Chapter 125: Cultural Festival ②

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Translator: Soafp

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Except for Nodoka, Yui, and me, who saw Kokoa every day, every other classmate had their eyes glued to her, and the butler café had effectively ceased operations.

In the end, I headed toward the classroom entrance too.

The moment Kokoa spotted me, she smiled brightly.

“Ah! You’re the senpai who showed me around the school during the open house!”

She spoke as though we’d just happened to run into each other by chance.

…Our classmates might have been fooled, but the rest of us immediately knew it was an act.

Kokoa came toddling over to us.

“What a coincidence running into you here, Fukagawa-senpai!”

“Ah, yeah. What a coincidence. Did you come to see the school festival today?”

“Yep! Actually, after you gave me such an easy-to-understand tour during the open house, I decided I wanted to apply to this high school!”

Takagi had actually been the one who’d done most of the tour.

More importantly, I was surprised that Kokoa hadn’t come alone.

Standing beside her was the other member of Jirai-chan Syndrome.

“Oh, let me introduce you!”

Perhaps noticing where I was looking, Kokoa cupped Ayano’s cheeks in both hands.

“She’s currently taking some time off because she’s been feeling a little unwell, but this is Aya-chan, the other member of Jirai-chan Syndrome!”

“U-Um… nice to meet you. I look forward to getting along with you.”

Ayano bowed deeply, clearly unable to hide her nervousness.

She’d probably been told that I was effectively the owner of the new agency.

…And she certainly never would’ve imagined that the person behind it was a high school student.

“Likewise. Would you like me to show you to a seat?”

“Yes! But why aren’t you wearing a butler uniform, Fukagawa-senpai?”

“I’m working behind the scenes.”

“Ehhh?”

Kokoa puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

“I wanted to see Fukagawa-senpai in a butler uniform too. Right, Aya-chan?”

“Huh…?”

Ayano awkwardly looked back and forth between Kokoa and me.

…From Ayano’s perspective, I seriously doubted she cared whether I was wearing a butler uniform.

And Kokoa was probably just enjoying teasing me half the time anyway.

Ayano gave an awkward smile.

“A-Ah, yes. Um… I’m sure it would suit you very well.”

It was obvious to everyone that she was just forcing herself to play along.

But Kokoa didn’t care in the slightest. She gave me a mischievous smile and eagerly piled on.

“See? See!? I’d love to get some service from Fukagawa-senpai while he’s dressed as a butler!”

As she said that, she subtly glanced toward Nodoka and Yui.

Wait, what exactly was she planning to do by making me wear a butler uniform?

Still, I had to give Kokoa credit. Maybe it was because she was an idol, but she had an incredible ability to drag everyone around her into things.

Yui and Nodoka moved closer to me.

“She’s right. Since we’re running a butler café, shouldn’t you wear a butler uniform at least once so we can make some memories together?”

“Y-Yeah! Kokoa-san wants to see you in one so badly, so you have to make her wish come true! That’s what a butler does!”

I’m not a butler, though.

Apparently satisfied with their support, Kokoa’s smile grew even wider as she stared at me.

I could practically feel the intense gazes of not only these three girls but all my classmates converging on me.

Eventually, even Takagi came over and patted me on the shoulder.

“Fukagawa, there are moments in every man’s life when he has to accept the inevitable. This is one of those moments.”

“What inevitable moment are you talking about…? Besides, we don’t even have a butler uniform for me.”

“You can wear mine.”

Nodoka immediately cut in.

“No. Then Ren would smell like you. Absolutely not.”

“…Do I really smell that bad?”

Takagi’s shoulders slumped.

Nodoka hurriedly added,

“N-No, that’s not what I meant! I just don’t like Ren smelling like another guy! It’s not like I particularly dislike you or anything!”

As always, she was rather harsh toward other guys, or maybe her way of speaking just got rougher around them.

At this point, she didn’t even seem interested in trying to get used to being around other guys besides me.

“But Nodoka, isn’t borrowing Takagi’s the only way?”

“Actually, I prepared one specifically for a situation like this!”

“Huh? Prepared one?”

Nodoka turned toward Yui, who silently nodded.

Yui then ran off somewhere and soon returned carrying a paper bag.

She handed it to me.

Inside was—

A butler uniform.

“I bought a separate butler uniform for you ahead of time, Ren!”

“…”

The design was slightly different from everyone else’s.

And this was obviously an actual cosplay costume.

Kokoa gave a small clap.

“Great! Then I’ll look forward to Fukagawa-senpai’s butler service!”

These three didn’t secretly plan this together beforehand, did they…?

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“Ahh, that was fun! Fukagawa-senpai, let’s meet again if we get the chance!”

Kokoa and the others waved enthusiastically as they left the classroom.

In reality, I’d only spent less than ten minutes entertaining them while dressed as a butler, but it felt like I’d been working for a full hour.

I let out a deep sigh.

All right, time to change back into my normal clothes—

“Eh? Ren, you’re not going to keep wearing it?”

“No, I mean… it’s kind of embarrassing.”

“Why? It looks really good on you.”

Yui nodded enthusiastically beside Nodoka.

“You have to show Sugawara-senpai too.”

“…Can’t we just use the picture Yui took earlier?”

“If you’re okay with suffering the consequences later…”

She’d be one hundred percent furious.

Not only would she miss the chance to see me in person wearing a butler uniform, but it would also look like we’d deliberately excluded Airi.

If things went badly, she might even seriously threaten to repeat a year.

“Fine. I’ll just go like this…”

In the end, I raised both hands in surrender.

Nodoka and Yui exchanged a small high five.

I felt like I was becoming less and less capable of winning against Nodoka every day.

It seemed like only yesterday that she used to jump whenever I merely held her hand.

Nodoka and Yui also remained in their butler uniforms as we stepped into the hallway.

“Where should we go first?”

“Let’s start with Airi’s class.”

I wondered how Airi would react when she saw me dressed as a butler.

She’d probably be happy.

At the same time, I was curious what kind of costume Airi herself was wearing.

We climbed the stairs and headed toward the second-year classrooms.

“Hm? Why is it so crowded?”

“It really is. Maybe there’s some really unusual attraction over there?”

“Human chess is pretty unusual, that’s for sure.”

To reach Class 2-4, where Airi was, we had no choice but to push our way through the packed hallway.

But if we weren’t careful, the crowd might sweep us away and separate me from Nodoka and Yui.

I was standing there wondering what to do when a high-pitched voice suddenly came from somewhere within the crowd.

“Ah! It’s Fukagawa-senpai!”

“…Huh?”

All three of us knew that voice.

Actually, we’d only just parted ways with its owner a short while ago.

“Excuse me! Coming through!”

Kokoa pushed her way through the crowd and emerged like Moses parting the Red Sea.

“What another coincidence, Fukagawa-senpai!”

“…”

Why was she here?

Well, she was visiting the school festival, so it wasn’t exactly strange…

As if she’d seen the question on my face, Kokoa continued.

“Senpai, I know I’m being a little presumptuous, but I have a favor to ask!”

“…What is it?”

“You showed me around the school before, but I’m still a little fuzzy on how to get around.”

Kokoa put on her professional idol smile.

“Could you show me around the school again?”

Apparently, even our free time was going to be spent accompanying Kokoa and the others.