Regarding the school festival Yueyue Shenlian mentioned earlier, preparations were underway in earnest. Every class had to participate, and the maid café idea was the most popular. Well, it’s understandable—those boys are just at that restless, hormonal age.

As for our class’s plans, the student council sent a representative to discuss it. It was the vice president herself: Kaishi Orihata, a stunning second-year with long, straight black hair. At first glance, she radiated elegance. And truly, Kaishi ranked among the top students academically—though she was slightly lacking in sports.

Kaishi walked straight toward me. “You must be Cold Creek,” she said with a gentle smile, extending her hand. “Oh, Senior Kaishi, nice to meet you.” Her friendly gesture felt oddly unexpected, but I stood and shook her hand. I could almost feel murderous glares from the surrounding crowd. Kaishi was wildly popular at school, with many admirers—including plenty of handsome guys. Though my own reputation had grown lately, a girl like her had zero reason to cozy up to me.

“Cold Creek, you’ve been making quite the impression lately,” Kaishi said calmly. “I’d love for you to represent your class at the festival.” I hadn’t planned on it—and honestly, I had no clue how. “Sorry, but—” Rika Dojima suddenly lunged forward and clamped a hand over my mouth. “He’ll absolutely attend! Don’t worry, Senior Kaishi!” Kaishi smiled politely and left our classroom.

“What was that for?” I pulled Rika’s hand away, scolding her lightly. She stuck out her tongue. “If you perform at the festival, our class will be super popular!” As class rep, she clearly took pride in this. Fine, I’ll take back my earlier thought—“Hey, why are you bleeding from the nose?” I was certain she was fantasizing about something inappropriate.

“If Cold Creek performs, all the girls will adore him,” Nanami Hayashi added dreamily. I sighed. “Why not just open a maid café like everyone else? What do you need me for?” Rika shook her head vigorously. “Every class will think of that—it’s too competitive. And if Nanami doesn’t join, we’ll fall behind.” Nanami blushed, lowering her head. “If Cold Creek likes it… I’ll do it.” Her voice faded to a whisper.

“Fine, settled,” I said, sitting back down. Rika leaned close, her face inches from mine, wearing that unsettling yandere grin. “Nope. You *have* to join. And if we do a maid café? You’ll wear the outfit too!” At that, her nosebleed started again. Seriously, are any girls around me normal?

“Alright, I’ll join—but no maid dress.” Even as I gave in, Rika looked deeply disappointed. “What about cat ears? Or a bunny suit?” “Get lost!”

Rika then called a class meeting to decide our theme. After much debate, they finally settled on something.

“The stall’s ready,” Rika announced. “We just need a performance act.” She and the other girls exchanged mischievous grins, their eyes gleaming as they stared at me.

“Senior~” Rika skipped over, clearly up to no good. “I, uh, need the bathroom,” I tried, attempting a quick escape. But she pinned me to my seat. How was she so strong? Fine, I surrendered. “What do you want?” She whispered in my ear, “We want you to perform that coin trick again. And if you refuse? I’ll send photos of us sleeping together to the news club.” What?! Where did she even get those? Wait—I did crash at her place once… Did she take pictures? Are you a creep?

I feigned indifference. “Go ahead. It’s not me who’d look bad.” Ugh, I sounded like a total jerk. Rika’s face crumpled in heartbreak. “How could you, Senior?” I braced for her to run off crying—but she actually pulled out her phone. I snatched it. “You’d really send them? I’m deleting this! People could get the wrong idea!”

She shrugged carelessly. “Delete away. It’s my desktop wallpaper anyway.” Defeated, I handed back the phone. “Fine. You win. Just tell me when.” Rika strutted off, smug.

“How’d it go? Spill!” her friends whispered loudly enough for me to hear. Rika beamed. “Of course he agreed! He adores me—he’d never say no to my requests.” “Really?!” they gasped, cheeks flushed. Rika preened. “Absolutely!” I decided to pretend I hadn’t heard any of that.

The festival preparations rolled on smoothly. Classes bustled with their projects. Such lively school events were rare back in mainland China—at least, where I’d been before. We’d only ever had sports days. Honestly, I was starting to look forward to this.

Most stalls were nearly ready for opening day. My steps paused before a flashy, makeshift hut plastered with anime girl decals. Must be the maid café. I wanted to peek inside but couldn’t bring myself to cross the threshold—I didn’t want anyone thinking I was into that stuff.

Just then, a girl in a maid outfit stepped out. “Oh! Cold Creek?” It was Haruse Takanashi. “Haruse? I didn’t expect you’d join this.” She approached, slightly flustered. “They dragged me into it.” The perfect anime line popped into my head: “It suits you. Honestly, that outfit looks great on you.” Haruse beamed. “Thanks! Come in—I’ve got friends who want to meet you.”

Before I could protest, she pulled me inside. Since it wasn’t open yet, only a few girls in maid outfits were there—no customers. Perfect. Now it was even more awkward.

“Haruse! Where’d you run off to?” A girl with a notebook snapped. Haruse presented me proudly. “Everyone, this is Cold Creek—he saved me that time outside!” All eyes turned to me. “Wow, he’s even cuter in person than in photos!”

I’d never been surrounded by so many girls. Mortifying. “Uh, hi. I’m Cold Creek,” I said with a stiff smile. Haruse introduced them: “This twin-tailed, flat-chested loli is Hatsuyuki Rokomi. This sweet-looking but secretly scheming girl is Aiai Takahashi. And this airhead who can’t resist cute things is Moe Satsuki.” Quite the colorful intros.

They swarmed me, bombarding me with questions about hobbies and my “coin trick.” Their enthusiasm was overwhelming. Then a familiar, carefree voice cut in: “Well, well, little bro—setting up your harem right here?” Only one person sounded like that: White Stone. “Senior, don’t joke.” But the girls finally backed off. “Do you know Cold Creek?” one asked.

White Stone smirked. “Of course. This guy once offered to die for me.” Their jaws dropped. “Cold Creek, is that true?” Her words were dangerously misleading. “Senior, please don’t say things that sound like that!” She covered her mouth, giggling. “You’re still so cute, little bro.”

“Hmph! Senior, you ditched us just to sneak here?” Rika Dojima stormed in, dragging Nanami Hayashi behind her. Nanami gave a quiet wave. “Haruse, everyone…” The tension was thick. “Seriously, can you stop making this worse?!” I was too tired to even sigh. Do you all have trackers on me? Is personal space that hard?

“Oh, Cold Creek! I never took you for this type—but hey, I get it. I’m a man too.” Dojima’s chuckle echoed from the doorway. Great. Now everyone I knew was here. And don’t tell me this was all coincidence.