Chapter 121 - Afterparty (1/2)
Afterparty
The second day of the school festival.
When I arrived at school Fujimoto called out to me.
“What are you going to do after school today?”
“What is this about?”
“They’re inviting voluntary girls and boys to a dance on the school grounds later.”
Aah. That’s right, after cleanup is done with, that is supposed to happen. I didn’t talk to anyone about it, so I completely forgot.
Dance…
If it was with Hiiragi-chan… No, that’s not possible. I thought about it for a second, but there were too many people.
During the school festival season, inviting a person of the opposite gender with the line of, “Would you please dance with me,” was equivalent to a confession. That’s why, dancing boldly as a male and female pair caused them to be recognized as couples or becoming couples. In other words, it was more and more of an impossibility.
“Uhhh… I’ll probably leave once cleanup is done.”
“Hmm~. Is that so? Well, I guess nothing good comes out of staying anyways, let’s go home.”
Fujimoto was satisfied with my answer as he patted me on the shoulder.
Once the homeroom teacher takes attendance, we’ll be free to do what we want. Those doing cafes or those running stores made their preparations, while there were also couples that just hung out.
For today, I didn’t have a shift at the café, so I had a lot of free time. Preparations have been in progress since yesterday as well.
Once I arrived at the home economics room, the other three people were already there. In order to meet the 11:00 opening time, I should start preparing the rice.
Both Hiiragi-chan and Kanata seemed to have finished making the curry yesterday and let it rest until today. They were just in the middle of warming it up and doing final checks.
“N-Nii-san… today, once you’re done with the store, what are you doing?”
“What am I doing… Well, I’ll go around eating what I didn’t get to eat yesterday… Since there are like band or theatre performances running the gym, I’ll probably check some of those out as well.”
“Hmmm? Sana also has ones she wants to see, so we can watch it together just for you.”
“Isn’t it fine if we go around separately?”
“Ah, is that so! Fine, go watch alone!”
What is she getting mad over?
Sana frowned as she fumed from her nose.
Hiiragi-chan was laughing.
“Ii-san, do you have any plans? The school festival goes until 4:00, right?”
“… I don’t have any.”
“That’s a relief. Then, why don’t we go around the stores together.”
“S-sensei as well…?”
“Is it not alright for me to come along?”
“It’s… fine…”
Sana made a complicated expression while frowning.
“Fufufu. Thank you, Sana-chan.”
“I-it’s not something… you need to be grateful for…”
It didn’t seem like Natsumi-chan was coming today, and so the four of us from the home economics club were going to enjoy the festival together.
Once plates, spoons, and other utensils were prepared, all that was left was carrying it to the home economics club space.
“Let’s work hard today as well! Let’s goooo ♪”
Hiiragi-chan happily cheered alone.
“““…”””
We only looked at her with a serious face.
“Why are you guys not doing it!? Let’s cheer together!”
Our expressions seemed to make her feel embarrassed.
“Sensei, if you don’t say it beforehand, we can’t go along with it.”
“Eh? Ah, I see. S-sorry. I was too excited. Ummm, once again…”
Hiiragi-chan’s face was red as she coughed and once again spoke.
“Let’s work hard today as well!”
“““Let’s goooo!”””
The second day started just like that.
The store wasn’t open until 11:00. However, even before the opening time, starving high school students had already quickly formed a line. Since we were able to complete our preparations quickly, we decided to open shop, and the curry vanished almost instantly. There were returning customers from yesterday, people who heard about it from friends, and even people who decided to try it out after seeing the line.
“The Sanada family curry has no blind spots!”
“You’re being noisy!”
Her curry was more popular than yesterday, and so Sana was much more excited.
It was the same flavoring as yesterday, but it was selling the same as Hiiragi-chan’s and Kanata’s… As expected, is it the price and what was written on the board?
[Mildly Sweet Curry by 1E Sanada Sana — 500 yen]
“I guess it’s nice that you don’t have to experience that miserable state from yesterday?”
“It has to be because of what Nii-san wrote yesterday.”
I think it also has to do with the price you set yesterday though.
“I just thought that there were people who were bad with spiciness but still wanted to eat curry.”
“It’s Sanada-kun’s victory for grasping that perspective. For people who don’t like spicy food, a curry that they’ve never eaten before might be worried.”
“… Good job, Onii-chan”
Being called Onii-chan by Kanata somehow feels a bit weird.
Starting from the left, it’s spicy, medium, and mild… I think being able to differentiate like that is a good thing.
Without even 2 hours passing after the store opened, we were completely sold out. The store closed quite early.
“Huge victory!”
Sana’s eyes were sparkling with happiness.
“Next time, Sana will make it for you at home.”
“Okay, okay. Just how much confidence do you have?”
We put on a sign that said, [Thank you for coming, but we’re sold out], and immediately began withdrawing to the home economics room.
“Cleanup starts at 4:00 and ends at 5:00. Let’s wash the dishes at that time.”
In a teacher-like way, Hiiragi-chan made her announcement.
It’s not even 1:00 yet, and so we have quite a bit of free time. Just as planned, we decided to go around the school grounds and visit the stalls.
“…”
With a ghost-like expression and restless motions, Fujimoto looked this way, as if he wanted some friends. As such, we let him into our party.
“Chan-Sana, what do you want to eat now? Your Paisen will treat you to something!” [1]
“Umm… it’s okay… I have some allowance, so it’s fine…”
After turning energetic, Fujimoto failed in baiting Sana. She was already wary of him, and ended up hiding behind me like I was her shield.
“Nii-san, who is that person?”
“The person who sits next to me.”
“Heeey, at least call me a friend, a close friend!”
“He seems to take pride as if saying, “We’re normally really close,” Nii-san. Besides, he’s acting overly familiar with you.”
The excited Fujimoto seemed to be very unpopular with the home economics club.
“Ah, Senpaaai.”
Rei-chan came running over while weaving her way through the crowd.
“I came!”
“Welcome!”
“Are you guys getting lunch soon? Can I join?”
“Yeah. That’s okay.”