My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

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What is she doing...? Please don't do that kind of thing...

Hikigaya Komachi

She discovered something strange and became very angry.

Hikigaya Hachiman

I'm innocent! That wasn't me! Only Dad would look into those things! Besides, he was scolded terribly when we received strange international phone bills before.

Hikigaya Komachi

I feel like I've heard something I shouldn't have... But why is my brother so sure it wasn't me?

Hikigaya Hachiman

Want to investigate something that can't be brought to light without your family's knowledge... Well, only a smartphone can do that!

Hikigaya Komachi

Wow... this ad is terrible...

☆Adapted from a line in "Oda Nobuna's Ambition": "That's right, only an iPhone can do that."

*One day,Hachiman and Komachi*

Volume 6, Chapter 7: At this moment, Soubu High School is at the height of its celebrations.

All around was pitch-black darkness, and the air was filled with the noisy chatter of students. Each sentence, taken individually, does have meaning, but when the number accumulates to thousands, even meaningful sentences become meaningless.

The dark curtains completely sealed off the scene, leaving no gaps. The dim light from cell phones and emergency exit lights could barely illuminate the palm of one's hand.

In complete darkness, nothing could be seen.

Therefore, in this moment, everyone seems to be one.

Under the sunlight, our differences from others are clearly illuminated, and whether we want to or not, we understand that we are different individuals. However, in this place, everyone's outlines are blurred, making it difficult to grasp the distinction between ourselves and others.

No wonder they always make sure the venue is pitch black before the event starts.

In this way, everyone will immediately understand: when the spotlight cuts through the darkness, the person it illuminates is completely different from the thousands of others.

Therefore, only very special people can stand in the spotlight.

The students' voices gradually faded away.

It's 9:57 now, it's almost time to start.

I turned on the headset and sent a notification. After pressing the power button, the microphone paused briefly before picking up sound, so I waited a couple of seconds before speaking.

"Three minutes left, three minutes left."

Within seconds, the headphones emitted static.

"This is Yukinoshita. We are informing everyone that the event will proceed as scheduled. Please report any problems immediately."

After calmly delivering the notification, Yukinoshita cut off the communication.

Then several more bursts of noise came through.

"The lighting is fine."

"This is PA (Note 74 stands for Public Addressing, referring to sound control and audio engineering), no problem."

"This is backstage; the staff preparations are a bit delayed, but we should be ready to start."

Reports from several departments came in one after another, but to be honest, I couldn't fully grasp the situation; after all, I was barely able to take care of myself. The miscellaneous tasks team was assigned multiple tasks during the school anniversary celebrations, including miscellaneous tasks around the stage for the opening and closing ceremonies. Today, my task on site was time management, which, simply put, meant reminding the people on stage things like "time's almost up" or "there's still time." Since the organizing department asked me to do it, I couldn't refuse.

Information from each department was relayed back to headquarters, where it was compiled.

"Roger that. Take your positions until further notice from headquarters."

I sat at one end of the stage, staring at the clock.

With each passing second, the scene grew quieter.

If you looked through the small windows into the gymnasium, you'd probably see countless students. But in the complete darkness, I only felt as if some enormous, writhing creature was present, like Nyarlathotep, the god with a thousand faces…

Wait, something's not right. The Thousand-Faced Man should be "Mir Mascaras" (Note 75: Nyarlathotep is an evil being in the Cthulhu Mythos, a faceless god with thousands of avatars. Mir Mascaras is a Mexican wrestler who is known as the "Thousand-Faced Man" or "Masked Aristocrat" because he wears a different mask each time he appears). Never mind, it's not important.

With less than a minute left before the opening ceremony, the stadium transformed into a tranquil sea of ​​light.

Everyone held their breath, stopped whispering, and shared in the moment.

I turned on my headset again.

"The last ten seconds."

My finger continued pressing the switch.

"Nine."

I kept a close eye on the time.

"eight."

He doesn't breathe through his mouth.

"seven."

With each countdown, I exhaled.

"six."

Just as I took a quick breath—

Five seconds left.

Someone then continued the countdown.

"Four."

Her voice was quite calm, with a hint of coldness.

"three."

With three seconds left, she stopped counting down.

However, someone will definitely use their finger to make a "two".

Looking up from a corner of the stage, I saw Yukinoshita monitoring the stage from the window of the second-floor sound control room.

Then, in complete silence, the last second ended.

In an instant, the stage burst into dazzling lights.

Did everyone celebrate the school anniversary today?

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh!"

When the senior student suddenly appeared on stage, the audience cheered in response.

"What are the festivals and other events associated with famous scenic spots in Chiba?"

"Dance~~ Dance~~"

It turns out that the slogan has become so deeply ingrained in people's hearts.

"Since we're all complete idiots, if we're not going to dance..."

"Sing a song~~"

After the senior student warmed up the atmosphere, the students all became excited.

The next moment, deafening dance music filled the air.

Now we move on to the opening ceremony's warm-up performance, presented by all members of the Dance Club and Cheerleading Club. Earlier, a senior student led everyone in chanting slogans, maintaining a high level of enthusiasm. Some students danced and joked along, while others raised their hands high and waved them.

...My God, the students at our school are like a bunch of idiots...

What do you mean by "Has the school anniversary been celebrated today?"? I haven't!

Oh dear, now is not the time to just sit around and watch the show.

Get to work, get to work.

"This is PA, the music is almost over!"

The voice control sends out a notification.

"Received. Chairman Sagami, please prepare to go on stage."

Since Yukinoshita, who is in charge of everything, gave such instructions, the senior student who is hosting on stage should have also received them.

After the performance, the dancers disappeared behind the curtain on the left side of the stage, and the senior dancer standing on the right announced:

"Next, the Chairman of the Anniversary Celebration Executive Committee will deliver a speech."

Sagami walked to the center of the stage, her expression stiff. The eyes of thousands of audience members were all focused on her.

She stopped before she even reached the center of the stage, which had been marked with tape, and her hand holding the wireless microphone trembled uncontrollably.

Sagami finally managed to raise the microphone, just about to utter the first word—

At that moment, the speaker emitted a "humming" whistling sound (Note 76 means that the microphone was too close to the speaker, thus producing a harsh noise).

The timing was so perfect that the entire audience burst into laughter.

Even from my vantage point, I could tell the laughter wasn't malicious. I've endured countless taunts along the way, and I've long since developed the ability to distinguish different kinds of laughter just by looking at them.

However, Sagami, standing frozen on the stage, caught between tension and loneliness, was unaware of this.

Even after the piercing noise disappeared, she still couldn't make a sound.

The senior student, worried about her, picked up the microphone to help her out of the predicament.

"...Then, Chairman, let's try again!"

Sagami finally snapped out of her daze and unfolded the speech she had been holding. But due to nervousness, her fingers wouldn't obey her commands, and she accidentally dropped the speech to the ground, causing the audience to laugh again.

Her cheeks flushed as she bent down to pick up her speech notes.

Shouts of "Go for it!" came from the audience, but these were highly irresponsible. Although they meant no harm, the words of encouragement failed to have a positive effect.

We have nothing to offer comfort to those in dire straits; we can only remain silent like inanimate objects, or ignore them like roadside stones.

Sagami looked at his prepared speech, but he still stammered, frequently making mistakes and biting his tongue.

The speech was already past the scheduled time, and I, who was in charge of keeping track of the time, turned my arm to remind Sagami to speed up, but she seemed too nervous to notice at all.

"Hachiman, remind the person on stage to speed up."

The sound of snow falling, mixed with static, came through my headphones. I looked up at the sound control room on the second floor; she was also looking there with her hands clasped.

"I already warned you, but Sagami doesn't seem to have noticed."

"Oh, I see... It seems I chose the wrong person."

"Is this a sarcastic remark implying I'm invisible?"

"Oh dear, I didn't say that. And where exactly are you sitting, in the audience?"

"Isn't this mocking me? You can see it perfectly clearly."

Before Yukinoshita could finish speaking, I couldn't help but retort. I probably didn't hear the beginning of the sentence.

"Um... Vice Chairperson Yukinoshita, everyone heard that clearly..."

At that moment, another person's embarrassed voice came through the earpiece.

...Yes, everyone could hear the conversation through the headset. I felt incredibly embarrassed.

After other executive committee members reminded them, the headphones were quiet for a few seconds before the static returned.

"...All subsequent procedures will be moved forward; please prepare accordingly."

Yukinoshita spoke after a long pause, and immediately ended the communication after giving her instructions.

At this point, the chairman finally finished his speech and moved on to the next step.

It seems the future will be fraught with difficulties.

× × ×

With the opening ceremony over, the school anniversary celebrations officially began.

The anniversary celebration will last for two days. The first day is open to students only, and the second day will be open to the general public.

This is my second time participating in a high school anniversary celebration, but in my opinion, it's just an ordinary anniversary celebration, nothing special.