Chapter 55: Cultural Festival, Day Two (The Maid Café, Once More)

A new day dawned, marking the start of the second day of the school festival. Just like yesterday, I had a two-hour shift helping out at our class's maid café. In one corner of the classroom, curtained off as the girls’ changing area, I was mulling over what to do about accidental panty flashes.

In my hand was the underskirt I wore yesterday. I hadn't come up with any better ideas since then, so I'd just brought it along again. I had thought about wearing the gym bloomers, but they stuck out awkwardly from beneath the hem of the mini-skirt—way too sloppy.

"Hey, Alice, what’s up? That’s the cute thing that kept peeking out yesterday, right?"

Jun approached, clearly intrigued. Embarrassed, I clutched the underskirt to my chest and answered, trying to hide it.

"Uh… I’m still debating whether to wear this again today..."

Hmm. But, yeah… having the underskirt show is still better than flashing my actual underwear, right? Definitely less of a disaster.

Ugh, I’m so jealous of Jun’s skirt—it actually goes down to her knees.

"Oh, right! I brought something good just for you, Alice!"

Jun pulled something out of her drawstring bag—a plastic bag—and handed it to me. I peeked inside and found what looked like a pair of deep navy-blue gym bloomers.

"...What are these?"

"They're the bloomers I used back in middle school track. They don’t fit me anymore, so you can have them."

...Used bloomers from a girl in my class. The fact that they're so close in shape to underwear gave me a moment’s pause—was this really okay? I mean, I’m sure she washed them, but still.

"You can wear them under the mini-skirt, and I don’t think they’ll look like panties. What do you think? …Sorry if you don’t want them just because they’re hand-me-downs!"

Trying to shake off the brief impure thought that crept into my head, I quickly shook my head hard.

"No, not at all! I don’t mind at all. Thanks, Jun!"

I went ahead and tried them on. The snug fit and sturdier fabric compared to the underskirt made me feel surprisingly secure.

"How… how does it look?"

I lifted my mini-skirt slightly to show Jun the bloomers underneath, asking for her opinion.

"Y-yeah… It looks really good—I mean, it definitely doesn’t look like panties, so I think it’s totally fine!"

"Great! Then I’ll go with these today. Thanks again, Jun!"

"You’re welcome~!"

The second day at the maid café was just as hectic as the first. But thanks to the bloomers Jun gave me, I could move freely and serve customers without worrying about my skirt flipping up.

I could still feel eyes on me, of course, but the parts that weren’t supposed to be seen were safely guarded by the bloomers—no problem!

"Oh, Souta!"

Spotting a newly arrived customer, I blurted out his name before I could stop myself.

The one who’d just walked in, looking awkward and rubbing the back of his neck, was none other than Souta.

"H-hey..."

"Welcome back, Master! ...Wow, this is rare. I didn’t expect to see you here, Souta."

"The other two wouldn’t shut up about wanting to see you and Yuna..."

Behind Souta stood his father, Uncle Mitsuhiro, and his younger sister, Hisui. "Hello, Alice-chan," he greeted me with a warm smile, while Hisui muttered a shy, "...Hi."

"Hello, Hisui… and it’s been a while, Uncle Mitsuhiro. I’ll make sure Yuna comes to say hi too."

As I led them to their seats, I returned their greetings with a smile.

"Still, this place is really packed. We had to wait in line, you know."

"Seriously, it’s been nonstop since morning… It’s exhausting."

"That just means you're attracting all the customers… Souta was staring at your skirt hem the whole time while we waited. Such a perv."

"Wh—wait a second! I was only watching because it looked like it might fly up, okay?! I wasn’t thinking anything weird! And besides, it was bloomers!"

"…Um, Souta. So, you knew I was wearing bloomers, huh?"

With one hand holding down the hem of my skirt, I brought the other up to my mouth and tilted my head with a troubled smile.

Not that I really cared about him seeing the bloomers or anything. I just felt like teasing him a little.

"Th-that’s not it… I just happened to catch a glimpse! I wasn’t trying to look…!"

My act seemed to hit its mark. Souta was flailing so hard I almost felt bad for him.

His sister Hisui shot him a look so cold it could’ve frozen the air solid—maybe I went a little too far.

"When a skirt flips up, it’s just instinct for a guy to look, right? Don’t worry, I’m not bothered by it."

I added that to smooth things over. But judging by Souta’s still-sour expression, it didn’t seem to help much… I wonder why?

"Oh, right, Alice-chan. How would you feel about doing a miko shift at our shrine this New Year’s with my daughter?"

Trying to shift the mood, Uncle Mitsuhiro jumped in with an unexpected offer.

Every year, his family shrine hires a few miko part-timers for the New Year season. Hisui alone can’t cover it all, so they bring in extra help. Since it's girls-only, it’s usually just been Yuna helping out. Even then, back when she was still in middle school, it was just for short shifts during the day alongside Hisui.

"Uh… I’m not exactly black-haired, though. Would that be a problem?"

"Not at all. If we were that strict, no one would come anymore."

Hmm… a miko job, huh. I’ll admit, I’m kind of intrigued. It would help out Uncle Mitsuhiro, and it sounds like a fun experience.

Still, I should probably talk it over with Yuna first.

"Alright. I’ll check with my sister and get back to you."

"I’d really appreciate it if you gave it some thought… Sorry for stopping you while you’re working."

"No, no, it’s totally fine!"

It’s a school festival, after all—no one’s getting paid, and it’s all for fun. Whenever friends or family show up, it’s an unspoken rule that someone else picks up the slack. And after what happened yesterday, we’d even added extra staff on short notice.

That said, slacking off too much isn’t a good look. Time to get back to doing my part.

"Now then, honored guests—may I take your drink orders?"