have no idea that they’re weird
nobody was allowed to use the word “weird” around the real weirdo, Kisshouin-san
But just look behind her Her friends were all sneaking worried glances at her
We had our class trip in early May There were some odd jobs to do as the class rep on the trip, but the two of us didn’t have any trouble
Apparently our class was the exception in that respect
I heard about it fro the trip
“Have you been having any proble overboard? The other classes are having huge proble that too But nah, the one who takes the night roll is Kisshouin-san~ nobody would be stupid enough to break curfew”
To begin with, irls in the class were already happy to cooperate with Kisshouin-san, so they wouldn’t do anything to bother her As for the guys, nobody was gutsy enough toher
Besides, if there was anyone ent overboard because they were having toofor somebody to rat them out It was on par with a country with secret police
“Is this the Reign of Terror or soed May the Kisshouin Reika dictatorshi+p reign suprery at host story of the Tower of London
I rather liked ghost stories, but the opposite see both hands unnaturally
Eh, don’t tellher thumbs?
Wasn’t that what primary schoolers did when they saw a hearse!?
But since her reaction was so funny, I continued uess that made me a priht up the cataco she’d be ith
As expected I was rewarded with a glare before she began stalking off
As she was leaving I realised that the hair swaying against her back kind of looked like the nuether some of the curls on the back of your head turn into the number of the beast, you know?”
She turned around with a startled look
“Where on earth do you think we are! This is the headquarters of Christianity, you know! Show some restraint!” she scolded
Sorry
From that moment until e left the Vatican, Kisshouin-san would occasionally hold her hair down, looking left and right like a suspicious person
I think she orried inquisitors would couise the 6’s in her hair, Kisshouin-san would ot dizzy and needed her girls to support her
Ah geez…
After sightseeing Rome, it was ti strike my back out of the blue
It was Kisshouin-san, as for so position
Apparently she had thrown so at me I rubbed the place where I had been hit and- eh, uwah! What were these weird grains?
White… powder…?
Are you serious? Soot in ive irls finally called me out for a chat
“How dare you show Reiksaiveable!”
“It’s because of you that Reiksathy session of being chewed out by thean to smile darkly
Scary…!
“Satoirlfriend in Second Year”
“Eh-!? How’d you know that!?” I blurted
“Do not ht of our information network,” I arned
“It seems that you intend on buy her a souvenir in Paris,” so accessories, was it?” another mused
So this hy people feared the secret police…!
The ring of girls around htened
My back was to the wall, with nowhere to run
“You have a lovely girlfriend,” I was told neutrally
“Ah, well…”
“I trust you have not forgotten that Reiksama’s cousin Ririnsan is in Second Year”
“And that Ririnsan adores Reiksama”
“It wouldn’t take e…
“If you understand, then have a good think about your attitude towards Reiksah school days, that is”
“Your abuse has greatly saddened Reiksa I’roup of girls, so I obediently lowered my head
“By the as that white stuff that Kisshouin-san threw atit off
I could actually still feel some, so I wanted to take a shower already
“…It was salt”
“Hah? Salt!? Where did you get so ht it with her froe fist full, after all
Even Kisshouin-san wouldn’t
But then where did she get it?
“W-, Who cares about that!” one of theed the subject
“More i Reiksama the respect that she deserves!”
“Just who do you think Reiksama is!?”
“Eh…?”
Well, she was obviously…
“My friend”
Kisshouin Reika, that soft-hearted, earnest weirdo with a weakness to praise, was my friend