Chapter XC: Mind your Business
The day begins with Class 3-A students getting back into their usual routines, but with a twist of excitement in the air. Enmei, wearing his usual confident grin, heads to Yui's house to fetch her. Meanwhile, Asahi, punctual as ever, is already at the park stretching for what looks like an Olympic sprint, despite no one asking him to. Gin, ever the practical one, swings by the convenience store for his daily dose of canned coffee.
On the other side of town, Tengen and Hanako sit quietly in a fast food restaurant, eating burgers like two secret agents sharing coded messages between fries. Across the city, Akiko and Kota, wrapped in their quirky bubble, are video-calling each other while having breakfast. Their conversation? The latest and greatest memes, of course.
"Have you seen the one with the cat holding the sign that says 'I can't adult today'?" Akiko asks, laughing.
Kota chuckles, nearly spilling his coffee.
"Oh, I know that one! But did you see the version where someone edited it to say 'I can't math today'? That's basically me during all of last semester."
As they continue chatting, the scene shifts to the classroom where Ms. Soumei walks in with the aura of someone about to drop a bombshell. She faces the class with an expression that could be described as equal parts seriousness and a suppressed grin.
“Alright, Class 3-A,” she begins, adjusting her glasses.
“Your entrepreneurship teacher can't make it today—”
A collective cheer ripples through the room, but she raises her hand like a traffic cop halting a parade.
“Hold on, hold on Hehe. Before you all celebrate too much, there’s a huge project coming up. Over the next month, you’ll need to sell food at the school as part of your grade.”
The air in the room shifts from mild excitement to panic.
"What kind of food?" Asahi immediately asks, his hand shooting up.
Ms. Soumei smirks.
"Anything edible. But make sure you’re following the guidelines for school-approved snacks and meals."
Gin, always the straight-to-the-point type, raises his hand, holding up a can of coffee. “Does this count as food?”
Ms. Soumei ignores him, continuing,
“You’ll be grouped into teams of six, and I expect you to work together to come up with a strategy, a menu, and a way to sell it all.”
Kota leans over to Akiko and Hanako, whispering,
“This is just another elaborate way for them to make us do their catering, right?”
Akiko and Hanako suppress a laugh, but Tengen hears and mutters under his breath,
“You might be onto something.”
Ms. Soumei begins the headcount, and unsurprisingly, our usual squad finds themselves grouped together.
Asahi, Enmei, Kota, Gin, Tengen, and Hanako—all huddled together like a makeshift superhero team, only instead of fighting villains, they’d be fighting the urge to procrastinate and mess up the project.
As soon as Ms. Soumei leaves the room, the group starts to discuss the project.
"Alright, so what do we sell?" Enmei asks, a gleam in his eye.
"Maybe we could do something super fancy—like, I don't know, a fusion taco?"
Kota raises an eyebrow.
“Fusion taco? Enmei, we’re selling to students, not food critics.”
“Yeah, but what about something simple like cookies or donuts?” Gin suggests.
“Everyone loves sugar.”
Asahi shrugs.
“Donuts could work. But if we want to win the top spot, we need something memorable.”
Tengen, who has been mostly quiet, perks up.
“What about rice bowls? Something filling but also customizable. We could have different toppings and sauces. It’s simple, but we can make it creative.”
Hanako nods enthusiastically.
“Yeah, rice bowls are a good idea. Plus, they’re practical for the school environment. Easy to eat, and everyone can have their own version.”
Kota, always up for adding a twist, jumps in.
“What if we call them ‘Flex Bowls’? We could even name each one after a different meme or something. Like, ‘The Wow Rice Bowl’ or ‘The Doge Special.’”
The group falls into laughter at the absurdity of it, but it’s clear the creative juices are flowing.
"Okay," Enmei says, clapping his hands together.
"So, it's settled. Rice bowls. Now, who’s in charge of what?"
Asahi pulls out a notebook, suddenly in full manager mode.
“I’ll handle the budget and the ingredients. We need to keep it cheap but tasty.”
“I’ll handle cooking,” Tengen offers, much to the surprise of everyone.
“My mom taught me a few things about making good rice. I think I can manage.”
Gin raises his hand.
“I’ll handle marketing. I’m already on top of designing the flyers. ‘Flex Bowls—Get Yours Now Before You’re Too Hungry to Think!’”
Kota smirks, imagining the outlandish designs Gin will probably create.
“I’ll help with the cooking and sales. I’m good at pitching things, trust me.”
Enmei, however, is still fixated on the creative angle.
“I’ll do taste tests. Like, all the taste tests. Just to make sure we get it right.”
Hanako, shaking her head in amusement, looks at Asahi.
“And I’ll help with managing the stand during sales. Make sure we stay organized and don’t lose track of orders.”
The plan seems foolproof. That is, until Kota starts thinking aloud,
“Wait… do we even know how to set up a food stall?”
The entire group freezes for a moment, eyes widening in simultaneous realization.
“Nope,” Enmei admits.
Gin shrugs, cracking open his fifth can of coffee for the day.
“Details. We’ll figure it out.”
As they begin hashing out the finer points of their plan, the group dynamic flows like an episode of The Big Bang Theory, each personality clashing, combining, and ultimately crafting a plan that’s both chaotic and strangely functional. Asahi tries to keep them focused, but Enmei keeps getting distracted by random memes on his phone, while Kota starts coming up with more ridiculous names for their rice bowls. Gin is sketching a logo that looks like a rice bowl wearing sunglasses, and Tengen? Well, Tengen is quietly imagining how this whole project is going to blow up in their faces—but in a fun, memorable way.
By the time the class bell rings, the group feels cautiously optimistic about their food-selling endeavor.
“Well,” Kota says, standing up and stretching.
“If we fail, at least we’ll fail with style.”
“Fail?” Enmei scoffs, draping an arm around Kota’s shoulder.
“We’re not going to fail. We’ve got rice bowls, memes, and the power of pure chaos on our side. What could go wrong?”
Hanako shakes her head, smiling at the group’s ridiculous optimism.
“Let’s just make sure we actually have rice, okay?”
As the squad leaves the classroom, a sense of anticipation and excitement hangs in the air. It’s the start of something big—whether it's a triumph or disaster, only time will tell. But one thing’s for sure: with this group, it’s going to be memorable.
Later on, the group gathers to plan and prepare for their upcoming food-selling project. Tengen, taking the lead, suggests they all come to his house, located 20 kilometers away from the city. This suggestion already makes Kota a bit apprehensive, but he informs Akiko about it through chat. Akiko, being her usual caring self, expresses concern for him, knowing how far out it is.
Later that evening, they all meet at the city park under the dim streetlights. Tengen arrives with his father, who drives a trusty old van with a friendly, warm presence. As the group piles into the vehicle, there’s a mix of excitement and nervousness. Kota, who feels more comfortable messaging Akiko throughout the trip, taps away at his phone, telling her every detail as they drive further out of the city. He makes sure to include plenty of their favorite memes and anime-mes to keep the conversation light.
However, Kota can’t help but notice that Tengen seems a little too serious for comfort. As they approach the farm-style house in the countryside, Tengen starts assigning tasks for their first night of ingredient preparation. Everyone gets their own job, and while Enmei and Gin are goofing off and cracking jokes, Kota feels a chill run down his spine as Tengen gives him specific instructions.
"Alright, Kota," Tengen says, his voice carrying a strange intensity.
From Kota’s point of view, Tengen's gaze feels malicious, almost sadistic, as though he's finding some dark amusement in assigning Kota the most difficult task. Kota nervously smiles and nods, unsure if this is just in his head or if Tengen is actually plotting something.
He immediately grabs his phone, intending to update Akiko about his "situation." But before he can even send a message, Tengen swoops in and says,
"Hey, put that away. We've got a lot to do, and you can’t be distracted." Kota tries to protest, but Tengen insists, his tone stern yet casual.
"Fine," Kota mutters, reluctantly sliding his phone into his pocket.
Inside, he's panicking a little, imagining all the memes and stories he won’t be able to send Akiko during this labor-intensive night. Meanwhile, the rest of the group is already getting into the spirit of things—Gin is making goofy faces while peeling potatoes, Asahi is cracking jokes with Enmei, and Hanako, despite being focused, occasionally throws playful glances at Tengen.
As the night goes on, the tension between Kota and Tengen continues to rise—at least from Kota's perspective. He feels like every task Tengen assigns him is just a little too hard, a little too detailed, and he can’t shake the feeling that Tengen is secretly enjoying his discomfort.
But in reality, Tengen's just trying to keep everyone on track, making sure they prepare everything for the project. In one comedic moment, Kota tries to chop some vegetables but ends up flinging a carrot slice across the room, nearly hitting Gin, who yelps dramatically.
“Nice shot, Kota!” Gin laughs, while Tengen rolls his eyes, clearly trying to suppress a grin.
Kota thinks,
“Is this part of his master plan to make me look ridiculous?”
The group continues to work into the night, with Tengen managing the kitchen like a strict drill sergeant, barking out instructions and making sure everyone’s staying on task. Even though the rest of the group is laughing and chatting, Kota is hyper-focused on how to survive the night without further embarrassing himself.
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