"Clap clap clap..."
Ajitani walked into the classroom through the front door, which was already hung with pink lace curtains, clapped her hands, and drew the attention of the busy students:
"Everyone, you've worked hard! Come have some water and take a break."
As her voice fell, two more figures entered the classroom, Tsuna and Nishikata. Both were carrying cardboard boxes filled with drinks.
"You two have worked hard too. Go take a break. I'll distribute the drinks," Ajitani said, turning back to them.
"Okay."
Tsuna nodded, placed the cardboard box on a nearby round table, and walked towards Shouko.
Nishikata also followed closely, but he wasn't going to find Takagi; he was going to find his friends in the class.
As for why he didn't stay with Tsuna, he had the sense to know better.
"You worked hard, Tsuna." Shouko took out a tissue from her pocket and handed it to the person who walked up.
Tsuna took the tissue, waved his hand, and said, "I just moved some water, that's all."
After speaking, he swept his gaze across the Class 2 classroom, which had undergone a major transformation in one afternoon.
The originally neatly arranged desks were transformed into round tables, covered with tablecloths edged with lace. On each table stood bear dolls wearing maid outfits.
Sunlight filtered through the windows covered with cherry blossom paper cuttings, casting scattered light spots on the light wisteria-colored sheer curtains.
On the small stage at the back of the classroom, several girls were adjusting the audio equipment. Their skirts rippled with their movements, revealing the band-aids on their knees—injuries sustained while rushing to make props last night.
An L-shaped space was partitioned off in the back row of the classroom using mobile whiteboards. Induction cookers and rice cookers were hidden under the makeshift counter made of desks.
Ingredients were separated into two cooler boxes according to "hot and cold," and handwritten notes were posted on the wall.
An 80cm wide aisle was left between the tables and chairs, and arrow-indicating tape (green for entry/red for exit) was placed on the floor to prevent servers from colliding.
A double-layered cart was used for collecting plates (dirty dishes on the upper layer/cleaning supplies on the lower layer), covered with floral cloth to hide the clutter.
That anime cat-eared maid poster that Shouko had put up crookedly.
And the most eye-catching was the blackboard, where a giant cat-eared maid drawn with chalk almost covered the entire wall.
The cat's paw pointed to a line of script font: "Today's Limited Magic: Omelet rice can triple your happiness!"
That giant cat-eared maid was his masterpiece from the afternoon.
"Tsuna, where do you think we should go first tomorrow?" Shouko asked, her gaze falling on Ajitani, who was distributing drinks in the front row.
"Hmm..." Tsuna withdrew his surveying gaze and asked doubtfully, "What time are our operating hours?"
This was his first time participating in the School Festival, and he couldn't decide right away. His poster work was already finished.
He could go around and explore for the remaining two days unless the class was too busy, but he would likely be helping Shouko in the back kitchen for these two days.
Shouko thought for a moment: "Operating hours are from ten in the morning to three in the afternoon. Why do you ask?"
"If we calculate it that way, we'll need to come to the classroom an hour beforehand to prepare ingredients and spend about thirty minutes cleaning up when we close in the afternoon. We'll still have quite a bit of time to go around."
"About right." Shouko nodded, meeting his gaze. "Tsuna, are you coming to help me in the back kitchen tomorrow, or are you going to explore the school with Miyamura Auntie?"
"Which one do you want me to choose?" Tsuna looked at himself reflected in her eyes.
Shouko didn't speak this time but stared straight into his eyes.
In the end, he broke the silence: "Shizuka should be coming with Yuzuru tomorrow."
It was as if he hadn't given an answer, yet it was also as if he had given the answer she wanted to hear.
"You two, Teacher Fujiro is still here, you should be careful." At this moment, Takagi's calm, slightly teasing words sounded in their ears.
Hearing this, Shouko quickly shifted her gaze to look at Teacher Fujiro, who was sitting on a chair resting in the front row. Seeing that she hadn't noticed her side at all, she breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, she didn't forget to give Takagi, who had walked up beside her, a slap on the arm for scaring her.
Even though she had heard this kind of little trick from her many times over the past two semesters, she didn't know why she fell for it every time...
"We're just having a normal conversation, it's not like we're hugging or anything." Tsuna suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at her.
"Ring... ring... ring..."
Just as they were about to say something else, a ringtone sounded from Tsuna's pocket. This sudden sound quieted the noisy classroom, and the students' gazes fell on him.
Tsuna calmly ignored everyone's gazes, including Teacher Fujiro's, took out his phone, and looked at the caller's note.
"Teacher Fujiro, the 1:1 scale standee I ordered is ready. I'll go down and get it."
Because of this, he was also allowed to bring his phone to school, which is why he could be so calm.
"Okay."
Tsuna nodded at her, answered the call, and left through the back door.
"Just in time. The School Festival is tomorrow, and it was finished this afternoon."
"Putting everything else aside, I'm kind of looking forward to that 1:1 standee."
"+1, +1. When we asked Miyamura back then, he wouldn't reveal anything, being all mysterious."
"I think I heard that it's a 1:1 standee made based on the Class Monitor wearing a maid outfit."
"Really?! The Class Monitor agreed???"
"(Rolls eyes) Didn't I say I just heard about it?"
With Tsuna's departure, the quiet classroom became noisy again. Everyone was curious about his 1:1 standee.
Because he was assigned the position of poster design, and this 1:1 standee was a sudden idea from the Class Monitor a few days later, added to his tasks.
He took on the task, but he only revealed the news about this standee to a few people, which is why everyone in the classroom was very curious.
About ten minutes later, Tsuna returned to the classroom, followed by two staff members.
After he thanked the two, they put down the opaque cardboard boxes they were holding and left the classroom.
Everyone looked at the two cardboard boxes, about 1.7 meters high, and were very impatient, hoping Tsuna would open them quickly.
Some students who had resumed their work stopped what they were doing.
"Why are there two? Didn't you say there was only one?" At this moment, a confused student asked.
"The other one was added by the Class Monitor, who messaged me last night. It's normal that you don't know," Tsuna waved his hand, grabbed a utility knife, and carefully prepared to open it.
How should he put it about this standee? The main body was made of cardboard. He was afraid it wouldn't be stable, so he paid extra for a few more iron wires to reinforce it, but the main body was still made of paper.
Being careful was normal.
"It really is the Class Monitor's 1:1 scale standee!?"
As soon as Tsuna fully opened it, a student exclaimed in surprise. Most students also widened their eyes.
An Ajitani life-size maid standee. Next to it, the operating hours were marked in cute font: "10:00~15:00 Masterをお待ちしてます"
[We are waiting for Master (to arrive)]
The Ajitani in the standee had light golden long hair tied into twin tails. Her golden pupils combined with two dimples looked especially sweet.
That black and white apron maid outfit, plus the cat ear decoration on her head, and holding heart-shaped omelet rice in her hands, made people exclaim, "So-Cute."
He had wanted Shouko's life-size standee back then, so that after the School Festival ended, he could take it home and keep it for appreciation.
But Shouko frantically waved her hands in refusal, and in the end, it was Ajitani who stepped up.