Chapter 66

"La la la, laaaaaa♪"

I wanted to meet with the festival committee chairman, but when I heard he was in the auditorium where the drama club was performing, I went there and found that the idiot in charge, Pikaru, was dancing with a cat on stage.

...Well, to be more precise, he was holding a black cat in his arms, gently gripping its front paws with his left hand, and doing a twirling step.

"Ah, Rins-kun, what are you doing? If you don't come soon, I can't hold back this feeling. This urge to dance with you! La la la, laaaaaa♪"

He's as stupid as ever. Not even trying to hide it. Impressive.

"Pikaru-sama, if you need a practice partner, I can do it."

A female drama club member, unable to bear the sight, offered.

"Thank you, little kitten. But right now, I want to dance a bit more with this little lady. I want to feel her body heat and breathing. It surely stimulates my inspiration. Can you see? The angels are about to descend upon me!"

The cat was female.

He spun around, extending his legs backward and leaning away, striking a picture pose.

No, Pikaru, that pose is too hard for a cat. Look, it's struggling and escaping from your hands.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Cats are fast, aren't they?

"Ah... What a pity. You running away from the last dance is just like Cinderella. I'll catch you for sure."

Don't reach out. Think about the cat's feelings.

"Recently, I've been seeing that black cat everywhere."

"Hey, Shin-kun, my eternal rival and fated friend, have you come to watch my magnificent performance?"

"Stop making assumptions. You joined the drama club, right? How's it going?"

"Everything is going smoothly. But my goal is perfection. The higher ground is endless."

"That's worrying."

I hope his passion doesn't lead to a wild rampage.

"Is it really okay to have this guy as the lead?"

"Of course," the club president said with a wry smile.

"(He's a patron,)" he whispered. Ah, so the full support of the Valjean family, Pikaru's family, is behind him.

By the way, the construction of the stage set is being done by several men who don't look like students. Don't use adults. I want the club to stay within the bounds of student activities.

"Pikaru-kun, what role are you playing?"

"Of course, the prince!" Pikaru answered from the stage.

What kind of prince is he? I hope he doesn't spread misunderstandings.

"Alright, just don't get arrested for disrespect."

"I'll be careful."

I became even more worried when the president said that.

"Last year's festival, we didn't get to settle our match. It was a shame, Shin-kun."

"What match?"

"Have you forgotten? Mr. School. A contest to see who is the true prince of the school. This year, I will win that glory. I won't lose."

"What does 'true prince' even mean..."

Saying that in front of a real prince.

Mr. School, you were the drama club president last year, right? I'll give you that title.

Until now, I had been subtly asking about the heroine's situation as a potential target, but it's not necessary with this guy.

Whenever there's trouble involving the heroine, he always comes to me first...

Since the committee chairman was there, I talked with the president.

"How long will the performance be?"

"Well, we haven't done a full rehearsal yet, so it's unclear. But it will take at least an hour and a half."

"Can Pikaru memorize such a long script...? Please let me know as soon as possible. It's related to the program creation."

"I'll take care of it. By the end of the week."

"I'm counting on you."

We left the auditorium.

Hmm! The sunlight outside is so bright!

I glanced to the side and saw Hartis-kun.

He was crouched down, talking to a black cat. The rolled-up poster he was holding in his armpit was probably from the literature club.

As I was about to approach and say hello...

"Hehe, your black fur is so shiny, just like his..." he was petting the cat!

"My unrequited love. A love that will never be returned. I can't be a prince... It's a shame."

This is bad. I shouldn't listen to this!

"But it's okay. As long as I can be by his side, that's enough. His voice, his lustrous black hair, his smile... Even if I can't have them, as long as I can be close to him..."

Why does everyone become a poet in front of this cat?

I carefully backed away without Hartis-kun noticing and left the scene.

Hartis-kun, hugging the cat.

"Oh, Cere..."

I ran away from the scene as fast as I could.

Sorry, Hartis-kun! I'm really sorry!

To clear my head after dealing with such intense guys, I decided to visit the literature club to see how they were doing.

"A, Shin-kunnnn!" I was stopped.

This sweet voice. It's her, the pink-haired girl. Stop stopping me in the hallway. People will think I'm part of the idiot alliance.

She put her hands behind her back, looked up with her eyes, and slowly, slowly approached, then suddenly put her hands forward. Her gestures and poses are so flirtatious.

"It's a ticket to the drama club's performance! I've been looking for you to give it to you! Please come and see it!" she said with a tilted head and a beaming smile.

"Oh, Rinpa, you're in the drama club?"

"It's Rins! R-I-N-S! Rins Blauver! Is Shin-kun maybe a bit slow?"

The heroine, boldly calling the prince an idiot in the school hallway. She's got some nerve.

"Is that so? Sorry, sorry. ...Wait a minute. You have a ticket, so the drama club is charging for the performance? If it's paid, I can't accept it."

"It's free, but since the audience is always huge, it's a priority ticket. Please come and see it!"

"The auditorium can hold all the students, right?"

"Many guests from outside the school will come too!"

Oh, that's impressive.

"Wait a minute, why is it just one ticket?"

"Well, I want Shin-kun to see it!"

"Usually, these are given in pairs, right?"

"I really want Shin-kun to see it alone..."

"That's not possible. I can't leave my wife, Cere, alone during that time. We're both looking forward to the festival and want to go together. If you can give us a pair of tickets, we might be able to go. How about it?"

"...It's your fiancée, right. I can't help it."

She gave me the ticket with a resigned face. Can you see the intense battle in this casual exchange?

"Please, you must come and see it!"

Well, since she went to so much trouble. Besides, both Cere and I love the stage, so we'll go. I hope it's entertaining.

I went to the library, which is the literature club's room and exhibition space.

"What are you doing this year?"

"We'll be displaying the original paper plays we've created."

"Will you perform them?"

"Just for display. We'll also put up the stories and lines."

The literature club is so low-key. Well, that's what a literature club is like, I guess.

Among everyone's fairy tales and folk stories, Cere's "Peach Boy" stands out. Two hundred monsters guard the Monster Island, and Peach Boy, along with a dog, a pheasant, and a monkey, land secretly from the sea and infiltrate. They gather all their weapons and tools on-site, fight the Four Heavenly Kings one by one, and finally destroy the Metal Golem, which the monsters have been secretly developing in the central control room. The ending has changed...

In the end, it's the Meteor spell, so the dog, monkey, and pheasant don't have much to do...

As I was walking back to my classroom through the corridor, I saw the black cat.

It meowed cutely and rubbed against me.

"You're so friendly, aren't you?"

I squatted down and decided to play with the cat.

When I pet its throat, it purred and lay down.

"You're quite popular. Did you have fun being pampered by all those handsome guys?"

It yawned with a stretch.

"I see, you really are like the pink-haired girl, aren't you?"

"Shin-sama! Stay away from that cat!"

At the sound of the voice, the cat darted away.

Cere came running from the other end of the corridor.

"What's wrong?"

Cere was glaring in the direction the cat had run. Something happened?

"That cat is called 'Kuro,' and it's the game's mascot character. It always tells the protagonist about the target's affection level and such!"

"Whaaaaat?"

"...I was wondering how it got information about affection levels and heartbreak levels, but it was listening to the targets directly..."

"Wow... So the heroine can talk to cats?"

"It's a dating sim, so there are some fantasy elements. The targets might accidentally talk to the cat about things like 'My girlfriend is being cold' or 'I can't stop thinking about her,' and that information gets passed on."

Wow...

"By the way, I saw that cat with the cool character and the brainy character, and... Pikaru. I thought it was a strange coincidence since it's always with the targets."

"Shin-sama, did you talk to the cat?"

"No, not really. I just said, 'You're surrounded by handsome guys, you must be having a great time, just like the pink-haired girl.'"

"That's good... If you give it any information, it will be used against you. Be careful."

I see.

"Oh, by the way, there was a cat at the event where I met the heroine when we were seven."

"A black cat, right? That's the same cat."

It was him all along---

It was an event from nine years ago... I didn't remember it well and didn't think it was the same cat!

"I like cats too. Are all the targets cat lovers?"

"Spalutz is allergic to cats and can't get close to them. So it was a difficult character to understand and target. Well, in the game, he was a teacher at the school, so it was a high-difficulty character."

Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying.

The next day, after checking the progress of each class, I was about to return to my classroom when I saw the cat again in the corridor, meowing and coming toward me.

"Good, good, good, you're so cute! Come here."

I picked up the black cat, which had come to my feet without any defense.

"Kuro, you're Rins' cat, right?"

The black cat's eyes opened wide.

"So you pretend to play and listen to the targets' complaints and mutterings?"

The cat looked away. It couldn't look at my face, and its paws tightened on my hand. It's guilty.

"Tell the pink-haired girl that it won't work on me."

"Meow!"

The cat scratched my hand and quickly ran away.

Next time I see it, I'll kick it. I don't care if rumors spread about me being a cruel prince who abuses cats.

It was a male cat, after all.

Next: "66. The Sophomore Festival"

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For the elongated expressions like "gyaaaaaa!" (example), during the book publication of past works, they were all corrected to "gya――――!" with a series of dashes. While it may vary by publisher, I will follow this format from now on. Thank you for your typo report.