103 – Culture Festival (Part 1)
<span style="font-weight:400">"Everyone ready?" Rika asked the first day shift as she stood by the door.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Yes, ss rep!" Everyone responded together.
<span style="font-weight:400">She opened the ssroom door to a long line of students waiting outside. Those of us who were in various cosys formed our own line along the ckboard and weed people as they came in.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Wee to our cafe!" I eximed excitedly among the chorus of six other girls and three boys.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Wow, their costumes look great!"
<span style="font-weight:400">"The girls in the subus costume are making me feel things…"
<span style="font-weight:400">"Tsukiji High really goes all out, huh?"
<span style="font-weight:400">As customers poured in, they reacted with a mixture of interest and surprise. It wasn''t a surprise that most of them were men. We advertised our ss'' cosy cafe with flyers that had pictures of myself and Mio after all.
<span style="font-weight:400">Our ss'' cosy cafe was apparently among the most hyped up attractions for the Culture Festival. Students had been talking about it since we brainstormed it, and word of mouth made it spread like wildfire. Taira had also done some extra PR from Isekai Gohan, so that added to the incredible number of people in line. Mio and I even saw some of our former customers.
<span style="font-weight:400">A fixed number of patrons were let into the ss at the very start to fill the seats to capacity. The ssroom was separated into two halves separated by PVC frame and ck curtains: the front half was the serving floor, and back half was designated as both the cooking and break area for us.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mio, Kana, and I were part of the first day shift. Since Culture Festival spanned two days, we separated the ss into two teams just like for Halloween. In splitting the work that way, both teams could enjoy a full day of the festival on the day they didn''t work.
<span style="font-weight:400">The teams were mostly decided on who wanted to participate in certain events that only happened on either day. Because the drama club''s y was only on the second day, Mio and I decided to work the first day so that we could watch Hana perform.
<span style="font-weight:400">Though we didn''t have much faith that anything good woulde of her as Mercutio, my ss did owe the drama club for their part in getting us costumes.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I feel like I''ve been seeing you two in your subus outfits a lottely," Kana remarked in passing.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I also feel like I haven''t had much choice in what I wear…" I replied, hanging my head.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mio walked by and smacked my ass loud enough to draw everyone''s attention. "This is us in our most natural form. unt it!"
<span style="font-weight:400">"C-Can you not do that in front of other people?" I cried, rubbing my ass.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Permission to p ass whenever I want once we''re alone is given. Hell yeah!" She pumped a fist in the air.
<span style="font-weight:400">"<i><span style="font-weight:400">That''s</i><span style="font-weight:400"> your takeaway? Don''t do it at all! Argh!"
<span style="font-weight:400">Mio had entered the cooking area, all the while cackling to herself.
<span style="font-weight:400">After seeing mine and Mio''s subus outfits during Halloween, the ss <i><span style="font-weight:400">strongly</i><span style="font-weight:400"> insisted we wear it again for at least the first hour of cosy cafe. With so many people asking— including Mio who demanded— how could I refuse them?
<span style="font-weight:400">We still had to wear a skirt around our waist, or risked the student council president''s wrath.
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, I was sure Hitomi was knee-deep in work anyway.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Saeko! Can you take this to table four?" Rika asked, handing me a te of omurice.
<span style="font-weight:400">I grabbed the te and took a long gander at the ss rep who was wearing a maid outfit from Isekai Gohan. This was one of the many that Kotori wore while soliciting people outside the store. There was nothing lewd about it. In fact, she really fit the role of a maid in ck dress and white apron.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Is-Is there something on my face?" Rika asked sheepishly.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I was just thinking… you were probably a maid in your past life," I said, eliciting from her a head tilt.
<span style="font-weight:400">"This is honestly kind of embarrassing to wear," she said, lifting the sides of her dress. "Although, I can''t imagine what you''re going through."
<span style="font-weight:400">I rolled my eyes and went to deliver the omurice in my hands.
<span style="font-weight:400">Table four was just a single guy in short hair and thick, round sses.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Sorry for making you wait. Here''s your omurice, dear customer!" I set down the te and utensils.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Uhm…" he began skittishly, "I… I, uh… used toe to Isekai Gohan a lot to order from you."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Ah. I stopped working there after summer break ended. Thank you for your patronage back then." I bowed to him, not realizing that he adjusted his sses to peek into my cleavage.
<span style="font-weight:400">As I turned to leave, he cleared his throat like he had more to say.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Is… Is it alright if I shake your hand?" he asked, swallowing hard.
<span style="font-weight:400">From what I remembered, customers at Isekai Gohan weren''t allowed to put their hands on the workers. Likewise, we were constantly reminded not to go with such requests. For obvious reasons.
<span style="font-weight:400">But I wasn''t working at Isekai Gohan anymore, and a mere handshake was all he wanted.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Sure, I don''t see why not." I stuck my hand out, and he grabbed it with both hands.
<span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, I regretted it. His hands were sweaty and shaky.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Thank you for this meal!" he eximed, letting go and taking off out of the ss.
<span style="font-weight:400">"What?!"
<span style="font-weight:400">I was left there dumbfounded.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mio came out a secondter, eyes facing the door where a customer had just left. His omurice remained untouched on the table before me.
<span style="font-weight:400">"What the hell was that all about?" I wondered aloud.
<span style="font-weight:400">"He''s probably going straight to the bathroom to jerk off after you touched his hands," Mio said.
<span style="font-weight:400">I choked on my own spit. "I didn''t need to know that…"
<span style="font-weight:400">"You asked!" She shrugged.
<span style="font-weight:400">Although, I kind of wished I followed him out and gave him a helping hand. Being in my natural form and no one knowing was making me extremely horny. I just needed tost through the day and get home. Maybe bring Kana back with me.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Excuse me!" A customer at another table raised his hand. "Can I order a handshake, too?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"NO!"
<span style="font-weight:400">It was my turn to cook, so I swapped with one of the students in the back. We had the cooking area set up with desks lining the back corner of the room in an L-shape. Upon them were small appliances like a coffee maker, several portable electric burners, and a microwave.
<span style="font-weight:400">Kana was on one of the said cooking stations whipping up a salisbury steak. Once I crossed the threshold of the curtains, the smell of his cooking made my mouthwater like a leaking faucet.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even with the windows wide open to let the smell out, the savoury scent was as powerful as it was wee to my nose.
<span style="font-weight:400">"You''re really upping the cooking game in here," I said, walking over to get a better look.
<span style="font-weight:400">"You say that, but the real gourmet chef just entered the kitchen. Hatsumi''s taught you a thing or two about cooking, hasn''t she?" Kana asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">"She did, but… I think you have the wrong idea what all those ''cooking'' lessons were all about when it came to her…" I shuddered at those sibling bonding times that might as well have been akin to ying doctor.
<span style="font-weight:400">Nowadays, we weren''t so indirect as a result of my subification.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Well, that''s something I didn''t expect to learn today." Kana cleared his throat and went to te the salisbury steak over a scoop of rice.
<span style="font-weight:400">The selfish side of me wanted a taste, but I couldn''t very well take from a customer.
<span style="font-weight:400">Kana suddenly separated a piece of steak with a fork and lifted it along with the morsel to my lips.
<span style="font-weight:400">"No use pretending you aren''t hungry. The guy who ordered it doesn''t have to know," he said, waving it in my face.
<span style="font-weight:400">I bit down on the delicious steak, savoring it as the juices spread across my taste buds. All this did was make me want more.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I''ll cook one up for you and Mio when we''re on break." Kana smiled brightly.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hmmm." I stared long and hard enough at Kana that he became uneasy under my gaze.
<span style="font-weight:400">"W-What?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"I feel like you''ve beenpletely feminized," I remarked tly, squinting at his red magical girl cosy with a tiara and ribbons fluttering as he moved. That outfit definitely belonged to Taira.
<span style="font-weight:400">The icing on the cake was that he wore an apron over it.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Do I have to remind you who turned me into this?" he asked, lowering his voice. "I''m still waiting on you to change me back! I-I''m just making the best out of a bad situation, that''s all. What''s taking so long anyway?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"Well… Uh, I''m not sure how to tell you this. Recently, I''ve started training with Selene on how to better use my magic, so that''s kind of depleted my sexual energy reservoirs…" I answered hesitantly.
<span style="font-weight:400">Kana looked like he wanted toin, but he puffed up his cheeks and clenched tighter on the te of salisbury steak.
<span style="font-weight:400">"It''s starting to feel like you prefer to keep me like this!" he groaned.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I just think you look cuter this way," I said, avoiding his gaze and suppressing a smile from forming on my lips.
<span style="font-weight:400">He gave me a ''hmph!'' and exited the cooking area to deliver the food.
<span style="font-weight:400">While he was gone, I began to whip up the other orders. Kana wasn''t wrong that I was good at cooking. In the few times that my sister <i><span style="font-weight:400">wasn''t</i><span style="font-weight:400"> up to no good with younger me, she did teach me how to cook. I also expanded upon that by giving myself lessons from video tutorials and online forums.
<span style="font-weight:400">One of life''s greatest joys was cooking for someone and seeing how happy they became when eating your food. Especially that time I cooked for Hatsumi after failing her interview. She was so happy, she would have eaten anything I made her.
<span style="font-weight:400">Two girls from my ss entered the back to take a break on the opposite side of the cooking area. They waved at me, took a seat, and immediately pulled out their phones.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Ahhh~ I wish my boyfriend would ask me to dance with him on thest day already."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Just ask him yourself if he''s taking so long," her friend said.
<span style="font-weight:400">"But it''s supposed to be the boy''s job to take the initiative, isn''t it?" She sighed.
<span style="font-weight:400">That''s right!
<span style="font-weight:400">On thest day of the festival, a dance was held in the courtyard. I avoided them in the past year because I didn''t have a girlfriend. This year was different. Should I take Kana or Mio? Could I be selfish and take both instead?
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, damn. That was something Mio would think of. Now <i><span style="font-weight:400">I </i><span style="font-weight:400">was the one thinking it.
<span style="font-weight:400">By lunch time, it was mine and Mio''s turn to take breaks. Kana had switched to the role of wait staff on the serving floor. When I peeked out of the curtains, Mio was nowhere to be seen.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Rika, have you seen Mio?" I asked as she was about to pass by me.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I think Haruka Ichikawa came by, so they went to hang out," she answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hhan did?"
<span style="font-weight:400">Oh, well. She would probably be gone for a while then. My appetite was somewhat sated after Kana whipped me something up to eat, and leaving the ss while still on shift would be rude to Rika. This was a good chance for me to catch a nap.
<span style="font-weight:400">I sat down on an empty desk and put on a sleeping mask because the room was way too bright.
<span style="font-weight:400">Some time had passed and exhaustion was finally taking hold of me. The low murmur of talking on the other side provided a pleasant ambience to fall asleep to. Just as I was about to drift off to dreand, Mio''sughter rang in my ears.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Saeko— oop." Mio quieted down immediately, and only the sound of a pan sizzling from a ssmate cooking.
<span style="font-weight:400">I expected Mio to mess with me, but she didn''t. Instead, she just took a seat on the desk adjacent to mine. I was also too sleepy to wake up, hoping to get even fifteen or ten minutes in.
<span style="font-weight:400">The student at the cooking station left, presumably to deliver the food they cooked.
<span style="font-weight:400">As I was about to fall asleep for the second time, something soft pressed against my lips. Mio pulled away, then kissed me again. And again.
<span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, I was wide awake and heart racing like a nascar.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mio eventually left the break area, too. But now I couldn''t go back to sleep after her rather explicit disy of affection.
<span style="font-weight:400">I stepped out to find Mio ending her break early to service customers again.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Morning, <i><span style="font-weight:400">sleepyhead</i><span style="font-weight:400">!" She grinned.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I-If you knew I was awake… Howe you didn''t say anything?" I dreaded to ask her, still red in the face.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Kahaha! You know you liked it. Besides, we''ve slept next to each other so many times, I know exactly how you breathe when you''re knocked out," she said.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ignoring her to regain myposure, I returned to work switching with the next set of cooks. Mio, Kana, and myself were on the wait staff for the rest of the afternoon. As I cleared the tables of a group who had just left, Rika let in a trio of familiar women.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Sahi, Mihi! We came to support you guys!" Taira shouted as she entered with Kotori and Aya in tow.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Yahoo~" Aya waved from Taira''s back.
<span style="font-weight:400">"You guys actually found time to visit!" I raced up to greet them and led them to their table.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Between Isekai Gohan and Tsukiji University''s own culture festival, it wasn''t easy. But look at the saucy subus." Taira purred, checking out my subus outfit which I still hadn''t changed out of.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Oh, er… This was, uh… foreign made…"
<span style="font-weight:400">I made small conversation with them while I took their orders.
<span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, Kotori had her eyes cast to the table and was blushing for some reason. I realized why real quick when Mio emerged from the cooking area to investigate themotion. She shed a toothy grin upon locking eyes with Kotori.
<span style="font-weight:400">When I went to give the orders to the cooks in the back, Mio nudged my arm and asked, "How about a second break?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"You want to have sex with Kotori, don''t you?" I sighed, tossing her the dirty towel in my hand. "I won''t stop you, but you better not cause too much trouble for our senpai on their day off."
<span style="font-weight:400">"If anything I''m giving them the R&R they''ve always needed!" She giggled.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Saeeeeekoooo!"
<span style="font-weight:400">A chill ran up my spine. I knew that overexcited voice.
<span style="font-weight:400">My sister burst into the ss with a camera in hand and a safari hat behind her head like she was at a safari, but the only animal whose picture she wanted to take was of me.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Ah. So nice! Very good. You two are just wonderful!" she gushed to me and Mio.
<span style="font-weight:400">The three of us were now the center of attention, with my sister taking pictures of us without end.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hatsumi, stop that! I''m working right now! Please, leave before you cause my ss any more trouble!" I eximed, pushing her towards the door.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I''m here as a guest, you know. You can''t very well turn me away, can you?" My sister smiled.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Guh… Right this way…" I led Hatsumi to her own table.
<span style="font-weight:400">"It''s been a while since Ist saw you in your subus costume," she said, then lowered her voice to a whisper. "Are you sure no one will find out?"
<span style="font-weight:400">I nodded. "We''ll be fine. Anyway, may I take your order, dear customer?"
<span style="font-weight:400">My sister sat straight up, savoring this uncharacteristic politeness from me.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I''d like to order one kiss, please!"
<span style="font-weight:400">"WE DON''T SERVE THAT HERE!"
<span style="font-weight:400">Hatsumi giggled to herself, then handed me a stic bag that had a bento box inside.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I''ll just have one coffee. I only came by to make sure you were taking care of yourself. It looks like you''re doing fine, so I''m d!" she said.
<span style="font-weight:400">I held the bento box to my face and caught the distinct smell of mixed spices used in fried chicken. My sister should still be busy with her own college stuff like Taira and the others, including looking for a job after not scoring that interview. Even now, she was still looking after me.
<span style="font-weight:400">But as I popped open the box and saw the array of sauces on the side, a powerful sense of deja vu overwhelmed me.
<span style="font-weight:400">"You did something to the sauces again, didn''t you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Oh, I have no idea what you''re talking about," Hatsumi lied with a smile on her face.