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[-Continuation-]
[Location - Soubu High(:school)]
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[Hachiman's POV]
Now that the second day of the Cultural Festival had arrived at Soubu High, the disorder that was about to follow had also arrived.
Here, in this school, the Festival will be held for two days.
The first day was in-house only - nothing sort of extraordinary – just the typical class exhibitions, club demonstrations, and volunteer band performances.
Naturally, the fervent enthusiasm also made its way to my class, 2-F, and on the first day, my free time quickly became occupied with a new task - handling the reception for my class.
It was just sitting around, so I didn't mind it that much and made my contribution.
However, the second day meant opening our doors to the general public.
Folks in the neighborhood, friends from other schools, and students looking to test into this school, and 'I dunno what's going on here, but I came anyway' little kids. Families looking to kill time on a Saturday... hell, even random passersby who stumbled upon the event by chance.
It was a zoo, pure and simple, drawing a large turnout.
So planning committee work was going to occupy me for all of today.
And who was it who was given the responsibility of supervising this entire chain of events? This is, of course, "Our's" truly.
Our's because - I am not doing it alone.
The ever-diligent vice-chairwoman had insisted on accompanying me in this endeavour since I was deemed not well versed with the task 'checking up' and would be utterly lost without her guidance.
"Aren't you good with Photography? Just follow me along, I will handle the rest." She had said, in a no-nonsense tone of hers, that left no room for argument.
For some reason, when she pointed out my supposed skill with photography, I didn't feel any sense of pride. Rather, it was as if she had highlighted an odd hobby of mine, something unethical and out of place.
As if being the Planning Committee Chairman wasn't already a massive pain in my ass, I now had to spend my precious Saturday dealing with the mess.
So there we were – the Chairman and the Vice-Chairwoman, an odd duo tasked with the quest of maintaining order amidst the impending chaos.
Anyways, Yukinoshita took the lead, patrolling the hallways with the intensity of a veteran military commander, while I quietly trailed behind like some kind of privileged paparazzi, snapping photos left and right.
Of course, occasionally I had to take a hasty picture of the Chairman and the Vice-Chairwoman due to my 'inexperience' in handling the camera.
To put it simply, this is a dream job – one that I had been thrust into without much choice in the matter.
….well, I guess that's not too bad.
"Geez, Yukinoshita, you could stand to loosen up a little. It's a festival, not a military operation." Whenever I would make a remark, she would respond with one of her trademark icy glares that could freeze a man solid.
–thud!
Once we were finally able to check up on a few classes, and came out to move onto the next one, my back received a sudden impact from behind.
"Big brother!" Before I could react, a pair of arms wrapped around me in a tight hug.
"Whoa, Komachi." I turned to find my little sister clinging to me, her eyes bright with excitement.
However, she had already released me and shifted her attention to Yukinoshita. "Ah, Yukino! You are here too!"
Yukinoshita's lips curled into a small smile. "Komachi. I am glad you came by."
"Of course, I would!" Komachi flashed a smiling face, as she bounced on the balls of her feet.
"Did you come by yourself?" I asked, taking in her slightly disorganized appearance, as if she had rushed here.
"Yeah. I just dropped by to see you. That's worth a lot of Komachi points." She said with a playful smile, her eyes flashing slyly.
Looking around the busy corridor, she saw students hurrying about, the vibrant energy of the cultural festival day fully on display. Her wide-open curiosity absorbed every detail as though she were committing it all to memory.
"Where's Yui?" She asked, her gaze finally settling back on me.
"She should probably be in her class." Yukinoshita.
"Don't you have your class then, Yukino?" Komachi gave a curious head tilt.
"Shut up, brat. We have no such thing when we are committed to the Planning Committee." I cursed out.
"…I would rather be doing committee work than participating in that back at class." Yukinoshita answered, looking remarkably sullen.
"Well, I know you would do great whatever it is, Yukino." Komachi spoke with a motivational smile, her voice filled with genuine encouragement.
"Ah, thanks... I guess." Yukinoshita replied, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks, clearly surprised by receiving such a sincere compliment.
"So what are you doing here, Big brother? Goofing off…?" Komachi turned to me in a teasing tone.
"Are you an idiot? I am also doing committee work." I replied, my tone laced with annoyance at her seemingly oblivious question.
Komachi's eyes widened, and her mouth formed a small 'o' as the implication of my words sank in. "Big brother is working..."
"Hey, why are you so shocked? Didn't I already say that I am the committee president?" I questioned, my brow furrowing in frustration at Komachi's over-the-top reaction.
"Wasn't that just supposed to be for namesakes?" She countered, her voice filling with uncertainty as her shocked expression remained.
I sighed a dissatisfied sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose in an attempt to maintain my composure.
"No. It wasn't." I started forcefully fixing her with a pointed look that indicated my rising irritation.
Yukinoshita, ever the composed one, chose that moment to intervene.
"I know, it's hard to believe, but he is indeed committed to his role as Chairman of the planning committee, little sis." Yukinoshita conceded, offering her a wry smile.
Komachi's gaze shifted to Yukinoshita. "Really?"
"Tsk, I am just following Yukinoshita behind." I interjected, hoping to downplay the situation before it deteriorated any further.
"Oh, that makes sense." Komachi nodded strongly, her expression shifting from shock to understanding in an instant.
Darn brat, she's nodding too much.
Even Yukinoshita joined in with a nod of her own, a hint of amusement playing on her lips.
After that, we slowly resumed our walk.
Komachi went a few steps further to look at the class decorations and student uniforms and looked surprised at their energy.
She let out an impressed gasp. "…High schools really are different, huh?"
"Well, I guess that's because middle schools don't have Cultural Festivals." I pointed out. I mean, they simply can't dump this humongous work process on middle school kids like they could on us.
Komachi's legs stilled, and she turned back to us, her expression a mixture of excitement and reluctance to leave. "Right, right. I am gonna go look around. I will see you later, Big brother. You too, Yukino, and please take care of him."
Before we could respond, she had already jogged toward the bend in the hallway and ascended the stairs.
"You heard her. Now follow me." Suddenly, Yukinoshita and I were left alone.
"...what the hell…" I replied, dumbfounded at her parting words, despite knowing they wouldn't reach her.
….
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Then our focus shifted quickly to the task at hand.
As we were still in the middle of our patrol duty, Yukinoshita's sharp gaze swept over the various classrooms, paying close attention.
??Abruptly, her steps stopped, her brow twitching as she fixed on one classroom.
"…That class. What they're doing is different from what's written on their application." She remarked, her tone dripping with disapproval.
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[To be continued…]
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