Impossible! What is that doing here?
“Huh? ‘Why’? What are you saying, Momota-kun?” Orihara-san shrugged her shoulders as if I were saying something strange, got closer to me, and spoke in a whisper. “Since we’re going to walk around the school festival together, it would be strange if I were dressed in normal clothes, right? I have to pretend to be a student.”
“...”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry. I didn’t borrow this from Yuki-chan. This is actually my school uniform. I had my sister bring it back with her when she went back to our parents’ house to get some things. Now that I can share secrets with my sister, I can ask her to do this sort of thing.”
I’d held my tongue too long to prevent the smug grin Orihara-san was wearing on her face. “That’s not the issue... This is weird, right? Why do you have to pretend you’re a student?”
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Orihara-san in a school uniform. What’s more, she went out of her way to prepare her uniform from back when she was a student...
Oh, I see. This is what she meant on the phone the other day when she said she’ll be prepared...
“I thought that you were going to come in your regular clothes...”
“...Huh? But a school uniform is more convenient, right? Since we’re going to be walking around the festival together, it’d be best that no one finds out my age.”
“No... It’d be fine if people found out. We could just say that we’re relatives, couldn’t we? I mean, we’re actually related now, after all.”
“No way! Don’t you think that would be weird? If we said that, then you’d be the kid who hung out together with his aunt at the school festival, right? Wouldn’t it be more natural to hang out with a high school girl?”
Apparently, we had conflicting views on the matter. A school uniform, or regular clothes... They both had their own merits and demerits, and it was hard to say which was better. Well, the real problem was that we hadn’t communicated properly...
“I already told my classmates that my aunt is coming...” I muttered in despair.
“...Huh?” Orihara-san froze up like a broken machine. Then, at the worst possible time...
“Hey, Momota. It’s time to switch.”
...my friends from class showed up. There were about five total here to switch with me and start working.
“Sorry, we’re a little late. Club activities took a while.”
“I’m hungry, so let’s do this while we eat.”
“Leave the rest of this to us! You go enjoy the festival too.”
“You said that your aunt is coming, right? Oh, she’s already here. So, this is your relative... Huh?” One of them looked at Orihara-san, or to be more specific, at her uniform, and gave her a suspicious look. Then the rest of them got the same puzzled look on their faces.
“Huh? Um, this person is your relative?”
“Yes, no, um... That’s right...sort of.”
“...What? B-But why is she wearing a uniform from Tourin? Wait, didn’t you say she has a job?”
“W-Well...she’s into that. Yeah! She’s that kind of person. The world is a rich tapestry of individuals with all kinds of hobbies, you know?” I desperately racked my brain, but I couldn’t think of any better excuse than that. “R-Right, Orihara-san?”
“...What?! U-Um... Y-Yes, that’s right! Boy, it’s been such a long time since I’ve come to school, so I thought I really couldn’t let a chance like this get away!”
“O-Oh... Really...” My classmates all gave me twitchy forced smiles. They were confused and cringing.
“O-Okay, I’ll leave it to you then.”
We hurried away from the classroom before we got busted. After we walked for a little while, I sincerely apologized. “...I’m sorry, Orihara-san. This is all because I didn’t take the time to check in with you...”
Damn, I messed up. This accident could have probably been avoided. I can’t deny that for the past few days, Orihara-san and I have been so busy worrying about Ura that we’ve been neglecting our own circumstances...
Ah, we’ve really done it now... Even though it’s our big festival date, we’ve stumbled right out the gate...
“No, I’m sorry too. I got ahead of myself again and caused you trouble, Momota-kun... This is going to have a negative impact on your school life from now on...”
“I’m fine. But I caused that weird misunderstanding about you...”
“No, I’m okay. Just now...I decided that I’m never coming to this high school ever again. Ha ha ha...”
“...”
Her wounds are deeper than I’d expected...
We had both prepared our own plans for today. I’d planned on telling everyone that Orihara-san was my aunt, while she’d planned on pretending that she was a high school girl. Since we didn’t communicate enough beforehand, our plans clashed, and as result, a hybrid was created from the worst parts of both. Now Orihara-san had to play the part of a terrible character it pains me to even describe: an aunt whose hobby is cosplaying as a high school girl.