Upon returning backstage, Yukinoshita Yukino visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Ever since she fell from the false balcony, causing the plot to go wild, the usually meticulous girl's expression had been taut, and she couldn't even catch some of the jokes Asakura threw at her.
Of course, it was also possible that she herself felt it wasn't a good idea to speak too sharply in public, especially with her sister present.
Then her gaze drifted to Gokou Ruri, who was literally wagging her tail because Asakura had praised her.
Although she had met her during the previous hot spring trip, she and Gokou Ruri hadn't really communicated much—Gokou Ruri seemed to have a subtle opinion of her, maintaining a distance from her despite getting along well with everyone else.
And Yukinoshita Yukino wasn't the type to actively lower herself to interact with others, so the end result was that their relationship could only be considered 'familiar strangers'.
So when she had an accident this time, Gokou Ruri immediately stepped forward to help, which surprised her a little, as before this, the other party's attitude towards her had never been particularly friendly.
The only problem was...
"I always feel a subtle sense of familiarity with my body in that state where cat ears grew out just now."
Yukino squinted at Asakura, asking meaningfully, "Is this another 'curse'?"
"It's ringworm."
Asakura insisted.
"Is ringworm that kind of illness?"
Yukinoshita Yukino, who had once thought about getting a cat and had researched a lot of related information (though she gave up for various reasons), narrowed her eyes even more sharply.
"There's no law stating that the magical world can't have its own unique diseases, is there?"
"Hmph..."
The girl snorted softly, but since she was indeed saved by it, she had no intention of pursuing the matter further. She just kept glancing at Gokou Ruri, wondering whether to find an opportunity to feed... cough, treat her to a meal to express her gratitude.
Gokou Ruri became somewhat paranoid from her frequent glances, which carried a strange emotional tint, and instinctively hid behind Asakura, making Yukinoshita Yukino look a little disappointed.
Asakura, however, didn't notice these small details. He just pulled out a few cups from somewhere: "Would you like something to drink? Hot cocoa or butterbeer? If you can accept it, I also have some iced Americanos..."
"Don't you have any normal drinks?"
Yukinoshita Yukino asked, "Like juice simply poured from a bottle into a cup."
"That wouldn't show my sincerity."
Asakura said dryly—this was the answer he got from the house-elf after asking it the same question, while it was banging its head against a chopping board (it seemed to think it was an unqualified house-elf if it couldn't satisfy Asakura).
After being splattered with blood, Asakura never made similar requests again, simply accepting the goodwill of these little creatures.
Although whether it counted as goodwill largely depended on the taste of the serviced party, perhaps those closer to Europeans would be more satisfied? Asakura himself wasn't quite sure...
Returning to the stage, the performances of the other students after them all landed smoothly—although the band that performed after Asakura and their play looked a bit broken-hearted, there were no major problems other than being so off-key that it made Kessoku Band's first live performance sound good, causing conservative torment to the audience's ears.
When Asakura finished a slightly cloyingly sweet butterbeer and was about to head to the buffet table with drinks to get something refreshing, he was caught by Amakusa Shino, who was waiting at the backstage exit.
"Asakura-kun, over here."
Standing beside Amakusa Shino were a pair of individuals who looked like college students. The male was much taller than the female, with an unreadable expression, while the girl's expression was quite lively and vivid, seeming to have had a good chat with Amakusa Shino just now.
"President."
Asakura approached Amakusa Shino, very considerately omitting the 'Vice' from her title.
"Let me introduce you, these are Sakiko-sensei and her assistant."
Amakusa Shino stepped aside and said to Asakura.
Asakura's expression subtly stiffened upon hearing this: just now, he and Gokou Ruri had completely revamped the other party's originally excellent script, and now he was caught by the original author. Even someone as thick-skinned as Asakura would feel incredibly awkward...
He composed himself and extended his hand towards the girl, making a handshake gesture: "Hello, Sakiko-sensei."
As a result, the girl with the bow headband had a particularly strange expression on her face, as if she wanted to laugh but couldn't, so she was trying hard to hold it in.
And the man's face flushed slightly, his hand, which was about to extend, froze.
"Asakura-kun..." Amakusa Shino said with a smile, gesturing to the tall man, "Actually, this is Sakiko-sensei."
"...A joke?"
Asakura asked, frowning.
"It's the truth."
Amakusa Shino replied earnestly, though from her own suppressed laughter, it was clear she had done it on purpose.
"People often get it wrong."
The man unconcernedly continued his hand-extending motion and firmly grasped Asakura's hand: "Hello, my name is Nozaki Umetarou."
Asakura's height was already considered tall in Japan, but the other party was half a head taller than Asakura. While shaking hands, Asakura also noticed that his palm was larger than his own. This was the first time Asakura had encountered someone with a larger palm than his, which surprised him a little, but he could clearly feel hard calluses on the finger pads used for holding a pen.
"My name is Nozaki Chiyo, I'm Umetarou... Sakiko-sensei's assistant."
At this point, the long-haired, chestnut-haired girl also said with a cheerful smile.
"Nozaki..."
The identical surnames of the two made Asakura pause, then he immediately recalled their previous conversation: "Oh, I remember the news saying you two were already married?"
"Ahaha..."
The girl... the young wife gave an embarrassed dry laugh.
"That's right."
And Nozaki Umetarou nodded very decisively: "If we were to describe it like a shojo manga, Chiyo and I have already reached the ending!"
"I hope Umetarou, you can say less of such inauspicious things..."
Miss Chiyo sighed, but from her expression, she seemed accustomed to complaining about her husband, or perhaps she even relished it?