Chapter 79: A Beautiful Girl, Questionably Helps with Scriptwriting

"I want to spend one week living school life together with Sakura-san."

The classroom falls dead silent for a moment. But only for a moment—then it explodes into chaos. People are literally shouting. Even pro baseball hecklers don’t go this far.

The one who suddenly said something outrageous is Mita-kun, the guy in charge of writing the script.

According to him, since he plans to make me the heroine, he needs to really understand what kind of person I am. As for the other roles, he intends to finish the story first, then recruit people from the class or consult the cultural festival committee to scout them.

I mean, I can kind of understand wanting to know the heroine well… but is it really okay for the whole play to center around me? No, it’s not, which is exactly why everyone is criticizing him so fiercely.

Yep, definitely not okay. If we’re doing this festival play, I want to do it with everyone, not be treated like some special exception.

"Mita-kun. Um… I’m happy you want to write a good script, but I don’t want to be treated like I’m special."

He looks genuinely shocked by my gentle refusal.

"No no no, Sakura-san! Creating a play that fits you perfectly is the class’s true wish!"

"Everyone’s literally yelling at you! Please just stop this."

I’m amazed he can stay completely unfazed while being bombarded with complaints. My courage is tiny to begin with—right now I just want to curl up and flee.

"Sakura-san, they’re just jealous! They’re only mad because I get to be with you!"

"That’s right, Mita! Not fair!"

"To think you’d set up such a sophisticated scheme just to increase your time with Sakura-san—an underhanded man!"

…It seems like none of the hostility is actually directed at me, which honestly makes me feel a little relieved.

"Heh heh heh, whether I can write a truly great play depends entirely on this one week! In exchange, when we assign roles in a week, I promise I’ll prepare some very appealing positions for all of you!"

The class stirs restlessly.

Even the classmates who were united in anger start wavering. Well, that “unity” felt more like a disaster for me than anything else…

The boys, especially, begin whispering:

"Hey, what should we do…? Landing a lead role would be sweet."

"Yeah, but letting him enjoy a whole week with her is way too good for him."

"But if we get the role, we’ll get to enjoy things for two months afterward."

They’re arguing about what’s “sweet” and what’s “not sweet.”

If someone becomes the lead, that means they’ll have to act opposite me, a total acting disaster… I think that’s way more painful than pleasant. Honestly, I want to apologize in advance. And they’d have to deal with that for two whole months. That sounds stressful.

Meanwhile, the girls…

"Even if we can’t be the lead, we could still play the friend role and spoil her."

"True. Or as the stepmother, we could bully her—it’d be cute."

"You’re such a sadist…"

"Ahh, I want to pamper Ayumi-chan in a cute costume."

…They’re not very different from the boys.

I just hope they won’t actually bully me. Even if it’s just a play, if a classmate yells at me, I’ll probably cry.

Their “sweet or not sweet” debate continues for a while. And even though it’s homeroom, our homeroom teacher, Yamanaka-sensei, has already retreated.

"All right, Mita. But in exchange, we’re expecting a really good script!"

With the class’s approval secured, Mita-kun flashes a sparkling white grin and pumps a fist at me.

Ah… so my opinion doesn’t matter. Looks like we’re doing this whether I agreed or not. Well, it’s only during school hours, so I guess it’s fine…

The next day, I’m slumped at my desk, regretting how naive I was.

Mita-kun follows behind me like a stagehand in black. He even tried to follow me to the bathroom, and I barely talked him down.

His dedication is honestly terrifying.

He even quietly watches when I’m hanging out with Moeka-chan, and sometimes he suddenly slips into the conversation. If he’d just join like a normal friend, it’d be fine, but the whole “continuous observation” vibe is exhausting.

"By the way, have you told Aoi-kun you’re playing the heroine?"

"N-not yet…"

Moeka-chan’s question makes my heart jump a little. I haven’t seen Aoi-kun since summer break ended. We’ve been emailing at a decent pace, but I still haven’t told him about the play.

It’s not like I don’t want to. I could just tell him. But maybe it’s risky until I see the actual script… Not that I think Mita-kun will write something weird, but what if it ends up being super embarrassing…

"S-Sakura-san! This Aoi person—is he your boyfriend!?"

Mita-kun suddenly shouts.

The class instantly goes silent.

No one moves, and every classmate’s gaze turns toward me. Even Ryoji is staring at me with a shocked expression—please stop doing that!

Why do I have to go through this humiliation…? My body temperature skyrockets so fast I feel like I’ve turned into a boiled octopus even though no one boiled me.

"H-he’s not! He’s really not!"

"Oh, thank goodness."

"You scared us!"

"I nearly fainted."

The classroom gradually grows noisy again.

What even was that…?

"Come on, don’t talk about Aoi-kun anymore! It’s not like I’m thinking about dating him right now!"

"Ahaha, sorry, sorry."

Moeka-chan giggles softly. Ah, that’s definitely her teasing face.

I can’t just let her get away with teasing me like that, so I pinch both her cheeks and tug them outward.

"Hyah! Hihyahya—!"

She mumbles in surprise. Now that I think about it, I’ve never actually fought back before. No wonder she’s shocked. Actually, I’m shocked too. I’ve never willingly touched a girl before, so how did I manage to grab her cheeks so naturally?

…Am I getting used to this?

As I’m thinking that, I notice Moeka-chan looking a little teary-eyed. I panic and let go, and she cups her cheeks with both hands.

"Sorry. Did that hurt?"

"Sigh… Ayumi-chan touched me. I mean, you never do this kind of thing, so it felt incredibly fresh. Haah… I want you to pinch me more."

Moeka-chan looks at me with this blissful expression, and I break into a cold sweat for some reason.

"S-sorry, I’ll pass on that!"

I don’t know why, but she seems like she’s about to drift off in a weird direction, so I quickly avert my eyes.

"Hmm hmm, I see, I see."

Mita-kun nods like he’s just understood something. What exactly was there to “understand” in that exchange?

When lunch break arrives, us cooking club members head to the clubroom. Naturally, Mita-kun follows us.

I’m extremely shy around strangers, so even that slight change makes me nervous. Meanwhile, Ryoji and Togo are casually chatting and laughing with him. This is the difference in communication skills… Honestly, they’d be way more suited for the lead role than me. Too bad for them they’re boys.

We open the clubroom door and take our usual seats. After five months, everyone has a fixed spot.

Moeka-chan and Sakurako-chan sit on either side of me, with Ryoji and Togo sitting across. Today, Mita-kun is sitting beside Ryoji, lunchbox in hand.

It might sound harsh to say it doesn’t match his sharp, serious face, but… well, it really doesn’t suit him.

"Sakura-san, you make your own lunch, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Hmm hmm, I see."

He nods to himself and watches carefully as I open my lunchbox.

I’ve been eating lunch here since the first semester, but this is the first time I’ve ever felt nervous doing it. As soon as I lift the lid, he peers into my lunch like it’s some kind of rare exhibit.

"This is amazing… You might be better than my mom. I’d love to try a bite."

"Sure, go ahead. What do you want?"

I offer the box to him, and he thinks it over.

"Hey, Ayumi. You never give me any even when I ask."

"That’s because when you say ‘one bite,’ you eat way more!"

"It’s fine, you barely eat anyway."

"No it’s not! I only bring what I can finish!"

"Sakura-san, can I have the rolled omelet?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure."

I place a piece of omelet into his lunchbox. Ryoji stares at it with a weird expression. My chopsticks are clean, okay!?

"Whoa, it’s delicious! Sakura-san, you’re really good at cooking. As expected from the cooking club."

"Wait! Wait! Ayumi-chan was already good when she started school! She’s just gotten even better lately!"

"Yeah. I got one of Ayu-chan’s lunches when we first enrolled, and it was already great."

Hearing everyone praise my cooking makes me a little embarrassed, so I look down at my lunch.

But I can’t deny it—it makes me really happy. Especially cooking praise. Mom trained me relentlessly, so having the results acknowledged feels extra rewarding.

"Hmm hmm, I see."

Mita-kun nods again while watching me. I have no idea which part of that conversation was an “I see,” but maybe he figured out something only he understands.

And just like that, Mita-kun’s full-day shadowing continues all the way until after school.

At first, he tried to follow me into the bathroom, so I thought he was kind of strange, but talking to him is surprisingly normal. Still, no matter how much he watches me all day, I’m not doing anything unusual.

He says he’ll be observing me for a whole week… but what exactly is he hoping to learn? I can’t help wondering to myself.

Well, either way, we’ll find out in a week. He said the script will be finished by then.