Side Story: The Lady and the School Festival
“I guess raising my affection stats really is hard without triggering an event.”
I think I was supposed to say yes to that, but I didn’t really feel much like answering.
“Don’t you think so, Urara Tendou?!”
“...Yes.”
My answer lacked any of her brand of enthusiasm, but I was going to need all my energy to refuse whatever was coming next. Aritomo turned to the front of the classroom, balled up her fist, and pumped it into the air.
“All right! Tendou and I will be waitresses.”
Wait, how’s that again?!
Our class had chosen to do a retro-style café for the upcoming school festival. We would use teahouses from the Taisho and Showa periods as inspiration. The girls would be waitresses, wearing kimonos and full aprons, while the boys would wear collarless shirts with black aprons to ensure the customers’ needs.
However, St. Delia’s was a school for the well-to-do, which meant many students, especially girls, resisted the idea of waiting tables.
I hated standing out myself and would have preferred working in the kitchen, but Aritomo had pushed me into being a waitress.
“Is there supposed to be some sort of...event at the school festival?” I asked in a voice low enough that no one else would hear.
“No. The game’s school festival always had you meet with one of the boys at random and have them compliment you, but you barely got any stat increases. There weren’t even any CGs during it.”
“Well then, why put any extra effort into trying to stand out at all?”
The faint light of hope flickered before me.
“I need any stat increases I can get! And what’s the point if you don’t stand out?”
No, really, I don’t think we need to stand out.
“Thank you both. No one’s volunteering, so we appreciate it,” our class representative said from the front of the room. Now I definitely couldn’t back out.
A few seats away, I could hear a voice that lacked any hint of affection.
“Ooh, leave it to the newcomers. I could never debase myself by waiting tables like that,” our classmate Aoyama said. To Aritomo, this was essentially a declaration of war.
“Oh? It’s not like I’ve ever done it before, either. But I’ll make an exception for the school festival. You all should be offering to pitch in just the same.”
That was a pretty good response. Throughout the room, I could hear murmurs of agreement.
“Okay, I’ll be a waiter, too. It’s our school festival, after all. We should enjoy it.”
After Shimozuru volunteered himself with a smile, others began to take up their parts as well. Aoyama even offered to help make the black tea. Everyone in Shimozuru’s group had so much influence.
I had hoped to be the one brewing the tea in the back, though, so I was a little disappointed.
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☾☾☾
“WELCOME.”
We had attached an antique doorbell to our classroom door. Each time a new customer entered, the bell let us know.
St. Delia’s middle and high school festivals were the first Saturday in June, but the first day was only for students from all divisions, their families, and special guests to attend. Perhaps because of that, it was rather lively, though not as much as it would be the day we opened to the public.
“Wow, you all really nailed the setting.”
“That’s because we managed to get that sweet antique doorbell.”
“The menu is more important than the decor at a café. Waiter, bring me a menu.”
With so many people flooding into our classroom, it was creating quite a commotion.
“You guys are so loud. Can you all please quiet down when you’re here?”
Shimozuru was the waiter Mochizuki had summoned for his all-important menu. He brought it, along with some complaints.
“We’re not making all that noise. All right, Oboro, what do you recommend?”
“Our light fare was imported from La Riche, so no matter what you pick, you can’t go wrong.”
Mochizuki was right—it wasn’t they who were being loud. It was the gaggle of girls who had followed them in. Because I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, I stayed away from them, hiding instead in the space marked out as our kitchen. Aritomo, however, came and grabbed me by the arm.
“Welcome!”
She dragged me back out to help her wait on Mochizuki and his friends.
“Oh, how cute. Whose idea was this?”
“It’s like a fantasy version of the Taisho and Showa periods. Those uniforms suit you.”
Aritomo seemed to be eating up all the compliments, but I felt embarrassed. I wasn’t used to the braid or to walking around in my kimono, so I hid behind my tray and gave a shy greeting.
“W-Welcome.”
Just then, I heard a loud clatter at one of the tables. I turned back to see Lady Chouko, her eyes wide, standing up partway.
“Urara...y-you’re so cute.”
“Thank you so much, Chouko. But this is a little embarrassing.”
I was so happy she complimented me, but it made me feel a little nervous, so I tugged anxiously on the string of my apron, instead accidentally pulling loose the cord holding my kimono closed. Before I realized what was going on, Lady Chouko was out of her seat, leaping behind me and quickly retying it.
“Thank you very much.”
“It’s no trouble, my cute little waitress. Now then, would you please take my order?”
“Of course,” I said, but from over my shoulder, someone called to us from the kitchen.
“Tendou, Aritomo, isn’t it time for the two of you to go do some advertising for us? Please see that you do,” Aoyama said, glancing at the clock.
“Sorry, Lady Chouko. We have to go, so I’m afraid someone else will have to take your order.”
I dragged Aritomo along. We were supposed to go out to other areas of the festival for an hour and hand out flyers for our booth to spread the word. But Aritomo was intent on staying with her love interests. I kept repeating over and over, “You said you would give the festival your all,” and she finally, reluctantly, agreed.
“Hey, these are heavy! Why do we have so many?!”
“There certainly are a lot. Why are there so many?”
When we voiced our objections to Aoyama, she merely snorted at us.
“That’s just the way it is. This is a new experience for everyone. But surely the two of you can handle something so menial. Please and thank you.”
It was clear that the last several people given this task hadn’t been doing their jobs, so we were being saddled with all their leftover work. Aritomo seemed so angry that she was about to explode.
If I didn’t get her under control, the number of flyers would be the least of our troubles.
“Uh—”
“My, you sure have your hands full. Let me help, too, Urara.”
I had been interrupted again, but coming from this person, it was worth it.
“Chouko, what are you doing back here?”
“Don’t worry about that. Let me help you. Give me some of those flyers.”
She took the stack from Aritomo, lifting them with ease. How could she carry them as if they were nothing like that?
“Let’s be off. We have to hand them out so you can hurry up and come back.”
Lady Chouko gave Aoyama a hard stare. Aoyama looked like someone who had just found a fly in their soup. Lady Chouko then started off with the two of us in tow.
“I expect no less from you, Chouko Tsukuyomi. Just like that, you shut that snob right up.”
“Snob? You mean Aoyama? Isn’t it a little rude to call her that?”
“Nah, not for her. Honestly, I think they saved all these flyers for us on purpose. It was stupid for them to print so many in the first place. They make me so mad.”
People were staring at us in our classic teahouse costumes. Even when we didn’t approach them, they would come to us for flyers. Because of that, we were quickly able to meet our quota.
“Since we actually have Chouko with us, let’s keep going.”
“You’re right, but we still have over half a stack left. What do we do?”
She was right; there were still so many to go. I was trying to come up with a solution when Lady Chouko spotted someone who was apparently an acquaintance and broke away to speak to them.
As we stood in the courtyard, watching the flurry of activity, I continued to think, but then Aritomo got a mischievous look in her eye.
“I found something interesting!”
...I had a bad feeling about this.