Fuji Syusuke walked along the corridor, attracting eyes and attention with his Romeo Montague get-up. However, he couldn't be bothered to feel uncomfortable under the blatant gazes and whispers. He just left Class 1-2's booth three minutes ago, seeming to forget taking his mind with him. His thoughts kept on coming back to the situation at the café before he made his leave.
When it seemed that he and Echizen had been successful in closing off Atobe, Fuji suddenly received a call from their class president.
"Where are you Fuji-kun? It's been three hours! I know that the freshman princess paid such a hefty amount on you but you shouldn't go over the time limit. Go back to our classroom this instant," Matsuoka Ayako scolded over the phone.
"What do you need me for? Isn't the next auction starting at 3 o'clock? I still have a lot of time," Fuji told her, creases forming on his smooth forehead.
"It's not the auction, it's something else. Anyway, I expect to see you back here in five minutes," Matsuoka said. Before Fuji could say a word in edgewise, she hanged up.
Staring at the phone in exasperation, Fuji was left with no choice but to sigh and get up from his seat. Ryouko just nodded as he explained to her why he should take his leave. Inside the black-haired girl's head, she was wondering why Fuji even took the effort to explain to her. It's not really her business what reason he has for leaving. It actually surprised her when he suddenly went back to the table he just vacated minutes ago. He's also looking a bit too apologetic, like he's causing her some kind of inconvenience by vacating the café.
"Senpai is acting a bit strange," she thought as she waved him out to the corridor. Shrugging it off the top of her head, she went back inside and resumed her duties, unaware of her senpai's concerns. She really is a girl with zero sensibility when it comes to men's subtle display of care.
Thus, Fuji was full of worries as he made his way back to his classroom.
"Aitsu... (That guy...)" Fuji told himself, his blue eyes narrowing at the mere thought of Atobe Keigo. "He won't pull anything funny, would he?"
Unlike during the camp, the school is not Atobe Keigo's territory; but with that bastard's personality, it's not likely that he would entirely behave himself.
Well, Ryouko-chan isn't a sitting duck. He had seen her repudiate the Hyotei Captain many times at camp and she's more than capable of protecting herself.
"Besides..." a voice in his subconscious said. "Echizen's also there."
His gaze turned cold at that last thought. "Urusai ne (Shut up)," he told it, a strange glint surfacing on his blue pupils. "Who knows if Echizen can be trusted?"
Echizen Ryoma does not bring him a sense of relief. Perhaps... Echizen might be a bigger danger than Atobe Keigo.
"Iya na yokan ga suru (I have a bad feeling about this)," he mumbled under his breath.
Fuji's shoulders are very stiff indeed as he bounded up the stairs to the third-years' floor. If he knew about the events that took place after his absence, he would have confirmed his foreboding.
~~~
Ayase Mami just came back from the grounds and from her self-proclaimed spy mission. After the propaganda duty, she dragged Shuu off again to check out how the other classes are doing. Their booth is making really good progress and that would bring immense chance of success to her play. Thus, those classes whose booths are also doing well are possible rivals at her—err, their shot at the award for the best presentation. It is very important to know who's to be their competition so that she could strategize against them as soon as possible.
Poor Shuu was dragged all over again from the school building to the grounds and back to the building again. He couldn't understand why Mami is being so overtly serious during Day 1 of the festival. One could barely assess anything during the first day. Booths that are doing well at first might fail to keep up the momentum and lose customers by the end of the week. He could barely tolerate the injustice being brought upon him especially when he has not wrapped his head on what Mami wants to accomplish by making these roundabout trips around campus.
By the time they were done, Mami was positively fuming with newfound stress. She bit her nail as she and Shuu made their way back to their classroom, the latter dragging his aching feet and suffocating under the armor vest of his costume.
"Damn, there are more rivals than I thought," Mami told herself, glaring at the ground. She observed each and every stall they could possibly spy on whilst making sure not to draw any attention on themselves. She found out that it wasn't just her who is using their class booth to attract attention to the play on Saturday.
For starters, the classes where most of the Seigaku folks belong to are quite creative. Oishi-senpai's class is doing Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for their play and their booth sells apple-flavored goods ranging from the traditional apple candy to apple jelly and apple pie. The members attending to the booth have eye-catching articles of clothing that would surely make the spectators remember their Snow White and Seven Dwarves play. The girls got on capes that have the classic Snow White collar complete with red ribbons on their heads while the boys have pointy green hats worn by the seven dwarves in the tale.
Momo-chan-senpai's class is doing the Little Mermaid and they arranged a water balloon booth which includes a member of the class wearing a fish tail skirt and standing in front of a target board adorned with under-the-sea decorations. Several meters away, there's a bowl-shaped vessel designed to look like a ship. The customer would stand inside the vessel and aim the water balloons from there. The prize ranges from candies to stuffed animals, depending on which body part of the target would be hit. The targets are allowed to dodge as long as it is within the scope of the background behind them. The painted wooden plywood serving as the background has a width of a regular guy's arm length so there's really not much advantage to dodging unless one has great reflexes. Since it's a hot day, the class members do not mind getting drenched. They happily slipped into bathing suits and awaited their turn to stand as the target.
Such a booth would not be possible without Momo himself. The candies and stuffed animals they have as prizes were won by him through trips to the arcade. Even as a child, he had been very good at fishing out prizes from claw and crane machines. He sometimes won prizes as favor to his classmates and friends when they pass by the arcade district. It had been decided ages ago that their class would do a water balloon booth. The class president suggested that they should take advantage of his talent to cut down on the expenses to be used in their exhibit. After all, they have to buy the prizes with their own budget and nobody would want to play if they don't have handsome rewards. The whole class invested a huge piggybank of coins from their own wallets and asked him to get as many prizes as possible. Momoshiro liked the thrill of playing and did not mind doing as he's told. He spent three trips to the arcade and dedicated five hours each visit, emptying all the claw and crane machines he could find. By the time he was done, the owners were close to slamming their doors to his face. They have more than enough plushies and sweets to last them the whole week even if fifty people a day ends up winning.
Fuji-senpai's class hosted an auction booth with items hand-made by the members of the class. It turned out that a group of girls in that class are members of the Art Club and a few guys are talented in making clay sculptures. They donated most of their precious masterpieces with the deal to have a portion of the sales by the end of the festival. They also pooled pre-loved items like books, scarves, hair accessories and other items that looked decent enough to auction off. They included belongings that are still new but they no longer want or need. In addition to auctioning stuff, they also auctioned people. The cast of their play Romeo and Juliet were being auctioned off with a starting bidding price depending on the importance of their role on the play.
Mami even heard that there was someone dumb enough to bid 10,000 yen on Fuji-senpai just to have him for three hours. Even the most insignificant among the auction items was sold for 1000 yen. Junior High Schoolers rarely see an auction and there's a sort of fight for dominance and pride when you bid over something and your price gets bidden over. So even if you don't really like the stuff that much, you end up trying to refute your rival and spending more on what should have been a cheap object.
"Damn, I didn't know that Ayako-chan had such a sly side to her. How can she think of using this kind of psychology to seduce customers?" Mami thought. Matsuoka Ayako is a third-year and Mami's cousin from the mother's side. Both of her parents are doctors and she dreams of becoming a psychiatrist in the future. On the other hand, Mami's father is a Marketing Strategist and her mother is a self-employed business woman. She got from them the habits of formulating strategies to attract customers and arouse public attention. Mami and Ayako are indeed very different but it could be seen that there's a same line of blood flowing through their veins when it comes to scheming. They might actually qualify as members of the Fujioka clan with their innate skills very useful in controlling people and generating revenue.
Another booth worth mentioning is the class of Chitose Senri. They were going to perform The Snow Queen and sold items that both related to the storyline and suited the day's weather at the same time... Shaved ice and flavored shakes.
The girls walked around with misty veils over their uniforms and snow-flake hair pins in their hair while the boys pinned clumps of cotton on their shirt mimicking mini snow balls and sprayed white washable dyes on the tips of their hair. On the cups they used to package their products, there's a piece of plastic secured with scotch tape that invited people to check out their play on Saturday. It was crude but effective and they needn't spend too much on both the packaging and the advertisement. Besides, their products are bound to sell out due to the hot weather.
The last one that Mami and Shuu visited was none other than the section of Mami's sworn enemy, Osakada Tomoka which is also the class of Ryuzaki Sakuno. They ran a sweets shop that matched with their play Hansel and Gretel. They also decorated their room to look like the house made of sweets that the two children had trespassed in the tale, and even came up with set prices containing bonuses and freebies that would attract customers to buy their products by wholesale.
"Not bad for fellow freshmen," Mami thought.
Mami had expected that the fight for the best booth and best play would be intense but this was far more than her expectations. Everyone is indeed pouring out their best at competing for the rewards and titles.
"What to do? What to do to make our class booth more special?" she murmured under her breath, sounding like a witch chanting a curse. The fact that she's biting her nails while talking made it seem as if she's spitting the words instead. It sounded more ominous.
Feeling the dark aura, Shuu impulsively casted a glance at her. "There she goes again," he thought. They were together since the first grade of elementary and he unfortunately landed on the same section as her from grades three to six. He had seen her go crazy over these kinds of competitions tons of times. Thus, he sidestepped to put a safe distance between him and the mad woman.
All of a sudden, an idea hit Mami's head. It was like someone lit a candle to illuminate her dark expression. "I got it! I just thought of a great concept!" she exclaimed and stopped trying to murder her nails.
Shuu was frightened silly when she suddenly turned to him and said, "We're stopping by somewhere first!"
"Somewhere? Exactly where? What kind of insane things are you trying to do this time—"
Shuu's accusation was cut off when she grabbed his hand and dragged him away. "Oh come on!" he complained as he struggled to get his aching feet to move. "No more walking! Have some mercy!"
A few minutes later, Mami and Shuu reached their classroom and entered to a rather peculiar atmosphere. A single table is hogging the attention inside the café; even the customers abandoned their tea and pastries to curiously peer at that specific table through the corners of their eyes.
Echizen Ryoma, who was supposed to be going around tables to wait on customers, had taken the seat opposite a customer and is having a staring battle with him. Mami looked closely and recognized the familiar face of Atobe Keigo, the person who hosted the camp at Okinawa.
"Ohh, is this déjà vu?" she thought and was reminded of that one time at camp when the same boys faced off across a tiny tea table and betted their masculinity on espresso shots.
Mami approached Miyako and whispered, "Are they having an espresso shot battle again? What to do though, we only have mild coffee and tea..."
Miyako giggled. "It's not an espresso shot battle this time but they're at it again for the same reason as before," she whispered back and threw a knowing look at Ryouko standing near the counter. The black-haired damsel is staring at the troublesome table with a tired-looking, exasperated expression. Her eyes seem to scream 'Give me a break'.
"I don't know whether she's lucky or unfortunate," Miyako commented with a chuckle.
"And I don't know whether to pity her or feel jealous," Mami added, raising an eyebrow.
Meanwhile, the catcalling in the table of interest just started reaching the climax. With both boys sufficiently gifted at sarcasm, no one is showing any notion of backing down.
"Please stuff your face and get the hell out of here as soon as possible, my lord," Ryoma said as he shoved the plate of scone closer to Atobe.
"Scones are not my thing. Take them back," Atobe replied and shoved the plate back to Ryoma's side of the table.
"Be grateful that I even served you something. The likes of you doesn't even deserve a glass of water," Ryoma retorted, pushing the plate. It slid back in front of Atobe.
"Is that the attitude you should use while serving a paying customer?" Atobe countered, making the plate slide back in front of his enemy.
"Well, you're not paid yet aren't you? Besides... we're in no desperate need for monkey money," Ryoma remarked, pushing the plate back.
While the two scalawags chirped insults to each other and made the plate dance back and forth on the surface of the tea table, the spectators are getting rather frustrated and started to lose interest.
"Sheesh, this has got to stop," Ryouko said with a sigh and was just about to cross the room to confront the two silly boys when Mami suddenly stopped her.
"Leave this to me," Mami told her and smiled radiantly.
Ryouko blinked in confusion and watched Mami make her way to the counter. She noticed that her friend is not empty-handed. She is holding three white cardboards and something is written on them with colorful pentelpens.
Kurumi surveyed Mami work with a wondering look in her eyes as the latter attached some sort of announcement near their posted menu. She called out to Shuu who was standing near the reception area. "You already attached one on the signage?"
"Yes my lady, you slave-driver you," came Shuu's answer from outside the door.
"Don't make me want to sew up your mouth for you, dear knight," Mami said as she peeled off the double-sided tape from the back of the second cardboard and pasted it on the wall of the classroom.
Their conversation earned some laughs from the guests both inside the room and those standing on queue. Their café is gaining popularity not just for the theme and the costumes but also because of the on-point role-playing that the class is putting together for the amusement of the customers. Word is already getting out that they have the best-themed café amongst the whole festival.
"That new service isn't necessary to gain more popularity... Just how greedy can Mami get..." Shuu thought in exasperation.
"What's that?" Ryouko asked, peering at the sign curiously.
"Nothing. Just an added service," Mami replied nonchalantly, using the last cardboard to fan herself.
"What added service?" Miyako asked, feeling a foreboding at Mami's casual manner. Being a loyal friend of Mami's for years, she has to admit that not very nice things await the people in the vicinity when Mami is in a particularly radiant mood.
"Table designation service?" Aoki Kurumi read off the sign that was posted at the counter. "Price negotiable but not lower than 1000 yen?" she added, sounding quite surprised.
"Mm-hmm... Aren't I a genius?" Mami said, smiling proudly.
"No, you're a loony," Shuu commented in a low voice upon entering the room.
"Shut up, Knight Dumbass," Mami hissed at him while still maintaining her smile.
Ryouko steered Mami towards the back of the room and talked to her in private. "What's with that new service ad?"
Kurumi, Shuu and Miyako joined them and they huddled together in a tight circle.
"I can explain," Shuu interrupted. "Mami saw the booths of the other classes and felt threatened. So she devised this crackpot idea of making customers have the freedom to choose the class member to serve their table at a price not lower than 1000 yen. It's like a service charge similar to those host clubs," he explicated, putting everything to simple terms.
"I did not feel threatened! I just want our café to be more popular than the other booths!" Mami hissed at him.
"She did feel threatened," the others thought in unison.
"I don't think this is necessary. We're doing great even without this type of service. Besides, is it alright to just implement an additional service not included in the proposal we submitted to the Executive Committee?" Ryouko said.
"It's okay, no worries," Mami replied in a nonchalant tone. "Each class can make changes on their booth during the first and last day of the festival. Changes for the first day are as last-minute touches and changes for the last day are to help each booth to exhaust all their products so there won't be losses in capital," she told them.
"How come we don't know these rules?" Kurumi asked.
"Simple... It's because I placed them in an inconspicuous corner on the festival pamphlet. One has to really read everything in the pamphlet for them to notice this rule. I'm not a member of the Executive Committee for nothing," Mami answered, brandishing her nose in the air.
"Another abuse of authority," Shuu, Kurumi and Miyako thought in synchronized agreement.
"Did she join the Executive Committee so it would be easier for her to control the flow of the competition and cheat sneakily like this?" Ryouko asked herself. However, our heroine does not have the right to criticize Mami for she had also been guilty of finding loopholes in rules and using them to her advantage.
"Anyway..." Mami said, standing straight and placing one hand on her waist. The other held the last cardboard to her chest. "I'll solve this problem for you, Ryouko-chan..."
With that chivalrous sentence, she went and approached the table where Ryoma and Atobe are now passing around the sugar container instead of the plate of scones.
"A good day to you my lord..." Mami greeted with a bright smile.
The two boys were disrupted and they both looked at her.
"May I delight you with a new added service of our café?" she said and showcased the white cardboard. "We're now starting a table designation service wherein you can choose a waiter or a waitress of your liking to serve you in your table for a total of twenty-minutes. The starting price is 1000 yen but we would appreciate a generous tip," she said.
"A what service?" Ryoma remarked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oi, Ayase. We didn't hear anything about this."
"It's okay. Ryouko-chan and the others already agreed," Mami told him with her unwavering smile.
"We haven't..." the four standing at the back of the room murmured under their breath.
"Anyways..." Mami said, turning to Atobe. "Will you be interested, my lord?"
At that moment, the corner of Atobe Keigo's lips turned up and Ryouko felt a chill along her spine. "Oh?" Atobe smirked. "Interesting."
Slinging an arm over his chair, Atobe moved his body sidewards to look at the back of the room. Pointing a forefinger straight at Ryouko, he said, "I want her."
Both Ryoma and Ryouko's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Ara, young master... You have such splendid taste," Mami said, placing the cardboard under her armpit and clapping her hands together. "But that is our Marian that you are selecting... It would be an embarrassment if you think that she's only worth 1,000 yen," she added with a fake troubled tone.
"Mami, you—" Ryouko is starting to realize what is happening and opened her mouth to protest.
"Of course your precious Marian ain't worth a measly 1,000 yen," Atobe said, interrupting Ryouko's complaint. "Let me borrow that," he added, pointing at the notepad and pen that Ryoma used to take his non-existent order.
Mami snatched the writing materials from the side of the table where Ryoma is seated and handed it to Atobe without hesitation. "Oi!" Ryoma exclaimed in objection. Mami ignored him.
Atobe began scribbling on the paper saying, "I don't want to go overboard since this is only a petty cultural fest event so I'll settle for this though I can give much more." He sounded casual and handed the pad back to Mami.
Mami almost squealed at the amount that was written on the paper. With a radiant smile, she said, "The deal is sealed." There was an imaginary ka-ching sound of a cash register in the background before Mami hollered, "Lady Marian on Table Number 3 please!"
"She..." Kurumi, Miyako and Shuu are quite dumb-founded. "She sold her off!"
Out of all the people there, Ryouko was the most discombobulated. On the other hand, Ryoma stood up and stomped after Mami who had gone to the counter with a satisfied smile on her face.
"Oi, Ayase. What nonsense is that? At least ask Ryouko for her opinion first! Don't just—"
"Echizen-kuuun~" Mami said, emitting a very dark, very evil aura as she leveled his rebellious eyes. "This is a business. And we're in a competition. Customer satisfaction is first priority. Revenue is second. I'm sure Ryouko-chan understands that..."
Meanwhile, Miyako and Kurumi returned to the counter and peered at the paper from Atobe Keigo, curious of the amount written there.
"Thi—" they stuttered. "Thirty thousand yen?"
"And he said he didn't go overboard..." Miyako commented with an exasperated tone.
"Oi..." Atobe suddenly called, disrupting their musings. "I need to have my order taken."
Ryouko was frozen solid at the back of the room, still shocked at Mami's betrayal. She said that she'll do something about the problem. "Is selling me over to Keigo her idea of helping?"
But indeed, what she wanted was to stop Ryoma and Keigo's meaningless banter and they did ceased fighting. But if Mami planned on sacrificing her in the process, she could've at least give her a warning.
"Oi! Lady Marian!" Atobe Keigo called over his shoulder at her.
"Hai, hai... Marian's coming..." Ryouko murmured under her breath and made her way to Keigo's table. Her feet felt like lead and they're not even lifting a centimeter off the floor.
When she reached his table, she plastered on a forced smile. "What can I do for you today, my lord?"
"Well..." Atobe said, sounding quite arrogant as he looked over the menu. "Give me a slice of vanilla buttercream cake, a slice of lemon blueberry layer cake and a pot of Earl Grey tea."
"All the most expensive things on the menu..." Ryouko thought. "Such a show-off this guy is."
"Kashikomarimashita... (Certainly...)" she said aloud, her fake smiled a bit stiff on her face. "Please wait a moment."
Ryoma fumed as Ryouko provided service to Atobe. He wanted to avoid this situation the most and yet, it still happened. He threw a dirty look at Mami. "This is entirely your fault."
Mami felt the stab from Ryoma's sharp gaze but paid no attention to it. She's supposed to force Ryoma and Ryouko together so they would make up but even setting things up so they can have the same activities seemed to not work. Perhaps taking advantage of the presence of this unexpected third party might give more favorable results. After all, men are idiots who only move when they're jealous.
Ryouko finished setting the dishes on Atobe's table and she was about to bow her way out. "Enjoy your meal. Please call me when you need help."
"Hhhhpp... Hold it right there," Atobe said. "Who said you can go away? I paid for table designation service. You..." he pointed at Ryouko, "...are supposed to stay in the table." He pointed at the seat opposite him.
Grinding her teeth in silence, Ryouko did as she was told. She watched Atobe pick up the knife and fork and attempted to cut a portion of the vanilla cake.
"Ahh," he said and dropped the knife and fork at the side of the plate. "My wrists are weak," he looked at Ryouko and smirked. "Would you mind cutting the cake for me, dear Marian?"
All the people watching either almost spit out their beverage or choked on their own saliva. His wrists are too weak to cut a sponge cake?! Just what kind of a sick joke is that?
Ryouko knew that Atobe is just doing this to make fun of her. A vein in her temple throbbed in annoyance but nevertheless, she displayed her fake smile and pulled the plate and cutlery towards her. "It would be my pleasure," she said, puking inside her mind. Pleasure? How is this a 'pleasure'?
When she finished, she pushed the plate lightly near Atobe and placed the knife and fork on the sides. "Here you go my lord..." she said with a small smile.
"I already told you that my wrists are weak, Marian. Do you think I can feed myself?" Atobe asked, tilting his head to one side and blinking innocently.
Ryouko prevented her jaw from dropping and tried to maintain her smile. "You mean..." she said, her tone hesitant, "...you want me to feed you?"
"Oh, you'll do that?" Atobe said and pretended to be surprised at what she said. "Our Marian is such a sensible and prudent lady."
Almost every pair of eyes is focused on Table Number 3, peering curiously with laughter evident in their pupils. Most of the people currently occupying the tables are Seishun Academy students, second years and third years who dragged a few of their friends from outside to check out their festival. Fujioka Ryouko is a freshman who is famous all over the school. She's known not only for her looks but for her smart brain, rather serious personality and cool demeanor. Nevertheless, many have also heard about her high pride and highly strung temper. They are very curious at how she would respond to such open teasing.
Ryouko is boiling inside as she picked up the fork and pierced a portion of the vanilla cake. She managed not to make her fingers tremble in anger as she lifted the cake piece towards Atobe Keigo's face.
"Marian," Atobe suddenly called.
"What now?!" Ryouko exclaimed inside her mind. "Yes, my lord?" she said with a phony sweet tone.
"Would you be a dear and lean a bit closer? I wouldn't want to strain my back," Atobe told her.
"What are you, a seventy-year-old?" the people around them thought in unison. Even so, they admired his arrogance and confidence to be able to tease a girl with no shame or guilt whatsoever. Normal guys would be too embarrassed to be that straight-forward.
Ryouko leaned forward and delivered the piece of cake to Atobe Keigo's mouth. The latter looked up and looked like a food critic for a moment. As a rich obocchama, all the food served to him is only the best. Low-quality goods would not satisfy his tastebuds.
"Not bad..." he said and smirked. "One more bite," he remarked coyly.
Fujioka Ryouko felt her face burning up. For her to feed someone against her will in front of all these people... Such disgrace, such humiliation...
She glared at Atobe, unable to hold the Marian façade any longer. "I will kill you when this is over," her eyes communicated as she fed him another bite.
As a response to her provocative glare, Atobe took hold of her dainty hand and pulled on it a bit before biting down on the fork. "And now for the tea," he said, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
All the girls tried their best to hold back their squeals. What a scene!
Crrrack...
A faint cracking noise drew Mami's attention to the side and she saw Ryoma practically murdering the wooden time card in his hands. "Accha, there goes one of those hand-crafted time cards we worked that the props team worked so hard on..." she thought but silently screamed in excitement at Ryoma's obvious jealousy.
"Don't worry, Echizen-kun... I did arrange something for you and Ryouko-chan later... For now, build up that jealousy so you can release your pent-up frustration for my plan..." she giggled to herself.
Just when Ryouko thought that her nightmare is over, she realized that the cake is just a warm up. For the tea, Atobe complained that it's too hot and had her blow away the steam coming from teacup. It was utter embarrassment and she felt the desire to spit at the tea instead.
After he finished a cup of tea, Atobe complained that the air-conditioning of the room is not enough. He pointed at the non-existent beads of sweat on his forehead and provided a handkerchief for her to wipe it with.
Shaking from humiliation, Ryouko stood up and marched behind Atobe. Just when she was about to dab the handkerchief on his forehead, she thought of a way to get revenge. Inside the pocket of her waist apron is a dishrag that she used to wipe the stains on the counter earlier. Careful not to make any noise, she swapped the dishrag with the handkerchief and folded it the same way as the hanky was folded. With a satisfied smirk, she gave Atobe's forehead a good rubbing.
"Hey, that hurts," Atobe complained.
"Oops..." Ryouko said, blinking her doll-like, innocent eyes, reverting back to her Maiden Marian façade. "Please forgive me my lord. Let me do that again," she added and started dabbing the rag gently all over his forehead.
All the people who witnessed her little act of mischief almost died trying to contain their laughter. Their shoulders moved up and down in silent laughs and they covered their mouths tightly with their hands.
"A dishrag! Savage! She's too savage!" they thought.
"Wrong her once and she'll revenge tenfolds," Kurumi murmured under her breath, her tone amused. "Contrary to her pretty looks, the way her head works is not that of a girly girl. I never really understood that nature of hers fully until now..."
Even Ryoma who looked like he had been fed a whole bottle of vinegar has his expression softened at Ryouko's display of maleficence. Indeed, you cannot one-up that girl without getting some pretty nasty revenge afterwards.
"That's enough, you can sit down now," Atobe said. Quick with her hands, Ryouko reproduced the handkerchief from her apron and dropped the dishrag inside the pocket.
"Here you go my lord," she said as she returned the handkerchief ot the owner.
Atobe felt the fabric of the hanky and rubbed his forehead. Was it just him or did the fabric feel rougher when Ryouko was using it on his forehead? When she rubbed it to his skin, it felt as if it would cause a bruise.
But Ryouko had a perfect smile on and showed no indication of the prank she played on him. "My lord, you should also finish your lemon blueberry cake before the twenty-minute time limit is over. Should I cut it for you again?" she asked, looking and sounding sweet-tempered and demure.
"Oh that?" Atobe suddenly said after rubbing his forehead for the last time. "That one's for you." He pushed the plate towards her and handed her a clean fork. "Isn't lemon blueberry layered cake your favorite? It must be tiring running around and waiting tables in that heavy-looking dress. You can rest until the time is over. Eat the cake and have some tea."
At this act of kindness, not only Ryouko looked baffled. Everyone else looked curiously upon the violet-haired young man and at Ryouko's reaction to his words and actions.
"How..." she said as she received the fork from him. "How did you know that this cake flavor is my favorite?"
"I just knew. It's my mission to know everything about you," Atobe answered and placed his chin on his palm, looking at her with his purple eyes filled with gentleness.
Ryouko felt her face burn again but for a whole different reason from earlier. She took a portion of the cake and stuffed it to her mouth so she would have a reason to avert her gaze from his face.
"Aww, that's so sweet!"
"I'd die if a good-looking man tells those words to my face!"
"You see that, boys? That's how you can get a girl."
The audience is perfectly amused and tickled pink at the scene. It's like watching a shoujo manga come alive.
Crrrrack...
Mami looked again at the source of the sound. The wooden time card which was broken to two pieces earlier now doubled to four pieces. Echizen Ryoma's face cannot be painted.
"Accha, he's at his limit. I should do something," Mami thought but she was a moment too late. Discarding the spifflicated time card on the floor, Ryoma had already stomped towards Table Number 3 and snatched the fork from Ryouko's hand. With smooth movements, he split what remained of the cake into two, speared the bigger half and crammed it inside his mouth.
It's rather delicious but a person with a sour mood wouldn't have a decent sense of taste. "It's nothing special," he said, trying to sound nonchalant and casual. "And isn't your favorite supposed to be sponge cake with apple filling, blackberry preserves and custard ganache?" he added, narrowing his eyes at Ryouko in accusation.
"I still like that but I prefer this now. A person's taste changes," Ryouko answered via impulse though she blinked her eyes in confusion and wondered why Ryoma suddenly marched over.
Suddenly, a mocking simper made its way to Atobe Keigo's lips. "A person's taste changes..." he repeated. "You hear that Echizen? Past is past and present is present," he added, his eyes glinting with malicious intent.
Ryoma's shoulders stiffened and his cheeks turned pink at the hidden meaning in Atobe's words. In his attempt to hide his defeat, he speared the remaining half of the cake and ate it before Ryouko had the chance to protest.
"Really... If you want one, you can get yourself a piece. Did you really have to eat what I've been eating?" Ryouko said, her tone exasperated. She stood up and lifted a hand towards him.
Ryoma impulsively evaded her hand. "Are you so mad that I ate what the monkey king gave you that you want to land a blow on me? How petty," he remarked. He thought that Ryouko was going to slap him.
"It's not that," Ryouko said and attempted to raise her hand again. Ryoma shifted to dodge but she secured him with one firm grip. "It's just..." she said, reached over and brushed her thumb on his lower lip. "There's cream..." she told him. "On your lips." She showed him the white frosting on her thumb.
Ryoma, Atobe and the rest of the people witnessing the scene had been struck dumb.
"What a waste of good frosting," Ryouko said amidst the awkward silence and licked her thumb clean. She turned her attention to Ryoma and said sulkily, "I wanted to eat that cake too. You're such a mean person, Robin."
"She... ate the icing... that was..." Shuu, Jun and the bunch of Ryouko's male admirers in their class suddenly got wobbly knees and fell to the floor.
"Ka-ka-kansetsu..." Kurumi stammered, her cheeks red as tomatoes.
"Kansetsu kisu! (Indirect kiss!)" the girls in the audience squealed.
While the people caused a fuss, Ryoma pressed the back of his right hand onto his lips, feeling his temperature rise up as he looked at Ryouko. The girl looked around her surroundings with a sober expression, wondering why people are jumping and cheering.
Meanwhile, Atobe Keigo who was forgotten in the heat of the situation looked far from pleased. "This ain't fun anymore..." he hissed through gritted teeth.
"I am definitely watching the play of this class on Saturday! Marian's too adorable and she can be sly and seductive too!"
"Robin-kun's embarrassed expression is the best!"
"I can't believe that Marian can be a 'seme'."
"Dude, wrong genre."
"People with dirty minds should get lost."
There were all sorts of comments but one thing is for sure; that scene just now satisfied the interest levels of the customers. They seemed more hyped up about the play. However, they seem to misunderstand one thing. All of them thought that the scenes they witnessed were staged for their entertainment.
"We'll go back again!"
"Please let us watch an interesting scene again tomorrow!"
"That was some great acting! I anticipate a lot on your acting on Saturday!"
After that, the tables were vacated and the second batch of customers walked in.
As if to put a damper on Class 1-2's festivities, an announcement blared on the PA system of the campus stating that the day's main event, Mr. and Ms. Seishun Pageant would be starting in thirty minutes.
"We need the participants to please gather in the track area immediately for the initial preparations. Participants of the Mr. and Ms. Seishun Pageant, please gather in the track area for the initial preparations."
"Oh right! There's the traditional school pageant each year! I almost forgot!" Kurumi said and looked worriedly at Mami. "What should I do, Mami-chan? I don't think I submitted an entry form for our class."
"Class 1-1, Takahashi Akemi-san, Kimura Hiroto-kun... Class 1-1 Takahashi Akemi-san, Kimura Hiroto-kun..." the announcement continued.
"Don't worry..." Mami told her with a reassuring smile. "I didn't forget."
Kurumi gave a sigh of relief. "A-re?" she said as a thought entered her mind. Just who exactly did Mami enter as their representatives in the pageant?
"Class 1-2, Fujioka Ryouko-san, Echizen Ryoma-kun... Class 1-2, Fujioka Ryouko-san, Echizen Ryoma-kun..."
"Ehh?" Class 1-2 with the exception of Mami said dumbly in unison.
There was a long silence until the announcement finally seeped into their thick skulls.
"EHHHHHHHHHHH??!!"
And here I thought I could fit everything I want to include in this chappy. Turns out I overestimated myself. 😅 Sadly, poor Syusuke-senpai is a filler chara here.
I already wrote half of the next chapter so I assure you that it won't be long. haha 😆 Let's hope for the best.
Hope you guys enjoyed reading! ❤❤