I (30), Who Works for a Black Company and Died While Regretting My Gloomy Life, Started Over From High School! - Chapter 16

16. There was only one reason.

It was a girl named Shijoin Haruka, who had a child-like innocence, that didn’t hesitate to take a bite out of her takoyaki while being the focus of the entire class.

“Hmph, hmph, hmph. …… It’s delicious! This one with regular octopus is great, and the bacon kimchi is very spicy! Oh, what’s this one without sauce on it?”

“Oh, that’s “Akashiyaki”, which is fluffier than Takoyaki. You eat it with this dashi broth.”
[TN:Akashiyaki (明石焼き) is a small round dumpling from the city of Akashi in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The dumpling is made of an egg-rich batter and octopus dipped into dashi]

“Wow, I didn’t even know that existed!”

Looking sincerely delighted, Shijoin-san smiles and takes a bite out of the takoyaki.

She’s in full food-reporter mode.

And … There is no way that healthy high school students who are hungry can withstand that delicious way of eating.

“Oh wow, that looks good…..”

“I’m going to go get some….”

“Oh, I’ll have some…..”

“Hey, I’m coming too! I’m also hungry!

“Well, if everyone else is going to eat it, I want some too!

And so my classmates rushed to the teacher’s desk in pursuit of my takoyaki.

When Shijouin-san, one of the biggest presences in the class, made a move, everyone began to follow her lead. In no time, the area around me turned into a takoyaki party venue.

“Oh, it’ s pretty crispy! Yum!”

“Wow, it’s got anko in it! It’s like a mini imagawayaki!”
[TN:Imagawayaki is a type of Japanese dessert made of a pancake-like coating and an adzuki sweet bean filling.]

“Huh? It’s like a mini Imagawayaki.”

“So this is Akashiyaki. I’ve never had it before.”

“I prefer ponzu instead of sauce for takoyaki …”

“What is that, a gyoza?”

“Hey, guys, this is just a tasting! We don’t have that many!”

The appetites of my classmates, who ate up the food as soon as it was cooked, scared me, but the situation was proceeding as planned.

Everyone was enjoying this unauthorized tasting party and a friendly atmosphere was created while they were talking about takoyaki.

The rigid situation was broken down and an “atmosphere” was completely formed.

“Guh ah ah ah ah !? ”

” Ah, Ginji, it seems like you hit the jackpot. that’s the one I mentioned earlier, the one filled with wasabi to the brim.”

“Hey! Don’t add something like that in the mix…!”

The next thing you know, everyone is in tears and bursting into a joyful laughter.

Okay, ……, I think everything is in place now.

“Well, I’m sorry to say this out of the blue, but this is my proposal! Let me know if you agree!”

I decided to call in for the final vote.

“No objection!”
“Thanks!”
“I like it!”
“I think it’s good!”
“It’s good, right?”
“I don’t think we’re going to get anything done anyway, so it’s fine.”
“I’m all for it!”

As expected, most of my classmates were completely in favor of it.

I glanced over at Tsuchiyama and Noroda, who were still sitting in their seats, looking frustrated. However, it was obvious to them that the situation had been decided, and they could only stare at me in frustration while gritting their teeth.

(Well, there is no point in yelling anymore, is there?)

The key to meetings and presentations is flow and atmosphere.

You have to show the disadvantages of other options, strongly appeal the merits of your idea, and use product samples and demonstrations to spread and solidify the feeling of “I like this idea” among the people who are present.

If this succeeds, even if there are a few opposing opinions left, they will be viewed as ‘irrelevant opinions’ and would be ignored.

Well, at any rate, I’m glad it went well.

“So, Kazamihara-san. I’m sorry to interrupt you out of the blue. It seems that my idea has been accepted”.

“What? Ah yes, well then, as a result of our deliberation, we’ve decided to go with Nihama’s idea of a “Japanese Takoyaki Cafe”! We’ll discuss it right after we take a 10 minute bathroom break.”

Kazamihara, who swallowed her takoyaki in a hurry, announced that the meeting had finally come to an end.

You may be the moderator of the discussion, but don’t eat three or four of them.

I went to the bathroom during the ten minute break and noticed that my shirt was slightly wet from the breeze blowing in through the hallway window.

Apparently, I sweated a little during my presentation earlier.。

(I’m tired. …… Thinking back, I was not good at presentations even when I was a company slave.)

I often felt sick to my stomach when I was surrounded by those eyes, as if I was being condemned by everyone around me.

(But then again, …… I couldn’t stand up in front of everyone in my class and make a passionate speech to get them to accept my opinion in the face of all the yelling… in my previous high school life.)

Well, I’m glad it went well.

I think I can manage now.

When I listened, I could hear buzzing voices coming from the classroom.

Perhaps it was because the atmosphere had been softened by the takoyaki tasting session earlier, but even though it was break time, everyone seemed to be discussing what they were going to do.

“Oh, by the way, what about aprons? Isn’t it expensive to buy one?”

“If that’s the case, there was one that all of us made in home economics, right? Let’s use that.”

“Hey, hey, the standard menu that Nihama-kun prepared is good, but why don’t we prepare something original?”

“Fumihashi-san, didn’t you make spicy egg rolls in home economics?”

“What are we going to do about the takoyaki sauce? Otafuku after all?”

“What? Brutoc’s the choice, right?”

“Oh, is it a hub for Igari or a war?

Yeah, yeah, there seemed to be some unrelated topics, but it’s good to have an increasing awareness.

The atmosphere was warming up nicely.

This will be the kind of event that Shijoin-san was hoping for, where everyone can have a good time together.

“Oh, Nihama-kun! There you are!”

When I looked back at the call, I found Shijoin-san standing beside me.

She seemed to be very happy and excited.

“At the meeting just now, Nihama-kun …… was really, really awesome! I had no idea you were planning something like that! I’m really grateful! Thanks to you, our class, which was originally stagnant, will finally be able to make progress!”

“No, no, no, you’re exaggerating. They were all exhausted and fed up, so they just accepted my idea easily.”

I say this in all modesty, but it probably wouldn’t have been successful if I had just raised my hand and said that idea.

Because there were people who saw me as an enemy, and there were also those who favored an easy exhibition.

In order to get the approval of the majority of the class, it was necessary to make a strong presentation, in which I could solidify the atmosphere at once with my forcefulness and tasting session.

“But ……, when did you prepare such a detailed presentation and explanation materials? The other day you said something like, “Oh, by the way, it’s almost time for the festival,” and it didn’t look like you had been preparing for it beforehand…”

“Yeah, I prepared it in a hurry, including the plan two days ago.”

“Eh!, You came up with the presentation plan only two days ago? It must have been very difficult to prepare all those thoroughly researched materials in such a short period of time! Why do you have to go that far?”

“That’s…”

If you ask me why, I’ll stutter.

I’m a virgin, no matter how mentally strong I’ve become.

Even if it’s just a fragment of my feelings, I can’t quite put it into words.

“You said you were looking forward to the festival …… with everyone in our class.”

“Yeah, …….”

“I thought that if the festival was ruined, …… Shijoin-san would be very sad.”

“――――――……”

When I replied with a bright red face, Shijoin-san opened her eyes and froze as if she had received a strong shock.

Then silence filled the air.

In the corridor, with only the sound of the wind blowing in through the window, we stood facing each other, unable to say a word.

We look into each other’s eyes and see only each other.