☾☾☾
“WHAT exactly is this?”
Even Lady Chouko, who rarely showed her emotions outright, pulled back in shock. I couldn’t blame her.
Aritomo had brought us in front of a group of muscular guys all wearing white blouses, tight indigo trousers, and cloth shoes with rubber soles.
“Hehehe. Check this out!” she said, pointing at a large open carriage-style vehicle with a place for riders to sit that was pulled by another person. Apparently it was referred to as a rickshaw.
“We can ride in this and hand out flyers that way. It’s genius! Who’s in charge of this?”
“Yo! The rugby team’s handling it!” one of the huge guys from the team boomed. “I’ll take you around for free since I hit you with that ball a while back.”
I remembered that first day back in April, when Aritomo had been hit with the rugby ball. She had them keep her in the hospital, but it really hadn’t been anything serious.
“He’s offering to do it for you, Aritomo, so go ahead and take him up on it!”
“Look, if we’re going to be using their services, at least having someone like Chouko Tsukuyomi riding around with us could also help them out. You know, kinda like an endorsement? Now come on, Urara Tendou.”
We made our way toward the two waiting vehicles. As Aritomo tried to help me aboard the single-rider one, a hand reached out and grabbed my arm.
“No, Urara. You ride with me.”
Lady Chouko fixed Aritomo with a hard look. She was the one helping us, after all, so it really wasn’t appropriate to argue with her. I nodded and took off my apron, then got in where normally a servant would be instead.
Aritomo, seated in the single-occupant vehicle, had put cat ears on her head at some point. She triumphantly exclaimed, “Let’s go!”
“She certainly is a lively girl.”
“She is. Looking at her is enough to energize me.”
Even if she did have a habit of dragging me into things.
The rickshaw gave a heavy lurch. I grabbed Lady Chouko’s arm without realizing it.
“Are you all right?” she asked, that lovely face of hers so close to mine.
“Yes, but this is a pretty bumpy ride. I thought it would be more like a horse-drawn carriage.”
“There are only two wheels, so unfortunately, it’s to be expected. You’ve ridden in a carriage before?”
I hadn’t been thinking about the fact that that was in my past life, not this one.
“In my past...sightseeing trips I have...”
“I see. Well, why don’t you come a little closer so the swaying isn’t so bad. Closer.”
She pulled me to her, so there was no space between us.
“Isn’t it a little tight in here?”
“Not at all. You can get closer.”
There was no way I could. And just as I was wondering how she intended for us to get any closer, a voice called out to stop us.
“What are you doing? I’ve been trying to find you. That’s an interesting ride you’ve got there.”
“Oh, Mitsuru. If you’d like a ride, go ask another member of the rugby team. It’s quite fun.” Lady Chouko greeted Mochizuki, Mikazuki, and Izayoi with a lovely smile as they eyed the rickshaw with great interest.
Their fervor elicited excitement from others in the crowd as well, many of them checking their maps to find where the rugby team was located. The team member pulling us looked pleased as well, giving us a thumbs-up.
Seeing everyone else having so much fun made me happy.
“Isn’t this fun, Chouko?” I said without even meaning to.
“Yes, it is, Urara,” she nodded with a broad smile, taking my hand in hers. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had during a school festival.”
Lady Chouko really must have felt lonely with so few friends.
“There’s still more festival tomorrow. Let’s do something fun together.”
Her smile grew even wider.
“You mean we can walk around together tomorrow, too?”
“Of course. And since we won’t have the flyers, it’ll be much easier,” I said with a giggle.
✦ ✦ ✦
☾☾☾
“SAKU was so mad at me,” Chouko said later with a giggle.
That wasn’t surprising. Because of Shinmyou’s work with the student council, he hadn’t been able to walk around the festival with the others.
More concerning was what had happened with Aritomo.
Once we finished distributing flyers, we returned our rickshaw to the rugby club’s drop-off point.
“I went a little overboard and left school property in the rickshaw,” she admitted when we got there.
That was against the rules. So of course she would get in trouble.
“The school might even stop letting students use the rickshaws because of you,” I admonished after I heard the whole story.
“I know that,” she said with a pout. “They said if I come to the discipline office tomorrow and write an essay about why what I did was wrong, they won’t involve the rugby team. So don’t give me another earful!”
That was a shame. The rugby team had gone too far as well, but it seemed Aritomo taking the blame was the best course of action.
“Well, Aritomo, I guess that means you won’t be on duty tomorrow, then. We’ll have to let the others know.”
“I already told Oboro. And I told him you’d be helping me with my essay, since I can’t do it on my own.”
“Why did you tell him that?!”
“Because I’d be totally bored on my own! And with someone who’s a better writer than I am, it’ll only take half a day! Please, partner—!”
Ugh. It was partially my fault, since I’d given her most of the flyers. And that glare from Lady Chouko wasn’t helping. I made a promise. I know.
You two. Please let me split my day in half so I don’t have to break my promises to either of you...