Chapter 171: And Off to Kyoto
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 171: And Off to Kyoto
"What? The President is engaged?"
My eyes widened in shock at the news from the Vice President.
"Yes. Her fiancé is Fujiwara Sai, the second son of the Fujiwara family—who are also of noble descent—and the man hailed as the next successor to the Fujiwara Group."
The Fujiwara Group.
I'd heard of them.
One of the top three heavy industry conglomerates in Japan.
He was a far more suitable partner for the President than a commoner like me.
"The young lady was not pleased with the meeting, but surprisingly, he took a liking to her. That's how the talk of engagement came about."
I listened quietly before asking about something that puzzled me.
"But is it normal for an engagement to be arranged so suddenly?"
The Vice President shook his head.
"Of course not. This is a rather special case. You could say he's staking his claim before someone else can snatch her away."
He must have been quite taken with her.
"..."
I hesitated for a moment before asking.
"Why are you telling me this?"
His expression hardened.
"Don't tell me you're asking because you don't know."
"To be honest, I thought you were someone who hated the idea of me and the President getting involved."
He'd always disapproved of the favor the President showed me.
But contrary to my expectations, the Vice President's veins bulged in his neck as he roared.
"You fool!"
"Ugh."
I instinctively flinched at his voice, which boomed through the small room.
Ignoring my reaction, the Vice President grabbed me by the collar and growled.
"It's true that I personally dislike you. I hated seeing the young lady, whom I've served with all my heart since she was a child, suffer because she fell for a blockhead like you. But that's that, and this is this. I will do anything for the young lady's happiness. Even if it goes against my own will."
It was a look I'd never seen before.
The kind of eyes only a person willing to risk their life for someone else could have.
I realized just how much the Vice President cared for the President.
No, thinking back, it had always been this way.
His eyes were always following the President's shadow.
I closed my eyes, then opened them and asked.
"Are you telling me to stop the President's engagement ceremony?"
The Vice President replied shamelessly.
"I never said that."
"That's exactly what you're saying."
It seemed like he was trying to get someone else to do what he couldn't because of his position. Honestly, it felt pretty selfish.
Anyway,
"The President doesn't know about this, does she?"
The Vice President pushed up his glasses and answered.
"Correct. This is all my own doing. She would never have imagined I'd go this far."
"You're a real blockhead."
"...That's not something you should be saying."
"I'm still considered a model student at school."
The constant incidents and accidents around me are all because of events from the original story.
"Anyway, you're the only one I can trust right now. I can't stop the young lady's engagement on my own."
"Alright, just share the information first. I need to know what's going on if I'm going to stop it."
"...Right. Thank you."
Why is this guy acting so weird?
The Vice President, saying things he normally never would, sat down at the computer and opened a file.
"This is a map of the location where the young lady's engagement ceremony will be held in two weeks."
Sitting behind him in the cramped space, I peered over his shoulder at the screen and began to listen to his detailed explanation.
*
A school trip.
For a student, the very words are enough to make your heart flutter.
Probably because we're usually confined to the small space of our school, we dream of a brief escape.
What's more, once you become a third-year, the atmosphere becomes all about studying for entrance exams, with no time for fun. So, many students wanted to have all the fun they could in the time they had left.
In a way, for Japanese high school students, isn't the second semester of second year the most brilliant period of their youth?
"Ryu-chan!"
"Hey, Rika."
The day of the school trip.
Just like when we went to the forest school, we gathered in front of the school grounds.
Of course, this time we were only gathered for a headcount and to make the long-distance travel easier.
After all, we couldn't take a bus all the way from Tokyo to Kyoto.
"Is everyone here!"
""Yes~""
At the shout of Matsuda, our homeroom teacher and the head of our grade level, all the second-year students gathered on the field answered in unison.
"I know you're all excited for the school trip, but I hope everyone comes back safe and sound after these four days and three nights! If anything happens, check the emergency contact list and call any of the teachers!"
After emphasizing safety just like last time, Matsuda instructed us to board the tour buses.
The plan was to take the bus from school to the train station together, then take the Shinkansen to Kyoto.
As she boarded the bus with everyone else, Rika said cheerfully.
"The school trip is going to be fun, right?"
"Yeah. I'm looking forward to it."
Sasha, who was getting on behind us, commented.
"That Karen girl is in a different class again. She's probably moping about having to hang out by herself."
Rika scratched her cheek with a vague expression.
"Ahaha..."
Honestly, I don't think there's anything to be done about being in different classes.
In the original story, wasn't Karen's low popularity ranking because of her ambiguous role, just like now?
In a harem rom-com, it's inevitable that at least one heroine fades into the background.
"By the way, Rika, who's in your group?"
"Oh, me, the class president, Sasha-chan, and..."
"Hi! Hi!"
The one who suddenly cut in and linked arms with Rika and Sasha was Hattori, the recent transfer student.
"Ayame is here."
"Hehe~ I'll be in your care for the next four days and three nights, okay?"
Like a typical social butterfly, Ayame looked back and forth between the two of them and spoke in a friendly tone.
Anyone watching would think they'd been friends for ten years.
Rika looked a little troubled, but she didn't seem to mind Ayame clinging to her.
It was probably because Rika also has a personality that enjoys making friends.
I watched the three of them with a warm smile, then quickly sat down when I heard Mr. Matsuda's voice telling us to take our seats because we were about to leave.
Since I'm so big, my usual spot was at the very back of the bus.
Satoru, who was in my group, sat next to me and muttered.
"Sitting there like that, you kind of look like the final boss from a school violence story..."
"You want a beating?"
This guy has a rare talent for asking for a beating.
*
After about a twenty-minute bus ride, we arrived at the station closest to our school and waited for the Shinkansen.
This was actually my second time riding the Shinkansen.
Since possessing this body, I hadn't had much reason to travel far.
I'd ridden the Mugunghwa-ho and KTX, of course, but the Shinkansen felt a little different.
Maybe because it was an early morning departure, the station was crowded with people waiting for the Shinkansen.
The one saving grace was that our train car was almost exclusively for our school's students, so it was practically chartered.
Being able to chat freely without worrying about other passengers was a huge plus.
The trip from Tokyo to Kyoto takes quite a while, and it would have been incredibly stressful to have to whisper the whole time just to be considerate of others.
"Everyone~ Please line up in an orderly fashion~! You must remember that outside of school, you are the face of our school~!"
Meanwhile, Ms. Mizuki, our class's assistant homeroom teacher, was breaking a sweat trying to manage the unruly students.
Well, good luck with that.
I muttered to myself and checked the messenger on my smartphone.
9:27 AM.
The train to Kyoto would be arriving at the platform soon.
The roughly three minutes remaining was too short to go to the bathroom, but there was definitely something I could do with this spare time.
And that was choosing an ekiben.
'...What kind of bento should I get today.'
Having been awakened to the world of ekiben by the one I ate with Meiling on our way to Mount Fuji during summer vacation, I spent a long time pondering the perfect bento to satisfy my hungry stomach.
*
"I've come to see you again, Ms. Saionji."
"...You are quite a persistent person."
"I, Fujiwara Sai, am a man who doesn't know how to give up."
Kumiko stared at the gray-haired nobleman, who puffed out his chest in confidence, with a look of pity. She then let out a small sigh and asked.
"I still can't read your intentions. That's why I can't understand. Why did you agree to this engagement with me? There must be countless women in the world better than I am."
"I believe you're mistaken. The standard for a 'good woman' differs from person to person. And by my standards, I have yet to meet a woman better than you, Ms. Saionji."
"...You're shameless."
"We'll be fiancés in two days. Why not open your heart a little, Ms. Saionji?"
But Kumiko did not answer his question.
Silence was the greatest resistance she could offer.
Fujiwara Sai, who had been watching Kumiko's stubbornness with a beaming smile as if he found even that endearing, finally turned his back.
"Then I shall see you next at the engagement ceremony."
Clank!
After he closed the door to the chairman's office and left, Kumiko clutched the hem of her skirt tightly and muttered to herself.
'I'm sorry, Yoo-Sung-kun.'