“Ah, Big Bro!”
Along with Riran, who had regained her composure, I headed towards the area near the main gate where Kotono and Noa were waiting.
Both of them were in their middle school uniforms, and Noa had hers slightly dressed down.
I see Kotono in this outfit every day, but it’s been a while since I saw Noa like this.
“Geez, Akito-senpai, you’re late!”
“Sorry. I had some business to attend to.”
“Honestly... anyway.”
Noa stared intently at me and Riran. Wh-what is it?
With that, the two of them suddenly held up their smartphones and began firing off shots with their cameras without a word.
“It suits you! It suits you both so much!”
“Senpai is too cute! Ane-san is way too cute! What is this? It’s so calculated!”
“Hey, you two, stop it...! I-I’m embarrassed!”
Riran desperately tried to stop them.
I get it, I really do. If I were on the observing side, I’d definitely want to capture Riran in photos too.
But please stop calling me cute. It’s embarrassing.
I managed to calm them down and decided to show them around the school.
Perhaps because a high school festival was a novelty to them, both of them were looking around restlessly at everything.
“Whoa~. All the high schoolers are in cosplay~.”
“There are even people who look like real zombies, which is a bit scary... but unlike middle school, it looks so fun!”
“That’s true. In middle school, it didn’t feel like a festival; it felt more like a part of our studies.”
“Heh, is that so?”
“““Hey, you middle school alumni.”””
You don’t have to glare at me all at once.
“Did you really think I’d seriously participate in a tedious event?”
“Well, that’s just the kind of person Akito is...”
““Yeah, yeah.””
They nodded vigorously.
That’s annoying in its own way.
“Big Bro, middle school cultural festivals basically don’t have food and drinks; each class does research and displays it.”
“Oh, now that you mention it, it was like that. I remember researching something too.”
“Heh, what did you research?”
“How to sleep without the teacher finding out.”
“Are you an idiot?”
I was dissed with such pure eyes.
Don’t look at me like that. It makes me sad.
“It actually had a pretty good reputation. People tried it after the festival and thanked me because they really didn’t get caught.”
“What should we do, Noa? Our school is full of idiots.”
“Let’s work hard so we don’t end up like that.”
A strange friendship blossomed in an odd place.
And Riran. I wish you wouldn’t look at me like I’m trash. It really hits hard when you’re the one giving me that look.
Anyway, I decided to guide them to our class's Japanese-style Cafe first.
Fortunately, the crowd had thinned out a bit, and we were able to enter the classroom without much of a wait.
“Welcom... oh, if it isn’t Akito-kun and Riran-chan.”
“Yo, Rio. Everything going smoothly?”
“Since you two aren’t here, it’s stabilized to some extent. Though there are still a lot of people.”
“That’s good to hear. Man, I really wanted to help out. But since we’d just be a nuisance, I guess we can’t.”
“Eh? Do you want me to get mad at you?”
Sorry. I’ll apologize, so stop grinding your knuckles into my head.
“Akito-senpai, what did you do? Are you banned?”
“Don’t speak as if it’s a given that I did something. They just told us not to come to the shop because too many people gather when Riran and I are together.”
“I don't know if that’s a happy scream or a scream of agony.”
True.
We were guided to a table for four and sat down.
“Ane-san, do you have any recommendations?”
“Out of the ones I tried during the tasting, the Matcha Latte and Dango set were the best. Most of the desserts and drinks here are store-bought, so you can’t really go wrong.”
“I see... hmmm, there’s quite a lot. What should I do...”
“Hey, hey, Noa. Want to share with me? We can eat more if we share.”
“Ah, that sounds good! What about you, Kotono?”
The two of them looked at the menu and chatted excitedly.
Looking at them like this, those two really are close.
It’s almost like they’re connected by a red thread... nah, surely not.
“Hey, hey, Akito. Should we share too?”
“Tell me your true feelings.”
“I want to eat both the Strawberry Daifuku and the Dango.”
“You’re an honest one. I’ll let you order both as a reward.”
“Yay! Ehehe, thank you, Akito!”
She’s a simple girl. Easy and cute.
“Akito-kun, Riran-chan.”
“Hmm? Rio, what’s up?”
“Please refrain from flirting in our shop.”
“...We weren’t though.”
“““““Hah????”””””
The people in the classroom looked at us with incredible faces.
That didn’t even count as flirting... I don’t get it.