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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Apparently Fellow Stalking Horse was quite popular.

His looks were pretty good and he demonstrated ability in his role as Student Council President.

He treated everyone the same, even if they were a Pivoine, and he was both trustworthy and reliable.

As a result he was popular with both sexes.

I suppose it just came down to the author’s taste, but in the manga he and the Emperor were kind of similar.

Both of them were charismatic and had presence, and masculine faces.

In the colour illustrations their hair colours had made them look like a black panther and silver wolf.

In any other romance novel you’d expect them to be complete opposites though.

That fact that they weren’t had pretty much convinced me back in the day that the author was simply into this type of overbearing guy.

I suppose there was only one huge difference between them.

While the Emperor was cold and aloof, the Student Council President was approachable as you’d expect from his position.

He was sincere with everyone he spoke to.

The result was a boatload of confessions.

“Apparently the StuCo President was confessed to again.”

“Who was it this time?”

“That first year, I hear. The one that’s supposedly somewhat cute. You know the one.”

We had barely begun the new term and already somebody had confessed to him?

For a man that was supposed to be the vice-chief, why was he so different to the chief?

Anyway, whether you were cute or not, Fellow Stalking Horse treated you equally and was never cruel in his rejection.

It was admirable.

After all, there were plenty of guys who changed their attitude based on who was confessing.

‘You don’t have to go out with me. I just wanted you to know how I felt.’

Girls who told him this were never-ending.

Huh.

I supposed the Emperor was like that too.

After all, whether you were cute or not, the Emperor treated you equally. If you weren’t Yurie-sama it was a frosty “Not interested.”

That’s why almost nobody confessed to him, despite his popularity.

Speaking of which, I wonder how Maihama-san was doing~

Anyway, going back to Stalking Horse, rumour had it that he had his first shrine visit of the New Year with Wakaba-chan.

It was a famous shrine, so apparently plenty of people spotted them.

When girls questioned him about it, he claimed that he had gone with the entire Student Council, not just with her. Still, it hadn’t changed the fact that in the bustle of the shrine the pair had been together the entire time, and looked awfully close.

Making matters worse, Emperor Kaburagi was still greeting Wakaba-chan just like last year, and would strike up a chat whenever he went to Enjou’s class.

Whether the StuCo Pres or the Emperor, Wakaba-chan’s intimacy with the two was already seeing her glared at with jealous eyes.

*

*

*

I was on my way back from club activities.

There was a textbook that I needed for studies tonight, so I was heading by my locker to pick it up.

I was walking down the empty hallway when I spotted one Wakaba-chan heading into the bathroom.

Since there was nobody else around, I figured I may as well wish her a belated Happy New Year.

That’s why I followed her in, only to find her in just her blouse, washing her jacket in the clean washbasin.

“…Takamichi-san?” I called out quietly.

Wakaba-chan turned around with a start.

“Oh, it was you, Kisshouin-san. What’s up?”

“What’s up, you ask? I wanted to ask that.”

I glanced at the dirtied white jacket in her hands.

Now that I was looking carefully, I realised her skirt was in the same condition.

“Is that… paint water…?”

“Eh? Yeah, I bumped into somebody earlier.”

“Bumped into whom?”

“I didn’t really see their face. They said sorry, and then disappeared.”

“Disappeared? They dirtied your clothes and then ran!?”

“Ahh~ Yeah…”

That was absolutely intentional. Even their membership in the Art Club was dubious.

“But I can’t get the stains out of white clothing. I might have to send it for dry cleaning…”

“This is horrible. You should find the culprit and demand the dry cleaning funds! And from the looks of these stains, who knows if even that would do the job!”

“I’ve got a coupon for dry cleaning, so don’t worry about that. I got a bonus from last year’s term-end exams too. I’ll just have to rely on the dry cleaners to do their best… It’s going to be rough without a jacket tomorrow thoughhh.”

“Eh!? Is this your only one!?”

“Mmn.”

Overcoat or not, commuting by train without a jacket in this weather was unreasonable.

And to begin with, although I wasn’t sure if it was actually against regulations, not wearing the jacket could make her stand out as much as the gum boots did for all I knew.

“Coming here without a jacket may be a problem. Particularly when it comes to the former president of the Pivoine.”

“Ah, thought so.”

Wakaba-chan frowned.

“And I don’t even know if the stains will even come out. I guess I have no choice but to buy one then. Man, this is going to be tough on expenses…”

I was hesitant, but I couldn’t help but speak after seeing how troubled she looked.

“Umm, I have a spare set so, what if I gave it to you?”

“Ehh!? Even I’d feel bad about that!”

I had a number of spare uniforms in case some got dirty.

Giving her one wasn’t an issue at all.

Stains just wouldn’t do on white clothing after all.

“These uniforms are expensive. I can’t take something like that from you! This is completely different to slippers, you know!”

“But at this rate you will have to pay yourself, no?”

“Hmmmm…”

The school uniforms were expensive.

I wasn’t sure exactly how expensive but I wouldn’t be surprised if a set cost more than ¥100,000.

“Ah!”

“Eh?”

Oh! I did have one I didn’t need! One that I’d probably never wear again!

“I have one spoilt one that I wear no longer. It would put me at ease if you could find a use for it.”

“Ummm… Is this spoilt one cleaner than what I’m wearing?”

“Yes. I had it sent to the dry cleaners so it should be clean. However… originally it had bird faeces on it…”

“Eh!? Again!?”

“Indeed,” I nodded gravely.

It happened on a chilly afternoon.

I was going on an after-lunch walk with my friends.

I had been looking to the side at the time when from the skies above a bird dropped its poop onto my head!

Even though it missed my head, it still landed on my skirt.

Since it was soft and still steaming fresh it bounced off my skirt and ended up dirtying my jacket too.

“A bird pooped on Reika-sama again!”

“Hold on, Reika-sama! It’s not too bad! It only hit your uniform today!”

Everyone brought me to the school infirmary as my mind struggled to reboot from shock and it somehow managed to get off with detergent.

After that I immediately had somebody bring me a new change of clothes from home, and then sent the bird-poop set to the cleaners.

Still, I didn’t feel too good about it and never ended up wearing it again.

Why was it just me that had to get pooped on. Grrrr, it was outrageous!

I suppose it was a matter of outlook though.

There were islands made of bird poop in the world that you could get phosphate from and make a fortune, so maybe the bird pooping on me would one day lead to the same.

Yeah. No. It’s impossible after all.

Anyway, although she was hesitant I managed to convince Wakaba-chan and I brought her home with me in my family car.

“What a huge house~”

Wakaba-chan was just staring in shock with her mouth gaping.

Thank goodness, my parents weren’t home yet.

We headed to my room.

I took out the poop uniform and handed it to her.

“How is it?”

“Wah! It isn’t dirtied at all! Can I really take such a new uniform off you?”

“I do not intend on wearing it again, and have plenty of spares besides. Please stop hesitating and take it.”

“Really? Thank you! Ah, but will the size fit? We’re about the same height, but I’m pretty thick, you know? I’m not skinny like you are.”

“Nonsense~ We look the same~ Ohohoho.”

I was in a pretty good mood.

Wakaba-chan tried it on.

“Hmmm…?”

Apparently the waist for my uniform was loose on her──

“…Shall I lend you a sewing set?”

“Umm, I can do it at home!”

Out of consideration, Wakaba-chan just smiled past the awkwardness.

Not that I’m making excuses, but that uniform was back from when I was eating out with Ichinokura-san, okay!

I’m way skinnier now!

“Thanks for this, really. I want to pay you back so come over and play sometime, okay? My family wants to meet you too!”

“Yes, I look forward to it.”

I saw Wakaba-chan off at the nearest station.

After passing through the ticket gates, she turned and waved at me with energy before leaving.

I couldn’t help but wonder who had done this.

A fan of the Emperor, or a fan of Fellow Stalking Horse…

 

---

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The ūrṇā is the thirty-first physical characteristic of Buddha. It is generally thought to be a whorl of hair and be a mark or sign of the Buddha as a mahāpuruṣa or great being.

---

Happy New Year. I gained an urna.

Well, strictly speaking it’s just a straight white hair on the right edge of my hairline, so maybe it’s not an urna but just a lucky hair?

I realised it after the New Year’s holiday, just as everyone was returning to their jobs and school.

I was tying up my hair as always to dab medicine onto my eyebrows when I discovered on my forehead what seemed to be a shining clear thread.

What a shock. Apparently I was the reincarnation of a bodhisattva.

Late last year was just packed with so much trouble that I even lost hair.

That’s why on New Year’s I very thoroughly purified myself.

I even used my own money for very generous donations.

Maybe that’s why a few hairs on my eyebrows were starting to grow back.

You’ve been working hard, my hair roots! Still kind of sparse though.

But still, I bet this was because my biggest cause of stress was gone now.

As for this urna, or lucky hair or whatever, didn’t this mean I was bound to be lucky this year!? Both in money and love.

Ah, but as a young girl I couldn’t exactly just leave some random hair growing on my forehead…

Maybe it would be fine if I covered it with my fringe?

*

*

*

It was nice seeing all the familiar faces again after the break. I think every school was like this.

“Happy New Year,” I said as I stepped into my group.

“Happy New Year, Reika-sama!” they replied.

We began to chat about winter break.

“I’m fat from all the food I had on New Year’s day.”

“Don’t say that, Kikuno-san. I’ve gotten fatter too~”

“Me too, me too.”

It was the same conversation that every girl had after New Year’s.

Why did New Year’s food make you so fat?

Maybe it was all the rice cakes.

Ozouni.

Oshiruko.

Isobeyaki had rice cakes too.

Every New Year’s you ended up with this weird sense of duty to finish the rice cakes off. Thanks to that you just ended up eating, didn’t you.

I wasn’t that fond of ozouni, but isobeyaki was delicious.

“Goodness! What a precious watch you have, Reika-sama!”

“Oh, this was my parents’ Christmas present to me,” I explained.

“My!”

“How did you spend your Christmas?” somebody asked.

“Nothing special,” I said. “I just spent it with a small gathering of friends. And you all?”

“I went out to eat with my family, and then they got me the bag I wanted,” said one girl.

“I was invited to a party,” answered another.

“I was abroad the entire winter break,” explained a third.

How nice. I wish I could have spent Christmas and New Year’s overseas.

When I was little my family went to Hawaii for Christmas.

The mood was great, with costumed merrymakers all across town.

I could still remember being stunned by my first encounter with a real drag queen. Oniisama had gotten a kiss on the cheek…

Lately Oniisama was too busy to travel though. Without someone to have fun with, vacations hadn’t been as fun recently.

What was fun about swimming in a pool by yourself.

It’d be nice if I had a sister my age, or maybe a friend to go vacationing with.

While I was daydreaming the hallway grew noisy.

“It’s Kaburagi-sama and Enjou-sama!”

The girl’s voice heralded their first appearance of the year.

Every girl began to vacate their classrooms to watch.

“Let’s go too, Reika-sama!”

“Ehh…”

I couldn’t be bothered, but if everyone else was going… Up we go…

Did the pair seem more tan before? Maybe it was my imagination. Then again, maybe they went somewhere.

The girls around them sent their New Year’s greetings. While Enjou responded with a smile, Kaburagi’s responses were uninterested.

“So cool~”

“I greeted them!”

“Don’t they seem even more masculine than before the break?”

The girls in my group were watching with their hands clapsed together, entranced.

“Has it also been since before the break for you, Reika-sama?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a shame, isn’t it.”

Um, not really…

Anyhow, since today was just the ceremony, we were out of school before noon.

The Pivoine had its own greetings, so we all gathered at the salon.

When I arrived, my first greetings were for the new President of the Pivoine for this year. Not that the Presidents of the Pivoine really did anything.

Very Kaburagi of him, I supposed.

After that we relaxed, and greeted each other with some tea.

I was just doing so when Enjou and Kaburagi came along, so I said hello again.

“Happy New Year, Enjou-sama, Kaburagi-sama.”

“Happy New Year, Kisshouin-san.”

“Happy New Year.”

They really did seem kind of tanned, now that I was looking from up close…

I said as much, and they responded that they’d gone skiing in Canada.

Hmm~ Skiing gracefully in Canada, huh.

Quite different from how they spent their last winter, I had to say.

Ah, but I suppose the cold was the same.

“Oh, this is your souvenir, Kisshouin-san. Maple syrup.”

“It was the tastiest one,” Kaburagi added.

“Why thank you!”

Quite unlike the unlucky souvenir of last year.

I wanted to cook up some pancakes already.

Incidentally by that ‘tastiest one’ comment, Kaburagi, don’t tell me you went and compared them all?

Anyway, if the two of them were on holiday then I wonder what Yukino-kun was doing.

He wasn’t well, so I couldn’t imagine he could have gone skiing.

“Was Yukino-kun alone at home?” I asked.

“He went with my parents to Okinawa,” Enjou replied. “I think he’s looking a little better after relaxing somewhere warmer.”

“That sounds wonderful!”

I was finding it hard to mesh Yukino-kun and the tropics, but still, Okinawa was a nice place!

“But can Yukino-kun swim?”

“Technically. He’s been doing it to help his endurance.”

“I had no idea.”

“Apparently he was swimming in Okinawa too. I’ve seen some photos of my him and my parents at the beach or in the pool.”

“My, that sounds like fun. I hope to see these photos too.”

“We should visit the Petit Pivoine again sometime.”

“Indeed.”

But I have to wonder if Yukino-kun hadn’t wanted to go with his oniichan.

Damned Kaburagi, how could you separate the two.

By instinct I sent him a look of blame.

He looked back at me and said,

“Miruku.”

Ha? Miruku?

“Ah, nothing. Sorry, I was thinking about Okinawa when I saw your face and that word just came to mind.”

“I see…”

“Don’t worry about it, Kisshouin-san,” agreed Enjou.

“I see…”

Wondering what on earth was going on, when I got home I looked the word up.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

 

 

Kaburagiiiiiiiiii!

My face brought Miruku to mind!? Are you saying I look like him!? This ridiculous face!?

You’re slandering a bodhisattva like me!?

Unforgivable!

I ended up venting to Hoya-chan the hoya kerii.

After all, people said that talking to plants would make them grow faster!

I spoke to Hoya-chan every day.

Later on I had some pancakes made, and then I ate them with the Canadian maple syrup.

What the hell!?

So delicious!

…In light of this wonderful maple syrup, I’ll forgive you just this once, Kaburagi.

---

Mn. I’ll upload some pics this weekend then.

---

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I was attending a special winter holiday course at my cram school.

My marks had fallen in the most recent exam so I had to get it together!

A student’s main concern was studying, so naturally Christmas wasn’t a priority.

Christmas had nothing to do with students.

Naturally.

With that in mind I strode into cram school only to be invited by Umewaka-kun and the others to a 1000 yen random present exchange.

Present exchange?!

Count me in!

This kind of thing really brought back memories.

In my old life my friends and I had gathered together to do a 500 yen random present exchange.

It was extra hard getting presents without knowing who would get it.

If I knew that then I could at least try to get something they’d like.

It was even worse this time because we had both sexes in the pool.

If it was all girls then I could get some cute lip gloss or a nail set, but I didn’t think the boys would appreciate that.

Oh, well maybe Iwamuro-kun might, but…

After agonising over it for a while, in the end I decided on a famous onsen bath salt set.

It wasn’t something you’d have to keep around after using, and if you didn’t like it then your family could.

I wondered if this was the right choice.

It was better than some cute bath bombs at least, since the scent of those might be too sweet for a boy.

During our lunch break on Christmas Eve, we had lunch together in the classroom before singing some songs and exchanging presents.

It was a little embarrassing because there were other people in the classroom, but it was best to be festive for these things, wasn’t it!

I wondered who would get my present.

We sang Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as we passed the presents along in a circle.

When the song was done I ended up with a green-ribboned present, just about large enough to fit in both hands.

I wonder whose this was.

My present ended up in Sasaki-san’s hands. Ahh, had I known it’d end up with a girl I would have just gone for the bath bombs!

How was she going to react!

“Wah, bath salts. There’s actually quite a bit here. Whose was this?”

“It was mine,” I raised my hand to looks of surprise.

“This is yours!? Wouldn’t have really expected this from you.”

“Yeah. I thought Kisshouin-san would have picked something more, rich person? High roller?”

“Uu… Sorry for failing to meet expectations…”

I see. So they weren’t expecting a young lady of Zui’ran to have chosen something so plebeian. Sorry. I messed up.

“No, no! Sorry! That’s not what I meant! I was just surprised, that’s all! I love bath salts, so I’m really glad to get this. Onsen bath salts though. You’ve got some pretty mature taste, huh.”

I knew I should have just gone with some la bath salts français! Who cares if they had salts from Beppu and Arima…

After that I opened up the present I got myself. Inside was a single heart-shaped plant of some sort in a little pot…?

“Oh, I got that one. Isn’t it cute? It’s a hoya kerii. Sometimes people call it the love-heart plant.”

“The hoya kerii,” I read, and began looking at the attached instructions for raising it.

Bad with the cold, less water needed in winter… Huh, and you didn’t need to water it every day. Maybe it would be easy to keep it.

“Thank you, Kitazawa-kun. I will try my best to take care of it!”

“Yeah!”

A plant shaped like a heart though. Guy or not, I had to admit it was a pretty stylish choice.

Everyone else excitedly opened their own presents too.

Hand creams, sweets, Christmas mugs and citrus-scented soaps…

My onsen bath salts were the least cute thing here…

Still, the Christmas mood was great! I handed out the sweets I had left over from the Petit salon, and we had that instead of Christmas cake. Yummy.

*

*

When I got home my parents were about to head out for a party.

Naturally they invited me, but I declined. Have fun.

When I got back to my room I put in ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. I ended up watching it while I had dried squid from the convenience store, with soy sauce and mayonnaise.

Somehow or other I ended up watching this every year, didn’t I~

Munch munch.

I gulped down some green tea.

Oniichan was going to be out late with work and then the party, but that was fine.

I was fine just watching DVDs all by my lonesome and then falling asleep.

I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to watch after this one yet.

Wakaba-chan was probably quite busy at her family store right now.

Sakura-chan was going to be ringing bells at the church before heading to a party at Akizawa-kun’s place as I recalled.

And Aoi-chan was… on a date? Maybe I’d email her.

Ah wait, no, then she’d realise that I had nothing better to do right now.

I had to control myself…

Umewaka-kun sent me a photo of Beatrice in a red nose and antlers.

I was expecting a photo like this, but I had expected a Santa costume instead.

But with those antlers on, considering the Cerberus incident Kaburagi would probably call her a baphomet or something.

‘I had Christmas cake with A-tan!

He got me a flower collar as a present.

Isn’t it cute?

Merry Christmas, Reika-tan!’

Merry Christmas, Bea-tan.

*

*

Late at night I sensed a presence and shot to my feet.

There was a suspicious figure in the dark!

“Ghooooost!!”

I leapt onto my bed so that I wouldn’t be possessed.

Spirit begone! Spirit begone!

Why!? I thought ghosts were meant to appear on Halloween, not Christmas!

“Reika, Reika! It’s your Otousama! I’m not a ghost!”

“…Otousama?”

I turned on my bed lamp.

In its dim lighting stood a tanuki.

“What are you doing, Otousama!”

My heart almost goddamn stopped you know! You stupid tanuki!

I’m all dizzy from standing up too fast now!

“Ah, I mean, you were at home all by yourself, so your Otousama thought he’d leave you a present by your side.”

“Present?”

I looked around and found something left by my bedside.

A present whose wrapping paper was a little ruffled. I must have stepped on it in the confusion.

Still trying to play Santa at this age, huh. You’re wasting your life on dreams, Tanuki.

“Well thank you. At any rate I am going back to sleep, so please return to your room.”

“Okay…”

Otousama left my room dejectedly.

I heard Okaasama talking to him from just outside.

“Didn’t I tell you this would happen?”

Okaasama, if you’re going to dissuade him then do it properly please.

*

When I woke up the next morning I opened Santa Tanuki’s present.

It turned out to be a ladies watch with diamonds that tumbled above the dial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RiSJoRNyI8

Cute.

I had no doubt that it was Okaasama who chose this…

When I arrived at breakfast two Christmas cakes from Otousama and Oniisama sat there, staring at me.

Just who was supposed to eat these.

Maybe if I brought them with me to cram school everyone would finish them for me…

*

I received a message from Sakura-chan.

For Christmas, Akizawa-kun had given her a ring.

What the heeeeeell!?

I gave a prayer to my love-heart plant as I watered it.

---

I think I should upload some of my photos from my holiday in Japan sometime.

---

<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!

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Today I had two nuisances along on my trip to the Petit salon. This was supposed to be my sanctuary…

I ended up swinging the bags in both hands as I walked.

Seeing this, Enjou spoke up.

“That looks pretty heavy. I’ll help you carry it.”

Oh? Well in that case.

I handed him the largest one.

“Whoa. This is pretty heavy. What’s inside?”

“Some season-limited Christmas chocolates for the kids.”

Since I was told that Yukino-kun had gotten me a present, I thought about getting presents for him, Mao-chan and Yuuri-kun.

Then I thought about how bad I would feel for the other kids, so in the end I decided to prepare enough chocolate for all of them.

Food and consumables were great for casual presents.

“Huh. I didn’t realise that brand produced Christmas chocolat,” Kaburagi mused.

“It is an assorted set. Some of them are shaped like Christmas trees and the like,” I replied.

“You’re pretty knowledgeable about time-limited products, huh,” he said as he peered into Enjou’s bag from the side.

Also we weren’t close enough for him to know that about me. Oh, was it the peach marshmallow that I gave him to ward off evil?

When we arrived at the Petit salon we were immediately greeted by smiles.

“Reika-oneesan!”

“Gokigen’yoh, Yukino-kun. Gokigen’yoh to you as well, Mao-chan, Yuuri-kun.”

“Gokigen’yoh, Reika-oneesama!”

“Hello Reika… oneesan…”

Yuuri-kun was still as shy about calling me that as ever.

Mhm, mhm, he was a boy after all.

If it’s too hard for you, Yuuri-kun, you can just call me Reika-chan instead, you know?

Anyhow, nobody had any idea that Enjou and Kaburagi were coming. Given how standoffish they generally were, the kids were excited about the rare opportunity to meet them, and immediately crowded them.

Huh.

All this time I was the only visitor here. I’d been monopolising the popularity of being a visiting upperclassman and yet today all their hearts were taken away in an instant.

Even Mao-chan who was like a little sister to me was taking glances over at those two!

Arghhh! I really shouldn’t have brought them here!

“Reika-oneesan? What’s wrong. Come sit down?”

Aaah! Yukino-kun! You’re my only ally here!

I did as he suggested and took my seat on the sofa. Ah, Enjou-sama, please just give out the chocolates however you like.

“You know, there was actually something I wanted to give you, Reika-oneesan.”

Yukino-kun held out a red-ribboned box in his two small hands.

“Reika-oneesan, it’s a little early, but Merry Christmas!”

“Thank you, Yukino-kun!”

I opened the box.

Inside was a snow globe with a boy creating a snowman in front of a Christmas tree. So cute!

“Is this boy you, Yukino-kun?”

“Mhm!” he nodded with a smile.

Given how frail his body was, perhaps he’d never done this before in real life.

I think I remember being told that Enjou and Kaburagi would build snowmen in view of his window when he was sick.

I hoped that he could one day build one himself.

“Then it is my turn next. Merry Christmas, Yukino-kun.”

My present for him was a thick scarf to match his uniform. At the ends of it were little white snowflakes.

I wasn’t sure though, since he might not have much need for a muffler being driven to school and all.

He wrapped it around his neck.

“Wahh! It’s so warm~!” exclaimed Yukino-kun as he rubbed his face against the scarf fringe. “Is the snowflake because my name is Yukino(snowfield)?”

“It is. The snowflake is your symbol.”

“Thank you,” he beamed.

I specially ordered it, actually. I was glad that he liked it.

As for Mao-chan and Yuuri-kun, I got them matching lesson bags; tote bags large enough to carry things for both school and extracurricular lessons. Having matching things sure was nice for a couple~

I wanted to try something like that myself one day. Ah, not matching clothing though.

“Thank you, Reika-oneesama! I’ll take care of it. Also Yuuri-kun and I got you something too!”

The two of them had gotten me fluffy boots for indoor use. It was completely adorable with little ribboned bonbons attached!

“My! Thank you! I think I shall be using them quite a bit considering how bad I am with the cold.”

They were pink and would match my belly warmer perfectly. With this I was set for winter.

We relaxed for a while, before Enjou and Kaburagi came over having distributed the chocolates.

Mmn. Well done, you two.

You can keep the remaining chocolates as thanks for your hard work.

“Yukino, did Kisshouin-san give you that muffler? Thank you, Kisshouin-san.”

“My pleasure. I should be giving thanks instead for these cute presents I received. Thank you very much.”

That was when the other kids began to thank me for the chocolate, and I ended up surrounded by smiling children myself.

Nuhoho, the presents were super effective.

“I wish you could come to my Christmas party though, Reika-oneesama,” pouted Mao-chan.

“Mao. Reika… oneesan, also has her own plans, so you can’t be so selfish.”

“But…”

Uuu, I want to go too, Mao-chan!

Why did my pride have to get in the way back there! Reika, you idiot! What if I told her that I could come now…

“You’re coming too, right, Yukino? Thanks for looking after him,” Enjou smiled.

“Yes!” said Mao-chan as she blushed.

Mao-chan! Yuuri-kun is right next to you!

“By the way, Masaya’s mum said it was a shame you couldn’t come to her party, Kisshouin-san.”

“Yeah,” Kaburagi nodded without much care.

During my family’s party last month his mother had invited me, and then my parents told me a number of times to go, but I completely refused.

It was tiring having to keep up appearances. All those parties were like that.

My parents had stopped trying once the thing with my eyebrows happened though.

All it took was some fake tears and a “I cannot possibly show up like this!”

As a fellow woman, Okaasama could sympathise.

Life is all about turning misfortune into fortune.

“Will you be attending their party, Enjou-sama?”

“Nah, I’ve got some things to do that day.”

Oh? All right then.

Seeing Yukino-kun turn with a pout, Enjou smiled helplessly and patted him on the head.

“I’ll be right back,” he said.

So the little angel showed his brother these kinds of faces.

How cute~

“Will you be attending your family’s party then, Kaburagi-sama?”

“Pretty much. I didn’t last year, so this year my mother told me to at least make an appearance. I’m planning on heading right home though.”

“I see.”

Last year… Oh, you were on your journey, weren’t you.

Kaburagi seemed bored, because he got up and began gathering the children.

What was he planning.

“You said you were going to spend Christmas with your friends, Kisshouin-san?”

“Well, yes,” I told Enjou.

He was a sharp person. What if he realised I was spending time with my air friends…

What if he realised and then thought of me as some sad case…

I had to change the subject somehow…

“Yukino-kun, what are you hoping from Mr. Santa this year?”

“Eh?”

He looked startled. How come?

“As long as Mr. Santa chooses it, I’m okay with anything,” he replied with a smile.

What age did children stop believing in Santa Claus again?

*

Kaburagi made a coin disappear, and then made a tissue float, and then some other stuff to the applause of the children.

Party tricks?

*

*

*

And so Zui’ran entered its winter break.

---

I found the Tohsaka house.

---

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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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Today I was picking up the yule log. As planned, we met at the train station closest to her house.

“Here it is! I feel bad making you come all the way here just to get it!”

“No, no. I am feeling rather shameless for having you make a cake just for me.”

“Don’t be! Yule logs are pretty easy to make. Ah, but it wasn’t sloppy work, okay?”

“Of course. I already knew that.”

The reason why we met here was because Wakaba-chan had a train to catch today. Since home was in the same direction we were waiting to catch the train together.

“So you use the train too, Kisshouin-san…”

“My, my, that was how I arrived here today.”

She seemed surprised to hear that.

I suppose she couldn’t help it. I was driven to school each day, after all.

“I thought people from the Pivoine never rode public transport.”

“I suppose there certainly are many like that.”

“Then could it be that you’ve ridden a bike before, Kisshouin-san?”

“Of course.”

“Eh!? Really!?”

Was it that surprising?

I used to ride my bike every day in my old life, and in this life I had taken bicycle classes for my primary school entrance exam too. Not that I had touched one since though.

Since a pair of seats were free we sat next to each other.

Wakaba-chan was wearing a red duffel coat today. I felt that it suited her energy.

“Where are you headed today?”

“Well it’s nearly Christmas, right? I’ve gotta buy my little siblings their presents.”

“I see.”

It had to be tough with as many siblings as she had.

“Speaking of Christmas, what are you doing this year, Takamichi-san?”

“Me? I’m just going to be helping at the store, same as always. It’s always busiest near Christmas. It’s almost winter now, so every day I’ve been hard at work since the morning, you know~”

“That must be tiring.”

“Yeah. Some of the orders from a while ago had overlapping delivery times. It was a nightmare. And for some reason it’s always at times like that that random customers pop into our store.”

“Oh my~ In that case you are certainly not going to be spending Christmas with a special someone.”

“Unfortunately~ But once opening hours are over my family is going to have a party. Well, probably not the types of grand parties that you’re used to, though,” she laughed. “After all, the parties at Kaburagi-kun’s house hire orchestras and opera singers and magicians and stuff, right? That must be so cool~”

“Did you hear that from him?”

“Eh? Yeah.”

“Could it be he invited you?”

“Yeah…”

That idiot…

“But I’ve got to help out at my store. And besides, I’d be so out of place there it wouldn’t be funny. It’s kind of a shame I’ll miss out on a real magician’s show though.”

“I see.”

“And I bet the cakes are going to be amazing too, right~?”

“My. I think the cake you gave me today will outshine them by far.”

“Ehhh~ But my dad didn’t make that one, you know? I did. I’m a bit worried about the taste. If it was one of Dad’s I could definitely boast about it.”

“Huhuhu.”

“…So when you defended our family’s cakes I was really very happy. Thank you.”

“Takamichi-san…”

“Ah, this is my stop. Cya then, Kisshouin-san!”

“Sure. Gokigen’yoh.”

As my train left, Wakaba-chan waved at me from the platform.

When I got home, I discovered that it came with a little meringue Santa Claus, standing besides a little meringue girl with ringlets.

Ehh!? Could that be me!? This was sooo cute! Thank you, Wakaba-chan! I had to take a picture!

It was so cute that I couldn’t bear to eat them, so I left the meringue girl in my room’s refrigerator.

I was going to show it off to Oniisama later!

I took a photo of myself with the meringue figure and sent it with a thank you message to Wakaba-chan.

*

*

When I passed by Kaburagi in the salon it took everything I had not to show off about the meringue doll. I wonder if he’d feel bitter though.

Casually asking Wakaba-chan out though. That was pretty assertive of him. Too bad she turned him down, though. Uupfftpfftpfft.

Maybe he read my mind or something because he sent me a questioning look. Oops, put on a neutral expression, Reika.

“Oh yeah, Kisshouin-san,” began Enjou, “apparently Yukino has something he wants to give to you, so do you think you could visit the Petit salon sometime before the day of the closing ceremony?”

“Yukino-kun? What does he want?”

“Apparently he has a Christmas present for you. He actually wanted to hand it to you on the day, but none of us will be at school on Christmas.”

“Heavens! A present from Yukino-kun!?”

Oh my god! I was going to get a Christmas present from an angel!?

I didn’t think I could quite make it on the day of the closing ceremony, so I told Enjou I would go some day before then. For some reason Kaburagi said he’d come with.

“I kinda wanna see how he’s doing in the Petit.”

Ehhh!? Then just go on your own sometime! You’re completely uninvited, you know!

*

*

*

Today was the day of the Handicrafts Club tea party. Last year I wasn’t invited.

This year however, I could brazenly participate. After all, I was a full member, and the Club President. Ku hu hu!

Ordinarily we were forbidden from bringing snacks to school, but the teachers turned a blind eye on special days like this. We put down the tea and sweets on the table. This was so fun.

After that a number of club members brought out home-made foods like quiche and stollen.

“I made this, if you feel like it.”

“Waah! It looks delicious!”

Teacakes were all rather sweet so I was glad for something else. Bread with dried fruits is good stuff, isn’t it~

Everyone enjoyed the food as we chatted happily about our year.

“It’s embarrassing but I’ve almost never cooked,” said a nearby girl with quiche.

“Actually, neither have I,” admitted another girl, and then another.

“There just isn’t much chance to cook at home.”

“Yeah. There’s never really a reason to.”

“What about you, Reika-sama?”

Ugh! Me!?

“I suppose if I had to say something, I enjoy baking sweets. Nothing complex though, all right? Hmm, my father and brother like chocolate brownies so I make them each Valentine’s. Hmm, and some yoghurt, or cookies with garden roses mixed in…”

“That sounds wonderful!”

“Not really. It was not anything special. Although you can make something feel more home-made by adding your own touches.”

“I never realised. As expected of you, Reika-sama.”

“We’d all love to try your sweets, Reika-sama.”

“Uhuhu, but my brother made me promise to only let my family try my desserts.”

“Really? Your oniisama really dotes on you, Reika-sama.”

“You think?” I asked.

“Uhuhu,” we all chuckled in harmony.

Phew. I somehow made it out of that topic alive.

I really needed to start Akimi-san’s lessons. We agreed to start after the New Year.

No way could I have told everyone that I couldn’t even use a kitchen knife properly.

Speaking of cooking through, Wakaba-chan’s yule log really was amazing. The mix of tart strawberries inside the sweet chocolate was just perfect!

Wakaba-chan said it was easy to make, so I was thinking of trying my own hand at it. Oh, maybe using lavender jam instead of the strawberries might be nice. It was worth trying out.

Minami-kun, the only male here, had looked a bit uncomfortable at the start, but once the topic changed to handicrafts he turned lively and participated.

“Minami-kun, whatever happened to Ririna, anyhow?”

“She was a little sulky but she accepted it.”

“Good. That girl must always be causing you guys so much trouble.”

“Not at all. It’s easy to misunderstand Kotou-san, but she’s kind and cares a lot about her friends.”

A red-faced Minami-kun took a sip of his tea.

Hmmm~ Heeeh~

To each his own, I guess~

Well anyway, club members, I hope we’ll have another great year together!

---

I went to Kyoto and bought some konpeitoh.

 

---

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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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---

I used a waterproof liner to carefully draw in a natural looking eyebrow.

Since it wasn’t all gone, it wasn’t so noticeable if you weren’t looking carefully.

And besides, if you took everyone’s make-up off there were plenty of women who had plucked their eyebrows off! Compared to them I still had the ends!

Plus, my hair was long enough, so as long as I didn’t run and was careful in the wind it could be fine! Thank god for being driven to school.

After having a seaweed-based breakfast I prepared to leave for school.

*

*

When I arrived, my group was really concerned because I had suddenly skipped a day.

“You seemed healthy enough until the other day. I was so worried to hear you’d suddenly caught a cold, you know?”

“I apologise for worrying you. I felt ill when I woke up in the morning… Perhaps it was just fatigue.”

“Gosh, please don’t push yourself.”

“I know. We visited the hospital too. I am fine now.”

“Thank goodness. It’s almost winter break, and Christmas is coming up too!”

Christmas…

“What is everyone doing for Christmas?” I asked.

All sorts of answers came out, like going to a party, or going on a trip with family. Everyone’s schedules were filled.

Tsk. So it really was just me with nothing to do.

“What are your plans, Reika-sama?”

“Just a small party with some close friends…”

“My! Any party that you’d attend could only be magnificent!”

“No, it truly is nothing like that.”

It’s just a party with some imaginary friends.

I changed the topic to avoid letting something slip.

“Has anything changed while I was away?” I asked.

“No, not really.”

“No, there was, wasn’t there! Huge news too, Reika-sama!”

“Yeah! Yesterday everyone was talking about how Kaburagi-sama was going to be the next President of the Pivoine!”

Oh, that. Thanks to waking up to bald eyebrows my day was quite hectic yesterday, so I had completely forgotten about it. That tea party felt like so long ago.

“Who would have thought that Kaburagi-sama would be President!”

“Fuyuko-sama said that he volunteered himself, or something? Nobody could have imagined he’d ever do that.”

“Actually we were talking about it yesterday, but Kaburagi-sama led his classes during the athletics carnivals and school festivals, didn’t he? He’s perfect for leading the Pivoine.”

“True~ I’m so looking forward to next year!”

“But the people from the Student Council seemed pretty tense…”

“Really?” I prompted.

“The Student Council President didn’t look like he cared, but everyone else had serious expressions.”

“They all looked pretty grim when they realised they’d have Kaburagi as their opponent next year.”

“I think only the Student Council President and Takamichi Wakaba didn’t seem all that worried.”

“Takamichi-san?”

“I bet her head was empty as always. She’s always looking into space like an idiot, after all. It makes you wonder if she’s really smart enough for the scholarship. Honestly unbelievable.”

“But apparently in the Student Council she’s the best with the calculator.”

“What is that even supposed to mean. Does that have anything to do with being smart?”

“Beats me.”

Hmmm. Quite a lot happened while I was away. Naturally the news about Kaburagi was blowing up. Well, basically any news about Kaburagi blew up.

I doubt everyone would have cared so much if I had taken the seat.

Thinking about it again, though, thank god I hadn’t. I was grateful to Kaburagi for this.

Had I ended up pushed into being President both my eyebrows would have fallen off completely, no doubt.

Whoa ho! Could you please not thoughtlessly open the window, guy over there? Won’t my fringe fly about if you do that?

*

*

*

When I arrived at the salon everyone asked about my cold.

People worrying about my fake illness all day was really doing a number on my conscience…

I was sitting in my usual spot with some camomile tea when Kaburagi and Enjou arrived.

“Kisshouin-san, I heard you were down with a cold yesterday. Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes…”

I gave a weak smile to play up the ‘getting better’ thing.

“Karin fruits are good for coughing, you know. Yukino drinks a lot of karin tea when he has an attack.”

“I see. Thank you for letting me know.”

Of course, the truth was that I was fine besides my eyebrows. I’d prefer him telling me some medicine for hair growth instead.

“When I came back today I was surprised at how quickly the news of Kaburagi-sama had spread.”

Kaburagi had been sitting there legs crossed and enjoying some black tea. He looked up at me when he heard that.

“Pretty much…” he agreed.

“It was even crazier yesterday,” added Enjou.

“Really?” I asked.

“I mean, Masaya hates being bothered, so everyone was sure he’d never do it, right?”

“That I can understand.”

“I wonder what changed his mind,” Enjou smirked.

Kaburagi suddenly looked away.

I stared at him for a while. When he realised he looked back with a frown.

“What.”

“Oh no, nothing.”

Why on earth did you decide to do that, Kaburagi?

Enjou had left for some new tea, so it was just the two of us when he muttered,

“…There are a lot of people in the Pivoine who don’t think well of her.”

His voice was low and quiet, but I heard every word.

Hmmm… So it really was for Wakaba-chan’s sake. He really was the type to do anything for his special person.

“What do you…”

“Eh?”

“What do you think about her…?”

I felt my heart thump as I was fixed by his strong gaze.

“Nothing in particular.”

“…I see.”

Scary.

Maybe it would have been better had I emphasised that I wasn’t her enemy instead.

Maybe it’d have helped avoid any misunderstandings that would lead to my family being destroyed.

I was about to say something but Enjou returned, and Kaburagi left his seat instead.

I had missed my chance.

Oh dear, don’t tell me my left eyebrow was next…!?

The moment I returned home, I made sure to apply the medicine.

*

*

We agreed that I’d be coming over during the weekend to pick up my specially made yule log.

Yaay! I was looking forward to it!

I wonder what Wakaba-chan would be doing for Christmas.

---

<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!

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---

Also I’m going overseas for a few weeks soon, so less releases until December.

---

The book on acupoints I got from Kaburagi was pretty interesting. The human body suure had a lot of acupoints.

For swelling and water weight was the Water Separation Shuifen Point on your tummy, apparently. I gave it a press. Hmmmmm. Was this working?

For leg fatigue and swelling there was the Mountain Support Chengshan Point in the middle of the calf.

Whoa! That hurt! I think it was working!

I was using the rounded end of a pen to push one of the nerves on the sole of my foot. Owowowow…

I had gotten into acupoints so much that the next day I went out and bought some of the stick-on moxibustion kits. I had always been a little curious about this, after all~

Since I was worried about scarring I tried the sole of my foot first.

First was the Gushing Spring Yongquan Point. Whoaa! Hot! It hurt, but it felt like it was working! So this stuff was real!?

When it was done, the skin underneath had gone red. Best not to do this with sensitive or visible skin then.

It wasn’t all that comfortable laying face down, so I changed from the bottom of my feet to my palms. Umm, the one in the palm of your hand was the Toil Palace Laogong Point, right? Got it.

It felt pretty good just pressing on the Fish Border Yuji Point at the base of the thumb. One for there too.

Hmm, and maybe all my fingertips…

While I waited for them to burn with my hands palm up, I stimulated the acupoints on my feet with the foot massager I bought earlier.

It reaaally hurt the arch of my foot! But it was good for me!

I heard a knock on my door.

“Reika, mind if we talk?” asked Oniisama from outside.

I asked him to come in, since I could hardly get the door with moxa on every finger.

When he came in, Oniisama was wide-eyed and speechless.

“I apologise for my appearance, Oniisama. How about you join me?” I offered as I stepped on my foot massager.

“Reika, when work calms down a bit, how about we go and eat somewhere? If you’re worried or something, you can talk to me about it…”

“Wah! Thank you, Oniisama.”

Eating out with Oniisama, huh. Then until then, I needed to keep up with the stomach acupoint.

At first I thought this was ridiculous, but now I was so glad I got this book~

Kuuh~! I can feel it working!

*

*

*

It was finally here; the day of the tea party where the 2nd and 3rd year Pivoine members discussed the next president.

It was discussion mostly in name of course; usually the candidate was already chosen in advance, meaning that the President simply had to announce who it was.

Aah, in the end I failed to refuse… My stomach felt like it had a weight in it.

Could I spend my next year peacefully, do you think? Probably not, huh.

I thought about asking Enjou to do it just in case, but he avoided giving a straight answer with a smile, and even if he did accept I could only see trouble for myself.

Owing a favour to that guy was like owing money to a loan shark.

But I was resigned now. If ever there was some problem that I couldn’t deal with myself, I was resolved to go crying to Oniisama.

Maybe even Imari-sama could help me.

With Oniisama’s smarts, and Imari-sama’s way with women, there weren’t many problems that we couldn’t resolve.

To calm myself down, I pressed on the acupoints on hand.

“Well then, is anybody interested in becoming a candidate for the next president?” began Youko-sama after a round of pleasantries.

Naturally my hands weren’t raised. Even I wouldn’t nominate myself…

“If there isn’t, then I nominate-”

“I’ll do it,” somebody interrupted.

To everyone’s shock, it was the Emperor, Kaburagi Masaya himself.

“Eh…?”

“Kaburagi-sama…?”

I was shocked as well, of course.

Kaburagi trying for the next president!?

Impossible. This was Kaburagi!

He obviously had no interested in working as the president at all!

No freaking way! What the hell was happening!?

“Am I not good enough?” he lorded over us, sending the room into a panic.

“So you’ll be willing to undertake the position, Kaburagi-sama?”

“We could not wish for somebody better, Kaburagi-sama, but…”

“I don’t think any of us think that you’re unsuitable, Kaburagi-sama, but…”

But was he serious?

That was what everybody was asking in their heads.

Starting with Youko-sama, a huge slew of people would have loved Kaburagi as the next president, but they gave up from the start because they knew he would never accept. At least that’s what we thought.

“In other words there are no objections to I, Kaburagi Masaya, as the next President of the Pivoine?”

Everyone nodded in assent.

“I see. Then that’s that,” he said before arrogantly relaxing back into the sofa with tea in hand.

Once the discussions were done, Youko-sama came over to me apologetically.

“Reika-sama, I’m truly sorry about this. I hadn’t even considered that Kaburagi-sama would be interested, and…”

“No, I was shocked as well. But in fact, this is a great weight off my mind.”

“You’re right. Afer all, Kaburagi-sama is the face of Zui’ran itself, not just our Pivoine. With Kaburagi-sama as the next president, the likes of Mizusaki Arima’s Student Council are as good as rabble.”

“Truly.”

“A Pivoine led by Kaburagi-sama, with you and Enjou-sama supporting him. How wonderful… Isn’t it, Reika-sama? Hohoho,” she laughed happily.

I still wasn’t quite sure what happened, but at least I got out of being president. I wouldn’t have to worry about white hairs now.

Hell yeah! After a storm comes a calm, damnit! Ah, maybe that was the wrong phrase?

Good things come to those who wait? Maybe that wasn’t it either.

Well who cares! Whoooo!

I left the room feeling so euphoric I could skip. Of course, Kaburagi had to stop me.

Eh? What is it now?

Don’t tell me you don’t wanna do it after all? Well too late, buddy!

“Can I help you…?”

“Were you planning on being president?”

“Eh?”

Why was he asking that? Ohh, did he overhear my chat with Youko-sama?

“If there was nobody else then they planned to give it to me, but I myself had no interest. It was a responsibility that I hoped somebody else would take up.”

“I see. Good.”

Huh?

“Masaya was worried he had taken it from you,” explained Enjou who was standing next to him.

Oh, so that was it.

“I had absolutely no aspirations towards the position of president, so please be at ease. I wish you luck as our next president.”

“Yeah.”

Oh, and I almost forgot.

“And Kaburagi-sama, the book you gave me was very interesting. Thank you very much for it. Well then, gokigen’yoh.”

My worries were gone now.

Maybe I’d try some more moxibustion tonight.

I wonder why he suddenly decided to be the next president though.

Ah well, whatever.

*

*

*

After I woke up early that morning, I had my morning bath. Haah, so warm.

Without washing my hair in the morning it was hard to turn my bed hair into my perfect curls after all.

After getting out of the bath, I stood in front of the mirror for some skin care.

Couldn’t be stingy with the facial lotion.

Huh.

“Waaaaaaaahhhh!!”

Gone! My eyebrow was gone!

I gripped the mirror in both hands and stared at my eyebrow. Gone…

Where my right eyebrow should have been was instead just the two ends of it. An eyebrow missing almost the entirety of its middle…

When I looked at my left eyebrow to compare, it was missing a part of it as well. My face looked so weird right now…

No, no, it wasn’t the time for this morbid fascination.

Where the heck had my right eyebrow gone!? And since when!?

I had to do something about this.

At times like this, the most reliable one was…

“Okaaaasamaaaa!”

I covered my eyebrows with one hand and ran for her.

When she saw what had happened to them she screamed as well.

“Reika-san, what have you done to yourself!?”

“I have no idea, Okaasama! When I saw myself in the mirror just now they were already like this!”

“So you didn’t shave them off by mistake?”

“No! Absolutely not. And why would I ever shave off just the middle!?”

“True… Then why… Reika-san, could it be that you plucked them off yourself during your sleep?”

“I doubt that I have the dexterity for that in my sleep.”

“True.”

“What do I do, Okaaasamaaa!”

“Well, we’ll have you take school off for today. Okaasama will take you to the hospital.”

I nodded tearily.

Uooohnnhoo! I didn’t want to go outside with this stupid looking face! What the heck happened to you, eyebrow!? An insect bite!?

Otousama and Oniisama came to see what the fuss was about, but I didn’t want them to see! Especially never Oniisama!

At the hospital I was diagnosed with spot baldness.

Apparently it wasn’t limited to the hair on your scalp. I was careless.

“It’s actually quite common. With men it can happen with their facial hair too.”

I see. My mind had the toughness of a blancmange so I had probably failed in handling the stress…

They prescribed me some medical cream, and Okaasama supported me home. What if I was like this forever…

No, no, I couldn’t stress. I would only get balder.

In front of the mirror I swabbed on some of the medicine. I wasn’t sure how much I needed, but I wanted to be careful about applying it evenly. It would be terrible if only my right eyebrow suddenly grew back.

I hoped I could hide this tomorrow with just an eyebrow liner and my fringe.

“Aaahh…”

I was definitely performing some purification rites come New Year.

And for now, I’d press the acupoint for hair growth.

---

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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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“Yesterday, that Takamichi Wakaba girl caused problems again, I see.”

The President stopped to enjoy a sip of tea.

“Because of that one girl the entire school has been thrown into chaos and ill-discipline. Don’t you all agree?”

Her allies agreed and their dislike of Wakaba-chan showed in their expressions.

I just smiled and stayed silent.

Since yesterday I had been terrified that she would call me out on defending Wakaba-chan and I could tell the moment was here.

The moment I arrived in the salon after school today, the President called me over for some tea.

My heart hadn’t stopped thumping since. This wasn’t going to be a problem was it?

There was an urban myth that mammals were born with a set number of heartbeats. I hoped I wasn’t using mine up.

“What do you think, Reika-sama?”

I knew it!

“Not much, but I…”

“From what I hear, you stopped a group of girls from confronting Takamichi-san?”

Ueegghh, there were little waves in my teacup from the shaking…

Come on, Reika! You’re an actress right now!

“Yes. I was told that there was a disturbance so I went to investigate, only to hear something that I could not accept and, well…”

“My…”

“Even if Takamichi-san herself has problems, I cannot agree with insulting her family as well. It would hurt me deeply if anybody disparaged my own family…” I said as I placed a hand to my chest and tried my best to look sad.

The people around began to sympathise with me, because “Everybody knows how close Reika-sama is with her family…”

“You’re a kind person, so no wonder you couldn’t overlook that. Insulting family is certainly classless.”

“Yes…”

“But if we examine the root cause, this was all because Takamichi-san earned the enmity of so many people by failing to understand propriety. If it wasn’t for her lack of consideration, Reika-sama would never have had to have been hurt.”

“Eh…”

Everybody voiced their agreement.

“Poor Reika-sama.”

“Why did Reika-sama have to suffer for a girl like that?”

“Without even knowing how it ends up hurting Reika-sama, Takamichi Wakaba continues to have the Student Council President wait on her hand and foot. How very convenient for her.”

“With the way the Student Council have been spoilt it’s little wonder that that girl has been getting ahead of herself,” complained one of the boys.

“Very true,” agreed the President. “Because the current Student Council has been pushing their luck, that girl has felt no reason to reform.”

The President took my hands into hers.

“Reika-sama. I know full well how kind you are. But kindness is not enough for the President of the Pivoine. There are times when we must be harsh as well. If not, the Student Council will only grow more impudent.”

“No, but as I mentioned earlier, I am not capable enough to…”

“The current Student Council is truly aggravating. It appears that they even harbour ambitions of supplanting the Pivoine.”

“Umm…”

After that the conversation turned to their latest skirmish with the Student Council.

Aahh, so they still hadn’t given up on making me president…

I quietly left my seat and headed for my usual sofa by the wall.

I suppose I can at least consider having dealt with the repercussions of yesterday? Ahhh…

Around the time that I was on my second cup of tea, Kaburagi and Enjou finally came along.

They had no idea about how other people suffered!

Perhaps my displeasure was oozing from my body because Enjou spoke to me.

“What’s wrong, Kisshouin-san? You seem worn out today.”

I am!

“The end of the year is a busy time.”

Recently it was one worry after another.

I was actually checking for white hairs you know.

Well, given all the scalp massages I was getting from both the beauty salon and myself, I think it was in pretty good shape though!

On days like this I just wanted to head to my club and begin knitting already. You can really lose yourself in knitting, after all.

I bade the two of them goodbye and left the salon.

*

The Handicrafts Club was heaven!

Everyone happily knitted as we discussed the tea party on the last day of club activities for the year.

Since I was only a (provisional) member last year I didn’t get to participate, but this year I could boldly do so. Wahh, so happy.

“When I mentioned the tea party to Kotou-san she said she wanted to join in.”

“My, my, that would simply not do, Minami-kun. Tell her that if she wants to participate then she should join the club.”

Geez, that Ririna is so spoilt. Even a (provisional) member like me wasn’t allowed to. The road to the end-of-year tea party is that tough, you know. Definitely not a party that just any outsider can join in on.

“Are you making a neck warmer, Reika-sama?”

“Uhuhu, that is a secret.”

I couldn’t admit that it was meant to be a belly warmer yet… If I screwed it up, I could always give it to the tanuki. A nice, cute pink one for him!

*

*

After the conversation between Sakura-chan and Aoi-chan the other day, I was starting to feel anxious about cooking.

Were girls just supposed to know? If so, that was bad news for me…

I casually asked the girls in my group, and a lot of them couldn’t cook either. Plenty of them had employees to do that after all.

It wasn’t enough to set me at ease though. I couldn’t say for certain that I’d never have to cook, after all. Like what if there was some day when I had to cook for a boy I liked!?

In the past I tried teaching myself through experiments a few times, but I got bored straight away. Maybe learning under an expert was the right idea after all?

While I was thinking about it, I suddenly thought of Akimi-san. I think she might have said something about becoming a cooking teacher?

Just between you and me, I actually don’t know a whole lot about cooking. I would probably have to start with the basics of the basics.

I had the feeling that Akimi-san would be a gentle teacher to a clumsy person like me.

In the end I sent her a message about it. Ooh, I hoped that she’d say okay.

She immediately replied that as long as I was fine with her. She even asked me to try her cooking to see if I was okay with her sense of taste first. Yaaay!

Now even I was going to be able to cook for my future boyfriend! Wait for me, my yet unknown love!

Since it wasn’t set in stone yet, I only told Oniisama that I might be learning how to cook. He gave me a strange look. Why? I even told him that I’d be giving him the most of my cooking.

*

*

*

For some reason Kaburagi gave me a book on acupoints. It was tagged on the pages for “acupoints good for lessening fatigue”.

What the heck.

Hmmmm, now where’s the acupoint for smaller stomachs…

---

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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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Ever since Oniisama told me not to worry about school fees I felt so relaxed~

I suppose that was why I was slacking off lately. Having to go to that party hadn’t helped.

I still like to think that I studied properly though.

Part of the reason I didn’t make it onto the ranking board was probably that some people were beginning to study properly now. It was coming to the point where we had to start thinking about our futures.

Internal students like me were at least guaranteed a university entrance, but that wasn’t to say that getting into the popular courses would be easy.

Aaah~ If I didn’t get my act together my grades were probably going to keep slipping…

Anyway, it was Kaburagi in 1st place and Enjou in 2nd this time.

They really were something else.

Even though they were both at the party, unlike a certain somebody their grades hadn’t dropped at all.

I liked to think it was because their mothers hadn’t dragged them around to beauty salons and hairdressers.

Yeah, that’s what I’m going with.

As for Wakaba-chan whose bullying had escalated to being framed as a cheater, she was at 4th place having been beaten out by Fellow Stalking Horse.

4th place after all that was amazing. I wished she could share some of those smarts with me.

Even though she was the smartest girl in the grade you’d never know from looking at her. As usual she was standing around with her mouth hanging open, and hair on the back of her head was sticking this way and that.

Please be a bit more careful, Wakaba-chan! There are so many things to tease you on!

“Studies are all that ugly bitch has, after all.”

“She studies to the point that she doesn’t care about how she looks anymore.”

“Can you even call that a girl~?”

Despite people badmouthing her from right behind, Wakaba-chan paid them no heed at all.

No doubt she was daydreaming about the lunch she’d be treating herself to.

“Takamichi.”

“Ah, Mizusaki-kun.”

The girls who had been badmouthing her scattered at Fellow Stalking Horse’s arrival.

“Geez, I lost to you this time.”

“You’re still 4th. And I barely beat you this time. Not that I won’t be studying hard to do this again though.”

“Yeah. Do your best.”

“You still have room to say that?”

“Ahaha.”

The two of them seemed to be getting along quite well. Was it because they were both in the Student Council?

And Wakaba-chan’s attitude was relaxed in a way that she wasn’t during interactions with Kaburagi.

Uwah, the faces of the Prime Arima fans were kinda terrifying right now.

The squeals of girls heralded Kaburagi and Enjou.

Perhaps because the rings of girls had already informed them but they simply glanced at the top of the board and that was it.

What the hell. Be a little more glad about this. I wasn’t even on the list.

The two of them were about to head back when Kaburagi caught sight of Wakaba-chan and stopped.

“…Sup.”

“Ah, congratulations on 1st place.”

“Isn’t it a given?”

“Aah.”

His expression had softened a bit. I guess he was happy to see her in the morning.

Given the difference in treatment with other girls I could see why everyone was so jealous of her.

As Wakaba-chan stood with her back to the board, Fellow Stalking Horse stood to her side.

In front of her stood Kaburagi.

And a little distance behind him was Enjou.

One girl, surrounded by the three boys who were arguably the most popular in the entirety of the high school section. And that girl was Wakaba-chan.

Wasn’t this kind of bad…?

Look! See! People from the President’s group were glaring at them right now!

Wakaba-chaaan, there’s less than a month left until graduation. Pleaaase don’t get in trouble until then.

*

*

Of course she was immediately surrounded in the locker room after gym class.

“You’re really getting ahead of yourself!”

“You weren’t fine with just Kaburagi-sama and Enjou-sama but even had to force Mizusaki-kun to wait on you!?”

“You suuure are good at sucking up to boys~”

By the time I heard about this Wakaba-chan was already surrounded by a ring of girls. And since no boys were here to see, none of them were holding back.

“Is it true that you came here as a gold digger?”

“With that face? Are you joking?”

“But she’s not doing too bad at deceiving Kaburagi-sama, is she~ Just as planned, right?”

Wakaba-chan didn’t say anything in return. She should have.

Then again it would have just made things worse.

Wakaba-chan didn’t seem to mind, but it was hurting me to watch.

“Your family owns a cake shop, I hear.”

That got a twitch out of her.

The girls seemed to notice because they smiled nastily and picked that to attack.

“Gosh. It must be a famous pâtisserie, I’m sure.”

“Why, the pâtissier has probably competed in the La Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie.”

“Right? There’s no way Zui’ran would let in a child from some tiny local bakery after all.”

“I heard it was a pretty cheap place. I wonder what they use as ingredients.”

That crossed the line. How could they talk about her parents like that!

Wakaba-chan’s expression had changed. She loved her family after all.

They were so cruel! I couldn’t watch any longer!

“I enjoyed it. Cake from Takamichi-san’s store.”

“Reika-sama!”

I entered their little ring.

“Eh, umm, Reika-sama…”

“It was a soft and pleasant flavour. It only took one taste to make me a fan. Both the strawberry shortcake and cream puffs were delicious. When I bought some to bring home with me, Oniisama loved them too. Apparently he liked the Swiss rolls the most. But perhaps the two of us simply have no taste. According to you girls.”

I leveled a harsh gaze over the girls who had been laughing at her.

Each of them hung their heads as I looked at them.

Some of them had a crush on Oniisama while he was enrolled here, and some others had cousins or older sisters aiming for him.

Protect me with your powers, Oniisama!

“Reika-sama and Takateru-sama…” muttered one.

“We didn’t mean…”

“Didn’t mean what?” I questioned.

The changing room was dead silent.

“I am not fond of that way of doing things.”

The group of girls began to disperse.

As my heart went crazy in my chest I left as well, somehow managing to cover up the shaking in my legs.

Later on Serika-chan and the others asked why I had been to Wakaba-chan’s place, so I just said that I had entered the place on a whim only to find out it was Wakaba-chan’s.

Aahh, what was I going to do about this if the President heard…

*

*

That night Wakaba-chan messaged me for the first time.

‘I’m going to especially make you a Yule Log as thanks!’

---

“According to your choice of words” is more literally “According to the tone and choice of words I heard just now.”

---

<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!

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Join the Evil God Army on discord!
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---

Oh whoops. I mistyped, haha! Sorry to expectant Wakaba shippers! Ah, but don’t worry. Better things are coming up on that front, so give it a few weeks!

Oh, and after much neglect, going to start finishing off the Evil God Volume 3’s free chapters, as well as start up Tilea’s Worries again, since exams are finishing soon.

Also Christmas is considered by Japanese as also being a romantic occasion.

---

When I met up with Aoi-chan that weekend I started ranting about being asked to become the Pivoine’s president.

“In other words you don’t want to become the president of that group?”

“Mmn. Absolutely not. It’s too heavy. Class president is about as much responsibility as I can handle.”

“I see… Then is there anybody else suitable?”

In my opinion it should have been Kaburagi as the most influential member. If not then Enjou maybe.

But Kaburagi would never agree to something so troublesome. I couldn’t see him being interested in the power over the Pivoine either.

But obviously Youko-sama and co. knew all of this or they wouldn’t have come to me to begin with, huh…

“I can only think of two others but they’d never accept…”

I suppose there was at least the possibility that Enjou would accept if he was asked, but I didn’t have high hopes for it.

“Is the workload really that bad?”

“I don’t think the work would be all that bad…”

The work for the Summer Party and other events were all outsourced, and the Pivoine’s concierge did all of the clerical work.

Compared to the Student Council President, you could say that the President of the Pivoine did basically nothing. I think that was why the role wasn’t passed on until December, despite the exams.

“But you still don’t want it?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s rough,” she consoled me when my phone, which I had left in silent, began to vibrate in my bag.

“Oh? Aren’t you going to get that, Reika-chan?”

“Sorry. Could I?”

“Of course!”

The sender field read Sakura-chan.

It turned out to be an invitation to hang out since she was free right now.

Damned Sakura.

Did she think I just sat around at home every weekend?

“A friend of mine was inviting me to hang out.”

“Oh okay. No problems?”

“Yeah.”

I texted her back and said that I was already with another friend so I couldn’t.

Hehe, even I have friends to hang with on a weekend, you know.

“She’s from Yurinomiya. We met while we were in primary and for a while we went to the same cram school. Even though she looks like a perfect Japanese doll, her personality is actually pretty funny.”

“Huh~ Then why don’t you invite her here?”

“Eh!? Is that okay!?”

“Yeah. I’m fine with it.”

Being fine with a stranger coming along would have been unimaginable in primary school, given that she was shy enough to run from me.

Huh.

Or was it just that I was that scary back then?

Haha, no way, right?

“Well then, I guess I’ll ask her.”

Actually it was Sakura-chan who was liable to turn this down. After all, she was always playing the sweet girl with other people.

Or so I thought, until her next message arrived.

‘I’m already close by. Be there soon.’

Ehh!? Everyone was so sociable today!

“She’s coming,” I said.

“Oh okay,” she smiled. “Does she know where the place is?”

Wow, so she really didn’t care…

Sakura-chan wasn’t lying about being close-by. She was there right away.

“Hi, I’m Yorino Aoi.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Fukioka Sakurako.”

I had been worried that it would be awkward, but the two of them really hit it off. Mostly with love-talk.

“So you’re going out with a guy from your school, Aoi-chan. That’s sooo nice.”

“But don’t you have a boyfriend in Zui’ran, Sakurako-chan?”

“We’re not officially dating yet though. I just need to give him a bit of a push.”

I had heard from Sakura-chan that Akizawa-kun’s attitude had changed after the School Festival. Apparently he finally realised his feelings for her after what happened with Dite.

Well done, Dite.

And speaking of Dite he hadn’t given up on Sakura-chan yet.

Sometimes he spoke to me about his passionate feelings for Sakura-chan, and even poured those feelings into violin CDs that I ended up having to listen to.

Yet another troublesome thing in my life.

“Please help me, Kisshouin-kun!” he’d say each time, but since there was no way Sakura-chan would ever give up on Akizawa-kun, I couldn’t do anything except advise him to search for a new love.

And getting rid of that afro would be a great first step.

“So I’ve been making him one lunch a week, you see?” said Aoi-chan, “But compared to the lunches I actually put effort into, it was only when it was a simple ginger pork on rice did he really enjoy it. It was sooo depressing.”

“I know what you mean! I spend so much time making some of these things for Takumi but he prefers the karaage of all things. It’s really discouraging. I make lunch for his track and field championships but each time he just keeps asking for karaage, karaage, like a broken record. Why do I even bother.”

“Aah, I know how you feel~ Fried food is a winner with them, isn’t it. My boyfriend loves fried prawns too.”

“Mmn. Making anything else feels like a waste of effort. But then Takumi always says ‘You make the best karaage, Sakurako’ so I can’t help but keep making it for him, you know~?”

“Ah. So you’ve gone back to praising him?”

“Uhuhu~”

Sakura-chan and Aoi-chan continued talking about what they were making their boyfriends.

“What did you make recently?”

“Hmm, deep-fried pacific saury? He liked that it was salty and sweet. Oh, and some cabbage rolls.”

“Cabbage rolls are a good choice. Made in broth though? Or is it tomato sauce?”

“My family uses broth, but tomato sauce is nice too.”

“And if you use dried parsley with the tomato sauce the colour is fantastic.”

“Mhm, mhm.”

I was being left out.

The two of them could cook as though it was natural…

I could barely make desserts. For some reason it was making me anxious. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn, for my future boyfriend…

“So what are you doing for Christmas?”

“My school is Catholic so we’ll be busy with a bazaar, and a musical performance with handbells at the church. Every year we have a Christmas party at Takumi’s though, so that’s what I’ll be doing in the evening.”

As expected of family friends. It seemed that each year Sakura-chan roasted turkey with his mum and older sister.

Given that she was his childhood friend, and his mother already doted on Sakura-chan like her own, Akizawa-kun was probably going to have to just accept his fate.

“I want to see the Christmas lights too.”

“That sounds nice~ I’ve thought about going myself, but maybe before the day since it’s going to be packed.”

“That was my plan too. Where are you going, anyhow?”

And then they began happily talking about their Christmas plans.

I sat there silently and sipped on my tea.

Tsk. What ‘Christmas’.

A blizzard ought to just come in and clog up the traffic.

*

*

*

Through Enjou, Yukino-kun told me that he wanted to show off the results of his latte art training, so I happily headed to the Petit Pivoine.

When I arrived I was greeted by little angels.

“Reika-oneesan, quickly sit down!” guided Yukino-kun.

I did as he said, and he began demonstrating his latte art skills.

“Yukino-kun, will you make some for us too?” asked Mao-chan.

“Sure.”

And so after that he drew three hearts in a row.

For some reason there was a beautifully drawn ox sitting in front of me instead.

Huh. Was this a holstein?

“You did a splendid job drawing this cow.”

“Ehehe, I tried really hard,” he smiled happily.

I took a picture of it before helping myself.

Mn, yummy.

“Oh yeah, Reika-oneesan, thank you for the cake the other day. The little pistachio cake was delicious.”

“Oh? I am happy to hear that.”

Since Yukino-kun had to stay at home during the party the other day, I had Enjou carry a set of the hotel’s mini cakes home for him.

When I was small Oniisama would always bring cakes and desserts back from the parties for me, so I was just following his lead.

“What are you doing for Christmas, Reika-oneesan?”

“Me? Oh, I have a few things planned with some friends of mine…”

I unconsciously put on airs since Yukino-kun asked.

“Ehhh!?” exclaimed Mao-chan, “But I wanted you to come to my Christmas party, Reika-oneesama! You’re dropping in too, right, Yukino-kun?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

Ehh!? Really!?

Why did I have to satisfy my stupid pride…

Thanks to that I wasted my own chance at spending Christmas with cute little angels! Reika, you idiot!

I couldn’t just take back my words now either…

Mao-chan suggested exchanging presents and they began to talk about their plans for the party.

Uuu, I wanted to come too.

*

*

*

Today was the day of the term-end exam results.

With my face beaming the usual ‘I don’t really care about my ranking at all~’ I made my way to the board, only to find that I really wasn’t in the top 30.

Guoooh!!

I just had no luck recently.

Maybe the curse I set on Kaburagi’s panther totem had come back to roost…

---

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