Chapter 4
Meeting Before The Festival
THE DAYS GO by quickly, and Friday came, November 12. The day before the festival after school arrived.
All classes have been preparing for the festival. Today after school is the rehearsal led by the student council. It will be an important test for tomorrow's performance.
All classmates, except for a few, started moving at once to begin preparations. There are a total of four booths in Horikita’s class. The first is the well-known maid cafe, where the main sales are tea, coffee, and other drinks in addition to photo shoots with the maids. The latter sales method is particularly time-efficient, and the unit price is set high, so if there are a large number of applicants, it will be a great source of income. The second and third are outdoor stalls selling powdered food (takoyaki, okonomiyaki, etc.) and Western-style pasta and bread stalls. The stalls generate sales on their own, and the maid café also takes orders. When an order is placed, a student in charge of delivery goes to the stall and brings it to the customer. In order to take advantage of the maid café’s originality, a limited food menu is also prepared, which is a slight modification of the existing menu offered at the food stall. And finally, the fourth and final event is an outdoor quiz competition for children, which was added on short notice with the extra budget.
“You guys didn’t make Hasebe-san and Miyake-kun come?” Maezono asked as her eyes followed Haruka and Akito, who had just left the classroom.
“There's no point in forcing them to do anything. Let's consider this a good opportunity to test whether 35 people, excluding Kōenji-kun, Hasebe and Miyake, can be left alone without any problems.”
But those three are not the only ones who are not willing to cooperate. Kushida hardly interfered with any of the festival's activities in the weeks leading up to the event, and she’s been going home immediately after school without helping out. She knows that she will be in charge of serving the customers as a maid at the festival, and she has gone to Horikita several times to come up with ideas. Some of them have even been adopted, although they are minor elements.
However, she did not participate in any practice sessions with other maids to make sure they were all on the same page.
“I'd like to do some final checks for tomorrow's event and also practice my activities for the day. Do you think you'll have time today?”
Satō called out, somewhat bravely, trying as much as possible not to let her guard down. Kushida, who had just gotten up from her seat, stopped and turned around on the spot.
“I'm sorry, Satō-san. I have something I really can't miss after school.”
This was not the first time Kushida has said that.
“Listen, you keep refusing me like that. When are you seriously going to cooperate?”
The atmosphere was turning sour, and Horikita was about to get up from her seat, but Yōsuke, who was standing beside her, stopped her as if he had anticipated this.
I don't know who was right. However, it's impossible to create a smooth class if we interfere in everything. Sometimes things have to be resolved by the people involved. It can be said that this is an uncharacteristic behavior of Yōsuke, who usually pays more attention to his words than anyone else... Probably because he felt that unnecessarily showing Horikita’s special treatment towards Kushida to the class was a bad move.
Of course, Horikita understood this, but she also had a dilemma that she couldn’t leave alone.
“Don't worry, I've got the festival in mind, and I'm not going to drag the class down.”
“But, Kushida-san, you haven't practised, not even a little. I can't trust you with the important role of a maid.”
Today’s rehearsal will be the perfect practice. Satō, who had been wanting to participate, seems unable to back down today. Likewise, Kushida had been even more reluctant and it doesn’t seem like she will budge today as well.
“Then why don't you remove me? I don't think there are any other decent candidates.”
A merciless remark, but a fair one. Even taking Kushida’s appearance into consideration, a student who isn’t currently playing the role of a maid wouldn't be able to serve as a substitute.
“I'll see you tomorrow at the festival. Bye.”
Although her tone of voice was the same as the gentle Kushida, her actions could be taken as cold. She refused Satō's proposal until the end and left the classroom.
Did she simply not want to spend time with classmates who know her true nature? Or was it really that she had something she can't miss? Obviously, the atmosphere in the classroom deteriorated, but that can't be helped.
“Hey, Horikita-san. Tomorrow's the festival, but I still think we should remove Kushida-san after all...”
Matsushita, unable to bear the sight of Satō’s downcast and frustrated face, went directly to Horikita“I know what you mean. But I don't intend to remove her at the moment.”
“But it's a lie that she has to do things every day, isn't it?”
Indeed, Kushida’s behavior as of late has been quite puzzling. It can't be helped that she’s been keeping her distance from the others since the unanimous special exam, but even so, her uncooperative attitude has been conspicuous.
“That may be so. I don't know why she doesn't participate in practice either.”
“Then...”
“Don’t worry. She's thinking about the festival and the maid cafe in her own way. Just believe in Kushida-san.”
“Well, I guess you could say that we won’t get anywhere if I don't believe in her...” Matsushita looked unconvinced, but nodded and turned to follow Satō.
Matsushita, perhaps because she was one of the founding members this time, was also making a lot of efforts. Although it’s true that Kushida's non-participation in practice is a cause for concern, Horikita's expression showed no signs of impatience. Rather, it seemed as if it was peeking out with justified confidence. That was probably why Matsushita backed down.
Since she didn't seem to be asking for help, let's watch and wait.
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