Volume 1 - CH 3.4

As the time approached, the number of members increased, and Kouta, the committee’s vice president, explained today’s work and roughly assigned the work to be done. Today’s work is the maintenance of the signboards used last year. There are roughly two types of signboards used in the Cultural Committee: one made of paper and the other made of wood. The paper signs are discarded when they are used up, but the wooden ones are used year after year and need to be repaired.

“Ugh, it’s huge.”

The first thing to do is to take the wooden signs out of the storage area for maintenance, and the first-year students were surprised when they saw the signboards in the warehouse. There are several standards for signboards, but the largest one is approximately 2.5 meters long and 2 meters wide. The first time you see one, you may be surprised.

“Can we carry these?”

“Three people can carry it, and it’s not as heavy as it looks.”

“Is that so?……Oh, you’re right.”

It is impossible in terms of shape, but in terms of simple weight alone, it is enough for one person to carry. One of the junior members, who was carrying the signboard with me, felt somewhat anticlimax.

“When we’re done carrying this, can we go join the girls?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

The wooden signboards are made by pasting imitation paper on a wooden base, but the paper is still there from last year and needs to be peeled off for use again this year, which is done by a team consisting mainly of girls. The sheer number of items involved makes it an unexpectedly time-consuming and labor-intensive task, but the atmosphere is relaxed, and the team seems to be having a lot more fun than the all-male team.

“Let’s get on with it, then.”

“Safety first.”

“Yes, sir.”

Since it was the first time for first-year students to work on this project, naturally the second-year students had to teach them what they were supposed to do. Yuichi Koizumi, a junior in the same exhibit planning department, chose me as a tutor, probably because he found out that we were in the same department when we met at the welcome party, which was a big help to me.

“After all, men do all the physical work.”

“Well. It’s light enough that a girl could do it, but if there’s a man to help out, I guess we’ll do it that way.”

He is a talker, so even though he is carrying the signs back and forth, we never lose track of our conversation.

“You’re scoring a point.”

“That’s half of it.”

The other half of me thinks I’m just trying to be cool. It is a common understanding among almost all boys that they don’t want to or won’t ask their female counterparts to do the heavy lifting.

“By the way, Makki-san.”

“Hmm?”

“You were with those two today, but what really is going on?”

“As I said, we just happened to be together, that’s all.”

I was not lying, but the smirking junior said, “What?” and he still intends to continue this conversation. But—

“Oh, I wanted to hear that story, too.”

“Me too.”

Five or six of the surrounding first-year students join the conversation. I guess it was partly because most of the sign-carrying was already done and there was nothing left to do, but still, it was almost everyone who was in the vicinity. How interested are they?

“Where did you meet Kimioka-san this morning?”

“Did you really just happen to meet her?”

“And since you’re with Miyajima-san, was it around the bus stop?”

“Where does Kimioka-san live?”

“She’s cute, isn’t she?”

Before I could reply, another question came in.

“All I can say is you’ll have to ask her for her personal information.”

“Her guard is tight.”

“Miyajima-san’s guard, too.”

Well, if she were that cute, I would have to keep my guard up. I felt a little sorry for being so close to her, but I still didn’t feel like replying to the question about Misono. Aside from the personal information, I was also ambiguous about other things, probably because I didn’t want to say anything, even though it was not very mature of me.

We proceeded with the carrying, letting the questions flying at me go as they pleased, and when we finished carrying all the signs, it was time for a short break. After this, the second-year boys were supposed to do some light carpentry work to repair the damaged signs, and the first-year boys were supposed to join the girls. However, there were quite a few who joined the others without taking a break.

I, of course, took a break, but I quickly found Misono, who was in the peeling group, sitting in the shade. She was in the middle of using a scraper to peel off the paper remnants on the surface of the wooden sign, and seemed to be having a hard time with it. When I did it last year, I had a hard time too.

“But it’s more popular than I thought it would be.”

As one might expect, the area around Misono is a bit more crowded. Today, the ratio of girls is high, but there are a few guys mixed in. Despite this situation, Misono does not seem to be troubled by the presence of Shiho and Kaori, and while she struggles with her work, she seems to be smiling happily. Seeing her face, I was also somewhat glad to see her. And yet, I felt a little pain in my heart.

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