4.3

First-year students and some of the third-year students were putting on a number of performances that resembled festival stalls. Some of them involved technological intervention, such as target practice, ring toss, or dropping marbles on a handmade platform to win prizes at multiple goals. The collection of prizes made the scene look a bit like a festival hall.

"Oh, it's Yukimura-kun and the others!"

Kei was the first to point and found Keisei, Sotomura, and the other boys busily preparing for the event. Perhaps because they had practiced baking food in their dormitories, they seemed to be doing it with a certain degree of dexterity.

Let's not interrupt them by talking to them carelessly.

"Shall we try our hand at ring toss?"

"I'll try! Oh, that stuffed animal is kind of cute. I might want one." Kei shouted and pointed from behind a student who was experiencing it first. It was a cute prize, a colorful bear.

Unfortunately, however, the ring toss was a demonstration. Even if they succeeded in the ring toss, they wouldn't receive any prizes. Even though the student council had a budget for the event, the number of prizes were limited.

If students took the prizes home today, it will be difficult to replenish them.

On the other hand, the shooting game that the 1st year Class B was putting on across the street seemed to be offering sweets as prizes, and they were giving them away if guests were successful. The prizes were cheap, starting at 10 points, and even the most expensive ones were worth about 200 points. I guess tommorow there will be prizes other than sweets, but this way, the test would be as good as the real thing.

"Try it, Kiyotaka!" She urged me to try it and lightly pushed me in front of a table where five shooting guns were placed in a row.

I was interested in the target shooting game, so I was willing to give it a try.

You're given five bullets per game. The gun seemed to be a type of toy called a cork gun, which was filled with cork and fires. Each of the guns lined up on the table seemed to be more heavily built than I had expected. The bullets, however, were distorted in shape, and it was doubtful that they can be shot with precision. I had never held a gun in my hands since I was born. I have a vague image of it from movies and TV dramas, but I am not sure if it's really true to the actual thing.

I can't even look at an example because there were no other students

participating in the event. So, from my imagination, I grabbed the gun in the middle of the room and held it up.

"Aim for the most expensive one."

In order to drop the highest priced assortment of candy, I need to shoot down a large weight. I wonder how powerful it really is. Let's give it a try first.

The first shot was fired while receiving enthusiastic cheers from Kei. With a light "pop" sound, the cork bullet was fired and approached the weight I had set as my target.

However, the bullet passed through a few centimeters to the left of the weight without delay. My percieved aim was that it should have hit the target with pinpoint accuracy, but the trajectory was completely different. Then, I shifted the muzzle a few centimeters to the right and fired a second shot. I thought I had corrected the trajectory perfectly, but this time it passed diagonally to the right and missed.

"This is pretty hard..."

As I was loading the third shot, the other students began to join in one by one. I decided to watch the other students and try to further correct the trajectory.

However, the students firing their guns were struggling to aim as well as I was.

One of the students fired a bullet that hit a weight from the first shot. It did not fall down, but he succeeded in pushing it back.

Continuing to observe to see if there was some trick to it, I discovered that it was not due to my skill, but due to each gun, which looked the same, having a different performance. The millimeter-by-millimeter discrepancies in the manufacturing process and the quality of the bullet cork itself. Various things combined to create an unexpected trajectory with each shot. It was a very interesting system, but at the same time, I understood how difficult it was to shoot and drop the target.

As a result, only the last shot was able to hit the weight that I had originally aimed at, but it was not an easy target to hit, and my first target shooting ended in a disastrous failure. However, I now understood the tendency of the gun itself.

Now, if I could only predict the trajectory of the bullet when fired based on the shape of the cork, I could try again… That's what I thought, but then I noticed a sign that said "Only one challenge per person today" and gave up.

"Ain't no way. The big bad Ayanokouji himself is a shitty shooter?"

Just as I put my gun back, Hōsen came out from behind the stall, laughing with a funny smile on his face. Hōsen's first year Class D stalls specialized in "games."

"This is surprising. I didn't expect you to put on such a show."

The idea was that these trivial prizes from target shooting and ring tossing

were means to return adults to their inner-child.

"When I was a kid, I used to make a killin' with the adults at these kinda stalls."

What kind of childhood was that...

"I really wanted to do more serious gambling, but the shitty school turned me down 'cause of the rules or whatever. Really though, target shooting? It's the same thing as gambling. This kinda gambling is designed so that the house can win about all the time. It's a one-time cultural festival, so ain't no way they'll know they're getting ripped off."

He took out his lighter and put it on the shelf, then came over to this side of the table and picked up the second gun from the far left. The bullet fired from the projectile gun he held up flew straighter than I had imagined and hit the lighter. It shook, but showed no sign of falling over.

"If they ain't able to take the limited prizes, it won't be a problem."

"Wouldn't that keep the customers from coming back?"

"Nah, not if we add value to the shitty prizes and hand them out regularly."

Hōsen had a plan. If the participation prizes were not attractive, adults might shy away. What appeared to be a participation prize peeked out of the basket. They had prepared a large number of student photos, both male and female, using a printing press and laminated them in various patterns for handmade prizes.

"It's a good way to show off as an adult that you gotta memory of participatin' in a cultural festival."

The fact that many politician-related people will be attending means that some will communicate their participation in the festival as a kind of charity or community activity.

Announcing that the students were given pictures of the festival would also help to create a positive impression. After parting ways with Hōsen, who was surprisingly thinking things through, I returned to Kei, who was waiting for me.

"I couldn't win it."

Kei grined happily and poked me in the stomach area with her elbow.

"You look pretty happy even though you didn't get any prizes."

"Because I got to see Kiyotaka's cuteness. I'm super satisfied as far as I'm concerned."

"What do you mean, 'cuteness'?"

I had no good points at all during that time.

"I was happy that it wasn't like an anime, where you hit it on the first shot. I realized again that you can't do everything."

That's true. My approach was based on experience. Unless I had some

material from my past experience to draw on, there was no way I was going to do well on my first shot, toy or otherwise.

"That's cute, huh? I feel like you usually want your boyfriends to be cool."

"I've been shown enough of that."

She didn't blame me, but rather, Kei's emotions seemed to take pleasure in the fact that I didn't take the prize.

As I strolled around looking for other interesting offerings, I spotted Ishizaki.

"Yo, Ayanokōji!"

"Looks like something kind of unusual is being put on."

"Yes, it is, isn't it? It's an idea of mine and Albert's, you know.

"Wow, how did an enforcer like you get permission from Ryūen to do this?

You couldn't even set up a birthday party." Kei stared at Ishizaki suspiciously.

"I wanted to make it happen! I made a proposal just like you told me to do, and I got kicked out of it..."

He held his abdomen as if he was remembering that moment. It was coincidentally on October 20, the day of my and Ryūen's birthdays. Ishizaki planned a birthday party for both of us. However, in order to make it happen, he needed to persuade Kei, and her condition was that Ryūen must apologize directly to her for what he did on the rooftop and bow down to her.

Naturally, Ryūen did not accept Kei's harsh conditions.

"But I'll get my revenge next year! You'll just have to wait for me!"

"No one's going to wait for you. So, what kind of booth are you putting up?"

"Who cares? Do you care? Okay, you guys go ahead and give it a try."

All that was provided was a desk and cardboard. The disposable chopsticks and cups on the table gave the impression of dining, but is it really?

"What is this?"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

Ishizaki then instructed Albert to take out tools from a cardboard box.

They were a bag of protein and a bag of citric acid. Both are familiar to those who take them during muscle training and other activities.

"This is chocolate flavored protein. Well, just take a light lick."

Two small bite-sized paper cups were prepared with Ishizaki's chocolate-flavored protein.

"I don't want it."

Kei refused to drink it as soon as it was served.

"Oh, don't be like that. It's just protein."

"I've never had protein before, and I don't want to. I'm not trying to get

muscular.

"You can't build muscle just by drinking protein shakes." Albert steped forward and mumbled English.

"Huh? What?"

"Don't worry about that. You can't build muscle by just drinking protein shakes. That's right. Since we're here, why don't you two give it a try?"

To be honest, I was a little curious to see what Ishizaki would do.

I took the initiative, picked up a paper cup, and drank the protein. It may have been made by a different manufacturer than the one I used to drink, but it tasted a little like the old days.

"Well, I'll drink it for you then, just in case... it's bad."

Kei, on the other hand, who drank protein for the first time, frowned as if it didn't taste good.

"Tastes bad? Well, it's not undrinkable, right?"

"It's not undrinkable, but I don't really want to drink it."

"Well, you need a palate cleanser."

Water was handed to me, perhaps to rinse out my mouth. By the time I finished drinking it, Ishizaki was ready to move on.

"Next, this way."

With that, he prepared a citric acid drink, this time in another paper cup.

"Well, it's citric acid, I guess."

"I think I like this one better."

We muttered our impressions of the citric acid drink to each other.

"Well, that's the last one. The two you just drank aren't bad, are they?"

"I didn't like the protein."

"You're good, Karuizawa, how about Ayanokōji?"

"Yes, it wasn't bad at all."

Hearing this, Ishizaki laughed happily.

"By the way. If you add citric acid to this chocolate-flavored protein, you get a very strange taste."

He handed me the mixed protein and held it close to my mouth. It seemed like killing two birds with one stone, since both the protein intake and the citric acid intake are not bad.

"Now drink both of them at the same time."

"I'm kind of scared."

"Well, let's drink it."

We tipped our paper cups and started drinking.

But the moment I put it

in my mouth, I involuntarily stiffened at the taste spreading from the surface of my tongue.

"Shit!" Kei screamed next to me and spat it out on the spot. She then made a vomiting gesture while thrashing about, strongly appealing the others.

"This, that, that tastes like vomit! Eeeeee!"

I remembered that taste too. When I was taught martial arts, I was hit with a powerful fist to the abdomen, and the stomach acid that rose from my body alongside the food I was digesting came up. The smell and taste that spread in my mouth, it was something close to that.

"Hahaha! Yes! That's funny!"

"Not funny! Water!!!"

Pushing away Ishizaki, who was laughing exasperatingly, Kei drank from the water bottle

"This is, how can I say this, certainly a mystery drink."

"Even the quintessential Ayanokōji is a bit taken back."

Not only was it not tasty, but it honestly didn't taste edible. The tension plummeted.

"I'm going to surprise my customers tomorrow. For 500 points a cup, I'm going to offer them a magical experience."

"I'm amazed that Ryūen allowed you to do this."

I'm more surprised about that as well.

"He said, 'Do whatever you want with your points. We're doing something else tomorrow.'"

I see. So Ishizaki is just going to rent the extra space for himself. Then the expenses would be minimal, and, well, it's no wonder that about 10 guests would at least be curious about the experience.

"Ugh, a fun date turned into the worst..."

After that, Kei just kept giving Ishizaki resentful glances until she left the place. Their relationship, which seemed to have improved a bit, may be back to square one.

After finishing our reconnaissance while genuinely enjoying a few of the activities, I returned with Kei to the maid café. The classroom was filled with students, who seemed to be enjoying talking to the maids as they pleased. When one of the students occasionally deviated from the moral line and persistently called out to them, Sudō intervened, forcibly interrupted them, and asked them to leave the room. He suited the role of a bodyguard and was in charge of dealing with trouble.

The two-hour festival simulation would soon be over. I discussed with Horikita whether or not we needed to make any changes to the final staffing for tomorrow.

As I, Sudō, and the other boys started cleaning up, Onodera showed up.

"We're done here, too," Onodera said. "I wish I could have seen everyone's maid outfits." Onodera, who had been sent out to the outdoor stalls, made a disappointed sound as soon as she returned.

"You wanted to see the maids?"

"I like cute things too. Besides, I'm not the kind of person who looks good in a maid's uniform, my legs are too thick."

"You don't know if it looks good on you or not until you try it on."

"With the limited clothes we have, I'm sure they won't even fit my size."

Onodera then replied with a wry smile, saying that it was impossible for her.

Because of her commitment to swimming, Onodera has a well-trained body, including broad shoulders and legs that are more developed than most girls. If we were to provide her with a size-fit maid uniform, it would inevitably be made exclusively for Onodera. Sudō crouched down and moved his gaze closer to Onodera's thighs.

"Wait, hey Sudō-kun!"

"They're the legs of a well-trained athlete. Well, it's certainly a little different from what you'd call a maid." He placed his finger to his chin and said exactly what he thought.

"I'm so embarrassed!" Onodera blushed and ran out of the classroom like a rabbit.

"What's with her?"

As I watched the two of them interact, I could feel the obvious change in Onodera up close. The two of them were not only the same, but they were also very close to each other. However, Sudō didn't seem to have noticed this, perhaps because he had never shown any affection to Onodera before, or perhaps he had never even sensed the presence of affection before.

It would be nice if both arrows were facing each other, but as it was, both arrows were going the opposite way. I haven't learned much about love, but I do know that the basic rule in these situations was to keep a warm eye on the people involved. However, that was why my curiosity and urge to see the result of a different pattern came over me. If I go against the "rules," will they no longer make it as a couple?

"Don't you understand? Why Onodera behaved like that? The same feelings you have for Horikita, Onodera has for you."

"What?"

I said it in a slightly roundabout way, so Sudō didn't immediately understand. However, Sudo wasn't so rock-headed that he couldn't understand what

I was saying at all.

"Huh? Onodera… me?"

"Yeah."

"No, no, that ain't it." He seemed to have thought about it seriously, but denied that it could be true.

This was also a natural reaction.

"Onodera might not have been interested in you at first, but you've been showing remarkable growth these days. It wouldn't be surprising if she became aware of you as a member of the opposite sex, right?"

Little by little, Sudō's face turned grim as he began to reorganize his thoughts.

"What the hell... why me?"

"Of course, there's no guarantee. If you want to know the truth, it might be important to observe Onodera carefully and try to understand her."

"But, hey... I..."

Nothing else needed to be said to understand the situation. Right now, Sudō's feelings were strongly directed toward Horikita. That was why I wanted him to show me how he'll change from this unnecessary comment of mine.

Will he move closer to Horikita or sway toward Onodera? Or will he change into an unexpected third party?

"No. I'm getting a little confused, I'm going to go cool off while I go see the food stalls."

You'll have to think long and hard to come up with an answer.

"Kiyotaka-kun, was that… okay?"

Yōsuke, who was standing by, seemed to have heard my conversation.

"I don't think you should have interfered."

"Is that so? Well, I'm sorry if that was careless of me. I'm still learning how this works." I apologized to Yōsuke with a blank expression on my face.

A little while later, it was time for the preliminaries to end.

"Good work, everyone. That's all for today. If there are any reassignments for tomorrow's show, I'll call you from my cell phone by 9 pm."

After all the cleanup was done, all preparations for tomorrow were complete.

The students were already on their way home for tomorrow's performance.

Only two people remained in the classroom, me and Horikita.

"I've been thinking about it a lot, but it just doesn't feel right for you to be a maid," I said.

"I don't want to do it, but it would be nice to have more hands, wouldn't it? It would have been a little easier if your girlfriend had cooperated."

"I'm sorry, but it's out of my jurisdiction. I've left it to Kei's will."

It seemed that Satō and the others, including me, had approached Kei, but she refused to wear the maid's uniform.

I haven't heard what the reason was, but I guess it was because she didn't want to change clothes rather than because it was too much trouble or because she wasn't suited for customer service.

Not everyone understood Kei's body and her past.

"I'm just kidding. It's not something you force anyone to wear. If you're unwilling to wear it, it won't make you look good to tomorrow's guests."

"Here, look through this. I've made some adjustments based on today's simulation."

I handed the notebook to Horikita for a final check.

"Thank you. It looks like the schedule you've put together is going to be fine."

Horikita looked up from her notebook, "All festival participants are required to take a one-hour break before the end of the festival after notifying their homeroom teacher."

During this break, they are forbidden from assisting with any of the stalls and must coordinate their workers, whether they are busy or not.