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V1: NOVEMBER 10–NOVEMBER 17 THE DULL YOUTH IS VIBRANT BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, HUH? – PART 1
1
The interview for the part-time job had gone off with a success. That said, Sandai got busy again without even being allowed to catch a breath; the school festival was here.
It being Saturday, the school festival was very bustling. Other than the local residents, there were plenty of people like students of other schools and college students showing up.
For having decided to not participate and ignore it last year, Sandai was completely not in the know of the scale of the school festival and bewildered by the scene in front of him.
“
So it would gather this many, huh.”
Shino chuckled from seeing Sandai with his eyes wide open and scratching his cheek. “Fufu, well
 our school is on the large side in student numbers, so there’s also the scale to go with it. Many people will also come to see.”
“I ignored it last year, so I didn’t know.”
“I think I participated last year more or less, since I got a bit of time and all. They said we were gonna do a haunted house, so I got to be a ghost.”
“Oh really?”
“It was a very common program, and yet somehow it got popular and many people just came to see. Many people would also stop and stare hard at me, so I thought I must’ve done a really good job at the ghost makeup, so it made me somewhat happy.”
The cause for attracting visitors hadn’t been because she had done a good job of disguising as a ghost, but because a very stunning beautiful girl had been doing the role of a ghost. Without a doubt.
However, the person in question was happy thinking that it had been because she’d done a good job with the makeup. To untactfully say ‘that’s not that case’ would only spoil her mood, so Sandai gave a suitable interjection.
Well anyhow.
Sandai and Shino moved to carry out what the class president had previously told them to; helping out behind the scenes with the cafe of their class program.
Among several girls and guys including Takasago working attentively, they nonchalantly joined in while trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
But the presence created by a couple of a different qualities that of a gyaru and a loner by no means could be hidden that easily.
“Hey, pass me the honey there.”
“This one?”
“Yup.
“Honey again~.”
“You’re gonna put on more honey? Won’t that make it too sweet?”
“That also depends on the honey type, I think? Because the taste will change based on what kind of flowers the bees get the nectar from. For this one, look, it says ‘chestnut flowers’ so it’s got a slight bitterness to it.”
“The taste will change depending on the flower
 now that you mentioned it, that’s true too, huh. By the way, they call it honey in English, isn’t it?”
“
Can you try calling me honey for a bit?”
“
Honey.”
“Oh gosh, it’s giving butterflies so much!”
Such was the exchange those two were having, so the classmates working behind the scene immediately noticed it, and some looked away and got distracted; like ending up mistaking salt for sugar and putting in a huge amount of it.
“What a lucky guy Fujiwara is, dating a girl like Yuizaki-san. I want a cute girlfriend, too.”
“
I want a boyfriend, too. A cool boyfriend.”
“Fujiwara-kun got a beautiful girl like Yuizaki-san, so maybe we can get a super hot hunk too in reverse, so it’s like giving a big push in the back, isn’t it?”
“If I do my best, maybe I can also get a beautiful girlfriend, too
”
“Shihouin-kun
 I wonder what he thinks of me
”
Being hit by the sugar in the air was maybe making them want to consume sugar themselves—all the audible murmurs were suggesting nothing but that.
2
The school festival went on without incident, and time just flew peacefully
 or so Sandai thought, but things behind the scenes were beginning to gradually get busier.
He got a feeling something was off.
What they were doing was just a cafe, and he didn’t really get how it could get busier given that there was not a shred of newness about it.
Sandai took a peek at the scene—
Only to find male customers as far as the eyes could see spread out there.
He could also see the sight of girls wearing bunny ears and cat ears on their head in a risqué outfit of garter belt and bunny girl suit serving customers.
In many senses, it was a spectacle that just made him want to cover his eyes, but upon second thought, the omen had been there from the start that it would turn like this. Shino had refused to dress in a risqué outfit, but the situation that made it seem normal to dress in a risqué outfit was weird in the first place.
That was to say, it had already been done deal by then that it wouldn’t be a normal cafe.
“You sure have come just at the right time, Fujiwara-kun.”
“Guweh,” Sandai yelped from having the collar of his uniform suddenly grabbed. He looked back and found it was the class president.
“Actually, we made one too many signboards because we got the numbers wrong, you see. It’s a waste, so I’ll also count on you to use this to tout to people. Go parade it around the school,” the class president said and made Sandai hold a somehow suspicious black signboard.
“Eeeh
 making me do it just because there’s an extra signboard is just not what you promised.”
“I can’t hear you, Fujiwara-kun. It’s ‘strike while the iron is hot’ as they say.”
Sandai stared full of doubt at the signboard while being pushed by the class president with a gusto. This was what had been written there with a pink, rounder handwriting:
‘Cute girls in risquĂ© outfits going nyan nyan~ serving customers nyan~.’
Just like a signboard for a sex establishment.
This would make the adults mad no matter how you looked at it, and it was strange that the serious-looking class president hadn’t given this any doubt, but Sandai could tell from looking at those excessively shining eyes of the class president that he was losing his cool.
‘Essentially the last school festival.’
The class president had mentioned that, but precisely because it was the last school festival where they could go all out, he had gotten so passionate that he had ended up forgetting common sense. Since there were no other classmates who expressly saw this as a problem, Sandai could tell that the whole class was of the same sentiment.
It would also be useless pointing out anything to people who lost sight of their surroundings, and it would only lead to a fight. Wanting to steer away from unnecessary dispute, Sandai reluctantly decided to take on the job.
For now, he tried to wander around while holding the signboard to keep up appearances. If he looked like ‘doing it half-heartedly but it was just a formality’ for the touting, it should be okay.
Perhaps it was a bad idea to walk around without wariness due to such a mental attitude—Sandai, who was walking around the school at random, encountered someone he must not encounter.
“Hey Fujiwara, what’s that signboard?” He got found by Nakaoka. “Cute girls in risquĂ© outfits going nyan nyan
? I remember giving permission when I heard you were going to do a cafe, but I don’t remember giving permission to do anything like a night shop like this, though?”
“Umm
”
“What on earth is going on here?”
“I was just told to hold this and advertise it, so
”
“I see.” Nakaoka placed her hand on her chin and wrinkled her brows. She then said, “Well you know
 the school festival is open to the general public, so that means it’s attracting an unspecified large number of people. It’s necessary to give a certain amount of thought at an event like this. We probably can’t change the theme of the program now, so I guess our class will be canceled.”
I suppose that’s how it is, was Sandai’s honest feelings.
For example, even if it was a reckless enthusiasm resulting from striving to make memories, it was a given for high school students to be chastised for brazenly copying a questionable shop in broad daylight.
Sandai looked up to the sky.
The sun was high in the sky, and it was probably about noon.
Although the school festival as a whole had only just begun, the school festival of Sandai’s class came to an end without reaching the most exciting moment.