Kenkyo Kenjitsu: Enjou POV [fanfiction]

Discussion in 'Community Fictions' started by Red Bean, Nov 2, 2017.

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How do you want updates to happen?

Poll closed Nov 27, 2017.
  1. Shorter chapters but frequent updates (probs in a 2000 or less range)

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  2. Long chapters but less frequent updates (probs 3500 word range)

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  1. aceclover95

    aceclover95 『Starry Night Translator』『Ruler of Sloth』

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    I guess he felt a bit more calm because he realized that Reika's gaze were apathetic. Good for you, Enjou!

    And I'm sure you are one of the guys who don't want to share Reika with other people XD In fact, you are worse.

    Aw, when Enjou isn't scheming, he's really cute.

    Yeah, Reika is quite a good actress. But I guess you still could read her, huh? Show how much you look at her, really.

    Aaah this bit is adorable. 'Our son' he said. Hey, Enjou! Co-parenting should have the other party's consent! Reika doesn't even know she has a 'son' with you!

    Thank you for the chapter! Fufufu~ it's just a bit more till the high school arc!
     
  2. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    He is gonna be so damn jelly for a bit because of what I’m going to misconstrue with the next chapters...

    Aw come on, Enjou aint that... well he kind of is... i guess...

    Righhhht? He’s cute. Like people don’t seem to get even black bellies can be cute. Especially when they’re in love and young.

    The part that amuses me everytime I write Reika into the scene is just how much is she obvious to everyone compared to how much she is obvious to enjou... its really weird

    Pffffftttt. She became Masaya’s mom the day she helped in the Yurie incident. She can no longer be freed from her duty as mother.

    You seem to forget that the Goddess Kali appearance will be happening soon~~~
     
  3. aceclover95

    aceclover95 『Starry Night Translator』『Ruler of Sloth』

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    Aaahh I forgot! That's right. And then he tasted Reika's right hook to the solar plexus. And soon a brand new gate will open for him...
     
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  4. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    Im working on it right now I soooo wanna do it before I go to bed
     
  5. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    Part 10

    “Ah, Bouda-san, did something happen?” I smile kindly as Bouda approached me. “Has there been any changes in your class?”

    “Well... no...” Bouda sighed as he twisted his hands. A slight frown appeared on his face as he recounted what had happened in his class. “... and the StuCo President even appeared and scolded us for not being able to deal with them.”

    “I see. It must be hard on you. Kisshouin-san hasn’t been able to persuade them to behave?”

    “No, she hasn’t. Its more like she’s been allowing them for quite a while now. She would sometimes scold them when I ask her too, but then they’d brush her off and she’d return to her seat. Her group has begun to fight with Tsurahana-san’s group as well. A while ago, Tsurahana-san even bumped into Kisshouin-san and barely apologized.”

    I narrowed my eyes slightly. “Is Kisshouin-san all right?”

    “Of course she is. If she had gotten injured, it would have probably started a war between their groups.” Bouda seemed distressed as he responded.

    She’s fine... okay, thats good. Masaya though, why haven’t you snapped at them yet? “You seem nervous, is something wrong?”

    “Ah, well...” Bouda suddenly became quieter as he trailed off.

    “Did Tsurahana-san do more than that?” If she did...

    “Its not that. Its just after the StuCo President left...”

    Mizusaki, huh. He was elected into presidency this year, if I remember right.

    “Does Kisshouin-san have a good relationship with him?”

    I choke on my spit. Bouda’s eyes widened and he immediately started hitting my back. “Ugh!”

    “E-Enjou-sama, are you all right?!”

    I raised my hand to stop him from hitting my back. He pulled away and looked at me worriedly. “What makes you say that?”

    “Well, after he left, some girls started asking who he was and Kisshouin-san said his name, then she started to smile to herself a bit... Uhmmm, anyways, she seemed to have a fairly good opinion of him.”

    I tapped my fingers on the armrest of my chair as I listened. Good opinion of him? Since when did they meet? How could an External, even with his status as a Student Council member, manage to get past Reika’s posse? I thought only Masaya and I were allowed to freely chat with her... Well, she did manage to make friends with Iinchou, but he’s more of a work friend, he doesn’t count. Is it when she visited the council a lot last year in preparation for the Athletics Festival? But still, her status as Pivoine should have put her at odds with the Council members, and I hadn’t heard any rumors...

    “Enjou-sama, is something wrong?”

    “It’s nothing. Anyways, I seem to recall that Mizusaki-san is generally ranked third in academics after Masaya and myself. Since he is also a member of the meritocratic Student Council, perhaps Kisshouin-san simply admires him.”

    I managed to convince Bouda with those words. After chatting a bit more, I made a promise to talk to Masaya about his class’s situation before things got too out of hand.

    I sighed and reclined on my seat, eyes trained on the ceiling as I thought about the situation.


    -


    When I went to school next day, at around lunch, a couple of guys from my class had begun gossiping over something they heard from Masaya’s class.

    “She’s definitely looking to punish them! There’s no way she would come to school with that flawless of an appearance and not be planning something!”

    “Perhaps she’s just trying to get Kaburagi-sama’s attention? After all, even if he likes Suzushino-senpai, Kisshouin-san is beautiful and smart, their families are almost on par with each other, and more importantly, they’re closer in age. So if anything, doesn’t she have the strongest chances with him?”

    “You are awfully concerned over this matter.”

    “My mother had originally wanted me and my sister to pursue Kisshouin-san and Kaburagi-sama respectively, but when she heard that those two were close to each other, she gave up. My sister did end up becoming Kisshouin-san friend, though. She avidly supports her.”

    “But first to get Kaburagi-sama’s attention, would she not need to get rid of the competition?”

    “Can you really call Tsurahana opposition for her? She’s a Pivoine hailing from Kisshouin, I doubt that Tsurahana is in her eyes.”

    “That is true...” they all nodded in agreement.

    “What are you talking about?”

    “Eh- ack! Enjou-sama!”

    I smiled kindly as I looked at them. “I’m sorry, I overheard Masaya and Kisshouin-san’s names, so I became curious. Has something happened?”

    “Well, no...” “Nothing in particular...” “Not really...”

    Receiving those kinds of answers, I smiled even more brightly at them, “I know what I heard.”

    “Kisshouin-san came to school looking more beautiful than usual, and she has a fan, and she seems to be very impatient for something.”

    “We were just wondering why she seemed impatient...”

    I looked at the third one who had yet to reply.

    “...My friend from her class kept telling me that Kisshouin-san was smiling happily as she toyed with her fan, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.”

    “I see,” I hummed softly. “I’m sorry to trouble you, but if something major happens in their class, could you please tell me?”

    When they didn’t respond, I looked them over, and smiled kindly at the one who I recalled as being one of my fans, “Please?”

    “Of course, Enjou-sama!” He smiled and agreed. The other two shared a look with each other, but went along and agreed as well.

    “Ah, right. However, I’ll say this now, Masaya has no romantic attraction towards Kisshouin-san.”

    “All right.” They chorused. I hummed again and left.

    Is she finally going to make her move?



    -


    When I sat down in the Pivoine with Masaya after school, he was telling me about something he happened to have chanced upon.

    “She even made that creepy smile you do!”

    “I do not make a creepy smile, Masaya.” I glare at him as he grinned widely.

    “So, what else happened?”

    “I think they returned to the classroom while her followers kicked up a fuss.” He paused for a moment then added, “I didn’t expect that she was actually like that.”

    “Perhaps... or she is tired of having to deal with Tsurahana and has decided to discipline her.” I tilt my head as I responded. Ah, I wish I was able to see that.

    I saw the doors to the salon open, and a very irate girl with curly hair enter. I turned back to Masaya.

    “Did you do something to Kisshouin-san recently?”

    “I haven’t. Why?”

    “Cause she’s coming over here, and she looks incredibly pissed.” I pointed out as Reika stormed over.

    Her entire being was producing a dark aura, and the expression on her face was livid. She was holding her fan in one hand and was clenching it so hard her knuckles have turned white. Although she was normally so docile, right now she really matched the description of an angered empress that my classmates wouldn’t shut up about.

    When she stood in front of us, I went silent. Her expression was so cold that I felt the temperature in the salon drop a few degrees.

    “Kaburagi-sama, I need to have a word with you.”

    “…About?” Masaya asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

    “Could you take some responsibility and begin cleaning up after your own messes? Could you not at least control your own followers?”

    I glanced at Masaya, who had a look of annoyance when she mentioned followers.

    “I don’t tell them to follow me, they just do it on their own, and they start trouble on their own. Besides, I have never paid them any attention, nor have I ever accepted them as my followers.”

    Reika’s face twitched, a darker expression appearing after he spoke. “Oh? Since they followed you on their own volition, it is not your business, is that what I am hearing? You actually dare to say something so irresponsible. It truly makes one question whether you even have what it takes to be the next leader of the Kaburagi Group.”

    That hit a sore spot. Masaya’s expression immediately changed, and he roared in response, “What did you say?!”

    “Did I misspeak? If you cannot even properly handle such a tiny group of people, I can scarcely imagine the difficulties you will have in the future as the Head of the Kaburagi.”

    I quickly stepped in before Masaya could throw himself at her.

    “Let’s all calm down. Kisshouin-san, aren’t you letting the blood rush to your head a little?”

    She immediately turned her glare on me, and spoke sharply, “Could you stop pushing your friend’s problems onto me? I believe I have more than paid back the debt. I’m so sick of cleaning up after you.”

    “Oi!”

    “Masaya,” I called out, moving a bit so I was more or less in his path to Reika. “Yeah. Sorry about causing you trouble.”

    Her expression clearly showed that she didn’t believe I had a speck of sincerity in me at all.

    “Hmph, I take my leave. Gokigen’yoh.” With that, she turned and left. When she disappeared through the doors of the salon, I turned around and began to calm Masaya down. It took half an hour, but he finally calmed. He even looked to be reflecting on himself.

    I glanced at the doors of the salon quietly and winced.

    I messed up big time...



    -


    I sighed as I returned to the salon. “Have you found her?”

    “No.” Masaya frowned at me as he crossed his arms.

    “We really need to apologize.”

    “She probably went home already. Its already close to 4 pm.”

    “But-“ Masaya cut me off, “Apologizing today and apologizing tomorrow morning isn’t that different. Other than that, she’s probably still mad, so she probably needs to calm down. Shuusuke, why are you tiring yourself out over this?”

    I bit my lip and sighed heavily. “Fine. We’ll see her tomorrow morning.”

    “Good.”

    “You apologize too.”

    “I know that.” Masaya frowned.

    We walked back towards our cars. When I glanced at my car and saw someone inside, I frowned. “Masaya, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

    “Hm? Ah.” He glanced at my car and nodded. “See ya.”

    I walked towards the car and put on a smile.

    After my chauffeur opened the door, I bowed slightly as I spoke, “Sorry, I didn’t know you were picking me up.”

    The person in the car laughed lightly, “Its alright, Shuu. Did you have something to do?”

    “I just needed to speak to someone, however, it seems that they left already. Have you had dinner?”

    “Not yet. However, Otousama just came back from a business trip and he wants to have a family dinner.”

    “Ah... All right. I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

    “Its fine~ its fine~” She laughed it off as she reclined in her seat. I entered the car and sat down.

    It was quiet for a while, then I looked at her and asked, “Yuiko-san, do you think you could advise me on this?”

    "On what?"

    "There is a girl I ended up angering due to my actions. What should I do to show I am sincerely apologizing?"

    “Huh?” Her clear eyes opened up wider as she looked at me. Is that... irritation?

    “Do you really need to apologize? Whatever it was you did, it probably wasn’t as bad as you think.” Yuiko responded with a tight-lipped smile.

    I really can’t depend on her for advice, huh.

    -


    I followed Masaya to his class. The moment we walk in, we’re blasted by the screams of girls.

    “Its the Emperor and Enjou-sama!”

    I ignored them and looked through the crowd, searching for Reika.

    There she is.

    “Kisshouin-san-“ I started to speak, but Masaya charged on ahead of me. What are you doing?

    He stood in front of her seat with his arms crossed. After a moment, he uncrossed his arms and-

    Smacked his hand down on her head.

    “NGYAH-!” Reika cried out. I raised an eyebrow at that. That sounded su~per unladylike.

    “We’re even now.” He said. After that, he walked back to his seat.

    I glanced at him wearily before I headed over to Reika, who was still rubbing her head, “Sorry about that, Kisshouin-san. I kind of have something to talk to you about. Do you have some spare time?”

    Her expression was reluctant, but she got up from her seat and followed me. We walked silently to the base of a staircase. Oh, isn’t this like when I asked her to become class rep?

    “Is your head all right? He really shouldn’t have hit you, but... well, that is his way of apologising.”

    “‘Apologizing’?” She repeated, her expression showed ridicule.

    “We had a talk after you left the salon. We realised that we were being irresponsible, and reflected on it. However, Masaya’s just stubborn, so he couldn’t bring himself to apologise honestly. That’s why he said stuff about being even instead.”

    Her expression showed disbelief, so I continued, “I explained the situation to everyone in the salon. I told them that we had dome something to anger you. Luckily, there wasn’t a lot of people in the salon. I also forbade them from speaking, so there shouldn’t be any rumours.”

    At this point, she finally seemed to relax a bit. “Um, thank you very much.”

    I looked at her for a moment then bowed deeply. “I reflected on my actions as well. I apologize for dragging you into our messes and forcing you clean-up after us.”

    She was silent for a while, then spoke, “So does that mean that we will forget about what happened yesterday?”

    I raised my head then nodded, “Of course.”

    When I looked at her eyes, she really seemed to not trust me. “Your expression says that you don’t trust me at all. Am I really so untrustworthy in your eyes?” I asked her. She ignored my question and hummed. I’ll take that as a yes, then...

    “I really do feel bad though. As an apology for Masaya’s punch, please give me a good hit.”

    I braced myself after I asked her. She had on a hesitant expression. Ah, even though its like that, she really looks like she wants retribution for what happened. I smiled weakly, “If you don’t at least hit me, I won’t be able to feel at ease. Although I am not Masaya, this time we’ll really count it as even, okay?”

    “You truly will not hold a grudge? For example, using this to threaten me later.”

    “I won’t, I said.” I sighed when she asked.

    I glanced at her, then leaned down some more to make it easier for her to hit me.

    “GUH!” Painful! Really painful! Did she take classes for punching people?! I clutched my stomach and groaned.

    “Well then, I suppose we truly are even now. Right, Enjou-sama?” I heard her ask from above me. I nodded in response.

    Hearing a laugh, I saw her feet turn around and she skipped away.

    Oh my god, is she an S?! She laughed at my pain! When Masaya said she had slapped Tsurahana with her fan, I didn’t believe that he wasn’t exaggerating!

    I groaned and rubbed my stomach as the final pangs of pain left.

    The bell began to ring for latecomers. Ah, dammit... I started walking to class.

    “Sorry for being late, Sensei.”

    “Ah, Enjou-san... its fine. Its your first time being late, so I’ll let you off. Please take a seat.”

    “Thank you.”

    I walked back to my seat and sat down. When the attention was finally back on the teacher instead of me, I discretely rubbed my stomach. I have the feeling that this is going to bruise...
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2017
  6. aceclover95

    aceclover95 『Starry Night Translator』『Ruler of Sloth』

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    Aw, the first thing he asked is Reika's well-being. And he felt offended in her stead! Cute.

    Ohohoh~ So this is what you meant... Project Make-Enjou-Drinks-Vinegar has launched! *evil smile*

    When he smiled brightly, you couldn't say no. When he smiled darkly, you shouldn't say no. Hmm.. I want to be like him lol.

    Suuure, yeah, whatever you said, Enjou.

    So you wish to look upon the greatness that is The Goddess? You have to wait until The Goddess deigned to grace you with her presence.

    Oooh that hint of Yuiko though! And from the conversation, even before she became his fiance candidate, she's already a possessive bi--lady. Are you going to write extra scenes that explain why Yukino doesn't like Yuiko?

    Hmm, from what I read in the canon, it feels like Kaburagi actually only tapped her head. But because of Reika's delicate body, she felt like Kaburagi punched her instead. Or, Kaburagi intended to only tapped her lightly, but misjudged his strength lol.

    Ha. She didn't took classes for punching people, but she took after her brother, you know?

    You should be grateful for having The Goddess punched you. Also, she's not an S. She's just happy having punched her stress out on you lol.

    Thank you for the chapter!
     
  7. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    A short chapter made for fun:

    Kaburagi Masaya's POV


    Shuusuke has been acting incredibly strange.

    Yesterday was a really damning evidence of how weird he has become. I mean, even if it was rather obvious Kisshouin would have headed home by then, he still ran around the school trying to find her. It became really apparent to me that something was up with him.

    Although, when I told him, he just responded, "I did something wrong, so I need to make up for it."

    He genuinely sounded remorseful, and even a bit frustrated. When we looked around, we kept being directed to people who may or may not have seen her, and those people generally ended up to be her girl friends, until we were approached by this one guy, and Shuusuke's mood hit rock bottom.

    "Kisshouin? I saw her enter her car earlier, so I assume she went home. You should too, its almost time for the school to close." His face was completely calm as he told us, despite being faced with Shuusuke's darkly smiling face, and left.

    "He seems familiar."

    "He's Mizusaki Arima. He's the guy you faced off against last year during the cavalry battle." Shuusuke responded gruffly as we turned back in the direction we came from.

    "Ah! So thats where he was from. I knew he looked familiar." I nodded and looked at Shuusuke. "You heard him, she probably went home."

    "I'll check one more time. You can go ahead if you want."

    --

    Short story even shorter, Shuusuke had returned to the salon in defeat. I snorted at him as we went to our cars.

    As we were walking back, Shuusuke looked at his car and frowned heavily. With an annoyed sigh, he said he'd see me tomorrow and left.

    I looked at his car and noticed the silhouette of a girl, or just a really long haired person, waiting inside the car. He had bowed to the person inside then left with them. Hm... Shuusuke did say he had to meet with a girl earlier today. Was that her?

    I thought about that all the way home. It seems Shuusuke's dillemas have gotten worse since he last talked about them. In the end, I ended up asking my mom about omiais.

    "That's odd. You usually want to avoid this topic." She said, her expression puzzled as she spoke. I just shrugged in response.

    "Well, as you already know, an omiai is a marriage interview between two families. Speaking of which, have you found any girls you liked?"

    "Yurie."

    A pained smile crossed her face. "Yurie-san is a good girl, but..." I raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. Are you trying to say I don't match her? I've been working hard to match Yurie, you know! I am even training my discipline and behavior so I can match with her!

    "What about Reika-chan?" Mother asked.

    I frowned, remembering what she said to me earlier. Not suitable to be the heir of the Kaburagi family? Did she have to go that far? "I don't think we could ever get along."

    "..Had something happened with Reika-chan?"

    "No, nothing. We just got into a disagreement today." I responded. When I saw Mother's eyes narrow, I quickly added, "I plan to apologize to her first thing tomorrow morning after I get to school."

    "I see," Mother sighed. "Do remember to make up with Reika-chan. She's a nice girl, so she'll probably forgive you after you apologize."

    Nice girl? I can't help but retort inside my heart. Even before today, she has always regarded me as a nuisance or looked at me with an expression that clearly states she dislikes me, despite me having not done anything to her! How is that nice?

    I went up to my room and laid down in bed, tired from having to run around school with Shuusuke to find Kisshouin, who had went home.

    I blinked when I noticed I got a message on my phone.

    "It's Yurie!"

    --


    In the morning, I did as I planned and apologized to Kisshouin. However, she still said something really rude to me, so I hit her head to make us even. She really overreacted though! That was more of a tap than an actual hit, and she even whined about it! God, just how delicate is she?!

    After she left the class with Shuusuke, I looked around the classroom. Unlike before when Tsurahana and her group were crowding around me, all the girls kept a much more respectable distance from me, while a girl from Tsurahana's group that crowded me before quietly stayed in the corner of the classroom, not saying anything. Hm, I understand. Kisshouin was really scary yesterday, wasn't she?

    While I enjoyed the quietness of class, I overheard the girls that were surrounding Kisshouin earlier, were now speaking about Shuusuke.

    "Reika-sama is always with Enjou-sama..."
    "Do you think they like each other?"
    "But Reika-sama likes Kaburagi-sama, right!?"
    "How can it be? She's always with Enjou-sama!"
    "But yesterday, and earlier, she keeps mentioning Kaburagi-sama's name. She really cares about him! No wonder she snapped so viciously against Tsurahana."

    I scoffed and turned away. Her, like me? I'm pretty sure she just wanted to get Tsurahana to stop being so overbearing.

    When she returned, she seemed to be in a really good mood. What did Shuusuke say to her?

    --

    I glanced at Shuusuke, who pushed his plate away after they served us the gluten. For a field trip to a vegetarian highschool, couldn't they have served us a salad instead?

    I ate it stonily. When desert came, I ordered a carrot cake. I glanced around the room and noticed almost everyone had also chosen to eat the carrot cake over a mint cake.

    Except Kisshouin, who had a non-naturally blue cake placed in front of her.

    This weirdo... what on earth...

    Shuusuke had seemed to notice as well, because when he looked over, he showed a grossed-out expression. Ah, right, Shuusuke hates mint. Still, when we were eating, I noticed Shuusuke hadn't stopped watching her.

    ... hmmm, he really does looks like a creep, watching her like that.

    --

    At the end of the school trip, I learned something very disconcerting.

    Kisshouin falls victim to trouble really easily.

    First there was the water from the slide, then her stomachache that caused her to sit out the rest of the trip, and a couple of other things. It was really pitiful...

    "Oh, Masaya, whats up?" Shuusuke asked as he entered the room.

    "... You're right, Shuusuke. She really is weird."

    "Huh?" His eyebrow raised as he looked at me. He fixed his hair and looked at me with confusion. "Who is?"

    "Nothing." I shrug him off, returning to my video game as he watched me. He sighed heavily then went off to buy a drink.

    I paused my game after I knew he was far enough. I really can't help it. I have to wonder, why is Shuusuke so fixated on her?

    "He acts really odd whenever she even gets mentioned..."
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2018
  8. aceclover95

    aceclover95 『Starry Night Translator』『Ruler of Sloth』

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    ...I have a hard time imagining Kaburagi said something like 'Goodness' or 'Mhm'. He's a more straight forward and crude kind of guy, so I guess you could change 'Mhm' with just 'Hmm' and 'Goodness' with just 'God' or something cruder lol. I don't know why but those two words have different feels/nuances, and I don't think Kaburagi is a 'Mhm' kind of guy. What am I even saying? XD and you mistakenly put Reika's first name there, when he should have only called her 'Kisshouin'. But otherwise it's a good Kaburagi's POV! Thank you!
     
  9. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    Part 11

    When school returned, I was completely exhausted from spending most of the break attending family parties, taking care of my little brother, speaking to bride candidates, and studying for exams. To top off this busy schedule was that the Athletics Festival was approaching.

    So that meant I had to supervise my (fake) son to ensure he doesn’t accidentally kill his classmates during his spartan boot camp.

    I sipped my ice-cold drink of honeyed lemon as I watched Masaya add an extra couple of pounds to their leg weights, then forced them to run another five laps. Around the entire Kaburagi estate. Which was easily double the size of my family’s main mansion.

    “Masaya, isn’t that too much?” I asked as I pulled my sun hat over my head, and walked out from the shade and towards them. God, its so hot. I think they’ll all get sunburn after this. I’m surprised no one had fainted from heat stroke as of yet.

    “Want to join us?” Masaya snorted as he wiped sweat off his face. Since they were training from the start of the day until now, everyone was completely soaked in sweat until their clothes were dark. Even Masaya wasn’t able to stop himself from sweating like a horse. “No thanks. I’ll enjoy my nice, cold drink back in the shade.”

    “Asshole.”

    “Tyrant.” I grinned as he scoffed. I handed him his towel and his water jug. “Don’t you think its time for their break soon?”

    “After another two laps.”

    “Masaya, they’ll faint. And some of them need to get home before five, remember?” I chided him as I watched the group of guys reappear from the distance. They were struggling to continue, and one of them looked like they were being dragged by the other guys. How pitiful...

    “Fine...” he sighed as he wiped his sweat away. He took a few gulps of his water before passing both the towel and the water jug back to me and ran over to the guys, who were barely able to run anymore.

    I watched as they all collapsed dead on the ground, weak groans and moans of pain erupting from their mouths as Masaya left to get more water. I walked over to them and looked at them calmly.

    “Don’t worry, you guys are almost done for today.”

    Almost?! What time is it?!”

    “Around one in the afternoon.”

    “Ahh... shit... I can’t move my legs...”

    I smiled wearily as I looked them over. Masaya, what have you done. They’ve actually all grown muscles since they started training... I smiled in sympathy as Masaya returned with more bottles of water. He passed it out to them and they all greedily drank.

    “We’ll surely win the cavalry battle at this rate.” Masaya stated determinedly. I glanced at his horses who seemed pretty fierce, but also dead tired.

    “Of course you will... was it really okay to not train the other group from your class?”

    “Its fine. I just need to win for my class to win.”

    How confident. Good for you.

    “We’ll be practicing our tactics now, so you gotta leave.” Masaya warned me as he threw my bottle of honeyed lemon at me. I caught it and sighed, “After all I do for you, this is how you treat me? Kicking me out so cruelly on such a hot day?”

    “Get lost.”

    “Tch. Some best friend you are,” I snorted at him as I took a drink. I stood up and said my goodbyes to everyone.

    When I was about to pass through the gates of the Kaburagi household, I felt someone grab my arm. I looked back to see that it was Masaya holding me back. “What?”

    “I just remembered, there’s something I think you may want to know...”

    “Huh?” I looked at Masaya suspiciously. “About?”

    “Kisshouin.”

    My eyes narrowed as I turned around fully. “Go on.”

    “Well, I heard this from my class’s class rep, but...”


    -


    On the day of the Athletics Carnival, the sky was nice and clear. Perfect for the arrival of the Emperor and his warhorse at the battlefront.

    Since Masaya was also doing the baton relays as well, he practised for that too. I heard from some of my informants in Reika’s class, but the training was super vicious. Masaya basically became a drill sergeant and he hammered it in to everyone how important it was for the movements to be fluid and to not waste a single action.

    Yeah, sounds exactly like what I would expect of him.

    I was sitting to the side while I watched the ball-toss event with Masaya. We were chatting, and Masaya was happily proclaiming how well he had trained his class, when a ball went flying though the air and nailed someone on the back of their head.

    “Ow!” I immediately followed the source of that voice and found Reika rubbing the back of her head. At her feet were two balls, and I glanced back at her frantically apologizing classmate.

    “Masaya, who is that?”

    “Hm?” He looked where I was pointing and responded, “That’s Kishido Ken, I think. Ah, damn it, what are they doing? They’re not playing right!” Masaya scowled as everyone begun to throw the balls away from Reika. Is this some persecution-complex? Are they scared Reika will hunt them down if they hit her?

    I glanced at the players and noticed some were sneaking glances at Masaya. Wait, don’t tell me...

    I pointed out the scoreboard to Masaya, “Look.”

    Masaya’s expression became much worse when he noticed how much points his class was losing. While he was busy looking there, I kept my attention on his class. Yeah, I was right. It’s because of Masaya.

    “At least there’s the cavalry battle next.”

    “... Right.” He responded with a huff, reclining in his seat. I glanced at his classmates and noticed some of them were playing worse than before. It seems Masaya’s bad mood has caused their morale to drop.

    In the end, his class didn’t do very well. So when they returned, Masaya was waiting for them with a dark expression. Good luck.

    -

    I was walking around and happened to bump into one of Reika’s friends, Kazami-san, I believe. I ended up relaying the incident of Reika being nailed in the head by a ball to her, and the name of the person who did it. With a bloodthirsty light coming from her eyes, she thanked me and ran off.


    I learned a little later that Kishido-san had been ganged-up on by the Empress’s retinue of warriors. When he came back to class, he was as white as a sheet, but he refused to relinquish the details of what happened. Mhm, be more careful next time, Kishido-san.


    -


    Finally, the time for the cavalry battle arrived.

    Appearing on the battlefield with his warhorse, Masaya calmly looked over the crowd, completely overshadowing everyone else. The moment that the airhorn that signaled start blared through the air, Masaya had engaged in a scuffle with another rider.

    One by one, Masaya threw down his opponents and hunted down the others with abandon, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he swiftly moved his horse towards each rider in the battlefield.

    I glanced around, trying to locate that person Masaya had told me about.

    -

    “Kisshouin had apparently been cozying up to the President of the Student Council. Although he was a bit hostile, the class rep said he had admired her during the first year of middle school.”

    -


    My eyes narrowed further as I finally located him. He was on the other side, taking down players nearly as swiftly as Masaya was, before he glanced around to look for more opponents. It seems the people who weren’t Masaya nor Mizusaki were fearfully stuck in the middle of the playing field, trying to avoid the both of them.

    When I looked to the side, I noticed Reika watching the battle intently. That’s when I heard a yell and noticed someone had fallen. Oh, isn’t that Haruki?

    I watched as he fell to the ground after being thrown down by Masaya. Mhm, he’s become completely messy. Masaya, you really have no mercy in you at all...

    Masaya’s gaze returned to the battlefield, and he faced off against the StuCo President.

    I saw Reika smiling at him, and I inwardly began to hope Masaya would throw him down as well. Perhaps even end up accidentally trampling him with his horse, however improbable the latter would be.

    In the end, despite becoming stronger than last year, Mizusaki fell from his horse and lost to Masaya.

    -

    Masaya stood atop the podium after he won, and declared that he would retire from cavalry battles entirely. The victory of his battle and the lament for his retirement caused mixed feelings amongst the cheering crowd. I clapped lightly as he came down from the podium with his prize in hand.

    “Good job on winning.”

    “Thanks.” Masaya grinned happily as he tucked his prize under his arm. Yep, he’s really happy about winning.

    I looked at him quietly as I pondered over his statement.

    What the heck do you mean by ‘retirement’?


    -


    The day after the festival, I was walking around the school when I chanced upon the scene of Haruki seemingly yelling at Reika. I was a bit too far to hear what he said, but it didn’t seem to bother Reika, who calmly walked away after his yelling.

    Still, its no good for him to not respect his elders.

    “Haruki.” I called out to him as I approached. His expression immediately became more docile as he saw me and responded, “Good afternoon, Enjou-sama!”

    “What were you doing yelling in the halls, earlier? At your senior no less.” I asked him as I gave him a disappointed frown. He immediately made a bad expression and retorted, “I was just warning her.”

    “Warning her of what? Also, what’s with that disrespectful tone and choice of words? You’ll bring shame upon your parents if they find out about your vulgarity.”

    “Geh... but! She’s totally coming onto you! Can’t you see that?!”

    If only. “Kisshouin-san is a respectable and nice girl. I’d appreciate it if you treated her appropriately, not only as your senior, but also as a fellow student of Suiran.” I added, “And if I want her company, you should stay out of it.”

    He revealed an indignant expression at my words. “What about Yuiko-san?!”

    I paused for a moment, then looked at him calmly with a crooked smile, “Yuiko-san? Why, its none of her business either. I’ll overlook it this time, Haruki, but if I catch you snarling at Kisshouin-san again, I guess I’ll just have to cancel that marriage interview with the Uryuus.”

    That shut him up. Although his expression was bad, he obediently nodded.

    “I won’t make you apologize to her since I’m sure you won’t be sincere about it, but don’t do that again.” I sighed lightly as I shrugged. “I don’t want to repeat myself ever again on these sort of matters, understood?”

    “... yes, Enjou-sama.”

    “Good.” I nodded and walked off.

    It was a little while later that I learned Haruki was dragged away by the Empress’s warriors and spoken too. However, unlike all the other people, he seemed to come out of it fine. I wonder if they were being lenient since he was younger, or his skull was too thick to realize how much danger he would be in if Reika did take offense to his words.

    After all, I’m pretty sure the school is evenly split between Masaya’s followers, and Reika’s followers. Even if I shielded him, my weight was split with Masaya (and I know he wouldn’t want to join in something troublesome), Reika’s weight carries teachers, the Pivoine, and her own supporters, as well as her cousin and her faction. There’s no way he would be able to survive on just my backing alone.

    I sighed heavily as I drank my tea. Then there’s the matter with the Uryuus, too...


    ———


    Today was the final day of middle school. After this, we all would really have to leave behind our childhood and start preparing for the to take over our families and prepare to enter the business world.

    The graduation speech was done by Masaya. Although he was an oddball and a cavalry-battle maniac, he was still the most outstanding student in our grade, as well as the face of Suiran and the Pivoine. It was rare that the Pivoine would get someone so exceptional, so of course the school was bias and passed the duty onto him. Though, I’m pretty sure that that StuCo President was boiling with envy right about now. After all, this was the third time Masaya had showed him up publicly. It mustn’t have felt good to endure.

    However, Masaya was still a Kaburagi, bred from birth and trained till now to handle social situations perfectly. The address went exceedingly well, and I noticed more than just the girls looking at him with captivation. It seems his indomitable display of power every year as the Cavalry Battle Emperor has cemented his position as the Emperor of Suiran in their minds.

    -

    Although that was so, Masaya didn’t even utter a single word about the cavalry battle during his speech, even if it was one of the highlights of his middle school years. It seems he understood it as dark history, and is now trying to bury it. Masaya, no one is going to forget. Its in the school’s yearbook...

    -

    When he came down from the podium, he was immediately surrounded by boys who wanted to learn the techniques from the Cavalry Battle Emperor. Even Haruki, who was thrown down by him near the end, was avidly trying to apply as his disciple. Did Masaya start up a cavalry battle craze for the boys of Suiran?

    In the end, he rejected every one of them, saying; “Techniques aren’t things you are taught; they are things you plunder.”

    What the heck. This idiot- No, all these idiots have cavalry battle mania. I ended up stepping away from them all to avoid being seen as one of them. Don’t mind me, I am not connected with these people at all.

    Who knew there would come a day Masaya would really accept his nickname of Emperor, and even act as such. I thought it would be humiliating if it was in town, but here in school, with everyone watching, just being associated makes me feel embarrased...


    -


    When we left the hall, we were being congratulated left and right by everyone who came. Even the parents of children we didn’t really know came over and congratulated us. Though, that was to be expected when you were the heirs of powerful families. More than once did some parents come over with their daughter and try to invite us over to their hiuse, but Masaya blankly refused, while I cited my immensely busy schedule to get out of it. Though they looked disappointed, the girls still came pouring in and asking for handshakes. It got to the point where I felt like cutting my hand off just to end this torture...

    I was glancing around when I heard a familiarly annoying voice, but in a more cutesy rendition of it. I looked around and noticed it was Kotou, who was chatting up Reika and her older brother.

    “Lillies are Ririna’s flowers!” She declared to the male Kisshouin. Hearing the word ‘lilies’ caused Masaya to look in their direction too, though he promptly ignored it and returned to shaking people’s hands.

    I was a bit preoccupied by watching them, so I mindlessly shook hands and said words of congratulations. Then they started taking pictures. Tsk, since when did I or Masaya say that was fine?

    “Enjou-sama, may I take a picture with you?” A girl came up to me. I was about to reject her when I noticed Iinchou following behind with his own camera, and a blush splattered across his face. Ah, wait, this is... “Honda-san, right? Thank you for taking care of me two years ago.”

    “My, its was my pleasure. Thank you for being such a cooperative classmate, Enjou-sama.”

    I looked at Iinchou and said, “Iinchou-san, why don’t you take a picture with us as well?”

    He stumbled for a bit and blushed madly, but in the end, due to my prompting and Honda’s encouragements, we took a picture. Honda was elated while Iinchou seemed to be buzzing from euphoria of taking a picture with his crush. Such a maiden. That reminds me, Yurie said she would be going to Masaya’s house to celebrate his graduation, wasn’t she?

    I finally managed to escape the crowd almost an hour later. There were still many students who were staying behind and taking pictures, so I went and grabbed my camera from my attendant and returned. I took a few photos with a couple of people, and Masaya and I ended up bumping into some seniors we had gotten along with, so we took pictures with them as well.

    I scanned over the crowd and quietly approached the exit of the school. I was watching for a bit when I saw the Kisshouin family car fade into the distance.

    I sighed and decided to return to the ceremony hall, when I heard a voice call out to me from behind.

    “Shuu! Congratulations on graduating!”

    “Ah... Yuiko-san. Thank you for coming.” I smiled tightly as she approached. Her hair was done in a side braid as she wore a simple white dress. With a gentle smile, she handed over a bouquet of flowers. I glanced them over and noticed they were anemones and stephanotises.

    I glanced back up at her and smiled, “Thank you.”

    She smiled sweetly in response, “No problem. I’ll send you home today, okay.”

    With those words, she brought me back home. She wasn’t able to stay for dinner since she had a previous arrangement planned, but she promised to join the celebratory party my parents would host tomorrow.

    I looked at the bouquet of flowers and threw them onto my desk as I groaned heavily. Anemones and stephanotises? Does she really believe we’re already engaged?

    I sighed and massaged my forehead.

    While I was contemplating what to do with the bouquet Yuiko gave me, my phone dinged as I received a message.

    It was from Iinchou. He had sent me a photo of Reika, who was happily posing for the camera while holding up bouquets of flowers with a genuinely cheerful smile on her face.

    At the bottom of the text, he had typed, “Thanks for the picture with Miharu-san!”

    I glanced at the photo for a while and saved it to my phone.

    Mhm~ it seems my curse fortune had been lifted for today. Good karma really does exist!


    —————






    (Author’s note: The meanings of anemones and stephanotises are ‘expectation’ and ‘marital happiness’ respectively. By gifting those to Enjou, she’s basically saying “I expect a blissful marriage with you.” Its why Enjou got irritable in the end.

    Also this is the longest chapter I’ve posted (it came up to over three thousand words, not including this author’s note) and the finale of the middle school arc. Next up is the High School arc!)

    Thank you for reading!
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2017
  10. aceclover95

    aceclover95 『Starry Night Translator』『Ruler of Sloth』

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    Lol what Enjou said seems to me like a father who was disappointed with his son 'I changed your diaper when you were just a baby, and this is how you repay me?' Which is fitting, I guess, since he is the (fake) father of Kaburagi.

    Aw, he avenged her indirectly. How cute.

    Jealousy is not attractive, you know. Oh I can't wait for when Tomoe-senpai get into the picture.

    I always wondering, why do Katsuragi and Enjou kinda close with each other?

    You know, for anemone flowers, aside from the 'expecting' meaning, I found out that it also means 'bad luck / ill omen' and 'the loss of loved ones to someone else' which I think is fitting, coming from Yuiko lol. She's a bad luck and she's going to lose Enjou to Reika :D

    Aw, he seems so happy to get Reika's picture! Cute!

    Thanks for the chapter! You work so hard these days!
     
  11. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    He has an ungrateful son. I feel pity for him.

    Im still trying to balance out how much ‘informants’ Enjou is building up. He keeps recruiting people at a fast-paced, its scary... though I doubt he’d be ableto get much on Tomoe, or care much since his current target of jealousy is Fellow Stalking Horse.

    Idk. When I read the novel it says that they knew each other when they were kids, and Katsuragi is somehow related to Yuiko (either as a friend or relative). Plus, in the novel, Enjou calls Katsuragi by name in the HS arc, but at the Elementary or MS arc he called him by his last name. So how close they are is an iffy... but I assume that they are close enough that Enjou may try to help him if he causes trouble (if only to save face)

    I didn’t know that. I was totally focused on finding meanings that could piss off Enjou on their possible engagement. Though Enjou may possibly also take it that the one who will lose someone to someone else is himself (either Reika to Mizusaki or someone else). He’ll be steaming with jealousy for reading too much into it.

    Now he must make sure no one ever finds that picture or else they’ll think he’s a major stalker...

    Thanks!
     
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  12. cray0909

    cray0909 Well-Known Member

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    and then Masaya saw the picture... fufufu

    Enjou in all self-righteousness, "It's perfectly normal for a husband to have a picture of his wife."
     
  13. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    That... that is flipping perfect. I must definitely find a place to add that scene, just to see these two stalkers argue about who is the more stalker-like between

    Masaya; since when did you two even start dating for you to call her your wife?!
    Enjou: since the Yurie Incident you caused. Thank you for that, by the way.
    Masaya: ... you really are a creep!
    Enjou: as if you can talk! You basically stalk Yurie and cling to her everyday!
    Masaya: well at least we are friends! I dont see you being friends with Kisshouin!
    Enjou: take that back!
    Masaya: never!
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2017
  14. Codenamezero00000

    Codenamezero00000 Well-Known Member

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    Enjou should have had the last laugh as he could have said "at least I have a chance with Kisshouin with us being the same age!"
     
  15. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    Thats... thats so savage omg.
    Although Im pretty sure Masaya knows Reika doesnt like them, so he’d be like
    Masaya: hmph! Yurie at least likes me, while Kisshouin rather run then spend time with you!
     
  16. Codenamezero00000

    Codenamezero00000 Well-Known Member

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    Enjou: yeah like you as a little brother who never has a chance in the first place. At least I got time to woo her and besides for Kisshouin tell me who do you think I am?:cool:
     
  17. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    I’ll be honest, I think you just obliterated Masaya. There is no way he can survive Enjou’s war of words or that attack to his dreams and ego. I bow to you, o powerful obliterator of Kaburagi. XD
    Actually, this makes me wonder if these two DO know how bad their reputations are in Reika’s eyes..
     
  18. Codenamezero00000

    Codenamezero00000 Well-Known Member

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    Thank you XD
    That depends on how far you are in the story. I'm actually way ahead and trust me the more Kisshouin interact with Kaburagi the lower her opinion goes down. Not in a bad way of course but how dumb/stupid he is in terms of love. In fact enjou and Kisshouin interactions already seem to be mom and dad with their stupid son so I'll give you props for that. I would like to make my own FanFiction of this during a couple of parts I read but if I do there will be spoilers so I can't.
     
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  19. Red Bean

    Red Bean Tired Bun Lord

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    Oh, do you mean fanfiction.net, or do you have another source? *.*
    And ah, I am already really familiar with how silly Masaya becomes the longer the story goes on. In fact, my reasoning for making Enjou pretend they’re a family is how much suffering he and Reika have to go through to take care of Masaya.
    Please please pleaaaaseee do your fanfiction pretty please~~~~!!!!! I wanna read! Please?!
     
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  20. Codenamezero00000

    Codenamezero00000 Well-Known Member

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    lol okay give me some time then.
     
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