Chapter 15: Before the Italian Mafia kills you, they send Gifts.

Although she ran into Matsuyama Shōko at the salon entrance, Ishikawa Yuka quickly realized that this was not a good thing at all.

The relationship between Shōko and Anmiya Marina was clearly still very poor. Watching the two of them glaring at each other with hostility, Yuka grew secretly troubled.

At the start of the game Love 100%, these two were originally meant to be the female protagonist’s left and right hands—complementary in personality, mutually trusting, and able to cooperate seamlessly when facing enemies.

But the versions of them standing here in reality looked nothing like people who could get along peacefully.

What on earth should be done to make them reconcile?

If she simply left things alone, would time naturally resolve their conflict?

From elementary division to high school division, they would still have to spend nine years together.

At only six years old, the time they would share in the future far exceeded the length of their past lives. With such a long time ahead, surely they could slowly adjust to each other… right?

No matter what, she couldn’t let them remain locked in a standoff at the entrance forever.

Seeing that the two were only glaring at each other and neither was willing to enter the salon first, Yuka simply pushed the door open herself and walked inside.

The upperclassmen of the Ōka Association, whom she had met after the entrance ceremony, were already waiting inside.

Yuka had already introduced herself before and now only wanted to keep a low profile. She walked straight across the room and personally prepared herself a cup of tea.

She disliked troubling others and preferred to do things herself. Sitting down in a corner seat, she gently inhaled the fragrance of the tea.

As expected of the Ōka Association, even the tea leaves were top-grade.

They were the same brand and from the same origin as those used in her home—so expensive that the small-citizen sensibility deep in her bones couldn’t help but ache letting elementary school students drink this was far too extravagant, wasn’t it?

Though, in her previous life, she might not even have qualified as a small citizen…

The taste and discernment needed to distinguish authenticity could only be cultivated through constant exposure from a young age.

Indulging in luxury only occasionally as an adult made it impossible to truly tell what was good or bad—one might even be fooled by counterfeits without realizing it.

From that perspective, letting children encounter genuine items early on and grow accustomed to a privileged environment was not entirely incomprehensible.

Just like now merely by smelling the aroma, she could identify the tea’s origin. Perhaps this kind of upbringing truly did have its meaning—though the cost was absurdly high.

Having resolved to keep a low profile, Yuka faithfully practiced the principle of “none of my business,” sitting transparently in the corner, while Shōko and Marina were enthusiastically surrounded by upperclassmen.

As expected, they both had people they already knew… She could recognize a few characters from the game, but in this real world, the only person she was familiar with was her older brother, Ishikawa Yōta.

As she was thinking this, Yōta arrived a little later. She heard that he had even gone to the classroom to look for her.

Yuka silently complained even I wouldn’t ditch things on the very first day of school!

Since there was still a long time before the pickup car arrived, rather than sneaking off in violation of the rules and getting scolded, it was better to stay quietly in the salon and remain a background presence.

She had firmly decided not to attract attention, sitting quietly in the corner so no one would come bother her.

In fact, from the moment she sat down until now, no one had approached her. Although she could vaguely sense occasional glances, she ignored them all.

As long as she didn’t respond, people would eventually lose interest.

“Yo! I’m here!”

“Noyama-senpai.”

“Hiroki-kun, good day.”

Following shortly after Yōta, Noyama Hiroki and Kurohara Shōhei appeared as well.

Yuka couldn’t help but grumble inwardly ‘Why does Noyama Hiroki look so arrogantly self-important just by walking into a room? Can’t he be just a little more low-key…?’

“Hello, Ishikawa-san.”

“……Good day, Kurohara-senpai.”

Hey—why are you coming straight over here?! Can’t you read the room?! Don’t you see my brother and I are talking quietly in the corner?! This is sibling time—don’t interrupt!

“Yo, Shōhei.”

“Yōta-senpai, may I borrow Ishikawa-san for a moment?”

This guy… what nonsense is he suddenly spouting?

Borrow me? On what grounds?! Are you kidding me?

Look around! Everyone’s staring at us! I was quietly sitting in the corner like a shadow, and you’ve ruined everything! Can’t you go cling to Noyama Hiroki instead?!

“Go ahead. Off you go, Yuka.”

“Ugh…”

Kill him.

No—well, something very close to that feeling. Brother! Why are you selling me out to this demon?! Why would the gods subject me to such a trial?! Who am I even supposed to call for help?!

“I’ve brought her, Hiroki.”

“……”

Just like that, Yuka was brought to the center of the room, forced to stand directly in front of Noyama Hiroki.

Kurohara Shōhei stood beside her, while the upperclassmen, Shōko, Marina, and others surrounded them, peering over curiously.

This was the worst… She was supposed to be background decoration, yet now she had become the center of attention.

“Um… may I ask what this is about?”

She had to end this conversation quickly and escape, or this would turn into a public execution.

Everyone must be wondering why this unknown girl had been singled out by Noyama Hiroki.

What would he say to her? What would he demand of her, right here in front of everyone?

Could it be… revenge for last time? Was he planning to settle things here? If so, what was she supposed to do?

Let herself be defeated by Noyama Hiroki? No… absolutely not. Why should she let a mere first-year elementary-school young master push her around?

Then should she defeat Noyama Hiroki instead? No, no, no… that would be suicide.

Doing something like that in front of everyone would mean she could forget about staying at the Ōka Academy.

What should she do? This is bad… her mind was in complete chaos, and she couldn’t come up with any good ideas at all.

If this were just an ordinary elementary school fight, it would be simple.

But the opponent was the great-zaibatsu young master of the Noyama family, while she was the daughter of the Ishikawa family.

How to respond in such a situation—there was no answer for it in her knowledge or experience.

What would Miss Yuka from the game do? No… that wouldn’t work either. Following Miss Yuka’s actions would lead straight to a bankruptcy ending. In other words… was this a dead end?

“Hey.”

“!”

Noyama Hiroki extended his hand. No signal at all—was he going straight to physical action?! If he dared touch her, she’d grab his arm and twist it back!

“About last time… I was in the wrong. This is for you…”

“……Huh?”

Yuka had been prepared to grab and twist his arm if he reached out, but she realized he was holding something in his hand. Thinking he was attacking, she reflexively accepted it.

What… is this?

“Wow!”

“Isn’t that—!”

“Look! What’s the relationship between Hiroki and Miss Yuka?!”

The moment she took it, exclamations erupted all around them.

Completely confused, Yuka only stared blankly at the object in her hand.

A familiar luxury chocolate brand’s packaging… It seemed she had received chocolate from Noyama Hiroki. Why?

She had no idea. She’d already said it once, but she had to say it again: she had absolutely no idea. What was going on here?

“That’s wonderful, Ishikawa-san.”

“……”

Yuka shot a fierce glare at Kurohara Shōhei.

Wonderful my foot! What is this supposed to be?! Why did she have to receive chocolate from Noyama Hiroki in front of all the Ōka Association members?! Was this some kind of punishment game? She didn’t understand the reason, but her instincts screamed that this was bad.

“Was this arranged by you, Kurohara-senpai?”

“Arrange? I didn’t do anything like that. I just gave Hiroki a little reminder, that’s all.”

That “reminder” definitely had hidden meaning, didn’t it?

Noyama Hiroki didn’t listen to most people, but he did heed the opinions of his close friend Kurohara. This incident was clearly something Kurohara had orchestrated behind the scenes.

Yuka couldn’t figure out Kurohara’s purpose or plan.

The only thing she knew was that she had received a gift from Noyama Hiroki under everyone’s gaze. This couldn’t simply be brushed off.

Everyone around them was speculating about the meaning of the gift, yet even she herself didn’t understand it.

He had said, “I was in the wrong last time,” so was this an apology? But had she done anything that warranted an apology from Noyama Hiroki?

The only things she could think of involving him were tripping him, ignoring him, and talking back to him…

Wait—shouldn’t it be her who needed to apologize to Noyama Hiroki? Or was this some kind of implication? Forcing her to bow her head and admit fault by apologizing first? She couldn’t understand it at all!

In any case, now that she had accepted it, returning it would be inappropriate. She hadn’t meant to take it in the first place—it was only because Noyama Hiroki made a misleading movement, and when she meant to twist his arm, she ended up accepting the gift instead.

There was no way she could now say, “I meant to twist your arm but accidentally took it, so here you go.”

“If that’s all you wished to say, then please excuse me.”

Since she couldn’t return it, the least she could do was leave quickly. Staying any longer at the center of attention would not end well.

“Isn’t that fine, Yuka?”

As soon as she returned to the corner seat, her brother Yōta said this with a half-smiling expression.

“Brother… you don’t happen to know something, do you?”

Thinking carefully, her brother had said he went to the classroom to look for her. Could it be that he knew she needed to be present today?

That he knew Noyama Hiroki was planning to give her this luxury chocolate, and deliberately went to make sure she wouldn’t be absent from the Ōka Association? That explanation made the most sense.

“Hiroki and Shōhei asked me.”

See… just as I thought…

“Noyama-senpai said it was an apology for something, but I really can’t remember such a thing. Now that I’ve accepted it and can’t return it, I’m troubled. If you know anything, brother, please tell me.”

The most troublesome part was this: she had no idea why Noyama Hiroki had given her chocolate. Being dragged into something she didn’t understand made her extremely uneasy.

Worse still, the other party was the very “Noyama young master” who would destroy “Miss Yuka” in the future. There was no telling whether this would become the trigger for some fatal flag.

“Hm? I only heard that Hiroki said and did some excessive things to Yuka and wanted to apologize… You don’t remember?”

“Yes…”

If anything, she was the one who had done quite a few excessive things to Noyama Hiroki. That he was apologizing instead felt strange.

It was true that his words were sharp, but her own attitude wasn’t exactly good either: ignoring him, appearing polite while being rude underneath. In that sense, they were evenly matched.

No… perhaps that was just her wishful thinking. From the standpoint of family status, even if he were at fault, the one who should apologize might have been her…

And what exactly had she done to him? Even though he moved to act first, she really had tripped him and mocked him.

Seen this way, even if Noyama Hiroki had started it, she was the one who actually laid hands on him. The one who should be asked to apologize ought to be her.

And yet, such a person was giving her a gift and apologizing… what did that mean? Think carefully…

Ah! When the Italian mafia plans to kill a target, they first send gifts to lull them into a false sense of security—to hide their killing intent. Could it be that…

“Brother… this is bad…”

“Did you think of something?”

Her brother was still smiling calmly. But this was no time to smile! Wake up! This was war!

“I’ve heard that before the mafia kills someone, they give gifts to lower their guard. Someone like Noyama-senpai suddenly giving such a gift for no reason.

He must be planning to kill me, or preparing to go to war with the Ishikawa family!”

“Hahaha! Yuka, you’re really something. Which movie did you get that from?”

Damn it! This carefree brother of hers! Noyama Hiroki really would bring her down!

In the Noyama route, he would expose the Ishikawa Group’s misconduct, driving the company to the brink of bankruptcy and plunging the Ishikawa family into debt and ruin!

In other routes, he would also assist in suppressing Yuka and the Ishikawa family, sometimes pushing them into a corner! This was no laughing matter!

She had to think of something…..

If she didn’t pull herself together, she would definitely be taken out by Noyama Hiroki!