The School Festival (3)
“This is all thanks to you for making this suggestion, Shuhei! Thank you!”
“What are you talking about? The biggest reason for your success is the quality of your work. When you showed it to me earlier, I was honestly blown away. I thought, ‘Wow, this is insanely well-made!’”
“Still, if it weren’t for your suggestion, I wouldn’t have even thought about cosplaying at the school festival. It’s really all thanks to you. You’re the best, my true friend!”
“Hearing that, I guess I don’t mind taking a little credit. Keep it up, alright? You’re our ace at drawing in customers, after all.”
When I encouraged Tomoya,
“You got it! Leave it to me!”
He responded energetically, raising his hand with a cheerful grin before heading back to attract customers.
(I’m really glad to see Tomoya enjoying himself so much.)
During my time in the other world as a hero, I was forced to change from being an introvert.
I wouldn’t have survived otherwise.
But now, I’m grateful I changed, even if it was out of necessity.
Life only happens once. Instead of hiding in the shadows and spending it timidly as an introvert, it’s so much more rewarding to experience things together with others.
That’s why seeing my introverted friend Tomoya enjoying himself with our classmates today makes me so happy.
(I know it’s impossible to change overnight, but I hope this gives Tomoya even a little more confidence.)
With that slightly meddlesome thought, I turned my gaze back to Class 1-5’s classroom.
Inside, mostly the girls—and a few boys—were busily working, all dressed in their red outfits.
The girls took the lead simply because more of them volunteered.
Among the few boys, Date, the basketball team regular, naturally stood out.
Since his team’s uniform was red, he was wearing it today—and he was an instant hit with the female customers.
After all, Date was tall, handsome, and his sleeveless uniform showed off his toned shoulders and muscular arms.
It was no surprise that the female guests were practically swooning over him.
As I observed from outside, satisfied that everything seemed to be running smoothly,
“Sorry to keep you waiting~”
Hasumin, having finished her floor duties, stepped out into the hallway.
“Alright, shall we go?”
“Yeah.”
Together, we started strolling through the school, checking out the other classes’ displays.
Officially, our mission was to scout the competition and promote “1-5 Strawberry Scarlet Café” with placards.
—Or at least, that was the pretense.
In reality—
“Doesn’t this feel kind of like a cultural festival date…?”
It had turned into something that very much resembled a date as we wandered around together.
Blushing slightly, Hasumin looked up at me shyly.
“Honestly, I was kind of thinking the same thing.”
“Haha, I knew it!”
By the way, I’d wondered if it was okay for both the class representative and vice-representative to leave the classroom at the same time, but—
“You’re still on school grounds, right? If anything happens, we’ll just call your phones.”
“Exactly~”
“Don’t worry about it—go ahead and enjoy yourselves!”
“Yeah, consider it a reward for all the hard work you two put into the preparations.”
“Have fun, just the two of you!”
“Oh, and here’s the placard. Just make sure to carry it for promotion.”
“Also, keep your phones on, okay? We’ll call if we need anything.”
The others, especially the girls, said this with warm smiles.
It was clear they were being thoughtful and considerate.
(Not that I mind walking around with Hasumin—if anything, I’m really looking forward to it. Now that they’ve set this up for us, it’d be a waste not to enjoy it to the fullest!)
With that thought, Hasumin and I grabbed the promotional placard and began exploring the lively school festival together.