"What's wrong?"
Kawasaki Saki asked in confusion upon hearing Ebina's seemingly emotional words.
Ebina looked at Kawasaki Saki and smiled, then said in a relaxed tone:
"Nothing, just suddenly felt Saki is a bit cute."
"C-Cute?" Kawasaki Saki had question marks all over her face.
What does it mean to suddenly praise me as cute?
"Cute means cute. Since your hand is injured, rest for a while. I'll treat you to a drink!" Ebina put her hands on Kawasaki Saki's shoulders, half-pushing and half-pulling her out of the classroom.
"Wait... I can walk myself. And it's just a small injury; I already put on a band-aid..."
The moment she walked out of the classroom, Ebina turned her head to look at Shinra, who was taking publicity photos for Hayama and Totsuka at the podium in the classroom, and Miura Yumiko, who was leaning next to Shinra and seemingly directing something. She couldn't help but sigh.
Palms and backs of hands are both flesh... (Meaning both are dear to her)
Miura Yumiko was her good friend, and Kawasaki Saki was also her new friend. Both were partners Ebina cherished. However, both girls had affection for one boy. Caught in the middle, she could only stay neutral.
Moreover, Ebina felt their biggest opponent wasn't each other, but the one in the Service Club. That was their true number one enemy...
"How are the photos?" Miura Yumiko leaned close to Shinra in a semi-squatting posture, one hand supporting her knee, the other brushing her hair.
"About done." Shinra showed the photos taken to Yumiko and incidentally let the two involved parties see the finished product.
After all, Shinra was an experienced photographer. Whether composition or lighting, he was skilled. So the finished products naturally had no faults, the kind that could be displayed with just a little retouching.
"Also, is the group performance application form ready?" Shinra brought up another task for his return to class today: the group performance application form.
Whether it was an off-campus volunteer performance group or a class/club performance group, they had to pass the application procedure to get on the school festival stage.
Much coordination was needed between performance groups. For example, performance equipment needed to be managed by the Personnel Coordination Group. If the required performance equipment was large, it might also involve the Item Management Group. In addition, if the program included interactive performances with the audience, possible food and props used would be the responsibility of the Health and Hygiene Group and the On-site Execution Group.
In short, to achieve something at the school festival, one must pass the review of the Executive Committee to ensure the school festival proceeds safely and orderly.
Currently, the play for Shinra's class had been confirmed, but the corresponding application form hadn't been filled out. The application deadline wasn't far off. As a member of the class, Shinra felt necessary to remind them not to forget this application form.
If they couldn't get on the school festival stage because they didn't apply, that would be too pity.
—Pity that the school leaders couldn't see this performance aligned with international standards.
"Performance group application form?" Miura Yumiko was stunned. There's such a thing?
She thought as long as they prepared the performance, they could just go on stage when the school festival started.
"Yes. Without passing the application procedure, stage performance won't be allowed." Shinra said, taking out the printed application form and handing it to Miura Yumiko.
Required equipment, number of participants, budget allocation, even project purpose, summary explanation, etc.—all contents needing to be filled were clearly marked on it.
The first few were simple enough. As for the latter project purpose and summary explanation, they were somewhat baffling.
If Shinra were to fill it out, he would probably write 'Celebrate School Festival' for the project purpose and 'Praise Friendship' for the summary explanation.
Concise and clear in meaning, but unfortunately, such an application probably wouldn't pass.
After all, approving applications wasn't just the Executive Committee, but also the guiding teachers of the Executive Committee.
"Let me see..." Miura Yumiko took the application form, scanned it, and had an idea.
"I know most of these, but here and here, how should I fill them? Feels a bit meaningless." Miura Yumiko's fair finger pointed at the columns of project purpose and summary explanation.
Compared to the previous columns, these two occupied the largest layout, almost taking up more than half of the paper.
Shinra thought for a moment and replied: "...Fill the empty spaces first."
This is like writing an essay. Regardless of whether it's written well or not, as long as it's filled, there will be points eventually.
And it's the same for the application form. Sometimes content isn't important; attitude is.
Filling all the blank spaces, doesn't it show that the performance group has a correct heart?
Seeing this, Miura Yumiko suggested: "Anyway, let's find an empty seat in the back row first."
Because of the ongoing rehearsal, the front row was almost full of people. Plus, everyone had their own views on stage effects, offering opinions all at once, making the whole classroom seem a bit noisy.
Although voices could still be heard in the back row, it was much better than the front row.
Most importantly, most people's attention was on the front of the classroom. There was almost no movement in the back row, barely counting as a relatively private space.
With the application form as a shield, even if asked, they could say they were filling out the form, without worrying about gossip.
"How is Sagami doing in the Executive Committee?"
While filling out the form, Miura Yumiko asked.
The reason for mentioning Sagami Minami was that the previous rumors about Sagami Minami serving the school festival 'conscientiously' spread from her side.
And the effect was immediate. Initially, Yumiko could still see Sagami Minami in class. Later, let alone seeing her, even those guys who played well with her disappeared.
Upon asking, she found out those followers were drafted by the other party and went to the Executive Committee to shed blood and sweat.
The benefit of doing this was that there was no longer a second voice in the class. At least among the girls, Miura Yumiko was an existence whose word carried enormous weight; no one could compete with her.
"Sagami-san works very hard."
If Shinra hadn't been squeezed uncomfortably by the Yukinoshita sisters, this performance group application form work would have surprisingly fallen on Sagami Minami's head... hmm, or maybe Hachiman.
"That's good." Hearing Shinra's answer, the image of Sagami Minami working with dark circles appeared in Miura Yumiko's mind, and she was very satisfied.
Although she never regarded Sagami Minami as a rival, her constant small moves were quite annoying. This could be considered venting the previous anger.
"Speaking of which... Yumiko, didn't you say you wanted to live alone before? How's the situation?"
Shinra looked at the purple exclamation mark above Miura Yumiko's head and asked indirectly.