The next day, I found myself getting chewed out by the commander.
[Honestly, just suddenly cutting the intercom power like that. Are you a child?]
“How long are you going to keep milking that...? I already apologized yesterday...”
When I’d been recalled to the [Fraxinus] yesterday, the commander had already scolded me to death.
Why did I cut the communication? What the hell was I thinking? Had I lost my mind? She had gone on and on.
And now, she was starting all over again.
[That’s because what you did was so abrupt.]
“...Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry.”
[Good. Anyway, a showdown with [Diva] on stage? Our Hiki-chan sure is reckless~]
“Damn it... Don’t call me that.”
Whenever I was in my female form, the commander insisted on calling me Hiki-chan.
Because of that, I was always one step away from boiling over.
“Oh, there she goes taking pictures again.”
While I was walking down the hallway talking to the commander, I spotted Itsuka-kun being photographed by Tobiichi.
I sneaked up behind Tobiichi and snatched the camera right out of her hands.
“Knock it off. Shiori’s getting uncomfortable.”
Now that her camera had been stolen, Tobiichi glared at me with a frightening intensity.
But what was she going to do about it?
What could she do besides glare?
“What? Why? You know taking pictures of people without permission is basically stalking, right?”
“...Tch.”
With nothing left to say, Tobiichi clicked her tongue and stormed off.
“So, what were you saying again?”
[Since you accepted that bet, the only way is to win with the full strength of [Ratatoskr] behind you. We’ll handle the executive committee work, so you focus on the stage with Shiori.]
“Roger that.”
“Haa... Having to go on stage in this body...”
Itsuka-kun looked pretty unhappy, but he was kind at heart, so he agreed to help.
Tohka and Tobiichi, who had been following Itsuka-kun around, also offered their assistance.
I didn’t tell the Fire Keeper, Kaguya, or Yuzuru, since I figured they’d only worry.
Anyway, since we had to perform, we went to find Ai, Mai, and Mii, who had also mentioned they were going on stage.
“I see. You’re saying Miyuki-chan’s chastity is in danger? Good! Then we have to help, don’t we?”
“Ai threw a tantrum and half the band members quit, so~ all four of you are more than welcome!”
“That’s so uncool~”
“Thanks.”
Thankfully, the three of them welcomed us into the band.
“But what instruments can you play?”
“I can play a little guitar...”
Itsuka-kun could handle the guitar a bit.
As for me...
“I can do guitar too, I guess?”
Back in high school, during that age where you just want to look cool, I’d seen someone playing guitar on the street and thought it was awesome, so I picked it up too.
At first, I messed up a lot and fumbled through the chords, so it was rough, but it was definitely fun, so I kept practicing.
Back then, I was borrowing a guitar from a friend and practicing in secret from my parents. I didn’t have much time, but my friend was a great teacher.
So, I could play the basics.
Especially the songs I liked and listened to frequently—I could play those pretty well.
“I’m on bass!”
Ai tapped the bass she was carrying.
“I’m on drums!”
Mai took the drums.
Seeing that, Tohka let out a scream and collapsed to the floor.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Ah... Tohka said she wanted to play drums, right? But we can’t just swap with someone experienced...”
While Itsuka-kun was rubbing his chin in thought, Ai suddenly pulled an instrument out from somewhere.
“Tohka! I’m entrusting this to you!”
The instrument Tohka was given looked like this:
A round circle with metal discs attached around the rim, one side covered in leather, and the other side completely open.
“This is a legendary instrument that ordinary people can’t handle!”
“That’s so awesome~”
As Mai said, it was indeed an instrument ordinary people couldn’t handle.
“Amazing! This is amazing!”
Jingle-jingle
It was a tambourine.
For a high schooler, it was the kind of instrument you couldn’t handle because it was simply too embarrassing to use.
“Then that leaves vocals.”
Just as Itsuka-kun muttered that, music suddenly started playing.
“Tobiichi?”
The one who had turned on the music was Tobiichi.
She calmly took the microphone with a blank expression and started singing.
“Wow...”
Tobiichi’s singing was incredibly good.
She had already transcended the category of "ordinary."
“What? That’s no joke.”
“Tobiichi-san, you can sing?”
“That’s so awesome~”
Today, for the second time, I heard Mii say something other than “that’s so uncool.”
The first time had been to fool Tohka, but this time there was no such excuse, which proved just how outstanding Tobiichi’s singing really was.
That settled the vocalist.
[From now on, the 25th Tengu High School Joint Cultural Festival. We hereby declare the Heavenly Festival open!]
Announcements blared from the speakers set up all over Tengu Square, declaring the start of the Heavenly Festival.
In response, the visitors and booth operators erupted into cheers.
And at that very moment, Itsuka-kun and I were trapped in a booth in female form.
“Ooh! So frilly!”
“Hah! Hah! Hieta. You actually suit a girl’s body pretty well.”
“Agreed. You might be fine staying like that.”
“You two. Please don’t say such cruel things...”
Kaguya and Yuzuru, who had heard roughly that I’d turned into a girl to pursue a spirit, teased me the moment they saw my female form.
“And a maid café, of all things...”
Itsuka-kun’s hollow voice came from beside me.
The booth we’d been trapped in was a maid café run by Raizen.
“If we want to beat Rindoji, this is what it takes!”
Ai, now changed into her outfit, said as she looked at us.
“An innocent, peerless beauty!”
That was Tohka.
“Twin sisters with different vibes!”
That was Kaguya and Yuzuru.
“A tall, delicate beauty!”
That was Itsuka-kun.
“A cool girl butler!”
And that was me.
Yeah, I was the only one in butler clothes.
While Itsuka-kun and the other girls were all in maid outfits, I alone wore a butler uniform.
I was honestly relieved.
I’d rather die than wear one of those fluttery maid outfits with all those frills.
“Huh? Where’s Origami?”
“Yeah. That stalker girl’s nowhere to be seen.”
When I looked around after hearing Itsuka-kun, Tobiichi was the only one missing.
The girl who would normally jump in and insist on helping if Itsuka-kun was involved was nowhere to be found.
I didn’t know whether she’d chickened out because she was embarrassed or had some other reason for skipping, but I couldn’t help finding it a little annoying.
“Well, forget that! Go on! Face of the booth! Pull in the customers!”
“Eh? Me? I have to do it?!”
When Kaguya shoved me toward the window, I looked outside and saw a long line stretching into the distance.
And almost all of them were boys.
“What the...”
“Oh! This is kind of exciting!”
“Awaiting orders. We’ll follow Miyuki’s instructions.”
“A maid captain? That sounds good too.”
“Eh?!”
No, no. I’m the butler right now.
Is it really right to make the butler the maid captain?
“I’m the butler, so I’m handing that authority over to Shiori!”
“What?!”
So I dumped the responsibility on Itsuka-kun, who had been quietly listening beside me.
He looked extremely flustered, but behind him, the girls running the booth were already bowing to him in their maid outfits.
“Please give us your orders!”
“Orders, huh...”
Itsuka-kun looked burdened, but after a moment, he cleared his throat and said,
“Ahem. Then everyone, please do your best!”
“Yes!”
And that was how our maid café opened.
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