"Yay!!"
"Nanase-sensei, is this news true?"
"Can I take time off then? I'd rather take a leave than participate in these activities…"
"I want to host a Maid Cafe!"
A vein throbbed on Nanase-sensei's forehead. She looked up and then pressed down, and the boisterous cheers gradually turned into whispers.
"You've all more or less participated in School Festivals before, so I won't say much more. Let's vote now."
With that, Nanase-sensei stood at the podium, glanced at Ajitani in the back row, and waved to her. "Ajitani, I'll leave this to you. I'll assist you from the side."
Ajitani walked onto the podium and began to skillfully organize the students below, setting aside a few troublemakers who just wanted to attract her attention.
Combining the School Festival programs they mentioned, she wrote them one by one on the blackboard behind her.
"Let me see…"
"Hmm…" Ajitani stared at the programs on the blackboard, confirmed repeatedly that there was nothing more to add, and then began the class vote.
Finally, before the afternoon dismissal bell rang, the opera performance program and the haunted house adventure program won by two votes.
"Dong… dong… dong…!"
Nanase-sensei, by the podium, said, "Ajitani, you can go down first. I'll take care of the rest."
Ajitani nodded and returned to her seat.
"We still have more than a month to rehearse. If we ask everyone to choose an opera performance now, they probably won't be able to think of anything. So, let's dismiss class now, and tomorrow, at the same time, we'll vote again."
With that, Nanase-sensei began to tidy up the chalk scattered on the podium desk. "That's all for today. Everyone, please be careful on your way home."
As soon as she left the classroom, the class immediately became noisy, with the sound of desks being slapped mixed with chairs being pushed and pulled.
"I can't believe we actually ended up choosing an opera performance." Nishikata sighed and then looked at Ajitani.
"Class monitor, you didn't secretly cheat when counting, did you?"
"…"
Ajitani, without a hint of guilt, retorted playfully, "Nishikata, shouldn't you be more concerned about whether you can partner with Takagi-chan for the opera performance?"
"Wh-what? How could I be concerned about such a problem?"
Nishikata instinctively wanted to look at his deskmate, but Ajitani interrupted him beforehand.
"Don't look. Takagi-chan just went to the restroom with Shouko-chan."
"…" Exposed, Nishikata could only blush and stop talking.
He stopped talking, but Ajitani clearly didn't want to let him off, looking at him with a mischievous smile.
"Nishikata Tongxue~"
"Wh-what do you want?" Nishikata didn't want to bother with her, but he couldn't stand her gaze.
Ajitani smiled, her eyes curving, and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Let's make a deal. No matter what opera program is chosen, I'll try my best to get you and Takagi-chan to be partners. How about it?"
Nishikata looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Partners? What does that mean…?"
As for the deal she proposed, he was tempted, but he still wanted to hear the other party's conditions first.
Tsuna put away the textbooks from his desk drawer and explained before her:
"It means you and Takagi-san will be in the same group for work, and your roles in the opera performance will also be arranged for you to partner with Takagi-san."
Before he could nod in agreement, Shouko and Takagi returned to the classroom. Nishikata could only send her a message on 'LINE' on his phone, indicating his acceptance.
"Why haven't you two packed up yet?"
"Alright, alright."
"Let's go."
Until they parted ways at the school gate, Ajitani and Nishikata did not mention the matter to Shouko or the others, and Tsuna was too lazy to say anything.
"See you tomorrow."
"Bye bye."
"Ajitani-chan, be careful riding your bike."
"Takagi-chan, instead of worrying about me, you should be more worried about Shouko-chan and Miyamura." Ajitani pushed her bicycle, walking beside the two.
"They've already disappeared, so I can't worry even if I wanted to." Takagi looked at the figures gradually shrinking in the street ahead, shrugging helplessly.
"Then I'll go first. See you tomorrow."
"Bye bye."
Before leaving, Ajitani even gave Nishikata a wink, which left Takagi completely confused.
————
The sky between the tall buildings slowly darkened to blue-gray. Crowds hurried across Shibuya Crossing, and streetlights and neon lights lit up one after another. The air still held a bit of the day's mugginess.
"Tsuna, on that new illustration post I published, a lot of people commented saying I must not go astray. What does that mean?"
Shouko, squeezed beside him, asked curiously.
Regarding the illustration questions, even though the commissions she took earned her a lot of money, she was still a novice, and she didn't join those online illustrator chat groups.
She relied almost entirely on her own exploration, or at worst, she would ask her senior from the Art Club, but that was only for illustration-related questions.
"…" Tsuna genuinely didn't know how to explain it for a moment. After much hesitation, he still chose not to explain…
"You don't have to pay attention to those comments… They're not bad reviews, nor good reviews."
'Nor is it a person…' He silently added this in his mind.
"Oh." Shouko nodded, seemingly understanding, then continued to ask, swinging her feet.
"Then, Tsuna, has Jun said when 'I Want to Eat Your Pancreas' will start printing these past few days?"
"Let me ask."
With that, Tsuna took his phone, which had a black screen, and sent a message to Jun. While waiting, he chatted with Shouko about other things.
"Ding dong…"
The phone screen lit up with the notification sound and then went dark again.
"How is it? How is it?"
"I haven't looked yet." Tsuna ruthlessly pushed away Shouko's soft face that was pressed against him, took his phone, and checked it.
"Printing starts in late November." Tsuna showed her the chat content. "That means you still have almost three months, right?"
"Then it's no problem, there's plenty of time." Shouko patted her rebounding chest and repeatedly promised, "I will definitely complete the commission you gave me perfectly, Tsuna."
"Are you sure you don't need my help?"
"No." Shouko shook her head without hesitation, refusing.
Before he could ask again, Shouko continued, "Our drawing styles are too different, and you draw too ugly, Tsuna."
"…"
Feeling offended, Tsuna chose to retaliate by directly rubbing her head.
——————
The next afternoon.
"Dong… dong… dong…!"
"Clap clap clap…!"
As the dismissal bell rang, Nanase-sensei closed the textbook in her hand and clapped hard on the podium to quiet the restless students who couldn't hold back their excitement.
"I'll take up thirty minutes of your time. Now it's time to vote. Everyone should have an opera in mind, right?"