CH 109

It is mid-October. Autumn is over, and it is now completely wintery.

The cultural festival has begun.

The school is completely filled with the atmosphere of the festival.

The festival lasts for two days. On the first day, students alone enjoy themselves, and on the second day, parents and other members of the public visit the school.

The play will be held only on the second day.

It was good that it only required one day, but even so, there was a lot of preparation.

The performers only have to perform, but the props and costume staff in particular had a hard time.

Thanks to this, I heard that there was an evening party yesterday, but I was not able to attend it. We had to stay behind and work on the preparations.

We were just amateurs, so it was natural that we were not very good at what we were doing. But we all worked together to get things done, and I think that’s what the festival is all about.

“Shimotsuki-san, you have to do it better! Look, it’s only like this, why can’t you do it?”

“Ugh… Azu-nyan, be nicer to me. I’m the type that grows with praise. No, maybe I don’t grow even with praise. I can only really get going when I’m spoiled, but I can’t do anything if I’m scolded.”

“Azusa is not spoiled like you. You know, if you have time to complain, you should do something with your hands, right?”

“Gununu. I miss Kotaro-kun… He would spoil me more. I don’t want to work hard anymore. I want to be lazy!”

“… So what if I told you that if you did your best, I’d send you a picture of Onii-chan’s sleeping face?”

“That’s not fair. Are you a demon? The devil incarnate?”

“Don’t you want it?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I want it, please, I’ll do my best.”

… Though there are a lot of things to be picky about.

Shiho, the props attendant, was also working hard. She is currently making origami ribbons for decorations. However, Azusa, a performer, was helping her …probably because she is clumsy.

It is really nice that the two of them have become friends. I am of a different gender from Shiho, so there are times when I can’t be with her. But now that Azusa is with us, I feel more at ease in such situations.

Their smiling exchanges are heartwarming to watch.

I really wanted to watch them all the time, but it was the day before the show started, so I had something to do as well.

“Come on, Nakayama-san. We need to do a little makeup.”

Niou-san called me out of the classroom.

I was led to an empty classroom next door. This classroom was also allowed to be used for the preparation of the festival, and tools to be used tomorrow were stored there.

That corner seems to be where she does her makeup. Right now Mary is doing something on her own.

Since I’m going to be playing the Beast, I’m a particular hassle to do my makeup. When I’m the beast, I have to look rough and rugged, and when the magic is broken, I have to go back to being a young man there.

Well, isn’t there any need for makeup? Some said, “Well, isn’t there any need to put on makeup?” In fact, Ryuzaki’s face is quite good-looking, so he is ready to go just by dressing up in an outfit.

I also tried to cover up with a wig and some secret boots, but I came to the conclusion that makeup was still necessary. I apologize for my featureless face.

“Then … Asakura-san, please.”

And to my surprise, Kirari is supposed to be my makeup artist. I heard that she is the best makeup artist in the class. I wonder if it’s because she became a gyaru in her high school debut.

“Yes, I got it. Niou-chan, I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Yes. But please stop calling me that.”

“Yes. I’ll be more careful next time~”

After a distant exchange of words, Niou-san left the empty classroom. She is the supervisor of the whole group, so she seems to be the busiest.

Even so, she looks somewhat happy, probably because she really loves stories.

However, she looks very bored, as if she must have loved stories in the past.

““……””

Since the incident at the bookstore, we had not exchanged a single word, so it was somewhat very awkward.

Kirari was strong only in front of Niou-san, but once she was gone, he instantly became expressionless. I guess she still doesn’t know what kind of character she is and what kind of expression she should put on her face.

“Mmmmmm…done! I’m going to show it to Ryoma.”

Meanwhile, Mary, who was doing her makeup alone, deliberately said so and walked out of the classroom. Perhaps she intentionally left us alone.

Her plot was to ‘make Kirari fall in love with me’. Maybe she decided that the event for that was now.

“… Something might be hard to do.”

Kirari also spoke to Mary as soon as she was gone.

“But I was hoping to talk to you, so I guess it was just as well?”

But I felt that her attitude was… somewhat flirtatious.

That was the last thing I wanted to see in her…