“What’s wrong, Sajou? You look burned out.”
“……………Yeah.”
In the short break before the next task, I—who was clearly not cut out for this kind of thing—had been forced to witness a scene of youthful romance at extremely close range. The shock left me completely spaced out. The nutritional jelly in my hand had already grown lukewarm. If Shinomiya-senpai had taken even a little longer to return, I might have secretly slammed the thing onto the ground.
“Ah… it’s already past noon. I passed by a few times, but what about the middle schoolers?”
I figured the place was empty because everyone had gone to lunch. I hadn’t eaten either… but I still had this jelly, and I wasn’t hungry anyway, so it didn’t matter.
“Yeah, they’re steadily gathering in the gymnasium. After we play a forty-five-minute introduction video, Yuuki and I will speak in front, and… well, after that comes the teardown.”
She must have noticed the state I was in, because she couldn’t just say it casually. It really had been tough work, but watching Shinomiya-senpai shrink back apologetically still felt strange.
“You don’t have to look that sorry about it.”
“No, I heard from Yuri. We put quite a burden on you.”
Yuri… I wonder if that’s the senior who led the Transport Team?
“I—… or rather, aren’t you underestimating guys? I’ve got more stamina than you think.”
I hated suffering unreasonable treatment while fully aware of it, but my body recovered quickly once I rested. By the time the removal work started, I’d probably be motivated again. Even if she was a senior, it would be pretty uncool for me to collapse before the girls did.
“…I see. I’ll be counting on you this afternoon too.”
“Yes—wait, hold on—”
Shinomiya-senpai turned away with a cool flick of her hair. While thinking how she really did look stylish as always, I moved to watch her walk past when a palm suddenly settled on my head, fingers gently threading through my hair.
Wait, seriously, what the hell!?
Hold on, hold on—what is this? What just happened? Why are you stroking it so gently? Even if you’re going to pat someone’s head, I thought Shinomiya-senpai was the rough, no-nonsense type… This didn’t match her image at all. No, no, no… huh?
“W-wait, Senpai, what are you suddenly doing? Please stop that.”
“Fufu. It’s not bad to pamper someone besides Yuyu every once in a while.”
“No, no—the people around us! They’re making a huge commotion. Senpai? Look around right now. Immediately.”
“I’m aware.”
So she does know what she’s doing. Come to think of it, Inatomi-senpai and Mita-senpai had been lecturing her about it for ages. At least she removed her hand. My rising stock had probably just gone into freefall, though. The idea of the idolized Rin-sama gently stroking the head of a sweaty guy was not something her fans could tolerate. So could you please not do it so openly…?
“——Kaede makes me jealous.”
……Like I said. Seriously.
◆
The impact of that single remark—which she had let slip as if to convince those around her—must have been enormous. Whether it was some kind of warning from her or not, the seniors who had been treating me a bit roughly suddenly began handling me like fragile glass. Had she planned that…? It was honestly kind of scary.
After spending a while tilting my head in confusion, I finally understood how Shinomiya-senpai and the others were treating me now.
“By the way, aren’t you going to stop by the conference room next door during your free time? You have classmates there too. You shouldn’t neglect your friends.”
“Sajou-kun! Want some pudding?”
“Hey, you haven’t eaten lunch, right? Want some hamburger steak? I’m on a diet right now, so I can give you mine.”
“……”
You guys too, huh.
Little brother—no, cousin? Either way, this wasn’t how high school girls should treat a random male student from another class. If at least one of them had looked a little embarrassed, it might have made my heart skip a beat, but… uh, Mita-senpai? Could you please not casually offer me the chopsticks from the lunchbox you’ve already been eating from?
“The conference room is fine. They seem to have built up their own atmosphere over there.”
“Ah… yeah, that makes sense. They’re all beautiful people, after all.”
“You want me to go there? You’re telling me to go there? Eat the hamburger steak yourself.”
Get fat. Get super fat and then despair when you try to pick up Inatomi-senpai and realize how light she is. If I went to the conference room my mental health would probably die, so I didn’t even want to peek inside.
Once the Escort Team’s break ended, every involved student gathered in the gymnasium. To give off even a slight sense of welcome, the current students were told to stand by on both sides of the gym. In reality, we were simply waiting for the event to finish so we could begin removing all the pipe chairs and equipment.
Sitting on the left-front side mixed in with the Disciplinary Committee members, I observed the faces of the assembling middle schoolers. Gakuran, sailor uniform, blazer, gakuran… From here I couldn’t tell which school was which. The uniforms didn’t have enough distinctive features at a distance.
The middle schoolers themselves also seemed interested in the faces of our school’s students. When you thought about it, the Escort Team was made up entirely of carefully selected good-looking people, so for any average-looking kid it must have felt like an absolute crisis. They were probably wondering if there was a face-judging test involved in becoming a school announcer or something.
A senior who appeared to be from the Broadcasting Committee acted as MC. First, a forty-five-minute school introduction video played. We current students spent that time in the unusual position of warmly watching the middle schoolers watch the video.
Once it finished, Yuuki-senpai from the Student Council took the stage. Looking closely, the rest of the Student Council members were lined up on the opposite side from us. Hey, Nee-chan, you’re yawning. Stop yawning.
“Dear middle school students, welcome to Kouetsu High School. I am Hayato Yuuki, serving as your Student Council President——”
The appearance of a tall, handsome young man with refined features caused the entire venue to stir. I could hear the female seniors around me let out sighs of admiration. I wondered what kind of emotions that guy experienced every day. Just once, I’d like to experience having that face and that height.
After Yuuki-senpai’s greeting and a deep bow, an overflowing wave of applause erupted. The middle school teachers who had been standing by rushed out to calm everyone down. I watched the scene, thinking it would have been funny if someone had shouted for an encore.
Next, our very own Disciplinary Committee President, Shinomiya-senpai, took the stage——I just said “our very own,” didn’t I? Come to think of it, that didn’t apply to me… Unlike with Yuuki-senpai, the venue fell completely silent, as if time had stopped. The average-looking guys’ lives were probably already at zero. As for me? I had already been on the verge of death since the early stages.
“——We, the Disciplinary Committee, vow to guarantee all of your healthy school lives. We hope that the students gathered here will look forward to the day they attend Kouetsu High School.”
She was speaking to her juniors, so there was no need for polite language, right? No loud cheers rose up, but I could hear scattered murmurs of “So cool…” For the girls, she was probably much easier to openly support, so her fanbase was sure to expand rapidly. When that person stood in front of a crowd, her dignity only increased… and yet she had patted my head, you know? Was I going to get stabbed at night? Had my head been melted or anything…?
With the Escort Team and the school’s two prince-level idols pushing their appeal to the absolute maximum, the assembly came to an end. After this, the seniors who had come in for School Report Day would be released, and the middle schoolers would use their free time to tour the club activities. When I was a middle schooler, we never got anything this elaborate.
◆
After the middle schoolers left, I once again joined the transport duty to help clean up the pipe chairs and other equipment. The Escort Team, being nothing more than carefully selected regular students, were released as they were. The Cultural Festival Executive Committee members seemed to be returning to their regular work. In the distance, I saw Natsukawa and Sasaki walking away side by side.
I thought I was in for more heavy labor, but apparently we only needed to put away the heavier precision equipment today; the rest could wait until another day. I finished up quickly, and with that, the assistance Nee-chan had asked me for was complete.
“——You. Did you actually work properly?”
The temporarily established Trial Enrollment Executive Committee had been dissolved. The conference room was now completely empty, and I was taking a breather back in the Disciplinary Committee Room. That was when the Student Council Vice President barged in and graciously bestowed her words upon me. Was I allowed to slap her for this?
“I worked hard enough to earn some snacks, at least.”
“…I see. Good work.”
“Huh? You’re not going to see Shinomiya-senpai?”
“No need.”
Nee-chan casually tossed out indifferent words of appreciation as if it had nothing to do with her. When I asked if she wasn’t going to see Shinomiya-senpai, she gave an extremely dry reply. So she didn’t actively approach her on her own… Did that mean Nee-chan was the type who got worried about like I did, even though she acted like a meddler?
“What about you? Aren’t you going to show your face next door?”
“Huh?”
“Natsukawa-san, wasn’t it? She was there.”
“Nah, I’m good. She looks busy.”
If I went to see her hoping to be healed, there was a real chance I’d die instead, so I’d rather not. I see. So behind those dry words were complicated circumstances like this. Maybe Nee-chan had her own issues too.
“Busy…? The Cultural Festival Executive Committee during summer break is just quickly entering decided stuff into documents, right? They’ve got tons of free time.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yeah. At least say one word to her.”
Leaving behind those meddlesome words, Nee-chan walked off. She had been so dry with Shinomiya-senpai though… No, when I thought about it, the reason she sent me over there was to repay a favor. I really didn’t get this sister of mine anymore.
“Sajou-kun, you really are the Vice President’s little brother…”
“Huh? Is there something weird about my sister?”
“Not exactly weird, but… she feels even cooler than the dignified Disciplinary Committee President Shinomiya… Like she has really high battle power?”
“Battle power.”
After hearing it from one of the female seniors, I was surprised by the answer. She’s feared in such an easy-to-understand way again. I couldn’t deny the high battle power part though. At the very least, after seeing how she dressed at home, I had never once thought “cool”… She was just an old man. An old man.
——Achoo! God damn it.