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Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

A day passed after the Lua Cheia United Kingdom was established. That was a major event within the game, but it had no weight on the real world, so Kou’s usual routine was unaffected.

…It was Saturday already.

There were only morning classes that day, and everyone had agreed to meet in a certain cafe that served a lot of snacks…but sadly, Kou and Hijiri were held back by something, and would be arriving later.

“Good, we’re done. You can put your clothes back on, Mitsuki.”
“Ah…okay, thanks.”

One of Kou’s classmates from the handicrafts club put away a measuring tape and patted Kou while saying that. Kou did not appreciate being treated like a child, but she was relieved to know she was finally free to leave, and began putting her uniform back on.

“For a moment, I was glad we didn’t have to actually put on costumes…but then all of a sudden, they’re taking our measurements…”
“I know… I still can’t believe they all accepted Subaru’s idea…”

Hijiri came over to talk with Kou, who had already been measured and was now dressed. The upper buttons of her blouse were still undone, and Kou had to make a conscious effort not to glance at the soft light blue fabric that peeked through.

But they were still surrounded by many other classmates, all in similarly vulnerable situations, so Kou could only look down in silence, trying her best to stay in control over her mind.

…All of the boys had been driven away from the classroom earlier, after which the girls took each other’s measurements like that.

The class’ petition to open a cosplay cafe during the festival had been accepted without issue, so they were able to move forward with the preparations. They would open a cosplay cafe that made liberal use of AR technology to show fantastical creatures and monsters.

That also meant that no one actually needed to wear any costumes at all. They could just enter with their regular uniforms, and the AR space within the classroom would change their appearance to whatever they chose.

Cosplayers in the past often looked down on that, preferring real costumes and disdaining the idea of changing appearances with the snap of a finger, but Kou thought the modern times really were more handy.

As for why they needed their real-life measurements… it all came down to the main gimmick of their project.

“You gotta give it to Subaru, he somehow always finds a way to make everyone suffer…”
“Ahahah…and this time it’s not just him. Everyone in class looked so excited to make costumes from scratch.”

In the end, they had decided to prioritize making real costumes, so Kou and Hijiri were held up while their measurements were being taken, while their friends who were not yet scheduled for that had already gone on ahead to the cafe.

Once they were fully dressed, they left the classroom, quite a bit later than everyone else, and began talking about their class’ plan.

Kou still thought that relying entirely on AR would be more fun…but they were not allowed to tell anyone outside the classroom about their plans, so she had to be careful when discussing that.

…They continued talking about random things until the two were past the outer gates.

“Well, umm…should we?”
“Sure…here, hold on.”

Hijiri noticed the way Kou was looking at her and held out her hand. Wary of their surroundings, they only began holding hands once they were outside the school.

With their fingers interlocked, they walked along the street, lined with ginkgo trees that left a golden blanket on the ground…but as Kou was still not used to that soft and warm touch, she constantly looked away with embarrassment. Hijiri was not too different, awkwardly trying to laugh it off.

…Their relationship had changed greatly over the past month.

A few days after their karaoke outing with Haru, Kou finally responded to Hijiri’s confession from their previous date. After that, they officially became a couple. But the embarrassment that came with that change was still too much for them, so the most they could manage was holding hands when they were alone and away from anyone they knew. That was the extent of the progress in their relationship, a small increase in skinship.

As Hijiri was also acting just as embarrassed, their relationship was obvious to everyone around them, making some of their classmates worry about their future together, but Hijiri and Kou did not notice in the slightest.

“Um…err… At what time are we supposed to meet up with Subaru again?”
“Ah…it should be 2pm. We ended a bit earlier than planned so uh…we still have around half an hour?”

It would take around ten minutes to get to the cafe, meaning that they could still take some time if they wanted.

“Hmm… Kou? Should we take a bit of a detour? If you want, I mean.”
“……Sure.”

They felt a bit guilty making the others wait more than necessary, but the two decided to change course and go through a nature park nearby instead.

In the end…the two made it barely on time to their meeting with the rest of their friends. There, Subaru, Kasumi, Reo, and the younger Reinhard all welcomed them, pretending not to know what they had done…

Afterword:

By the way, while they were waiting, Subaru and the others started betting chicken nuggets on the question, “How many minutes late do you think they’ll be?” The prez said they would be just on time, and ended up winning everything.

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