Vol 1 Chapter 7 (1/2)
VOLUME 1-1
Chapter 7
The day of the s.h.i.+nryoku Festival had finally arrived.
There were normally no cla.s.ses on Sat.u.r.day, so today was treated as a voluntary attendance day by the school. However, it was a festivity held by Seiran High, which was known for its fondness of events. Though no parents attended unlike the cultural festival, the school was still quite bustling.
The cheers and shouts of the students echoed throughout the school, reaching from the gymnasium to the music room.
And here was the home economics room.
It was the venue of the [Boxed Lunch Contest] held by the Home Economics Club. It was almost time for the food to be sampled.
Until then, only pictures posted alongside each entry were used as reference material for evaluating them.
Affixed to them were the entry numbers, t.i.tles, recipes, photos of the ingredients before cooking from various angles and even receipts from the supermarket to prove that they made the food within the designated cost of materials.
However, the rest of the information did not indicate the name of the maker or their club.
“Yo, Homuran!”
“So you came, Makichi.”
Makino showed up in front of Homura as she was anxiously waiting by the window of the home economics room.
“Tahaha, I got hungry, you know? I skipped out on helping my club. The student council should permit food stands for the s.h.i.+nryoku Festival.”
As the jersey-wearing Makino complained, Homura bowed her head in apology.
“Sorry for not coming to visit you. I ended up preparing for this till the last minute all morning…”
“Then you managed to make it in time?”
Homura nodded again in relief, but Makino peered at her closely.
“…And yet, you don’t look like you stayed up all night, Homuran… Well, in that case, good job on finis.h.i.+ng it!”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“All right, I’m going to taste the results of Homuran’s home cooking training for sure~. In fact, I’ll make you my wife~”
As Homura responded with a carefree laugh, Makino whispered in her ear.
“Hey, Homuran, whisper to me your entry number.”
“Sorry. I was warned not to say anything since the people in charge will find out right away.”
Even now, the uppercla.s.sman in charge of executing the Home Economics Club’s event was glaring at her.
If votes for a specific boxed lunch were biased due to being in the same cla.s.s or club, they would suspect it being a case of fixed block votes.
“So it’s made completely fair… Well, I suppose that’s a good thing.”
Nodding with her arms crossed, Makino suddenly raised her head and surveyed their surroundings.
“…Where’s Touya-kun, the enviable taste-tester?”
“He ran away. He said he couldn’t stand to watch.”
“How pathetic!”
“Ahaha, sorry. That was a joke. Apparently he can’t come due to circ.u.mstances on his end.”
Just when she thought she was getting a call from him on her cell phone for the first time, that’s what he said to her.
However, it wasn’t like she had called him or texted him either. She’d really prefer it if her first call to him would be to convey wonderful news.
“Hey, how are things going with the [Yamato Nades.h.i.+ko Contest]?”
“Fufufu, so you really are interested? I brought the official predictions list.”
Grinning, Makino took out a folded printout from her pocket.
The page looked just like the kind of thing used for horse racing predictions, making Homura wonder where she’d gotten such information from.
“Who made that? People are really enjoying themselves with this.”
The two of them unfolded the official predictions list.
“Here, look here.”
From among the pictures of pretty first years, Makino pointed at a corner of the list and read it out.
“[Mysterious Transfer Student’s first entry upon her first attendance! A Dark Horse for whom even her affiliated club is unknown!]”
“Entry #9, [Fujimori…Ameno]? Her last name’s the same as Fujimori-sensei’s…? But they don’t look like sisters at all. Are they half-siblings?”
“What’s this? Err, the comment she gave right before her appearance on stage was—[Serving tea is a robot’s duty!]—What the heck is this? She’s getting more and more mysterious.”
As the two of them became interested in the suspicious description on the printout, things became noisy over by the entrance to the home economics room.
Several tall uppercla.s.smen had showed up.
The one who appeared at their head was a familiar face to Homura.
“Hey there, sorry for making you wait, everyone. Seiran High’s Fourteenth Student Council President, Rokujizou Takara, has arrived!”
She came in trailing about ten people along with her.
“So the special judge is the student council president, huh? As usual, she’s quite a noisy and boisterous person.”
Makino was bewildered by the president’s exaggerated entrance.
Behind Rokujizou was the accountant Yamas.h.i.+na who Homura had met back then, accompanying her like the manager of a busy performer.
“…Ah…”
However, the person who caught Homura’s eye was a third year female student who accompanied Rokujizou.
“That’s… the beauty from that time at the jazz club!”
Their eyes met.
The girl had a transparent gaze that saw through Homura.
After Homura stared at her unconsciously, the girl once again nodded in greeting at Homura in a bashful manner.
President Rokujizou also noticed Homura’s presence and walked over to her.
The camera of the event’s record keeper energetically made shutter noises.
“h.e.l.lo, Hinooka-san. I heard you were partic.i.p.ating in this contest. But I have to warn you that I intend to critique fairly and impartially as a special judge.”
“Yes, of course. I look forward to hearing your judgment!”
While she replied in kouhai-mode, Homura couldn’t help being interested in the beauty next to Rokujizou.
She repeatedly glanced at the girl.
“So, umm…”
“Her? This girl here is my friend—no, just ‘friend’ is incomplete as a description.”
Rokujizou placed her fingers on the beauty’s sloping shoulder.
“This is my best friend, Misasagi Mayo.”
After being proudly introduced by Rokujizou, Misasagi-senpai shrank her shoulders and acted embarra.s.sed once again.
Apparently, she was already a celebrity among the uppercla.s.smen, and there seemed to be a strict practice of watching over her lovingly so as to prevent anyone from ever stepping over a fixed line.
Homura hadn’t been able to clearly see her in the dark and crowded jazz club the other day, but now that she directly faced her like this, she could see that Misasagi’s beauty was even more outstanding than she had imagined. She was blessed with a tall figure that rivaled President Rokujizou’s, making Homura wonder why she hadn’t noticed her at school until now.
Although both of them stood out in people’s eyes, compared to Misasagi-senpai who gave off the aura of a high cla.s.s young lady, Homura was like a worthless commoner who acted as a pretty signboard girl at a downtown shop.
“—And she’s also the president of our school’s prided Exploration Club.”
“Misasagi-senpai, is—the president, of the Exploration—Club—?”
This person, this senpai, was the president, of the Exploration Club?
In Homura’s mind, an image of Touya making a curt expression made the paltry excuse, “I didn’t tell you? Sorry, sorry.” Mentally, Homura squatted down and delivered a peerless, anti-aircraft uppercut aimed at the sky.
An imaginary mountain gorilla let out a war cry and fell down a ravine of skysc.r.a.pers, and the black-haired beauty that was left behind looked at Homura apologetically with closed eyes.
Naturally unperturbed by slight eccentricities of any student, Rokujizou continued the introductions.
“Today, I’m looking around the s.h.i.+nryoku Festival with her while doing official business on the side—”
“You got it backwards. The official business takes precedence first and foremost.”
Rokujizou ignored Yamas.h.i.+na’s remark as he tried to keep them on track.
“Could it be that you and Misasagi are already acquainted, Hinooka-san? You’re kinda giving off that feeling.”
“Yes, umm, the truth is, I met her the other day in Honmachi—”
At that point, Homura’s words trailed off.
I really shouldn’t mention here that I went somewhere minors aren’t allowed, should I? The teachers are watching, after all.
“Umm, i-in other words…”
After grasping at straws for an answer, Homura suddenly stood up straight and propped up her hands on her forehead.
“It was like, just when you thought that Nomi’s s.p.a.ce pilot did a lap around the earth, the earth was actually a cat, or something like that!”