Free Headphone Actor by JIN Page A

Haruka seemed to remember something and pulled out a folded print-out from his pocket.
    “Oh, right, right. I’m sure this is why, Takane.”
    The print-out that Haruka had pulled out was the schedule of all the classes’ booths for the day of the Culture Festival.
    I’d lost mine soon after they’d been distributed, but because it was annoying to ask Haruka to show me his, I hadn’t said anything this whole time. Thanks to that, I had no idea about the other classes’ booths for today.
    “Ah, ahh, okay …. So, which one’s the reason that no one’s coming?”
    “It’s this one, the ‘Student Council Presentation’ that’s from 1 to 2 PM in the gym. I think everyone probably went to see that.”
    In the print-out where Haruka was pointing, it was certainly written, “‘Student Council Presentation’ 1PM-2PM.” And what was more, it was the only one outlined with a thick frame and stood out a lot.
    “I see. Sheesh, so the Student Council wants to stand out too, huh? Anyway, there should have just had it later, and not in the time frame that booths are open …. This probably isn’t good for any of the other classes either, right?”
    I didn’t really like the strong assertiveness given off by the print-out’s design, either.
    Even though we’d gone to the trouble of eating a proper lunch to prepare for the battles in the afternoon, it couldn’t be helped that no one was even coming.
    “Well, after another thirty minutes, I’m sure we’ll have a lot of customers then. So until then, let’s just take the chance to relax for a while longer.”
    Folding up the print-out again, Haruka opened the door I was sticking my head out of and came inside.
    “Guess it can’t be helped. Ah~ I wish someone stupider would come~ I’d give it my all to be their opponent.”
    As I voiced that complaint and was about to pull my head back inside, I caught sight of someone by the front door on the left side of the hallway.
    Even though there hadn’t been a soul around earlier, I now saw three men wearing the exact same clothes.
    They wore camouflage pants, bandanas, and goggles, as if they’d just dropped by here on their way home from a survival game.
    “Wh-what’s with those people ….? Some kind of costume? But they seem like normal customers, so could those be their normal clothes …?”
    But if those were normal clothes, that kind of style was a little overdoing it. It’s be more acceptable if it were a costume, since I could see something that looked like a transceiver on the shoulder strap of the rucksack they were carrying on their backs.
    “What’s wrong, Takane?”
    “Um, yeah …. There’s some suspicious-looking people …. Should we call a teacher or something?”
    “Suspicious people? W-wait, let me see.”
    Haruka said this, stuck out his head above mine, and stared down the hall.
    “See? They look kind of suspicious, right? That’s obviously not the kind of clothes you’d come here in ….”
    “I wonder about that. It might be that kind of style, you know? The military fashion type.”
    The fact that Haruka said “style” was what shocked me. Surprisingly, did this guy know a lot about that kind of stuff ….?
    If that was the case, what I’d called “suspicious” earlier might actually be the “latest style” …. And if so, would that make me the one that’s actually old-fashioned?
    “W-well yeah, I see it around a lot lately …. That kind of clothing is popular in, like … Tokyo? Or something like that ….”
    There was no choice but to just go with it. For now, I’d try praising them a bit. But more than anything, I didn’t want it to seem like these guys knew more about trends than I did.
    “Wow, really?! I had no idea about that …. As expected of Takane!”
    Haruka’s bright smile pierced my heart. If I really thought about it, there was no way that a guy who was fine with being half-naked knew anything about fashion sense.
    Having dug a grave with my useless