Chapter 77: The Beautiful Girl Gets Moving for the Culture Festival (Part 2)

Right at the start of the second semester, I’d been given the not-so-wonderful “gift” of participating in the school festival’s beauty contest, but homeroom was still dragging on.

What we were actually planning to do for the school festival hadn’t been decided yet.

The class that produced the winner of the beauty contest would receive a set of gift certificates, so everyone seemed eager to find a way to make me stand out.

Seriously, you don’t have to do that. It’s not my festival—it’s everyone’s festival. Is this really okay?

I wanted to ask them that, but everyone looked like they were having so much fun discussing ideas that I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt.

Well… if they’re enjoying themselves, then maybe it’s fine? Except that means I end up being the one who stands out. I wanted to walk around and visit all the festival booths…

B-but, I guess it’s still nice that no one dislikes me.

Back in middle school, I was always just “one of the many,” so I had no idea how to navigate this kind of situation. For now, I decided to just focus on listening to everyone’s suggestions.

“Then if the maid café’s a no-go, how about a haunted house?”

Ah, the classics. In manga, maid cafés and haunted houses are always the default choices.

“A haunted house won’t make Ayumi-chan stand out at all!”

It would be dark, and I’d be in a costume, so she was right—it wouldn’t draw attention. But honestly, that’s exactly what I’d prefer. Scaring people sounds kind of fun, too.

“If Ayumi-chan tried to scare me, I’d totally use the darkness as an excuse to hug her.”

Wait—wait! Sakurako-chan, you’re the class rep standing up there in front of the teacher’s desk, so why are you saying that with a straight face!? And the school festival committee member next to you—don’t nod! Why are you nodding!?

What is this “oh yeah that’s typical” energy? This class is weirdly united… except for me.

“And besides, haunted houses at school festivals may be standard, but they’re usually pretty lame. People won’t want to go.”

A voice from the back dismissed the idea. True, manga often shows elaborate haunted houses, but making one by hand is hard. Costumes, props—the whole thing is a huge project.

“Then how about Ayumi-chan hosts a talk show? She could wear a different outfit each time. That’ll bring repeat customers.”

That’s not even a class project anymore!

What would happen if a totally ordinary, inexperienced nobody like me stood on stage and talked? The audience would just stare blankly. It would turn into an event where the “audience” basically doesn’t exist. Events that only insiders care about are the worst.

I knew I had to put a stop to that one, so just as I was about to speak up, Moeka-chan and Togo cut in first.

“Hey hey, we’d be fine with it, but that’d be way too much work for Ayumi-chan. And kinda mean.”

“Yeah. Piling all the responsibility onto Ayu-chan doesn’t sit right with me.”

Um… I appreciate the concern, but that’s not really the main issue. Still, thanks to those two, the talk show idea was dropped, so that was good enough.

As everyone sighed in disappointment, I quietly let out a breath of relief.

But now that things had been narrowed down, we were running out of class-appropriate ideas. We were completely stuck.

“Sakura-san, is there anything you want to do?”

Someone from the class directed the question at me.

Suddenly every pair of eyes in the room fell on me. The weight of their attention hurt.

Since I’d been rejecting idea after idea—even if only in my heart—I felt like I should offer something in return. I couldn’t just shoot everything down without having a suggestion of my own. That’d be way too convenient of me…

But did I even have something I wanted to do?

Maybe the cooking club could set up a food stall? That way the class wouldn’t make me do anything embarrassing. But with only five members, running a whole shop would be tough. Only three of us—including me—could actually cook. Ryoji could probably handle simple tasks, but we’d all be stuck at the booth the whole time. Then we wouldn’t enjoy the festival ourselves.

Honestly, I would’ve been okay with a café. But since the class had already decided not to go in that direction, I couldn’t exactly bring it back up now.

Then… maybe an exhibit? But that’s kind of plain. And we hadn’t even thought of what to display, so it’d be a weak suggestion.

Other ideas—live music, comedy acts—came to mind, but those felt more like club activities than class presentations. And with around forty students, it was tough to find something where everyone could contribute meaningfully.

Something even with a big group, where everyone could have a role—and still feel accomplished at the end… Something like that…

“…A play, maybe?”

I muttered it under my breath.

Everyone who caught the words froze for a second—then their eyes lit up.

““““That’s it!!””””

By unanimous decision, our class project became a play. Next, we needed to decide what play to perform, but lunchtime had arrived, so we wrapped things up for the day. The kids who went straight home didn’t bring lunch, and the ones with club activities had practice later, so we couldn’t keep them any longer.

Yamanaka-sensei, our homeroom teacher, had already slipped out as soon as the discussion began. And just like that, with no supervision at all, we disbanded. Was this lack of oversight really okay?

One by one, my classmates left the room. Everyone had their own plans afterward.

I thought I’d stop by the clubroom for a bit. It was probably dusty from the break, so I could do a little cleaning.

Just as I was about to leave the classroom, Moeka-chan called out from behind me.

“Ayumi-chan, let’s go home together!”

“I was actually thinking of stopping by the clubroom to clean a little.”

“Then I’ll help!”

Right after Moeka-chan, Sakurako-chan, Togo, and even Ryoji all said they’d help too. In the end, everyone ended up heading to the clubroom together.

“You guys could’ve gone home first…”

I knew none of them brought lunch, so I felt bad dragging them into extra work. It was a room we all used, but cleaning it was something I’d planned to do on my own.

“No way we’re letting Ayu-chan clean alone!”

“Exactly.”

We all headed toward the staff room in a loose line.

Apparently, high school clubs aren’t allowed to manage their own keys, so all the clubroom keys were kept together in the staff room. Our “clubroom” was really just one of the special-use classrooms, but the key was still treated the same as any other clubroom key and stored there.

“Excuse me.”

I slid the staff room door open and stepped inside. Obviously, it wouldn’t work for all five of us to barge in, so I went in alone.

For a moment, every teacher in the room looked toward me. I never get used to this atmosphere. Even if they’re teachers, being stared at so openly doesn’t feel great, and it makes me nervous. It makes me think I must’ve done something wrong. Some of my classmates chat casually with certain teachers, but in my case, I can only talk comfortably with the teachers who handle first-year students. The others are strangers—and strangers are… well, adults I don’t know. Which is honestly kind of scary.

“Oh, Sakura. You guys done already?”

Yamanaka-sensei sat at his desk slurping cup noodles. Curry flavor, no less—the whole staff room smelled like curry.

Eating something with such a strong smell in a sealed room with the AC blasting… Don’t any of the female teachers mind?

“Yes, we managed to decide on what we’ll be doing.”

“Oh? What’re you doing?”

“A play.”

“Oho. That sounds fun. Well, Sakura, it’s gonna be rough on you, but hang in there.”

“Sigh…”

If we’re doing a play, then the whole class should be working hard together. Why am I the one being singled out again?

We haven’t even chosen what play to perform yet… Whatever it is, I want to be backstage, or maybe a random tree in the background. There’s no way I can say lines. If they assign me a role with spoken lines, I’ll refuse with everything I’ve got.

“I eat cup noodles for lunch almost every day. Can’t the cooking club make me something?”

“No way!”

After I rejected him, Yamanaka-sensei drooped like a wilted plant.

We don’t even meet during lunch, and we’re not a club that exists to feed people.

“Oh my, Sakura-san. You’re here for the clubroom key?”

Into our conversation stepped Mogami-sensei. She was one of the few teachers I knew outside my grade. She didn’t show up during club activities very often, but she was the advisor for the cooking club.

“Yes. We were thinking of doing a little cleaning together.”

“My, how responsible of you. I’ll bring you all a little treat later then.”

“Really!? Thank you so much!”

This gentle second-year classical literature teacher almost never gets angry, and she always stays with us until the end if we end up cleaning late. She doesn’t hover over us while we cook, but she always watches when we handle knives or use open flames. She’s a good teacher.

On the other hand, the first-year classical literature teacher looks like he’s been an old man for at least ten years already. But he’s kind and calm too, and never really gets angry. I can’t help thinking that studying ancient literature must make people peaceful like that.

Once I received the key from the staff room, I stepped back into the hallway.

“You were talking to Mogami-sensei—something happen?”

“No, nothing at all. She said she’ll bring us a treat later.”

“A treat, huh? Maybe something sweet.”

“As expected of Mogami-sensei. She’s so kind.”

“This just makes me want to clean even harder!”

Everyone’s stomachs were probably starting to growl, so the promise of treats had everyone fired up.

I unlocked the clubroom door and stepped inside for the first time in about a month and a half. During summer break, Ryoji and Togo had apparently stopped by after their make-up classes to play games, but us girls hadn’t come at all.

“Wow… it’s been a while.”

Sakurako scanned the room. She seemed to notice something and walked toward the back, picking up a book left on a desk.

"Is this something Ryoji-kun or Togo-kun brought?"

She held up the cover. Printed across it was a large photo of a woman in a swimsuit.

It was probably some kind of gravure magazine. Leaving something like that out in a clubroom girls also use—without even hiding it—is definitely not okay.

“Gah!”

Togo jerked in place, his shoulders twitching. Ah, so it was his book after all.

"Listen, Ayumi-chan comes in here, so you can’t leave books like this lying around!"

"Ugh. During summer break it was just the two of us guys, so we were discussing a bunch of things with that book…"

"Hey, Yoshikawa. Don’t casually drag me into this."

"Oh come on, Tagawa! You were reading it right along with me! Don’t try to run away now!"

Either way, if Togo were reading it alone, he wouldn’t have brought it to the clubroom in the first place.

Since I was originally a boy, I wasn’t particularly uncomfortable with Ryoji or Togo looking at gravure photos. But because I get embarrassed easily now, I guess I made Sakurako-chan worry more than she needed to. I’m really fine!

Well… looking at it as a girl now, it does feel a little different.

Even so, these days even normal manga magazines sometimes include swimsuit photos, so there was no need to make such a big deal out of it.

“Jeez, Ayumi-chan, don’t look, okay?”

Now even Moeka-chan was shielding my eyes. In their minds, I was apparently much purer than I really was.

“Ahaha, I’m okay. Really.”

“Anyway! Take this home immediately!”

Standing at the back of the room, Sakurako placed the magazine on the long table and gave it a careful shove, trying to slide it across the surface.

"Ah! Aikawa, don’t—!"

Togo tried to stop her, but the magazine slid straight across the tabletop toward us near the door.

The pages fluttered open as it moved—flip, flip—and my eyes instinctively dropped to the contents.

Huh? Wait… this…

The woman inside the magazine wasn’t just wearing a daring swimsuit—she was basically in her birthday suit. Completely naked—

Ehhh!? This is… this is…!

Even when I was a boy, I had never seen an adult magazine like this before. Being suddenly confronted with such explicit photos was overwhelming. Even though it wasn’t me, I somehow felt embarrassed. S-So there really are women who take pictures like that…!

And of course, that made me remember the photos I had taken recently. No no no! I was not naked like that! Totally different category! Besides, the woman in the magazine had such a nice figure… compared to me…! No—stop thinking about it!

Uuuu… I get that boys read this kind of thing. I used to be one myself. But now that I’m a girl, knowing the boys around me were looking at these sorts of photos feels… too real, and kind of hard to handle…

No! That’s not the issue! My feelings don’t matter right now! The real problem is bringing this kind of book to school in the first place!

I shot Ryoji a sharp glare. He immediately looked away, clearly uneasy. Then I glared at Togo, who was frantically shoving the magazine into his bag.

“S-sorry…”

Togo apologized, looking genuinely remorseful.

But I had to say this properly. I was technically the cooking club’s president, after all. And if Mogami-sensei had walked in first, our club could’ve been suspended!

"You absolutely cannot bring books like that to school! Got it!?"

"“Y-Yes ma’am!”"

Both of them straightened their backs and responded stiffly.

"If you bring something like that again, I won’t even speak to you!"

This time, there was no reply. When I looked at them, they were frozen in place, still holding their posture.

W-Were they really that shocked? Did I go too far?

"Whoa… Ayumi-chan’s angry…"

Even Moeka-chan looked surprised. I was actually a little surprised myself. I hadn’t really gotten angry or scolded anyone like that before.

Seeing the two guys looking so dejected made me feel a tiny bit sorry for them.

N-No, but bringing books like that is bad! I have to be strict here!

For now, I left the two sulking in the corner and picked up some cleaning supplies. Seeing that, Moeka-chan and Sakurako-chan quickly grabbed supplies as well.

Hmmm… It still felt awkward. Even though Ryoji and Togo were the ones at fault, the heavy atmosphere was hard for me too. Honestly, it was just a minor slip—they’d forgotten a naughty book. No matter how I felt, this was supposed to be our fun club time, so I wanted to bring back the mood.

“Hey, you two.”

The two glum boys slowly turned their heads toward me.

"If you don’t bring stuff like that anymore, it’s fine. Really… I’m not that bothered."

Deep down, of course, I was bothered.

First, back in middle school, I’d never seen a book that explicit, so it was shocking. Even though I understood it—the kind of thing I might have read myself when I was a boy—it somehow just felt wrong now. And when I realized that Ryoji had read that kind of book, I felt… disappointed? Or maybe just a vague sense of unease. Of course, it wasn’t strange for him, as a boy, to read something like that.

But they’d already apologized, so there was nothing more to dwell on.

“Um… sorry, Ayumi.”

Ryoji looked genuinely remorseful as he apologized again.

It didn’t feel like him. Ever since the end of summer break, his attitude toward me seemed to be shifting little by little. Or maybe that was just my imagination. Since I’d said something about living as a girl, maybe he didn’t know how to act around me anymore.

“Haha, it’s fine already.”

Putting aside whatever was going on with Ryoji, this wasn’t a serious issue. I made an effort to laugh, making sure it didn’t look awkward—hopefully that worked.

“Alright then. Let’s clean up. Hey, Yoshikawa.”

“Y-Yeah… yeah. We need to redeem ourselves a little with this cleaning!”

At least the two of them seemed to have recovered.

Even though it was their fault they were upset, and I was the one helping them get back on track… well, whatever. It was fine.

We continued cleaning, and soon the clubroom was free of dust and sparkling clean.

By the time we happily ate the cream puffs Mogami-sensei had brought as a treat, the clubroom was once again filled with lively chatter.