Chapter 90: Beautiful Girl Visits Another School’s Culture Festival [Part-Time Senior Edition] (Part 1)

"Aah, Sakura-chan. Over here! Oh, and you too, Ryoji. I guess."

"I'm just an afterthought now?"

Yazaki-san guided me and Ryoji past the school gate. Today was the culture festival at her high school—she’s my senior at my part-time job. Apparently, the festival had already been held yesterday too, on Saturday, but she couldn’t get her shift covered. I also ended up scheduled, so we came on Sunday instead.

The staff shortage at Tamago Ginza was as bad as ever, and if both Yazaki-san and I disappeared during the busy midday shift, the rest of the staff would fall into chaos.

You’d think they could just hire more people, but apparently no one meets the manager’s impossibly high standards. Even when new part-timers show up, expecting them to match his “ideal employee image” is unreasonable. It’s not like I applied with any noble intentions either…

During my own shifts, I saw several people come in for interviews—almost all of them men. It was obvious they were probably hoping to work with Yazaki-san, who’s energetic, easy to talk to, and popular with customers.

Meanwhile, if someone talks to me, I panic, mess up orders, or nearly miscalculate the bill… nothing good ever happens.

Considering how many interviewees I saw yet how the number of staff hasn’t changed at all, they were probably all rejected.

According to the manager, “We don’t need guys.” Is that really okay? If a good-looking guy worked there, wouldn’t that bring in more female customers…?

Anyway, despite half of the staffing shortage being the manager’s own fault, they somehow managed to juggle the schedule so we could attend the festival today.

Since it’s held in mid-September, the preparations must have been tough. They probably started working on everything during summer break.

As for me, this is actually my first time experiencing a high school culture festival, so I’m a little excited. Before my own school’s festival happens, I want to get a feel for the atmosphere. Maybe it’ll help when we do our class performance.

Ryoji apparently came along as… an escort? I guess he overheard me and Yazaki-san talking about the festival and invited himself. Honestly, going alone to another school—basically enemy territory—felt intimidating, so I was relieved to have someone with me.

"You're cute today too, Sakura-chan."

"Ahaha. Thank you."

As always, Yazaki-san ruffled my hair. She’s done it so many times that I’ve stopped reacting, though I think she tries not to mess it up… probably.

"Thanks for escorting her. Ryoji, you can go home now~"

"Hold on! Isn’t that a bit harsh!?"

Waving casually, Yazaki-san walked into the school building with me, and Ryoji hurried after us.

"Oh, you’re coming along? Well, whatever. If Sakura-chan’s alone, she might get hit on. I guess you’re at least good for scaring off flirts."

"Of course! I’ll chase off every pest that comes near her."

He puffed out his chest proudly.

"You might be the biggest pest of them all, you know…"

Muttering under her breath, Yazaki-san glanced at him. I couldn’t help but smile wryly.

We changed into indoor slippers at the entrance and headed inside. The hallways and staircases were decorated with posters and colorful designs, making the usually plain white walls look lively.

"It’s so crowded."

"Yeah. They advertised outside the school too, so families are coming in as well."

I looked around at the sea of people. Hm… I could totally get lost in here.

"Where should we start? Though most of the attractions are food-related."

"What’s your class doing, Yazaki-san?"

Now that I thought about it, it was her own school’s festival, so her class should also have a booth. She probably couldn’t hang out with us all day. Even if it’s not exactly a part-time job, depending on the attraction, there might be shifts.

"My class is doing a maid café. Well, it’s basically just wearing maid outfits and serving customers."

"A maid café…!"

Ryoji twitched with excitement.

I, on the other hand, had some less-than-pleasant memories involving maid uniforms, so my reaction was more subdued.

"By the way, the boys aren’t exempt. They’re maids too."

Culture festivals are intense…

"So you’re wearing one too, Yazaki-san?"

"Yep! For about two hours in the afternoon."

She said it without a hint of embarrassment. I wish I could borrow even a bit of her fearlessness.

We decided to visit her class café during her shift later. For now, we’d just walk around and enter whatever caught our interest.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. How about the haunted house? It’s pretty low-budget, but that’s school festivals for you!"

I couldn’t believe she said “low-budget” right in front of the student at the reception desk. I could never do that.

Ah… the girl at reception is forcing a smile. The boy beside her is nodding like he agrees. What an awkward contrast.

When I nodded back, Yazaki-san gently squeezed my hand. Her soft touch made me tense up just a little.

"Hey, what about me?" Ryoji complained.

Left behind on his own, he scrambled to stop Yazaki-san.

"Sorry, Ryoji. This haunted house is for two people only."

"That’s obviously not true!"

Of course, it wasn’t actually limited to two people, but since the classroom was just converted into a small maze, squeezing in three at once would’ve been tough.

I quietly apologized to Ryoji with a little “sorry” hand gesture.

"Ayumi, we can go again afterward."

"Huh? Sorry, but we’re not doing a second round. If you want to go, go by yourself."

Yeah… doing two laps through a student-made haunted house at a culture festival is a bit much. I mean, I don’t want to say it as bluntly as Yazaki-san, but there are definitely… rough spots here and there.

"Urrrghhh, damn iiiit!"

Leaving Ryoji’s anguished scream behind, the two of us stepped into the haunted house.

Inside was almost completely dark, with only the occasional sign reading “This Way.” Surprisingly, the atmosphere was pretty good, and I felt a tiny spark of excitement.

Doing something like this with your whole class must be fun, too.

"It’s really dark, Sakura-chan."

"Yeah, it is."

Despite being inside a haunted house, our conversation continued as casually as ever.

"Sakura-chan, are you the type who’s totally fine with darkness and scary stuff?"

Her hand was still holding mine, and she sounded a little surprised.

"Hmm. If it were like… walking alone on a mountain path at night, or wandering through a hospital alone at midnight, or going into an abandoned building—then yeah, I think I’d be scared."

"Anyone would be scared of that."

Well, that’s true. But I’ve heard there are people who visit abandoned places for fun…

"But I’m not scared of haunted houses or anything like that."

"Heeh, really? I was hoping I’d get to see a tiny, frightened Sakura-chan curling up in fear. I guess my expectations were totally off."

Do I really look that timid? I feel like someone else said something similar before. Maybe it’s because I’m short and get treated like a kid all the time, even though I’m not actually that small. Why does this always happen…?

Lost in thought, I kept walking and suddenly we reached the exit.

There were several “scare points” along the way—someone counting plates, a faceless ghost, and other surprisingly elaborate setups. They were fun to look at, even if they didn’t exactly fulfill their intended purpose.

But apparently, while high schoolers and accompanying adults might say “Well done,” the little kids weren’t so resilient. A family who entered after us was in total chaos. The child burst into tears with incredible force, startling the parents.

Great for the haunted house creators, but also… not exactly a feel-good situation for anyone else.

Once we stepped outside, we found Ryoji sulking as he waited for us.

"Thanks for waiting~"

Yazaki-san waved her hand lightly.

"Ah. Looks like you two had your fun."

Ryoji stared at us with a thoroughly unimpressed face.

…Does he really want to go into the haunted house that badly? Honestly, it wasn’t scary at all for us…

"Ryoji. Sakura-chan isn’t scared at all, so she’s not going to go ‘kyah!’ and cling to you, you know?"

"I know that."

When Yazaki-san asked, "Then why?" Ryoji pointed at our joined hands.

"I wanted to hold hands tooooo!"

"…Wow. Didn’t expect you to be that pure."

I could have told him that holding hands wouldn’t really bother me, but… just imagining it made me feel pretty embarrassed, so I kept quiet. Holding hands with Ryoji just feels weird.

Not because my past self as a boy flickers in the back of my mind and makes things awkward—that awareness has been fading lately. Actually, maybe that’s why it feels embarrassing. Now that I think more like a girl, holding hands with Ryoji suddenly counts as holding hands with a boy… and that makes it feel like a whole different thing.

Well, either way, the conclusion is the same: I’d be too embarrassed to do it, so no hand-holding.

"Sorry, Ryoji. Even if we’d gone in together, I don’t think I would’ve held your hand."

Ryoji froze with his mouth hanging open.

I didn’t think I’d said anything that harsh—I just said I’d be embarrassed. Why is he reacting like that…?

"Sakura-chan, you’re so merciless."

And to top it off, even Yazaki-san said that.

Feeling oddly unsatisfied, I left the haunted house behind.