NOVEL NEXT Chapter 45
“Don’t stay too late; come home at a reasonable time.”
“Sure!”
At the teacher’s words, everyone except me replied loudly.
…I did answer, though.
“Okay, first, let’s create the costume procurement team. First up is Tateyama, who suggested the cosplay café, and Onodera, who said she could sew….”
Miyauchi assigned the best roles to each of our classmates one by one.
So what role would I end up with?
I guess it would probably be the kind of mundane task where I wouldn’t need to communicate and could just be handed work, right?
At first, I’d just be doing menial tasks, but soon enough, my classmates would get busy or lazy and say, “It’s just a trivial task, right? Could you do this for me?” And of course, I couldn’t refuse, so I’d end up taking it and doing it for them, only to find myself in an endless hell of work.
In the end, the quality of our cultural festival project would drop, and I’d be the one held accountable….
…That’s so scary.
If it’s overwhelming work, shouldn’t I be allowed to refuse?
But then I’d hear, “So you won’t help while helping everyone else?” Yeah, that’d be fun.
Would I get told to just refuse from the start?
Then it would be, “What’s the point of not helping while only doing trivial tasks?” Super fun.
The swamp where introverts can’t survive since the preparations for the cultural festival started.
Is it finally time to use the ‘in-crowd funeral’ skill…?
“Yano… um, um, Kaya-no?”
“A-ah, ugh…”
The one who called me out of my deep thoughts was, of course, Miyauchi.
For some reason, she was looking at me with a kind smile.
…Did she just hear my ridiculous surprised reaction?
When I lightly looked around, it was natural that no classmates were trying to make eye contact with me.
Still, no one looked like they were smiling, and since my voice was very quiet, it seemed impossible that Miyauchi, who was quite a distance away, had heard me.
Well, I guess Miyauchi usually smiles a lot.
I’m probably worried for no reason.
“Kaya-no, about the preparations for this cultural festival…”
“Sure…”
Of course, they would assign me a trivial task….
“Uh, I was thinking of having you help with making some simple decorations. Is that okay?”
Wait, what?
“Decorations, making them?”
“Ah, yes. Just really simple balloon art and origami. There are prints with examples, so you don’t need to worry.”
“Ah, well, if it’s that then I’m okay…”
That much is definitely welcome.
Even if someone else wants to assign work, since it’s not mundane tasks, I’d have an excuse to refuse.
“The daily quota… I think you can just use all the colored paper and balloons we’ll bring. There’s still quite a lot of time, and if we made everything now, it would just take up space, causing trouble.”
“Got it…”
“Oh, and can I ask you to help with making flyers, too?”
Flyer-making, huh.
Hmm.
“Um, can I do the flyer-making at home?”
“Oh, yes! That’s definitely fine. As long as it’s finished, it’s good.”
Miyauchi was still smiling kindly, and the other classmates didn’t seem to have any complaints.
Making decorations and flyers is probably a pretty important part of our class’s café theme.
…Ah. Could it be that it’s important, so they deliberately assigned it to me, planning to shift all the blame if I fail…?
I’ve been played.
I’ve already accepted it…
★
“…It’s done.”
As I turned my gaze after finishing the work, the clock showed 4:30.
…Isn’t that way too fast?
It was my first time doing this, and I had to follow the examples, so I took a little longer, and adjusting took some time, too.
And yet, it’s 4:30.
If I do well starting tomorrow, I might finish around 4, huh.
…Can I go home now?
“Miyauchi, I’ll add bread to the menu here…”
“Isn’t it better if the costumes are a bit lighter?”
Looking around, everyone was busy preparing for the cultural festival.
Even if I’ve finished my quota, can I really go home in this situation?
Of course, I still have to work on flyers when I get home, so it wouldn’t be a huge problem, but…
It might be better to ask just in case.
I stood up from my seat and moved closer to Miyauchi.
“Um, um, Miyauchi…”
“Oh, Kaya-no, is there a problem?”
“Today, about the colored paper and balloons you gave…”
At my words, Miyauchi turned her gaze towards my desk.
Then she nodded and smiled widely.
“Great job. See you tomorrow!”
“I was wondering if I could help with anything more…”
“It’s okay. There’s still plenty of time left, and we’ve assigned tasks based on everyone’s strengths, right? So more importantly, Kaya-no, you’re set to do extra work when you get home, right? If you spend too much time in class, we’d feel bad instead.”
“Aah…”
If I stay in the classroom and take on all the mundane work, I would run short on time to work on the flyers at home.
I must’ve made a foolish question when I should have considered that from the beginning.
“Then I’ll head back first. Sorry…”
“Yeah. Make sure to get home safely. I’ll be looking forward to seeing your awesome flyers!”
Miyauchi said that with a kind smile.
“Okay. Um, then…”
I lightly bowed my head and left the classroom.
Is it because of the preparations for the cultural festival? All the classrooms I passed by were noisy.
In that situation, I was the only one heading home.
…Doesn’t it feel a bit like a fantastic moment in everyday life?
“Hehe….”
Anyway, I’m happy to be able to return home in almost the same way as usual.
Maybe it’s okay to change the perception that preparing for the cultural festival is the tomb of introverts?
★
“Ha…”
Watching Kaya-no leave the classroom, Miyauchi sighed.
‘What if I can help with anything more…’
She had intentionally asked for two tasks and used the excuse of doing flyer-making at home to make sure Kaya-no would get home as quickly as possible.
Then Kaya-no had finished the balloon art and origami, only to ask if she needed help.
As if saying it’s too rude to just leave.
Such consideration seemed completely unnecessary.
However, Miyauchi remained completely unfazed and found an objective reason to persuade Kaya-no.
‘Then I’ll head back first.’
Hearing that, Miyauchi thought she had successfully convinced Kaya-no.
But…
‘…I’m sorry.’
Those following words made her swallow hard.
“Ah, she figured it out after all….”
Kaya-no, who apologizes for being considerate, looked like she was filled with sadness.
The fact left Miyauchi’s heart heavy.
Someone once said, when she accidentally made eye contact, there was a sharpness to her gaze even though her expression was soft, leaving one breathless.
Someone once said it felt like the air froze when Kaya-no spoke.
But Miyauchi now understood.
Her refusal was filled with kindness for others.
She realized that when someone approached her, unconsciously cold in response, she intentionally acted colder around others.
If it weren’t that way, if she truly rejected someone just for her own sake, then Miyauchi and everyone’s planned kindness would have completely escaped her notice.
“I’m sorry, Kaya-no.”
Miyauchi whispered where no one could hear.
What gradually filled in her heart was guilt for having made Kaya-no worry with unnecessary consideration.
But.
“And thank you.”
Along with that guilt, a sense of relief also bloomed.
When Kaya-no left the classroom, Miyauchi caught a glimpse of her slight smile at the corners of her lips.
That was definitely Kaya-no’s expression of gratitude for the one-sided consideration, which could have been upsetting.
To express thanks for someone else’s unwarranted consideration, even after experiencing difficult times recently, was something extraordinary.
“Kaya-no, you’re really strong.”
Could I ever become like that?
Miyauchi threw that question at herself.
But of course, no answer returned.
★
[【Arcana Shooter】 I’ve always wanted to try it #Star’sFlow#KainohIzumi]
– But didn’t they say from today, you have to start after 9 pm for the broadcast?
– It’s 7 o’clock now, you came surprisingly early.
“Hmm, uh, it just kind of worked out well. But for a while, I guess it’ll still be around 7…”
I’ll probably work on the flyers after the broadcast.
If I plan to wrap it up by 9, I can work on flyers until 11 and then sleep.
– But are you really doing this?
– Can Mei-chan pull it off with her skills?
“Of course I can.”
What the viewers were referring to when they said ‘this’ was, of course, Arcana Shooter.
It was the bullet hell shooting game, specialized for long broadcasts, that Koga had bet on during our last off-collab.
Some might ask why I was going through the trouble of buying it, but I had my own reasons.
The flower of TS streaming.
The scenes that astonish viewers by defeating all patterns with monstrous reflexes.
I still hadn’t given up on that dream.
I had received a decent response last time during BN, but that wasn’t enough.
I hope I can ensure they see me as a great gamer.
“Hmm, for characters…”
In Arcana Shooter, when you begin, you choose between a beast with a special skill and a human who uses skills.
I chose the cute girl character, Saya, and the unicorn.
– That’s quite a choice, lol.
I saw a sudden chat like that but didn’t reply.
I hadn’t chosen it for that intention; it was based on performance and synergy.
I had heard the unicorn has a hidden Easter egg that boosts Saya’s special ability by 10%.
Wait a second.
If that’s the case, then I…
“Ugh, that’s dangerous…”
– What’s ‘dangerous’?
“Uh, there’s, there’s that…”
If it were someone else, it might have been okay, but if I said it, it would definitely spiral into something strange.
In this kind of situation, silence is the best answer.
– Don’t tell me you’re thinking something lewd?
…How did they know?
★
[Virtual YouTuber Minor Gallery]
[Title: Today’s Mei-chan’s comments when starting the Arcana Shooter stream.txt]
[Written by: ㅇㅇ]
‘Only those confident enough to do better than me, please guide me’
(3 seconds later, dies)
[Recommendation: 21 / Disrecommend: 3]
Maker: I still don’t know what kind of confidence that was…
└ㅇㅇ: Sometimes she really exudes some strange confidence. Especially regarding her looks.
└Mei-chan love: Guess that’s why it’s cute?
ㅇㅇ: I heard Suzuha uploaded that clip from that moment and laughed a lot, lol.
└Suzuiz: Suzuiz exists…!
I’m a raccoon, fuck
: But you really did well once you got the hang of it.
└Maker: ㅇㅈ I saw someone who was first-timer clear the first hard boss in three tries while watching the Arcana durability stream for the first time.
└ㅇㅇ: Everyone’s too busy teasing her to realize, but Mei-chan is actually pretty good at games.