Chapter 402: Shinomiya’s Calculation

"Hm? You want to go in here?"

"Let's take a look."

Momo and Rinji stopped in front of a classroom—Class 2-B's room.

This was Shirogane and Fujiwara's class.

Fujiwara, having already participated in the performance, didn't have much to do for the class event. Shirogane, though busy preparing for the festival as student council president, still had responsibilities to help out in his own class.

Class 2-B was running a balloon booth.

"Welcome… Oh, Takamine-kun and Ryuju-san."

They were greeted by Kashiwagi Nagisa.

"What a rare pairing. I don't think I've ever seen you two together before."

"That's because we usually hang out on the rooftop. No wonder you haven't seen us," Rinji said.

"I see. Let me check if there are any open booths nearby."

Kashiwagi turned to look.

The booth setup was simple—a student seated behind a desk, with a pile of long balloons next to them. Customers would choose a shape, and the student would twist the balloon into the requested form.

The price was 100 yen per balloon. That meant each use cost 100 yen.

"Looks like there's still an open spot near Shirogane."

"So the president's here too."

Rinji looked across the room and saw a middle school girl sitting in front of Shirogane, who had just handed her a balloon twisted into a rabbit.

"Then—hm?"

Just as he was about to walk over, Rinji noticed Kaguya Shinomiya approaching from a distance.

"Kashiwagi-san."

"Yes?"

"Just wondering, how long is the president's shift?"

"He's almost done after finishing this balloon. Want me to assign you someone with a longer shift?"

Rinji pointed to the hallway outside.

Kashiwagi followed his finger and spotted Kaguya walking their way, glancing shyly around.

"Hm. Good point."

Realizing Rinji's intent, Kashiwagi smiled.

"Shirogane-san's about to finish his shift anyway, so it works out. I'll reassign you."

"Glad you understand."

"Then…"

Kashiwagi looked around and spotted another student who had just finished with a customer and now had an open spot.

"How about go to Maki?"

"Shijo-san? Sure."

Kashiwagi led Rinji and Momo to the booth where Maki Shijo had just become available.

"Maki, please handle these two."

"Got it."

Maki looked up and spotted Rinji and Momo.

"Huh? It's you?"

"Yeah."

"Quite the unusual pairing."

Maki looked from Rinji to Momo, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"I thought you'd bring your girlfriend."

"Karura couldn't make it these two days."

"So your girlfriend's away and you're out picking up other girls. You really are something."

"Watch your wording. This is not called cheating." Rinji's brow twitched. "I've been friends with Momo-senpai for a long time."

"Huh… friends, you say?"

"The way you're implying things is really annoying."

"Whatever. Either way, you're customers now."

Maki shrugged and turned to Momo.

"Ryuju-san, what do you want?"

"I don't really care," said Momo. "I just came with Rinji to have a look, I don't particularly want anything."

"Is that so? Then how about checking the catalog?"

Maki handed her a product catalog.

Although called a catalog, it was actually a magazine, published by Kinoshobook.

Kinoshobook was a relatively well-known publisher in the Tokyo area, and member of the news club, Kino Karen, was the daughter of the company's president.

That's the kind of school Shuchiin was—where even a class's cultural festival booth could use a student's family business.

While Momo flipped through the magazine, Maki started making balloon sculptures, preparing some popular ones in advance to save time.

"By the way, I'm a customer too. Aren't you going to ask what I want?"

"I heard from Shirogane-san that you're pretty skilled at balloon art yourself. You can make your own, right?" Maki laughed. "But compared to me, you're still a bit behind."

"Oh?"

Rinji's eyes narrowed.

"Don't believe me? Just look at the work behind me."

Maki proudly puffed out her chest and pointed behind her.

Indeed, behind her were numerous balloon creations, many of which were extremely complex and not something an average person could manage.

"Want to have a contest?" said Rinji.

"Challenge accepted," replied Maki.

Then she turned to Momo, who was sitting beside Rinji.

"Momo-senpai, Rinji and I are going to have a competition. How about each of us makes something for you?"

"Huh?"

"Feel free to choose any difficulty you want."

"In that case… I'll choose this crab," said Momo, pointing to a balloon model shaped like a crab in the magazine.

Rinji looked at the picture and already figured out how to make it. He picked up a long balloon from the table and was about to start.

"This one's easy—"

"Wait." Maki stopped him. "Making the same thing would be boring. I'll do the crab. Let Momo-senpai pick another one for you."

"Fine."

"Pick another one then…"

Hearing that, Momo could only start flipping through the magazine again.

"If it's too hard to decide, I'll pick for you. If you can make something more difficult than mine, you win. How about that?" Maki grinned wickedly at Rinji.

"Sure."

"Alright then. Momo-senpai, flip to the last page, bottom right corner. Let Rinji make that one."

"The last page, bottom right…"

Momo quickly flipped to the last page of the magazine as instructed.

When she saw the image, her eyes widened. Then, glancing at the smug smile on Maki's face, she gave her a mental thumbs up.

The balloon Maki picked for Rinji was heart-shaped.

Which meant, in a few moments, Rinji would be giving Momo a heart-shaped balloon.

Everyone knew what it meant to give a heart-shaped item during the Hoshin Festival.