How would we sneak Mio into the school?
The plan that Akksy gave me in the end was, in short, that we’d have her pretend to be an Eichou High student. In other words, Akksy had eventually decided to go with the plan that she herself had dismissed because it was boring... But, no, never mind—I don’t actually want to complain about that, on second thought. All the other plans she thought up were way too risky! They would’ve practically taken superpowers to pull off!
How, then, could we realistically sneak her into the school? The answer turned out to be surprisingly simple.
“Umm, let’s see... She should be here soon, right...?” I muttered as I glanced around the school’s entryway. It was right around the time when students would usually be pouring into the building, and even though it was the day of the cultural festival, there were still plenty of kids heading inside. All of class 2-A’s students had already arrived, though, so our shoe cubbies should have been deserted...but just as that thought crossed my mind, a girl stepped up to them.
Huh...?
Her long, black hair was tied into a pair of braided pigtails, she was wearing glasses, and for some reason, I found my eyes drawn toward her. She was wearing one of our school’s uniforms, so she clearly belonged here, but for some reason she was standing by class 2-A’s shoe cubbies, restlessly glancing around the area...until finally her gaze met mine and she jerked her chin in the air, gesturing for me to come over to her.
Wait. Is that...?
“G-Good morning...?” I said as I stepped toward her.
“Why were you just standing around gaping at me? You said you’d find me yourself, didn’t you?” the girl snapped. Her tone was really harsh, especially in contrast to her plain, subdued looks, and her glare was so sharp that I actually started trembling for a second. That powerful stare was something no disguise could ever cover up. There was no doubt about it!
“You’re, umm...Mio, right?”
“Of course I am. Come on, hurry up. I need your shoes, remember?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“O-Oh, right!”
Mio stashed her outdoor shoes in my shoe cubby, then pulled out a pair of indoor footwear I’d brought for her (a spare pair that I didn’t normally use, specifically). I watched her as she changed into them, and was struck by just how different she seemed. Her medium-length brown hair was now black and way longer, for one thing, but more importantly, she just felt different on an overall vibe sort of level. She felt...well, normal now. That special, sparkly idol aura I’d felt from her before was completely hidden away, replaced with a perfect facsimile of the sort of normal, mild-mannered girl you could find at any school anywhere.
Her eyes, however, were an exception. They were the same as ever. Makeup had nothing to do with the power of her gaze, apparently—it was a natural-born talent. I figured she probably could’ve used makeup to hide it, but considering she was supposed to be a prep school student, showing up with too much makeup on would’ve looked suspicious in its own right. The glasses would do a good enough job of keeping her gaze inconspicuous without catching people’s attention, hopefully.
Anyway, Mio’s glare was bad for my heart, but good for my nerves. After all, it was a relief to see that she wasn’t completely unrecognizable. If that powerful glare had vanished as well, her disguise would’ve been so perfect that if I’d lost track of her in a crowd, I might never have found her again.
“All I can say is wow,” I muttered.
“What? This is totally normal,” Mio gruffly replied. It was so much easier to recognize her when she talked. Her tone didn’t match up with her looks at all—like if a purehearted, well-to-do maiden turned out to secretly ride around on a motorcycle in the dead of the night, or something. “Yotsuba? Why’re you spacing out on me?”
“Ah, sorry! So, umm, first things first...let’s go somewhere!”
Mio’s aura had overpowered me, and I ended up setting off at a walk, wandering for some time without any destination in mind whatsoever. She followed along, sticking very close behind me. I didn’t get the sense that any of the students we passed paid her any attention whatsoever. That was a good thing, of course—I would be in deep trouble if we were busted—but I still couldn’t help being nervous. I probably looked like more of an intruder than she did, actually.
“Where are we going, Yotsuba?” Mio eventually asked.
“Huh?!” I yelped. “Oh, umm... So, the thing is, the cultural festival has an opening ceremony that’s happening soon.”
“So?”
“Well, all the students are supposed to attend...but it’d be a huge mistake for you to go too, right?”
“It’d be an easy way to get caught, that’s for sure.”
“So I thought we’d find somewhere for you to hide until the ceremony’s over! I was just thinking about what would be a good spot.”
“Okay, I get it now. Anywhere works for me. I can just hang out in a restroom or something.”
“Wait, really? You wouldn’t mind? I was so sure that you’d want your own green room and would throw a fit if I didn’t get your lunch specially catered for you, or— Ouch! Ow ow ow?!?!”
“You’re messing with me, right? Right?”
I mean, yeah, I was, but it was just a little joke! You didn’t have to pinch me that hard!
“Oh, relax. I know how to make it look like I’m pinching someone without it actually hurting.”
“It does hurt, actually?! Like, a lot?!”
Mio kept pinching my side for a few seconds longer, then finally released me. It hurt so much I didn’t know how she thought she could get away with telling me to relax about it. Then again, assuming she wasn’t kidding and actually could pinch painfully or not-painfully at will...had I just been pinched by a master?! I sort of wondered if she’d be willing to demonstrate the looks-painful-but-isn’t pinch on me too, but I had a feeling that she’d just do the painful one again if I asked, so I did my best to suppress my curiosity.
“Well, umm, in that case, I should be going now!” I said. “I’ll come back and get you as soon as the ceremony’s over...but I thought it’d be boring just waiting for me, so I grabbed this for you to read.”
“A booklet about the festival? Thanks, but you don’t have to bother coming back for me at all, really. I’m sure there are plenty of things I could do to entertain myself here—I can just catch a few opening acts while I wait.”
“No way! I couldn’t abandon you! I’d feel bad about making you wait around on your own. It’s fine, don’t worry about it!” I assured her.
“Oh...?” Mio replied. Her eyes widened slightly in a way that made me wonder if she was a little surprised, but she took the festival booklet and headed off into the nearby restroom before I could follow that train of thought any further.
Oh—maybe she was planning on fiddling with her phone the whole time, and giving her that booklet was a waste of effort? I guess having it can’t hurt, though, so it’s probably fine, I told myself. I was still curious about what was going on in her head, but I had an opening ceremony to get to, so I rushed off to the gym instead of worrying about it.