Essentially, the entrance ticket for this festival is paid. Students from other academies pay 500 yen if they’re in middle school or below, and 800 yen if they’re older, while adults pay a reasonable 1,000 yen.

Students from Trinity and Gehenna can enter for free just by showing their Student ID. On top of that, they can also get a discount on seats in the marine grandstand.

Reality check: I can’t help but worry if this will prevent a deficit, but looking at it from a long-term investment perspective, it’s not too bad. If it becomes a hotspot for leisure and marine sports, we can consistently attract tourists, and since it’s between Trinity and Gehenna, it isn’t geographically a bad condition if we could resolve the conflicts between the two academies.

Well, sounds like something a minister or mayor at risk of failing a tourism project would say, right?

Can’t argue with that. Damn.

But hey, some sponsor companies have shown interest in the possibilities, which is good. If this goes well, there will be even more next year. By the way, we did receive a proposal from the Kaiser side, but I turned it down. I’m okay with them growing on their own, but it feels a bit off to help them grow myself.

Let’s gloss over the trivial matters; the festival will take place exactly a week from now.

For audience participation, there will be a total of six competitions, with three being held on alternating days to avoid overlap, and on the final day, each will occur one more time.

Moreover, once the surfing competition between the schools wraps up with the finals, an additional competition open to spectators will be held.

…I can hear the budget melting, but I went ahead and established a rule that participants cannot join the “eat as much as Akari” contest more than once. The rest will somehow work out.

The student council president of the Millennium, which still lags behind the other three major academies, embezzled some funds to build a city, so there’s no way their festival budget will dry up when Trinity and Gehenna are hosting this together.

The two academies will fiercely compete in basic marine mock battles and land massacre matches, and there’s also an additional event that seems like it should be reserved for Kivotos.

Additionally, there will be jet ski races where both individual and team participation is allowed, as well as a two-person water ski challenge, beach volleyball, and a surfing competition for individual participants, necessitating a careful schedule allocation.

Naturally, it’s best to gather the preliminaries early in the festival, but to attract the interest of external spectators, it was concluded to hold one finals event in a day.

Team events will be scheduled for the sixth day so that the festival atmosphere doesn’t become too overwhelming on the last day. It’s an itinerary created through the diligent brainstorming of both academies’ executives.

We didn’t just brainstorm; we literally clashed heads. Apparently, there have been about five major fights over the past month, including some that involved firearms.

Anyway, as for today, the first day of the festival, the schedule has been set to hold the surfing competition and the two-person jet ski race simultaneously, giving the audience more chances to participate.

But first, the Student Council President insisted that the opening ceremony speech couldn’t be missed, so Makoto and I were made to give it. To be precise, I nudged Makoto into it.

I tried to drag the Student Council President into it as my last act of rebellion, but she accepted my demands as if she had planned this situation from the beginning. Realizing that I was at the mercy of the Student Council President like that made me feel a bit down.

But that’s not all. I’m slated to participate in an event match to liven up the atmosphere of the opening ceremony.

It might sound surprising, but I didn’t get asked to do this; I volunteered.

On the day I first met Hina, I promised we’d have a match later, and that promise morphed into today’s event match.

To be honest, when I first thought about this, I wondered if it was even possible, but there’s nothing impossible in front of the financial power of two huge academies.

Plus, thanks to an incident caused by some terrorist group, I’ve built up decent relations with the Millennium. I should thank the engineering club, as they’ve been significant contributors to this festival.

Now then.

…Looks like I really have to wear this.

I’ve been standing dumbfounded in the dressing room for about 10 minutes. I’d better change and get out; otherwise, Nagisa will certainly let me have it for taking too long, saying I promised to show her first.

I swallow hard, looking at the white one-piece swimsuit in my hands.

Even after half a year of being in this body, I can count the times I’ve worn a swimsuit in front of others on one hand.

School swimsuit? I didn’t put it on at school due to being busy with work. And while it is true that it’s the least revealing of all, that reluctance hasn’t easily faded away.

With skirts, at least I could wear shorts underneath, but with swimsuits, even the school version reveals the body too literally.

The only times I’ve worn it in preparation for today were definitely during swim lessons.

Looking back at my determination to live on as Mika, I realize I had reservations about wearing swimsuits and exposing my body even before that, which makes me think I might have unconsciously begun to accept Mika’s body as my own.

Swish.

Somehow, as I peel off layer after layer, it feels strangely erotic. It’s just the usual process of undressing, but perhaps the unusual endpoint changes the feeling as well?

Once there’s not a single piece of clothing on my body, I slipped my legs into the swimsuit. Before pulling the fabric up, I folded my wings as tightly as possible and pulled it through the pre-made hole in the stitching.

I put one arm into a sleeve and carefully adjusted the non-sleeved side strap over my shoulder so that it wouldn’t be uncomfortable around my chest.

Glancing at the mirror in the dressing room, I caught sight of my beautiful reflection, almost forgetting to breathe.

And yet, feeling a strange sense of loss, I took off the scrunchie from my wrist and gathered my hair beneath my neck to tie it up. When I turned to check my back, the wavy ponytail turned out to look pretty nice and natural.

As I stood there, I thought I was half a woman now, and a bitter laugh escaped my lips.

I’ve embraced the identity that this body is now my own, yet I still found this appearance quite appealing. At this point, it wouldn’t be strange to hear I’m a narcissist.

Well… I’m still embarrassed, but I think I can somehow stand in front of others now. I heard there’s a long line for the shuttle bus, as people are pouring into the festival site even now. Standing in front of that many people, it wouldn’t matter if I was wearing a swimsuit or not; the nervous feeling would be the same.

“Heueng…”

Honestly, I was the one who had circuit ideas running through my mind about what Mika would look like in a swimsuit before Mika’s original version was released. Looking back, it’s hilariously ironic.

Who would have thought that, despite all this, I wouldn’t be able to draw the original Mika and end up in this situation? It’s frustrating, but who can argue with the ways of the world?

Anyway, since I’ve been so obsessed with Mika, I decided to take a selfie to capture this unexpectedly different yet infinitely adorable version of myself. I posed with a classic gyaru peace sign, and feeling a bit wistful, I winked one eye.

Click!

…What the heck am I doing?

As the wave of self-loathing hit me late, I barely held back the urge to slump down and sit. Sure, it looks pretty, but when I realize the person trying so hard to look this good is me, that self-loathing is no joke.

“Misono Mika, if you have time to take photos leisurely, hurry up and come out! Don’t forget to send me the ones you took!”

“U-uhm? Did you hear me?!”

“Did you think I wouldn’t hear that? So, did you change?”

“Ahaha… I thought you wouldn’t hear. Yeah, I put it all on, but let me just apply some sunscreen first!”

Hmm, a moment ago, I thought I was going to die from embarrassment, but thinking about the photo I’d send to Nagisa suddenly lifted my spirits.

That selfie turned out pretty nicely. I wonder if she’ll like it?

Looks like the saying that love makes fools out of people might be true indeed.

I opened my pouch to safely store my phone, then quickly took out the sunscreen to apply all over my body. The cool sensation spread across my skin.

Especially on my thighs, where I usually don’t apply sunscreen, just touching it brings a strange sense of feeling.

After hastily shoving the sunscreen back into the pouch, I opened the changing room door.

Stepping out, I was suddenly greeted by Nagisa, who had been waiting right next to me; I was hit with a breath-stopping experience.

The white ribbon halter bikini I had chosen for her, paired with a wrap skirt, was nothing short of blinding.

When I saw her wearing it in the store before, she had a floral crown atop her head, but today she sported, just like the bikini, the straw hat I had picked out for her. The flowing fabric cascading elegantly from the center of her chest added to the delightful view.

However, something felt off.

The flower decoration I made to attach to Nagisa’s straw hat wasn’t what she was currently wearing.

“Um, Nagisa, didn’t you wear the wrong hat?”

“Huh? This is mine.”

“No, no, Nagisa, yours was decorated with lilies. What you’re wearing now is decorated with forget-me-nots.”

“So, Mika should wear mine, right? Because you’re mine.”

“O-oh? Is that so?”

It must be a fallacy. But, hearing Nagisa say it so confidently makes me question, ‘Isn’t that right?’

“You’ve tied your hair up really nicely too. Fufu, it suits you well.”

As she said this, Nagisa placed the straw hat I had chosen on my head, adjusting its position with her hands. It felt like ten minutes of adjusting passed in just a minute before she finally pulled her hands away with a satisfied smile.

“Fufu, it looks good. With this, Sorasaki will know right away who you belong to. She’s not exactly known for being sharp.”

Only then did I realize why Nagisa insisted on swapping hats. A wave of affection for her cute possessiveness washed over me.

“Honestly, Nagisa, if you wanted to advertise that you’re mine, just say it! By the way, if you need one, I can always match you with a choker that has my name engraved on it.”

“…Huh?”

“Well, if we go by Nagisa’s logic, the reverse must also hold true, right? Isn’t that right, ‘my belonging’?”

“…”

“Ahaha!”

“Mika, you are something else…”

Nagisa’s face turned crimson as I extended my right hand. The pleasant sea breeze brushed against the lace sewn into my sleeves.

“It’s getting late; let’s hurry, Nagisa!”

“…Hah.”

While she sighed, Nagisa couldn’t hide the faint smile as she carefully took my hand. Then, avoiding my gaze, she whispered softly.

“Let’s walk slowly… as slowly as we can. We still have plenty of time.”

“Ahaha, alright then?”

It’s an undeniably perfect start to the beginning of the festival.