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This is my Christmas present to you, and Iâd be really glad if you gifted me back with a review on novelupdates! Incidentally, Reika graduates from primary school reallllly soon. Weâre almost there, guys! Remember that Japanese kids graduate in spring!
As autumn deepened, we began choosing photos for our graduation album. Iâm not a member of the graduation committee, but I decided to cooperate as proactively with them as possible. I think it should be alright, but on the off chance that somebody entered a picture of my shame during the Deer Assault Incident, itâd become the shame of my life. At the moment there arenât any weird photos of me, but you can never be too careful.
The photos in the album are being chosen from those taken by Suiranâs exclusive cameraman as well as photos that the students want in them. Well, itâs something I knew would happen, but the photos are kinda biased towards certain students, huhh~ The ones contributed by the students were almost all Kaburagi and Enjou photos, and mostly ones with the contributors in it. Stuff theyâd want to remember I guess. If we accepted all of these, it would end up as a Kaburagi-Enjou album, so we rejected most of them. There are lots of photos of the more salient students, and the more docile and plain students are getting overlooked, so theyâre checking the photos carefully. If after we graduated and some kid said âIâm⌠not in a single photoâŚâ or something, theyâd really feel hurt after all. Their happy parents would be sad too. And weâre carefully comparing the photos and student roster.
âIt really helps that youâre assisting us, Reika-sama.â
The one who said that with a smile was Honda Miharu-chan from my class. Weâre in different groups, but sheâs a serious and diligent girl, and was the vice rep from last year.
âBesides the class and group photos, it takes a lot of work to check the student-contributed photos, after all.â
âYeah. I almost missed one.â
The docile kids donât submit their own photos, and sometimes there isnât even a single photo of them. In those cases, members of the album committee go take photos of âschool lunchâ or the like. And if possible, take photos where the kid isnât by himself, but instead having fun with their friends. The teacher in charge of the album is checking it together with us, so it should be fine though. While Iâm at it, Iâm trying my best to select the cuter ones. Iâm helping out, so just this much bias is okay, right?
âThis is a photo of the Petite Pivoine isnât it.â
The photo being held out to me was from the other day, when our cameraman came to the salon. Each year the Pivoine has its own special group photo. We are technically the face of the school, after all. In the centre of the photo was Emperor on the couch with Enjou next to him, with the other members surrounding them. On each side of the photo was a red peony, the namesake of the group. But the problem was that I was sitting next to Emperor. Even though there were heaps of other girls who wanted that spot, why me? But everybody else was like, âPlease, go ahead Reika-samaâ and recommended it to me without listening, so I couldnât refuse. If I made it too obvious I didnât want to, Emperor would probably get upset after all. âAt the very least, next to Enjou thenâŚâ I thought, but Enjou refused me with his smile. âŚSo mean. Thanks to that, I got warned a bunch of times by the cameraman for having a stiff smile, and the guy next to me started clicking his tongue, and I had a horrible time of it. This photo had that kind of backstory.
âSo this is the Pivoineâs salon. How wonderful. Itâs like a dreamâŚâ
So said the album committee members as they looked at the photo in a daze. Mn, itâs a needlessly luxurious room, isnât it. The âbearing of a rulerâ peonies just make it even more luxurious. Because even in this Suiran Academy that feels all rich already, the Pivoine is just in a different class. After all, the normal students arenât allowed in. Even though the truth is that all we do is drink tea, eat sweets, and laze around. Mn? Could that just be me?
âMore importantly, let us hurry and decide on the photos.â
Because they seemed to be forgetting why we were here, I called out to them and we started working again. Oh! Itâs a picture of Akizawa-kun in the baton relay. I wonder if Fukioka-san has this. If I tell her about it, sheâd probably tell me to bring it to her. Naturally, the photo of Kaburagi in the cavalry battle is definitely going in. Rather, if we didnât, weâd definitely meet some massive booing. In this yearâs cavalry battle, Kaburagiâs unit was unchallenged again. Apparently they practised in secret. Even though he always acts so cool and uncaring, he actually hates losing. After showing unrivalled strength two years in a row, Emperor began a legend. Upfftpfft.
It was hard picking from the huge number of photos, but there were photos with unexpected sides of kids that I didnât often talk to, so it was pretty interesting too. The photos go back as far as Year 1, so there are some kids who look completely different now too. Six years for children changes them a shocking amount, doesnât it. Since Year 1, Iâve always been a fake Rococo. I seriously want an image change alreadyâŚ
*imouto*
*imouto*
For a while now, my eyes have been meeting with Class Pres a lot. He keeps looking my way, and when I return the gaze, he immediately averts his eyes. I tried asking if he needed anything a few times, but he would always turn red and avoid a proper answer. Even at lunch just now, our eyes met. I wonder whatâs up.
âReika-sama, is something the matter?â
Honda-san from the photo committee called out to me.
âNo, it is nothing.â
I gave a smile as I replied. Well, maybe itâs just my imagination.
ââŚI never expected the day to come that Iâd be able to talk to you like this, Reika-sama, so Iâm kind of happy.â
Honda-san said that with a shy smile. Wah, so cute! Honda-san is a diligent-type that youâd expect to be a class rep, so sheâs kind of different from the types in my group. Because of that we havenât spoken much outside of passing on messages. But this girl gives off the same cuteness as Aoi-chan. Sheâs definitely a good girl, Iâm sure. I wanna be friends.
âI am also glad that we became friends, Miharu-san.â
Because of my success during the school trip, Iâve taken a liking to this high-pressure salesman style of getting friends. Itâs better to speak first for things like this. Although in secret your heart kinda thumps as you wonder what youâre gunna do if they say âHuh? I never thought we were friends. So pushy.â.
âEh-, friends!? Ah-m, Iâm happy too.â
Uhuhu, another friend GET.
*imouto*
With graduation approaching, as is customary, signature books began to pop up. Speaking of which, I had one too didnât I, a signature book. How nostalgic. Back when I was lazy in my old life, at first I was happy to sign things, but along the way I started to get annoyed, and stopped caring what I wrote. And also, you donât do it often, so itâs surprisingly hard to write a short message, isnât it? You only get as many variations as New Yearâs cards, and there really isnât much to say. You try and write stylish and mature things, different from everybody else, and so it ends up as more dark history. Thatâs why signature books are actually really dangerous. I was the same in the beginning. Each time I remember the stuff I wrote, it makes me want to bang my head on a desk. Itâs just that embarrassing. Even weird poems and stuff⌠Aahh-! If only I had psychic powers and could burn those books right now!
Anyway, some people came around asking for me to sign their books too. Even though pretty much everybody here at Suiran just moves onto the middle school section, why bother with these signature books? Or so I thought, but then I considered that it would be sadder if nobody asked for mine, so bothersome as it was, I accepted with a smile. I just used a beautiful seal and signed in coloured pen to get out of actually writing anything.
âReika-sama, could I have you write something in my signature book?â
Honda Miharu-chan came asking as well. Weâre friends so of course I accepted, and I had her sign in mine too. Incidentally, my signature book was prepared by Okaasama, and was apparently made by some royal purveyor of stationery in Europe. Just a cheap one with cute pictures would be enough, you knowâŚ
Apparently a long queue formed to get the signatures of the famous two. The girls in my class were really pumped to get them too. Ever since Kaburagi got told off by Yurie-sama, heâs gotten a little more cooperative in the past, and although he had an annoyed look on his face, he did sign them properly. Just his name though. Seriously, just a signature. Apparently some kids even said stuff like âPlease address it to _____!â. Are they movie stars or something? Some of the girls showed me their books, but it was seriously just âKaburagi Masayaâ in the middle of the page. Incidentally, he did write their names. As youâd expect, his penmanship was fantastic. As for Enjouâs, besides their names he also wrote âcongratulations on your graduationâ on each one. Well, theyâre both pretty bad. To a person like me whoâs struggling to come up with original messages, I kind of envy their boldness.
*imouto*
*imouto*
Anyway, while thinking about all these things, after school I was walking down a hallway by myself as I was heading to the salon. That was when a nervous looking Class Rep called out to me.