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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“It seems that recently a certain 2nd year has been getting ahead of herself,” began the President of the Pivoine.

*

*

*

After Wakaba-chan made 1st place, the way certain students treated her became noticeably more harsh.

I thought it was completely pointless, seeing as she made it there through ability. I hoped that I could make 1st place one day. First place… How nice…

No, even just the Top 5 would be great…

No, even 10th place… If I ever made 10th I’d be so besides myself with joy that I’d break into a belly dance.

Getting back to the point though, Kaburagi and Enjou were considered the pride of the more ‘pure bred’ Zui’ran students. That Wakaba-chan had threatened their places even as far back as 1st year was something many of them couldn’t endure.

Plenty of other External Students did really well too, but Wakaba-chan was probably targeted because of her appearance. She looked like a total commoner. Not only that but sometimes she’d stare into space with her mouth hanging, like some kind of simpleton.

Thanks to that, plenty of people made comments like,

“That’s supposed to be who beat them?”

“Are you sure she didn’t cheat?”

And the fact that she was a girl that Enjou and Kaburagi spoke to made everything even worse. And Enjou was one thing, but Kaburagi almost never spoke to girls. For him to speak to her of his own volition stirred up some incredible jealousy.

Some of the girls in my group weren’t too fond of her either.

Actually, sometimes they’d give me weird encouragements like, “Do your best, Reika-sama!”. What exactly was I supposed to be doing my best in?

And you know, I did do my best for the mid-terms but even now none of them had noticed.

Next to the great 3-way struggle between ‘Takamichi’, ‘Kaburagi’ and ‘Enjou’, nobody had any attention to spare on the story of ‘Kisshouin Reika, 29th place’. In the end the rankings notice was taken down without anybody noticing…

*

*

I tried so hard but nobody even praised me. Nobody noticed. That was so sad…

Which is why I decided to plan a little farce for myself.

I made sure to time it so that my results were casually lying around the living room when Oniisama came home. Of course, just having it lying around on its own was a little too obvious, so I made sure to have exercise printouts and stationery and textbooks and stuff as well. I was totally just looking through my bag for something when my results just happened to fall out.

Oh? That’s weird. Oniisama wasn’t home yet?

In the end I was forced to put the stationery back into my bag and wait. I took it out again.

…He wasn’t coming.

I put it back in. Then took it all out.

After repeating this again and again, Oniisama finally appeared.

“Welcome home, Oniisama!”

“I’m back. What’s all this on the table, Reika?”

“I was simply looking for something…”

I rustled my hand in my more-or-less empty bag. Oniisama! Look! Your little sister’s grades are right there!

To stall for time, I took out the contents of my pencilcase one by one.

Oniisama! Right there! Right in front of you!

“Hm? Oh, are these your grades?”

Oniisama finally noticed and picked it up.

“Goodness~ Oniisama! Stop! How embarrassing~”

Oh my~ With my bag in my hands, I was completely unable to stop Oniisama from picking it up~

“Wow! You made it to 29th place this time. You really did your best, Reika!”

“Ehh~ You exaggerate~”

“29th place in high school means your name was put up, right? You’re amazing. After trying so hard, I think you deserve a present, don’t you?”

“Ehh~ 29th place is nothing so deserving~”

“I don’t think that’s true. It’s a reward for all your effort.”

With that, Oniisama smiled and stroked my head.

Oniisamaaa~!!

I really did my best, you know? But nobody noticed.

…Hahh, it finally, finally paid off.

*

*

*

Ichinokura-san brought me out to eat in celebration of the end of exams. This time Mao-chan was absent.

We were going to be eating at an Italian place he recommended. Not one of the fancy expensive places, but like a small trattoria.

The moment we stepped inside, I could already smell the scent of roasted garlic.

I went with a bolognaise pasta.

On the other hand, Ichinokura-san decided on a pescatore.

We were also ordering a pizza margherita.

“You’ll have the bruschetta, obviously.”

“Well, yes.”

“Maybe we should get some salad too. What kind of salad do you like, Reika-san?”

“Caprese salad would be nice.”

“Then we’ll get that. Ah, but won’t that be a bit too much tomato? I’ll change my pasta order then. What should I get…”

I used to worry about whether or not to keep faking my eating habits, but ever since that night with the kamameshi I stopped with all pretences.

Ichinokura-san said that it was more fun to dine out with people who could eat a lot anyhow.

The food came one after another, so much that it felt like I was at an eating competition. Bring it all out!

Yummmyyy! The bolognaise was delicious. And the flat pasta was just the best! And the cheese on the margherita just stretched out!

Actually, god, why were Italian tomato dishes all so delicious? Apparently tomatoes were good for burning fat too. Delicious and good for dieting? It was too good for words!

Even I was full after all of that. But I ordered some tiramisu for dessert.

When Ichinokura-san asked me how my exams went, I modestly told him that they were acceptable.

“Mao tells me that you’re quite impressive at school.”

“She misunderstands. I think she overestimates me.”

“I hope you’ll help her with her studies too.”

Uhuhu, leave it to me. I, rank 29th Kisshouin Reika, can do primary school homework with my eyes closed.

When it was time to leave, Ichinokura-san bought some sweets to take back to Mao-chan since she couldn’t come today. That’s why I asked to pay for that instead. After being treated to so many meals, I wanted to at least do this. And I ate quite a bit, too…

I eventually convinced him. When I went to pay at the register though, I spotted some amaretti so I bought it to bring home for myself.

“Thank you for the sweets. I’ll make sure to tell Mao that it was from you.”

“Thank you for always treating me. Today’s food was just delicious. The caprese salad was one of the best three I have ever had.”

“Really? I’m glad you enjoyed it so much. That place is really picky about tomatos.”

“No wonder it was so delicious then. But the cheese was wonderful too.”

“The cheese? Then how about I take you to a risotto place next time? There’s this blue cheese risotto you just have to try.”

“Risotto!? I love risotto.”

“Then that settles it.”

*

When I returned home from a great dinner with Ichinokura-san, I saw Oniisama reading a travel magazine. Was he planning on going somewhere?

I entered my room and then had just one of the amaretti. Yummy…

*

*

*

Tsuruhana-san’s group tried to trip Wakaba-chan in the hallway, but Wakaba-chan vaulted over each one like an athlete doing hurdles.

And in her gym class, only Wakaba-chan was forced to play dodgeball during a basketball game…

I was starting to worry about her a little, but she still seemed totally unaffected, so I hoped she could get through this.

As bad as I felt about it, if the President of the Pivoine really had it out for her, there wasn’t much I could do.

Tsk. I was shifting responsibilities now, but what the heck was Kaburagi doing.

What happened to his destiny?

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By Mao-chan’s request, we were going to eat pancakes.
I’d wondered this before, but weren’t pancakes more of a snack?

The menu was filled with pictures of whipped cream towers.

I couldn’t understand how Hawaiians could eat pancakes as a staple. Wouldn’t you get heartburn eating this for breakfast? Was it just a matter of getting used to it?

Still, I was pretty excited for it. I went with a chocolate, banana and whipped cream.

Mao-chan went with strawberry, while Ichinokura-san went with fruit pancakes with no cream.

“Wahh! It looks so yummy!”

Her eyes seemed to sparkle as our orders were carried to us. They were bigger than expected.

“Yours looks yummy too, Reika-oneesama!”

“Want to try some?”

“Can I!? Then please eat some of mine!”

And that’s how we happily split our orders. The chocolate banana pancakes were delicious! I liked chocolate and bananas with my crepes too, incidentally. Still wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about eating these sweet foods for dinner, but as a snack they were the best.

I wondered how on earth they cooked these so neatly though. In my old life the batter was always really thick, and I’d use a lot of it because I wanted my pancakes to turn out thick like in the pictures. The thickness worked of course, but they were always shaped more like weird pillows instead. And they were huge. And undercooked. On the inside at least, because the outside was always burned…
I doubted that anybody could really make such nice pancakes at home. It was probably impossible. Most likely those photos were faked.

Wah! Mao-chan’s strawberry and powdered sugar pancakes were delicious too!

“Would you like some chocolate banana pancakes, Ichinokura-sama? They are delicious, you know?”

“Try some of my strawberry too, Haruto-niisama!”

“Mmmm~ I think I’m good.”

Oh? He didn’t seem as enthused about our pancakes as he was about my kamameshi.

“Are you perhaps not so fond of sweet foods, Ichinokura-sama?”

“No, no, I am. It’s just that the cream looks a little overwhelming,” he said with a difficult smile.

I could kind of understand.

“Haruto-niisama, did you not want pancakes?”

Mao-chan looked a little sad. Ichinokura-san flew into a bit of a panic to reassure her.

“No, I did, Mao. Maybe I will try some of yours.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

He cut off a bit of her pancakes.

“Mn, delicious. Thank you, Mao.”

“You’re welcome. You can have more, you know?”

“But then there’d be less for you. I’ve got my own. Actually, you should try some of mine. Want a little?”

“Yeah!”

Mao-chan stuffed her cheeks with the fruit-laden pancake.

“Yummy! Ah, but I took too much of your fruit. I’m sorry. You can have some of my cream instead!” she said, before piling a mountain of cream onto his food.

Mao-chan…

“I really love you and Reika-neesama so I’m really happy that we came here.”

Mao-chan, what adorable things you say!

Ichinokura-san was smiling too.

“It looks like Mao adores you, Reika-san.”

“Mn. Reika-neesama is pretty and nice and smart, you know. She’s amazing.”

Mao-chan, I think you’re overestimating me a little…

“I am glad that you think so highly of me, but I am nowhere near so special. For one thing I am not very smart…”

“That’s not true! Sensei says that you had really good grades! And that you took the initiative to lead the class too.”

“Sensei?”

Apparently her current home room teacher was the one who pushed me into being a member of the executive committee for the athletics meet as well as being class rep. When exactly did I take the initiative.

“Sensei said that you were reliable and smart when you were younger too. As expected of you, Reika-oneesama!”

“Umm, Mao-chan…”

“Ohh? You’re actually quite amazing, Reika-san.”

“She is! I want to be like Reika-oneesama too!”

“I see. Then you’ll have to study, Mao.”

“Yes!”

“…”

My primary school self was being incredibly glorified in Mao-chan’s mind. I’d better study like hell for the mid-terms…

“Speaking of which, Yukino-kun said you were nice too, Reika-oneesama.”

“Eh, Yukino-kun did!?”

That little Angel-chan said I was nice!?

“Yukino-kun is really popular, you know? He’s like a little prince, so even people from middle or high school come to see him. But his body isn’t strong so the Pivoine told us to look after him.”

“I see.”

I did recall Enjou doing something like that.

“Is this Yukino-kun that cool?”

Ichinokura-san sounded interested now. Your cream isn’t decreasing at all, you know…

“He’s more cute than cool. Right, Reika-oneesama?”

“Yes.”

“We all say he’s like an angel.”

Aha. I knew everybody thought that too. He really was an angel.
I nodded along in assent.

“An angel. I think I’d like to meet him once too.”

“And Yukino-kun’s oniisama is dreamy too. One time he came to the salon to pick up Yukino-kun and he smiled at us and asked us to take care of Yukino-kun! All of the oneesamas in the high grades were in love. He was like a prince.”

“That sounds kinda amazing.”

Prince? Enjou a prince!? Noooo! My cute little Mao-chan is being deceived!

“And the Prince had a really cool friend too. Reika-oneesama, you’re in their year aren’t you?”

“Ahhh, well…”

“How nice. You must be close, right? Yukino-kun was happy since it seemed like you and his brother got along.”

“Eh!?”

Yukino-kun, I’m sorry but that’s a huge misunderstanding! Actually was this my fault~?
Oh no! What if Enjou started thinking like, ‘Wow. What is this woman doing claiming that we’re close to my little brother’!?

Besides Mao-chan who was smiling innocently, I could feel my stomach dropping.

*

*

*

I learned at that dinner that Mao-chan had somehow misunderstood me to be some kind of superwoman with brains as well as beauty. Since I didn’t want to disappoint her, I studied extra hard. I even started seeing my notes in my dreams.

After drinking two energy drinks at once night after night, I made it into the ranking board for the first time. 29th place.

After all of that study, and I was only 29th… That was barely on it. No, but I really did try!

Still, everybody was focused on what was written on 1st place.

1. Takamichi Wakaba
2. Kaburagi Masaya
3. Enjou Shuusuke
4. Mizusaki Arima

So Wakaba-chan had finally overtaken both Kaburagi and Enjou to take first place──

The last time she had taken first it was because the Emperor was heartbroken. This time was different though. She beat him out with pure ability.

These were the first test results since entering 2nd year. The people around me seemed disquieted.

Kaburagi and Enjou came along. After looking at the board, Kaburagi raised an eyebrow.

“…Shuusuke, this Takamichi Wakaba was in your class, right?”

“Yep. She’s a girl with a lot of energy.”

“Hmmm~”

“Ah, speak of the devil. Takamichi-san, congratulations on 1st place.”

With bad timing, Wakaba-chan had come along right that moment.

“Eh-, 1st!? Th-… Thank you very much…”

Wakaba-chan was a lot more hesitant this time. Somebody must have given her quite the verbal lashing last time.

“So you’re Takamichi?”

“Eh- Yes…”

Wakaba-chan shrank further under his gaze.
After staring at her silently for a while, he simply went back.

“Bye then,” waved Enjou, before following after.

Wakaba-chan was left sitting on a bed of nails…

*

*

Ummmm~ By the way, I made it onto the ranking boards for the first time since getting into high school. Did anybody notice?
It’s right there you know? Kisshouin Reika, right next to the ’29’~

…

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Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
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Not only did I have another food outing with Ichinokura-san, we were going to bring Mao-chan this time.

He spoke about her last time. Apparently she was about to become an older sister.
Her grandparents and relatives were all ecstatic about a Sawarabi heir being born. So ecstatic that they kept saying careless things in front of her like,

“We finally have a boy!”

or

“I didn’t know what we would do if it was a girl again.”

Not that they meant to hurt her, but they did all the same.

Since all anyone was talking about was her brother, Mao-chan was in a sulking mood.

Both Ichinokura-san and her parents were quite worried for her.

I guess that was why Mao-chan’s mum made all of the food for her birthday. Even for a hobby that had been an incredible amount of effort. I guess that was her way of telling her daughter that she treasured her. Mao-chan seemed really happy to eat her mum’s food too.

Life was pretty harsh for an eight-year-old though… I hadn’t noticed at all.

In my old life I had a younger sister but no brothers. In this life I had Oniisama. Not once had I ever been told that they wished I hadn’t been born a girl though. If it happened now I would only feel annoyed, but it must have been a shock to somebody Mao-chan’s age.

Ichinokura-san told me that he wanted to prioritise her to make up for all of the relatives who put her younger brother first.

“Mao really idolises you, Reika-san. That night after the summer party where she met you she told us all about how she met a wonderful oneesama. You took photos of her and Yuuri-kun and gave her the framed photo as a present, didn’t you? Mao was overjoyed.

“You started to pop up in her conversations. She told me about how well you treated her. I think she was just happy that somebody was willing to pay attention to her instead of her brother.

“I’m sorry if this seems shameless, but as the oneesama she adores, I hope you can spare her just a little attention. I don’t want her to be lonely… Please.”

Ichinokura-san lowered his head to me.

I accepted without thought. Mao-chan was adorable and I loved her, so I would have done it anyhow. The bow was actually making me uncomfortable. I wasn’t spending time with Mao as some favour to him. I was doing it because I wanted to. Actually, wasn’t Ichinokura-san underestimating Mao-chan’s cuteness?

When I told him as much he broke into a wide grin.

We segued into scheduling the dinner with Mao-chan instead, and promised to contact each other once we had a better idea of when we were all free. Later I heard from him that Mao-chan had been ecstatic at the idea. Apparently it took him quite a lot of effort to calm her down from trying to go right that minute.

Dinner with Mao-chan and Ichinokura-san… I was really looking forward to it.

*

*

There was going to be no student performance during the 2nd year class trip. I relayed the information to Dite who visible deflated. Why didn’t this guy go to a music school, anyway…

We were going to be staying at Nikkou City, in Tochigi.

Since we were high schoolers and all, I was wondering why they chose somewhere so close. As it turns out, they also had a popular hiking course. Considering we were supposed to be a school for pampered rich kids we sure did go through some really athletic excursions. According to the rumours this hike was going to be way tougher than last year’s so I was honestly kind of worried.

My other worry was that Kegon Falls was also in Nikkou, so would Kaburagi really be okay? It hadn’t even been a year since I got that shortbread from Enjou.

I just hoped that this trip wouldn’t reopen his wounds. I could expect a lot of trouble if it did.

*

*

We gathered early in the morning on the day of the trip. Sleepy…
In consideration of the hiking course, I drank one of the slightly more expensive energy drinks before I left the house. I could only hope that it would work.

When we began, I made sure to take small steps, but it was as bad as I had imagined. It felt like I had been walking forever.
Fuyuko-sama and the others had given up early on. Uuu, I wanted to as well. But how could I as a class rep! I was at the end of the line though, so it’s not like I was actually helping though! I didn’t expect I would be much use by the end of this, so I asked Nonose-san to organise our class once we reached the goal.

“Just take it easy, okay?” Ru’ne-chan encouraged me, as I lagged slowly behind the majority.

Looking around, it was the same group as always.

When we finally reached the goal, everyone was, as usual, already having lunch. Shouldn’t they have waited for us to show class spirit or something? I was feeling a little resentful as usual.

Exhausted, by the time I had begun with my own obentou some of the other students were already done. Wakaba-chan was amongst them.
She was strolling around the place, looking at flowers here and there. It was nice that she had energy.

Suddenly, Enjou came and talked to her. Eh!?
I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I saw her smile and nod along with him. When did they get so close!? And Kaburagi was noticeably absent.
Since I was looking their way, some of the girls around me noticed as well.

“Who’s that girl speaking with Enjou-sama?”

“That scholarship student, Takamichi-san, I think. Remember? The one always on the ranking board?”

“Why is she being so intimate with Enjou-sama!?”

Oh dear. I caused a minor uproar. Before I could try to distract them, Wakaba-chan and Enjou split up. …Thank goodness.

This time it was somebody who approached Enjou. The No. 2 in Tsuruhana-san’s group sidled up to him first, which was the cue for a lot of other girls to copy her. No. 2 was glaring at Wakaba-chan’s back from afar.

*

In the afternoon we got on the coach and headed to Kegon Falls.

Naturally, considering how famous it was.
So this was the waterfall that Kaburagi visisted in the winter… The temperature had gone a bit further than ‘refreshing’ into ‘cold’. I wasn’t surprised that Kaburagi caught a cold coming here in the dead of winter.

I found myself looking for Kaburagi in the crowd. He was staring into the water at the base of the waterfall. Ah… Did his wounds reopen?
Enjou was glued to his side, holding his arm. Mn, he was a good friend…

When it was time to leave, Kaburagi didn’t seem to respond. He must have been thinking about something. Scary.
In the end Enjou had to pull him away. I wonder if Enjou had to do the same thing back during Kaburagi’s journey…

When we returned to the bus, Wakaba-chan showed Enjou a souvenir bag.

“Thank you for recommending these!”

‘Kegon Falls Shortbread’ it read.

“That souvenir…” muttered Kaburagi as he stared from the side.

Enjou smiled.

“I never tried them myself, but I gave them to somebody who told me they were great.”

At the next place we visited, No. 2 bumped into Wakaba-chan on purpose.

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

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!

Join the Evil God Army on discord!
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Apparently we were slowly gaining new members. I say ‘apparently’ because I wasn’t there to see it myself. Actually I wasn’t allowed to interact with them directly.
According to Club Pres, my title as a Pivoine member was scaring away some of the newer students, so she hoped that I would make myself scarce just for the duration of the recruitment period.

I couldn’t really fault that logic. Everyone who joined that club was the same timid and quiet type, so I could see how they might be afraid of us. In Zui’ran, the Pivoine were like the ultimate predators, after all. The one group that you shouldn’t ever offend.

I knew that feeling too. But I was an official member of the Handicrafts Club. Wasn’t there any way I could help!?

Anyhow, I was sitting in a corner and needle-felting, sparing the occasional glance at the visiting students, when one of them called out to me falteringly. Heck yes!

“Did you have a question?”

“Yes. I was hoping somebody could tell me about the sewing machine that this club uses, but…”

Sewing machine?

I wasn’t proud of this, but I had never used it before. Actually I sucked at them in general. Things just got out of hand, and then the threads started to get tangled and… Anyhow, it was just hard. Come to think of it, when I was younger the threads got tangled and the sewing machine stopped moving. So I tried yanking it out, but the struggle ended with the machine giving off smoke. Machinery was difficult to use, wasn’t it.

But it was a chance to help. I decided to try my best!

“What did you want to know about it?”

“I wanted to know which company made the overlock sewing machines. Also whether or not you had any 4-thread overlocks.”

…What on earth was an overlock machine. And what was this about 4-threads?

“I’ve only ever used a 3-thread. I was hoping to get the chance to try my hand at a 4-thread.”

???

Oh no. I was trying my best but it was all Greek to me…

But I was an official club member. I couldn’t let her know.

“…Please wait a moment. I am a little tied up at the moment, so I will find somebody to answer your questions. You wanted to know about overlock sewing machines, yes?”

Anybody! Isn’t there anybody who knows about these “overlocked machines”!?

While I was looking for somebody who could answer, another one of the visitors came up to that girl and said,

“That miss over there is a member of the Pivoine, you know! You can’t just send her on chores like that, what if you make them angry!?”

I returned with a girl who knew more about the topic but Overlock-chan said,

“I’m so sorry! I’m an External Student and only joined this year, so I really had no idea!”

earnestly apologising to me.

It wasn’t a problem at all, though… I was just pretending to be busy so I didn’t have to explain. So seriously, please don’t look so scared of me~ I’m part of the commoner-faction, you know?

Maybe I should learn more about sewing machines…

Around that time, Ririna showed up with her buddies in tow.

“Geez, Reika-san! What a boring club you’ve joined!”

That stupid girl!

Flames of rage were beginning to grow in my heart but she had a lot of followers. If she joined the club, wouldn’t we get a whole wave of members!?

“Goodness, welcome, Ririna-san. Did you have some interest in handicrafts?” I asked as graciously as possible but…

“As if! Like I’d ever join such a minor club. I just came to make fun of you!”

Since that was the case, I immediately kicked her out.

Unfortunately some of the other club prospectives happened to see it all, and they ran away in fear. Curse you, Ririnaaaa!

Club President put her hand on my back, and gently returned me to my corner. This time a bunch of mannequin torsos were set in front of me like a wall.

It was a little lonely here…

*

*

Class Rep was looking gloomy. When I asked him what was wrong, it turned out that Miharu-chan was getting along with a boy in her class.

“We’re in different classes too. Looks like I’m at a major disadvantage, huh? What do I do. Do you think Honda-san really likes him?”

“Hmmm.”

I wasn’t all that close with her or anything, but maybe I would have a chance to ask her. Class Rep looked desolate.
Thinking about it, wasn’t Nonose-san friendly with Miharu-chan? I saw them having lunch together quite a lot.

“Shall I find out for you?”

“Eh!? You would do that!? Thank you, Kisshouin-san!”

The maiden beamed with surprised joy. I didn’t mind doing this but what was he going to do if she really did like somebody?

*

The next day I greeted Nonose-san in the morning, and used that as an exchange to engage in some small talk. Obviously I couldn’t just walk up and demand she explain Miharu-chan’s relationship with him.

“I still owe you for taking care of me during the summer camp in middle school. Thank you for supporting me, especially while I was struggling with leading. I have ended up as a class representative again, but I hope for your continued support.”

“Of course! I don’t know how I can help but if I can then I will. Wow though. Summer camp. That’s nostalgic.”

We had fun chatting about it for a while.

“Come to think of it, Miharu-san attends every year, but she was strangely absent the one year I attended.”

“Oh, now that you mention it she did miss out. I remember mailing her while I was there.”

“Oh my. What did you say?”

“Ummm… I’ve forgotten. Probably something about the fireworks.”

“I see. It would have been nice to be in the same class together.”

“Yes. We thought it was a shame too.”

“I see. Had Miharu-san been in our class, she would certainly have been the class representative instead. And she gets along with Class Rep.”

“You think…? I think Class Rep makes a better pair with you, Reika-sama. What do you think of him?”

“Class Rep? I suppose I find him earnest and diligent?”

“I thought so~! Reika-sama, you’re close with Iwamuro-kun from the Judo Club too, aren’t you? What do you think about him?”

“Iwamuro-kun, you ask? Why, I think he is a man who knows what he wants, and is willing to put in the effort as well.”

Ever since I gave him that facial mask, apparently he never stopped maintaining his skin. Thanks to that, he could boast the most flawless skin in the Judo Club.

“I see~”

I didn’t know why, but Nonose-san was nodding in enjoyment. Who cares about me, we’re supposed to talk about Miharu-chan.

“Speaking of boys, is Miharu-san close with any in her new class?”

“Boys? Hmmm, I can’t say I’ve heard her say anything like that. Oh my, Reika-sama, you’re actually interested in these kinds of gossip?”

“Eh-, I, well…”

“I’d love to hear more about your romances~ Ah, but I suppose I shouldn’t ask, right?”

She looked a little disappointed. Uh, no, I actually don’t have any wonderful stories to tell.

“Every love rumour we hear about you is romantic. I’m envious.”

“Huh? Love rumour?”

“Like the love poem anthology. The story had me spellbound. The chamberlain and mercenary just weren’t the best choice. Reika-sama, I’ll support you!”

“Eh? Chamberlain? Mercenary?”

I had no idea what she was talking about but the bell rang so our conversation was cut short.

What on earth was that…?

But she mentioned something I couldn’t ignore. Love poem anthology. Don’t tell me she was talking about Kaburagi!? What on earth was romantic about that!? It was a cursed item, damnit!

Class Rep glanced my way during class, but sorry. I didn’t get anything out of it.

*

Dite came and pressed me about the performance for our class trip.
Sorry, I forgot.
He handed me a CD and asked me to choose one of the tracks on it. Apparently he had recorded his violin performances.

Did I really have to listen to this…?

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Not long after I met Yukino-kun, the word was spreading that Enjou’s younger brother had entered the Zui’ran primary school section.
According to the rumours the boy was as good-looking as his older brother. Hordes of girls went to the primary school section to see him, and when they came back they said he was adorable, which just fed back into the problem.
But Enjou responded to it. With an unusually stern expression, he said,

“My brother has a weak body, so could you please not cause such a fuss?”

Thanks to that, the building rampage dissipated into nothing.

Yukino-kun even came up as a topic in the salon, but I guess even Enjou couldn’t treat the Pivoine members that way.

“We had no idea that you had a younger brother, Enjou-sama. You should bring him here to visit,” said the President.

“Sure. Should we get the chance.”

“Apparently many girls have already gone their way into the primary school section to see him. They say he looks just like his older brother and is terribly cute.”

“He is cute, but my little brother has always been ill with asthma, so I’m worried that he’ll have an attack if people cause too much of an uproar. I want him to have a nice, peaceful time here.”

“Goodness! Why that is terrible. Then we will ask the Petite Pivoine to cooperate in helping Yukino-kun enjoy a peaceful school life. It wouldn’t do to have fools loitering around him.”

“Please.”

Enjou smiled, causing the girls gathered around Kaburagi and him to turn red.
And so, with the President of the Pivoine as an ally, Enjou solidified his protection.

So Yukino-kun had a weak constitution… I suppose he was a bit pale.
But huh. That schemer cared so much about his younger brother. Didn’t expect this side to him.

I was drinking milk tea when I met eyes with the devil in question. Urgh.

“Kisshouin-san, I heard you met my brother?”

“Eh…”

I could feel a cold sweat forming. Could it be that the one who started all this was me?! Oh dear…

“Ah, yes, I happened to meet him when I visited the Petite Pivoine. I was there to hand something to a girl there. The one who opened the door happened to be your younger brother. Truly, what a coincidence,” I said, making doubly sure to emphasise that it was a coincidence.

Stop it! I’m not your enemy!

“Mm, my brother told me. Thank you for keeping him company.”

“No need…”

Was he really thanking me? Unlike Yukino-kun, there was no trusting this guy.

“Kisshouin, you met Yukino?” interrupted Kaburagi.

So he knew him too. Well, it made sense considering he was best friends with Enjou.

“Yes, well.”

“Hmmmmm…”

“…Um, he is a very sweet and kind boy, is he not.”

“Hmmmmm…”

For some reason Kaburagi frowned.

Enjou was still wearing that unreadable smile as he thanked me.

I was getting a bad feeling so I hastily retreated from the salon.

*

*

Right now I had a bigger problem than the incident with Yukino-kun. The 1st years were deciding which clubs to join. Honestly speaking, the Handicrafts Club was kind of a plain one. All the members were the quiet types, and there weren’t many of them either. That’s why I had to pull my weight to get new members!

Ever since becoming an official member, I had pretty much come every day they were open. It made sense. I was an official member, after all.

Today was no exception, as I hurried to the clubroom. My bag was filled with snacks that I had just stolen from the Pivoine salon, which I was going to use to entertain prospective members. How’s that for being a hostess!
Generally it was forbidden to bring snacks to Zui’ran so this would probably give us quite the advantage. Hu hu hu…

While I was making the club great again, some new students came to look. I shot up. Fresh meat!
For a split second they seemed startled.
Oh? How come? Were they nervous? Ohh! I know! That’s what the snacks were for!

With a smile, I beckoned the younglings over to a seat.

“Come in, sit down. We have sweets, you know?”

“Eh-”

“How about some tea? We have some good blends.”

Blends that I also stole from the salon.
Despite the tea and sweets in front of them, the newcomers seemed to shrink in on themselves. What was stopping them from just relaxing and having a chat about club activities? Being the gentle senpai that I was, I gave them a heartfelt smile to help them relax. Smile smile. Hmm? Why did they keep shooting glances at the door? They had only just come.

“Feel free to take your time. Now come, eat up.”

“Umm… But, eating outside the dining hall is… And bringing sweets is against the rules as well…”

“My! There is no problem, I guarantee. After all, these were taken from the Pivoine salon.”

The colour drained from their faces. Was that one girl over there trembling?

“Ummm…”

Before I could say another word, the newcomers shot up and made a break for the door as they repeated apology after apology.

“…”

…Could it be that …I was the reason? But how come? I was so friendly and everything. Far from eating the snacks I prepared, they didn’t even take them with them…

Some more girls appeared after that, but they all had the same reaction. Even though they were supposed to be having a look, they all left the moment they arrived. And not only did they not eat the snacks, they didn’t even touch the tea. The worst one was when the girl shut the door the moment she opened it and ran. What the heck!
I got a little annoyed after a while and wouldn’t let the next one leave without eating the snacks, but the girl turned blue and muttered,

“If I eat this I’ll…”

You’ll what? This isn’t food from Hades, you know. Now come. Eat. Eaaaat.

With teary eyes, the girl nibbled on a madeleine.

…She just swallowed, didn’t she? She would never escape now.

One new member, confirmed. It was time to take her signature.

After a while, the Club President moved me as far as possible into the clubroom.

Ehh~? But I want to contribute as an official member of the club. I’ll serve tea or whatever you need.

Then, the Club President ordered a line of club members to sit in front of me like a wall, blocking me from view.

But would we even get members now? I was worried. Maybe I really should… Ah, I can’t see. C-, Could you move?

*

*

Today I was going to eat with Ichinokura-san.
He asked me how I felt about Japanese food, so I OK’d it. Where was he going to take me though? One of those fancy, traditional kaiseki places? Instead he took me to a kamameshi place.

When you came down to it, kamameshi wasn’t something you would associate with the image of haute cuisine, so I was genuinely surprised. I loved eating this in my last life though. Actually I just love rice in general. Viva el arroz!

“Maybe this is a little plain for you. If you’re not okay with this place, I was going to take you to a great Italian restaurant instead.”

“No, this place is perfect.”

Kamameshi~ Kamameshi~ Apparently by choosing this kamameshi place instead of some fancy French restaurant Ichinokura-san’s opinion of me shot up.
Actually, this place was at least fancy enough to have private rooms, so it wasn’t like we were slumming it up.

“This place does amazing kamameshi. I really wanted you to try it, Reika-san. My sister told me that you seemed to enjoy her paella, so I thought you might like this too.”

“My.”

Exactly right!

There were so many different kamameshi dishes on the menu that I just couldn’t choose.

The red salmon and ikura one look sooo good~

And the chicken one was such a close competitor.

The prawns were tempting too.

But you couldn’t go wrong with the classics like five-item gomoku…

“I think I’ll be ordering the red salmon and ikura set. What about you, Reika-san?”

“Then I shall go with the gomoku set.”

It was a difficult decision. I didn’t regret it though. I loved quail eggs. But still, that red salmon…

When they brought us our food, besides the kamameshi, the set meal came with chawanmushi, deep-fried tofu, pickles, and a clear soup broth too. I loved chawanmushi! And it had gingko inside!

And the broth in the kamameshi was amazing! Choosing this place was the right choice! Hm, I think I’d leave the quail egg for last.

“Reika-san. If you’d like, shall we come here again?”

Holy hell! What a wonderful idea, Ichinokura-san!

I carefully moved my quail egg to my chawanmushi, and then exchanged kamameshi. Red salmon was great!

When I realised it, I had been speaking passionately with Ichinokura-san about the kamameshi and chawanmushi, and he was telling me about his favourite foods too. Apparently he preferred taste over form. I totally get you, Ichinokura-san. I could really get onboard with his preferences.
We spent our time chatting happily about food, and began ordering one thing after another on the menu. The two of us finished it all. The matcha green tea ice cream for dessert was delicious too. Apparently they made it in this restaurant. How splendid.

*

When it was time to go, we made a firm promise to do this again sometime.

It seems like I had met someone I could show all of the real me to.

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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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When the door to the Petite Pivoine opened, I saw an angel glowing in the light.

In front of me smiled a little white-skinned, amber-haired angel. S-, So cuuuuuuuuuuuuute!

This world actually had children as cute as this!? Was he even really human? He wasn’t some kind of finely crafted android, or a real angel or something!?

“Hello, high school oneesan. Did you need something?”

The little angel spoke with a voice like a bell. Even his voice was so lovely!
And his expression as he tilted his head in confusion! I wanted to show him to my doll-loving Okaasama! Would it be okay if I took him home…?

“Oneesan?”

The little angel looked a little troubled now.

Oh! Oh no! Did the adorable angel think I was some suspicious person!? Did I seem like some kind of dangerous deviant because I kept staring silently at him? No! You’re wrong! I just wanted to admire your beauty, little angel! I’m just a harmless Rococo!

“Ah, my apologies. It seems I was lost in thought for a moment. I have come here looking for Sawarabi Mao-san. My name is Kisshouin Reika, a 2nd year Pivoine member of the high school section.”

Angel-chan accepted my words with a smile and nod, before taking my hand and welcoming me in.

His little hand was soooooo sooooooooft! It was like marshmallows! Ukuuuu! Seriously, can I take him home!?

Upon entering the room, Mao-chan immediately noticed me and greeted me with a huge smile.

“Reika-oneesama!”

“Mao-chan.”

She rushed up to me and then glued herself to my other arm.

“Thank you for coming the other day, Reika-oneesama! I was really happy! I really like the music box. I listen to it every day.”

“Goodness, I should thank you for inviting me. I had a wonderful time. And I am very glad that you liked the music box.”

While the two of us were talking, Angel-chan let go of my hand and headed further in. Aahh! Angel-chan! Wait!

“Reika-oneesama?”

“Sorry, it was nothing.”

I had wanted to touch his fluffy hair…

“Did you come to see me today? Ah! Reika-oneesama, please sit.”

Yuuri-kun was already sitting on the sofa she brought me to, and the two of them seemed to be in the middle of having tea and cake.

“Ah, hello Reika… oneesan…”

For whatever reason, Yuuri-kun was embarrassed to call me ‘oneesan’, and would always get all shy right after. How cute. Life was great again.

“Hello there. Today I came to give you the photos I took during Mao-chan’s birthday party.”

I handed Mao-chan a photo album with “Happy Birthday!” written on the front.

“Wahh!”

“There are many photos of you two together.”

“Oh! It’s true.”

“Mao, lemme see too.”

The two of them began browsing the photos. Originally I had considered a fancier one like a photo shoot, but that plan involved asking Umewaka-kun for help, and talking about photos with him was opening a can of worms. I had exchanged email addresses with the Dog Lover in a moment of carelessness, and now I got regular photos of Bea-tan sent to me like I was subscribed to some magazine.

I tried to give him a hint and replied,

“It has been cold recently. Might Beatrice have gotten a cold?”

only for him to reply that night,

“It’s Beatrice. I sleep next to Aa-tan every night so I’m fine. I wear fluffy warm pajamas too.”

Mail from a dog… Or rather, mail from a high school boy happily pretending to be a dog… Oh my god…

Oh, incidentally Dog Lover-kun’s first name was Asuka, apparently. Asuka, hence Aa-tan. He was using that to refer to himself? Aa-tan?
Honestly, I was starting to just wish they would get married already. In ancient Japan it was traditional to sneak into your lover’s bed, but this brought a whole new meaning to that.

While I was lamenting over my friend’s future, Angel-chan came over, carefully holding onto for dear life a tray of tea and cake.
Aahh, Angel-chan! You’re so cute when you’re giving your all!

“Here, Oneesan.”

“Eh!?”

This was for me!? That’s why he let go of my hand to leave!? To prepare this for me!? Aahh! What a good kid! Angel-chan!

The cake was a Crémet d’Anjou. Of course Angel-chan brought me a cake made by the angels!

“Thank you. It must have been difficult bringing this all the way here by yourself.”

“No, something like that was easy.”

But yours palms are still red from holding onto the tray, you know?

“Please eat,” smiled the little angel. Haaah~ Cute! Angel-chan, how would you like to become a child of the Kisshouin house?

“You brought Reika-oneesama her tea? Thanks, Yukino-kun.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Yukino-kun? So your name is Yukino-kun?” I asked.

Yukino(field of snow). A perfect name for the pure white Angel-chan!

“Yes. My name is Enjou Yukino. I’m very pleased to meet you, Reika-oneesan.”

Yukino-kun the angel smiled adorably at me. …Hm?

…

…

…

…Enjou?

“Ummm… Yukino-kun? Could it be that you have some relation to Enjou Shuusuke-sama?” I asked in dread.

Please say you don’t know him. At least say that you’re just distantly related. Please, anything but that.

“Enjou Shuusuke is my older brother.”

GEHHHHHHH!

Enjou’s little brother!? Why? He’s not like him at all! How could that scheming devil possibly have a little brother like this pure little angel!

I supposed their faces looked a little similar. Their hair colour was different though. Actually, wasn’t his hair colour kind of like the Enjou from Kimidol? That was honey-coloured, but his was amber. Oh. Could it be that not only the hair colour, but the kind heart that manga!Enjou had were both inherited by his little brother?

I was so hoping to avoid this cliché though…

“Ummm… Is there some problem with my brother?”

Maybe the frown showed on my face. Yukino-kun was looking at me with an anxious expression, so I quickly put on a smile.

“Oh no. I was simply surprised as I happen to be in the same year as him. I had no idea Enjou-sama had such a lovely younger brother.”

“Is that really all?”

Oh no! Please don’t make that worried expression.

“Yes. Why, your brother and I occasionally chat in the Pivoine salon. Oh! And just recently I received some souvenirs from him!”

“Souvenirs from Niisama?”

“Yes, allegedly he travelled to some famous waterfalls and forests. They were delicious.”

“I see.”

Finally, Yukino-kun was back to smiling.

“Um, may I sit next to you too?”

“Of course!”

Yukino-kun sat meekly down by my side and gave a little smile. An angel…

Of course, I knew intellectually that I should have kept my distance, given the identity of his older brother, but I just couldn’t resist this angel’s smile!

I took a bite of the white angel cake that Angel-chan had brought for me. It was fluffy, and melted in my mouth!

“Simply delicious. Thank you, Yukino-kun.”

“Yes!”

Yukino-kun smiled happily at my thanks.

Apparently he had just entered 1st grade in the primary school section this year. He really did seem unused to this, come to think of it. And he was tiny too.

Yukino-kun gallantly offered to refill my tea. So cute! I’d never even seen his older brother pour tea for anyone, you know?

“Reika-oneesama, I want to talk to you too,” said Mao-chan as she pulled on my arm, sulking just a little.

One arm with Yukino-kun, and the other with Mao-chan. Was this paradise!?

“Sorry, Mao-chan.”

“It’s fine. Say, Reika-oneesama, you’re going to go eat with Haruto-niisama, right?”

“Yes, I am. We scheduled something like that the other day.”

“Haruto-niisama knows lots of good places to eat. You can look forward to it!”

I see. I think I will.

After being soothed by the children, and having my fill of the cake, I left the Petite Pivoine.
Mao-chan, Yuuri-kun, and Yukino-kun saw me off at the door.
They were all so adorable.

*

When I got home, I received a mail from Ichinokura-san to confirm our schedule.
I was so looking forward to this! Ah, but was it okay just to be the glutton girl? Was it better to double down and continue pretending to be a small eater…?

Which was the right choice as a maiden?

“The cake was a Crémet d’Anjou. Of course Angel-chan brought me a cake made by the angels!
In Japan, Crémet d’Anjou is something akin to a fluffier cheesecake with a raspberry coulis (usually as the centre).”

First of all, making it yourself. I’ve consulted various online Japanese recipes, and this (completely English) recipe seems pretty much the same.

https://washoku.guide/recipe/1020070

Next point… I have no idea what the name means in France. Apparently the French dish is some kind of regional dessert or something? Somebody French clarify for me, please. The wikipedia article looked badly sourced too, so maybe it’s not even real.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%A9met_d%27Anjou

The background melody works really, really well with his rap. It seems like this was one song, even. That just makes it all the more surreal, considering all the homophobic and hilariously thug lyrics juxtaposed against all the incredibly gay music and Japanese girls.

And holy shit, that ending. It actually sounds so real, like he really was just crying out in partial-defeat, and it was meant to be comedic all along. I AM THE HOOD! I AM THE STREETS! YOU BITCH ASS NIGGA!
10/10, listened to it all day at work.

Finally, I can enjoy DMX in a way beyond just ironic appreciation.

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

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!

Join the Evil God Army on discord!
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Ririna was a high schooler now. Despite my apprehensions, she didn’t go on a rampage like three years ago, and she didn’t have problems making friends either. To my surprise she was actually doing pretty well for herself. She had rounded up the External Students and was ruling over her own clique now.

And since she wasn’t just some External but my younger cousin, apparently even the Pivoine members in her grade couldn’t make a move against her. Using my name like that while I had no idea. What a terrifying girl.

I had asked her friends before to tell me if she ever went crazy again, but things seemed to be fine for the moment.

Although, I did receive one report before that she had butted heads with some underclassman. Despite my worries though, it turned out just to be Bird-Brained Katsuragi so I ignored it.
Later, Ririna came up to me breathing excitedly.

“I wasted that idiot!” she boasted, like some kind of thug.

Kind as I was, I decided not to mention birds of a feather.

Anyhow, I hoped she wouldn’t do anything to harm my reputation here.

*

In primary and middle school, the girls of my grade had only two major cliques; mine and Tsuruhana-san’s. Ever since we entered high school though, all of the new Externals were leading to a new, third faction being born. It wasn’t something you could afford to ignore.

Also Fellow Stalking horse was getting more and more popular amongst the girls. Even though we were both stalking horses, how come the guys were all avoiding me!? Wasn’t this unfair? I want to be popular too!
Not that I couldn’t understand the leader of the girls being frightening…
That’s what I had concluded, when a few days later I saw Ririna in the cafeteria surrounded by boys, giving me such a shock that I couldn’t stop trembling.

Why was it just me…

Wondering if there wasn’t at least one boy interested in me, my eyes darted around the crowd but every single boy I met eyes with looked away in fear.

Oh no… What if I was the Village Chief forever…

*

I had a ray of hope though. Mao-chan’s party was coming up.
After she invited me I checked my schedule, only to find out I was free indeed. When I told her she was so happy she started clapping. How much cuter could she get!

And what was even better was that Ichinokura-san would be coming too. Ichinokura-san who had treated me delicately like I was a princess. A ray of light to sooth the discomfort of my heart!
I was going at the exercise stepper like crazy to maintain his image of the dainty, delicate ojousama.
It was making weird noises, actually. Was it because I hadn’t used it for a while? Maybe it was too old?

Anyhow, I was exercising while watching informercials. Oohh… Some of these looked interesting…
Before I knew it, I was off the stepper and on the phone, ready to order.

*

*

*

Today was Mao-chan’s birthday party so the moment my classes were finished I rushed to her house.
The party had already begun at the Sawarabi household, and Mao-chan was surrounded by classmates.

“Reika-oneesama! You came!”

“Happy Birthday, Mao-chan,” I said as I held out my present.

It was pretty hard finding something for a little girl, but after a lot of searching I decided on a finely ornamented music box that looked like some sort of antique.

When you opened it up, a little prince and princess pair danced to ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’.

I had been really worried about whether she’d like it, but when she opened it up her eyes sparkled. Hahh, thank goodness.

“Isn’t that great, Mao-chan?”

“Yeah!”

Sitting next to Mao-chan was Yuuri-kun, the boy who rang the bell with her during the summer party.
It seems like Mao-chan didn’t need to wait for ‘someday’ since her prince was sitting beside her. Kuh-, so I lost here too…

Where was my prince candidate? I looked around but unfortunately he still hadn’t come due to work reasons. I had so carefully done my hair too…

Anyhow, apparently they had already done the cake cutting, because a waiter brought me a slice. I thanked him and then took a bit. It was delicious. Shockingly, Mao-chan’s mother had made not only this cake, but the rest of the food too. Normally people in the upper class left the cooking to full-time chefs or maids, or so I had thought.

I tried some of the other food next. All of it was just delicious. Not only did it taste like a professional’s, but somehow it had that touch of a mother’s home cooking, which just made it all the better.

The Sarawabi family was powerful enough to get Mao-chan into the Pivoine. There was no way that Mrs. Sarawabi couldn’t hire somebody else to do this. But her cooking skills were amazing regardless!

I was shooting the food a look of respect when Mao-chan’s mum, Inokura-san’s older sister, smiled at me and said,

“Cooking is my hobby.”

Her hobby, huh. How niice. I wasn’t very good at it. Well, not that I was terrible either.

In the future, if the Kisshouin family ever collapsed, the chores would probably all fall to me. I doubted Okaasama could cook. I’d never even seen her stand in the kitchen before. In that case, I had no choice but to do my best.

I wish Mao-chan’s mum would take me as a student.

My first act as a prospective disciple was to sample all of the master’s cooking.

*

At first the primary schoolers had kept their distance because they didn’t know me, but after seeing me happily chatting and eating with Mao-chan and Yuuri-kun they gradually warmed up to me. They started calling me Oneesama too. They were all so cute!

They all listened enthusiastically as I told them stories of my time in primary school. When I told them about how you could become a hero by winning Zui’ran’s cavalry battles, with glittering eyes one boy said,

“My Oniichan said the same thing! There’s a legendary man called the Emperor! Both me and Oniichan are aiming to be just like him!”

Uwa…

The children brought food to me, telling me how this or that was delicious, so I thanked them and tried it all.

The spinach quiche was yummy.

So was the meat pie.

Mmm, and the seafood paella.

Mao-chan and all the other cute little kids kept bringing me yummy dishes. Aahh~ I’m so glad I camee~

I was chewing on some bruschetta when Ichinokura-san came here from work.

“Haruto-niisama! You’re laate!” complained Mao-chan, but she hugged him all the same.

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologised, handing her his gift.

“Haruto-niisama!” she said as she held the gift. “Reika-oneesama came too!”

“Reika-san?”

He discovered me surrounded by children.

“So you’re here too, Reika-san. Thanks for coming.”

“I am grateful to have been invited. I truly had a good time today.”

I gently dabbed away the tomato sauce on my lips and gave him a smile.

“Mao here kept telling everyone about how she hoped you would come, Reika-san.”

“I am honoured.”

Mao-chan’s mum came over with a plate of food.

“Haruto, you must be hungry after work,” she said, handing him the plate.

“Mind if I sit next to you?” he asked me. “Have you eaten too, Reika-san? Neesan’s cooking is pretty good, you know?”

“Yes, I had some. Your oneesama is truly a splendid cook.”

“You don’t seem to be eating all that much though…”

All I had in front of me was the bruschetta. After all, I had already cleaned everything else up.

“I ate more earlier.”

“Really?”

Speaking of which, I was supposed to be one of those girls without much appetite, wasn’t I. I was thinking of furthering that impression when an unexpected curveball was thrown at me.

“Reika-oneesan really ate a lot just now, didn’t she!” one of the children innocently exclaimed.

Maybe they had meant to support me since Ichinokura-san was doubting my words. They started talking about how I ate this dish, and that dish, one after another.

Ichinokura-san seemed dumbfounded.

I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself… Embarrasssingggg!* The small eater character transformed into a mega glutton!

“…I see. So you’ve eaten quite a bit, Reika-san.”

“…Yes.”

I wanted to run.

Thinking about it, I may have eaten more just now than any normal girl would. And at somebody else’s house too.

After thinking for a moment, Ichinokura-san smiled brightly.

“Then shall we go somewhere to eat together? I like people who can eat.”

“Eh!”

The Heavens had not forsaken me!!

Thank god I was a such a glutton!

*

*

A few days after the party, when I went to the Petite Pivoine to hand over the photos, an angel of a boy greeted me.

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Starting today I would be a 2nd year in Zui’ran’s high school section. I wished for this every year, but I hoped I would end up with some girls I was close with~ I don’t want to be alone…
And also, I hoped that all the troublesome people would end up in another class.

I stepped outside only to be buffeted by heavy winds. Maybe because it was spring. Since I was dainty and so delicate I looked like I was going to snap, maybe I would even be blown away by the wind~
It was going to mess up my hair though so I hurried into the car.

I pulled out a mirror to check myself. I couldn’t give a bad impression to my new class, after all! I smiled into the mirror. My dimple was perfectly visible. Okay!

*

When I arrived there were already plenty of students crowded around the noticeboard. Some students were overjoyed, some were being consoled, the responses were all over the place.
I didn’t have any guys I liked so most important to me was ending up with friends. I was the Chief of the Forever Alone village, but that was forever romantically alone. I fully intended to be surrounded by friends.
First I checked the list of girls in the same class as me. Shirasagi Ru’ne from my group was there! Hell yess!
Ru’ne-chan was one of the girls who I went to Karuizawa with, and was one of my closer friends in the group. Thank goodness. At the very least I managed to avoid a bitter year of isolation. Besides Ru’ne-chan were a few other girls from my clique as well. Phew.

As for the boys… Oh, Class Rep’s name was there. Oohh, Class Rep! My first class with Class Rep in quite a while! One of my few male friends. This was a happy occurrence indeed.
Aside from him, the other boys were relatively harmless. All of the troublesome ones were in a different class. Hell yesss!

I really was lucky this year. I had a bit of bad luck after receiving a cursed item but it looks like my fortunes were picking up again. The anthology in question had already been plastered with an anti-evil seal, wrapped in a cloth, and then sealed away in the same storage room as the dolls. Fight fire with fire and all that. Of course, if anybody ever wanted the anthology they were free to take it.
I looked at the other class lists and realised that of all things, Enjou and Wakaba-chan would be together. Worse yet, the 2nd-in-command of Tsuruhana’s group was in that same class. This was bad… I decided to stay away.

“Reika-sama! We’re in the same class!” said Ru’ne-chan as she ran to me with a smile.

We were overjoyed to be with each other. Some of the other girls came over and we chatted about the class allocations. I had great friends with me and no troublemakers. This was going to be a peaceful year.

*

Class Rep ended up as class rep again like natural. Since Nonose-san was in our class I had hoped that I would get out of it, but both my home room teacher and Class Rep had insisted on me. As for Nonose-san herself…

“I think you’re the best suited, Reika-sama.”

And that’s how I ended up as the Vice Class Representative again. Honestly I had already half given in by now. It could be worse, I suppose. I had Class Rep as my partner, and there weren’t any real troublemakers.

“Let’s have another good year together, Kisshouin-san,” smiled Class Rep. Oh yes, I hope so too.

Then, secretly, “And I’d like some advice with romance,” he said. Advice on romance… Thinking about it, he had quite a long history with unrequited love as well, didn’t he. Alright, leave it to me. I was going to make him a fine villager! First I’d have him read that anthology, maybe.

“Kisshouin-kun.”

Huh? Kisshouin-kun?
Who was it? Who was it that added -kun to my name? ──It was ‘Dite.

“Kisshouin-kun, may I ask you a question?”

‘Dite-kun, or Afrodite, was sporting his namesake as always. Maybe it was the hair but wow, did his face look big up close. And apparently people who were individualistic in their appearances also did the same with their speech. We were in the same class this year. I had ignored him though since I judged him harmless.

“Will the class be performing at this year’s class trip?”

“Performing? I cannot say. I have not heard anything of the like.”

“…I see. But when you require the services of my violin, you need only but speak. No need for hesitation. Even if the other students cannot reach my level of violin skills, I have no qualms with performing by myself. This is my opinion. What say you, Kisshouin-kun!”

Eh, huh…? In other words, Afrodite wanted to perform in front of us so badly that he came and asked about the excursion?

“…Well, I suppose I can not see the harm in it?”

Not that I even knew if there was going to be class performances in our itinerary last year.

“I thought as much! Truly, you were as reasonable a woman as I had judged! Kisshouin-kun, I anticipate a good year with you!”

“…Let us get along.”

Satisfied, ‘Dite-kun nodded and headed back to his seat, the Afro swaying in the air as he left.

“He was kind of incredible…” muttered Class Rep. ‘Dite-kun just completely ignored you. Is that okay?

“There are a lot of eccentric artists…” he continued, “Last year he wouldn’t stop playing the violin on the bus, so nobody got any sleep.”

Speaking of which, I remember hearing that from a girl in his class.

I retract my statement. We had the one troublemaker.

*

After school I headed to the Pivoine salon. Today’s sweets were apple pies. I loved these.
The pie crust was crunchy, but the apple inside was soft and delicious.
It was so delicious, in fact, that I finished the whole thing in no time. I was still craving it…

While I fought an internal war against my appetite, somebody told me that somebody had come to visit me.
It turns out it was Mao-chan from the primary school.
It was unusual for her to come all the way here from the Petit Pivoine. Everyone here was older than her, which seemed to make her a little nervous.

“Is something the matter, Mao-chan? Come and sit down.”

“Yes.”

I led Mao-chan over to the sofa I had been sitting on.

“What will you be having? Ah! Today’s food is apple pie. You must try some.”

“Eh, but…”

I guess it was nerve wracking to be the only one eating. Geez.

“I shall have some as well. This way there should be no problems, correct?”

“Yes! Thank you very much, Reika-oneesama.”

“You are very welcome.”

The staff brought down apple pies in front of us so the two of us ate happily.

“It overjoys me that you come to visit, Mao-chan. Was there something you needed me for?”

“Ah, yes! Umm, I was having a birthday party on this day. I was hoping that you might want to come… If you can’t, then I understand.”

“A birthday party?”

“Yes. Haruto-niisama said he would be going as well, and I was hoping you would as well.”

“I see…”

A birthday party, huh…

I hadn’t actually checked my schedule yet, but Mao-chan of all people was inviting me. I could at least show up for a little.

“I understand. I shall check my plans and let you know.”

Mao-chan smiled happily. So cuute.

A present for a young girl… What should I get? I want to choose something that would build on my image as a wonderful oneesama.

*

The two of us continued to chat harmoniously as we ate our delicious apple pies.

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