Kenkyo Kenjitsu

Reika-sama – 099 – A Girl With a Name / A Boy Without a One

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Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ. Thank you for your consideration, guys!

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‘Maki（巻き）’ means ‘curl’.

Raijin is a god of lightning, thunder and storms in the Shinto religion and in Japanese mythology. He is typically depicted as a demon-looking spirit beating drums to create thunder, usually with the symbol tomoe drawn on the drums.
Fuujin is the Japanese god of the wind and one of the eldest Shinto gods. He is portrayed as a terrifying wizard-like demon, resembling a red headed green-skinned humanoid wearing a leopard skin, carrying a large bag of winds on his shoulders.
Together, statues of Raijin and Fuujin are found all over Japan at the gates of Japanese shrines and temples as protectors. Visitors to these sacred places must pass by the intimidating gaze of the gods before entering.

Raijin (left) and Fuujin(right)

Maruyama Oukyo, born Maruyama Masataka, was a Japanese artist active in the late 18th century. He moved to Kyoto, during which he studied artworks from Chinese, Japanese and Western sources. Maruyama Okyo was well known for his true-to-life paintings. The story, illustrated by the below print, tells of the time Oukyo painted a ghost so “realistically” that it came to life and frightened him.

A Girl With a Name / A Boy Without a One

My classmate Kisshouin Reika-sama was idolised by all the girls.
It was no surprise; Reika-sama looked like a princess and was as gorgeous as her name sake. Not only that but was a member of the elite Pivoine, and on top of that she was smart too. She was like the perfect girl.
A lot of girls had dreams about becoming close to her. I did too, but her group was filled with nothing but girls as beautiful as she was. When I thought about what might happen to me socially if I somehow upset her I could never find the courage to try.
Sometimes I wondered what her life was like.
I pictured her sipping tea gracefully as she sat in a garden field of flowers, maybe hosting a poetry recital. Mn, it fit her so well!

*

When I entered my second year of middle school came an unbelievable chance to get closer to her.
Of all things, Reika-sama was coming to the summer camp! It should have been one of the last places anyone would expect her.
None of her other friends were participating. It was just her, which was how I ended up sharing a room with her.
Sharing a room with Reika-sama! My heart was beating so hard from the anxiety that I might do something to offend her, but thankfully she just smiled at me and said,

“This will be my first time at Summer Camp, so I hope you will look after me.”

Even though Reika-sama was our age she was always calm. I had hardly ever seen her lose her composure. I wished I could be like that.

*

When night fell, it was time for the fireworks event. Reika-sama had started off by my side, smiling happily as she watched, but before I knew it she had disappeared. I looked around for her a little, only to find Reika-sama and Class Rep alone in a corner enjoying sparklers together.

Eh-!? Don’t tell me it was a forbidden love between lady and servant!?

Not that I actually believed that, but it was fun to interpret it that way.
My friend Miharu-chan couldn’t come this year because of her family so I decided to text her about it later. It was like the love between a princess and the chamberlain. Miharu-chan would definitely find it interesting too.
To be sure, amongst us girls it was agreed that the one who suited Reika-sama best was Kaburagi-sama. But out of nowhere, a shocking rival appeared in the form of the Imperial Chamberlain, getting in between the Princess and the Emperor. I wondered what would happen next.

*

I never could quite fall asleep unless I was in complete darkness. When we found out we were sharing a room I told her about my worries, but Reika-sama agreed with a smile. Thank goodness.
When it came time for lights out, it was time for bed. I had been lying in the darkness for a while when suddenly I heard Reika-sama.

“Daro da- de ni da na nara!”

…Eh? What was that just now?
For some reason it sounded like the mnemonic for remembering na-adjectives…
Was she awake?

“Reika-sama? What’s wrong?”

“…”

“Um, Reika-sama?”

“…”

Eh… Don’t tell me, sleep-talking!?
But she was speaking so clearly…
No, it must have been my imagination.
I decided to try and sleep.

After a little while, Reika-sama’s voice rang out in the darkness again.

“Karo ka- kuu ii kere!”

This time was the mnemonic for i-adjectives!?

“…Reika-samaa~? Are you awaake~?”

“…”

Apparently Reika-sama studied even in her dreams. As expected of her.
I pulled my futon up over my head.

I hoped she wouldn’t begin reciting the Tsurezuregusa essays next…

*

The next morning was the hike. For some reason Reika-sama had taken a metal pole from somewhere and was using it like a traveller’s walking stick.
Reika-sama?

*

That night, a ghost appeared.
When the noise woke me up, Reika-sama was already awake and peering into the hallway as she combed her hair. Having just woken up, her curls were a little looser than usual.
There was a huge fuss in the hallways. I asked someone what had happened and they told me that a girl had seen a ghost. It had been eating gore when it turned around and glared at her with eyes filled with hatred! So scary!
Everyone was in a terrified panic, but Reika-sama calmed us down and took control.

“No ghosts will appear again,” she declared.

Reika-sama was amazing! Just hearing her say that made us feel like nothing would hurt us!
Soon afterwards our teacher came and promised that they would carefully patrol the hallway. Appeased, we all went back to our rooms.
When I went back inside mine, I said to her,

“That was scary, wasn’t it?”

“I’m not Maruyama Oukyo…”

She seemed despondent. I didn’t quite catch what she said, but knowing how diligent she usually was, she must have felt responsible for all this as the leader of the girls. Even though it wasn’t her fault at all…
Just as she said, the ghost didn’t appear again that night, and morning came around. I thought that it was wonderful how she could act and think so calmly in a situation like that.

*

From summer camp onwards, I could now chat with Reika-sama.
Reika-sama was a rare type of Pivoine member who would accept the duties of a class rep. As another class representative, sometimes we planned and consulted with each other for the various school events. As somebody who really admired her, I was really happy about being able to do so.
Sometimes I saw Class Rep talking to her intimately as well. Reika-sama was like a rose beyond anyone’s reach, so it was rare for any boy to casually speak to her. Not bad, Chamberlain.

*

One day the shadow of another boy appeared around Reika-sama!
It was none other than the burly Iwamuro-kun from the Judo Club. Standing next to each other they looked like a princess and her mercenary bodyguard.
I asked about it with my friend in her class. Apparently Iwamuro-kun was Reika-sama’s favourite these days, and she had had fun making him crossdress during the athletics carnival and school festival.
Iwamuro-kun hadn’t been able to refuse her, and had obediently let her put make-up on him.

“The Beauty and the Beast thing is surprisingly nice,” said my friend, but I was staunchly in the Emperor camp.

None of us wanted to see Kaburagi-sama end up dating someone unsuitable. If he had to date somebody anyway, then we wanted it to be somebody wonderful that we could accept.
Of course, everyone knew that Kaburagi-sama had been pining after Yurie-sama all this time, but if it had to be somebody other than Yurie-sama, we all agreed that only somebody as wonderful as Reika-sama would do.
Honestly, compared to some other girls I didn’t even like Kaburagi-sama that much. If he ended up with some boring girl, though, I had no idea what some of his more hardcore fans would do.

♦♢♦♢♦

In Zui’ran’s first year high schoolers, there were three people that you absolutely could not cross.

One of them was the Last Boss of the girls, Kisshouin Reika.
She was the daughter of the prodigious Kisshouin family, and a member of the Pivoine.
It was whispered that making an enemy out of her equated to making one of every girl in Zui’ran. She was that powerful.
It was rare to ever see her angered, true, and she was always surrounded in her clique with a confident smile, but rumour had it that when Tsuruhana Maki conceitedly tried to overthrow her, she used her folding fan to slap the girl into submission.
It must have been crazy… Fights between aristocrats are incredible…
Tsuruhana Maki and those like-minded friends of hers had really kicked up a fuss, but in the end they weren’t a match for Goddess Kali(Curly).
Having said that, it wasn’t like we were a match for Tsuruhana either. That chick is scaaary.
And god was it heaven and earth with how she treated us and Kaburagi’s like. When it came to me she just dropped all honorifics and ordered me around! And if you tried to refuse she’d start threatening you!

“If Tsuruhana’s gang go too far again, we’ll snitch on her to Kali-sama!” we said amongst ourselves.

Actually directly talking to Kali-sama is too scary to actually do, though!

*

Anyhow, Kisshouin Reika was guarded by her own Raijin and Fuujin. Kazami Serika and Imamura Kikuno. These two were scary too.
If anybody slighted Kisshouin-san, these two would lead a huge group of girls to pressure them.
It had happened to me too, one time. I had just entered the same class as Kisshouin-san and happened to forget one of my forms.
Her followers all surrounded me and glared.

“Stop making trouble for Reika-sama or else.”

I immediately got somebody to bring the form from home.

One time, this one guy got dared to say “Kali” as she passed by. He was taken away by Kazami and Imamura’s gang later that day. When he came back he was deathly pale, and quiet like somebody else. What on earth did they say to you…
That incident scared the crap out of us, so we all decided not to use that name anymore. After all, what if by some chance Kisshouin-san herself found out? Maybe it wouldn’t be her group this time, but she’d come after us with her fan herself!

Actually, Kisshouin-san had a lot of other nicknames that we called her in secret. Right now there was Maki Maki Makkie, which her group hadn’t seemed to know about yet.
Hm, also D(olly Gi)rll I guess. During the athletics carnival we had this huge joke about D(olly Gi)rll doing the quadrille. I was kind of looking forward to it too, but Kisshouin-san didn’t participate. What a shame. Even leaving the pun aside, it would have been cool to see somebody with hair like a princess do the quadrille.

For some reason though she entered the costume race dressed as a rat carrying a pumpkin!
All of the laughter from the previous entrants suddenly stopped. The Empress dressed as a rat…
Were we supposed to laugh like all the other entrants? Were we supposed to pretend we hadn’t seen it? Nobody knew what to do.
“It’s so tragic…!” seemed to be written all over the faces of Kazami and Imamura’s group as they cheered her on though, so we realised that the right choice was not to laugh.
The Emperor and Enjou-kun were wide-eyed at her costume too, but…

“Do your best, Kisshouin-saaan!” laughed Class Rep as he cheered her on.

What a shock. Was Class Rep actually a huge deal!?

*

Still though, once her class realised that Kisshouin-san was okay with costumes, this time they’d decided on a cross-dressing café for the school festival.
Since Satomi was in her class, I asked him about it.

“Kisshouin-san was pretty cute as a mouse, but she’s cute as a butler too. You should come see, on the day,” he laughed.

So they really were making Kisshouin-san cross-dress!?
There were definitely roles in the back she could have taken instead… I asked Satomi why she wasn’t in one of those instead but he replied,

“Well lots of people know our class for being the one with Kisshouin-san in it, so why not use that to attract customers? Wouldn’t it be a waste otherwise?”

“What the hell. Aren’t you afraid?”

“Of what?”

“Of treating Kisshouin Reika that way. Wasn’t she outraged?”

“No wayy. Kisshouin-san is a big softy. She’s like a sheep inside. Oh! Maybe she could wear sheep ears on top of that. I’ll go ask about it!”

SATOMIIIIIIIIII! THERE’S SUCH A THING AS TOO MUCH GUTS!

Reika-san in a male butler suit with sheep ears…

…I decided I would go see the train-wreck.

‘♣︎♦︎♠︎♥’ by Marudori

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108 thoughts on “Reika-sama – 099 – A Girl With a Name / A Boy Without a One”

  1. Pingback: Reika-sama – 098 | お兄ちゃん、やめてぇ！

  2. Omg hahaha. Satomi knows reika is a sheep in the inside. I laugh so hard there. Lol beauty and the beast? Chamberlain? They really have creative names ahahahahahahahaha

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  3. Clicked it as soon as I saw the notification.
    Eeeh! Reika cross-dressing!??!? Don’t know if thats funny or an outrage – can you imagin a butker with drill hair XD(if she’s doing it she’ll probabaly waer a wig though right?) Looking forward to it.
    It’s always funny seeing outsiders react to her antics XD poor Reika worries so much.
    Thank you for the chapter!

    Liked by 16 people

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  7. Waah so Reika-sama is seen as (and is) a gentle, smart, beautiful, ladylike, mannered and influential girl.. Wait Reika-chan was the pinnacle of all girls ? is it the same person as our unreliable mc ?

    Liked by 13 people

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  10. And Satomi, you’ve got guts saying all that in front of a girl.. I bet Serika and Kikuno will drag him to a corner to beat some sense into him.
    Anyway, her ‘favorites”, so Reika is seen as one of these shady madames.. “forced him to crossdress” “forced” haha…

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  12. “Even though Reika-sama was our age she was always calm. I had hardly ever seen her lose her composure. I wished I could be like that.”
    ===
    *rude snort followed by laughter*

    Liked by 19 people

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    1. Reika DOES have composure. 99% of the school didn’t think of her as an empress for nothing. and Takateru mentionned that when he wasn’t around she always had her ojou-sama facade on

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      1. It’s only surprising until you realize 70-80 percent of this series is all Reika’s commentary and snark inside her head. She really IS a great faker from afar, and her clique and reputation do the rest. ;P

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        1. The irony is that this isn’t really so different from how people in power really operate. They can’t see the ground level if they have yes-men who just tell them what they want to hear or who filter news for them. If everybody fears you, nobody speaks the truth to you.

          I didn’t realize that Serika and Kikuno are basically her gestapo. It’s a pretty big revelation and goes a long way to explaining why Reika has no idea about what her reputation is like.

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          2. I need Serika and Kikuno gestapo fanart. And I never thought this combination of words would ever come out of my mouth.

            And yeah! Though as someone else commented it’s less like she orders them and more that the department has completely gotten out of her control.

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          1. That’s the beauty of it. The secret bunny is that Enjou and Kaburagi are fakers too. Neither of them are actually as different from Reika as she thinks. (Well, minus their superior brains and athleticism.)

            Reika knows that Kaburagi as this petulant, clingy and selfish boy. Oh from a distance, he looks cool and aloof and but he’s really disappointing on the inside. Does that remind you of anybody you know? He’s just as much of a marvelous faker.

            Neither Kaburagi nor Enjou can control their fans. Enjou gently scolds them but this amounts to nothing. Kaburagi has given up. He complains that they he didn’t choose to be loved by his fans. But, really, neither did Reika. All three were born with important names, silver spoons tucked firmly into mouths and attractive looks. She never really had any say in whether she got to be an idolized ojousama and, whether she wants it or not, they act on their love for her.

            Enjou appeals to Reika, thinking that’s because she’s the leader of the girls, she can just wave her hand and all the girls will instantly fall to their knees and obey her.

            What he is not aware of is that she has no more power over their actions than he or Kaburagi does. Power is an illusion. It’s a trick. A shadow on the wall. Reika does not understand it, but even if she is not as natively talented as the two princes, she is as much an empress as they say she is. If only because they believe that she is and because she is able to maintain the illusion just as well.

            There is a simple adage about power:
            “No man rules alone.”
            You only have power if people can be persuaded to do things for you. If you cannot persuade them to give power to you, then you have nothing. Many dictators were overthrown simply because their underlings no longer had a use for them and withdrew their support while the popular revolution tore down the leader.

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  15. Nice fanart, I probably would’ve reversed the suits though on Wakaba and Enjou, since the four suits represents the medieval castes.

    Spades = swords/aristocracy
    Diamonds = coins/merchants
    Hearts = cups/clergy
    Clubs = batons/peasants

    Clubs suits Wakaba better since she’s a low-class outsider and the meaning of her being an Ace is pretty obvious. You can sort of finagle Enjou as being analogous to the role of the clergy, who attends to the spiritual needs of the people around him.
    Swords works for Kaburagi because he’s the cavalry battle maniac.

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    1. Thank you, I was wondering.

      Este- thanks for the gorgeous fan art and the lovely translation as always.

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  17. >My friend Miharu-chan couldn’t come this year because of her family so I decided to text her about it later. It was like the love between a princess and the chamberlain.

    For those who have forgotten because it’s been so long, Miharu is the one ClassRep pines for and got love advice from Reika for. Poor Maiden…

    The side POVs are always my favourite, and I remember this one being a great one. Este, after all these sudden updates, can I let myself hope again? This made my week…

    Liked by 4 people

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  22. Thanks for the chapter. I think Emperor and Enjou wouldn’t miss this chance to make fun of Reika crossdressing as a butler and serving them. I really hope she pulls it off😀

    Liked by 1 person

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  23. Thanks for the chapter. I think Emperor and Enjou wouldn’t miss this chance to make fun of Reika crossdressing as a butler and serving them. I really hope she pulls it off😀

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  25. It’s like she has a wall of jelly built around her that looks like 20 cm thick bulletproof stained glass. But once you realize her walls are easy to eat through you can’t help but laugh and appreciate the absurdity.

    Reika is a hardworking girl who keeps up her Ojou-sama facade for the sake of her family’s status and more importantly for her mother who she loves very dearly. She studies hard, she excercises, she fasts, she practices ettiquete, and she’s constantly thinking of ways to be economic and help people without dropping her facade.

    At the same time she’s super clumsy, is a glutton, is kind of ditzy, and is completely dense to the fact that her very composure and status is what’s keeping everybody from being her friend, while at the same time these same traits allow her to do more good using her influence to keep public order.

    Let’s get that 100th chapter! Smash that like button! Can we get a 100 likes?

    Liked by 10 people

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    1. All true.

      Although I would say that at this point she has a whole lot of friends. And she regularly picks up a more.

      It is a bit sad that people who don’t know her are a bit scared of her though. Especially when she hasn’t done anything to deserve it.

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  28. Oh my god I thought you were joking when you said that the boys only wanted to have Reika participate in the dance because of her her hair but it really was true. Reika!!! Now I’m crying for an entirely different reason. Satomi is a pretty coo character one of the few that seem to knows her face behind the mask. I wonder if we’ll get to have a pov chapter in his perspective.

    Liked by 1 person

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  29. Oh dear, Reika mightbe messing with Class Rep’s ship! Well…. it is not going to go anywhere until he confesses anyway.

    It is nice that all her work studying is paying off since they all consider her to be smart. Bring 73 out of 300 is pretty good considering there are a 100 externals.

    The crossdresser is now “Reika sama’s favorite”. It is like she is a queen that keeps men around as playthings.

    Kali/Curly seems like a rather cruel pun to put on someone you idolize. The others too.

    Reika as a butler… doesn’t fit her princess image. Should be fun to see people’s reactions.

    I don’t know how much of a fake Reika is these days. She faked a lot when she was younger but it became her real self over the years.

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Okay, so you know how Reika fantasizes about Aira as the princely guard to Yurie? It’s gun be like dat.
      She’s going to touch something deep down in the other girls that they never knew that they had.

      Liked by 3 people

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  30. Thx for the chapter o/
    “…I decided I would go see the train-wreck.” ME ME, plz let me see it too!!~~

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  33. Not sheep ears but BEA-TAN ears!! Then invite that dog loving bastard to see a truly wonderous sight, then make reika sama go “wuf wuf”

    Liked by 1 person

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  37. Eh, its not like that. Truth to be told Reika is a bitch(original) deep inside supressed by her inner shell which is the sheep(reincarnator) that possessed the original and both of them project the ladylike image to hide what she truly is.
    I mean where do you think she gets her Kali persona? Certainly not from her current personality.

    Liked by 1 person

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  38. I wonder what our Forever Alone Village Headman would say if she knew how epic her (imagined) love life is compared to reality?

    I for one would’ve been on board with shipping the playful princess with the “can’t say no” bodyguard. Alas, the real thing is a maiden.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Also Satomi is totally treating Reika as a mascot isn’t he. And yet despite the unnamed boy’s horror he can’t help but want to see. Nice play, Satomi, nice play.

      Liked by 1 person

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  39. Lol. Those guys are quite mean though, calling the big softy Reika-sama curly or dolly or the quadrille thing. She’ll cry once she hears it though. And was Kaburagi and Enjou THAT surprise with Reika as a mouse? Thanks for the chapter!!😆 1 more to go and it’s gonna be milestone reach!!

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  47. omg so many consecutive chapters!! am I dreaming??? thanks thanks thanks! ooh the misunderstandings hahaha

    I seriously want to see (read) a PoV from Wakaba ooh reika is so evil! then emperor answering: drill-mouse??? WTH are you talking about?

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  49. Meatbun Delivery~
    Thank you for the chapter ( ●w●)

    Sheep Butler costume?!! Where’s the illustration!! 😂

    Ps: is goddess Kali refering to an indian goddess? ..maybe i watch too much india telenovela thats been airing recently..

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  53. Pingback: Reika-sama – 100 | お兄ちゃん、やめてぇ！

  55. Thanks for the chapter! Lol! Quite the ardent Reika fangirl filter this person has on, even with the sleep talk and other signs it doesn’t shake her worship. Though the nicknames are definitely a riot. XD

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