It was lunchtime, and I was eating with my friends Ura and Kana in an empty classroom as usual.
“It looks like the school is getting more and more lively,” Kana said.
“It sure does,” I said with a nod.
It was a week until Seizan High School’s culture festival, the Seizan Festival, and right now every class was staying late to prepare for it. At our high school, it was normal for the second years to be at the center of the culture festival: third years were busy with entrance exams, and first years didn’t have any prior experience with the festival, so lots of classes were unmotivated. My first-year class more or less fit the mold and was moderately enthusiastic toward the school festival.
That said, with the festival a week away, my class was influenced by everyone else and became more motivated. We were making soba noodles—the most classic of classics, the most cliche of cliches. According to information I got in advance of the festival, it seemed like about two other classes would be making soba noodles as well. Our school apparently didn’t worry about things like this overlapping.
I wasn’t a member of the culture festival organizing committee or a class representative, so I was just fulfilling the role I had been given in my class; still, even I was getting a little excited.
“I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be our first school festival, after all. Well, since we’re first years, there’s not much we can do, but if we’re going to do it, we might as well have as much fun as possible.”
“Ha ha. Look who’s talking,” Kana said as he burst out laughing. “When preparations for the festival started, you totally weren’t thinking about it.”
“Ah...”
“You were clearly putting Orihara-san before the culture festival and trying to look all cool by saying you couldn’t imagine your youth without Orihara-san anymore.”
“O-Oh...” I didn’t have a response, so all I could do was face the floor.
It was just as Kana had said. When preparations for the festival had started about three weeks ago, I honestly wasn’t in the mood. I’d found out that my dad was getting married to Kisaki-san, and she’d found out about my relationship with Orihara-san... That mess had thrown things out of whack at the time. However, now that that problem had somehow settled, I was able to relax and start to feel like I could dedicate myself to the school festival.
“Speaking of which, will Orihara-san be coming?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
At first, I’d debated whether or not I should invite her. Orihara-san had told me before that she wanted to see the high school I go to, and I’d thought it was a good opportunity since outsiders were allowed to attend. However, I hesitated when I thought about how our relationship might be brought to light. But when I talked to Ibusuki the other day, I realized something. Since my dad and Kisaki-san are married, that means Orihara-san and I have become relatives. We’d had an emergency plan to pretend we were related if we were ever seen by someone we knew, but surprisingly the fiction had become reality. Since we were officially relatives, it was no problem if I invited her to the school festival. Orihara-san could participate without issue.
“Oh, I see. So that’s why you’re suddenly all motivated, Momo. You don’t want to look lame in front of Orihara-san,” Kana said in disbelief. “Your youth really does revolve around Orihara-san, huh?”
“...Shut up,” I said, unable to firmly deny it.
It feels like I can finally focus on a school-related event now that my non-school-related troubles with my family and girlfriend have finally calmed down. I’d be lying if I said there isn’t a part of me that only wants to work hard because Orihara-san is showing up, though. I mean, my girlfriend is coming, so it’s only natural that I’d want to work hard! I want her to have a good time, and I don’t want her to think I’m the kind of guy who just blows off school events like the culture festival.
Jeez. It’s just like Kana said after all. I couldn’t deny it if someone said that she’s the center of my youth.
Just as I was mentally chiding myself, Ura, who had been hurriedly eating bread from the school store, opened his mouth and spoke for the first time in a while.
“Bah. You sure are carefree.” When I looked, I saw that he was already done eating his bread. If anything, Ura was a slow eater, but today he’d finished his lunch at an unusually high pace. “With this festival, everyone’s just so...”
Normally, this is the part where Ura’s bad attitude would start to rear its head. For example, you’d expect him to say something like:
“The school festival is just a celebration made by extroverted extroverts for extroverts! It’s the epitome of an event for the ignorant masses and a negative legacy that’s been passed down through the generations... Why does the Japanese education system force students to do group activities, anyway? Is there a point in forcing students to do things together within the framework imposed by the school that’s known as a ‘class’? This is just an event to let extroverts pretend to be nice while they force those who are lower in the pecking order—who can’t resist even if they want to—to run their errands, all while adopting the slogan of ‘Let’s all work together as a class.’ Then, even though they were so quick to close the gap between you and them, when the festival is over, those extroverts will just shrug you off and say, ‘Oh, I’m done dealing with commoners.’ Also, they make you buy some kind of crappy merchandise for your class, right? They take your cash from you by putting you in the kind of situation where you can’t refuse. Pressuring someone to buy something in a situation where they can’t refuse is a scam, you know! It’s using hypnosis to do business! I’ll sue!”