That’s why even Seiya was surprised when he found himself saying: “I see. ...Okay, I’ll do it.”
They must have been expecting him to refuse, because they all seemed stunned by his response. Manager for a mock cafe at a culture festival... it shouldn’t be that difficult a job. Carving out one hour per day for it should be all that was needed. He’d be all tied up during the festival days themselves, but he could probably work it out.
It was the change of heart that surprised him. Ah, it should be fine, was the last response he’d expected to give. He’d spent all these months reminding himself that the park had to come first. Yet somehow, he’d found himself thinking, what’s the harm? It’ll work out, right? It’s not like I’m getting three million people, anyway, and I came up with a better solution just the other day. If I can get it to work, then I won’t need to scramble like before. It was this feeling that had inspired him to say, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Huh? Kanie-kun? Are you serious?” the class representative asked, clearly not expecting Seiya to accept.
“Hmm...” Seiya thought it over again. Was he serious? But... really, what was the big deal? Actually, it might prove to be a welcome change of pace. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll do it.”
Only ten minutes later, the rumors had spread all throughout school, traveling by word of mouth, LINE, and other minor social media programs: the high-and-mighty perpetual loner, Kanie Seiya, was taking a job for the culture festival. And as manager, at that! The class 2-4 cafe would be something to watch. What had led to that change of heart? Did he have some kind of scheme going?
“I was in Kanie-kun’s class in first year. He never seemed like the team player type to me,” said a gossipy girl from class two to Sento Isuzu. They were standing around the shoe cabinets on the way out of school.
Isuzu couldn’t believe her ears. Seiya-kun is doing what? Putting his park work on the back-burner to manage some culture festival’s trivial (sorry) fake cafe?
“...What’s wrong, Isuzu-san?” the gossipy girl asked innocently.
“Oh. Nothing...” There was no surprise for her to hide; Isuzu’s face was always impassive.
Still, she couldn’t understand it—this was a crucial time for the park. The peak season for summer vacation was at an end, and things would get colder as they moved from autumn into winter. Colder weather meant fewer guests, which meant they’d need to work even harder if they wanted to get close to that unreasonable three million attendance number (although it seemed unreachable, even so).
And now he wanted to manage the culture festival? Isuzu found herself nervous and worried, more so than angry. She would have to question him about this later.
“Anyway, what have you got for our class project?” the gossipy girl chattered on. “The yakisoba museum... I can’t think of any original dishes.”
“Yakisoba museum” was the project that Isuzu’s class had decided on. The menu was all yakisoba, with an emphasis on presenting a wide variety—Osaka-style, Kyoto-style, Tokyo-style, etc. They also wanted to include some original yakisoba concepts, so the class would pitch their own during the next meeting.
“Really? I have, myself...” Isuzu had a plan: Whole cucumber yakisoba. It was a simple yakisoba with a whole cucumber nested on top. A brilliant idea, if she did say so herself. When thinking of what to offer your customers, you should always think first about what you yourself would want. This one, then, would surely be well received. They might run out of stock, even. They’d need to secure a large number of cucumbers.
“Wow, you seem pretty confident,” said her gossipy classmate. “Tell me what it is!”
“All right... But you’ll keep it a secret, won’t you?” Isuzu didn’t want other people hearing her incredible original idea; someone might try to steal it. Once the whole cucumber yakisoba was a proven hit, she might even try adding it to AmaBri’s snack bar menu.
“Ah... sure. I won’t tell.”
“Good. This is just between you and me, then...” Isuzu explained.
The girl’s eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open, and her expression changed to an awkward smile. “Ah... er. That’s... nice? But a whole cucumber is... it’s a lot, isn’t it?”
“Hardly,” Isuzu scoffed. “One whole cucumber is, if anything, too little. But given the profit margins required, I determined that a single cucumber was most practical.”
“I... I see.”
“I’m sorry to repeat myself, but please don’t tell anyone.”
“R-Right. I won’t tell anyone.”
“If you ask me, it’s the only menu item we’ll need,” Isuzu asserted confidently.
“Y-You... you think, huh?”
She noticed that her classmate’s expression looked exactly like Muse’s when the three stooges of AmaBri shared a dirty joke with her. I wonder why...
“Ah, anyway... look!” Her friend, forcing a change of subject, pointed to a bus on the road passing in front of the school gate. It was covered in a full-color advertisement; on its side was a large print of a woman in a bikini. The image was cut off from the chin up, so you couldn’t see her face. It wasn’t quite to the point of vulgarity, but it was an evocative image that emphasized her cleavage and her waist. The Elementario girls could be seen in the background, playing around in swimsuits.
Beside the pinup-like image was a statement in easy-to-read bold font: “Autumn is for food! Autumn is for... pools?! The Dead Pool is open in autumn! Amagi Brilliant Park!” They’d erected a basic metallic frame and tent around the outdoor pool to convert it into an indoor one. It wouldn’t withstand the cold of mid-winter, but it could at least stay heated through November or so. That’s why they were advertising it as being ‘open for autumn.’ It was an idea pitched by the Splash Ocean cast, who always saw their numbers drop dramatically after summer pool season was over. Most amusement parks wouldn’t be capable of such a feat, but with the Mogute Clan working for them, AmaBri could get it done; Seiya had given the go-ahead immediately.
Of course, as head of the secretarial department, Isuzu knew about the bus. But this was her first time seeing it in the wild. She personally disliked the design, which had been prepared by the head of administration, Tricen... but she’d been forced to approve it. She couldn’t deny that it drew the eye, when it even drew hers.
“AmaBri’s doing an indoor pool,” said her friend. “We’ve been talking about going some time.”
“I see,” Isuzu said noncommittally. “That’s... good.”
“Want to come along?”
“I’m not sure. It will depend on my shifts at work. If I can go, I will.” That’s what Isuzu said, but she typically ended up bowing out every time. She felt bad for her classmates, but she really did mean it when she said she would go if she could. The fact was, she simply didn’t have a choice.
“Oh, sure. I’ll let you know when we’ve picked the day. But... that’s really something, huh?” She was gazing at the bikini-clad body plastered huge on the side of the bus. “I wonder if she’s foreign. She’s curvy, right? Totally stacked.”