Chapter 5

…Phew. I expected this, but I’m getting a bit tired.

The sun is quite harsh on me this time of year. Not to sound like a certain vampire out there, but it’s wearing me down.

I am pleased that I’ve come to understand and sympathize with them a bit better through this.

I am going to rest in the shade, but please continue training without me.

Very well. You ought to rehydrate as well; shall I prepare some tea for you?

What was in the thermos has been drunk, so I can refill it.

There’s no need for that, Yuzuru. I’ll just buy something from the vending machine over there.

Amazing! To think that His Majesty the Emperor knows how to work a vending machine… ☆

That’s so cool, Prez! Those things are like a big box of magic to me, still~

Fufu, I simply pick up on things easily.

My poor stamina won’t allow me to keep up with you all without taking breaks every now and then, so it would be more efficient if you kept on with the lesson without me.

If you insist! Then please, witness my elegant playfulness… ☆

Look, Princess, do you understand this? The playground equipment is set upon the earth, but it creates an optical illusion to make it seem as if it’s spinning!

It is a technique often used in illusion and trompe-l’oeil—a performance of delusion!

Our senses can be fooled much more easily than one would think!

A particularly skilled magician can make rain fall upside down, or produce something out of thin air, or even breathe fire…

Or any number of things which, simply put, appear to be magic ♪

Does fine need skills like that? Isn’t magic Switch’s whole thing?

Oh? You’ve become rather familiar with the other units, haven’t you?

You used to turn your nose up at all the run-of-the-mill units out there, as if you were uninterested in them!

So long as we conduct our business within Yumenosaki Academy, we cannot turn a blind eye to the other units doing the same.

We inevitably influence each other, and at the same time we must gain necessary knowledge of each other through friendly competition.

Yeah, that… but like, why do you always steal my lines, Yuzuru?

I was merely attempting to speak on your behalf in the event you may express yourself awkwardly. And had I fumbled my own speech, it would have been my own responsibility to handle.

Huh? I don’t exactly like the idea of shoving all that responsibility onto someone else, like “ohh, it was my secretary’s fault.”

…Fufu, you have all become so friendly with each other that it’s hard to imagine what we were like before. Now we are mere children playing innocently at the park.

Anzu-chan, we are playing around according to your instruction.

I don’t quite know what your design was, though. How will this help with the original dance?

…Oh, thank you for wiping the sweat off for me.

That I’m sweating means that my metabolism is in working order, so to me it’s proof that I’m in good health.

By contrast, when I start to deteriorate, I also stop sweating.

Ahaha, this is embarrassing, Anzu-chan. If you’d just given me the towel, I would have wiped myself off. This makes me feel more like a baby.

But it’s fine. It’s good to see that you’re no longer hesitant to touch someone of the opposite sex.

At the beginning of the year you were quite reserved, embarrassed by every touch.

Continuing that would have compromised your work, though. You’ve become an integral part of Yumenosaki Academy…

Rather, I am happy to see you’ve grown into to your position as a producer.

I hope that you will continue to develop this way, to evolve and adapt to different environments, and become a pillar of support for us.

Yes, in return I’ll treat you to a drink from the vending machine.

I recall you prefer sweet drinks; Ritsu-kun was elated to learn you had the “same tastes.”

I on the other hand don’t enjoy too much sugar, as it starts to feel more like poison in large quantities.

…Hm? What are you looking at, Anzu-chan?

Oh… some children who were here playing are coming to see us. Perhaps they got curious about all the uproar we were making.

Well, Ryuseitai is often putting on their Hero Shows here at this park…

So that could be why so many of them have gathered, expecting us to do the same.

Nonetheless, they are our precious audience, so it is our duty to properly entertain them. Leave this to us, Producer-chan ♪

Fufu, the children are enraptured by everything Wataru does. Their eyes are sparkling.

Wataru also seems equally fascinated by them… They’re all so amused with the way he keeps pulling out flowers one after another.

The clothes he’s wearing for practice are very light, so I wonder where these tricks are coming from.

On the other hand, the children seem to be keeping their distance from Tori and Yuzuru; they might come off as unapproachable.

I see: I’ve figured out your plans, Anzu-chan.

Tori! Yuzuru! Follow Wataru’s example here and entertain this group of children!

Don’t just give them candy to turn their favor, either; you may only use yourselves to capture their attention. Once I’ve recovered, I’ll join you.

Sigh… If those are orders, I will follow them. But are we not disturbing these children who came to play at the park?

Whether we disturb them or not depends on your abilities. If you make them cry or yell for their guardians, that’s a game over.

It would be a huge blow to the reputation of fine.

This is a public space, not Yumenosaki Academy. We must be considerate of others here.

That said, we are still children ourselves, and we don’t need to be so restrained as to leave, either.

Let’s all play together, to our heart’s content. That is probably the experience we are all in want of.