Epilogue
The People Behind The Scenes
FINALLY, 4:00 P.M arrived, and the hectic cultural festival finally came to an end. As explained in advance, the accounting application was forcibly shut down, and sales cannot be recorded thereafter.
The results could be checked via cell phone starting 6 pm, two hours later. Even though the event was over, we were still expected to not take it for granted until the end of the day.
The guests who had stayed until the end began to leave their seats as the café was closing, and gave their impressions of the maid café to the students.
All of them had positive comments such as, “it was interesting,” and, “it was fun.” The students who had worked so hard at the event were deeply touched by those warm words, and their fatigue seemed to fade away.
Incidentally, Chabashira-sensei ran out of the classroom like a rabbit as soon as 4 o'clock came. Running around in that outfit would’ve been conspicuous, but let's leave it at that. It was around 5:30 when all the customers left and all the classmates (except for Kōenji and Matsushita) gathered at the maid cafe.
“Good work, everyone. A lot happened, but at least we were able to end the festival in an ideal way. I don't think the sales could have been any better.”
Ike and the others gathered in the classroom having just finished taking down the outdoor stalls. In the maid café, some guests stayed eating until late, so there were still some areas to clean up, but Horikita stepped up to sum up the cultural festival.
“The results will be announced later, but there is something I want to talk to you about before that.”
Yes, there were 36 students in the classroom. Akito and Haruka also remained behind.
Although not prompted by Horikita, Haruka, who was the star of the show, stepped forward.
“I would like to be the first to tell you. I have not forgiven everyone here.”
Haruka mumbled in the silence of the classroom as she opened her speech. Some of the students, expecting her to start with an apology, looked at each other, feeling more bewilderment than anger.
They didn’t seem to blame her. Everyone understood. They had grown up to be able to feel the pain of losing a friend, a best friend.
“But the person I can't forgive the most is myself. I assumed that everyone who left the school would be unhappy. Yamauchi-kun, who disappeared last year, and Airi.”
At the mention of Yamauchi's name, Sudō, Ike, and the others seemed to be thinking back.
“I had assumed that it was best for Airi to stay at this school. I assumed that was the happiest thing to do. That's why I hated all of them …… and wanted to take revenge.”
Haruka clutched the skirt of her school uniform tightly as she expressed her frustration.
“After this festival ended, I was going to leave school.”
It was a fact that she didn't have to tell, but she didn't want to hide it, so she confessed. I think some of the students had foreseen this, but the majority of them were tight-lipped.
“I was going to go along with Haruka too.”
At this point, Akito, too, could not remain silent and told the truth with Haruka.
“If we had dropped out, our class would not have reached Class A. It's the easiest and most powerful way to get revenge.”
No tricks would be needed. Just leaving school was enough to make us lose a large number of class points.
“But if you give me a chance, please let me stay in this class.”
“You've had a change of heart, haven't you?”
“That girl is trying to spread her wings in the outside world. Kushida-san told me about it.”
At this point, Kushida's name was mentioned, and everyone's eyes were drawn to her. The majority of them didn’t understand what was going on, so Kushida opened her mouth as if to add something.
“Sakura-san, she seems to be working hard to become an idol; you can find her on SNS, so maybe you can ask Hasebe-san to show you later.”
Some students were surprised, others thought it was a good idea. But the common perception that emerged was the fact that Airi had taken a new step forward.
“Airi will grow a lot. Probably more than I thought she would. So I want to be able to graduate in Class A and go see her. I want to be able to show myself to her without embarrassment.”
The class learned that this was why she chose to stay at this school.
“You made a good decision, Hasebe-san.”
“I'm going to accept punishment for the trouble I caused.”
“I'm just as guilty. I didn't help with most of the festival and caused trouble for the class.”
Horikita stepped forward before the other students could say anything else. “Skipping the festival is a problematic behavior, but fortunately it doesn't violate any rules. Kōenji -kun hasn't shown up once since this morning, so it's the same thing.”
Horikita approached Haruka with a look of dismay and relief on her face.
“If you are going to be punished, it will only be by remaining classmates with me. Can you face that reality?”
I wonder what Haruka thought of the reflection in Horikita's eyes.
“I'm going to try my best. Yes. From now on, you can think of me as your regular Hasebe-san, okay?”
“Don't worry. I won't bother you.” That was enough, Horikita nodded and declared. “Miyake-kun is the same as before as well. Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
“That's all for today then. Let's all finish the rest of the cleanup quickly.”
Keisei walked up to Haruka and Akito, somewhat hesitantly. Starting with Akito's apology, Keisei's eyes reddened a bit and he spoke with relief. Haruka's apology brought the three of them together for the first time in a while, and they smiled slightly at each other. Akito and Keisei turned their attention to Haruka as if they had made up their minds. The two of them signaled to Haruka as well, and the eyes of those three turned to me in confusion.
If I were to approach them here and now, the group might be resumed. That was no longer necessary. I turned my back and went to send words of thanks to Sato and the others.
The group of five was now three, but I hoped that the bond between them would be stronger than before. That place doesn't need me.
The three of them could sense my actions as a sign of farewell. They didn't approach me or call out to me.
It was quick after that. The cleanup that was left to be done would soon be back on track with 37 people.
All the cleanup was done before 6:00 PM. Then the results of the festival were announced.
● 1st place, 2nd year B class (+ 100 class points)
● 2nd place, 2nd year C class (+ 100 class points)
● 3rd place, 3rd year B class (+ 100 class points)
● 4th place, 2nd year A class (+ 100 class points)
● 5th place, 1st year A class (+ 50 class points)
● 6th place, 3rd year C class (+ 50 class points)
● 7th place, 2nd year D class (+ 50 class points)
● 8th place, 1st year C class (+ 50 class points)
● 9th place, 3rd year D class
● 10th place, 1st year B class
● 11th place, 3rd year A class
● 12th place, 1st year D class
“We're in first place! We did it!”
“I guess Chabashira-sensei's cosplay really struck!”
Everyone was pleased and praised each other for a good fight.
“But Ryūen's place is also in second place, and Sakayanagi's class is in fourth place, which is quintessential.”
“Ayanokōji-kun.”
“Yeah, everything is going according to plan.”
It was a certainty that Horikita's class would take the top place, and it was assumed from the beginning that Ryūen's class would also be in the top position.
“I wondered how the one-liners would fare, but you've managed to outsmart them.”
“But there was also something unexpected: Sakayanagi came in fourth.”
“Yes. Did you see their performance?
“No, I didn't go to the third floor of the special wing today. Did you see them?”
“Class A was selling brochures and stuff about the school for a low price. They didn't have any other food, drink, or other offerings. I wonder what kind of tricks they used …….”
“The clue is probably at the bottom of the list.”
“First year Class D, Housen-kun's class, right? What about it?”
“If they were at the bottom of the class as a result of a struggle, fine. But that's unthinkable. The class's entertainment, which was mainly a reenactment of the festival, was quite successful. I thought it was one of the top classes. Did you think that was lower than the third-year A class?”
“The 11th-ranked class is third-year Class A. They were priced out of the competition from the start. It was only about entertaining to please the guests, right?”
It was confirmed that the haunted house and other activities could be played for 100 points. On the other hand, the shooting and other stalls that Hosen had set up were priced appropriately.
“The top class got 100 points for this festival. It means that behind the scenes, Hosen might have gotten something else.
“Conceivably, you mean private points?”
“Doesn't this remind you of last year's desert island test?”
There was an agreement between Ryūen and Katsuragi to receive private points in exchange for letting them earn class points. It would not surprise me if something similar happened between Sakayanagi and Hōsen.
“It's not impossible. Or maybe they signed a similar contract to replace it.”
The accounting was done through a cell phone. It would be a viable enough strategy if Hōsen and his friends had received cell phones from the second-year A class for accounting purposes and donated all sales. If they were also providing funds to Hōsen's class for the festival, it would make sense for the size of the festival to grow.
“But she did,” he said.
“Because if you notice, she's taking the choice to win.”
Either way, it meant that Sakayanagi won’t be easily satisfied. It was clear that they were steadily producing results, even though they appeared to have abandoned the game.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login