It was finally the first day of the school festival.
The school’s decor was changed from the norm, with plenty of draping banners celebrating the festival. The classrooms that the students normally took lessons in were renovated far beyond their initial floor plans into chic restaurants. So much work had been put in that one had to worry if the rooms could be returned to normal once the festival ended.
The PE field had food trucks and stalls neatly lined up, and a gigantic, flashy stage had been built upon the spot where the announcement stand used to be. Atop the eye-catching stage were musicians singing similarly ear-catching songs as they welcomed the attendees. Plenty of students were gathered in front of the stage, clearly excited for what could pass as a concert venue.
Which it apparently was.
“Hey, isn’t that the super-famous band that went on TV a little while ago? Are they a cover band?”
“They’re the real deal! Didn’t you know they’re Campus One graduates?”
Suzu explained this like it was common knowledge.
If the quality of the shops and decorations hadn’t already gone way past the level of a mere school festival, then bringing celebrities whom even Hana had heard of would’ve made it clear. This was what it looked like when the Ichinomiyas got serious.
“Is this what the school festival is like? Suzu, were the ones from the past two years like this?”
“Yeah. The Campus Five one last year and the Campus Four one from the year before were just as big.”
“So when the five clans get serious, they can turn a whole school into a theme park…”
And with all this commotion, one would think problems might arise due to attention from nearby residents, which would risk the existence of practitioners becoming public knowledge. But Kikyou told her that a massive barrier had been set up around the school to solve that issue; not only did it keep sound from leaking out, but it also veiled the school from view. This was done using a Nijouin talisman, so she knew quite a bit about it.
“Hanaaa!”
Kikyou came running over as she waved her hand in the air. Hana spotted Kiriya behind her; as usual, they were operating as a two-for-one set.
“I looked for you eeeverywhere!”
Kikyou then clung to Hana’s arm, which Suzu didn’t take kindly to.
“Stop that! You’re bothering Hana!”
“Excuse me, how dare you!”
Suzu tried to tear Kikyou off by force, but that only made Kikyou put more strength into her grip to hold on, and they effectively dragged Hana in both directions at once.
“Ow, ouch!”
It didn’t seem that the two heard Hana’s cries of pain over their bickering. Hana heaved a heavy sigh.
“Kiriya, quit watching and do something!”
Hana asked for help from Kiriya since he was observing it all unfold from the sidelines, which finally prompted him to act.
“Kikyou, Hana said she’s hungry.”
“I didn’t remotely say that, but sure.”
There were some moments when Hana had to wonder if Kiriya was trying to say gluttony was her key personality trait. But tragically, Hana couldn’t deny the allegations. This was the same girl who had made a deal with Saku over a fancy full-course French dinner.
“Oh my, are you hungry? This is urgent. Let us go around the stalls!”
Kikyou pulled Hana’s hand onward, clearly ready to go.
“Hey, don’t leave me behind, Hanaaa!”
Suzu chased after them in a hurry, and soon enough, the four were sampling the stalls. There were festival staples like cotton candy, candied apples, yakisoba, takoyaki, and frankfurters, as well as a smorgasbord of kebabs, pizza, bagels, churros, and more.
Food wasn’t the only attraction of the school festival, either. There were VR game demos, petting zoos, and plenty more, making seeing the whole festival a challenge in its own right.
Also, the bill was being footed by the Ichinomiya clan, so every bit of it was free for attendees.
“Getting to play and eat all you want for free is wild. The Ichinomiyas must have some crazy deep pockets.”
Five campuses’ worth of student bodies and faculty was an outrageous number of people, and the Ichinomiyas were financing food and lodging for every single one of them, which was scary to think about. And of course, they paid for the festival’s setup and operation, too.
“Oh, Hana, always late to the party.”
Hana had gotten Suzu laughing at her, but she was right; this really was a late realization. Saku had dropped a billion yen for their marriage contract like it was chump change, and Kikyou had offered three billion for them to divorce. The five clans had deeper pockets than any layperson could imagine.
To be clear, while the Ichise house, which Hana had grown up in, was a branch family, they could still be considered well-off, with money never being a concern for them. But when she realized that, from the perspective of the five clans, the branch families must have looked no different from the ordinary household, the clans’ wealth wasn’t just impressive; it was downright scary. Even reminding herself she was the bride of one of those clan lords didn’t make it feel very real.
As Hana and the others continued to enjoy the school festival, more and more staff poured into the school. It had become quite the bustling affair, with everyone seeming excited and happy. And among them, Hana stuck out like a sore thumb.
“Hahhh…”
The more time went on, the less enthusiastic she became, and now she was even sighing.
“Hana, what’s the matter? You’re starting to sigh.”
“Are you still hungry? Here, have a hot dog.”
“Wait—why would you think that sighing means I’m hungry? I mean, I’ll take it, but still.”
Hana chomped into the hot dog that Kikyou had handed her. But even though her stomach was full, her mood wasn’t getting out of the dumps.
“Can I take the last day off?”
“You cannot!”
“Yeah, Hana, no way!”
Kikyou and Suzu hurriedly jumped in to stop her.
“Awww, but this Campus Cup stuff just sounds like a drag…”
The reason for Hana’s dismay was the Campus Cup scheduled for the final day. As a member of the team, Hana absolutely had to take part in it. When she’d initially agreed to join, it was the result of giving in to the tenacity of Kikyou and Nozomu as well as Hazuki’s pleas, but now that the school festival had actually started, she was starting to dread participating a lot more.
“Can’t we just say I ate too much and got an upset stomach?”
“We cannot. I wouldn’t allow it even if we could! We’re going to show that phony princess what for! Don’t you want to win, Hana?”
“Nah, I’m cool with losing.”
“Where’s your fighting spirit?!”
Kikyou was trying to lecture Hana, but to begin with, Hana never really cared about winning or losing the way Kikyou or Nozomu did in the first place. Hana had met the prime target, Botan Yotsukado, only once before, so she didn’t have much reason to see her as a mortal enemy.
“But hopping around the food stalls sounds more fun. And there’s plenty of stuff to do around here, so let’s have some fun.”
“Oh my, running away with your tail between your legs, are you? So you do understand just how weak you are. How lovely.”
When everyone turned around at the voice suddenly calling to them from behind, Kikyou instantly spewed a “Eugh!” that wasn’t very befitting a lady of the five clans.
In that direction was the girl Kikyou had repeatedly called a phony princess, Botan Yotsukado, as well as a loyal servant of the Yotsukado clan, Seiran Shidou.
“It’s been quite some time, Kikyou.”
Botan was smiling from ear to ear, but there was a hint of hubris to it, like she was looking down on Kikyou. There was a clear difference between this and the sunny smiles she’d shown Saku and Yukizasa.
“Yes, it certainly has, Botan…”
The corners of Kikyou’s lips were twitching up against her cheeks, yet she still gave her greetings. Maybe this was the pride of a five clans’ member.
Botan shifted her gaze from Kikyou to Kiriya and sneered.
“I see you’re still joined at the hip with Kiriya, your babysitter. Have you considered acting your age instead of being a constant nuisance to him? Or do you still need a grown-up to help you go potty? Poor thing.”
“Th-that’s not true! Kiriya and I are together because we get along! Not that someone like you could ever understand the strength of a bond between twins!”
“Are you certain you’re not the only one who feels that way?”
“Of course I am! Don’t speak such baseless nonsense when you know nothing about how well we get along!”
Despite always being so fretful, Kikyou was now leaning forward with every comeback. Seeing this new, hostile side to Kikyou was making Hana blank out.
“Kiriya, is Kikyou always like this in front of that girl?”
Hana asked Kiriya to confirm, and he nodded, his expression not changing at all.
“She’s always like this with Botan.”
“They get along like cats and dogs, huh?”
“Yep. They always start fighting on sight.”
The way these two were at each other’s throats went pretty far beyond not getting along. Kiriya probably wasn’t kidding about “always,” either; even Botan’s follower, Seiran, just calmly watched in silence, with no sign of stepping in.
“So…these two are candidates to be clan lord, right?”
“Yep.”
“If both of them happened to be chosen for their clans, they might escalate this into a full-on war between the Nijouins and the Yotsukados, right?”
“I think so, too.”
Watching such a bitter relationship, Hana was concerned about the idea of giving either of these people authority. She silently wished for the current lords of their clans to take that into consideration when choosing their successors. Hana was well aware that she had no place to speak on the matter, but problems between the clans could end up sending shock waves throughout the whole country, so she was sincere in her wish as someone who would be directly impacted.