Chapter 9: My Name Isn’t “Hey”

Today was finally the entrance ceremony for Ōka Academy’s Elementary Division. Saying she wasn’t nervous would be a lie.

She could barely remember the entrance ceremony from her previous life when she entered elementary school.
She remembered a little about the ceremonies from middle school, high school, and even university, but almost no one remembers their elementary entrance ceremony clearly.

In this life, reborn with all the memories and consciousness of her past life, Yuka’s mind and way of thinking were completely different from an ordinary child.
A real child would probably just find the ceremony troublesome or pass through it absent-mindedly.

But after becoming an adult, she understood the value of these moments.
So many times she regretted things from her past life, thinking: “If only I had taken it more seriously back then.”

So in this life, she would cherish every important moment.
No matter how adults lectured her endlessly, a child could only truly understand the value of such moments after growing up.
Some things can only be understood through experience.

She understood this deeply.
Because of that, she would not repeat the same mistakes.
Every decision must be made without regrets.
Not just ceremonies—interest classes, studies, everything important must be handled seriously.

“Yuka, are you ready?”

“I am, Mother.”

It was time to leave.
Yuka stepped out of her room when called.

“Oh! Yuka! It fits you perfectly.”

“Thank you, Father.”

She intentionally showed her father the brand-new uniform.
Of course, it was different from the high school uniform design.
Ōka Academy had designated uniforms from elementary to high school, with a different style for each division.
Naturally, there was no uniform for university students.

Yuka only knew the high school uniform shown in Love 100%.
Even the official setting books never showed the elementary or middle school versions.
This was her first time seeing them.
Wearing this elementary uniform filled her with mixed emotions.

She had cleared Love 100% countless times, played every route, and even repeatedly read the setting materials and staff interviews.
She bought endless merchandise — her room was filled with everything related to Love 100%, and of course various other yuri collections.

As a hardcore fan, putting on a uniform that never appeared in the game was overwhelming.
If other fans found out, they would probably bang their fists on the floor with jealousy.

“It’s time to go.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Alright.”

She couldn’t let her father keep admiring her uniform forever.
Being late on such a happy day would be terrible.

Children from ordinary families often wore loose, poorly fitting uniforms because they grew too quickly…

But at Ōka Academy, that would never happen.
The uniforms were expensive — a significant burden for a normal family — but here, every student wore clothes perfectly tailored to their size.

It was said that at Ōka Academy, if a child grew and the uniform no longer fit, parents would immediately purchase a new one.
Wearing a sloppy or ill-fitting uniform could become a reason for mockery or even bullying.
Although Yuka had only visited for her elementary entrance interview once, she learned all of this from her parents and older brother.

Ōka Academy’s entrance ceremony normally required both parents to attend.
For families of this status, building connections with other wealthy and influential families was part of the purpose.

So while Mother might care more about the ceremony itself, Father probably didn’t.
His priority was greeting and networking with other heads of powerful families attending the ceremony.

If she were truly a normal child, she might feel hurt that her father wasn’t paying full attention to her.
But Yuka, with an adult mind, understood his position.
She would never throw a tantrum and embarrass him.

“We’re almost there.”
Her mother’s voice drew Yuka’s gaze toward the window.
The quiet streets lined with green trees opened to reveal the outline of Ōka Academy.

****

It was said that on normal days, cars could only stop at the roundabout in front of the gate, but for large events, the academy opened a special route leading to the athletic field.
Of course, driving onto the field didn’t mean driving on grass—there was a wide paved path made for vehicles.

It was probably to prevent long queues of cars outside the gate and allow a large number of vehicles to enter quickly.

But… so many children…

Ugh~ she really was nervous.

This was her Love 100% debut, after all!

According to the setting materials, the story of Love 100% actually began in the Elementary Division of Ōka Academy.
Most of the characters’ relationships and entanglements started in elementary school.

Take Ishikawa Yuka herself—her “engagement candidate” relationship with Noyama Hiroki began only after they entered the Elementary Division.

So from now on, she must act carefully.

She never knew when something might happen, or when she might get dragged into an event.
Just as she thought that, trouble arrived…

“Isn’t this Mr. Ishikawa? Good day.”

“Good day to you, Mr. Noyama.”

From the car behind them came the Noyama couple and Hiroki.
So fast… the person she least wanted to see appeared immediately.

They would inevitably meet since they attended the same school, but if she could delay it even one day, she would.

Keeping distance was the best way to avoid strange flags.

But their parents were chatting happily.
Yuka just wanted to leave quickly and avoid any connection, but she couldn’t walk away while her parents were talking.

“Hey.”

“…”

“Hey!”

“…”

“You heard me! Why are you ignoring me?!”

Ah!!! So loud…

“Are you speaking to someone? My name is not ‘hey.’ You must not be calling me.”

“I’m calling you!”

“Hah… my name isn’t ‘hey’ or ‘you.’ I don’t know anyone by that name. Please find someone else.”

So troublesome…
Let the parents talk, but don’t involve her.

She didn’t want any connection with him.
She promised she would never approach him—just let her have some peace.

“Mr. Noyama, Mr. Ishikawa — long time no see.”

“Ah, good day, Mr. Kurohara.”

Crap! Things just got worse.

Kurohara… this must be Kurohara Shōhei, the other main capture target on the same level as Noyama Hiroki.

He was Hiroki’s childhood friend and closest companion.
As the only person capable of calming and restraining that “arrogant prince” Hiroki, fans called him the “Snow Prince.”

While Hiroki was overwhelmingly popular, Shōhei shared equal popularity at Ōka Academy.

These “prince” titles were not official—they were fan nicknames.

“Arrogant Prince” needed no explanation.

As for “Snow Prince,” it was said that his very pale skin and fragile appearance gave a snowy impression—whether that meant snow itself or Snow White was unclear.

Setting popularity aside, within the game’s lore, Ōka Academy was managed by the Ōka Council, and the only ones capable of opposing council members like Hiroki and Shōhei were other council members.

The Ōka Council was formed by the five most elite families at its core.
Aside from these five, only a few exceptional families could join.
Sometimes one of the five didn’t have children at school, so membership varied slightly.

Currently, only three families had children enrolled — Noyama, Kurohara, and Ishikawa.
Yes… this meant Yuka would be forced to join the Ōka Council as well.

This year was fine because her brother was still here.
But next year, he would graduate from the Elementary Division.
She would face Hiroki and Shōhei alone…
Just thinking about it made her stomach hurt.

“Yo, Hiroki.”

“Oh! Shōhei!”

As expected. Kurohara Shōhei… but seriously, he was so pale.  Unreasonably white — fluffy like a girl.
But he was a boy, so Yuka wasn’t interested.
Her interest was in the young noble ladies and girls around the heroine in Love 100%.
She had zero interest in the capture targets.
Ideally, none of them would ever appear.

“And this is?”

“Hah? How would I know? Someone from the Ishikawa family.”

Hiroki snorted in reply.
Hearing that, Shōhei examined Yuka closely.

“Heh~ so you’re Ishikawa Yuka. I’m Kurohara Shōhei. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He smiled and introduced himself.
She couldn’t ignore him now.
Yuka was polite.

“Good day, Master Kurohara… You know me?”

“Yes. Recently Hiroki keeps bringing you up. And the social circles are full of rumors — that the Ishikawa family has a mysterious young lady who never attends any parties. A mysterious beauty.”

“Hey, Shōhei! Don’t make stuff up! Like I would ever talk about her!”

Ah…

According to her brother, a normal child would have attended many parties by now.
But Yuka didn’t want to attend stiff, formal events, and Mother thought she wasn’t suited to those scenes, so she never appeared in public.

She didn’t expect strange rumors to spread.
Ridiculous.

“Neither mysterious nor a beauty. It’s all nonsense. Rumors are truly frightening.”

“Exactly! She doesn’t look like a beauty at all! She’s just a tomboy who beats up boys!”

“Mmm~… it seems school life will be very interesting. Right, Hiroki?”

Yuka’s original intention was to avoid Hiroki and Shōhei completely.
She also planned to half-heartedly deal with the Ōka Council.
She had asked her brother about it — unlike a student council, there were no real duties, so it should be bearable.

This year she would be forced to attend certain events because her brother was here, but once he graduated next year, she would say goodbye to the Ōka Council forever.

“We’ll be going ahead… Yuka, come.”

“Yes, Mother. Then, Master Noyama, Master Kurohara — excuse us.”

Mother led her away from this trouble.
Mother would accompany her into the hall for the ceremony.
Father would head off to socialize — even if people greeted him first, it was still tiring.
Yuka silently pitied her father, then walked toward the hall.

****

Listening to the ceremony speeches…
No matter where you are, the principal’s speech is always long.
How much could a group of first-graders understand?
Yuka could understand everything, but the other students probably understood very little.

The boring entrance ceremony finally ended, and the students formed lines to leave the hall.
Normally, they would go directly to their classrooms, but Ōka Academy worked differently.
Instead of being taken as a group, students could return to their parents first.

Parents might want commemorative photos or need to hand over belongings, so there was free time before meeting in the classroom.

In a normal school, this would be chaos — children getting lost, being late, causing problems…
But here, that didn’t happen.
This level of confusion meant nothing to these children.

Yuka didn’t plan to look for her parents.
They already took pictures, and she could take more at home.
No need to squeeze through crowds.
She didn’t need makeup or luggage, so she was still thinking about what to do when—

“Hey, you!”

“…Hm?”

Hearing someone call her, Yuka looked up to see a proud-looking girl standing before her.
Not only the girl in front — she realized she was surrounded by a whole group of girls.
Their faces were still a bit childish, but familiar — or rather, she recognized what they would look like in the future.

The girls surrounding her now… were the ones who would one day become the followers of “Ishikawa Yuka.”