“Well, no sense crying over spilled milk... Let’s switch gears and enjoy the festival.” Even though she was seriously depressed, Orihara-san recovered surprisingly quickly, and after that she walked around the school with confidence and an attitude that seemed to say, “Sure, I’m a high schooler. What about it?”
That’s Orihara-san for you. Something like this would be impossible for your average woman close to her thirties. Anyone else would be too embarrassed to parade around the school in a school uniform, even more so given my classmates had just found out that she was a working adult in cosplay. There’s no knowing what kind of rumors will spread, but just look at her calm behavior.
She’s gotten so used to this. Or perhaps I should say...she’s become stronger? So much has happened in this relationship of ours that started with a school uniform. Come to think of it, I feel like she’s worn a school uniform during all the important parts of our relationship. I guess for her, wearing a school uniform in front of people is no big deal anymore. My girlfriend sure is amazing!
“...Hey, Momota-kun, you’re not thinking anything rude, are you?”
“No, I’m not. In fact, I’ve gained a new respect for you, Orihara-san.”
As we cheerfully bantered back and forth, we enjoyed the school festival. It was Orihara-san’s and, of course, my first school festival. I didn’t really have any kind of plan for showing her around, so the two of us casually walked around together; I didn’t try to be a perfect escort, and the two of us were able to stroll around together leisurely on what felt like a well-rounded date.
♡
“Wow, school festivals sure are amazing...”
Afternoon came, and we were outside of the school building. After wandering around the different areas of the festival, we sat down on a bench set up for the event.
“I’m so full... Overall, I think the quality of the food at this festival was pretty high. The crepes from the second year’s Class 3 were very elaborate, and the tapioca sweets of the second year’s Class 5 were very authentic. The pancakes that Kana-kun’s class made were also amazing... The outstanding quality of the pancakes’ appearance was the epitome of what you’d expect to be popular on Instagram... Oh. Of course, the soba noodles that you made were also delicious! They had a really reassuring flavor!”
“No, it’s fine, you don’t have to make any forced compliments.” I mean, I didn’t even make them. I only packed them.
“Aside from the food, there were a lot of other fun attractions like the haunted houses and escape room games. There obviously wasn’t all that much money spent, but the way they made up for their low budgets with ingenuity was really interesting.”
“It was. They really did knock it out of the park.” Like I mentioned before, many of the second-year students’ attractions were impressive. It was very clear that the classes had come together to give it their all and do their best for today.
I’m not the type of person who would work hard for the school festival, but...I felt a little regret after seeing all of those attractions that overflowed with enthusiasm. Hmm... I guess I should have worked as hard as Ura and Kana. Maybe next year I’ll try a little harder.
“...It makes me wonder after all,” Orihara-san suddenly said as she looked at the school building and the people walking by. “The way the two of us are walking around together in our school uniforms... It makes me think about what would have happened if you and I were the same age and went to the same high school.”
“Yeah...”
“I wonder if we would have been a couple if that were the case.”
“I wonder too. I’m sure you would have been really popular, so there’s a possibility that you wouldn’t have even bothered with me...”
“No way! I wouldn’t have been popular at all! I’m an introvert among introverts, after all. If it weren’t for Yuki-chan, there’s a chance I would have ended my high school career without talking to anyone...”
There we were, having an inane conversation about “what ifs” that there was no point in even thinking about. I wonder how many times we’d thought about what would happen if we were the same age. I feel like Orihara-san and I had probably both thought about it over and over again, and every time it cast a dark shadow over our hearts.
But Orihara-san’s expression didn’t darken, and my heart wasn’t clouded. We were just talking about it like it was something funny, without any hesitation or pretense. We weren’t regretting what we had now, we were just chatting about what might have been. In a paradoxical kind of way, it felt like we were affirming our current life, and it made me feel very at ease.
“Oh. We should exchange mail pics... I mean pics.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.” I took out my smartphone and decided to pretend for a moment that I didn’t hear her say “mail pics.” As we looked over the pictures we took today, we chose the ones we wanted to exchange with one another.
“We sure took a lot. But the only one we took together was this one.” It was a picture that the two of us took together at Ura’s class. Even though Orihara-san was wearing a school uniform, it was best to avoid standing out too much, so we weren’t asking anyone to take a picture of us together. However, when we went to Ura’s class, Ibusuki, who knew our situation, was kind enough to take one for us.
“I’m glad that Ura-kun came to school.”
“Yes, I’m really glad too...”
“By the way, Momota-kun... What did you mean when you said that stuff to Ura-kun as you left the class?”
“Oh, that? Well, it’s...kind of like a surprise.”
“A surprise?”
“The truth is...” Without tooting my own horn, I explained to her about the one surprise that I came up with when I was thinking about what I could do for Ura.
♦
Our class’s maid cafe was going all according to plan. We had a good turnout, and customer feedback was good. Naturally, there were problems, but they were all within expected parameters.
“Please change your dirty maid clothes now and wash them quickly. I learned how to clean them from the shop and I wrote it down on this paper, so hurry.”
“I-I got it.”
“It’s about time to punish the customers who’ve been staying too long. Use the male maid brigade that we prepared for the occasion. Give them some good service.”
“Wa ha ha! Leave it to us, Urano.”
“A single Dolce Gusto can’t keep up with the service? No problem. We’ll use the spare I brought from my house just in case and use two machines at once.”
“Wow, good thinking, Urano!”
I was dealing with a steady stream of problems in the part of the classroom which was partitioned off from the rest of the room. Whenever my classmates had an issue, they immediately dumped it all on me. I’m not so naive as to think that this was a sign of trust from them; I’m sure they were all just using me as a place to dump their problems.
In any case, it’s fine. Whatever the reason, it was better to remain busy. When I stayed busy like this, I didn’t have to think about anything else.
“Hey, Urano,” Ibusuki called out to me, so I poked my head out from behind the partition. I lifted my head and was taken aback with surprise. Ibusuki, who was serving the customers, was dressed in an authentic maid uniform that I had meticulously selected. Damn, it ticks me off how flustered it’s making me. Why does it have to look so good on her?!
“What is it?” I said in a calm voice, doing my best to suppress my inner feelings.
“You have a visitor.”
“A visitor?” What do you mean, I have a visitor? I have no idea who it could be. My mom? She said that she had something to do today and couldn’t come, but maybe she came as a surprise? “What kind of visitor?”
“Umm...a cute girl.”
“...?”
Who could that be?
I had no idea who it could be. Not knowing what to expect, I headed out from the space behind the partition and made my way to where the guest was.
“She’s right over there.” Ibusuki pointed to a seat in the corner. There was certainly a girl wearing normal clothes sitting there, but from where I was, I could only see the back of her head and couldn’t see her face. I had no choice but to get closer.
“U-Um...” I tried to call out to her, but she got up from her seat. Then she slowly turned around. When I saw her face, I thought my heart would stop.
“Long time no see, Ura.”