Chapter 8: Yukina Ojou-sama’s Secret (1) ★ Yukina’s Side

“Ghh—! What the hell is with that transfer student?!”

From inside a patch of bushes a short distance away from the shed, a girl in a sailor uniform stood there with binoculars in hand, her anger completely on display.

“My—my Makoto-sama letting some random nobody… k-kiss him! And even showing him skin…!”

Needless to say, it was Kanou Yukina.

“Yukina-sama, if you raise your voice like that, they’ll notice us.”

“They are childhood friends, after all… so something like this was bound to happen…”

Of course, the usual two were right there beside her.

“Separated for years, then reunited. All those pent-up feelings overflowing… that’s pretty romantic, don’t you think? ♪”

“It is not romantic! My—my Makoto-sama… that dignified, beautiful Makoto-sama… making such a… girly face!”

“That’s exactly what a girl in love looks like~. Makoto-kun really is a girl, huh.”

“Whose side are you two even on?!”

Yukina shot an irritated glare at the pair, who kept talking past her without missing a beat.

“Obviously yours, Yukina-sama.”

The one who answered was the bob-cut girl—Sonoda Miyuki, Yukina’s classmate.

“Sorry, Ojou, but I’m neutral~. Romance is gonna go however it goes… you can’t really control that stuff.”

The one who said that was the ponytailed girl, Murase Kyoko. She was in the same year as Yukina, though in a different class.

“Besides, Ojou-sama, if Makoto-kun finds out you’re spying on him like some creep, won’t he end up hating you?”

“Spying—how rude. I am merely keeping watch to make sure no filthy insects latch onto Makoto-sama!”

“That’s basically the same thing…”

The three of them were technically childhood friends, but that one word didn’t come close to explaining their relationship.

Miyuki and Kyoko’s fathers were executives at the company Yukina’s father ran. Since they were the same age and ended up attending the same school, the two of them had naturally fallen into the role of keeping an eye on the president’s daughter.

They had known each other since they were little simply because they were born the same year, but the three of them didn’t actually start moving around together all the time until high school.

Miyuki treated Yukina carefully, making sure never to be disrespectful to the company president’s daughter. Kyoko, on the other hand, wore the constant expression of someone who’d been saddled with a pain-in-the-ass job. Day after day, the two of them were dragged around by Yukina’s whims.

“I kinda get how you feel, Ojou… but let’s be real. It’s obvious Makoto-kun’s the one who’s totally fallen for him.”

“Yeah, I think so too. Wow, we actually agree for once.”

“Makoto-sama… my Makoto-samaaa—!”

“If you’re a fan, you’re supposed to support your idol’s happiness, you know?”

“Yeah, but that’s not how fan psychology works, is it?”

While Yukina burned with jealousy all by herself, the other two stayed completely at their own pace.

“I’ve decided!”

Once Takuya and Makoto disappeared from view, Yukina sprang up from the bushes as if she’d finally made up her mind.

“What are you planning to do, Yukina-sama?”

“Ahh… I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”

“It’s obvious. It might be a little forceful, but I’m going to throw my feelings straight at Makoto-sama!”

With Yukina declaring it so firmly, Miyuki and Kyoko could only exchange troubled looks.

Chapter 9: Yukina Ojou-sama’s Secret (2)

Unaware that the three loudmouthed senpai were plotting something, we spent the next day like any other.

“Ahh… what should I do for dinner tonight…”

After the last class of the day ended, Makoto stretched and said that.

“What’s up?”

“Ah, my parents aren’t home tonight. Making food for just one person is a pain in the ass…”

“You can cook?”

“More or less. Still learning, though. It’s hard to get the portions right when it’s just for one person… Taku, you wanna eat together?”

“Makoto’s home cooking, huh… can’t say I’m not curious… but wouldn’t it be faster if you just came over to my place?”

“Yeah, guess you’re right. That’d be easier for me too… I don’t mind cooking, it’s the cleanup that’s a drag…”

“Then let’s do that. I’ll tell Grandma when we get back.”

“Yeah, thanks. I like your grandma’s cooking.”

“Got it.”

Chatting like that, we stepped out of the classroom—only to find the two girls who always attended Kanou-senpai waiting for us.

“Minowa-kun, do you have a moment?”

“Kanou-senpai’s not with you today?”

I ended up speaking to the ponytailed girl who called out to me.

The image of those three always moving as a set was just that strong in my head.

“Not today.”

“Yukina-sama asked us to bring Makoto-sama to her.”

“Sorry, but could you come with us for a bit?”

Makoto shot me a look like he was asking for help.

“…Well, if it’s just to talk, it should be fine, right?”

“I guess… but…”

“I’ll wait here.”

“Alright. I’ll be right back. Wait for me.”

“Got it.”

With that, Makoto walked off, led by the bob-cut senpai.

For some reason, the ponytailed senpai stayed behind, staring at me.

“Aren’t you going?”

“Hmm… I’m fine.”

“You use ‘boku,’ Senpai?”

“Is that weird?”

“No, not at all. It suits you.”

Until now, she’d felt like some kind of optional attachment to Kanou-senpai, so this was the first time I’d actually talked to her properly.

“Was it really okay to let him go?”

“They’re just talking, right?”

“…Who knows?”

“Wait, don’t tell me Kanou-senpai’s going to confess to Makoto?”

“Well… it’s close to that.”

“Ahh, figures. So she’s into that, huh…”

“You can tell?”

“Of course I can. With how obvious she’s been acting.”

“…Yeah. Aren’t you worried? About… Makoto-kun.”

“Not like he’s going to get eaten or anything, right?”

I said it jokingly, but the ponytailed senpai suddenly looked away.

Ah. She’s the type who can’t lie.

“Wait… seriously?”

“I don’t know how far Ojou intends to go, but…”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have let him go.”

“Ojou’s the type who gets fixated once she decides something.”

“Where did they take him?”

“The old calligraphy room behind the school building…”

“You’re telling me that pretty easily.”

“Maybe. What happens next is up to you.”

Chapter 10: Yukina Ojou-sama’s Secret (3) Makoto’s Side

I followed Sonoda-senpai to the old calligraphy room behind the school building.

The old calligraphy room stood in a detached structure, and it was supposed to be an unused, empty classroom now.

In front of it, like gatekeepers, two male students were standing watch.

They were the same pair who always trailed behind Kanou-senpai.

The two of them stood there wearing slightly troubled, almost apologetic expressions.

I could pretty much guess this had something to do with Kanou-senpai’s family business.

“Yukina-sama, I have brought Makoto-sama.”

When Sonoda-senpai said that in front of the entrance, one of the boys slid the door open.

“Please, Makoto-sama.”

Urged on by Sonoda-senpai, I reluctantly stepped inside the calligraphy room.

I took off my shoes at the dirt-floored entryway and stepped up onto the tatami. The sound of the sliding door closing came from behind me.

“Welcome, Makoto-sama.”

Kanou-senpai was sitting formally in seiza on a zabuton placed in the dim center of the room.

“I apologize for summoning you like this.”

Like a proper young lady, she bowed with her fingertips placed neatly on the floor.

“…Kanou-senpai. What do you want? I’ve got someone waiting for me.”

The moment I said that, her brow twitched sharply.

“Is that about that man?”

“That man” obviously meant Taku.

“Yes, it is…”

“Honestly, that man… what exactly is he? To lay hands on my Makoto-sama…”

She started muttering under her breath.

“…So? What did you call me here for?”

It felt like this was going nowhere, so I pushed the conversation forward myself.

“…Makoto-sama. Do you remember the first time we met?”

Kanou-senpai looked straight at me with a serious gaze.

The first time I met Kanou-senpai…

It had been the summer of my third year in middle school.

Some friends invited me to the beach to go swimming. If I remember right, she had been there with Sonoda-senpai and Murase-senpai.

At a summer beach, it was normal for guys to be prowling around just to hit on girls, and the three of them had been getting hassled by some persistent idiots.

I think it started because I couldn’t stand how pushy those guys were, so I stepped in and warned them.

Those guys probably weren’t from this town.

If they were, there’s no way they wouldn’t have known who Kanou-senpai was. And if they knew, they wouldn’t have tried something like that.

Maybe they assumed I was with the senpai and backed off pretty quickly.

But Kanou-senpai apparently saw it differently.

It seemed I’d made an impression on her like some hero showing up to save the day.

Back then, that was all it was.

But after we met again in high school, she started clinging to me.

And that was how things ended up like this.

“That day, I felt fate. I knew Makoto-sama was my destined person!”

“Haaah… Senpai, I’m a girl though.”

“That does not matter! No—precisely because of that, it is perfect!”

“…What?”

“I believe that someday, at my father’s recommendation, I will have an arranged marriage. I understand that is unavoidable.”

“Uh… right…”

“I am prepared to be forced into a marriage without love. I was born into such a family, after all. Therefore, I believe it would be acceptable to take a lover besides my husband.”

“I… see…”

“However, having a male lover would be problematic. If by some misfortune I were to become pregnant with that man’s child, it would be a serious issue.”

I don’t even want to understand what she’s saying.

“Makoto-sama, you are my ideal! Gallant, strong, and yet not a man…”

Strong? I’d never even let her see me in a fight or anything.

“I get what you’re trying to say, but… sorry. I’m not really into women. And besides…”

“As I thought. It is that man, isn’t it?”

No matter how I answered, it probably wouldn’t matter in this mood.

Still, this was something I needed to say clearly.

If it had come to this, I might as well say it outright.

“Yes. I like him.”

“What is so good about such a weak-looking man? It is not as though he is particularly handsome. He is merely your childhood friend, is he not?”

“That’s true… He’s not some heartthrob or anything… and yeah, we’ve been stuck together forever…”

“That is a waste. He is unworthy of Makoto-sama!”

When girls get like this, trying to argue things out logically is pointless… The moment that thought crossed my mind, exhaustion hit me all at once.

“That’s perfectly fine. When I’m with him, I’m the most natural version of myself… I get to just be me.”

Having said everything I needed to say, I moved to leave the room.

“I will not give up! I shall teach you, Makoto-sama, just how wonderful being with another woman can be!”

Kanō-senpai suddenly stood up and started stripping off her uniform.

“W–wait… Senpai?”

I grabbed her hand in a panic to stop her, but she struggled so hard that I got dragged down with her and we both toppled over.

“Ow…”

When we fell, I instinctively shielded her, which left me flat on my back with her practically cradled in my arms.

That was a mistake.

Kanō-senpai, her sailor uniform half-open, ended up straddling me.

“Makoto-sama…”

She leaned in close, lips pushed forward.

She’s going to kiss me! The instant that thought flashed through my head, I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Makoto, what the hell are you doing?”

A familiar voice came from beyond the senpai hovering over me.

I opened my eyes and saw his face peering down past her shoulder.

Taku.

And beside him stood Murase-senpai, holding his head like he’d just walked into something unbelievably stupid.

“You two!”

Startled by the sudden intrusion, Kanō-senpai hurriedly covered her chest.

“Yo. You’re done talking, right? Let’s go home.”

Taku said that and reached a hand down to me.

I took it and got back on my feet.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing, barging in and ruining our rendezvous?!”

Kanō-senpai snapped at Taku.

“Rendezvous? You just lost your balance and fell over, didn’t you?”

“And what were you two doing out there?! How could you allow a man like this to just walk in?!”

She turned and unleashed her fury at the two male students who had been standing guard outside.

Well, I guess they were supposed to be her bodyguards or something.

“The two of you together and you still can’t handle some pretty-boy like him?!”

“Ojou, please calm down…”

Murase-senpai stepped in to soothe Kanō-senpai.

The two guys she’d yelled at were shaking their heads violently, like they were saying, No way in hell.

Honestly, that made sense.

Here’s the backstory.

Those two upperclassmen? They’d once picked a fight with us a long time ago.

It was back when I’d just started third grade.

Even then, they were big for their age—classic bully types—using their size to push around younger kids.

I couldn’t stand their attitude.

So Taku and I teamed up and challenged them head-on.

We beat the crap out of them.

There were five of them total, including their little lackeys.

Just me and Taku on our side.

In a normal, brute-force kids’ brawl, that numbers gap should’ve screwed us.

But it was a complete blowout.

The reason was simple.

They were just five idiots swinging with raw strength.

Taku and I had been trained in classical martial arts by my grandfather since we were little.

We weren’t fighting the same way.

We crushed the difference in size and numbers, and after that, they never dared to challenge us again.

Especially not Taku.

Unlike me—who mostly dealt with the small fry—Taku had taken the two leaders head-on.

There was no way those two would ever stand against him again.

Among kids our age in this town, Taku and I had a reputation.

The only reason Kanō-senpai didn’t know was because she and the others moved here during middle school when the town was redeveloped.

“I–is that really true…?”

When I finished explaining all of that to her, the two guys started nodding hard in agreement.

“Then we’re done here. Makoto, let’s go…”

Urged on by Taku, we left the old calligraphy room behind.

Chapter 11: Yukina Ojou-sama’s Secret (4) Yukina SIDE

“Makoto-sama~~”

Watching the two of them walk away, Yukina let out a pathetic little whine. Kyouko spoke up beside her.

“He’s pretty cool, isn’t he? I think he suits Makoto-kun perfectly.”

“Which part of him?”

“I think the Makoto-kun we see now exists because he was there.”

“And rushing over when Makoto-sama was in trouble? That’s kind of prince-like, don’t you think? ♪”

“You’re the one who told him where this place was, Kyouko!”

“Yes. I told him. Whether he came or not was up to him, though.”

“Traitor…”

“I always say I’m neutral, don’t I?”

“Two people who stay connected even after being apart for so long finally getting together? That’s wonderful~ ♪ It’s romance~ ♪”

“If it comes to this, I’ll ask Grandfather to—”

“Ojou, if you do that, you’ll just get scolded instead.”

“That’s right~ and Uncle is old-fashioned too…”

“Exactly. ‘Don’t let yakuza cause trouble for civilians!’—you’ll get yelled at, you know?”

Yukina’s family ran the company that oversaw the redevelopment project in this town.

That much was true.

But that company was what people would call the public face of a widely designated organization. When they established a local branch here for the redevelopment, Yukina and her family moved in, and that was how things had remained.

Her family’s group clung stubbornly to an old-school code: never harm ordinary people.

Because of that, they were somehow tolerated.

Even so, the town treated them like something fragile—like something you handle carefully, without getting too close.

Those circumstances were part of why Yukina and the others were so out of touch with the town’s human relationships.

And that had been one of the causes behind this whole mess.

“But I waaaant Makoto-sama~~”

The two attendants could do nothing but let out deep sighs.

＜Makoto SIDE＞

“Huh? So that’s what it was?”

I explained to Taku that Kanou-senpai’s family was, basically, yakuza.

“Wait… does that mean I picked a fight with someone I really shouldn’t have?”

He actually looked rattled.

“I think it’s fine… In the end, it was basically just a kids’ fight…”

“But still, having that senpai keep hanging around from now on is a pain…”

“You think so? I’m the one with the bigger headache.”

“…Well, you’re the one directly involved.”

Like it’s none of his business… this guy…

“We’re in this together, partner.”

“So that’s how it is…”

“That’s how it is. Obviously.”

“How the hell are we supposed to make her give up?”

“…We could make it a done deal.”

I leaned in close and whispered into Taku’s ear while he let out an exhausted sigh.

“My parents aren’t home today…”

“…You mean—”

“Let’s pick up where we left off the other day.”

I said that and grabbed Taku’s hand.