The day of the school festival had finally arrived. It was my first such event since starting high school, and I was a bit overwhelmed by just how much was going on.
Way more people than I’d imagined were stuffed into the school, and our class’s stand received a ton of customers.
“Number fourteen, your order is ready!”
We’d made numbered tickets in advance and handed them to customers when they ordered. So far, the takoyaki stand was doing well.
As expected, it was really crowded during lunchtime. But then the other classes, whose products required more expensive ingredients, began to close one after the other, sending all the afternoon guests straight to us. In the end, we were still operating at full capacity until after 3 PM.
I was part of the waitstaff. We were supposed to work in shifts, but all that fell apart in the face of the crowd, and I ended up working all day until we finally ran out of flour.
Despite all that, I enjoyed myself. It was pretty fun to run around the classroom with everyone else amid the exciting atmosphere of the festival. We closed up shop on the first day, pleased with our success.
“All right! A big thank you to everyone for working straight through the day! Now hurry up and go visit the other classes!”
The festival was open until 5 PM. Most of the food and drink stands had closed, but there was still time to go see plays and other exhibitions. For the former, final performances were about to start, so I’d have to hurry.
I looked around the classroom and saw that Sousuke and Kaoru had already headed out with other friends. In that case, I decided to go straight to the place I wanted to visit the most.
I’d hoped to see a few plays, but it was already too late for that today. Since I’d already put in my hours as waitstaff, all I had to do tomorrow was early morning prep. I could go see the plays after that.
I walked out into the hallway and looked at the other first-years’ offerings.
All the classes in my year had ended up doing food stands. One did yakisoba, and the other ramen. Both had already run out of ingredients and closed. The only people still around were tired students resting in their classrooms and their non-student friends visiting them.
“Takoyaki, yakisoba, and ramen, huh?”
I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the signs all lined up. It was exactly what Ai, Sousuke, and Kaoru had eaten at the cabana at the start of summer vacation. As I walked down the hall, I found myself wishing that there had been a fried rice stand, too.
Soon, I reached the farthest classroom and peeked in. There were still people inside.
This was Ai’s classroom. Her class was running a “bar.” They weren’t serving alcohol, of course. But the girls in the class, most of whom belonged to the cooking club, were making non-alcoholic cocktails for the guests.
It would have been tough for everyone in the class to memorize the recipes and make them perfectly, so the bartender roles were voluntary. Twelve people signed up in all, six for day one and six for day two. The bartenders worked tirelessly until the shop closed on their designated day, so they had the other one completely off.
Ai had told me all this beforehand.
I stood in the doorway and looked around the classroom.
“What do you need, sir?”
“Whoa!”
I suddenly heard a familiar voice whispering in my ear, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Everyone in the classroom looked up at me, and I felt my face flush.
I turned around, flustered, and saw Ai standing there, looking totally different from usual.
She wore our school uniform’s collared shirt adorned with a bow tie. In addition, she wore a black vest, slacks, and a sommelier’s apron. She looked like a real bartender, and it suited her so well that I was rendered speechless.
Her laughter was the only thing familiar about her.
“Ha-ha. I saw you standing there as I came back from the bathroom and couldn’t resist surprising you!”
“I can’t believe you sometimes…”
“Were you looking for me?”
“Of course. You told me to visit, remember?”
She laughed again and slipped past me into the classroom, still smiling. “There’s a seat right over there. Go ahead, sir.” She glanced at me, and I felt myself blushing again. Even the way she was walking was different from usual. Normally, she flounced about in her skirt, but since she was wearing pants, she stood up straighter and swayed her hips to the side as she walked. She was probably putting on an act as part of her character, but I was overwhelmed by how much she looked the part.
“This way, please,” she said.
“Yes, of course!”
When I responded extra politely, Ai giggled and reverted to her usual self for a moment, then quickly resumed her cool expression.
“This is our menu. My apologies, but the Scarlet Passion and Yellow Moon are all sold out for the day, so you’ll have to choose from the other two. Whichever you pick, I’ll pour my whole heart into making it!” She bowed, placing her hand over her chest.
I bowed slightly as my heart began to race. I looked at the menu and saw that the two remaining drinks were called Midnight Green and Marine Blue.
“Marine Blue, please,” I said quickly.
I thought that would be the best one for Ai to make for me, since she had the character for “blue” in her name.
It seemed she’d expected me to choose that one, and her eyes narrowed slightly as she smiled. “Coming right up.” She bowed again.
She scooped three ice cubes into a plastic cup, tilted it, and poured some Sprite inside, making sure the liquid didn’t touch the ice directly.
As I watched her, I remembered what she’d said on the way home the other day.
“Even though we’re trying to act cool and calling it a bar, we don’t have any shakers or any of the other tools, so we’re basically just pouring and mixing. That’s why it’s really important that we act like bartenders to make it convincing!”
I hadn’t understood what she meant at the time, but now that I saw her in action, it clicked.
She poured the soda into the cup as if she were a skilled bartender, then lifted it up to my eye level and drizzled blue syrup over the liquid. It spread inside the cup like smoke, creating a mysterious pattern.
She let me watch this process for a few moments, then stirred the drink several times. The syrup must have been heavier than the soda, because it gradually accumulated at the bottom of the cup, creating a gradient effect.
“This is Marine Blue, a taste of the ocean’s vastness,” Ai said in an unusually gentle and elegant voice as she placed the glass in front of me. “Please enjoy.”
“Th-thank you very much.” Still nervous, I bowed awkwardly.
She smiled. “If you don’t mind, would you take a sip and tell me what you think?”
“Huh…?”
The classroom was divided into two areas: six “counters”—a fancy way to say two desks pushed together—where bartenders served the drinks one-on-one, and a section consisting of a large table with chairs placed around it. After the bartender gave you your drink, you could either drink it at the table or take your cup with you while you visited other classrooms.
“But…” I had intended to move over to the table, so I glanced back at her, confused.
“It’s okay, there’s no line now,” she whispered. I looked around again and saw that only three of the six counters, including mine, had customers. It seemed the rush had died down.
I felt some of my tension dissipate, probably because Ai had spoken to me in her usual voice.
“All right, then…”
Ai resumed her mature expression and said, “Yes, please enjoy.”
I slowly brought the cup to my lips and took a sip of the mocktail she’d made.
“…Ah-ha-ha.” I couldn’t help but laugh.
Ai smiled slightly; she must have understood my reaction. Her eyes crinkled, and I could tell she was holding back laughter.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“It just tastes like Sprite,” I said.
“Ha-ha-ha!” She couldn’t take it anymore and burst out laughing, completely back to her usual self. After she’d gotten the laughter out of her system, she nodded. “That’s right. I just added a little syrup to it.”
“But the experience felt pretty authentic.”
“Right?” She laughed childishly.
My next words came out before I could think.
“…You were so cool, my heart skipped a beat,” I said, and she stared at me, her eyes wide.
The classroom was dimly lit to set the atmosphere, but I could see a shy smile spreading across her face.
“Heh-heh, really? …I’m glad.” She leaned in and whispered in my ear. “Tomorrow, let’s walk around together.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I wanna watch some plays.”
“That sounds great! I’d love to do that, too!”
After we chatted for a bit, I walked around the school with my cocktail, which was just blue Sprite.
The hallways were filled with excited students and their guests. But at the same time, there was a hint of relaxation in the air, like everyone was winding down as the first day came to a close.
We’d spent more than a month preparing for the festival, and just like that, it was already halfway over.
Surely, tomorrow would pass just as quickly, followed by the after-party. And then, we’d go back to our regular lives, attending school just as before.
The summer break I’d spent immersed in band practice already felt like a distant memory. What would be left after tomorrow’s after-party was done?
I hoped that, at the very least, all of us would have some great memories to cherish.
As I browsed the other stands, the first day of the festival came to an end.