The Story of Waking up With My Beautiful Childhood Friend and Realizing We Had Spent the Night Together

Chapter 42: Holy War

“—So, Iori. You get it, right?”

After we finished eating lunch, that’s when it happened.
As soon as we got back to the classroom, Renji hit me with a super serious tone.

“……”

But I didn’t even look at him. I just pulled my math textbook out of my bag.
I’d just remembered… the math class coming up was the day I was gonna get called on.
For a total liberal-arts brain like me, those science and math problems are brutal without any prep.

I flipped through the pages real quick.
Today’s lesson would probably go up to around here. So the spots I might get picked for were… this one and this one, I guess.

…This is bad. I don’t get any of it.
Honestly, it’s already wrong that a guy aiming for a private liberal-arts school is still sitting through math class at all.
It’s like making a sushi chef bake macarons… nah, that’s not quite right either.

But what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t exactly ask Mizuki in school, and asking Koto would be super awkward.
So the only other people I could maybe ask were…

“Hey, Iorin. Why do you always ignore me when I’m talking?”

“…’Cause it’s a pain.”

Renji kept tugging on my sleeve going “hey, hey.”
Not cute at all. I shook him off and reluctantly turned to listen.

“So, what?”

“You know? That maid café thing from earlier?”

“…Haah.”

“Don’t sigh. Look, even if all the guys team up, it’s not enough to snag the maid café at the after-school meeting.”

I nodded. Yeah, that made sense.
Our class had more girls than guys.
To get over half the votes, the boys alone weren’t gonna cut it.

“That’s why we need the girls on our side. I tried feeling out Koto earlier, but her reaction was kinda meh.”

“Meh? She straight-up hated the idea.”

I remembered how Koto had shut it down completely, no room for discussion.
She’s never been the type who likes standing out, so of course she’d hate being treated like some novelty.

“…Besides, I don’t really care that much about doing a maid café anyway.”

Come to think of it, last year’s culture festival we ran a taiyaki stand.
We didn’t just do the classic red bean and custard—we also made chocolate, white chocolate, and even yakisoba-filled ones. It was actually pretty fun.

This year, maybe a crêpe stand would be nice. I’d wanna eat them too.

“You don’t get anything! Look! There’s Tanaka, the smartest guy in our class!”

Renji pointed dramatically.
Over there was a guy with a perfect seven-three part and glasses, looking like he was saying “I can study, what about it?”

A few boys and girls were gathered around him, and Tanaka was gesturing wildly while making his point.

“—In other words, what really moves people’s emotions is ‘visual impact.’ Since the most important thing at the culture festival is drawing customers in before they even see what’s inside, we need something with clear, instant visual punch…”

The guys around him were nodding along, going “yeah, yeah” and “exactly!”
But the girls watching them had kinda cold looks in their eyes.

“What’s that about?”

“You can tell just by looking, right? He’s trying to win over the girls who seem easiest to get on our side.”

Pretty sneaky.
Well, it’s probably necessary… but I wonder if it’s actually gonna work.

“Why are you acting like it’s not your problem, Iori? Just so you know, you’re the trump card here.”

“Huh?”

Renji suddenly leaned in close.
Then he glanced around and dropped his voice.

“You’re Yukimura’s boyfriend, aren’t you!? Straight up—if we get her on our side, we can pull in all the other girls! Everything depends on you!”

“……”

…Oh. So that’s what this was about.
I looked out the window.
Birds were flying around. Looked nice. Why do humans have to be so complicated?

“Hey, Iorin. Stop escaping reality. Listen.”

“…I am listening. And stop calling me Iorin.”

Ugh, so annoying. I glanced sideways in annoyance, and there was Renji with his arms crossed, looking all stern.
His eyes were practically screaming at me.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“At today’s after-school planning meeting, I’ll go first. You make sure to back me up right after.”

…In short, Renji would suggest the maid café, and then I’d agree.
That was definitely gonna get us the cold shoulder from the girls.

“If you raise your hand, the chance of Yukimura joining us goes way up! I’m counting on you, partner!”

“…Aah…”

I really didn’t wanna do this.
I got what he was saying. If Mizuki said yes, the other girls would probably go along even if they weren’t happy about it.
But the risk was huge. Even if Mizuki was fine, if Koto looked at me with those scornful eyes, my heart would straight-up die.

(Still though…)

With the Asahi thing, I’d made this guy worry.
And he’d been looking out for me and Mizuki in secret too.
I owed him. So maybe I should pay him back a little.

“…Fine. I’ll help this time.”

“Nice!”

Renji cheered with a big “woohoo,” and I just sighed and held my head. Yep, I still really didn’t wanna do this.

“—Alright everyone. We’ve only got one month left until the culture festival.”

That same day, after school.

The class rep—a guy named Goto—stood at the front of the room and started talking in a really heavy tone.
The vibe was like some evil supreme commander.
He looked like he might announce the end of the world any second.
But it wasn’t just him acting weird.
“Finally…”
“This is our year…!”
Everyone had this intense look in their eyes, totally pumped for the culture festival.

Why were they so fired up? Simple.

“Half-price school cafeteria…!”
“No cleaning duty…!”
“Priority gym access… heh heh, my muscles are already burning!”

The special perks you get for winning the class competition.
That’s why everyone was going all out.

The class rankings were decided by votes—some from visitors, some from the school.
And in this class-versus-class battle… our class had a massive advantage.

“We can do it this time… we’re gonna win! Everyone! If you’ve got an idea for our event, just shout it out!!”

Goto slammed his hand on the teacher’s desk with a loud bang.
By the way, there was no teacher in the room right now. We students decide the event first, then turn in the proposal later.

So without any brakes, the classroom went wild.
Shouts like battle cries poured out in response to Goto.

Haunted house, crêpes, filming a movie.
All the classic culture festival ideas came flying out at once.
But then—

Of course it happened. One idiot quietly raised his hand.

“Hm? Oh, it’s Miyama. Got an idea?”

When Goto asked, Renji gave an exaggerated shrug.

“Man, you guys are all so half-hearted… there’s only one right answer here.”

At those words, several guys froze up.
I could practically hear them thinking, No way he’s gonna…
Me and Koto already knew exactly what he was about to say. I spotted Koto in the back clutching her head.

Renji crossed his arms with total confidence and declared,

“—Maid café. That’s the only choice.”

He said it like it was the ultimate truth.

The second he did, everyone was speechless. “He actually said it!”
It was something every guy (mostly the guys) had been thinking, but no one had dared say out loud.
Now that Renji had thrown it out there without hesitation, all the boys stared at him with pure awe.
Then Renji stood up and spread both arms like he was on stage.

“C’mon, think about it, you idiots. What’s our class’s biggest advantage? Who lets us even compete for first place? Hey, class rep! Say it!”

“Eh? W-well, that’s…”

Goto, who’d been so fired up earlier, suddenly got all flustered.
He kept glancing toward one corner of the room, then quickly looked away.
…Obviously, his eyes had landed on the school’s Madonna.

She was resting her cheek on her hand, staring off into space. Her face said she couldn’t care less.

“You wanna win, right? You want those perks, right? Then we should use every weapon we’ve got! Right, Iori!”

“……”

Don’t “right” me. What was I supposed to say?
But Renji didn’t stop.

“W-wait… hold on, Miyama. I get what you’re saying. But whether the class will actually accept it is—”

“Alright! Then let’s vote! Who thinks a maid café is good—!”

Right away, several guys shot their hands up.
He must’ve prepped them earlier. Real thorough.
Then Renji glanced over at me.

(Iori-kun?)

(…Yeah, yeah.)

I reluctantly raised my hand too. If I didn’t, I could already imagine him nagging me later.
The whole class looked at me in shock.
But maybe seeing even someone as low-key as me raise my hand gave the hesitant guys courage—little by little, more of them started putting their hands up. Still…

“Ugh…”

Renji groaned. Even so, we weren’t anywhere near half.
Of course not. Not a single girl had raised her hand. And with a suggestion this obviously self-serving…

“…Miyama-kun. Just asking, but you’re not planning to force Yukimura into a maid outfit, right?”

“Yeah, no way. That’s way too obvious.”

“…Why don’t you wear it yourself? The maid outfit.”

The girls from her personal guard opened fire all at once.

“Ughhh…”

Even Renji had to shrink back at that. Honestly, I was scared too.

(I-Iori…)

Renji gave me this pathetic, pleading look, like he was clinging to me. Where’d all that energy from earlier go?
I sighed. I knew this would happen.
Then I glanced over at my childhood friend in the middle of it all.

“……”

For some reason, Mizuki was staring right at me.
She had her phone in her hand. She looked down and started typing something.

—Ping.

“…Hm?”

Right then, my phone made a notification sound.
I fished it out of my pocket, and the sender was—Yukimura Mizuki.

‘Want me to wear it?’

“……”

Why was she asking me?

“Iori… hey, Iori!”

Renji whispered in a voice that had completely lost its cool.
His bloodshot eyes were basically screaming, “Please, do something!”

(Do something? Easy for you to say…)

I looked at my childhood friend again. She was still watching me.
…No way. Was she telling me to say it?
I wanted to hold my head. And Renji’s face was getting seriously bad. Looked like he was about to cry any second.
At the same time, I could feel Koto’s worried gaze from far away, and it hurt.

(…Do I really have to say it?)

Probably… no, definitely, if anyone was gonna say it, it had to be me.
In front of me was Renji’s half-crying face.
The eyes of the whole class were slowly gathering on us.
At this point… I guess I had no choice but to man up.

“Um… Yukimura.”

I made up my mind and called out to Mizuki, who was on the other side of the classroom.
The whole class instantly buzzed.
Looks like “Wait, that guy…?” stabbed into me from every direction.

“What?”

Her answer was one word. But there was this tiny, bouncy tone in her voice that only I would notice.

(This girl… she’s enjoying this.)

Damn it. But I couldn’t back out now.

“The maid outfit… what do you think, Yukimura?”

Might as well go all in. I said it kinda recklessly.
Instantly, the guys in class looked at me like I was some hero.
And the girls from her guard gave me even sharper glares.
I was thinking my short life was over when—

Mizuki let out a small, quiet laugh.

“—Sure. I’ll wear it.”

She said it like it was no big deal.
For a second, the whole classroom froze.
Then—

“U-UWOOOOH!?”
“For real…? For real!? We get to see Yukimura in a maid outfit!?”
“Her Majesty has given permission! Hey you commoners, hurry up and prepare the highest-class maid outfit!!”

Shouts exploded, mostly from the guys. The girls in her guard looked confused and checked with Mizuki, but she gave a small nod and they calmed down.

“Iori.”

“Yeah?”

Watching that, Renji turned to me with the brightest face ever.

“—We did it, partner.”

Like a battle buddy who’d survived the war, he held out his fist.
…It took a crazy amount of willpower to bump it back.