CH 224

Three days until the festival.

The atmosphere in the school has changed a lot.

The area past the main gate is lined with numerous tents and hand-made signboards.

The parking lot, which would normally be lined with teachers’ or pick-up vehicles, is now surrounded with blue tape and classes are marked with white lines.

The parking lot is currently empty, but tomorrow the desks and chairs should be filled up in this parking lot.

The walls of the school building are covered with advertising posters and decorated with pumpkins and other decorations, perhaps for Halloween, which is just a few days away.

Taking a look at the steadily progressing preparations in the school after classes, I then knocked on the door of one of the rooms.

There was no response from inside.

When I opened the door, President and Shizuku were arranging the documents to be used in this classroom student council room…

Two desks were set up facing each other, with Sera on the other side.

Next to her, Kaede was standing in her Kikyo Jogakuin’s uniform.

“Sorry for being late…”

“No, it’s the scheduled time. So how’s it going on around the campus?”

“The tents for each class were in place where they were supposed to be. There were a couple of tents without signs, so I’ve contacted Shiraishi.”

In response to the President’s question, I gave her the information that I had confirmed in that short period.

After my report, Shizuku started speaking as she checks the documents in her hand.

“There was an application for an extension of the deadline for submitting… the yakisoba noodles from the first year class and the tapioca from the third year class.”

“Hm… it seems to be taking a rather long time, I will go there after this meeting and help them.”

President puts her hand on her chin, thought for a moment and then continued.

If this person is on her way to help, there shouldn’t be any problems.

After completing a survey report on the location of the stalls on the premises that I was tasked with checking, plus ensuring that the signs and other such items are in place, Shizuku looks at me and tells me to sit down in an empty seat.

I sat down in the first seat on the left and the three members of the student council were finally together.

The other party consisted of Sera, her secretary, and Kaede.

“Now, let’s have our last meeting before the final show.”

President initiated what would be the last of the preliminary discussions.

After sharing information on what activities their high school would be involved in, the agenda moved on to the next item on the agenda.

“The opening of the event will take place in the central square of the shopping district, and the Presidents of the two schools will have a few words, so please be prepared.”

Shizuku takes the role of facilitator and tells the two.

They nodded in agreement and no problems seemed to arise.

The schedule for the day went like this.

At 9:00 am in the morning, the opening ceremony is to be announced in the shopping district square.

Then at 9:30am, the students of Kikyo Jogakuin will start their performance and chorus in Town hall.

In the meantime, Sakuranaoka Gakuen students will return to school by bus.

The opening ceremony for the main school only takes place at 10:30am and from then until 4:00pm the students are free to enjoy the sales and cultural festival.

Events will be held in turn on a stage specially set up at the school, and the student council will set up stalls while helping and taking care of these events.

After Shizuku gave an explanation of the day’s flow up to this point, she finally mentioned what they would be most concerned about.

“Buses will be departing from the school every 30 minutes to their respective depots. There is no need to worry about transportation.”

When Shizuku turned to Sera and told her, a surprised look appeared on her face.

Most likely, she was surprised that we were able to prepare the buses.

I don’t need to explain the process to each and every one of them, so I won’t…

It’s not like that I don’t want to deal with the situation and have Kaede explain the situation since she was roughly aware of the situation.

After the schedule for the day and the explanation of the bus operation, the main topic came to an end.

The rest of the day would have been better spent chatting, but unfortunately that is not the case here.

“So, about the competition of the student councils…”

Sera tells us about a problem that is so far apart from the preparations for the festival that no one would ever mention.

I wasn’t the only one to sigh… again.

A sigh was unexpectedly heard from my sister.

Is it because we’re siblings?

I feel like my sympathy is overwhelmed by my heart and soul, right?

The reason for the sigh was predictable.

Since the Kikyo Jogakuin side has left the handling of the situation to Kaede, she must have been told similar story several times.

How does the other party run their stall, and are there any other unreasonable conditions that we can do and the other party can’t easily come up with…?

If we keep talking at their pace, we’ll never finish.

When she turns her eyes to the President, she nods and stands up, even if she has nothing to say.

“Just to confirm something about the competition, I’ve added a sticker in the pamphlet. Students who eat sweets from both schools get the right to vote and put it on a sign in front of the shop to whichever they prefer. …How do you like that?”

“…No problem, as long as it’s a pamphlet, it’s an easy way for students at our school to get one.”

The bell must already be ringing in Sera’s head for the game to begin.

Her eyes appear to be glistening.

Well, I’ve heard from Kaede that there are no problems regarding the preparations for her own high school’s festival, so she is only concerned about not causing any trouble for the people around her.

However, I knew that her commitment to the competition with President was strong, but when it got to this point, I began to think if she likes her or something.

After that, when I was answering questions from Sera as appropriate, it was time for the discussion to end and we disbanded.

The next time we would meet in person would be on the same day.

In front of the bus, which was already ready to go off before the main gate, the representatives of the two schools shook hands as if wishing each other a successful festival, despite the problems they had encountered.

Kaede also gets on the bus to go back to the high school for choir practice.　

“Well then, Nii-san, I might be a little late today.”

“Oh, …I can pick you up, just let me know.”

The moment the bus closed, I told her so and called my sister cute in my mind as she waved at me with a smile.

…Is she the embodiment of an angel?

As the silence fades, Shizuku picks up a piece of paper with various progress notes on it and turns her head.

Peering into the contents from the side, she checked the contents and found that most of the issues were about the classes that had applied for additional budgets, and about the delivery of goods, etc.

“Didn’t these classes learn to shop within their allowance…?”

“Well, the next one was about each class bringing in their stuff and their additional budgets, wasn’t it?”

After seeing the bus off until it was completely out of sight, the President said, without looking at the paper.

…Did this person memorize everything?

I followed her back as she proceeded, impressed by the fact that she still had the same monstrous specs.

“As for the heavy work, I have prepared a group of students who are proud of their strength, led by Hino, so we could use their help. That’ll make up for it a little, but if necessary, I’ll go ask the principal.”

“Well then, I’ll go and tell him about the work.”

After bowing, Shizuku went to Hino-kun call as instructed by the President.

I was really curious about the strength squad or whatever it was, but I resisted the urge to follow her and followed the President.

But now that Shizuku has left, I guess it’s my responsibility to go to Kirasaka’s place.

It’s no good… that girl is definitely in a bad mood.

‘Are they children that they can’t even adjust their budgets?’ I’m sure she’s going to blabber on about it.

And if I let her settle those, she might say those words to the them, so she’s definitely going to be removed from the position as a safety as well.

When I turned my gaze to the President, she nodded, as if she had understood me somehow …wrongly.

“It helps that Ogiwara and Koizumi do most of the work on the problems, and Shiraishi does the organizational management and directions.”

Suddenly, President expressed her admiration for them.

In fact, we have a few problems such as human relationships.

I was prepared for a fight or two, but Yuuto and Koizumi’s ability to persuade people was equally high.

Shiraishi, too, was able to give correct answers to questions from the students that came in one after another, not only by judging the situation, but also by doing simulations for those situations in advance, which was typical of her.

President also recognized her skills.

“I am happy to have juniors in my last year.”

President muttered as she gazed at the different scenery of the school on her walking route.

Did this person also have groundless fears about what would happen after she graduated?

No, it’s not just because she her.

People do worry about what happens after they leave.

Even if they are aware that this is considered meddling, they cannot shake off the feeling of anxiety.

“…They’re good at what they do.”

The student council officers, as well as Shizuku, Kirasaka and Yuuto, are all in my mind and I said that in a small voice, President looked back after that.

The expression on her face looked a little dissatisfied.

“Are you one of them, too?”

“…”

The words of the President made me hesitate whether I should nod my head or not.

What did I do at this cultural festival?

A sudden proposal of competition to prevent Sera from acting inappropriately.

Proposing the formation of an executive committee to prevent Shiraishi from making the ideal student council.

If I put it all into words, all I did was block the girls’ actions.

I have no regrets or remorse, but it’s hard to say if I was helpful.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear those words …until the event is a success.”

While walking a little further than the president, I said.

The preparations and the main event are yet to be started.

It is too early to judge what was done and what was not.

President also mutters, ‘Yeah’ and resumed her halted steps.

A day passed, then another, and the glorious days of the students turn into a memory of the past.

The last festival for third-year students.

The last cultural festival for Hiiragi Akane was about to begin.

Looking back on my memories, I recalled the words of Kirasaka Reiya.

I wonder if I will be able to find myself and really enjoy myself at this festival.

With feelings akin to anxiety, the joint cultural festival of Sakuranaoka Gakuen and Kikyo Jogakuin approaches.