Chapter 10: Who said Seven Families can’t have Nine?

They were still first graders in elementary school, so the girls were all soft-faced and childish.

Though their future personalities and appearances would be different, she could still recognize the familiar outlines in their brows and eyes.

Just like how she instantly recognized Hiroki and Shōhei, she immediately recognized these girls too.

“Ahhhhh!!!! It’s little Shō!!!! Ah! Amazing! It’s the real, living Shō!”

This girl was Matsuyama Shōko.

Among Lady Yuka’s followers, she was one of the two leaders.

For Lady Yuka, she would dash through fire and water, always charging ahead.

Twin-tail hairstyle, sharp eyes tilted slightly upward.

She looked arrogant and forceful at first glance, a proud young lady overflowing with competitiveness, and her personality was exactly as fierce as she appeared.

Lady Yuka had many followers, but the most central and trusted inner circle leaders were two.

One of them was quiet, while Shō was fearless, someone who would challenge anyone without hesitation.

Shō, who would do anything for Lady Yuka, had always ranked at the top of Lady Yuka’s internal yuri pairings in her mind, a crucial character.

Now the real person was standing right in front of her — how could she not be excited?

Of course, she didn’t have any improper interest in a first-grade girl.

She simply wanted to witness the beautiful sight of cute girls clinging to each other.

The Ōka Society’s core level truly consisted of the five families called the Upper Five, but it was obviously impossible to sustain operations relying on only them.

To put it simply: next year, the older brother from the Ishikawa family — one of the Upper Five — would graduate.

Yuka would study here for six more years.

And after that?

Even if the brother married and had a child immediately, and that child entered Ōka Academy, it would still take well over a decade.

Yuka would be here for six years, but after that there would be a period where Ōka Academy had no Ishikawa children at all, something obvious to anyone.

Elementary school lasted six years, so a few missing years were still acceptable.

But in middle school or high school, each only lasted three years.

The vacancy would be even longer with no Ishikawa heirs present.

And it was not just the Ishikawa family — every family faced this problem.

There were very few families with enough children to send new students continuously.

Because of this, the Ōka Society could not rely solely on the Upper Five.

So, the Ōka Society also accepted families outside the Upper Five.

The families ranking just below were the “Lower Seven”.

In years when members of the Upper Five or Lower Seven were few, they would even include slightly lower-status families.

The Matsuyama family, Shō’s family, was one of the Lower Seven and a member of the Ōka Society.

Including Lady Yuka’s other trusted follower, the three of them were all related to the Ōka Society.

By the way, although they were called the “Lower Seven”, in reality there were nine families.

It was said there had been originally seven, but two were added long ago.

The name was never changed to “Lower Nine”.

All nine families simply shared the same class title of the Lower Seven.

“You… have we met before?”

“Eh…? Ah! Right… um… this should be our first time meeting.

But I know Shō very well.

I am Ishikawa Yuka.

It is a pleasure to meet you, Matsuyama Shōko.”

That was close.

Even though she had played dozens of runs of Love 100%, fantasizing countless times about Lady Yuka and Shō’s yuri scenarios, for Shō, this really was the first meeting.

But there was no need to panic.

For someone like Hiroki — a huge celebrity — even without meeting in person, one might have seen him from afar at a party, or at least heard of him.

So knowing Matsuyama Shō from the Lower Seven wasn’t strange at all.

“I look forward to meeting everyone as well.”

Then she greeted the other girls who had gathered around her.

Every one of them was familiar to her.

Love 100% only depicted the high school phase, so these girls appeared from the beginning as Lady Yuka’s followers.

But even for them, there was originally a moment like this — their first meeting.

Although they wouldn’t instantly become Lady Yuka’s followers today, they would gradually grow closer from now on.

“Ah… don’t get ahead of yourself!”

“Here.

This is a handshake between friends.

From now on, we’re friends.”

Just as she was greeting the others, Shō extended her hand, in a gesture that looked like she was about to slap her.

It must be because she was talking to other girls, which made Shō jealous.

In Love 100%, Shō’s overflowing love for Lady Yuka was intense.

She would brutally eliminate anyone who interfered with Lady Yuka and Hiroki’s romance.

She even acted domineering toward other trusted followers, sometimes aggressively so.

In short, she believed she was the one closest to Lady Yuka and understood everything about her.

In the official game, Shō’s devotion to Lady Yuka was so extreme it made people wonder if they really had a yuri relationship.

In this world, Shō was surely a child overflowing with jealousy.

She must have been jealous because she talked with the other girls.

So Yuka grabbed the hand firmly and shook it up and down.

She couldn’t let Shō feel left out, so she gave her the brightest smile she could.

“Let’s go!”

“Ah! Shō!”

“Wait～!”

Shō’s face flushed bright red, and she pulled her hand back in a panic.

She blurted out stiff words, then left with the other girls.

How cute… was she embarrassed?

After all, Shō loved Lady Yuka most.

Even though she wasn’t truly Lady Yuka… she would still do her best to play the role so Shō wouldn’t feel alone…

There was only one concern:

In Love 100%’s storyline, Shō would desperately try to pair Lady Yuka and Hiroki.

In this world, she didn’t want to raise any flags with Hiroki.

If she was always stuck next to Hiroki, where would she have time to bond with the girls?

And her future would run straight toward a bad ending — absolutely pointless.

Watching the cute backs of Shō and the other followers leave, Yuka realized she would have to manage her future followers properly, and couldn’t help feeling a hint of worry about the path ahead.

****

After the entrance ceremony, Yuka headed toward the classroom.

She didn’t meet up with her parents or take commemorative photos like other students, so she arrived very early.

There were very few students inside, just a scattered few.

And there was…

“Ah! Amamiya Marina!”

“Eh…?”

A girl with a bob haircut, quiet like a Japanese doll, sat alone silently at her seat.

Yuka knew this child as well.

Amamiya Marina… she was tied with Shō as Lady Yuka’s closest trusted follower and the other leader.

Coming from the Amamiya family, one of the Lower Seven, she was also part of the Ōka Society.

Her appearance was that of a quiet, pure, Japanese-style beauty.

Of course she was still young, so she was more “cute” than “beautiful”.

But by the time she reached the high school division, she would mature into a graceful and elegant beauty.

But that was only the appearance.

In daily life, she didn’t insist on her opinions, nor did she raise her voice.

Her personality contrasted sharply with Shō.

However — Marina was terrifying.

If Shō was the straightforward type who exploded on the spot, Marina could only be described with words like “calculating” and “strategic”.

She would not openly explode in the moment, but she excelled at scheming in the shadows, burying opponents in darkness.

Because of her personality, Shō would sometimes be argued down, or her reckless actions would drag both herself and Yuka into trouble.

But Marina would endure quietly, leaving no evidence, setting traps to shame, undermine, or even destroy her enemies.

Which was more frightening was obvious.

Although Marina was quiet and supported Lady Yuka loyally like a perfect aide, she was merciless toward anyone hostile to Lady Yuka.

“To be in the same class as Marina! That’s great!”

In her mental yuri pairings, alongside “Yuka×Shō”, the “Yuka×Marina” CP was equally essential.

Being in the same class as Marina was unbelievably lucky.

“Um… you are?”

“Ah…”

Damn… she forgot again.

She knew Marina, but for Marina, this was the first time meeting Lady Yuka.

This wouldn’t do…

Whenever she met the cute girls from Love 100%, she lost all rationality.

She didn’t feel this way when she met Hiroki or Shōhei… she even found them a bit annoying…

“I am Ishikawa Yuka.

Please take care of me from now on, Amamiya Marina.”

“Ah… you’re that person…I’ve heard so much about you, Ishikawa Yuka.”

Rumors again…

Always rumors…

What kind of rumors exactly?

They were definitely not good ones.

It seemed Lady Yuka’s bad reputation existed in this world too.

She hadn’t done anything yet, and her negative image was already widespread.

It seemed Lady Yuka wasn’t well-liked in this world either.

“Amamiya, please be my friend.”

“Eh…?”

Marina tilted her head in confusion.

Her hair flowed softly with the motion — very cute.

But was what she said really that strange?

In Love 100%, Marina was Lady Yuka’s follower.

So becoming close with Marina should be a natural outcome, shouldn’t it?

Shō had been so eager to become her friend.

Perhaps Marina operated on a different wavelength?

What should she do?

In her plan to create a sticky yuri atmosphere, Shō and Marina were absolutely vital.

Even in the official game storyline, the bond between the three was close enough to make people wonder whether they had special feelings for each other.

She needed to at least maintain that relationship…

And if possible, go further.

No!

She had to go further!

She must hold hands with adorable Marina to shop, visit homes, and go places together!

“Pfft… then, from now on, Ishikawa and I are friends.”

“Ah!

Please call me just Yuka!”

Being distant and formal wouldn’t work.

Although relationships grew closer over time and might naturally change how they addressed each other, it was better to appear friendly from the start.

Some might think it was just a name.

But in human relationships, how you address each other mattered.

If they started off stiff and formal, it would take forever to become close, and even then the stiff form of address tended to remain.

“I understand, Yuka. Then please call me just Marina as well.”

In the game, Lady Yuka directly called them “Shō” and “Marina”.

And they called Lady Yuka “Lady Yuka”.

She felt calling each other by name immediately might not be suitable, and she didn’t want them using honorifics toward her either.

So…

“I look forward to it, Marina-chan.”

“…………”

Marina showed a slightly confused and surprised expression again.

It wasn’t strange for first-grade friends to use “-chan”, right?

Maybe it was uncommon in upper-class families.

They all used formal honorifics for each other.

But she hated that kind of stiff etiquette.

And she hated the idea of her casually calling others by name while they used honorifics toward her.

So she decided to interact according to her own feelings, like normal friends.

If the other side truly disliked it, she’d think again…

“Please take care of me, Yuka…-chan.”

“!!! Okay!”

The slightly shy way Marina said it, along with her smile, was unbearably cute.

****

After the entrance ceremony, everyone gathered in the classroom to listen to the teacher’s instructions and announcements.

In this class, not only was Marina present, but Shō as well.

Perhaps in the Love 100% setting, everyone had already been classmates in the first grade, and that’s how they became close.

Then she had only one thing to do:

During the first year of elementary school, she must become good friends with Marina and Shō — friends for life.

No — for yuri clinging in the future, she must start building the foundation now.

While she was thinking about how to get closer to the two girls, the materials had already been handed out, and the teacher’s instructions were finished.

After dismissal, Yuka stood up.

She wanted to go talk to Marina and Shō immediately.

But by the time the crowd thinned, both of them were already gone.

She lost track of them.

If this were the game, the two of them would be the first to rush toward Lady Yuka.

But with the current relationship between herself and Marina and Shō, that was impossible.

There was nothing to sigh about.

They had only met today.

Even if they said they would be friends, it was only their first meeting, and the entrance ceremony had just ended.

They couldn’t instantly become close.

Some children’s parents would still be waiting.

Everyone leaving quickly today was perfectly natural.

Thinking that way, Yuka walked out of the almost-empty classroom.

And there—

“Hey, look at me.”

“…………”

She pretended she heard nothing, ignored him, and tried to walk past—

“Hey! Don’t ignore me! You heard me!”

Hiroki blocked her path, preventing her from passing.

“Ugh… how many times do I have to say it? My name isn’t ‘hey’.”

She still had to return early for training with Tiger-Rock Master, then think about how to become close to Marina and Shō.

She was busy — she had no time for this arrogant jerk.

“Heh… haha… This is the first time a girl has ever treated Hiroki like that. No wonder Hiroki is interested in you.”

And beside Hiroki stood “the White Snow Prince”, Shōhei.

Yuka had zero interest in male romance targets.

She didn’t care at all — she just wanted them to move aside.

“Alright now, don’t make that awful face. We just want a moment of your time. Ishikawa Yuka.”

“Yeah! Come with us!”

“Ugh…”

It looked like she couldn’t escape. Yuka reluctantly gave up, said she was short on time, and followed the two boys, very unwillingly.