Chapter 233: The Fujiwara Festival Begins
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 233: The Fujiwara Festival Begins
The Fujiwara Festival.
That was the official name of the cultural festival for Ichijo Academy, now celebrating its 78th year.
Ichijo Academy, founded in 1939—the 14th year of the Showa era—with the conviction of nurturing students who would become the bedrock of the nation, based its educational philosophy on the ancient idiom, Ilshin Uilshin (日新又日新).
Become a better version of yourself than you were yesterday.
For young people in the midst of contemplating their futures, there could be no more fitting maxim.
In that sense, the Fujiwara Festival, held at the end of autumn, was a day for students to reveal the fruits of their year-long, sweat-drenched efforts to their families and friends.
*
"Hey! Be careful!"
"Someone get me a plank!"
November 13th, Monday morning.
Ichijo Academy, on the first day of the Fujiwara Festival, was more bustling than usual.
The vast grounds of Ichijo Academy were originally prepared solely for its students, but for only four days a year, during the cultural festival, they were opened to outsiders.
Of course, not just any outsider could enter; only those who had received an invitation to the festival from a current student were allowed inside.
"..."
And our class was just as busy with festival preparations.
"Who the hell put salt in the sugar container!"
"Aah! I forgot and left the coffee grinder at home!"
"Hey! Just go borrow one from the faculty office for now!"
In a situation that was nothing short of pandemonium, Ayase was directing everyone with razor-sharp precision.
I remembered she'd streamed for about three hours last night, so seeing her so energetic on a Monday morning, Ayase must have had the stamina of steel.
Just then, Satoru, who was slacking off next to me, asked.
"Yoo-Sung, did you try on the outfit that arrived earlier?"
"...Not yet."
"Shouldn't you try it on beforehand? If it doesn't fit, we'll have to send it to a tailor."
"I'd rather it didn't fit."
I replied, and in an attempt to escape reality, I looked at the problematic 'outfit' that I hadn't even glanced at until now.
A harmonious blend of black and white, the fabric looking a bit cheap.
Delicate lace on the sleeves and a modest skirt that came down to the knees.
And even a katyusha headband that looked like it belonged in Akiba, ready to say, "Okaerinasai, goshujin-sama!"
It was a picture-perfect cosplay maid outfit.
And the person who had to wear this outfit was none other than 'me'.
It made sense, since the other theme for our maid cafe was a gender-reversed cafe.
An obvious trap card: girls in butler outfits, guys in maid outfits.
What was originally a traditional maid cafe became twisted like this because of a suggestion from the female students to do something special since it seemed too plain. The male students who agreed to it demanded that if they won, the maid outfits would be made significantly more revealing.
Thus began the battle of the century, with the fate of the maid cafe on the line.
But in the end, what decided the victory was Rika's 'luck'.
Rika, famous in class for her 'golden hands' [being good at everything], set an incredible record of 10 wins and 0 losses in the boys vs. girls rock-paper-scissors match, contributing greatly to the girls' victory.
Anyway, losers don't get a say, so the boys in our class meekly accepted their fate of wearing maid outfits.
Of course, that included me, who wasn't even allowed to participate in the match because my very existence was considered cheating.
"It's easier if you just give up."
Said Satoru, who was already cross-dressing in his own maid outfit.
But it wasn't comforting at all.
He had a slender build, so he looked good in the clothes, but if a mass of muscle like me wore a maid outfit, I was sure I'd look like a monstrosity.
On top of that, my face had just been broadcast all over the country not long ago.
If I wore a maid outfit in this situation, it was obvious I'd be creating the darkest chapter of my life.
And in a way, Ryuji, a veteran in this field of 'dark history', appeared in the classroom so perfectly cross-dressed he could be mistaken for a girl at a glance, which only made the comparison worse.
"Aah! Sakamoto-kun is so cute!"
"Wow! How can a guy's skin be so smooth!"
"I think he's prettier than a girl!"
As befitting the protagonist of a rom-com world, Ryuji, who was handsome to begin with, had become a plaything for the female students and was being subjected to all sorts of things.
The one leading it all was Ryuji's girlfriend, Yaguchi, who seemed to be half-berserk, as if she had a lot of pent-up frustration.
"Ryuji! Just hang in there a little longer! I'll let you go after I put on these last eyelashes!"
"That's the third time you've said that!"
Sorry I can't protect you, Ryuji...
I was in no position to help him.
"Come on, don't be like that, you try it on too. The breeze between your legs feels surprisingly good."
"Shut up."
"Ack!"
I gave a flick to the forehead of Satoru, who was coaxing me to cross-dress in a subtle voice like Satan tempting Eve, and after long deliberation, I decided to run.
I figured if I just holed up in the student council room until my classmates forgot I existed, things would work out somehow.
But as if they had predicted my thoughts, Sasha and Rika caught me as I tried to sneak out the back door.
"Hehe, sorry, Ryu-chan."
"Meekly accept your fate, Kim Yoo-Sung."
Is this what it feels like to be betrayed by someone you trust?
These two were the ones in class looking forward to my cross-dressing more than anyone.
"Huhu, you think I'd let you escape so easily? Just quietly become our class's main attraction!"
No, now that I looked, the mastermind was the class president, Ayase.
The three of them slowly closed in, holding the specially made maid outfit tailored for me.
Cornered in an instant, I cried out in a desperate voice.
"Ya, yamero!"
Mou yamerunda! [Stop this bullying!]
*
"..."
In the end, I was forcibly changed.
"It suits you surprisingly well. Pfft, pffft."
Ayase, unable to hold back her laughter mid-sentence.
"Truly, the academy's strongest maid."
Sasha, nodding with a satisfied expression.
"Ryu-chan, how about trying on this eyepatch?"
And even Rika, who wanted to see me ruined even further now that I was already broken.
It was a total mess, plain and simple.
'I want to die.'
I hung my head in shame, a feeling welling up from the depths of my heart.
'Forced to cross-dress at my age...'
It would be one thing if it suited me like it did Satoru or Ryuji, but even I could see it was a hideous sight.
As a last resort, I hadn't put on makeup, but even in my current state, I was no different from a walking monstrosity.
My classmates bustling around weren't laughing openly, but seeing the subtle curl of their lips, it was clear I was going to be a laughingstock.
"Hoo—"
No, well—it's a cultural festival, so I guess cross-dressing is something you can do. Let's think positively.
Barely suppressing the urge to find a hole to crawl into, I said to Ayase.
"Class Pres, let's make a deal."
"What kind of deal?"
"I don't mind wearing the maid outfit since it's for the class. But in return, give me something to cover my face."
"If that's all, then sure."
An answer without a hint of hesitation.
In truth, maybe because there was no one who could force me to move if I declared a strike, Ayase readily accepted my condition.
"I figured something like this might happen, so I prepared something in advance."
As she said that, Sasha pulled out an inverted triangular mask from her clothes.
As if to prove she was an otaku, the design seemed very intentional.
But with no other choice, I meekly put on the mask she handed me.
"...Let's go."
Paching!
*
Class 2-B.
Unbeknownst to its members, it was a class famous within the academy for having a suspiciously high number of top-tier beauties.
"So this is the rumored Class 2-B maid cafe...!"
"Huhu... This humble one volunteered for a full five-hour shift at the haunted house tomorrow just to be the first customer here!"
Two otaku from the Pretty Girl Research Society—the most despised among the various pretty girl appreciation clubs hidden throughout the school—pushed up their black, horn-rimmed glasses and smiled suspiciously.
The amount of effort they'd put in within their own class just to be the first customers at the maid cafe.
Passing students shot them looks of subtle contempt, but as members of the lowest of the low on the school caste, the two were already used to such gazes and endured them without flinching.
Finally, at 10 AM, the opening time, the doors to Class 2-B swung wide open.
"Welcome, Master!"
The moment they stepped inside, the first to greet them were the female students of Class 2-B, dressed in butler outfits.
'Ooooh! This is!'
'As expected of Class 2-B, famous for its many pretty girls! They're on another level!'
Pretty girls greeting customers in butler outfits, breaking away from the stereotype of a common maid cafe.
For the two, who had already conquered numerous maid cafes in Akiba, a pretty girl butler cafe was, on the contrary, a new and exciting stimulus.
'But wait, doesn't this make it a butler cafe, not a maid cafe?'
'Where is the most important part, the maids?'
The moment the two realized their blind spot and their gazes wandered left and right, a beast they hadn't noticed because their attention was focused on the pretty butlers began to approach them.
"I will guide you to your seats, Master."
Its identity was the academy's strongest man, who had a suspiciously good voice.