Antoine’s Beach¹

Hup… Okay… Phew. Gannosuke-san, I’m done carrying in the equipment.

We can start setting it up then.

Alright…

You seem to be worried about the weather.

Yeah, they said there’s an 80% chance of rain… I’m praying we land in the remaining 20%.

The god of weather changes his mind quite often. Let’s believe in him.

Of course!

Moving on from that, I didn’t see Kinugawa-kun in the atelier this morning.

He told me that he was still working on his lantern, and it seemed to have a lot of work put into it so far, so I was a bit concerned.

Did something happen?

Well…

I will not condemn the act of fighting itself; sometimes it is necessary to face each other with honesty.

……

However, 30 throws is out of the question! What if he had developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy?!

…It wasn’t all that bad.

(I guess he’s used to being thrown…)

Pride can only lead to ruin. Gentlemen, please reflect on your actions and shake hands to settle this dispute.

……

……

(They’re not even looking at each other… I don’t think they wanna shake hands.)

If you’re alright with it, it’d be nice if the two of you told us why you started fighting.

Is it really gonna rain on festival day, by the way?

Mmm, yeah… At least according to the weather forecast.

I knew it…

……

Can we do anything about it?

All we can do is hope that it doesn’t rain…

So that means…

Akuta-kun…

That there’s gonna be a buttload of food left over from the stalls! Hell yeah! Takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, and baby castellas!

……

I’m gonna pass on eating tomorrow so I can leave my stomach wide open for all those food stalls!

Huh?

I swear to god… Can you read the room, dude?!

This guy doesn’t have the capacity to be negative. Good for him that he can stay happy about this, I guess.

Being positive is certainly a good quality to have, but there’s a time and place for that.

Food stalls are meant to serve masses of people. They’re not for the enjoyment of only one person.

Yeah, but if it’s sunny, that means we can have the festival. And if it’s rainy, we got an all-you-can-eat food stall buffet. Sounds cool to me.

You gotta think about this logically, dudes. It’s a win for us either way, right?

I don’t give a shit either way. This sucks.

If you keep refusing to talk about things because it “sucks” so much, we won’t get anywhere. At least try to discuss things with us.

Why don’t you say that to Golem? He never says anything, and it’s starting to piss me off.

…Ah… I…

No more fighting, everyone! Behave!

Hmm…

Mr. Karigane doesn’t look very happy, you know! You might be in for a very long lecture!

……

Tch.

……

HmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmMMM!

It has taken 50.6 seconds in total for everyone to fall silent.

Dude, that sounded so kick-butt! It’s so teacher-y. I’m gonna use that in my next script. ♪

Be quiet already… *sigh* Whatever.

We understand, we’re sorry. We’ll make sure not to get into fights anymore.

Is that good enough? I’m gonna head to bed. Let’s go, Kinugawa-kun.

…’Kay.

Me too. My back hurts from getting thrown around, so I’m done for tonight.

……

Why don’t you sleep in the living room, Muu-chan? I’m sure you’re sick of seein’ my face, or whatever.

I’m sick of seeing yours, at least.

Fine by me.

…And that’s what happened.

I see. I understand now. I assume that the tension would resolve itself eventually, but…

A simple change in the weather shouldn’t make things this bad.

When you’re holding events or traveling, it’s common for your plans to be ruined by the rain.

(Sakujiro-san said something similar.)

(…They need to know what to do in times like these if they want to become mayors.)

(It’s like they’re being tested… *gasp*)

Maybe that’s it… They’re being tested…!

On what?

Sorry, I need to go check on everyone, so I’m going to head back to the inn…!

*knocking* Nanaki-kun… Nanaki-kun!

……

He’s not coming out… Maybe he’s not here?

(I should go back to the living room for now.)

……

Kiroku-kun! Is Nanaki-kun in his room right now?

…He is…but…he’s been asleep…since last night.

I see…

……

(Kiroku-kun looks sad… Is he making teru teru bozu dolls? He’s putting a lot of work into them.)

Gannosuke-san was worried to see that you weren’t at the atelier this morning.

……

You’re almost done with the lantern, right? Those teru teru bozu dolls are important too, but I think you should focus on the lantern…

…I feel better about…not having to…show the lantern to anyone.

Kiroku-kun…

(This room…)

Ushio-kun! Are Akuta-kun and Muneuji-kun with you?

Got it. Thanks.

(He’s not even looking at me. He probably doesn’t wanna talk to anyone, so I should leave him alone for now…)

(I should go look for Akuta-kun and Muneuji-kun. I hope they have their GPSs on them.)

……

There he is! Akuta-kun!

Hmm? Oh, Teach. Yo.

Yo… What are you doing looking out at the ocean like that?

Well, I didn’t eat anything today, so I’m super hungry. I thought I could find some seaweed around here to eat.

Raw seaweed…? Don’t do that.

Seriously? Aghhh, I’m so hungry… Can I at least eat some kelp?

No.

Everyone’s upset about tomorrow, but…you seem to be the same as ever, Akuta-kun.

That’s relieving.

Bein’ all sad won’t change anything. I can’t even think about sad things too much, or I’ll get a nosebleed.

And everyone’s prolly gonna cheer up eventually. They’re gonna realize that there’s no point worryin’ about all this stuff.

But, yeah, the rain… We gotta do something about it.

Well…

(I can’t tell them that there’s nothing we can really do.)

(But I want to cheer them up, at least.)

Dude, ugh… This is killin’ me…! If I can’t eat kelp, I’ll scrape some seaweed off the rocks a⁠—

Akuta-kun!

Even if it rains tomorrow, everything you’ve done and are still doing on this study trip…

Even if you can’t show it to the guests at the festival, none of it will go to waste.

Maybe the weather might get in the way, but it won’t change the fact that you all did your best.

We’ll negotiate with the officials to have your final work be displayed in the Shodoshima community center, so everyone can see the hard work you’ve done.

So don’t worry about the weather. I want all of you to keep doing the prep work.

Hm. Hmmm… Hm?

The greatest thing you can take away from this is the experience of working hard on something with your friends.

It’ll become a wonderful memory that exists for the sake of leading you towards your future.

……

Even if you work hard at something, it’s normal to not have it go your way. But that regret can be a chance to grow…

……

Um…

What’s wrong? Is something on your mind?

Nah, it’s nothing. I gotta poop!

Ah, Akuta-kun!

He’s gone…