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“DON’T you think you’re pushing just a bit too hard?” Lady Chouko asked, gently comforting me after my shameful outburst.
“You’re probably right. Also...”
“Also?”
“This is a bit embarrassing, but this is the first time I’ve ever made a good friend. ...Perhaps I was too pushy.”
I was happy to have something to teach my friend, and so I forced my lessons on her without considering her feelings.
I had been arrogant and suddenly felt very guilty about how I treated Aritomo. As I stewed in my own self-loathing, Lady Chouko stroked my hair.
“But, Urara, I thought I was your first real friend,” she said, a bit sullen.
“Pardon...?”
“I asked to be your friend before she did... This is so not fair.”
“No, wait...”
I mean, she was right. She had asked to be my friend first, and I had said yes. Somehow we ended up in this competition, encouraging each other on even as we were on opposite sides. As time went on, we got closer.
I would be too embarrassed to be so honest with her about the uglier parts of me and be comforted in return if we weren’t real friends.
Even so, something didn’t feel right about calling her just a friend. I gazed up at her, still mired in my own gloom, and realized that today, her long hair was pulled back in one ponytail and she was wearing a simple outfit with shorts. I wasn’t used to seeing her out of her school uniform, so unexpectedly seeing her like this made me blush.
Her gaze as she peered directly into my face, with my cheeks reddening, was almost painful. Somehow I shook it off and told her how I felt.
“I’m sorry about the first-friend thing, Lady Chouko, but the truth is, I really like you!”
The second those words left my lips, her face glowed bright red, and with a smile that consumed her whole face, she responded, “Urara, so do I.”
Her face was radiant, and I suddenly became very anxious, desperate to run away. She repeated my name again, making me even more flustered, and when I looked up, I realized her face was right in front of mine. Nervous, I squeezed my eyes shut. Just then—
“Urara! I’m sorry! Really sorry!”
“Aritomo?!”
Aritomo charged into the room, slamming the door behind her, and rushed right toward me.
“I won’t complain anymore, so please keep training me. I really will give it my all this time!” Aritomo said with tears in her eyes. Her words moved me. I apologized as well for pushing too hard, and we promised to both do our best from then on.
“Ah, sorry! I wanted everyone to make up, but I didn’t mean to interrupt! Please don’t get mad!” Shimozuru begged Lady Chouko.
While Aritomo and I were hugging things out, we heard a verbal cold war breaking out behind us, but I couldn’t be sure what exactly had happened.
We decided instead to make a new practice plan.
“Posture is still important, but we’ll only work on that at the beginning of each day, then I’ll check it for you throughout.”
“Okay then, let’s use the rest of our time to practice our steps.”
Lady Chouko and Shimozuru watched us make up with smiles on their faces.
After Aritomo had run off, Shimozuru had gone after her to make sure she was okay. He tried to make her see that even though I was a bit harsh with her, what I was telling her was right, and that I wasn’t doing it just to pick on her or anything.
I was incredibly grateful to Shimozuru for smoothing things out between us and helping her understand what I failed to explain.
When I tried to express my gratitude to him, smiling broadly, Lady Chouko insisted I was just being polite because he had helped us and that there was nothing more to it.
“No, I like him, too,” I insisted.
“You don’t have to go that far,” she pouted.
Lately, her moods had been shifting rapidly. Was I weird for finding that somehow endearing?
“Wait, Tsukuyomi, is it really okay for you to be here? Won’t Saku get upset?”
It was a fair question.
“Oh, it’s all right. He set up this place to practice dancing, didn’t he? So why would he get mad about me being here?” she said, answering Aritomo’s question with another question, though not necessarily one rooted in sound logic. I wasn’t sure how the others felt, but I didn’t think Shinmyou would agree. I just didn’t want to see that volatile side of Lady Chouko again.
“Well, I can always step in if he has a problem,” Shimozuru said.
“Part of the debt he owes you?” I asked.
“Guess so,” he said with a wry grin. “That slip-up the day at the stables was pretty rough, y’know.”
He must have been referring to what was said during the horseback riding incident.
I hadn’t realized it was such a big secret. Aritomo knew as a result of the otome game, so I assumed it was just common knowledge.
“Do we really have to keep the fact that Tsukuyomi is heir to the family empire a secret?”
Why would Aritomo bring that up now? You were asked to act as if you never heard any of that.
Chouko and Shimozuru exchanged glances and chuckled.
“It’s not that big of a deal, not to me at least,” Lady Chouko said.
“What?! Then why was Shinmyou so upset about it?”
Shimozuru shrugged. “Saku seems to view it as earth-shattering if it gets out, but Chouko doesn’t see it that way,” he said nonchalantly.
“I don’t get it,” Aritomo responded.
“Hahaha, I know. But it would still be a pain if that info went public, so please keep it quiet. ...Especially for now,” Shimozuru said, putting a finger to Aritomo’s lips. As he did, her cheeks flushed. I pretended not to see that.
I brought out the tea set I had cleared away earlier and made a new pot of tea. With the snacks Lady Chouko brought along, we had a lovely afternoon tea party.
It was so relaxing that our troubles earlier seemed like a distant dream.