CHAPTER 1
They’re getting a little too into it.
“One mana potion and elixir, please!”
“Coming right up!”
After the trivia show finally came to an end, Masachika and Alisa headed over to their class to help with their booth. The two of them figured that they should at least assist as much as they could today, since the school festival committee would most likely be terribly busy tomorrow when the school festival was open to the public—or at least open to those with invitations, that is.
“Hi, Masachika. Looking good, by the way.”
“Ha-ha. Thanks. This is a lot more embarrassing than I thought it would be, though.”
“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to put up with it just like the rest of us. I’ve already gotten used to it, to be honest.”
“That’s the chief for you.”
“Pfft. Call me ‘Guild Master,’” said a colossal, muscular student with a confident grin. He was a member of the judo club. He wore a flamboyant coat with large lapels, which, coupled with his fierce looks, made him look like the leader of a band of thieves…or perhaps even the master of his own adventurers guild.
The original concept was a café…but, well, I guess we could just pretend that this is a cosplay-themed café.
Masachika took a plastic bottle from a cooler while musing that there was hardly anything café-like about their booth. Working at the café today was relatively stress-free for him, since there weren’t too many customers. Plus, all the customers were fellow students. The only minor issue was the fact that he was dressed like a wizard with a robe and pointy hat, which ended up being far stuffier and more of a pain in the ass than he’d imagined.
My robe touches the ground every time I squat, so I’m basically creating a small cloud of dust every time I stand back up…and this hat? If there’s something it can get caught on or bump into, it will find a way. Like, this costume couldn’t be any worse for dealing with customers.
Masachika frowned at his robe, which would tangle itself around his legs every chance it got, while he poured a drink into a paper cup and placed it on a tray. A female classmate dressed as a knight then promptly grabbed the tray and brought the drink to a customer’s table.
The difference in quality is staggering…
The look on his face would be hard to put into words as he watched the knight walk off. Although her cape was clearly cheap and her armor and sword were made of paper and cardboard boxes, one of their classmates was clearly a perfectionist when it came to making costumes, so the armor was exceptionally high-quality. Masachika felt like a child dressed up for Halloween standing next to a professional cosplayer, and it was starting to make him feel self-conscious. It didn’t help that the judo club member seemed like he was wearing something he usually wore in his spare time.
Eh. I guess it doesn’t matter, since I work in the kitchen… Anyway, when’s Alya getting here?
They came to the classroom together because they were supposed to work the same shift, but the moment they arrived, three female classmates grabbed Alisa and disappeared with her. Fifteen minutes later, they still hadn’t returned.
Our shift started a while ago… Is everything all right? I mean, I’m not really having trouble handling everything alone, but…
When Masachika looked around the room, he noticed students—customers—were frowning after sampling their drinks.
“I’m sure there’s some ginger ale in this, but what’s that other flavor? I think I’ve tasted it before.”
“Do you think this has cocoa in it? There’s something really nostalgic about the taste…”
“Hey, is it just me, or do you guys taste a hint of pickled plum, too?”
“Wait. For real?”
They were trying to guess what was mixed into each of their drinks. While the original plan was to just serve drinks, a certain classmate came up with the idea to write the recipes on the back of the menu and make a game of guessing what was in the drinks for the customers. Although the game didn’t offer any prizes, a quick glance at the customers made it clear that they were having fun.
Of course, a game like this would keep the customers in the café longer, which could potentially harm sales by preventing new customers from entering, but that wasn’t really a concern. The reason the class went with a café was because it was simple and didn’t require a lot of staff.
Nobody’s really interested in the award for excellence or the special award, either…so this is perfect.
Student and non-student customers would vote for their favorite class, and the winning class would receive the award for excellence, while the special award would go to whichever class made the most money. However, while there were numerous classes and clubs that were seriously competing for these awards, Masachika and his class weren’t even toying with the idea.
Besides, there’s no way to get the special reward without connections. There’s always some rich parent who manages to hook their kid’s class up with the most ridiculously expensive, high-end booth that crushes its competition…
He thought about it for a few moments until the classroom door slowly began to rattle open…revealing an elf.
“Guh?” grunted Masachika. He wasn’t the only one surprised. When every student, both customers and workers, shifted their gazes in the direction of the door, their jaws dropped at the sight of a visitor from another world.
“Sorry to keep you waiting!” a girl in the back exclaimed merrily, pushing the elf into the room. After taking a good look at the exuberant girl, Masachika realized that she was one of the three girls who had whisked Alisa away earlier. The other two promptly walked into the classroom while gleefully checking everyone’s reaction as well.
“Ha-ha-ha! Look at their faces!”
“This made all that effort worth it!”
“Yeah, that was a lot of work…”
The three stood proudly, radiating a sense of achievement as Masachika timidly approached the elf whose face was twisted with bewilderment and embarrassment.
“…Alya?”
The elf, Alisa, glanced in his direction before immediately looking away. She was wrapped in a white-and-green costume dress that complemented her pointy ears poking out from under her silver locks. Even though that was about the extent of her cosplay, there was something otherworldly about her beauty, despite her not wearing makeup. Regardless, seeing Alisa dressed like this—
She doesn’t even look human.
Masachika could only see her as an elf. It didn’t help that her familiar and well-adored Western features made her look like someone straight out of a classic 2D fantasy, either. She was a nerd’s dream come true. The pointed ears and fantasy-style clothing had completely transformed Alisa into an elf. After all, there was no way a real human could be this beautiful.
“<I gathered up the courage to step forward…and found myself in another world…,>” muttered Alisa cynically in Russian. Her downcast, almost spaced-out gaze instantly drew Masachika back to reality. After softly clearing his throat, he said:
“Anyway, you look great… You look…really beautiful.”
The instant those words left his lips, the three kidnappers whistled playfully, and within seconds, every student in the classroom began crowding around Alisa. This, of course, left the whistling three girls with no choice but to stand around her like bodyguards.
“Whoa! She’s really an elf! She looks like a real elf!”
“This isn’t fair at all… How are Japanese people supposed to compete against this?”
“C-can I get a picture?! Just one!”
The three girls clicked their tongues and barked like thugs at the crowd of guys who were each trying to be the first to get Alisa’s attention.
“Get back, ya bums!”
“Hey, no free pictures! If ya want a picture, then ya gotta pay!”
“Do you punks not know the rules of cosplay?! You take one picture without our permission and you’re outta here!”
Incidentally, these three highly educated girls came from exceedingly well-off families and would usually not even think about speaking like this. That said, judging by Alisa’s appearance, it would seem that they were very passionate about cosplay as well.
Wait a second… They’re all members of the craft club, aren’t they…? Now it makes sense. There are a lot of very passionate—crazy?—people in that club.
Masachika’s eyes unfocused slightly as he thought back to various events involving the craft club in the past until Alisa suddenly covered her ears and looked at Masachika.
“S-stop staring… You’re embarrassing me.”
“…If you’re embarrassed while looking this good, then how should I feel, dressed like this?”
Alisa glanced at his pointy hat and robe, and her lips curled into a smile.
“Oh, I don’t know. You look fine to me.”
“You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you?”
“Not at all. All you need now is a staff with a star on the tip, and you’d be perfect.”
“Perfect for what? Trick-or-treating?”
Alisa placed a hand over her mouth and giggled, but that gentle smile of hers sucked the souls out of all the boys’ bodies as their jaws dropped again.
“P-Princess Alya’s…laughing…”
“She’s so…cute…!”
“Hold up. I thought the solitary princess was supposed to be more cold… She’s laughing like any ordinary girl.”
“Dude, you have no idea how rare this is!”
After a second of silence, the room had erupted with bewildered and surprised cries. Although marginally embarrassed, Alisa frowned as if she were annoyed, before rearranging her expression.
“Aw, man…,” groaned a few disappointed boys as the three guards from the craft club began to break up the crowd. While watching them from the corner of her eye, Alisa looked down at her attire and muttered:
“To be honest, I don’t really even know who this elf-person is. What kind of character are they?”
“It’s actually not a character but a race of creatures. Elves are very common in fantasy worlds. They’re typically one with nature and live in the forest. They’re known for having pointy ears, being beautiful regardless of gender, and despite living for hundreds of years, their unique bodies retain youthfulness, allowing them to look like they’re in their early twenties. Also, they’re known for being a very proud race, and they aren’t really fans of humans. They often live closed off from the world and keep to themselves.”
“…Oh.”
Masachika noticed a somewhat melancholy note in her voice, and he suddenly realized something. After glancing at the three girls behind him from the craft club, he added a rambling whisper:
“Oh, but…I don’t think they dressed you up as an elf because of your personality. Elves are everyone’s go-to race when it comes to beauty. That’s all. Besides, in many tales, elves are also vegetarian, dislike metal, and are proficient with a bow, which are all traits you obviously don’t have, and…”
“…? What?”
Alisa turned a quizzical gaze on him after his sudden pause, but he instantly averted his eyes and promptly tried to come up with an excuse for his silence.
“And…elves usually have light-blond hair…so I don’t think they put much more thought into it other than that… Yeah.”
Even he felt he was a coward for not being honest with her, but there was no way he could say, “Good old-fashioned elves are usually very slim and not curvy like you!” Obviously, that meant he couldn’t tell her there was particular slang in Japanese for elves with sexy, exaggerated hourglass figures, either.
But, well, elves are master archers, so being stacked would kind of get in the way…right?
“…You’re not thinking about anything weird, right?”
“Not at all? Why would you say that? Oh, hey. We should probably get to work before the place gets crowded again.”
Masachika tried to look natural as he promptly returned to his station, while Alisa watched him go with skepticism in her eyes. She was soon sent to the entrance to attract customers, but…
“Whoa?! An elf?!”
“Yo, yo, yo! Get over here! You’ve gotta see this!”
“Duuude!”
“E-excuse me! Do you think I could get a picture with you?!”
Not even a minute had gone by, and the hallway was already swarming with students, leaving the three girls from the craft club with no choice but to pull Alisa back into the café. The crowd eventually transformed into a line, and before long, there was complete pandemonium inside the café.
“The café suddenly got crowded, huh? What are we going to do about this, Guild Master?” asked Masachika, facing the chief, aka guild master, who looked smug.
“No clue.”
“Seriously?!”
“Uh… What do you think about offering to-go drinks?”
“That’s not going to work. We don’t have lids for the paper cups. Plus, it’s obvious everyone’s only here to stare at Alya.”
“Oh, lids… Right… Wouldn’t want them spilling their drinks… Uh… How about we add a few more seats? Maybe we should impose a time limit per seat as well?”
“Good idea, Masachika! Get on it!” replied the guild master, without missing a beat.
“Hey?!”
The guild master’s eyes were kind and gentle as he placed a hand on Masachika’s shoulder.
“Masachika, I hereby promote you to vice guild master.”
“I’m guessing you used to be an adventurer who worked his way up to become the guild master. Am I right? You’re confident in your skills on the battlefield, but you hate doing mundane tasks.”
“I’m counting on you, Vice Guild Master!”
“““We’re counting on you, Vice Guild Master!!”””
“You guys, too?!”
Masachika glared at his classmates, who were more than happy to pile on him after the guild master tossed him the hot potato, but every single one of them immediately looked away, pretending not to notice his predicament. Even Alisa averted her gaze, with a somewhat awkward expression.
Wow… Even the future president of the student council… Then again, I guess this is actually something I’m good at.
After reconsidering his situation, Masachika accepted it and took over to fix their current issue.
“All right, let’s have a ten-minute limit per seat for the time being… We can make a sign with the time limit written on it and have someone hold it in front of the line. Hey, you three demons who started this whole mess! Don’t you dare think you can sneak off now. Take some responsibility for what you did and help us.”
He stopped the craft club members just as they began to rush out the door with expressions basically saying, “What? This isn’t our problem. Our shift isn’t until later.” He had one of them handle the line, tasked another with keeping time, and put the third in charge of guarding Alisa.
“What? You want me to time them? Don’t you have stopwatches somewhere for that? Couldn’t you use the timer app on your phone? We could have one phone per six seats—”
“Just start logging everyone’s time when they first sit.”
“You want me to do this with a pen and paper?! Analog style?!”
Although there was some pushback, the class managed to restructure their system before there were any customer complaints. Then again, everyone lined up in the hallway had a clear view of Alisa through the classroom window, so there was probably not a soul who would have complained, regardless.
“Yo, Kuze. Pretty crazy crowd you’ve got here.”
“Yeah, thanks. Having a basketball club meeting here or something?”
“We’re taking a break, so we stopped by.”
Masachika tipped his hat at the older schoolmates as a few other members of the basketball club got seated and greeted him amicably as well.
“We watched the trivia match.”
“What a show that turned out to be! That comeback came out of nowhere! I legit screamed.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“You were so cool, Alisa.”
“Huh?! Th-thanks.”
Alisa’s eyes widened at the sudden compliment, but the basketball club paid no heed to the awkwardness in her bow while they passionately discussed the trivia showdown.
“That was incredible. I was honestly trying to play along, too, but I couldn’t guess the answers right.”
“Yeah, you were sooo confident when you first challenged us, and then you ended up doing the worst, but I’m happy because that’s why you’re paying for all of our drinks,” one of the athletes said, ribbing their friend.
“Also proves how amazing Alisa is. She got all those answers right and onstage in front of everyone.”
“Yeah, let’s give another round of applause to the winner! Congratulations!”
Once one of them began to clap, the others at the table immediately followed suit. Like a ripple in the water, the other students surrounding them also began to clap and praise Alisa until the entire room was booming with cheers.
“Oh, uh…”
Showered with the friendly gazes of her schoolmates from every direction, Alisa shrank for a few moments before eventually bowing. She bowed a few more times, as though she didn’t know how else to react. This girl was very different from the confident, strong woman she’d been onstage, and yet it was this innocence of hers that warmed the hearts of those around her.
“…Is it just me, or is there something different about her?”
“Right? I don’t really know her, but, like, she seems to be a lot easier to approach than I thought she’d be.”
“…Alya’s always been this way. Everyone is just afraid to talk to her because of her looks,” Masachika said.
“Wait. For real?”
“Yeah. She’s not really the best communicator and has trouble talking to new people, but she’ll talk if you reach out to her,” claimed Masachika casually, resulting in the basketball club members’ surprise.
“Seriously? I figured you were the exception, since you always seem to know the right things to say, Mr. Smooth.”
“Who the hell is Mr. Smooth?”
“You, man.”
“Yeah, you can make friends with anyone,” one of the older classmates added.
“Seriously, look at you now. You’re being extremely friendly with us like we’re your classmates, even though we’re older than you. Absolutely no respect.”
“Who me? Nah, I respect you guys… Ouch. Ow.”
The instant Masachika put on his innocent face, his older schoolmates quietly began to poke him until he escaped to the kitchen (which was what they called the area where they were keeping the drinks). A few minutes went by, then all of a sudden, he heard people buzzing in the hallway again. Although he continued to prepare drinks for the customers, his focus remained on the commotion until eventually, the source of the excitement appeared at the door.
“Oh, my… Are you all sure? I feel extremely guilty…”
“Please be our guest! If anything, we would love to keep watching from here!”
Someone was being pushed to the front of the line. It was Yuki, robed in a short yukata with frilly lapels and sleeves, and her black hair clipped into a ponytail on one side with a large hair ornament. She looked almost calculatingly cute in her outfit—like a handcrafted doll next to a high-quality figure (Alisa). Tension immediately rippled throughout the classroom, for no one was expecting the two to be reunited so shortly after their passionate battle onstage. As countless eyes watched in anticipation, it was Yuki who was the first to speak.
“Oh, my. Alya, you look beautiful. Like a fairy.”
“Thanks… You look really nice in your outfit as well.”
“Really? Thank you so much.”
“Is that outfit for your class attraction? I remember hearing it was festival-themed?”
“Yes, I decided to keep it on for the rest of the day, since changing would take far too long. Furthermore, I figured I could use this as an advertisement for my class’s attraction as well.”
There didn’t seem to be any friction between them. If anything, their conversation seemed cordial, but the surrounding students still watched with bated breath. Were they aware that they were being watched? Most likely. In fact, Yuki seemed to be talking to Alisa with a purposeful smile, as if she were performing for an audience.
“By the way, can I compliment you on your performance during the trivia show? I still cannot believe you pulled off that comeback at the end. I know I lost, but it was extremely exciting. It was like something out of a movie.”
“Huh? O-oh… Really?” said Alisa hesitantly, not really knowing how a winner should behave toward the person she defeated. Nevertheless, Yuki softly giggled, as if she could see right through her rival.
“Oh, please stop that. Seeing you so uncomfortable is making me uncomfortable. We gave it our best, and you won, so you should be proud of yourself.”
“Y-yeah…”
Alisa wasn’t the kind of person who could boast in front of the person she defeated, though, so she just nodded ambivalently. However, Yuki just continued to smile, unbothered by the reaction. Anyone who perhaps didn’t see their match would have had a hard time telling who’d won and who’d lost…and that was exactly what Yuki was going for. One universal truth, which could be applied to all competitions, was that people respected a loser who would gracefully admit defeat and praise the winner. Yuki may not have won the trivia match, but she’d won herself some new fans. On the contrary, people hated sore losers who insulted the winner, let alone even shook their hand, and Yuki knew this, which was probably why she wasted no time coming to see Alisa.
She’s flaunting confidence and showing she’s a big deal, despite losing… Alya’s going to have a hard time up against her one-on-one like this.
However, butting in to back Alisa up would end up hurting her reputation, so Masachika decided that he would have to put a stop to the entire conversation by talking to neither Alisa nor to Yuki but to the girl in charge of keeping time.
“I think table three’s ten minutes are up.”
“Huh? Oh, y-you’re right. Excuse me. I hate to bother you all, but your ten minutes are up.”
Although the students at the table weren’t thrilled about having to leave when things were getting good, they still reluctantly got up and left. Without a moment’s delay, the female knight swiftly cleaned the desk and offered Yuki a seat.
“Thank you very much. Do you think it would be okay…if Alya were my server?”
“I—”
“Of course it would be okay! In fact, you two should sit together!”
“Huh?”
Alisa’s own bodyguard had cut her off while quickly pulling out a seat next to Yuki and then practically forced Alisa to sit in it. It was as if she had changed her job class from bodyguard to tavern master as she tried to sit a new waitress down with a wealthy patron.
“Ah… It’s like staring at a work of art.”
The three girls from the craft club gazed at Yuki and Alisa, in a trance, but they weren’t the only ones who had been enchanted. The eyes of every student in the classroom and in the hallway were drawn to the pair’s unequaled beauty.
“But I have work to—!”
“I’ll take care of it! Anyway, Yuki, what would you like to drink?”
The guard cut Alisa off before handing Yuki a menu, but after taking a quick glance, Yuki cheerfully smiled and asked:
“Do you think I could have a glass of milk?”
Immediately, a chill ran down the spine of every student in Class B, with the exception of Masachika and Alisa. The guild master slowly approached Yuki, placed his hands on the table, and said with a menacing growl:
“Young lady… This is a tavern. If ya want milk, then go home to your mommy to get some.”
“This isn’t really a tavern, though…?” Masachika interjected softly, unable to keep up with this strange turn of events. Yuki, on the other hand, stared hard into the guild master’s eyes, still smiling. Seeing her face-to-face with the large, muscular guild master made her small stature that much more apparent, but even then, she didn’t cower.
“My mother passed away on a beautifully moonlit night.”
“No, she didn’t…,” murmured Masachika yet again as the guild master simultaneously let out a snort and grinned. He then walked to the back of the room, took what appeared to be a wooden box from a locker, and placed it in front of Yuki before installing himself in a seat as well. His movements were dramatic to build suspense, until he eventually opened the box, revealing a remarkable and elaborately decorated glass bottle.
“Looks like we’ve got ourselves the cutest little customer today… All right, here it is. It’s all yours.”
“Hold up.”
Masachika unconsciously grabbed the guild master’s shoulder over the coat’s obnoxiously large collar, for he knew nothing of this mysterious bottle, let alone anything about this entire scenario.
“Seriously? What is this? What’s going on?”
“Come on now, Masachika. Everyone knows taverns in fantasy worlds have backdoor businesses as well.”
“Again, this isn’t a tavern.” Since the surrounding students were shaking their heads in disbelief and disgust as well, Masachika quickly set his eyes on Alisa to make sure that at the very least they were on the same page. “This is just like when I stopped by and helped with the taste test. Why do you guys keep leaving only Alya and me in the dark? Don’t tell me you’re handling dangerous goods that you don’t want the student council to know about.”
“Of course not. Everything here is legal.”
“Only people selling stuff that isn’t illegal yet say that! And I noticed you didn’t even deny that this thing here is dangerous!”
“It’s nothing dangerous.”
“Then what’s in the bottle?”
“Your mom.”
“Seriously?”
Once he realized talking to the guild master was a dead end, Masachika shifted his gaze back over to Yuki.
“Anyway, how did you know the password when I didn’t even know we had a password?”
“I heard rumors that you could get a mysterious drink if you said that password.”
“…Uh-huh.”
There was no telling where someone with a wide circle of friends like Yuki had heard that rumor, but that wasn’t important. What Masachika really wanted to know was if it was safe to drink. After all, he learned firsthand during the taste-testing phase just how terrifying one of these concoctions could be.
“Hey, Guild Master. That drink isn’t going to cause any weird side effects, right?”
“Beats me, kid. Drink at your own risk. My job is selling what the people want,” replied the shady guild master while staying completely in character, so Masachika dug his fingers even deeper into his schoolmate’s shoulder and repeated:
“There is nothing in this drink that can harm her, right?”
“Oh, uh… Right. It’s perfectly safe.”
The guild master ended up giving in under the pressure of an overprotective brother, but only after staring into his eyes for a few moments did Masachika finally let go of his shoulder. Once that was settled, the guild master grabbed the bottle from the wooden box, poured some of it into a shot glass, placed the glass in front of Yuki, then cleared his throat a few times to get back into character.
“Enjoy our tavern’s most secret of drinks: amrita.”
It would be nearly impossible to tell the drink apart from water, at a glance, and it had absolutely no traits that could serve as even the smallest clue as to what they’d mixed together to create it. And it wasn’t just Masachika, either. Even Alisa seemed bewildered as Yuki grabbed the shot glass.
“Here goes nothing,” announced Yuki, throwing back the drink in one gulp, then opening her eyes wide in astonishment. But after a few moments went by…
“This is…! A fragrance reminiscent of an autumn sky… The richness of the fruits of the earth condensed into one… If I were to describe this in one word, I would say it tastes like…,” muttered Yuki while carefully examining the empty shot glass in her hand.
“Nothing.”
“‘Nothing’?”
“Nothing.”
It apparently didn’t taste or smell like anything.
“I will still be on break for a while, so I was wondering when you were going to be free, Alya. Perhaps we could enjoy the festival together?”
“Oh, I—”
But before Alisa could even finish replying to Yuki, the same girls from the craft club interrupted her again.
“You two are going to check out the other booths?! Alisa, do you think you could continue wearing the costume to advertise our tavern a little longer?”
“Honestly, the hallway is completely packed, so you might as well take your break early. Besides, having Yuki with you would be twice as effective in getting people interested in our tavern. Oh, hey. Why don’t you take Masachika with you, too?”
“You’re fine with that. Right, Guild Master?”
“Huh? No, I—” The guild master tried to protest.
“““Tsk!!”””
“Y-yeah, of course, I’m fine with that!”
Although their crude expressions were unseemly for three proper young ladies, they managed to essentially force the guild master to agree, allowing them to shift their focus to Masachika.
“You hear that, Masachika? The guild master said you can take your break with them, so let’s get you another costume to match.”
“Wait. There are more costumes?”
“Yep. You can be a noble or an orc. Which would you prefer?”
“Having either of those around an elf would be dangerous!”
“Well, you don’t have to decide right now. We can think about it on the way.”
Masachika was quickly taken away before he even realized what was happening, leaving Alisa and Yuki behind. Although the passionate gazes still made Alisa marginally uncomfortable, she managed to ask:
“Well, it looks like we’re going to check out the other booths. Is there anywhere in particular that you want to go?”
“Hmm… I would enjoy seeing my friends’ booths. What about you, Alya?”
“I’m fine with anything…”
“Really? Oh! Now that I think about it, I believe that Masha and Chisaki’s class is doing a magician run bar.”
“Yeah…,” said Alisa. “I don’t know about Chisaki, but I doubt Masha’s going to be able to pull off any magic tricks.”
“Giggle. It is hard to imagine her confidently cutting cards, isn’t it?”
“She’s too laid-back and dense for any of that,” replied Alisa ruthlessly—only because Maria was her sister.
“Perhaps calling her ‘easygoing’ would be a better way to put it. Wouldn’t you agree?” suggested Yuki in a slightly troubled manner, but Alisa merely shrugged. However, after another brief pause, the silver-haired elf’s eyes widened as if she had suddenly remembered something.
“What about you, Yuki?” she timidly asked with a soft voice after checking her surroundings.
“Hmm?”
“Before, you said you had an older brother, right? What kind of person is he?” The moment those words passed Alisa’s lips, her eyes widened again, for she had recalled being told that Yuki’s brother had left home and was living somewhere else. Therefore, while she wasn’t familiar with their situation, she felt she might have accidentally overstepped. “Oh, uh… If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, too…,” she added in a fluster, but her worries were met with a smile, as if to let the other girl know it was okay.
“Giggle. You do not have to worry about upsetting me. My brother and I still have a wonderful relationship.”
“O-oh.”
“Now, you wanted to know what kind of person he is, yes? Hmm…”
Yuki tilted her head, and her eyes wandered until she suddenly placed a hand over her mouth and chuckled. She then looked at Alisa from the corner of her eye and replied:
“He is extremely cute, for starters.”
“He’s c-cute?”
“Yes, very. I think you would really like him, too.”
“Oh…”
The comment caught Alisa completely off guard, since she was expecting Yuki to say something like “He’s nice,” or “You can really depend on him,” so she basically had to force herself to smile back.
He’s cute…? He’s a guy, but he’s cute…
Alisa imagined a few of the music idols who were so-called “pretty boys” and always seemed excessively casual and flirty. In other words, they were the exact opposite of what Alisa was looking for in a person, since she strongly preferred independent, mature individuals.
Then again…being called “cute” by your little sister…
She immediately visualized a youthful boy with chihuahua-like qualities, delicate and of small stature like his sister. The trembling, hopeless boy wouldn’t even be able to survive without Yuki, who took care of his every need. The scenario alone made Alisa grimace. At any rate, whether he was some cute yet cunning tease or a pathetic puppylike boy, it didn’t change the fact that he was the complete opposite of what Alisa looked for in a person.
I feel bad, but I don’t think I’d be able to get along with him. I’m sorry, Yuki.
Regardless, Alisa was sure there was probably no chance that she would ever meet him, so she was unconcerned and ambiguously smiled back at Yuki.
“Anyway, I think it’s wonderful that you two really get along.”
“Yes, I actually really hope I can introduce him to you one day.”
“Yeah… I’m looking forward to it,” replied Alisa, out of politeness, but when Yuki meaningfully smiled back at her, she suddenly felt as if Yuki could see right through her act, so she quickly looked away.
Anyway, does Yuki like “cute” boys or something? …Why? It makes absolutely no sense to me.
Alisa kept to her thoughts while pretending she didn’t notice Yuki’s mirthful smile, when…
“Sorry to keep you guys waiting,” apologized a feminine voice with impeccable timing, filling Alisa with relief, as though the voice were here to save her. But the first thing she saw when she looked back were red trunk-hose—like the three-quarter pumpkin pants you would see a prince wear in picture books.
“Pfft!”
“…!”
“See? I told you they’d react this way.”
Masachika already looked fed up after seeing Yuki’s shock and watching Alisa cover her mouth and look away. But the pout on his face and the attire only made Alisa and Yuki work even harder to control their laughter.
“Ha-ha…! You—pfft! I apologize! You look—ha-ha-ha! You look wonderful!”
“You wouldn’t be laughing at me if you actually felt that way. You really should work on your acting.”
“I’m serious—pfft! You look…great… Right, Alya?”
“Y-yeah.”
Alisa glanced at Masachika once more, but the fact that he now looked even more like a child whose mom had dressed him up for Halloween was unbearable, so she quickly averted her gaze again.
“…!!”
“Seriously?! Stop that! You’re going to actually start hurting my feelings if you keep doing that! Hey?! Did you just take my picture?!”
Masachika, red in the face, glared at all those around him, but the costume just made him look like a little prince throwing a tantrum, eliciting even more laughter.
“<You’re so cute ♡,>” muttered Alisa with a mischievous grin.
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