Kenkyo, Kenjitsu o Motto ni Ikite Orimasu - Chapter 162

Chapter 162

Right after the School Festival finished, two rumours were the talk of Suiran; ‘The Emperor ate Takamichi Wakaba’s hand-made biscuits two days in a row’ and ‘Enjou-sama has a mystery woman’ .

When the School Festival was over, all anybody could talk about was how the Emperor ate Takamichi Wakaba’s hand-made biscuits two days in a row, and how Enjou’s mysterious girlfriend had appeared .

Thanks to that, things were noisier for me too .

“What do you think about all this, Reika-sama? How could Kaburagi-sama of all people eat home-made sweets? And he even went there two days in a row, and even bought extra to bring home with him!”

“Bring home? As I recall, those biscuits were just extras for the tea . They were not for sale, unless I am mistaken…”

“Well, it’s Kaburagi-sama, so who would refuse… But it’s not even that he really liked the biscuits . They were made by a number of people, but he only wanted the ones made by Takamichi-san . ”

You’re being way too blunt, Kaburagi…

“Apparently on the second day all of the girls involved with baking the biscuits tried to give him theirs . The only ones he touched were Takamichi-san’s though . ”

“Goodness… The biscuits Takamichi-san baked must have truly matched his palate . ”

“Why are you being so carefree, Reika-sama . Come on, you need to get your act together!” sulked Kikuno .

There wasn’t much I could do though…

“This morning Kaburagi-sama greeted Takamichi-san in the hallway again…” mumbled Ayame-chan .

“I heard from girls in her class that whenever he comes to greet Enjou-sama he always greets her as well . ”

“It couldn’t be that Kaburagi-sama truly…”

“Hey-! Don’t say something so extreme!” Serika-chan said before covering her ears .

“Reika-sama? Have you heard anything from Kaburagi-sama?”

“What do you mean by ‘anything’?”

“Like we were saying, something about Takamichi-san . …Has it ever come up in the conversations in the Pivoine?”

“Not so far as I can remember . ”

The girls all sighed . Sorry for being useless, everyone .

“Should Kaburagi-sama not be free to love whomever he wants, though…?”

“Reika-sama! How could you say that! I don’t like it! How could somebody just monopolise Kaburagi-sama like that! All of the girls in Suiran agree with me!”

“You must be exaggerating…”

“No, it’s true!” declared Kikuno-chan without a shred of hesitation .

Everybody nodded along like it was natural .

I guess since Kaburagi was like an idol, it wasn’t strange that his fans acted the way idol fans did .

“Even if Kaburagi-sama did find a girlfriend, she would have to be somebody we could all accept . If it was Yurie-sama then all of us would have felt that it was inevitable, but I don’t think anybody would accept Takamichi-san . ”

“Right? Her background is unsuitable for him, and aren’t her looks just normal? She’s basically only good at studying, right?”

“Oh no . What if Takamichi-san only came to Suiran to look for a rich man? That’s horrible!”

Whoa, whoa, please don’t just randomly decide that Wakaba-chan’s a gold digger .

“Does Takamichi-san seem so ill-natured?”

“Goodness, are you taking Takamichi Wakaba’s side over ours, Reika-sama?”

“That was not my intention…”

Oh boy . I could even make things worse if I wasn’t careful . Worse for both Wakaba-chan and me .

“By the way, who was that woman with Enjou-sama…” Ayame-chan changed the subject, with an expression that I couldn’t quite place .

Everybody exchanged glances .

“They seemed rather close…”

“She linked arms with Enjou-sama . ”

“And she even called Enjou-sama ‘Shuu’…”

“Enjou-sama called her ‘Yuiko’ too . ”

“It can’t be…”

Everyone seemed to be bitterly thinking the same thing . ‘Was that his girlfriend?’

“What do you think, Reika-sama?”

“I have no idea either…”

Katsuragi Boy called her ‘Enjou-san’s lover’ didn’t he . Not that it meant that it was true…

What I did know was why Bird Brain had picked so many fights with me now . The adulation in his eyes when he looked at her was something else . Not that I couldn’t understand it .

We only met for a short while, but Yuiko-san had a special atmosphere . It was transient and ephemeral like the moon rippling on the water .

I think my friends realised it too . They had none of the energy, unlike when it came to Wakaba-chan .

Yeah . That girl was scary . I don’t think I could win .

“By the way, Reika-sama, who on earth were those boys taking photographs of you?”

“I think one of them had a lisp . When he said ‘Reika-san, come over here~’ it sounded like he was saying ‘Reika-tan, come over here~’…”

Please don’t bring that up…

*

*

Thanks to the stupid Kaburagi’s thoughtlessness, girls were getting more and more jealous of Wakaba-chan . Not a few times I saw them muttered ‘ugly’ or ‘don’t get ahead of yourself’ as they passed her . I guess it was a relief that Wakaba-chan didn’t seem fazed though .

One morning I came to school earlier than usual, and came across Wakaba-chan in the shoe hallway . I thought that I should at least greet her . When I walked over though, I noticed that she seemed troubled .

“Gokigen’yoh, Takamichi-san . Is something the matter?”

“Eh-”

When she turned to face me, in her hands were a pair of in-door shoes stained with ink .

“Aaah… Yeah, uh, for some reason these turned pitch black…”

“…”

Obviously somebody did this . So mean .

“How about borrowing some slippers for now? I do not see you wearing those again . Once the school store opens you can buy yourself another pair . ”

“Hmmm… I guess even washing these wouldn’t work, huh . ”

“…No, I suspect it would not . That does not look like watercolour ink . Perhaps it is brush ink…”

“Who knows . But I really need it to wash off . It’s really going to hurt my wallet otherwise…”

Oh right . The rest of us would have bought a new pair without another thought, but I guess it would be quite a burden on a commoner’s budget . The stuff that Suiran used was pretty expensive after all .

“I don’t mind insults and stuff but this kind of bullying is really a problem . Hmmm… Would bleach really not work though? I’d be okay with it for now if I could just get it to a light grey . ”

Suddenly, I remembered . I actually had bought a new pair without a thought before .

“Umm, I actually have a pair that are a little dirty, if you are fine with that . ”

“Ehh!?”

For now we had Wakaba-chan put on some slippers, and then we headed to the locker room . I opened my own locker, and brought out a bag from the very back of it . Inside were a pair of indoor shoes .

“Here . ”

“Eh!? These don’t look dirty at all . ”

“They are dirty at the bottom . ”

She turned them over but still couldn’t seem to find anything .

“They look clean, though?”

“…Actually, I stepped in pigeon droppings with these . ”

“Pigeon droppings…?”

“Indeed,” I nodded gravely .

It was a nice early afternoon . I had been on a stroll with my friends after lunch, happily thinking about how full I was, and what great weather it was .

That was when I stepped right into the bird poop . Fresh bird poop, still warm even, which was why I slipped a little .

“Aahh! Reika-sama stepped in poop!”

“Reika-sama! Let’s wash it off for now!”

I was led by the girls to the taps, still in shock and feeling a little dazed . We used a brush somewhere to clean it off, and it wasn’t hard since the soles were rubber . When we were done we even used disinfectant .

It was still gross to me though, and I didn’t want others to think I was wearing bird poop shoes, so I ended up just buying a new pair .

“I have washed and disinfected it, but…”

“…Is it really okay for me to take this from you? It looks brand new, you know?”

“True . But it has still been in pigeon droppings . Even you mind, surely?”

“No, not at all,” she declared .

She hadn’t hesitated at all .

“These look brand new . Actually I’m really thankful for them . Ah, but would the size fit? I’ve got pretty big feet . I’m a size 23 . 5 . ”

“…I am a size 24 . ”

“Eh? Then isn’t that just perfect? Ehehe,” she laughed .

Thank goodness . If I managed to help Wakaba-chan then that there was a meaning in stepping in that bird poop!

“Did they do this to your shoes yesterday…?”

Or had they come to school earlier? Maybe they were still watching…

“Hard to say . Ah! It looks like it fits perfectly! Thank you very much!”

“No, they had pigeon dropping on them so pay it no mind… Still, thank goodness I happened to come early today . ”

I was actually here to prepare for one of my weaker subjects in the library .

“Yeah . Thanks to that I came away with shoes that were even cleaner than my own ones . What luck!”

God, she was such an optimist .

“You seem quite early yourself, Takamichi-san . Was there some reason to it today?”

“Oh, I always come early just to make sure I’m not late . Since I catch the train here there are accidents and delays sometimes, you know~ Can’t let that perfect attendance award go!” she clenched a fist .

Aah~ So she was worried about the train . Thinking back, that incident with the bike was because of a cancelled train too, wasn’t it . And wow, was she eager for perfect attendance . Going after the money bonus, huh .

“But if that is the only issue, then could you not simply apply for proof of lateness?”

“Well yeah, but that feels like running away to me . And I’d miss out on class too . ”

Wow! You’re amazing, Wakaba-chan! As expected of one of our grade’s top 3 talents .

Anyway, since people were going to come soon, I said goodbye to Wakaba-chan and headed for my own room .