Chapter 1

Phew… We’re finally at the end.

Now we’ve just got the final performance left and Setsubun Festival is over.

……

You don’t look too happy there, Vice President. Umm, is something bothering you?

Setsubun Festival was really chaotic… It was supposed to be my responsibility as the one in charge of the event—But I’ll do better next time, so can you cut me some slack?

Yeah, just put in more effort next time. It’s not like we could do anything about it this time, anyway; when Sakuma-san gets serious, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop him.

I’m also partially responsible for not telling you crucial details.

So don’t be too hard on yourself, Isara. Anzu, too—I appreciate everyone’s efforts today.

And really, Setsubun Festival did more or less go as it was originally planned.

We got enough material for the in-school TV program, so I’d consider it a success.

Oh, I should probably add… There was something going on behind the proposal you two… or rather, Anzu put together.

Setsubun Festival stuck to the script from beginning to end.

Like a behind-the-scenes job? That’s way too fishy…

Actually, why didn’t you say anything about it to Anzu and me? Thanks to that, we’ve been running around all day long.

Sorry, but I did drop a few hints here and there… It’s your own carelessness to blame that you couldn’t pick up on the plan or uncover our true intentions.

You never know what’ll happen during a Dream Fes, so you should always read into things and be prepared for every possibility.

I hope you learned that lesson this time, Isara. Has it been driven home just how inexperienced and short-sighted you are?

I’ve had these kinds of bitter experiences over and over again, too.

I’ve been through countless hardships and grown up considerably, and it’s because of that that I can now so arrogantly stand up here on my soapbox.

Like I said: Failure is the mother of success.

And necessity its father, right? Yeah yeah, I’ll keep it in mind.

I’m sure the day will come when I realize this was something I had to go through.

Fufu. You can handle a lot, so you’re usually able to solve problems before they get too serious.

Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you, but sometimes you have to push yourself to your absolute limits to train your muscles.

Otherwise, you won’t ever grow. So I tried being a little mean this time.

Like making up some excuse about eating some beans you didn’t like and getting sick, all so you could hole up in the nurse’s office?

So basically all of that was so you wouldn’t get too involved and end up going easy on me?

No, I genuinely don’t like beans. I had some incidents in the past…

Just like you now, I was made to dance in the palm of a vampire’s hand. It was humiliating enough to last a lifetime. Oh, how incorrigible.

I heard Sakuma-senpai was the one who set up everything for Setsubun Festival.

But seriously, what was that guy even trying to do? I guess it was something like, he wanted everyone to know what the twins are going through?

This is Sakuma-senpai we’re talking about, though; I’m sure he could have just solved their problems on his own, though. Right?

That kind of thing is off-limits for him.

He might be known as one of the Five Oddballs, and people might think he’s some all-powerful being, but he’s not a hero who can swoop in and save all of mankind.

It would be cruel to demand a single person to play that role… That’s what I believe.

No—if I’d understood that from the start, everything would have been different.

…Anyway, I’m not going to interfere after this. From here on out, this is your job.

The twins have some deeply serious issues, but you can work together to resolve them.

They are also students of Yumenosaki, as well as idols. It’s the duty of the student council to protect them, support them, and work with them.

And of course, all of that is the duty of a producer, as well.

Don’t let those young geniuses be brought down so easily. …But if you’re having any rough patches, you can talk to me, and I’ll help as much as I can.

Sigh… Wait, where are you going? Don’t you want to see the closing act of Setsubun Festival?

I am curious, but I’ll just watch the school broadcast of it later.

I’m still not at a hundred percent, so I’m going back to the nurse’s to rest… Ugh, this really is such a horrible event.

…? Mm—Something smells good! Mmm, soybeans~ Is that why the Vice President turned tail and ran?

HaHa~ ♪ Sally-san, Anzu! Here, have some yummy snacks!

Wawah—? Don’t jump on me so suddenly~ Are you giving out snacks?

To be more precise, it’s “you two,” not just “you.” I’m helping too.

Fufufu. You probably already know… but we collected the beans that were scattered around school and cleaned them thoroughly so they could be made into treats.

It’s the same as that whole, “The staff enjoyed these later on” thing ♪¹

The only ones who could participate in the bean scattering were the idols and the staff, so as to avoid any accidents…

But since this performance is open to the general public, we’re giving the food away for free.

It would be such a waste to simply toss it, and surely luck will come your way if you eat the beans.

And while they may have been on the ground at one point, we washed them all properly, so there should be no hygiene concerns.

But as you can expect, it’s not the best idea to put a price tag on them, so we’re just giving it away. And of course, we explain that they were used during the bean scattering.

But honestly. We’re so short on staff, they even called me in to make the snacks.

Cooking is a science, though, so I can’t say I’m not good at it.

Right, then good luck out there.

The idols will be making chocolate for the upcoming Chocolat Fes too, so I guess this is good practice for that?