Chapter 56: Autumn of Events
And so, preparations for the sports festival held at the end of September begin.
The sports festival organizing committee and class presidents are incredibly busy.
Kan-kun and his macho team are busy with cheer practice as part of the cheering squad.
Creating small props for cheering, panels, and other class projects is a lot of work, and the Sotomachi-Kashii pair seems to be struggling.
Looking at the year ranking, the average level isn't much different, but our class has strong players like Kan-kun, Kashii-san, and Sotomachi as ace figures.
Even as a background character, I'm decent at long-distance running, and with the macho guys who can win at pretty much anything, we have a lot of strong pieces if used well.
While the sports festival kept us busy, I couldn't just relax and work in the art room, but I ran around helping Kashii-san with various tasks, receiving supplies, and shopping.
The sports festival was a fierce competition.
It was a very close match, but our blue team won, the class MVP was from our class, and the individual MVP was Kan-kun. Truly impressive physical strength.
'Muscles are the best!'
When Kan-kun says it, it feels cool.
More than the victory itself, my eyes were drawn to some third-years who were crying, moved by the win.
Will the three of us be able to get that emotional and make the sports festival just as exciting next year?
Kashii-san seemed deeply moved and said,
'Next year, for my last sports festival, I absolutely want to make it amazing!'
She was burning with determination.
After the sports festival, there's the cultural festival in November, but in between, in October, there's the marathon event.
Every year, Kan-kun takes the win.
This year, I trained hard and gave it my all, but I still came in third...
Kan-kun trains for balance until the sports festival and then transforms into a marathon runner in the month leading up to the marathon event.
Yes, Kan-kun won again. He's incredibly reliable as a teammate during the sports festival, but when he's your opponent, he's ruthless.
Right after the sports festival ended, preparations for the cultural festival began, but our class's cultural festival organizer was Koishi. He's noisy, and with the Sotomachi faction fully backing him, it's another hassle.
We're evaluated on three categories: events, choir contest, and displays, but the extroverts handle events, the introverts handle displays and event tools, drawing a clear line.
Of course, everyone participates in the choir. The accompaniment is Kashii-san's piano.
Naturally, the Sotomachi-Kashii pair is busy again this time.
On top of that, this time our event is 'Play: Sleeping Beauty.'
Koishi wanted to play one of the main roles, the prince, using his authority, but through a class vote,
Heroine Aurora Princess: Kashii-san
Prince Phillip: Sotomachi
Witch: Ise
Ise-san said,
'I can't accept this! I don't look like an evil witch, do I?!'
She was totally perfect for the role (lol)
Obata-san from Class 3 passed by and spoke to me.
'Is Reina okay?'
'Ah, she's swamped with work and having a hard time.'
'That too, but that girl has a bit of an actress vibe... she gets really immersed in her roles. Or rather, she gets dragged into them, you know?'
Obata-san started talking about something from the winter of fourth grade.
———
Do you remember when we had a plan to do a play in class during fourth grade?
Yeah, it was a class project.
Our class did Cinderella.
Normally, it would've been either Reina or me playing Cinderella, but
Why are you making that face like I'm different, Tachibana-kun?
So, a girl in our class who had just moved in that year heard that Sotomachi-kun was playing the prince, and she went on a huge rampage and forced her way into playing the heroine, Cinderella.
Reina said,
'That's fine.'
And gave up the role so easily, but at that time, the roles of 'stepmother' and 'mean stepsister' hadn't been decided yet, and
'So, Obata-chan, want to do it together?'
She said, and well, I had no choice but to agree. Reina was the stepmother, and I was the stepsister.
Rehearsals started the following week, but day by day, the details Reina wrote into the script for the stepmother role became more intricate, and the stepmother's presence grew stronger—it was amazing.
The sarcasm and bullying toward Cinderella were so intense it was almost scary.
The more intense the bullying of Cinderella, the more effective the contrast between her misery and happy ending, so the play was a huge success, but...
During rehearsals, her usual gentleness completely disappeared, and with that harsh critique and the look in her eyes, she was undeniably a sadistic stepmother.
So, be careful, okay?
Anyway, our class is going all out to win too!
———
With that, Obata-san returned to her class.
(How am I supposed to be careful?)
For now, since the two class presidents are the main characters in the event, I'll handle some of the backlog of work, but the tasks are piling up. The organizer, Koishi, doesn't seem to be functioning well either.
Finally, preparations for the cultural festival begin in earnest.
—————
Kashii-san reported to her older sister that she made Tachibana the Class President Assistant.
'Reina, that's amazing.'
Among the issues that came up during the last discussion between the sisters,
Improvements
Try to spend a little more time together. (Cleared! We work together for two hours a few times a month!)
Increase Reina's free time by getting things done. (Cleared! She helped with work, so I have more free time!)
Get to know each other better. (Cleared! We can talk nonstop while working or having tea!)
Help resolve or support the concerns she confided in me. (Cleared! Her lingering feelings about class president duties and wanting to work together with me are achieved)
Appeals
Homemade food or thoughtfulness? (Cleared! Cookies, coffee, etc., provide appeal opportunities every time we work)
Cuteness, beauty, femininity. (Cleared? She saw my bra...)
Let Tachibana-kun know (subtly) about my feelings. (Cleared? I gave him a matching badge)
That's the vibe.
'Feels like a secret strategy unleashed, right?'
'Hehe! You said if I had a plan to solve everything, so I came up with this!'
'Especially showing your bra—that's something I wouldn't think of!'
'Don't say that! It wasn't on purpose!'
Her older sister was genuinely impressed.
(Showing her bra without seeming vulgar, having a good kind of vulnerability, an unexpected lucky pervert moment... I can use this.)
The following week, her older sister used the same tactic to appeal to her crush but didn't tell her little sister.