Yukino patrolled the performance stage set up in the gymnasium, like a lion patrolling its territory. Around her were executive committee members making final preparations for the festival.
"Yukino~"
The scene was very noisy, but her sister's voice was too distinct to be ignored even if she wanted to pretend she didn't hear.
"Nee-san." Yukino turned around helplessly, greeted her sister, then shifted her gaze to Shinra beside her with a quite puzzled expression.
As if asking Shinra, Why are you with my sister?
Naturally, because I was drafted.
The reason used was even that I didn't know the way.
Setting aside that Haruno had been deeply involved in school festival activities in recent days, even if this were her first time at school this year, she had lived in this school twice as long as Shinra.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on why Shinra was with her sister. Yukino looked at her sister's casual clothes and asked, "Aren't you going to change?"
There was less than an hour left before the performance started. Changing into performance costumes, applying makeup, and debugging on-site equipment all took time. All things considered, time was quite tight.
Not to mention that the volunteer performance group Haruno belonged to was the first program to appear on stage today.
"Don't worry, don't worry, aren't I just about to go~" Haruno still maintained that smiling appearance. Although she was about to perform on stage, she seemed to have no pressure at all.
She even had the mood to joke with Shinra: "Performance clothes are so troublesome to put on, especially the zipper on the back. If no one helps, it can't be fully zipped up. How about you come to the changing room to help me, Shinra?"
While speaking, Haruno blinked at Shinra in front of Yukino. The charm inadvertently revealed in her eyes and brows made people's hearts beat faster and faces turn red, even knowing she was joking.
Of course, this referred to Yukino.
Shinra had developed antibodies to Haruno's occasional flirting. This guy was all talk; if it got real, she would retreat faster than anyone.
This situation couldn't be called 'bad at playing but loves to play', but rather she didn't want you to play at all—pure fishing.
"Nee-san! This is a public place, mind your influence!" Yukino's tone was as cold as her expression at this moment.
Facing the cold gaze that would make most people retreat, Haruno seemed unaware, smiling at the corner of her mouth: "Not in public, so in private it's okay?"
"Think whatever you want. Come inside with me now." Yukino didn't argue with Haruno on such meaningless questions.
Yukino certainly could see her sister was joking, but it was precisely because she knew she was joking that she was so angry.
On one hand, time was so tight now, yet her sister, as a performer, had no sense of tension and was still making sarcastic remarks there.
On the other hand, Shinra was her friend. Her sister teasing her with him showed no due respect to either her or Shinra. She didn't like it at all!
The most infuriating thing was that this guy Shinra didn't say a word. What do you mean? Do you really plan to go to the changing room to help her zip up?
It had to be said that even the most aloof girl had moments of getting overheated.
Since childhood, Haruno was undoubtedly Yukino's overheat detonator. Just a little teasing, and Yukino would break her composure very easily.
Without exception.
Yukino stepped forward, grabbed her sister's wrist, and made a gesture to drag her into the women's changing room in the gymnasium. Before leaving, she didn't forget to instruct Shinra.
"If someone comes looking for me, handle it as you see fit."
Yukino trusted Shinra's ability quite a bit.
The Executive Committee had been organized for nearly a month. After spending so much time together, they more or less understood the relationship between their Vice Chairman and Shinra, knowing who could best represent Chairman Yukinoshita when she was absent.
You think it's Chairman Sagami? Wrong, it's him, Shinra!
Speaking of this, Yukino was absent from the Executive Committee due to temporary matters before. At the meeting, Sagami Minami's supporters wanted to take the opportunity to seize power and submit prepared topics to Sagami Minami. Unexpectedly, their boss turned around and asked Shinra for advice with the proposal in front of everyone.
Your Majesty, why rebel?
The sky of the Executive Committee has turned dark!
With Sagami Minami taking the lead in surrendering, there has been only one sun in the Executive Committee since then.
And Shinra's status in the Executive Committee leaped from an unknown junior to the Executive Vice GOAT, standing shoulder to shoulder with Chairman Sagami Minami.
Back to the topic, after Yukino took her sister to the changing room, Shinra, who temporarily took over her work, soon began to deal with related issues.
Rather than problems, they were more like trivial matters, such as the number of chairs being less than expected, the crowd being too chaotic...
Don't underestimate these trivial issues. For the executive committee members, they were quite tricky problems. They dared not make decisions easily, each afraid of making a mistake due to their decision.
Everyone laughs at Sagami Minami; everyone is Sagami Minami.
The order on the scene didn't fall into chaos due to Yukino's brief absence. Under Shinra's management, the entire scene operated non-stop like a precise machine, even smoother than when Yukino was present.
Yukino, walking out of the changing room, wasn't surprised to see this scene. She didn't step forward to take back command of the scene but stared at Shinra with her beautiful eyes for a long time.
Wait until everything came to an end, Shinra broke away from the crowd, walked to Yukino, and complained: "This is not something the Record and Miscellaneous Group should do at all."
Although the group name contained miscellaneous tasks, she couldn't really treat him as a handyman.
Don't think he didn't notice. Actually, you came out of the changing room long ago, right, Yukinoshita Yukino!
Didn't expect you, with big eyebrows and big eyes, to also slack off secretly.
Yukino glanced sideways at Shinra. She knew he wasn't complaining but asking for benefits under the guise of complaining.
A crying child gets milk. Although Shinra is unlikely to get Yukino's milk, calling out shouldn't be a problem, right? Beat the tree twice whether there are dates or not; what if?
"I'll make cookies for you when we go back." When Yukino mentioned cookies, the corners of her mouth rose noticeably, obviously thinking of a certain happy event last night.
Seeing this, the corners of Shinra's mouth couldn't help twitching. This is bringing up a pot that doesn't boil.
Yukinoshita Yukino, you are very proud, aren't you?
Shinra had already thought of a countermeasure for this. He said: "Then I'll help you. After all, always eating ready-made food like this, even I feel bad about it."
Help ×
Prevent dirty tricks √
"Heh." Yukino used only one word to clearly convey the thoughts and feelings she wanted to express at this moment.
You say, who invented this little thing 'heh'?
Time passed minute by minute, and soon it was time for the venue to open.
Tourists participating in the festival walked into the gymnasium one after another under the direction of on-site staff and took their seats. The seats were quickly filled, so much so that the audience coming later had no seats and could only stand on the side to watch.
Seeing this situation, the Personnel Coordination Group leader on standby immediately found Yukino and asked for instructions: "Not enough chairs, many people are standing directly. Do we need to organize the queue?"
The Personnel Coordination Group leader meant designating a special standing area based on the original standing area, instead of standing people mixing with sitting people like now, looking messy.
This coordination group leader had a bit of OCD and couldn't stand the chaos on the scene.
But the problem was there were so many people on the scene. Trying to organize them in a short time was somewhat overestimating the ability of this temporary executive committee composed of students.
Knowing the capabilities of her subordinates, Yukino rejected this proposal almost without much thought.
"No need. Some standing audience members came with sitting audience members. Separating them might cause trouble instead."
Moreover, this was a school festival performance, not a high-end musical. A messier scene fit the lively atmosphere of the festival better. Therefore, instead of spending great effort to make the crowd orderly, it would be better to put more energy into maintaining order on the scene.
"But... won't it be very noisy like this?"
Due to the noisy environment on the scene, even though the host had already gone on stage to announce the start of the performance, not many people heard it. People on and off stage were still chatting separately.
Is this really okay?
Yukino glanced at her sister who had already walked to the front of the stage. Her voice was flat but revealed an indescribable pride: "They will quiet down soon."
Facts proved Yukino right. When the staff moved classical instruments onto the stage one after another, the audience seemed to sense something. Deterred by the high-end atmosphere created by classical instruments, the volume below the stage gradually decreased and finally became quiet.
Following that, a group of women in gorgeous dresses came on stage, and thunderous applause erupted from the audience.
Wait until the team members found their positions, picked up their instruments, and set their postures, the band conductor Haruno made her grand entrance.
Under the dazzling spotlight, Haruno wore a narrow off-shoulder long dress, outlining her slender figure. As she moved lightly, a glimpse of her smooth and fair calf formed a sharp contrast with the dark hem of the dress.
The handmade black roses decorating her chest and hair added a mysterious aura to her. The pearls and sequins on her clothes made her the most dazzling existence on the scene under the stage lights.
Standing at the predetermined position, Haruno slightly lifted her skirt with both hands and bowed elegantly to the audience.
Then she turned around, stepped on high heels onto the conductor's podium, raised the baton in her hand, paused in the air for a moment, as if brewing something, making the audience below hold their breath involuntarily.
When the atmosphere reached its peak, Haruno moved. The baton in her hand was waved down forcefully.
Instantly, a melodious melody poured out.
A performance completely comparable to a professional team kicked off.
Haruno showed extremely profound conducting skills. The baton in her hand flew up and down, connecting various instruments like a needle and thread, jointly playing a brisk melody.
Shinra and Yukino were located in a remote corner of the gymnasium. Watching the audience below sway their bodies with the music, they knew Haruno's performance was a huge success.
"...As expected of Nee-san." Yukino looked at the dazzling figure on the stage, and extremely complex emotions surged in her.
Admiration, envy, pride... and imperceptible jealousy.
If Shinra didn't have Emotion Perception, perhaps he really wouldn't be able to detect the complex emotions of the girl beside him.
"I thought you would make a sharp comment."
Hearing Shinra's words, Yukino withdrew her gaze from the stage, turned to look at Shinra, and said seriously: "Don't look at me like this. Actually, my evaluation of her is quite high."
"Object of admiration?"
"Sort of. Once I also thought about wanting to become like her..."
Yukino looked at the stage again. Various complex emotions mixed together, outlining a magnificent and colorful picture in Shinra's eyes.
Shinra looked away. This was the bad thing about the Emotion Perception ability—it liked to use colors to present the perceived object's emotions, so much so that with slightly complex emotions, the other party looked like they had special effects on.
Paired with Yukino's clear and moving face, it was even more eye-catching than Haruno on stage.
"What about now?" Shinra asked.
Once Yukino wanted to become like her, so what did the current Yukino want to become?
Yukino didn't respond. Maybe she didn't hear it because the music on the scene mixed with applause reduced individual volume infinitely. Or maybe she heard it but didn't know how to answer.
Shinra had asked similar questions before, but never received an answer from her. Perhaps when she gets the answer, it will be the time when the golden wish-power commission opens to him.
Shinra had been waiting for that day.
As the performance came to an end, Yukino separated from Shinra. She had to go backstage to preside over the overall situation, while Shinra received an unexpected text message.
Futaba Rio: [I'm at Sobu High. Can you come pick me up?]
Seeing the sender of this text message, Shinra was stunned. The image of that petite but very well-endowed girl naturally floated into his mind.
Futaba Rio, why is she here?