Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051603008595869
Lunch break the next day.
As I ate my packed lunch at my desk, I was seriously thinking about how I could make my way to the student council room without anyone noticing.
The reason was simple.
“Kasugai, have you finished lunch yet?”
Himuro was standing right in front of me.
“Kasugai! What time is the butler uniform fitting?”
Natsume was standing at the classroom entrance.
“Once you’re in the costume, let me take a picture of you.”
Next to me was Shiina.
“Senpai. I’ve come to pick you up.”
And in the hallway was Shirasaki.
There was no way out.
“Do all of you have nothing better to do?”
“It’s for student council business.”
“The track team doesn’t practice during lunch break!”
“It’s part of our creative activities.”
“I just wanted to see you, Senpai.”
“You’re not even trying to hide the last one, are you?”
Shirasaki smiled gently.
“There’s no reason to hide it.”
At those words, Himuro’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
I shoved the remaining rolled omelet into my mouth and closed my lunchbox.
“I get it, let’s go. Lunch break is almost over.”
“Then, I’ll show you the way.”
“I know where it is.”
“In that case, I’ll walk beside you.”
“I’ll walk next to senpai.”
“Me too!”
“I… don’t mind walking behind.”
As Shiina said that, she suddenly tugged at the hem of my uniform for some reason.
“Behind… do you mean like that?”
“It’s to keep you from getting lost.”
“I’m not going to get lost at school.”
In the end, the five of us ended up walking down the hallway while drawing stares from everyone around us.
A single second-year boy was surrounded by the student council vice president, a girl from the track team, a member of the literature club, and a first-year student council member.
No matter how you looked at it, we stood out.
“Hey, Yuto.”
I stopped in my tracks at the familiar voice.
Kotonoha was standing at the far end of the hallway.
Ren was standing next to her.
“Preparing for the cultural festival?”
“Yeah. The student council asked us to help out.”
“I see.”
Kotonoha’s gaze moved in turn to the four people surrounding me.
“You’re all here together, aren’t you?”
“They just tagged along for some reason.”
“It’s not ‘for some reason.’”
Himuro quietly corrected mei.
“Shirasaki and I are here on Student Council business.”
“I’m just here to watch.”
“I’m gathering information.”
“It seems like the two of you could go home without any problems.”
“I’m not going home!”
“I’m not going home either.”
Their timing was perfect.
Kotonoha gave a small laugh.
But her smile looked a little lonely.
“Yuto, you seem to be having fun.”
I’d been told the same thing before.
“Well, it’s noisy, though.”
“I see.”
That was all Kotonoha said.
“Well then, see you later.”
“Yeah.”
We passed each other.
After taking a few steps, I almost turned back on a whim.
But I stopped myself.
Ren was standing next to Kotonoha.
And next to me was—
“Kasugai-kun.”
“Whoa!”
Himuro was peering right at me.
“What?”
“You were just about to turn around, weren’t you?”
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“I told you I didn’t.”
“Then please don’t do it again.”
“By what authority?”
“It’s advice from a fellow heartbroken soul.”
Lately, I feel like that phrase has become a convenient get-out-of-jail-free card.
When I entered the student council room, several people, including President Kuze, were waiting.
“You’re here, Kasugai-kun.”
“Why is there such a big crowd here?”
“It’s a fitting, after all.”
“We’re just trying on clothes, right?”
“We also want to use this to help decide who’ll be in charge of customer service at the cultural festival.”
A clothes rack stood in the center of the room.
A black vest.
A white shirt.
A bow tie.
And for some reason, there was even a full-fledged tailcoat.
“Who prepared all this?”
“Mishima from the accounting department.”
President Kuze pointed toward the back of the room.
There, a third-year girl wearing glasses was sitting.
Her long black hair was tied back in a single ponytail, and she looked over at us while tapping away on a calculator.
“I bought them at a bargain price from a secondhand costume shop. It’s within the budget.”
“Are you using the budget correctly?”
“Improving the profit margin for the cultural festival requires visual appeal.”
“We’ve suddenly turned to business talk, haven’t we?”
Mishima-senpai remained impassive.
Apparently, she’s quite a character, too.
“Alright then, Kasugai. Go change.”
“Am I really the first one?”
“Of course.”
For some reason, Himuro answered.
“If we use Kasugai-senpai’s fitting results as a benchmark, it’ll be easier to adjust the costumes for everyone else.”
Shirasaki chimed in as well.
“Haven’t you two both gotten really good at coming up with excuses?”
I gave up and went to change in the empty classroom next door.
A white shirt and a black vest.
A slim-fitting apron around my waist.
It’s easier to move in than I expected.
With this, I shouldn’t have any trouble serving customers.
I headed back to the student council room.
“What do you think?”
The moment I opened the door.
Silence.
“…Say something.”
Natsume was the first to speak up.
“Wait a second. I wasn’t told about this.”
“What?”
“It actually looks good on you.”
“That’s rude.”
“No, I just thought it would be way funnier!”
“What kind of expectations were you having?”
Shiina silently opened her notebook.
“Don’t write that down.”
“I just finished the illustration concept for Chapter 3.”
“That’s way too fast.”
Shirasaki was staring intently at me.
“Senpai.”
“What?”
“Can I take a picture?”
“If it’s for the cultural festival materials, sure.”
“It’s for my personal collection.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll take it for the materials, and keep a copy for myself too.”
“You’re just rephrasing it, aren’t you?”
And as for Himuro…
She didn’t say a word.
“Himuro?”
“…Yes.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t it suit me?”
“It doesn’t.”
“I see.”
“So, you don’t need to wear it on the day of the cultural festival.”
“Wasn’t this a fitting just to check if it’s comfortable to move in?”
“I’ve finished checking. Rejected.”
“Why?”
“It might attract more female customers than necessary.”
“If it brings in more customers, that’s a good thing, right?”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Aren’t you undermining the whole point of the café area?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, Natsume approached Himuro with a smirk.
“Hey, Himuro. Are you maybe trying to avoid showing this off to the other girls?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then would you be okay if Kasugai, dressed like this, said ‘Welcome home, young lady’ to the girls?”
Himuro froze.
“Kasugai-kun.”
“What?”
“Please don’t say it.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Okay, fine.”
“You don’t need to say it to me either.”
“I said I wouldn’t.”
“……If it’s absolutely necessary for work, please practice on me first.”
“Isn’t that a contradiction?”
Natsume burst out laughing, clutching her stomach.
Shiina was scribbling furiously in her notebook.
Only Shirasaki kept a straight face.
“In that case, I’ll be your practice partner too.”
“There’s no need for you, Shirasaki.”
“It wouldn’t be fair if it were just the Vice President.”
“There’s no such thing as fairness in love.”
Himuro said.
Everyone stopped.
Even the one who spoke stopped.
“……That was just a general observation.”
“All of a sudden?”
“It’s a general observation.”
Her face was red all the way up to his ears.
President Kuze looked at Himuro like that and wore a slightly surprised expression.
I was the only one who noticed that look.
“Himuro-san,”
President Kuze called out.
“You’ve become much more cheerful, haven’t you?”
For just a moment, the expression vanished from Himuro’s face.
“You’ve started smiling more than you used to.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. It somehow puts my mind at ease.”
There was no malice in it.
It was a sincere remark.
That’s precisely why I think Himuro was at a loss.
“Thank you.”
A perfect smile.
I recognized that smile.
It was the way Himuro smiled when she was forcing herself to be cheerful.
“Kasugai-kun.”
“Hm?”
“Would it be okay if I stepped out for a bit?”
“Sure.”
Himuro quietly left the student council room.
The atmosphere in the room shifted ever so slightly.
“I’m going to step out for a bit.”
“Senpai.”
Shirasaki called out to me.
“What?”
“So you’re going after the vice president now, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“I see.”
Shirasaki smiled, looking just a little lonely.
“But if I ever make that same face someday, will you come after me, Senpai?”
“If you made a face like that, sure.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I left the student council room.
Himuro was on the stair landing.
She was standing alone, gazing out the window.
“Are you okay?”
“I thought you’d come.”
“Then you should’ve just kept going without stopping.”
“…Because I wanted you to come after me.”
For once, she was being honest.
I stood next to Himuro.
“What did you think when the president said that to you?”
“I was happy.”
“I see.”
“And I was frustrated.”
Himuro gave a small laugh.
“For three years, I worked hard to earn that person’s approval. And yet, after being rejected, to be told that I’ve become more cheerful now that I’ve been spending time with you and the others…”
“That’s ironic.”
“Yes.”
Himuro stared at her reflection in the window.
“But I’ve come to understand something.”
“What?”
“Perhaps the person I used to be was just a persona I created to win Chairman Kuze’s favor.”
There was a hint of loneliness in her voice.
“Is it different now?”
When I asked, Himuro looked at me.
“Now… if I get angry, I get angry.”
“Ah.”
“I also get jealous.”
“Of whom?”
“I won’t answer that.”
“So you won’t answer that, huh?”
“I haven’t quite sorted it out for myself yet.”
After saying that, Himuro took a single step closer to me.
“But there’s one thing I do know.”
“What?”
“It makes me extremely uncomfortable when Shirasaki is next to you, Kasugai.”
“Isn’t that jealousy?”
“I’m not answering that.”
“You’re practically answering it, aren’t you?”
“I’m not answering.”
Himuro grabbed my sleeve.
“Let’s go back.”
“Yeah.”
“But—”
“Is there something else?”
“Please don’t wear that outfit from earlier on the day of the cultural festival.”
“You’re still bringing that up?”
“If you absolutely must wear it, please limit who you interact with.”
“Who?”
Himuro thought for a moment.
“……To me.”
“That’s just one customer.”
“That’s not a problem. I’ll cover all the sales myself.”
“Are you trying to rent out the whole place?”
Himuro’s expression was serious.
Having started to recover from her heartbreak, she had begun to smile more than before.
At the same time.
It seemed she was also starting to become a much more high-maintenance woman than she used to be.
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