Kanao Can't Communicate

•~chapter twenty-three: preparing for the culture festival~•

After the heated and intense arguments from the day before, class 2-B was united again on what to do for the culture festival.

The classroom, which had been filled with arguments, was now filled with the sound of lively music and happy banter among the students. Some carried wood, some carried piles of colored paper and art supplies, and others were just wandering around the room, looking for something to help with.

Kanao was one of these people who was looking around for something to do. She really wanted to help her class with the preparations of the culture festival...but sadly, her classmates wouldn't let her.

For example...

"Oh, Kanao~san, you just rest, I can do all this hard work!"

"Kanao~san, take a seat! We have this under control!"

"Kanao~san, do you want a snack? I can run and get one for you!"

"Oh no, Kanao~san, don't come near here! These tools might hurt you!"

"Don't touch that wood, Kanao~san, you might get a splinter! We don't want you to get injured before the maid cafe!"

Kanao looked down at her feet. After looking around the classrooms for jobs to do, she just sat down at her desk and began doodling in her notebook.

Suddenly, some of her classmates stopped next to her desk. They seemed to struggle as they were carrying a lavishly decorated throne.

"Kanao~san! You look pretty uncomfortable that plain desk of yours, so come and sit in this big chair once we set it down!" they said happily.

Since Kanao had nothing to do, she slowly nodded. She followed her classmates over to an odd setup.

There were drapes hung up on the blackboard, and 'Kami~sama' was written on the board. Kanao's classmates set down the throne in front of the blackboard, and they motioned for her to sit down.

Kanao had been getting a little suspicious. Once she sat down, her classmates got into kneeling positions and they began to bow before her.

Kanao, of course, was shocked at the sudden behavior of her classmates. She looked down frantically at them and trembled, as she tried to figure out a way to make them stop. She looked around the room to see if Tanjiro would come and help her, but he was nowhere in sight.

Someone in the class suddenly said something. "We're out of material over here."

Everyone in the classroom suddenly got quiet. They didn't know who should be sent out to the store to get new material, because everyone was busy doing something to prepare for the culture festival.

"I can go to the store!" a soft voice called out. Everyone whirled around to see who the voice came from, and their eyes fell on a girl in the back of the classroom.

This girl's name was Sasaki Etsuko. Nobody really knew her, and nobody tried getting to know her, because...she was a little bit weird and outlandish when she talked. Her long, dark purple hair was draped around her shoulders and she wore white bows on the sides of her hair.

"So, um...she's going, but we need two more people to go so that they can get all the materials faster." a student said.

"I can go!" Tsuko Izumi said at once. Everyone nodded, but then they looked at each other uncertainly. No one else wanted to go shopping.

"So...is there no one else that wants to go shopping?" another student said uncertainly.

While the class tried to decide on who else would go shopping, Etsuko absentmindedly wandered over to the area where Kanao's throne was.