Turn Around and Face Me! 19

Letting it out

“Good work~!”
“Good work everyone~!”

The sun had already set, and normally this would be about time for the dorm’s curfew. But tonight, the students at the academy gathered together for the festival’s after party.

“No really, that was a lot more fun than I expected.”
“I worked so darn hard! I guess being a waitress is a lot harder than it looks.”
“Honestly, same here. Cooking was a lot of work too, I’ve got a new found respect for my mama back home.”
“That’s something you should’ve realized much sooner.”

Gathered around a fire made by collecting and burning the paper and wood materials that we had used for the Culture Festival, the students spent their time freely. Most of them reflected on the festival itself, reluctant to let go of the extraordinary experience to return to routine. It appeared that our academy succeeded in their goal of fostering relationships between the new students and their classmates. Over the course of the festival, it did seem that many had opened up and found their place.

“… So this is where you were.”
“Mei…”
“… Our class is still going, you sure you don’t wanna join them?”
“… Yeah.”

After wrapping up our café, most of the girls in our class stuck around for tea and sweets, having their own after party. I was there with them for the first couple of minutes, but quickly took my leave to come here. I just felt like being alone, so I was sitting on the grass a little ways away from the fire.

It seemed Mei said her goodbyes to the other girls with her, before sitting down next to me.

“See you later, Mei-chan.”
“It was a huge help having you there, Mei.”
“… I’m glad I could help.”

It seemed that they were the ones who fought off the monsters with Mei earlier. Once they had left, a brief silence settled between Mei and I. While I did feel as though Mei and I understood one another well, for the last couple of years, I felt Mei distancing herself from me. I couldn’t help but wonder what I should say in a situation like this. As I allowed my thoughts to dawdle along, Mei was the one to break the silence.

“… My bad.”
“Mm? What do you mean by that?”
“… Since Mei couldn’t make it in time, she ended up causing you, Lily-sama, and the drama club a lot of trouble.”

Mei seemed to be somewhat down.

“That’s not true at all. Mei, you were out there fighting to protect the Culture Festival in and of itself, weren’t you? You deserve thanks for that, no one is blaming you.”
“… But it’s because of Mei that the play went off the rails, and then Alea, you…”
“What I’m concerned about is my own incompetence… I never thought I’d mess up like that…”

I never thought that I, of all people, would get my line wrong. Well no, as Mother Rei’s and Mother Claire’s daughter, I’ve had my fair share of careless slips, but this one really hit me.

“… Something like that doesn’t count as a failure.”
“You don’t think so?”
“… I don’t.”
“If it was Mother Claire, she’d never make a mistake like that.”
“… Mama Claire wouldn’t have participated in the play in the first place.”
“… I suppose you’re right about that.”

Thanks to Mei’s efforts to cheer me up, I was able to put on a weak smile.

“… Besides… It’s not like your feelings when you said that were false, were they?”
“No, of course not. I love Lily-sama. This failure happened… Because I put too much of myself into my role, and couldn’t hold those feelings back…”
“… You definitely inherited that recklessness from our mamas.”
“Somehow, despite not actually being directly related to them.”

With that, Mei and I exchanged glances and giggled.

After we shared a good laugh, I noticed a small silhouette approaching us.

“Ah, Alea-chan, Mei-chan, well done today.”
“Likewise, Lily-sama.”
“… Mmhm.”

Lily-sama sat down on the opposite side of Mei, forming a sandwich with Mei in the middle. Normally I would’ve made some sort of snide remark, but with my recent slip up still fresh in my mind, I wasn’t quite in the mood for that. For a while, the three of us just sat there watching the flame dance, but then, Lily-sama broke the silence.

“H-How was it? Like, p-participating in a play.”
“I feel like I’ve gained some valuable experience. It was a very novel experience, having to try to play the role of someone else.”
“… You did kinda botch it at the very end though.”
“Mei!”
“Haha… Is that so.”

As Mei and I joked around, Lily-sama watched over us with a gentle gaze.

“You really played a big part in things today, huh, Mei-chan. You stopped the monsters in their tracks, and you saved Alea-chan when she needed it the most too.”
“… If that’s what you think, Lily-sama, you really stepped it up on stage too. You seemed so natural, everyone’s talking about how you couldn’t have been a last minute stand-in.”
“Yes, that’s right, everyone’s been talking about it, you know?”
“T-That was… Lily just lost herself in the moment…”

Thanks to Mei’s assistance, that one scene where Lily-sama sang the hymn was a huge hit. The students in the audience just couldn’t stop talking about it, so the story was spreading fast.

“Come on, isn’t that a good thing? Lily-sama gaining so much recognition makes me happy.”
“… Does it make you feel proud as her lover?”
“Why yes!”
“M-Mei-chan, could you refrain from trying to establish such strange assertions as fact!?”
“…”

Being teased by Mei, Lily-sama panicked. I just thought that this kind of exchange was our modus operandi, but… Perhaps I was overthinking it, but Mei seemed to be a little off.

“Mei?”
“… Mei’s feeling thirsty. Alea, could I ask that you get me a drink?”
“Well, I don’t mind, but…”
“Ah, in that case, Lily can―”
“… Lily-sama, you stay here. Mei needs to talk to you.”

Mei’s tone felt assertive, she wasn’t going to back down on this.

“Alright, I’ll be back in a bit then. Will juice do?”
“Yup.”
“How about for yourself, Lily-sama?”
“L-Lily is fine, thank you.”
“Is that so, alright then.”

With that, I left the area.

When I went to the place where they were offering drinks,I happened to run into Simone.

“Simone, you did great today.”
“Back at you, Alea. Really glad that the play went well.”
“There were a couple of hiccups, so I’d feel a little guilty just saying that it went well…”
“Oh come on, all’s well that ends well! That’s just how it is.”
“Maybe you’re right.”

Simone passed me a cup of juice.

“Where are Mei and Lily?”
“They’re over there talking. Not really sure what this is all about, but I guess they had something they wanted to talk about amongst themselves, so I got left out.”
“Hmmm? Well in that case, wanna go on ahead back to our room?”
“No, not yet. Mei asked me to grab her a drink. Though, that was probably just an excuse to get me away for a bit.”
“I can’t really tell if Mei’s easy to read, or hard to read, and I guess that’s what I don’t get about her.”

With a bit of an awkward smile, Simone downed her juice in a big gulp.

“Ah, that hit the spot… No, that’s not it. Come to think of it, I forgot to thank you.”
“For what?”
“About that time when we were preparing for our café.”

Simone must be referring to when I helped the class get past their reservations about her.

“I didn’t do anything. That was all you, Simone. All that happened because you did your best.”
“I do think I did my best in my own way, but Alea, you were the one to give me that chance. So, thank you.”

Come to think of it, Mei had said something like that as well. Perhaps, unexpectedly, the two of them were more similar than they thought.

“Simone, you’re a diligent one, aren’t you.”
“OH ENOUGH! Just accept my thanks already!”
“Alright, I will. Your payment will be this cup of juice.”
“The heck, so cheap.”

Simone gave me a bright smile.

“Shouldn’t you get back to them? Even if they had something to talk about, I’m sure they’re done by now.”
“Yeah, I’ll do just that. Simone, do you wanna come too?”
“I’ll pass. I really did my best as a waitress so I’m tired. I’ll be heading back to our room. Night.”
“Good night.”

After waving Simone goodnight, with the cup of juice in my other hand, I turned to head back to where we were before. After I walked for a bit, the two of them came into view.

“I’m ba―”
“… Hey, even after all that Mei’s done, you still won’t get with Alea?”
“M-Mei-chan…”

I came close enough to be able to hear them, and surprised by the severity of the topic, I reflexively hid myself behind a tree. I knew that it wasn’t proper to eavesdrop, and Mother Claire would surely get mad at me if she found out, but in this situation I didn’t feel like I had a choice.

“T-Then, Mei-chan… Me taking your place today… That was your plan all along?”
“… Exactly.”

I couldn’t help but doubt my ears.

“… From the beginning, Mei wanted Lily-sama to take Mei’s role. Mei was going to lie about the monster attack. But then there really were monsters…”

Mei clarified that she was surprised when things actually did turn out that way, before wearing a thin smile. So, basically, even though the monster attack did come as a surprise, Mei had always been planning to have Lily-sama take her role.

”W-Why would you…!?”
“… To get Alea and Lily-sama together, of course, why else?”

A conversation that I could never have imagined continued before my eyes. I had missed the timing to show myself.

“… Wasn’t playing the role of a lover in a play a good shock? Mei thought it might be a good form of exposure therapy for you.”
“L-, Lily uhm…”
“… Hey, do you really see Alea as so unappealing? Even though she showers you with so much affection, is that not enough?”
“M-Mei-chan…”

Mei took a strong tone as she pressed into Lily-sama with her questions. Being on the receiving end, Lily-sama looked bewildered.

“… Alea is a really good girl. I’m sure you won’t easily find other ladies as charming as her.”
“T-That’s true, L-Lily will admit, but Lily―!”
“… Don’t bring Mama Rei up at a time like this, Lily-sama. You’ve already sorted through your feelings for her long ago.”
“H-How…!?”
“… Mei can tell just by looking. Just how long do you think we’ve known each other?”

Pressing her attack, Mei sealed off Lily-sama’s escape before continuing.

“… Mei knows okay, every now and then, she senses your gaze chasing after her. Mei also knows that’s only because you see Mama Rei in Mei as well.”
“…”
“… Lily-sama, it’d be best for you to get with Alea. If you two start dating, Mei will give up. However―”
“H-However?”

When Lily-sama repeated after Mei to urge her to continue, Mei unusually hesitated. But in the end, it seemed that she decided to let it out.

“… However, if you aren’t able to accept Alea and take her, Mei has other things in mind.”
“… And that is?”
“… Hey, Lily-sama…”

Mei then leaned in toward Lily-sama, coming close enough to practically breathe on her, before saying,

―If you don’t need Alea, then give her to Mei.

---

Translator Note: What a place to end the chapter. Please look forward to the next one, I’ll do my best so you’re not waiting too long, but translating takes a fair bit longer than just reading so I hope you’ll be understanding!

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