Sobu High School.
After entering the school building, Kotomi Izumi—who had originally been thinking about hoisting her suitcase and carrying it upstairs—remembered, just as she reached the stairs, that there was a small ramp built alongside them. By using the wheeled side of her suitcase, she could simply push it up instead.
Apparently, Sobu High's stairways had been designed that way since the school's founding. It was just that Kotomi had never paid much attention before. So when she discovered that the school stairs actually had a ramp meant for luggage, she couldn't help but find it a little fascinating.
Since that was the case, there was no need for her to help Yukino Yukinoshita or Yui Yuigahama with their suitcases after all. Kotomi had been planning to carry hers up first, then come back down to help Yukino and Yui with theirs.
But with the physical and strength boosts granted by her Queen of All Females constitution, Kotomi wasn't one to waste any chance to show off in front of pretty girls—always trying to prove that she really was, at least eighty percent, the "top."
"Missed a chance to look cool…" Kotomi muttered unhappily as she pushed her suitcase up the stairs.
Beside her, Megumi Kato looked puzzled. What was wrong with Kotomi?
Why did she look so annoyed—over a ramp that made carrying luggage easier?
They reached the classroom.
There, Yui Yuigahama had already arrived. Her suitcase sat beside the inner-side desk.
Sobu High's classrooms were quite large and not overly crowded. The desks and chairs were spaced out generously, so it never felt cramped. Because of that, each row's inner side—by the wall or window—had a fairly wide gap.
During class, Kotomi liked to stash snacks that wouldn't fit in her desk bag into plastic bags and tuck them into that inner space. That way, she didn't have to worry about teachers catching her, and she could just reach over and grab something whenever she wanted—a perfect mix of discreet and convenient.
Incidentally, Kotomi had some habits that made her quite like a hamster. She loved storing non-perishable snacks in little hidden corners. For example, if you searched her bedroom—specifically the third fabric box next to her bookshelf—you'd find a plastic bag inside, and opening it would reveal several unopened compressed biscuits.
...
Kazumi had discovered this habit of Kotomi's before and once asked curiously:
"Kotomi, why do you keep storing snacks away like this? You hide them so well—aren't you afraid you'll forget where you put them? Compressed biscuits are fine, but things like jelly or chips can go bad if you leave them too long."
Kotomi had only laughed awkwardly and said:
"Because when I was a baby—before I was adopted by my mom and dad—there were a few times when my biological parents almost starved me to death. I don't actually remember it, but maybe those experiences left some kind of instinct in me. I just can't help hiding food around me, like a reflex."
"Good morning, Yui."
"Morning, Kotomi. Morning, Megumi. Did you guys see the field when you came in? There were tons of students carrying planks, tents, and tools, all running around super busy."
"They must be the students setting up booths for the culture festival. Since today's the last day of preparation, of course everyone's busy getting their stalls ready."
Booths and food stalls were always among the most popular activities during the culture festival.
After all, students could use the three festival days to earn money. Deducting the cost of supplies, if business went well, each participant could take home a pretty decent profit.
And if you ran a stall alone—and business was good—that was even better.
At a previous festival, there'd been a second-year student named Little A who'd set up a solo booth. Thanks to picking a great spot, his sales were excellent for all three days.
When the festival ended and he calculated the earnings, he was stunned to find he'd made enough to buy himself a 2080Ti graphics card! And even had some leftover money—enough to get a 4K monitor too!
Three months after he bought his 2080Ti graphics card, the 30-series officially launched. His friend, Little B, joked about how perfect his timing had been—he barely got to use his 2080Ti before the 30-series hit the shelves.
After teasing Little A, Little B decided he'd buy a 3080 himself, just so he could brag about it later.
But by the time Little B had finished his part-time jobs and saved up enough money to buy a 3080 at the suggested retail price, he discovered the GPU prices had skyrocketed. Forget the 30-series—even the 20- and 10-series cards had shot up like rockets. And the rocket fuel? Scalpers and profiteers.
Watching Little A happily gaming on his 2080Ti, Little B finally realized—the real clown was himself.
Back to the topic.
High school students' allowances were rarely enough to cover all their expenses. Those who wanted to buy something new but had "slim wallets" naturally wouldn't miss out on the chance to earn some money at the culture festival.
Especially Class 1-B.
The entire Class 1-B, including their homeroom teacher, couldn't figure out why the dean always targeted them for phone confiscations. They couldn't guess the reason, but the results spoke for themselves—their phones had been seized several times already.
Some students had even had multiple phones confiscated. Their backup phones were all taken too.
Buying a new one would mean spending even more money, but who could live without a phone these days? So they'd end up buying another one anyway. Of course, they couldn't admit to their parents that their phones had been confiscated—they'd just quietly find a way to replace them.
Because of that, every student in Class 1-B had been looking forward to the culture festival like it was salvation itself—hoping to earn enough money from their stalls to finally buy new phones.
Their entire class decided to sell grilled sausages. While most classes had only one booth, Class 1-B went above and beyond—three permanent stalls plus five mobile carts. They clearly intended to monopolize the entire festival's sausage market, determined to sell in every corner of the school.
Earlier, when Kotomi passed by Class 1-B, she saw the students rushing around, hauling boxes of sausages and portable grills.
They were clearly planning to go all out for the three festival days.
"But it seems like the most anticipated attractions this year are Class 1-C's maid café and Class 1-E's haunted house. This morning, I even saw some of Class 1-E's students carrying the human anatomy model from the nurse's office into their classroom. Even though it was broad daylight, seeing that thing suddenly in the hallway really startled me," Yui Yuigahama said casually.
Since the festival was tomorrow, all kinds of rumors and news about it were already spreading. Some classes had even started advertising early.
Like Class 1-E, for example. Their classroom wasn't far from the nurse's office, but instead of taking the shortest route back, a few students had carried the anatomy model all around the school.
That, of course, was a form of publicity.
Anyone—student or teacher—who saw a group of students lugging a human model through the halls would at least remember it. And once people started talking, word of Class 1-E's haunted house would spread quickly throughout the entire school.
Plus, it let everyone know their haunted house props were going to be very realistic—they'd even borrowed the nurse's office mannequin!
"Looks like they're planning to use the mannequin as a haunted house prop. Honestly, our school's nurse's office model is the classic kind that always shows up in school horror movies. Yui~ want to go see Class 1-E's haunted house together during the festival?"
Kotomi asked half-jokingly. She'd heard plenty of girls complain that every time they went to the nurse's office to rest, that mannequin gave them chills.
Meanwhile, the female doctor who worked there would always say, "Don't you think it's cute?"
"I-I mean… if you really want to go, Kotomi, then I'll go with you," Yui replied timidly.
From Yui Yuigahama's expression alone, it was obvious—she didn't dare go to the haunted house. Yui had always been terrified of anything ghostly or supernatural. Even watching the trailer for a poorly made horror movie would scare her so badly she'd barely be able to breathe.
Perhaps because she was still a student, Yui found school-themed horror stories especially terrifying.
Kotomi knew this. She'd only meant to tease Yui a little, to see her flustered reaction—but to her surprise, even though Yui was obviously scared out of her mind, she still forced herself to nod, pushing down her fear to agree to go with Kotomi.
That made Kotomi feel unexpectedly guilty. Maybe she'd gone too far.
"I don't really want to see a haunted house anyway. Those school festival ones are never actually scary—they're boring," Kotomi said quickly, taking back her words. She even reached out to pat Yui's head in reassurance.
"No haunted house? Waaah! Kotomi, you really scared me just now!"
Hearing that she didn't have to go after all, the tension instantly drained from Yui's body. She almost cried with relief as she threw herself forward and hugged Kotomi tightly.
At that exact moment, Mashiro Shiina walked into the classroom. Seeing Yui hugging Kotomi, she immediately said:
"Yui, that's cheating—you hugged Kotomi first."
Then, unwilling to be outdone, Mashiro jogged over. As she passed Megumi Kato, she deliberately glanced at her, let out a smug little hehe, and then—right in front of Megumi—wrapped her arms around Kotomi too.
Megumi, standing off to the side, tried to look calm and mature about it. But her slightly darkened expression, the not-so-gentle thud as she set her bag on the desk, and the way her utility knife slipped out of her pencil case and slid right to the feet of Kotomi, Yui, and Mashiro—all betrayed her irritation.
Yui didn't even notice the knife, still clinging tightly to Kotomi.
Kotomi noticed it though—and panicked inside.
Mashiro Shiina saw it too. She released Kotomi, bent down, picked up the utility knife, and placed it back on Megumi's desk.
But instead of leaving right after, Mashiro remained standing there beside Megumi's desk.
That alone was enough to throw Megumi off. Her lips twitched slightly as she tried to keep her tone calm:
"M-Mashiro… is there something you need?"
"I picked up your utility knife and put it back. But you haven't said thank you yet," Mashiro said flatly, staring straight into Megumi's eyes. Her words were calm, but the tone carried an unmistakable sense that if Megumi didn't thank her, Mashiro might just grab the knife again and toss it right back onto the floor.
And come to think of it… that did sound exactly like something Mashiro would do.
Megumi's irritation was plain as day. After all—Mashiro had just hugged her girlfriend right in front of her, and now she was demanding a thank you on top of that?
If the one doing this had been Arisu Sakayanagi instead of Mashiro, Megumi might've already grabbed the knife herself and stabbed her without a word.
But Mashiro was different. Not because Megumi feared her—but because after spending so much time together, she had realized something: Mashiro's brain didn't quite operate on normal logic.
To put it bluntly, Mashiro was a master of infuriation through sheer nonsense. Arguing with her wasn't about winning or losing—because no matter the outcome, she'd drive you mad anyway.
So why bother?
Megumi quietly took a breath, composed herself, and smiled.
"Thank you, Mashiro."
"You're welcome," Mashiro replied simply.
Then, without missing a beat, she turned right back around and—once again—hugged Kotomi tightly, right in front of Megumi.
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