The next morning Shizuka left for school in a groggy state because she had not been able to get a satisfying amount of sleep after she arrived home from filming.
The truth was, although Shizuka had asked her mother for permission to appear on the show, she had been deliberately vague about the details. This was because Shizuka had intended on keeping her relationship with Madoka a secret from her parents since it didn't feel right to formally introduce him when she was only dating him under pretense.
However, to Shizuka's dismay, because Director Minami had been extremely forthcoming with information when he spoke with her mother over the phone, her mother ended up discovering everything.
Thus, the moment Shizuka stepped through the front entrance of her home, she was met with her mother's interrogative gaze and a barrage of questions concerning her so-called "boyfriend". This eventually led Shizuka to telling her mother about Madoka and showing her the photo Tegaru had taken for them.
Contrary to Shizuka's expectations, instead of scolding her for having a secret relationship, her mother became extremely elated and praised her for "snatching up such a superior top-quality catch!"
"Shizuka, you might think that you'll meet plenty of good guys in the future but let me tell you something, most men do not age like fine wine. In reality, the selection of attractive and available men shrinks drastically as you get older, so when you find an ideal guy like this, smart, considerate, and good-looking, you have to keep a good hold on him!"
Thinking back to her mother's shameless advice made Shizuka cringe in embarrassment. Why is my mom like this? Shouldn't she have better words of wisdom for her teenage daughter?
Because she had been absorbed in her thoughts, Shizuka hadn't even realized that she had walked all the way to school until she was only a few meters away from the gates.
When Madoka noticed Shizuka from beyond the gates, he dashed over like an excited puppy. "Good morning!"
"Good morning," replied Shizuka with a yawn.
Madoka casually took Shizuka's school bag from her hands and began carrying it. "Are you tired? Did you not get a good night's rest?"
"Don't even mention it. Some troublesome stuff happened when I got home last night that prevented me from sleeping at my normal time," replied Shizuka as she stretched her arms languidly. "On top of that, the cat plushie you won for me fell on my face while I was sleeping so I was abruptly woken up at like 3 o'clock in morning."
"Where did you put it for it to fall on your face?"
"On a shelf above my bed. I still don't know how it fell."
"Maybe you should keep it on your bed then, that way you don't have to worry about it falling."
"Yeah, I did that with the taiyaki but the cat's so small I was worried that I'd kick it off the bed in my sleep and lose sight-"
All of a sudden, four students jumped out in front of Madoka and Shizuka's path. The four of them greeted Shizuka and Madoka all at once.
On the left-hand side stood two female students that Shizuka recognized so she greeted them first. "Good morning, Aiko-chan and Rei-chan."
Beside her, Madoka greeted the two male students on the right-hand side. "Good morning, Jiro-kun and Aoi-kun."
Seeing the four eager faces in front of them, Shizuka revealed a perfunctory smile and asked, "Did you guys have some business with us?"
The two sets of students both responded at the same time.
"Yes, we had something to discuss with Shizuka-senpai!"
"Yes, we needed to speak to Madoka-senpai!"
Shizuka and Madoka exchanged a look before they both nodded in tacit agreement and split up to chat with their respective kouhais.
Because the second-year Aiko and the first-year Rei often came to report to Shizuka about club activities as the president and vice-president of her unofficial fan club, to say that the three of them were well-acquainted would be an understatement.
"What's up, Aiko-chan? Is something going on? It's rare for you guys to find me so early in the day."
"We're sorry for bothering you, Shizuka-senpai, but we just had speak to you about the recent happenings!" cried Aiko.
Shizuka blinked. "Recent happenings?"
"The fact that you're dating Semi-senpai!"
"And the break-in of your locker that followed that," added Rei.
"Oh right...that." Because Shizuka had been occupied with other matters since then, she had almost completely forgotten about the gummy insect incident.
Raising a fist Aiko declared, "On behalf of your fan club we wanted to tell you that all of us support you and Semi-senpai 100%!"
"Really? All of you?"
Rei pushed up the frame of her glasses with her index finger. "Well, the majority of us were also fans of Madoka-senpai or Island shippers so we took the news of your relationship as a blessing. Of course, there were also a few members who were upset, but after those video clips of you two on that game show started circulating online, a lot of people changed their minds."
Shizuka was startled. "You guys know about that already?"
"Of course! How could we be in charge of your fan club if we weren't even aware of something like that?" exclaimed Aiko with pride. "Footage was sent to us on the official fanclub blog by someone who had been present in the city's square."
"In any case, we just wanted assure you that we'll always be supporting you from the sidelines, senpai. Anyone who is opposed to the two of you is opposed to all of us! So don't worry, Shizuka-senpai, we'll protect you from any pests that may try to harm you!"
Rei nodded. "Mhmm. We've been conducting an investigation on who the perpetrator of the break-in is so it'll just be a matter of time before we catch the fiend!"
Shizuka stared at the two girls for a while before smiling and patting both of their heads. "Thank you for being concerned for me, Aika-chan, Rei-chan and thanks for always managing the club well. I'd be lost without you."
Although Shizuka had not been comfortable with the idea of a having fan club dedicated to herself at first, as she considered herself a normal high school student and not a celebrity, her fans' dedication, passion, and support, eventually moved her to acceptance.
Receiving their goddess' warm praise caused both Aiko and Rei to beam in pride.
"You don't have to thank us, senpai!"
"Yeah, we're just happy to be of use to you."
"Even so I'm grateful," answered Shizuka with a sincere expression. "If you tell me where and when the club's next general meeting will be held, I'll try to drop by."
Aiko's eyes sparkled. "Really, senpai?"
"Mn. Just tell me in advance."
"That's amazing, senpai! Everyone will be so thrilled! We should go notify everyone at once!"
With that, the two said goodbye to Shizuka and scurried off to spread the news.
They may be weirdly eager at times but they're undeniably good kids.
While covering her mouth to yawn, Shizuka lazily strolled over to where Madoka was.
Noticing her approaching, the three boys stopped in the middle of their discussion and stared at her with different expressions on their faces. While Madoka appeared happy and Jiro appeared a bit star struck, Aoi's face stiffened slightly.
Since she had a feeling that the three likely still had much to discuss, Shizuka waved her hand and indicated for them to pretend she wasn't there and continue. Then, she positioned herself slightly behind Madoka and attempted to be inconspicuous.
After an awkward pause, the three boys pulled their gazes away from Shizuka and resumed their talk.
Shizuka wasn't really interested in the matters of the student council so naturally she tuned them out.
However, as their conversation ran longer, Shizuka who had simply been lazing about, became sleepier and sleepier. Eventually, she couldn't endure any further and thus she rested her head on Madoka's arm for support.
Madoka stroked her hair gently. "Tired?"
Shizuka nodded listlessly. "Mn."
Madoka turned back to Jiro and Aoi. "Sorry guys but we'll be leaving for class first. About what we were discussing...I'll consider it."
"Ah uhm okay," replied Jiro as his eyes darted back and forth between Madoka and the sleepy Shizuka.
"Yes, please consider it favourably, senpai. We really need you at this time. No one on the council is as capable as you are, Semi-senpai!" exclaimed Aoi passionately.
Madoka sighed. "Alright."
After Jiro and Aoi left, Madoka and Shizuka made their way to classroom 3-A.
"What were you guys talking about?" asked Shizuka as she rubbed her eyes tiredly.
"They wanted to know if I could dedicate more hours to student council work since the culture festival is coming up."
"Ah right! It is almost time for that." Although Shizuka enjoyed the festival atmosphere, she wasn't a huge fan of the amount of work it took to organize the events. She was someone whom liked to go visit all the other classes' stands more than running her own class'.
"We'll probably be discussing what to do in class later."
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"I'm sure you're all aware by now, but the culture festival is almost upon us," announced Suzumori Kiri, 3-A's class representative. Since Kiri had become 3-A's class representative as a result of her misfortune in drawing lots, she was naturally indifferent to her duties most of the time. "So let's quickly decide what we're going to do so we can move on."
"Ehhh Kiri-chan be more enthusiastic will ya?"
"That's right, Suzumori! What kind of class rep is this lazy?"
Kiri leaned against the chalkboard at the front of the classroom. "The kind that was forced into the position because she lost at drawing lots."
Yuki raised his hand. "I think running a cafe would be fun."
"Yup, yup, a festival classic."
Kiri picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the word "cafe" on the board.
"How about a haunted house?" suggested another student.
A few students nodded in approval. "Also very classic."
On the board, "haunted house" was added underneath cafe.
"How about putting on a play?" pitched one female student.
"A play?"
"Yeah, most classes typically avoid doing a play for the culture festival because the drama club usually puts on an elaborate performance every year, but I heard they're not doing one this year."
"That's actually not a bad idea," pondered Kiri. "If we choose to put on a play then we probably won't overlap with another class and our event proposal will likely be accepted. That means I'll only have to lead this discussion once."
A male student named Tachibana Hayato rolled his eyes. "Your ulterior motive is showing, Suzumori."
"Shut up, Tachibana. I don't see you contributing anything helpful to this discussion."
"Hey, I'm cool with putting on a play," responded Hayato with a shrug. "I once played the bottom half of a cow in fifth grade."
"The bottom half of a cow?"
"Yeah, someone else was in the upper half of the costume. That aside, what kind of play should we put on? Like we'll need a story, props, set pieces..."
"Well, aren't you passionate for the guy who had a role that was less than an extra," muttered Kiri under her breath.
Hayato frowned. "The bottom half of the cow was a very critical part of the story, okay!"
"Whatever. So is it decided then?" asked Kiri. "3-A will put on a play for this year's culture festival? All those in agreement raise your hands."
The majority of the class raised their hands.
Kiri nodded. "It's unanimous. Our class will to put on a play for the culture festival."
As Kiri tried to retreat to her seat, someone pointed out, "Shouldn't we decide on the story now as a class? I mean we can't really begin any of the necessary preparations until we figure out what kind of play we're going to put on."
Kiri sighed as she dragged herself back to the front of the classroom. "Fine, what kind of play should this be?"
"Well...for this kind of thing, I think maybe a fairytale would be nice. A lot of children come with their families to our festival so it would be nice if they could enjoy our play too..."
Several students nodded. "Sounds good to me!"
"Oh my gosh, that means we could see Madoka-sama in something like a prince or knight costume!" squealed a female classmate whom was fan of Madoka.
"Or maybe an alluring and seductive demon king costume!"
"Yeah, because fairytales have a lot of those," remarked a male classmate sarcastically.
The female classmate scoffed. "Just because you'd look like a toad no matter what costume you wore, doesn't mean you should be petty, Sakaki."
Hayato chuckled. "3-A's old married couple, Sakaki and Koizumi, are bickering again."
"We're nothing like an old married couple!" the two shouted in unison.
"Uh huh, whatever you say."
"But Shizuka-chan would totally make a pretty fairy or princess too!"
"Definitely! With Semi and Yoshino as leads we would have a TV worthy cast!"
Shizuka who had been passively listening until that point suddenly sat upright and smiled fixedly. "While putting on a play sounds like fun, from what Fuu-chan tells me, it's actually a lot of work. Since we should be focused on making memories during the culture festival, I think running a cafe would be much more fun."
I won't be able to slack off as much if I have to be the lead in a play! I just want to visit the food stands! Crepes! Takoyaki! Yakisoba!
Yuki who had initially suggested operating a cafe chimed, "Mm but everyone already agreed to it and while putting a play might seem like a lot of work, I think it'd be incredibly rewarding in the end."
Now is not the time, Yuki-kun!
"Mhmm, I think so too. Most of us won't get a chance like this again so we should try something we haven't done before."
"Maybe Tachibana can graduate to a human role this time."
"Or at least the upper half of an animal!"
The class snickered.
"How many times do I have to tell you guys, the bottom half of the cow was very important!"
"Sure, sure."
Kiri tapped on the board. "Focus, people. The longer this takes the longer I have to be here so let's quickly pick the fairytale we want to adapt for the stage."
"How about The Little Mermaid?" suggested Hayato after a pause.
"Nah, making the mermaid tail and a believable ocean set seems like a hassle."
Sakaki raised his hand. "Maybe Beauty and the Beast?"
Koizumi raised an eyebrow. "Okay, if making a mermaid tail seems like a hassle what makes you think we could make a beast costume?" Koizumi paused and tapped at her lips thoughtfully. "Hmm, well I guess with your face, we wouldn't need a costume. Oh, but the transformation into a prince would be impossible for you to pull off. Ah, but I guess we could just replace you with Madoka-sama at the end."
Sakaki scowled. "Says the incarnation of an ugly stepsister!"
"Stepsister?" someone echoed. "That might actually be a good idea...Why don't we do Cinderella, guys?"
"Cinderella?"
"I'm cool with that."
"Same."
"All those in favour of performing Cinderella, raise your hands."
Most of the students raised their hands.
"Alright. Cinderella it is," announced Kiri. "So who's going to act as whom?"