"One mana potion and one elixir~."
"Okay~."
After the quiz showdown on stage, Masachika and Alya came to help
with the class's project. The committee was expected to be busier tomorrow
because of the outside guests, so they thought they would at least help out
as much as they could while they still can.
"Kuze-kun~, It looks pretty good on you, huh~?"
"Haha, thanks... I'm more embarrassed than I thought, though,
huh?"
"We've all been down this road, so give it up. I've gotten used to it."
"Quite right, the class chair has a different look...!"
"Hmph, call me Guildmaster."
The guy with the grinning smile on his face was a big guy from the
Judo club. His stout body was clad in an over-decorated coat with a huge
collar, and his strong face gave him the air resembling that of a leader of a
band of thieves... Or rather, the head of an adventurer's guild.
(In case you're wondering, the original concept was supposed to be a
coffee shop... Well, think of it as a cosplay coffee shop.)
Chuckling a little at the lack of 'coffee shop elements' in the class
restaurant, Masachika pulled out a plastic bottle from the cooler box.
Since the customers are also students of the school, and there was a
reasonable number of them, it was relatively easy to take care of the store.
Still, he was a little concerned about... the fact that the robe and pointy hat
he wore as a wizard costume would be hotter and more distracting than he
expected.
(It rubs on the floor every time I crouch down, it flutters around and
gets dusty, and... the brim is too wide, so clearly it's not suitable for
customer service.)
Frowning slightly at the robe that clung to his legs at every turn,
Masachika placed the paper cup he had poured his drink into on the tray.
Then a girl in the class dressed as a female knight carries it to the
customer's seat.
(Such a difference in terms of quality...)
Masachika's face became inexplicable as he looked away from them.
His cloak was cheap, and while her shield and sword were made of paper
and cardboard, the quality of her armor was quite good, as it seems that the
elaborate students in the class had taken it quite seriously. Masachika was
dressed up as a child at the very least, but that would work well enough as a
cosplay. Thanks to this, Masachika subtly narrowed his shoulders. Also, that
judo member from earlier? That's not cosplay, but who he was normally.
(Well, I'm in charge of the kitchen, so I don't mind... By the way,
when is Alya coming?)
Since they had the same shift, Alisa also came to the classroom with
Masachika. Immediately after that, however, Alya was taken away by three
girls from her class who were waiting for her, and she had not returned yet
even though it had been more than 15 minutes since her arrival.
(It's already past the start time of the shift... okay? Well, I can totally
turn it around if I feel like it.)
Looking around the classroom, students who had come as guests
were discussing with difficult looks on their faces, drinks in hand.
"I think the base is ginger ale, but I don't know what it is... I've had it
somewhere before."
"Could this... possibly have cocoa in it? It tastes kind of
nostalgic..."
"Hey, I'm tasting something like dried plums in the background... Is
it my imagination?"
"What, seriously?"
What they do is guess the recipe for each drink. The original plan
was just to serve drinks, but one of the boys came up with the idea of writing
on the back of the menu what was mixed in the drink and asking people to
guess what it was while drinking it. There were no prizes for guessing the
correct answer, but from the looks of it, it seemed to be a pretty exciting
event.
Naturally, if we do this, customers will stay longer and the
restaurant's turnover rate will drop. However, that was not a big problem, as
we had originally aimed for a project that did not require much manpower.
(We're not really aiming for an Award of Excellence or the Special
Award... This is just about right.)
The Award of Excellence is an award given to the most popular
project based on a survey by students and visitors. The Special Award is
given to the project that generates the most sales. Some classes and clubs
were serious about winning these awards, but this time, Masachika's class
was prepared to go through without aiming for it.
(As for the special awards in the first place, you can never beat the
places that use their parents' connections and other people to open
ridiculously gorgeous stalls...)
As Masachika was thinking about this, the classroom door rattled
open and an Elf... entered.
"Huh?"
Masachika expressed a tone so unintentionally stupid that he
sounded like an idiot. But it was not only him. The students in the
classroom, no matter whether they were customers or class members,
looked awestruck and stunned by the sudden appearance of an inhabitant
of another world.
"Yes, here you go~!"
There, the female student who was pushing the back of Elf-san,
shouted with amusement. Behind them, the two other girls who abducted
Alisa appeared and looked amused at the reaction in the classroom.
"Aha, what a good response~!"
"It was worth the effort...!"
"We worked so hard..."
The three girls seemed to have done it all. Masachika fearfully
approached the Elf, who had a mixed expression of embarrassment and
shame on her face, and called out to her.
"...Alya?"
Alisa, aka Elf-san, turned her head for a moment at Masachika's
words and then quickly turned away. Her ears were long and pointed,
poking out from between her silver hair, and she was dressed in a white and
green one-piece dress. That's about it as far as cosplay goes, and she
doesn't seem to be wearing any makeup or anything like that, but if Alisa,
who has even just an ubiquitous beauty, dresses like that, she's going to
be...
(No, she doesn't look like a full-fledged human being.)
Even so, she had a "foreign face that Japanese people can easily get
used to," as if she were a two-dimensional inhabitant. There, with ears
perked up and dressed in an otherworldly outfit, she was now a full-blown
elf. How can such a beautiful girl be human?
[I took a brave step forward and arrived in a... different world...]
And then Alisa's cynical Russian, with a downcast and slightly distant
look in her eyes, reached his ears, and Masachika came back to himself. He
cleared his throat lightly and called out to Alisa again.
"You look great... Wow, you look beautiful."
As soon as Masachika said that, the three female students who had
abducted Alya made a teasing "hoo~♪" sound. But soon after, students in
the classroom came rushing in, making no distinction between customers
and servers, and they quickly went up to them.
"Wow, that's a real elf! It's a real elf!"
"This is so unfair... We Japanese will never win something like this."
"Can I take a picture?! Just one picture!"
Standing in front of the boys, who swarmed around them, the three
girls looked menacing with their thug-like expressions.
"Don't come any closer!"
"Don't take a picture of her! No, we are not going to take your
money!"
"Don't you know the basic rules of cosplay? You'll be kicked out of
the venue if you take a picture without permission!"
...In case you were wondering, they were supposed to be innocent
daughters from good families. They were definitely not the kind of girls who
would usually talk like this. Looking at Alisa's appearance here, perhaps
they had an extraordinary obsession when it comes to cosplay.
(What does that mean? Could it be that all three of them are in the
crafts club? Oh... that makes sense. There were a lot of passionate...
people there.)
Masachika's eyes were a little distant as he recalled the past with the
handicraft club. Then Alisa glanced at Masachika, shyly covering her ears
with her hands.
"Oh, don't look at me too much, it's... embarrassing."
"...No, if you're embarrassed by that quality, what about me?"
At these words, Alya also looked at Masachika's pointy hat and robe
and raised the corners of her mouth a little.
"Well... It's good, isn't it?"
"Isn't it ridiculous?"
"That's not true, okay? And if you had a wand with a star on the end,
it would be perfect."
"This isn't a playground."
At Masachika's response, Alya put her hand over her mouth and let
out a giggle. The boys who had gathered around her excitedly opened their
mouths as if their souls had been drained by her soft smile.
"Ah, Princess Alya is smiling......"
"Eh, so cute!"
"I thought she'd be colder since she's the 'ice princess'... but she's
even laughing."
"No, no, no, senpai! Isn't this rare!?"
After a moment of silence, the stunned and surprised voices
overflowed. When Alisa looked a little amused by them, she raised her
eyebrows and tried to adjust her expression. The three girls of the
handicrafts club quickly shooed away the boys, who groaned "Oh......"
with disappointment. With this scene at her side, Alya looked down at her
own body and muttered to herself.
"I don't know much about elves to begin with. ...What kind of
character are they?"
"They aren't characters, they're a race. It is one of the common races
that appear in fantasy worlds. They are a race of long-eared creatures that
live with nature in the forest, both the males and females are beautiful, and
although they live for hundreds of years, their outer growth stops when they
are in their 20s. They are proud and closed-minded, and do not get along
well with humans."
"...so."
Masachika, who had been casually explaining the situation, noticed
that Alya's voice was a little depressed when he answered, and he
hastened to explain. He glanced at the three girls from the handicraft club
behind him and quickly followed up with a whisper.
"Oh, hey... I don't think that cosplay was chosen because you have
an elf-like personality or anything like that. I think it's simply because Elves
are usually representative of a beautiful foreign race... Elves are
vegetarians, they don't like anything made from metal, and they're good with
bows, so they are totally different from you─"
"...? What?"
Alya looked at Masachika, who suddenly kept his mouth shut,
suspiciously. While averting his gaze to escape her eyes, Masachika quickly
made a fool of himself.
"No, to begin with...... elves also have pale blonde hair, right? So
I really don't think there's any deep meaning to it, you know?"
It was a pretty painful misconception on Masachika's part. But he
couldn't help it. He couldn't say, "All the good old royal elves are slender-
bodied!" And of course he couldn't say that glamorous elves are commonly
referred to as "eroelves"[1] or....
(Well, elves are great with bows and...in that sense they have big
breasts, right?)
"...What, are you thinking of something weird?"
"No? Why? Well, I'm getting restless and I'm ready to get back to
work."
Then, turning away casually, Masachika returned to his post. Looking
suspiciously at his back, Alisa turned to attract customers at the entrance.
And...
"What, an Elf?"
"Hey, this way, this way!"
"Woah, that's amazing."
"Excuse me, can I take your picture?"
Within a minute, there was a traffic jam in the hallway and Alisa was
managed by the three girls. Then, the traffic jam turned directly into a line
waiting to enter the store, and the store quickly became a shuraba.[2]
"You've got a lot of people all at once... Guildmaster, what will you
do about this?"
When Masachika asked the "Guildmaster" about this, he laughed and
said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what to do about this."
"...what shall we do?"
"Well, should we offer an option to take out drinks...?"
"There's no lid on a paper cup, and it's useless because they're all
here for Alya in the first place."
"Oh, I see, you need a lid or it would spill... Well, shall we add more
seats?"
"Shouldn't there be a queue and a time limit before that?"
"Kuze! You are in charge!"
"Oh!"
When Masachika clicked his tongue at his hesitant roundaboutness,
Guildmaster put his hand on Masachika's shoulder with gentle eyes.
"Kuze... From today on, you are the Deputy Guildmaster."
"Oh, so typical of an adventure guild's Guildmaster, eh? A strong
man who can't do any paperwork, no?"
"Nice to meet you, Deputy Guildmaster!"
"""Nice to meet you!!"""
"You guys!"
Masachika glared at Guildmaster and his classmates, who
immediately got on board with Guildmaster's idea to try to force him into a
managerial position, but... they all had a blank look on their faces. Even
Alisa looked away with a slightly awkward expression on her face.
(Oi, candidate for student body president... Well, this is the type of
work I'm good at anyway.)
With that in mind, Masachika began to lead the class.
"So, for the time being, we'll have a ten minute limit after people take
a seat... Let the line organizer have a card saying so, and you three....
Don't run off~? Take responsibility and help you out, okay?"
He stopped the three girls of the handicraft club, who were about to
leave hurriedly, saying, "What? We're not in charge of the store at this time
of day?" and sent one to the line, one to time management, and one to
guard Alisa.
"Oh, time management... Don't you have a timer? Managing six seats
by yourself with just one smartphone..."
"You can record the time they got to their seats and calculate it from
there."
"Unexpected super analogue skill!"
And so, with some hiccups, they restructured their customer service
methods before the complaints went up. However, the students in the line
were staring at Alisa through the corridor window, so there might have been
no way to raise any complaints.
"Yo, Kuze. You guys have something great here."
"Oh, thank you. Is this a basketball club gathering?"
"Yeah, we're taking a break together."
Masachika greeted an upperclassman he knew who called out to
him, clutching his hat. Then, the members of the basketball team, who had
taken their seats together, approached Masachika with friendly smiles on
their faces.
"I was watching the quiz competition."
"That was a pretty awesome match! When the tables turned at the
end, I couldn't help but let out a squeal."
"Thank you."
"Kujou-san was so cool!"
"Eh, oh, thank you."
Alisa, who was busy serving customers, was surprised by the sudden
praise. Not seeming to mind Alisa's awkward bow, the basketball club
enthusiastically expressed their impressions of the quiz showdown.
"No, seriously, it was amazing. I tried to take the quiz too, and
couldn't even guess half of the questions."
"Oh~ yeah. He was so confident that he was going to win, and yet
he's the sole loser. Thanks to that, he's the one who's going to pay the bill
here."
"Kujou-san got so many questions right on the stage. She's amazing
after all"
"No really, congratulations again on winning the quiz showdown!"
Then one of them began to clap, and another boy at the table
followed him with a finger whistle and applause. In addition, students from
other seats began to applaud and congratulate her, and the whole
classroom was filled with applause and cheers.
"Oh, uh..."
Suddenly, Alisa was met with favorable glances from all directions,
and after flinching for a few moments, she bowed silently. Alisa looked
completely at a loss for a response and repeatedly bowed her head while
pursing[3] her shoulders. The classroom was filled with a warm atmosphere
by her fresh and innocent appearance, which was a complete change from
her dignified appearance on stage.
"...Kujou-san, have you changed?"
"Right? I don't know her personally, but don't you think she's more
friendly than we thought?"
"...Alya has always been like that. It's just that because of her
looks, people have been so hesitant to be around her until now."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. That's why she doesn't have a high sense of communication
herself, but if she speaks normally with others, she can have a normal
conversation?"
The basketball club members nodded surprisingly to the casual
follow-up from Masachika.
"Heh~, I see. I was wondering if you were the only exception
because you are the ghost of communication."
"Who's the ghost of communication?"
"You are."
"I think it's more of that, you can't get along with people well?"
"Don't talk to your senpai in a casual way."
"Huh? Did I do something wrong?"
"Ow, it hurts."
As soon as he showed a mocking face, he was silently shoved
around by the seniors, and Masachika fled to the kitchen (aka the drink
storage area). A few minutes later, the corridor suddenly became noisy. As
he was worried about it while preparing drinks, the cause of the disturbance
soon appeared at the entrance.
"Oh my... Are you sure about this, everyone? I'm sorry..."
"Go ahead! We would rather watch it here!"
Pushed forward by the students in line was Yuki, dressed in a
miniature yukata with frills on the sleeves and collar. Her black hair, pulled
back in side-tails with a large hair ornament, matched her rather cute outfit.
Yuki, who looked like a doll, and Alisa, who looked like a figurine,
met. The classroom was filled with tension as the two, who just a few
moments ago were engaged in a heated battle on stage, faced each other.
Amidst the tremendous density of gazes, Yuki was the first to open
her mouth.
"Well, Alya-san, you look very beautiful. You look like a fairy."
"Thanks... Yuki, you look great too!"
"Really? Thank you very much."
"Is that a costume for a show? Yuki's class had a performance, didn't
they?"
"That's right. It was troublesome to change clothes, so I wore them to
promote my class."
Masachika didn't sense any particular feud, but rather a friendly
conversation. However, those around them watched the exchange between
the two with bated breaths.
He didn't know if they were aware of the people around them... or
maybe they were aware of it. Rather, Yuki talked to Alisa with a smile as if
she was purposely showing it to others.
"Still, it was a good showdown earlier. I never thought it would be
reversed on the final question... I was on the losing side for a bit at the
start too, but it was very dramatic!"
"What? Oh, is that right?"
Alisa nodded vaguely, apparently at a loss for a response. As the
winner, she probably doesn't know how she should treat Yuki, the loser. As
if seeing through Alisa's inner thoughts, Yuki giggled.
"I'll be in trouble if you act so awkwardly. You should be proud of
yourselves, because this was the result of both of you giving your best, in a
fair and honest manner."
"Umm, yeah......"
Even so, it was impossible to be proud in the face of the loser. Yuki
smiled at Alisa, who nodded vaguely, not seeming to mind. Just looking at
them here, it was almost impossible to tell which was the winner and which
was the loser. And in fact, I think that was what Yuki had in mind.
This was true in all competitions, but the post-match response that
would increase the likeability of the loser was to gracefully admit defeat and
praise the winner.
On the other hand, spitting out sighs of defeat, or being blatantly
frustrated and not shaking hands with your opponents would be
counterproductive. Yuki knew this, which was probably why she came to
see Alisa herself as soon as the confrontation was over.
(In addition, even though she lost the game, she still showed a
generous attitude and appealed to the public as a big shot... I think this
one-on-one is a little too much for Alya.)
That said, if Masachika were to blatantly follow up on Alisa at this
point, it could conversely lower Alisa's standing. So Masachika called on the
female student in charge of time management, instead of either one of
them, to break off what was happening once and for all.
"Table three, isn't it time?"
"Huh? Oh, ho, that's true. Um, excuse me. It's time, so could you give
up your seat?"
The students sitting at table three were asked to leave the room at a
very interesting point, and were reluctant to leave their seats as they voiced
their dissatisfaction with the situation, saying "Oh no~." Soon after, the girl
dressed as a knight quickly wiped the desk, and guided Yuki to her seat.
"Thank you very much. Excuse me, may I ask Alya to serve me?"
"Ah──"
"Of course it's fine! In fact, sit together!"
"Huh?"
Interrupting Alisa's reply, the girl in charge of guarding her pulled a
chair next to Yuki and forced Alisa to sit down mid-sentence. She was kind
of like a club mom who encouraged her new girl, who has been nominated
by a client, to pour a glass of wine for them.
"Ho... Fufu."
The three girls of the handicrafts club were so enraptured by the two
girls that they forced them to sit side by side. However, they were not the
only ones entranced; the students in the classroom and in the hallway were
all gazing at the two beautiful girls sitting side by side.
"Well, my job──"
"I'll take care of that! Suou-san, which drink would you like?"
Interrupting Alisa's comment, the girl in
charge of guarding Yuki showed Yuki the menu. Then Yuki took one
glanced at the menu and said with a smile,
"Well... Can I have a glass of milk?"
At that moment, there was a tense atmosphere among the students
in Class B, except for Masachika and Alisa.
As Masachika blinked at the sudden and mysterious tension,
Guildmaster slowly moved in front of Yuki, put his hands on the table and
made a terrific sound.
"Ojou-chan... This is a bar, isn't it? If you want some milk, go home
and drink some of your mom's milk."
"No, this isn't a bar, is it...?"
Yuki looked back at Guildmaster with a smile on her face, as
Masachika who could not keep up with the mysterious development
muttered a tsukkomi. Her small stature stood out as she confronted the big
Guildmaster, but she didn't seem to be intimidated at all.
"My mother died on a beautiful moonlit night."
"No, she's not dead..."
Guildmaster smiled wryly at Yuki's response and pulled out a wooden
box from a locker in the back of the classroom. Placing it in front of Yuki,
Guildmaster himself sat back in his chair with a thud.
Then, with a pompous motion, he opened the wooden box and found
an elaborately decorated single glass bottle.
"Alright dear lovely customer... Here's what you want."
"Hold on a second."
Unable to resist the unheard-of development and the unseen glass
bottle, Masachika pulled Guildmaster on his shoulder. Yeah, his big collar
was a nuisance.
"Hey, what's this?"
"Come on, Kuze... You know the promise of a bar in another world
with a backstory, don't you?"
"That's why it's not a bar."
After glaring at his classmates, who were shaking their heads in
agreement with Guildmaster and saying, "Whew, dear," Masachika looked
at Alisa's expression and confirmed that she was on the same side as him.
"I mean... just like at the last tasting, seriously, what's with leaving
out Alya and I with the details? Don't tell me you're dealing with something
that would be dangerous if the student council knew about it?"
"That's not the case, is it? Of course it's legal, it's legal."
"That's what someone who would deal with stuff that's forbidden by
law would say! I mean, at least deny it doesn't have anything bad in it!"
"It does not have hazardous materials."
"What is it, then?"
"An animal?"
"An animal!?"
The mystery deepened, but Masachika put the question aside for the
moment and turned his attention to Yuki.
"I mean, that code phrase from earlier that I don't know either? How
do you know that?"
"I heard about it through rumors. If you say a certain phrase here,
you can have a mysterious drink."
"...Oh, is that so..."
Yuki, with her wide circle of friends, must have picked up the rumor
somewhere. That's all right, but what bothered Masachika was whether it
was really a harmless drink. After all, Masachika himself had a hard time
with a prototype drink they had asked him to test.
"Hey Guildmaster, are you sure there are no weird side effects or
anything?"
"Well, I guess that's my responsibility. All I do is provide what they
ask for..."
When Guildmaster answered him without breaking eye contact,
Masachika asked again, putting his hand onto his shoulder.
"It's harmless, right?"
"Oh, yes. No harm is intended."
Guildmaster, succumbing to the pressure of an overprotective older
brother, nodded his head with a plain expression and looked at Masachika
with probing eyes for a while, who finally let go of his hand from his
shoulder.
Then Guildmaster poured the contents of the bottle into a shot glass
in the crate and placed it in front of Yuki. Then, when he cleared his throat
and went back into character, he said in a pretentious tone.
"Now, here's our back-up drink... Amrita[4]."
At first glance, it was a transparent liquid that looked like water. No
one had any idea what ingredients they had mixed to achieve this clarity.
While both Masachika and Alisa looked dubious, Yuki picked up the
shot glass and said, "Bon appétit!"
With that said, she slurped the contents in one bold gulp.
Then she opened her eyes wide.
"This is…! This aroma is reminiscent of a majestic autumn sky, and
this richness is as if the bounty of the earth had been condensed. If I could
describe it with a word, it would be..."
Staring intently at the empty shot glass, Yuki took a long pause
before muttering,
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
It seems that it was nothing.
◇
"I'm on break for a while, but when will Alya start taking a break? If
you want, we can walk around together."
"Well, I──"
Yuki's question was answered faster than Alisa could answer it as
one of the handicraft club members interrupted,
"Going outside!? Then, Kujou-san, why don't you go and advertise
our class in that outfit?"
"It has to be now since the corridor is completely congested. Think of
it as an early break. If Suou-san is with you, the publicity will be perfect! Oh,
if you like, Kuze-kun should follow, too."
"Is that okay? Guildmaster."
"Oh , well..."
"""?"""
"Yeah, okay!"
The three girls, who forcibly asked for permission with a face that
should not be shown as girls, then turned to Masachika.
"So, Kuze, why don't you dress up a little better? It's a good
opportunity for you."
"What, you still have something else?"
"Yup. Which do you prefer, an aristocrat or an orc?"
"Don't mix them up with the elves, they're both dangerous!"
"Well, let's just go and think about it."
In the blink of an eye, Masachika was taken away and Alisa and Yuki
were left behind. Alisa asked Yuki, feeling a little uncomfortable with the
passionate stares she continued to receive from those around her.
"Well, it sounds like we could go around together... Is there
somewhere you'd like to go?"
"Well... How about some of your friend's classes? Are there any
places you want to go, Alya?"
"I'm not that..."
"Is that so? Oh, by the way, it seems that Masha and Sarashina's
class is having a magical bar."
"Oh, my…..."
Alisa laughed a little sarcastically at Yuki's words.
"I wonder if Sarashina-senpai, or... Masha, can do magic?"
"Hmmm...you're right, I can't imagine it. I can't really imagine Masha
doing card tricks vividly."
"Can't you cut her some slack?"
Yuki said, a little embarrassed by Alisa's relentless evaluation of her
family member. Then, with a slight shrug, Alisa suddenly remembered
something, looked at her and asked in a low voice.
"What about Yuki?"
"Huh?"
"You told me before that you have a brother. I wondered what kind of
person he was."
After casually asking this, Alisa held back with a jolt. She
remembered she heard that Yuki's brother had left their home and now lived
somewhere else. She didn't know the situation, but maybe it was something
that shouldn't be taken lightly.
"Oh, well, I wish I could tell you..."
When Alisa looked like she regretted asking, Yuki smiled
reassuringly.
"Hmmm, you don't have to worry so much about it, okay? My brother
and I have a very good relationship."
"Oh, I see."
"Yes. Well... What kind of person is he…?
After tilting her head slightly and letting her gaze wander diagonally
upward, Yuki put her hand over her mouth and let out a chuckle. Then,
looking up at Alisa's face sideways, she said.
"Well, he's a very cute person, isn't he?"
"Cute, huh?"
"Yes, I think Alya would like him."
"Yeah~......"
Alisa, who thought that he would have a reputation for being a "kind
person" or a "reliable person," twitched her cheek at a completely
unexpected personality review.
(Cute... Even though he's a man, she says he's cute...)
In her mind, she can picture several faces of idols who were
marketed as "cute guys." From Alisa's point of view, who preferred solid,
independent people of both sexes, their mockingly flirtatious behavior was
more of a turn-off...
(No, but still, a brother who is told he is cute by his sister is......)
The next image that popped into Alisa's brain was of a boy who, like
Yuki, was small and slender, like a chihuahua. Alisa frowned a little as she
imagined the scene of the unreliably plump boy being teased by Yuki.
I don't know if she was a mocking type or a shameless type, but
either way, she thought he was far from Alisa's taste.
(I'm sorry Yuki, but...I don't think we would get along very well.)
However, it would not be a problem, as it would be unlikely she would
have the opportunity to meet Yuki's brother. Thinking so, Alisa laughed
vaguely.
"Well, it's nice that you guys get along."
"Yes, I hope I can introduce him to Alya someday."
"Well... I'll look forward to it."
Yuki smiled meaningfully as she squeezed out her social etiquette to
the best of her ability. Alisa casually averted her gaze, feeling as if she had
somehow been seen through by her.
(Even so, I wonder if Yuki likes cute boys? ...I just don't get it.)
Alisa thought about it, pretending not to notice Yuki's smiling gaze.
And then,
"Sorry for the wait!"
At the right moment, she heard the voice of a female student who
had taken Masachika with her, and Alisa turned her head in that direction,
hoping for the best.
Then, what she saw was a pair of red pumpkin pants.[5]
"Pfft!"
"Ku-ku."
"Hey~ this is how it's supposed to~ be!"
Alisa and Yuki quickly covered their mouths and turned their heads
away, and Masachika, dressed like a prince in a picture book, looked at
them with dismay. Alisa and Yuki couldn't hold back their laughter as they
became even more and more out of touch with the situation.
"Hmph, hmph, yes, I think it looks good on you, don't you think?"
"Stop making fun of me, you're making a fool of yourself"
"That's not true, is it? Right, Alya?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah."
When Yuki asked her to talk, Alisa also looked at Masachika and
turned her face away from him...seeing that he looked like he belonged
more to a playground than before.
"pfft!!"
"Hey, stop! I'm going to be hurt now! Hey, hey, hey! Did you just take
my picture?"
His face was red and his eyes glared at them, but he only looked like
a selfish prince who was getting angry because of his appearance. Alisa
smiled wickedly and muttered, laughing more and more at the sight of him.
[Cu