Because Machina had pulled him to her, they were now close enough that her hair tickled his face.
(She smells so sweet… Ah, Ibekusa-san uses the same shampoo as Ange.)
His face grew red and he desperately tried to focus on something else.
Just like during the test of courage from before, he could not help but tense up when walking alone with the girl he liked.
“…”
He did not notice that Machina’s expression was similarly stiff.
“Th-this crepe sure is good.”
The silence was painful, so he attempted some small talk.
“Ibekusa-san, you got apple cinnamon, right? It looks good.”
“It is.”
“I got blueberry. Ha ha. I had strawberry earlier, but it’s amazing how two berries
can be so different.”
“…”
“Oh, do you want a bite?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. …Ah.”
Mutsuki froze up when he realized he had just offered to give her an indirect kiss.
But before he could panic, Machina made a further suggestion.
“Then here.”
She took his blueberry crepe and handed him hers.
“Th…thanks.”
They had traded crepes.
That did seem to be the natural thing to do after he said hers looked good, so
Mutsuki smiled bitterly at his careless suggestion and he took the apple cinnamon that Machina’s lips had touched.
“Ahm…yes, it is good.”
Machina did not seem bothered as she took a bite.
It would be weird if he focused on it too much, so Mutsuki made up his mind and
took a bite.
“Do you like it?”
“Y-yes. It’s good. You can really taste the cinnamon, can’t you?”
He feigned calm and scolded himself for trying to find the flavor of her lips within
the apple and cinnamon.
(I’ve gotten a lot more daring.)
Until the spring, he would have been too embarrassed to do anything. He smiled bitterly at the thought.
It had been less than half a year since then and he thanked the Serpent’s Eye
power for allowing him to grow like this.
And…
“Fujita and Miss-…and Ibekusa. You’re together?”
“Senpai.”
They ran across Shirohara Ren.
She called out to them, but she also could not look them in the eye after the previous kissing incident.
It could be hard to tell when he mostly interacted with her as FeTUS’s Lavriel, but she was popular as the Student Council President. A lot of friends were following
her as she went around inspecting things.
“Hey, hey. Ren, is this the Fujita boy you’re always talking about?”
“Ha had He’s so cute.”
The third years surrounded him. Mutsuki had intended to just greet her without intruding much, but he was trapped now.
“Hmm. I thought Ren wasn’t interested in boys at all, but this is the exception, huh?”
“But I understand how she feels~ This looks like just the kind of boy she’d fall for.”
“U-um.”
Ever since his experience with Micha, Mutsuki had trouble around older girls, so he was overwhelmed while completely surrounded like this. With as popular as Ren was, it was apparently well known that he had been hanging around with her.
Machina and Ren were left outside of the circle of girls.
“I do not recommend letting others know about your contact with Fujita-kun.”
“I-I know that. I didn’t mean to let anyone know. It just kind of came up in conversation.”
Machina’s tendency to completely shut out others was a problem, but this seemed to be a problem as well.
“…Where are Jiyuuni and the others?”
“At the play. We are on our way to watch it.”
“Oh, right. I’ll be patrolling around, but you keep him safe, Miss E.”
“Positive.”
They left no opening as FeTUS members.
“By the way, that crepe looks good.”
“Have a bite.”
“Yes. Ahhh.”
Ren took a bite of the blueberry crepe that had originally been Mutsuki’s.
Apparently Saya and Sakae were not the only ones overly excited about the cultural festival.
They walked around, ate, and enjoyed themselves.
That was all there was to do for those like Mutsuki who had finished their jobs in the preparation phase, but the students performing had to take today especially seriously.
“ ‘Wh-where is the crosswalk?’ ”
Ange was the most prominent example as the lead in the play.
“She’s kind of nervous.”
Mutsuki watched from an audience seat a short distance away. Machina nodded in the seat next to him.
“But that is not a problem. It is not enough to affect the performance.”
“Right. …Break a leg, Ange.”
It was a short traffic safety play.
But even if it was short, it was nerve-racking when someone he knew was performing. He quietly cheered her on.
It was the standard story of Ange, who was playing an elementary school girl, breaking the traffic rules, having a scary experience, and learning the importance of the rules. But the effort that went into it behind the scenes made it a moving performance for Mutsuki.
It was already hard to find a girl willing to play the part, so Ange may have been the perfect choice since she took any job seriously. The play was performed twice in the morning and thrice in the afternoon. People had enjoyed the two morning performances, so there were more people there for this afternoon one. It was not exactly a play worthy of a standing ovation, but rumors of the lead girl being cute were spreading through the high school.
“Oh, yeah. Ibekusa-san, you adjusted Ange’s costume, didn’t you?”
Ange had moved off stage for now, so he whispered to Machina.
“Yes.”
“Thanks. I could have done it, but Ange wouldn’t have asked.”
Everyone had been in charge of making adjustments to their own costume. Ange could not sew, so she had let Machina do it. That had probably happened while
Machina was helping with her nighttime training.
They were enemies, but those two were training together and looking at clothes together.
“You sure are getting along well with Ange.”
“…”
There was no response that time.
As a FeTUS member, she may not have been able to say any more. Still, it made him happy enough that she did not deny it.
“Oh, right. You were with her last night, weren’t you? Ange was acting a little weird when she got back, so did something happen?”
“Nn…”
“Oh, Ange is back.”
The play’s lead was back, so he focused on the stage again.
He failed to notice Machina hanging her head next to him.
There were still two more performances, so Mutsuki only waved to Ange as the curtain lowered and then they moved to the music room.
It was approaching time for the performance by Silvia, the band Lucia was helping.
Unlike Ange, Lucia had insisted Mutsuki come watch, so they showed up early and got a good spot.
The band only clumsily played existing songs, which was about what you could expect from a student band, but it was enough to get people excited. It was said the visual was 90% of what mattered at a live performance, so having a cute boy like Lucia in a unisex costume seemed to have gathered a lot of attention.
“That seemed like a success. I’m glad.”
He had not been worried, he was glad to see how well it went.
“Lucia-kun is a really good singer. …Oh.”
He did not know when Lucia had practiced or if he had even needed to practice, but his performance had been incredible for someone who only joined on recently.
“Heyyy, Mutsuki-kuuun!”
“…H-hi.”
The way he had readily waved to Mutsuki after spotting him in the middle of a song was adorable, but it had been awkward for Mutsuki when everyone’s attention gathered on him.
And that had not lasted long. Niki Hozumi, the bassist, had given him a sign and he had immediately returned to singing. As a classmate, the girl knew how to work with him.
“…”
That scene had made Mutsuki happier than the singing.
The concert had been extended by 5 minutes due to the encore, but they walked outside after watching it through to the end.