As I was heading towards Iori’s classroom, I passed by several students holding placards. “Class 1-2: Waiting for you at the haunted house!” “Class 3-3: Handmade keychains for sale,” and so on. It seemed they were walking around promoting their class activities. Among them, I spotted a placard that stood out.

“Class 2-1: Tachibana Iori, distributing tickets.”

It was a plain placard with no illustrations, just official-looking text. A crowd had gathered around the student holding it. I wondered what these tickets were for. I joined the crowd.

“We are currently handing out tickets for the 12 PM session. Please note that entry is not allowed without a ticket.”

The student holding the placard was handing out palm-sized tickets. After listening in, it seemed the event had become too crowded, so they switched to a ticket system. I wondered what was going on in Iori’s class. She was definitely the main event, but what exactly was happening?

After getting my ticket and preparing to leave, I noticed someone in a distinctive kimono. I had just seen that kimono at Iori’s house. Tachibana Momiji, Iori’s mother, was walking toward me slowly, glancing around with a nostalgic look.

…What should I do?

She hadn’t noticed me yet. If I left now, I could avoid running into her. I knew I should greet her, but the kimono-clad Momiji-san was very noticeable, and I wasn’t sure what she’d say. She may look dignified, but she’s the type of person who would suddenly ask, “So, have you kissed Iori yet?” If she said that here, I wouldn’t survive the day at Suzakura.

“…Oh?”

Crap. She’d completely caught my eye. While I froze in place, Momiji-san continued walking toward me. When she reached me, she stood in front of me, her posture straight, with a cold expression, and said:

“Natsuki-san… Have you already kissed Iori yet!?”

I hurriedly covered Kōka’s mouth. The crowd around us was buzzing, but I couldn’t worry about that now.

“Momiji-san, let’s head over there! We can talk in private!”

I dragged Momiji-san away from the scene, escaping the school building. To anyone looking, it probably looked like I was roughly handling her, but I had no choice. If only I could avoid running into anyone I knew at this moment…

Unfortunately, it seemed my wish didn’t reach the gods.

“Eh, Natsuki! What are you doing!?”

“Ahh!?”

…It’s over.

Of all people, my mom had to see this. I couldn’t have worse luck.