Acceptance Is Key

Ultimately, it was decided that Amane's class would host a café for the culture

festival.

When it was announced, all Amane could do was make a face as if he'd

swallowed something bitter. He was as dour as the other boys were excited.

They were probably eagerly anticipating seeing Mahiru, Chitose, and the other

good-looking girls wait on the customers.

Amane knew he couldn't attempt to overturn a decision that had already

been made, so he was obediently playing along, but when it came time to take

measurements, he was a little defiant.

"No, it won't look good on me, so—"

"We don't know that until you try it on. Come on, give up already, it's a done

deal."

"Fujimiyaaa, just surrenderrr!"

"So you're already fully resigned, Kadowaki…?"

"Only because I assumed something like this was going to happen."

According to the person in charge of negotiating for the costumes, they had

worked out how to borrow them without issue. Now they wanted to quickly

confirm the number of costumes that the class needed, and that meant that it

was measuring time for the students who would be waiting on the customers.

…However, Amane had nothing but complaints about the fact that he had

been voluntold.

Itsuki had read too much into things, suggesting that he "Use this time with

Miss Shiina" and that "Anything could happen," but Amane just wished that

he'd been warned ahead of time.

"Huh, Amane…did you get bigger?"

"Hey, that's rude. I haven't gained any weight. I'm actually living a healthier

lifestyle."

"Ha-hah, meaning that your little wife is taking good care of you."

"I don't wanna hear it."

Amane felt embarrassed that Itsuki had called Mahiru his wife. Itsuki

answered this disgruntled response with his usual teasing laugh.

"Well, I don't think you're fatter. Maybe more muscular?"

"That might be possible. Thanks to Kadowaki's strength training."

"What's that? Tell me more."

Amane told Itsuki to ask Yuuta about it if he wanted to know so badly. Then

he glanced over at the other boys who were also being measured. They were

talking about something among themselves, but they were being very secretive

about it, which made him anxious.

When he strained his ears to catch their conversation, he could just barely

hear them talking about Mahiru in excited voices.

"Miss Shiina in a maid costume…awesome!"

"She's getting measured in a different classroom right now. I bet her

measurements are incredible."

"Yeah, I mean, they're huge, all right."

"She's way curvier than that Shirakawa girl she's always with."

"If Akazawa hears you, you're a dead man."

"Nah, Itsuki knows that she hasn't got much…he said it was a little more than

a handful…"

"Anyway, I'm jealous that Fujimiya can keep Miss Shiina all to himself."

Amane thought of a couple jabs he could have made at the boys, asking if that

was how they always looked at other people's girlfriends, or maybe he should

mention that Itsuki was liable to be even more angry if he overheard them. He

stared at the other boys without even trying to hide his contempt.

"…I wish you guys would at least keep it down a little."

"Ack, you heard us, Fujimiya?"

He wished they wouldn't fantasize about other people's girlfriends like that.

But at the same time, he knew that it was immature to get too worked up, so

he held it in. Besides, no matter how much they fantasized, the only person

who would have the opportunity to lay their eyes on the real thing was Amane,

so he could afford to play it cool.

Itsuki also seemed to have noticed them if his scary smile was anything to

judge by. Chitose would have been furious if she'd overheard, but he didn't

have the slightest inclination to repeat anything he heard, and he suspected

everyone would treat it like a confidential discussion.

"I mean, come on… We can't help it."

"Not when it comes to that angel. They're always hidden by her blazer and

vest, but they're substantial… Hey, Fujimiya, how are they in real life?"

The vulgar talk had probably come out because there were only boys in the

room at the moment.

With expectant eyes turned toward him, Amane shrugged, conscious not to

let a wrinkle form in his brow.

"I'm not really sure how to answer that," he replied. "You can see what

they're like."

"Don't dodge the question!"

"I really don't know what to say."

"Like, are we talking apples or melons here?"

"And some fruits are firmer than others, you know?"

"You're so annoying!"

"You're the annoying one!"

Why should I have to tell other guys about my girlfriend's measurements?

Amane didn't even know her exact size in the first place. Well, actually, he did

know her cup size, because when they had stayed at his parents' house, he had

accidentally seen some of Mahiru's laundry. But there was obviously no way he

was going to say that out loud.

Amane pulled back from his classmates, who were pressing in awfully close.

They drew even nearer, their enthusiasm only building. He looked at Itsuki for

help, and all he got was a laugh and a shrug. He didn't seem interested in

helping.

"Anyway, I don't know."

"Don't lie to us, man."

"I'm not."

"Ah, you guys? I can tell you that what Amane's saying isn't a lie." Itsuki

reluctantly offered this meager bit of assistance.

Once Amane and the boys hounding him were all looking at Itsuki, he grinned

cheerfully. "After all, even when he's alone with her at home, Amane doesn't

lay a finger on Miss Shiina. That's why he'd have no way of knowing."

At Itsuki's words, the classroom fell deathly silent.

"…Fujimiya, you can't be a real man."

"Is that why you didn't show any interest in those gravure magazines?"

"No!" Amane objected. "Itsuki, don't say it in such a weird way—I don't do

anything because I respect Mahiru's wishes, that's all!"

"Some would say that makes you a chicken."

"Listen, you—"

"You know, normally…being alone together like that, you only get there if

she's already accepted what might happen, right? Girls aren't stupid, so she

must know it's a possibility."

"Ah, but these two are the kind of sincere, pure, and innocent couple that's so

rare to see these days. It sounds like they think it's too early for that sort of

thing. They're naive, all right. Real virgins. In fact, they're a kind of endangered

species that we need to protect, so don't say anything uncalled for."

"Hey, Itsuki, whose side are you on?"

"I'm on your side. Always am, pal."

"I find that hard to believe…!"

Thanks to Itsuki's words, the boys gathered around Amane looked at him

either with pity or with lukewarm smiles. Amane scowled at their bemused

expressions.

"I'm not really that naive," he insisted, "And if I could, of course I'd like to do

stuff, but I'm thinking about Mahiru's future and whatever, and holding back,

that's all…"

"Uh-huh."

"Hey, don't smirk like that… Hey, what's with you guys, stop looking at me!"

Amane snapped at them.

He wanted to be anywhere but here, but the pity and amusement in their

faces only grew. Dissatisfied, Amane threw the tape measure at Itsuki, their

temporary ringleader.

"…Um, Amane? For some reason, all of the boys are giving me weird looks. Do

you know the reason for that?"

"I dunno."

The girls had also finished getting their measurements and had rejoined the

class. But Mahiru had sensed that she was getting some strange looks from the

boys, and she had snuck over to ask Amane about it.

Amane himself was getting some awkward looks from the girls, so he wanted

to ask Mahiru the same question.

"I'm getting some weird looks from the girls myself…Mahiru, did you say

something?"

"N-nothing that would harm your reputation."

"Meaning you did say something that wouldn't harm my reputation?"

"J-just what I usually talk about with you, and how we spend our time

together. Don't worry."

"What did you say, exactly?"

"…I told them that you're gentlemanly and nice."

"Not you, too!"

"Not me, too, what?"

"No, never mind."

There was no way that he could tell Mahiru that the boys had been teasing

him for having no guts, so although he was raging inside, he answered her in a

calm voice, and ruffled Mahiru's hair as she stared at him in puzzlement.

"…Could you try to avoid sharing too much with people? It's embarrassing for

me."

"S-sure, okay. For me, it's…it's helpful for me, though, because I learn all sorts

of things from everybody else."

"I just can't help but worry about what they might be putting in your head."

Although Chitose had also been planting quite a few unnecessary ideas in

Mahiru's mind, Amane was afraid that the other girls were also teaching her

weird stuff. He was sure that even Chitose restrained herself to a certain

degree, but if he could, he would have liked to check what she was putting into

Mahiru's mind.

"…I don't really think it's going to cause any problems for you though,

Amane."

"I'm getting some serious looks from the girls, literally as we speak."

"W-well…there's nothing we can do about that."

"I feel like there could be."

"Hey, you two, you can flirt if you want, but I'd like to get back to the agenda

before too long, so quit making a show of it."

Itsuki, their executive committee member, was standing in front of the

lectern looking around the classroom and shrugged.

Amane and Mahiru weren't trying to flirt, but with the way things were going,

it was pointless to argue.

"Well, leaving those two aside, let's decide on the food and drink menu for

our café. We really should have decided this first, but there was the more

immediate issue of securing costumes. Ah, Kido, will you pass on our sizes to

your contact and count up how many of each costume we need? The boys'

measurements are here. Resist the urge to use this information for evil."

It was easy to tell how good Itsuki was at managing people when he briskly

rattled off instructions along with the boys' measurements to the student who

was in charge of the costumes.

"Okay, first, we can't serve anything raw. There are limits to the days and

times we can reserve the cooking room. After considering safety and how long

things will keep, we're more or less limited to baked goods and drinks. Any

objections?"

"Nope!"

"Chi, you're not going to make any strange additions, okay?"

"How rude!"

Chitose had committed a prior offense on Valentine's Day, but that had

ultimately only involved her friends, so they could expect that she wouldn't do

anything similar this time around.

"Okay, so that brings us to the drinks. We're a café, so I think coffee, tea, and

juice will do it. If you have any other suggestions for food or drinks, let's hear

'em. I could only come up with obvious stuff."

"Ooh, me! How about ice cream? I want to make cream sodas!"

"I think it's a good idea, but how would we keep it cold? It's possible if we

work on the assumption that we'll be prepping everything in the kitchen and

carrying them over, but it'll use up a lot of the freezers, so I'll have to check with

the student council. For now, I'll keep it on here as a possibility."

"What about light meals?"

"I did take that into consideration, but given how much work and time we'd

need to commit to cooking, it's probably not the best idea. There's a big

difference between serving premade treats and making stuff to order. Plus, the

only things we could cook properly would be things like hot dogs and hot

sandwiches. Another class is already planning on making hot dogs, and I'm

pretty sure they'd be upset if we stole their customers."

"Scratch that, then."

Itsuki smoothly moved the conversation along and made notes about

everything they discussed. Amane marveled at how he conducted the meeting,

and Mahiru seemed to feel the same way.

"We're in good hands," she said with a quiet chuckle.

"All right, then. That about does it for our list. I'll put it all together and

submit it to the student council and get them to check it over. As for securing

our drinks… For the coffee, I know someone who has a business selling coffee

beans wholesale, so I'll go talk to him. Maybe he'd be willing to give us a

discount in exchange for some promotion. We're going to all this trouble, so I

hope folks will be impressed by our flavors, too."

"Whoo! That's our guy!"

"Don't fall in love. All you'll get is a no-thank-you from me."

It was one of Itsuki's great skills to get things done while cracking flippant

jokes the whole time.

Marveling at his friend's impossible cheerfulness and command of the room,

Amane considered the upcoming exhibit their class was hashing out bit by bit,

and he quietly let out a sigh.

Last year I got by with just decorating a haunted house…

On the one hand, he was annoyed that, for some reason, he was getting stuck

serving customers this year. On the other hand, he also felt deeply emotional

about the idea of participating in such a typical student event.

The Amane of yesteryear had thought that all the time and effort that went

into the culture festival was a waste, but…now he had Mahiru by his side. It

wouldn't be so bad for the two of them to make some memories.

"Is something the matter?" Mahiru asked.

"No, I was just thinking I better work hard at the culture festival."

"Heh-heh, that's right. I'm looking forward to seeing you serving customers,

Amane."

"I'm not very good at being friendly."

He answered her teasing rather bluntly, but Mahiru just smiled.