The next day.
Sato and the others had just arrived and taken their seats in the clubroom when the sliding door was suddenly flung open with a loud swish.
Sitting closest to the door, Hikigaya Hachiman jumped in fright, nearly falling out of his chair. Black lines appeared across his face as he looked at the person outside.
Seriously, could you at least knock first?!
You're going to scare someone to death!
Yukinoshita Yukino also frowned slightly. Her cool, beautiful face showed a hint of exasperation.
Not knocking again... Is this another person just like Hiratsuka-sensei?
"Everyone, I'm here!"
Yamanaka Sawako walked in with an excited smile, carrying a large box in each hand.
The two boxes looked quite heavy, yet she didn't seem to be straining at all.
Everyone was currently holding sheets of sketch paper. They had gone home the previous night to work on posters for the Light Music Club's recruitment. The moment they saw the large boxes Yamanaka Sawako was carrying, they all froze.
"What's all this?"
Sato's eyebrow twitched at the sight of the two large boxes.
Two of them?
"Of course they're the outfits I prepared for you all. I designed every one of them myself!"
She wore a proud expression before gritting her teeth and laboriously setting one of the boxes down on the table.
When it landed, everyone could vaguely hear the table legs creak under the weight.
Sato and the members of the Light Music Club all looked curiously at the large box.
From farther away, Yukinoshita Yukino and Hikigaya Hachiman also cast curious glances over. Yuigahama Yui hadn't shown up these past two days, probably because the popular crowd had plenty of activities at the start of the school term.
Yamanaka Sawako pulled open the zipper.
A collection of brightly colored mascot costumes immediately came into view.
"..."
"These are mascot costumes?!"
Ritsu picked one up with great interest and held it against herself to compare the size.
"Is this a lion?"
Yui curiously put one of the mascot heads on, then bared its claws and pounced toward Kotobuki Tsumugi.
"Hehe!"
The young lady giggled as she dodged, her eyes sparkling with delight.
After staring into the suitcase for a while, Sato finally looked at Yamanaka Sawako with a headache.
"Um... Sawako-sensei, don't tell me you're planning to make us wear these?"
"Hehe! Well? They'll definitely turn heads one hundred percent of the time!"
Yamanaka Sawako laughed smugly.
Then she turned toward Yukinoshita Yukino.
"You must be Yukinoshita-san over there. Don't worry, I prepared one for your club too!"
Yukinoshita Yukino, who had been quietly reading, froze in the middle of turning a page.
She slowly raised her head to look at Yamanaka Sawako, blinking blankly as if she hadn't processed what she'd just heard.
"N-No, thank you."
In the end, she refused stiffly.
This person is even harder to deal with than Hiratsuka-sensei.
That was her silent assessment.
"Oh, really?"
Yamanaka Sawako sighed regretfully.
"But I picked out an adorable cat mascot costume just for you."
As she spoke, she pulled out an incredibly cute cat costume, stroked it affectionately, and looked wistfully toward Yukinoshita Yukino.
Come on... come on...
A cat?!
Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes lit up, and her gaze instinctively shifted toward the costume in Yamanaka Sawako's hands.
This...
Sato looked at Yamanaka Sawako in surprise.
How did she know Yukinoshita's greatest weakness?
The cat costume really was adorable.
But in the end, embarrassment won out over temptation, and Yukinoshita Yukino reluctantly forced herself to look away.
Seeing that, Yamanaka Sawako looked genuinely disappointed.
After glancing at the box full of mascot costumes, Sato finally spoke up.
"I think we'd better pass on these."
"Huh?! Why? I think they're great!"
Ritsu exclaimed.
Sato smiled helplessly.
"I just don't want people thinking the Light Music Club is a circus. No matter how you look at it, using these to recruit members doesn't really fit the image of the club. It feels... kind of weird."
"Is that so?"
Ritsu looked thoughtfully at the mascot costume in her hands.
Beside her, Mio, who had remained silent the whole time, quietly let out a sigh of relief and gave Sato an approving look.
"So these won't work, huh? Hehe, then it's time for the backup plan!"
Yamanaka Sawako snorted confidently, as though she'd anticipated this all along. She set the first box aside and picked up the second one.
"What's in this one?"
Kotobuki Tsumugi, who had just reluctantly put down the mascot costume, turned curiously toward the second box.
"Naturally, my masterpiece!"
Yamanaka Sawako unzipped the second suitcase with a flourish, revealing its contents.
Everyone leaned in together to take a look.
Unlike the colorful mascot costumes, this suitcase contained only black and white clothing.
Curiously, Sato picked up one of the outfits. After looking at its design, he recognized it immediately.
"This is... a maid outfit?"
Oh.
Now this had suddenly become interesting.
Sato thoughtfully looked at the brightly shining eyes in front of him.
"Hehe, well?"
Yamanaka Sawako hooked an arm around Sato's neck, smiling as she looked at the maid outfits.
"This is my finest work. You should be interested, right?"
"I am, in fact... Hm?"
Sato's face suddenly darkened.
"Why would I be interested in this?"
"Hehe, that's not what I meant. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, wouldn't understand even if I explained."
Yamanaka Sawako wore a lecherous grin as her eyes drifted toward the girls, who were examining the maid outfits with great interest.
This woman...
She's kind of a pervert.
Sato suddenly looked at Yamanaka Sawako with concern.
No matter how he looked at it, she didn't seem like a particularly normal person.
"So this is a maid outfit? It looks pretty cute!"
"It feels different from the ones we have at home."
"What?! Tsumugi, your family has maids too?!"
"Well... we do have some, but not that many. Only around a dozen."
"Only... around a dozen?!"