"Kaguya, let's go chat too~ A lot of our friends from Shuchiin are here!"
"Friends...."
As Shinomiya Kaguya's only friend, Fujiwara Chika was planning to pull Kaguya to a more crowded place instead of staying in the corner.
Under Shinomiya Un'yo's education, Shinomiya Kaguya didn't think she could make any friends. Because she had become someone who no longer understood the human heart....
In elementary school, there was a class activity to fold a thousand paper cranes. Little Kaguya saw that the girl at the next desk was folding too slowly and chided her, "Can't you be a little more serious!"
The result she got was the girl bursting into loud sobs.
But in Kaguya's eyes, her slow folding was a sign of not being serious. If this were the Shinomiya household, not being serious about a task would earn you a slap on the back of the hand with a cane.
In the sixth grade, Kaguya said the same thing to another female classmate, and more than once. But in the end... she received a slap across the face from her.
[I'm already being as serious as I can be! But I really can't do it that well! Shinomiya-san... a genius like you can't possibly understand us!]
[You're the one who's too special, okay? You're always looking down on us from above, demanding things from us! I only became friends with you because my mom told me to, but I've had enough!]
The young Shinomiya Kaguya didn't understand. She thought she was just giving a well-intentioned reminder, to help them solve the problem more perfectly.
After that, Kaguya completely stopped believing she could make friends.
Until now... when everyone was afraid of being hurt by Shinomiya Kaguya's talent and subconsciously distanced themselves, only Fujiwara Chika, whose thoughts were a mystery, stayed by her side.
For example, at this moment, Fujiwara Chika, having discovered that quite a few classmates were present, was planning to directly pull Kaguya over with her.
"Yukinoshita-san! Chitanda-san! Hayasaka-san, and Shijo-san, you're all here."
Before long, Fujiwara Chika, a social butterfly, had directly pulled all of them into her small chat group.
The six outstandingly beautiful girls standing together attracted the attention of many young men, but upon seeing that the protagonist of the banquet, Shinomiya Kaguya, was also there, they gave up the idea of approaching.
Although the six of them were together, Shinomiya Kaguya and Shijo Maki were clearly at odds with each other. Yukinoshita Yukino, again, had little to talk about with anyone other than Chitanda.
Only Fujiwara Chika and Hayasaka Ai, in her socialite mode, acted as the glue, connecting the girls into a single group.
"Yukino, that must be Shinomiya-san. Should we ask her if we can look up the incident from thirty-three years ago?"
Chitanda whispered to Yukinoshita. Now was a good opportunity to strike up a conversation with Shinomiya Kaguya.
Yukinoshita sighed. "I'm sorry. Although we're in the same class, I'm not familiar with Shinomiya-san at all. In fact, we've barely spoken."
Chitanda Eru was also a little disappointed, but she quickly returned to normal. "It's alright. Once we get to know her better, we can ask for her help~"
"Yo, it's not easy finding familiar faces here. I didn't expect you all to be here."
A male figure suddenly appeared on the edge of the circle of six beautiful girls. His appearance made five of the six show expressions of surprise.
Yukinoshita Yukino: Uchiha Ryo? Why is he here!
Chitanda Eru: Uchiha-kun is here too? Eh, why!
Hayasaka Ai: ??? This isn't right. How could he possibly attend this banquet!
Shinomiya Kaguya: So he's the Uchiha Ryo who surpassed me in grades? But I remember he's just a commoner...
→
Shijo Maki: He's here too? Wait, how did this person get in?!
Fujiwara Chika, however, greeted Uchiha Ryo normally. "Uchiha-kun, you came to Kaguya's banquet too."
Uchiha Ryo felt that coming here was absolutely the right choice. Five of the six people in front of him were system-designated capture targets. Then he, the professional shepherd, would have to work hard to shear his sheep!
"What's with all your expressions? You couldn't guess that I would attend this banquet?"
Uchiha Ryo naturally joined the circle of six women, which made the other young men nearby gnash their teeth.
"Hmph! Which family is he from? How can he chat and laugh so naturally with those young ladies!"
"I don't know, but I think I heard his name is Uchiha Ryo?"
"The innately evil Uchiha Ryo, how dare he approach my goddesses! I'll just…" [bruh, who is this, Danzo?]
A group of boys who didn't dare to get closer were gritting their teeth, while Yukinoshita Haruno, being a girl, walked over curiously.
"Isn't this Ryo-kohai? I didn't know you were coming to this banquet too. Are you here to see Yukino?"
"Yukinoshita-senpai, I only came because I was invited by a friend. This friend of mine, you might even know."
Everyone present, except for Fujiwara Chika, thought to themselves, as expected. For Uchiha Ryo to be able to attend this banquet, someone must have invited him. And this person's status was probably not low...
"Who is your friend, Ryo-kohai? I might actually know them."
Uchiha Ryo smiled. "I don't know if you know them, Yukinoshita-senpai, but Shinomiya-san definitely does."
Everyone's gaze turned to Shinomiya Kaguya again.
Shinomiya Kaguya, who hadn't spoken, finally opened her mouth. "Definitely know them... To be able to say the word 'definitely,' I'd like to meet this friend you speak of, Uchiha-kun."
She, Shinomiya Kaguya, would have to properly interrogate this person later. How could they bring just anyone into the banquet, especially this boy who had made her taste defeat.
Just then, someone else came over to their group and stopped right beside Shinomiya Kaguya.
Hayasaka Ai, ever vigilant in protecting her young lady, was about to step forward, but upon seeing the person, she immediately stepped back.
When the others also noticed the newcomer, even the somewhat airheaded Fujiwara Chika stopped talking and silently stood on Kaguya's other side.
"Ryo-kun, so you were here. That old geezer Yashajin was just asking me if I was targeting you."
The final boss of this banquet, the third son of the Shinomiya conglomerate, Shinomiya Un'yo, was actually smiling at Uchiha Ryo?
"Not at all. Big Brother Un'yo and I hit it off instantly. The head of the Yashajin family was just overthinking things."
Shinomiya Un'yo nodded. "Come over there and have a drink with us."
"Uh... I can't drink alcohol."
"Oh, then forget it. Kaguya, Uchiha Ryo is my, Shinomiya Un'yo's, guest. Entertain him well, and do not disgrace my Shinomiya family."
After speaking, Shinomiya Un'yo raised his wine glass and returned to the table of big shots.
Uchiha Ryo smiled and picked up a piece of pastry from the table. "Hmm? Why are you all looking at me?"
Shinomiya Kaguya forced herself to recover from her shock and shot an imperceptible glare at Hayasaka Ai.
How did you investigate him! An ordinary commoner? Can an ordinary commoner attend this kind of banquet? Can a commoner hit it off instantly with my even more extreme brother Un'yo!
Shinomiya Kaguya's mind was in chaos, because it seemed she had to... entertain him well?!