Chapter 22: How many times do I have to say it? My name isn’t “Hey”!!!

Lately, campus life has been going so smoothly that Ishikawa Yuka couldn’t help but let the corners of her mouth curl up.

She felt that the distance between her and Anmiya Marina was gradually narrowing.

Although she could feel a barrier at first, surely they could be considered “normal friends” now?

It was the same with Matsuyama Shoko.

Shoko would now give a proper response when Yuka spoke to her.

Compared to the initial state of near-total ignoring, their relationship had progressed at lightning speed.

If things continued at this rate, perhaps she really could welcome that beautiful future she had fantasized about while playing Love 100%—one where girls were inseparable, giggling and playing together.

“Ufufufufu!”

“………”

“…Ahem.”

In the car on the way to school, the laughter she accidentally let slip was caught red-handed by her older brother Yota and Emi.

Seeing their strange expressions, she quickly tried to cover it up with a cough… though she certainly hadn’t fooled them.

Emi usually sat in the front passenger seat, but when helping Yuka tidy her appearance, she would sit in the back seat.

With time being tight in the morning, commuting together like this had become a routine.

“Have a pleasant day.”

“We’re off.”

After getting out at the circular driveway, Yuka and Yota walked into Ōka Academy under Emi’s watchful gaze.

It had been a full month since enrollment, which was enough time for her to adapt to life here.

By now, she felt no sense of mismatch and had completely blended into her role as a first-grade elementary student.

“Good day.”

“Eh?! G-Good day!”

Whenever she took the initiative to greet someone, the other party would always show a surprised expression, offer a hurried reply, and then leave quickly.

This had become a daily occurrence, and she had grown used to it…

Why did everyone seem to be avoiding her?

She was completely at a loss.

She had no prior interactions with her current classmates, didn’t remember offending anyone, and hadn’t been targeted by anyone either…

Now, the only ones willing to speak to her normally were Marina, Shoko, and the members of the Ōka Association.

Other students, whether they were in her class or not, almost always acted like the one just now—offering a greeting and then scurrying away.

The reason was unknown.

She hadn’t done anything, nor had she encountered anything specific.

Of course, her only friends were Marina and Shoko, and she wasn’t familiar with the other students to begin with, but isn’t that how everyone starts?

Relationships are supposed to grow from strangers to close friends, but if she was being avoided like a suspicious character right from the start, how was she supposed to cultivate any feelings?

She was clearly just greeting everyone kindly and taking the initiative to talk because she wanted to be close to them, so why was she being rejected like this?

It wasn’t exactly bullying, nor was she being completely ignored; greetings were still returned.

It was just that the other party would immediately run away afterward.

Moreover, it wasn’t as if she was constantly alone.

She could feel those prying gazes cast from a slight distance.

This wasn’t bullying or being ignored; it felt more like everyone was observing her from afar.

How did things turn out this way…

Lately, she had even begun to seriously suspect if this was the innate curse of that arrogant, overbearing, and loathsome “Lady Yuka” from the game.

The Lady Yuka in the game was different from her current self; although she had lackeys, she also had a mountain of enemies.

And those enemies eventually led to her tragic end—although the plot style was lighthearted and humorous, the ending was fundamentally tragic.

To avoid that ending, she had worked hard to be friendly and avoid making enemies… she really did try… but it seemed to have no effect.

“Mmmm…………”

“Yuka, good day.”

“Marina! Good day!”

When Yuka walked into the Class 3 classroom, Marina took the initiative to greet her.

It was still early, so there weren’t many people in the classroom, but it wasn’t empty either.

However, even seeing her interact with Marina, no one else came over to talk.

If she spoke first, they would respond, but they would wear troubled expressions.

Shoko had once suggested that she should interact with people more, even if it felt forced.

But Yuka felt that while such a thing was fine for a friend like Marina, if she forced it upon regular classmates, it would probably only make her more disliked, so she could never take that step.

“Good morning, everyone!”

“Good morning, Shoko!”

“Good day, Shoko-sama.”

After a while, as the room gradually filled up, Shoko arrived.

Shoko greeted the whole class at the door and was immediately met with a chorus of responses from all around.

As expected, Shoko was very well-loved… a world of difference compared to her.

“Shoko, good day.”

“…Morning.”

As Shoko passed by Yuka’s seat, Yuka offered a greeting.

Without turning her head, Shoko gave a tiny response in a very small voice and then walked on.

Compared to before, when she was ignored or only received a “Hmph!”, this was already a huge improvement.

That little Shoko, whispering her reply while turning her head away, was actually quite cute.

The classroom grew more crowded, but it wasn’t noisy like a regular elementary school.

Although students were talking and it wasn’t completely silent, there were definitely no children chasing each other or playing loudly like in a normal school.

Whether one considered this lonely or a sign of proper education and etiquette depended on the individual.

But in Yuka’s heart, she did feel a hint of loneliness.

She remembered that during her childhood in her previous life, she and the children around her were much rowdier.

For better or worse, that was the nature of children.

Yet the students of Ōka Academy were so quiet, lacking the liveliness of childhood.

While she understood this was the result of family traditions and the school atmosphere, and was only natural… the gap between this and her past life’s memories still made her feel an inexplicable sense of loneliness…

While absentmindedly listening to the lessons, Yuka worked on her assignments, solved practice problems, and did her previewing and reviewing, until suddenly it was time to go home.

Today, she still had to brace herself and head to the Ōka Association Salon.

She had once thought that when her brother graduated and she was the only one left in the Elementary Division, she might be able to skip the Ōka Association without her mother finding out.

But this year, with her brother still here, she had no choice but to go.

…Wait, she just realized a terrifying problem…

Next year, after her brother graduates, he indeed won’t be able to directly verify if Yuka went to the Salon.

The possibility of her mother finding out through her brother would drop significantly.

However, what if other Ōka Association members mentioned the fact that “Ishikawa Yuka didn’t come to the Salon” to their respective parents, and those parents then mentioned it casually during conversations with her mother?

The channels for information reaching her mother’s ears would be completely out of control.

…Oh no.

Doesn’t this mean she won’t be able to skip the Ōka Association even after next year?

Her brother had said: “If you keep having a bad relationship with Noyama and the others, your life will be very difficult after I graduate next year.”

This is what he meant, right?

It’s not that she can skip the Salon once her brother graduates; rather, it’s that she will lose her brother’s support at that time.

Her brother’s graduation will only worsen her situation, never improve it.

That’s why her brother wanted her to find a way to secure her footing while he was still at school…

Good heavens! She only figured this out now?

Is she an idiot?

Has even her brain reverted to the level of a first-grade elementary student?

Even the sixth-grade Ishikawa Yota understood and warned her about it, yet she, who had graduated university and entered society in her previous life, had actually failed to notice and was just living her life like a fool…

What should she do… this is bad… it’s too late to say she wants to join a faction now…

Whether within the class or inside the Ōka Association, faction divisions have basically been finalized.

In the class, there is primarily the largest Shoko faction, the quiet but united Marina faction, and… in the words of her past life, the non-normies, loners, and otaku types who maintain their distance from both sides.

Of course, Yuka didn’t belong to any of them; she was a lone wolf.

Yes, a lone wolf.

The factions within the Ōka Association were even more complex, not led by people like Marina or Shoko as they were in the class.

Admittedly, the Anmiya and Matsuyama families, who had higher family status among the Lower Seven families, held significant influence and were considered leaders, but they were only first-year newcomers after all; they couldn’t possibly order the sixth-year seniors around.

To put it simply, not just in the Ōka Association but among all the prestigious families attending Ōka Academy, there existed “Monryu.”

Monryu, also known as lineage or family etiquette, was essentially a system of factional affiliation.

One might find it laughable to talk about master-servant relationships in this day and age, but they certainly existed within this circle.

Of course, “master-servant” didn’t mean absolute obedience like the samurai of old, where defying the master meant seppuku.

It was a looser collective, or in modern terms, a faction.

A certain family would belong to a certain faction, and the pinnacle of those factions was the Upper Five families.

The Noyama family possessed the largest number of Monryu; they were number one in both conglomerate power and factional strength.

Next should have been the Ishikawa family… but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

In terms of family status and family business strength, the Ishikawa family was second, but in terms of the number of Monryu, the Koike family had more.

The two families were nearly equal in status; nominally, the Ishikawa family was slightly higher, but in reality, the gap was negligible.

The Koike family was slightly inferior to the Ishikawa family in terms of their business and conglomerate scale, but by virtue of having more Monryu (meaning factional strength), their overall power could even be said to surpass the Ishikawa family.

At the very least, when a “democratic” vote was required, the Koike family could garner more votes than the Ishikawa family.

The Ishikawa family ranked third after the Koike family, possessing a far smaller number of Monryu than the top two.

Setting aside the scale and strength of the conglomerates, family status was no longer absolute in this era.

At critical moments, the number of Monryu (faction members) was what mattered most, and in this regard, it had to be said that the Ishikawa family was at a disadvantage.

Sigh, whatever.

Regarding the Ishikawa family’s predicament, Yota claimed he would find a way to handle it, so she could just leave it to him.

The problem was that it was now very difficult for Yuka to simply say, “Please let me join a certain faction.”

In other words, she had become a lonely lone wolf who didn’t belong to any faction.

Yes, a lone wolf.

How did it come to this?

The Ōka Association side was one thing, as that could be called her own choice in a sense.

But in class, she had clearly taken the initiative to talk and wanted to get along with everyone, yet it hadn’t gone well at all.

Everyone just watched from a distance as if observing a rare animal.

What should she do?

Forming her own faction now was too difficult.

Asking to join a faction wouldn’t work either.

Wait? Doesn’t this mean it’s checkmate?

Even before triggering the bankruptcy ending by entering the High School Division, she was already at a dead end…

“Hey!”

“…”

Is it really beyond saving?

She hated the bankruptcy ending, but she hated being a lone wolf even more!

She wanted to giggle and play with cute girls and enjoy her youth!

“Hey!”

“…”

Currently, her relationships with Marina and Shoko were going fairly well… wait?

A whole month has passed already!

If normal elementary students were in the same class for a month, they should have become friends long ago, right?

They would chat at school and arrange to hang out privately, wouldn’t they?

Yet she and Marina and Shoko were still at the level of just exchanging greetings and small talk!?

This is very bad, isn’t it?

If it were a normal friendship, a month would be enough time to become very close.

So what has she been doing this past month?

Has she been too dazed?

This is terrible… she must find a way to do something…

“Didn’t you hear me calling ‘Hey’!”

“Sigh… how many times must I tell you before you understand that my name is not ‘Hey’?”

“Even for a pathetic little brain with not a shred of memory, you should have remembered by now, right?”

Honestly… she was right in the middle of her worries, yet this noisy brat insisted on coming to her exclusive seat to cause a stir.

Basically, nothing good ever happened when she got tangled up with this guy.

Besides, he was too conspicuous; she wished he wouldn’t come talk to her.

She intended to act like a silent shadow within the Ōka Association.

“—! You!”

“Hiroki… calm down. We didn’t come here for this, did we?”

“Tsk!”

Nogami Hiroki, who was stopped by Kurohara Masahira, clicked his tongue in annoyance.

What exactly did they want…

“Hey! Yuka! My family is having a party next time, you’re coming!”

“…Hah?”

What?

What did he just say?

The Noyama family is having a party, and he’s telling her to go?

It wasn’t an invitation; he used a direct command: “Coming!”

Who would listen to that and actually go!

And just now, he casually used her first name, didn’t he?

Who gave you permission to call me by my name?

“Please allow me to confirm the date and time; I will give you an answer after checking my schedule…”

“She said ‘okay.’ That’s great, Hiroki. Ishikawa-san agreed to come. Everyone heard that, right?”

Masahira!

You bastard!

Whose side are you on!

Oh, of course you’re on Noyama’s side!

Fine.

But I didn’t say “okay”!

“Yeah, about that…”

“She definitely said ‘okay’…”

However… the other members who were asked by Masahira all nodded in agreement one after another.

Oh no… she’d been played.

No, perhaps she should blame herself for answering too vaguely, but she really hadn’t agreed.

She had only asked back, “What?”

But it was too late to say anything now.

Everyone around them had already decided that she had accepted the invitation.