Chapter 38: An Enlarged Version

Whew… I almost thought this was a touching finale where the curtains would just close with falling flowers…

But in this world that has turned into reality, there’s no such thing as a happy ending that brings everything to a perfect close.

Today, tomorrow, and the day after—the story never stops until her life ends.

If this were a work of fiction, perhaps it could have ended beautifully at just the right moment, but reality is never that gentle…

The cleanup work ahead was what actually gave her a headache.

First of all, she had just made a grand, spirited exit; now she had to swallow her pride and crawl back into the Salon…?

However, the longer she waited, the harder it would be to return…

If she had to go back, it was best to do it today and take back her words.

But still… to leave after throwing out such harsh words only to come back dejectedly in less than thirty minutes was just too embarrassing.

‘Ugh… what should I do…’

Furthermore, even if she could stomach the shame and successfully return to the Salon, none of the other problems had actually been resolved.

It was only after hearing the explanation of why Nogami Hiroki had shoved Matsuyama Shoko that she realized things had become quite troublesome.

The rumor from the party—that she had “intentionally” soiled Shoko’s dress—seemed to be much more serious than she had anticipated.

She originally thought she would just be scolded or criticized a bit, but in this circle, which was essentially a miniature aristocratic society, such a rumor was potentially fatal.

To make matters worse, the rumors had somehow grown more outrageous as they spread, with embellishments added until she had become infamous as a truly malicious and wicked young lady.

Apparently, Nogami Hiroki had rushed over and shoved Shoko to “help” because he believed Shoko was the victim spreading the rumors and saw her and Shoko in an argument.

Nogami Hiroki’s reckless misunderstanding was a real headache.

Thanks to him, things had become even more complicated, to the point where it wasn’t even funny.

Alright, putting Nogami Hiroki aside for a moment, I need to continue sorting out Shoko’s side of things.

In short, the current rumor is that I’m a wicked lady who intentionally ruined a dress to suppress Shoko; this could potentially turn into a massive scandal capable of bankrupting the Ishikawa family, so it must be clarified as much as possible.

That said, public opinion is a terrifying thing, and a thousand voices can melt gold.

People love to hear about other people’s scandals; they will arbitrarily add speculations, personal desires, or predictions and spread them as if they were established facts.

Shoko seemed to have done her best to restrain the members of her own faction from spreading rumors, but it still wouldn’t stop…

First and foremost, if she didn’t handle this matter between her and Shoko properly, even if she forced herself back into the Ōka Association now, it would surely become a trigger again somewhere down the line.

To avoid the bankruptcy flag of the Ishikawa family, she had to find a way to resolve this…

Common sense would suggest that having Shoko, the supposed victim, come forward and deny it would suffice… but things weren’t that simple, and that was the problem.

Apparently, if Shoko were to deny it now, it would very likely be interpreted as Ishikawa Yuka applying pressure to force Shoko to retract her statement.

Even if she and Shoko had no such intention, under the current circumstances, people would still emerge to twist the situation and spread the claim that ‘Ishikawa Yuka forced her to say that.’

What on earth should she do… if she knew, she wouldn’t be this distressed.

There was no effective, immediate solution.

It seemed this matter could only be proven over time through her actions to show she wasn’t that kind of person, slowly earning back trust.

There was no shortcut; the rumors could not be erased instantly.

Next was the issue of Nogami Hiroki.

While she had to wait for the rumors to subside naturally and use her actions to win back trust, her act of throwing Nogami Hiroki over her shoulder had become a new problem.

Precisely because she was rumored to be the kind of person who committed such atrocities against Shoko, this incident only served to further validate the credibility of those rumors.

Making the internal members of the Ōka Association shut up wouldn’t be difficult.

Since Nogami Hiroki himself had made it clear he didn’t intend to pursue the matter, then with the support of the most powerful Nogami faction, the third-largest Ishikawa faction, and the small but leading Kurohara faction, three of the Upper Five families were in agreement.

No one would be able to overturn that decision.

Of course, within each faction, there would inevitably be those who were dissatisfied, rebellious, or in disagreement.

But since the leaders—the Noyama, Ishikawa, and Kurohara families—had spoken, no one could oppose them openly.

If they wanted to use force to suppress dissent, it wasn’t impossible.

Furthermore, Matsuyama Shoko stated that although the Matsuyama faction wasn’t very powerful and she wasn’t the actual leader despite her family status—being only a first-grader—she would find a way to handle it.

Anmiya Marina expressed her apologies, saying that since she was neither a faction leader nor an actual head, it was difficult for her to move the entire faction or lineage.

Even so, having the support of Marina from the Anmiya family, one of the Lower Seven, was significant.

However, if one uses such top-down mandatory orders to force compliance or silence dissenters, it is likely to cause problems in the future.

Therefore, she couldn’t rely solely on commanding people into submission; she had to find a more convincing way to resolve it thoroughly.

Still… the membership of the Ōka Association was limited after all.

As long as she could create opportunities for direct dialogue, explanation and persuasion were not impossible.

So that shouldn’t be too big of an issue, despite the significant authority and power involved…

In short, the bigger problem was the rumors among the other students.

Just like the incident with Shoko’s dress, the act of throwing Nogami Hiroki was being viewed as a scandal unbecoming of a young lady, which was also quite dangerous for the Ishikawa family.

Although it was to protect Shoko and she didn’t regret it, she really should be more cautious when taking action in the future.

‘Hmm? You’re asking why it’s not “try not to take action,” but “be more cautious when taking action”?’

‘Exactly! Isn’t that only natural?’

Protecting oneself when under attack is a fundamental right.

She wouldn’t go out of her way to hurt others, but she would definitely not be polite to those who attacked her.

Because of the incident with Shoko’s rumors, the Nogami Hiroki incident seemed to have already spread widely, leading to her being looked down upon even more.

This couldn’t continue.

But the fact remained that she had hit someone and thrown them… that was the tricky part.

Regardless of whether it was a misunderstanding or a mistake, the fact that she hit Nogami Hiroki and threw him would not change.

Even if Nogami Hiroki went around saying, “I moved first, it was just a counterattack,” it would be meaningless.

The rumors wouldn’t stop because of that; those who loved to gossip would only spread “she did this” further and wider, without caring about the “why.”

Apparently, having Nogami Hiroki go around telling the truth would only further confirm the fact that she had hit him; it would have no positive effect.

But at this point, they couldn’t act as if it never happened.

The members of the Ōka Association had seen it clearly, and since it had already spread so far, any attempt to cover it up now would only give people more ammunition to say she was hiding things or applying pressure.

The words of others are truly terrifying.

“We’ve discussed this for so long, yet we still can’t find a solution…”

“It’s truly a dilemma…”

With the sixth-grade brother Yota and Inadera Taichi at the center, the group discussed various plans, but as expected, they couldn’t find a good solution immediately.

Helpless, they decided to return to the Salon first, and so the entire group headed back.

“Nogami-senpai! I am terribly sorry!”

“……”

As soon as they returned to the Salon, Kohara Yuko immediately bowed her head to Nogami Hiroki in apology.

But the faces of Nogami Hiroki and Kurohara Masahira clearly showed dissatisfaction.

Inadera Taichi also held his forehead and shook his head.

“You don’t understand anything at all! What’s the point of apologizing to me!”

“Yes… I understand. Ishikawa-san, I am very sorry.”

After apologizing to Nogami Hiroki, Yuko turned to Yuka and Yota and bowed again.

She insisted that the first person to receive an apology should be the Noyama family; bowing to Yuka and the others was merely to save face for Nogami Hiroki, and she wasn’t convinced in her heart.

This was likely her way of taking a stand.

Nogami Hiroki admitted his mistake.

Furthermore, a direct conflict between the Noyama and Ishikawa families was detrimental to both sides.

Taking this into account, Yuko offered a formal apology, but she didn’t agree with it internally.

To use this method specifically to state her position—this Kohara Yuko was quite something.

The Kohara family, being neither part of the Upper Five nor the Lower Seven, did not have a high family status within the Ōka Association.

Precisely for that reason, Yuko likely worked desperately to appear unyielding.

If she were to yield even once in the face of family status disparity, she might never be able to stand tall again…

“Senior Kohara… regardless of the reason, it is true that I hit Nogami-senpai and threw him. And Senior Kohara, in an attempt to ‘avenge’ Nogami-senpai, raised your hand against me, while I twisted your arm.”

“I suppose I truly am a violent person who is unfit to be here.”

“However, I have my own justice, and I put it into action.”

“I can hold my head high without fear or shame and say that even now, I do not believe I did anything wrong.”

“…………”

Yuko lifted her lowered head and looked directly at Yuka.

Her gaze seemed to be searching for what Yuka wanted to say.

Thus, Yuka continued:

“Furthermore, I understand that Senior Kohara also has beliefs and a sense of justice that you cannot back down from, which led you to act and speak as you did.”

“No one is absolutely right, and no one is absolutely wrong.”

“It is merely the result of our respective beliefs colliding with one another. But that isn’t a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s quite good.”

“It’s… good…?”

Seemingly unable to fully understand Yuka’s words, Yuko knit her brows.

It was only natural; saying “it’s quite good” in the current situation sounded like she was triumphantly declaring victory.

Nogami Hiroki had admitted his mistake and apologized, even forcing Yuko to apologize as well.

Now Yuka was receiving the apology.

To say “it’s quite good” did indeed sound like she was gloating.

But that wasn’t what Yuka meant to say.

“Senior Kohara has Senior Kohara’s beliefs. I have mine as well. Sometimes they will clash, won’t they?”

“To hide them and not collide with our true hearts—merely putting on a superficial show of getting along—we don’t need that. It’s precisely because we can state our views like this that we can understand each other’s true thoughts, isn’t it?”

“…”

Yuko listened intently to Yuka’s words again.

As expected, Yuko wasn’t a bad person either.

It was precisely because she was loyal to the Noyama family and Nogami Hiroki that she spoke her mind even to a member of the higher-status Ishikawa family.

“Senior Kohara, if there are any issues in the future, please point them out directly according to your thoughts.”

“In that process, we can exchange opinions; perhaps sometimes we will realize our own mistakes. It’s also possible that no matter how much we communicate, we won’t understand each other. But even so, I hope Senior Kohara can continue to be honest with me about your true feelings in the future.”

“Are you saying you won’t let this end here and want to keep arguing in the future?”

Yuko spoke while glaring at her with a stiff face.

In response, Yuka replied with a smile:

“If you think the other person is wrong, point it out properly and stop them. If there’s a difference in opinion, communicate beyond your positions. To understand each other and become friends, you must be able to do that.”

“Therefore, Senior Yuko and I, who can do that, are already friends.”

“! Wh… what…”

Yuka took the hands of the somewhat flustered Yuko.

She gently placed her hands over them and then looked up to gaze into Yuko’s eyes.

“Senior Yuko and I are already friends. So, please just call me ‘Yuka,’ Senior Yuko.”

“!!!”

Whether it was out of anger or embarrassment, she looked as if she were smiling and twitching at the same time.

Yuko wore an indescribable expression, pulled her hands back, and stepped away from Yuka.

“I-In that case… if anything happens in the future, I’ll point it out without any hesitation! Yu-Yuka…-san…”

She turned her face away and spoke with a blush.

How should she put it… she was like a larger version of Shoko.

Of course, if she said that to Shoko, she would surely be angry…

“Alright. I look forward to your guidance, Senior Yuko.”

“! Hurry up and come inside and close the door! How long are you going to leave it open!”

Yuko finally turned around and walked away with her back to Yuka, speaking as she went.

“Hehe, you’ve been scolded already, Yuka.”

“Brother… it seems so. Well then, let’s go inside and close the door. If we leave it open, Senior Yuko will scold us again.”

“Ahaha.”

Although not a single problem had been resolved yet, under the stunned gazes of the Ōka Association members, Yuka had made another new friend.