Shinobu turned back to the group with an innocent smile. "Oh, just discussing some special performance details! Nothing to worry about." Sanemi narrowed his eyes at her.
"Bullshit. What exactly did you tell them?"
Mitsuri appeared beside them, practically bouncing with excitement.
"Shinobu has the most amazing idea for our performance! It's going to be so much fun!"
Sanemi and Giyuu exchanged worried glances. The organizers handed Shinobu microphones and pointed to the center of the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome our maid squad!" the announcer boomed. The crowd cheered louder. Sanemi's hands clenched into fists again.
"I'm going to regret this for the rest of my life."
Giyuu reluctantly stepped onto the stage, resigned to whatever fate awaited them. Shinobu took the main mic, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Thank you! For our first act, we have a special maid dance routine... featuring our two tsundere maids!" She gestured to Sanemi and Giyuu specifically, who both froze in horror.
"WHAT?!" they shouted in unison. The crowd erupted into laughter and cheers at their reaction.
"Come on up front, you two!" Shinobu called sweetly. Tengen and Rengoku started pushing them forward while Mitsuri clapped encouragingly. "This is absolutely cruel," Sanemi hissed at Giyuu. Giyuu looked like he wanted to disappear into thin air.
"I'm never talking to Shinobu again after this." They were now standing center stage, with the other maids forming a circle around them. The music started playing a catchy, upbeat tune.
"Just follow our lead!" Tengen instructed with a wink. Sanemi looked ready to commit murder, but Giyuu grabbed his wrist.
"We have no choice. Just... do the minimum."
The dance started, and Tengen began doing exaggerated maid poses while Rengoku demonstrated a basic step. Sanemi awkwardly tried to copy the moves, but kept stumbling. The audience found it hilarious.
"This is humiliating," he grumbled under his breath. Giyuu managed to keep his movements stiff and minimal, his face stoic despite the embarrassment. A few people started chanting "Tsundere Dance!" Shinobu watched with pure delight, occasionally adding in more complicated moves that Sanemi definitely couldn't do without tripping. Suddenly, Shinobu signaled for a partner section. She paired Sanemi with Giyuu. "Now for some chemistry between our favorite pair!" Sanemi looked at Giyuu with absolute betrayal.
"No. Absolutely not. I'd rather die." Giyuu sighed deeply, clearly wishing for the ground to swallow him whole.
"Just... stand close and look annoyed. It's what you're good at." They reluctantly moved closer together as instructed. The audience was loving every second of their discomfort. "Now spin!" Shinobu called out. Sanemi tried to spin Giyuu, but ended up spinning himself and almost falling over. Giyuu caught him by the arm.
"Damn it!" Sanemi snapped, yanking his arm away. The crowd 'aww'ed at the brief contact, while Sanemi's face turned a deeper shade of red. The dance continued with more awkward spins and stiff movements. Sanemi kept muttering curses while Giyuu tried to maintain some dignity. Shinobu then announced the grand finale: "And now for the big dip!" She demonstrated a classic dipping move between Tengen and Rengoku.
Sanemi stared at her in horror."She wouldn't dare..." Shinobu absolutely would dare. She pointed directly at Sanemi and Giyuu. "You two! The dip! Make it romantic!" The audience was now chanting "Dip! Dip! Dip!" in unison.
"I hate everyone here," Sanemi growled.
Giyuu was already mentally preparing for the inevitable. "Just get it over with quickly." Sanemi awkwardly positioned himself to dip Giyuu, clearly not knowing how to do it properly.
"Lean back slightly," Giyuu instructed in a whisper. Sanemi grumbled but followed the instruction. The moment Giyuu's back touched Sanemi's arm, Sanemi lost balance and they both stumbled. The crowd gasped as they nearly fell, but Sanemi caught himself at the last second, holding Giyuu in an unsteady position that looked more like a wrestling move than a dip.
"This is the worst day of my life," Sanemi hissed through gritted teeth. Giyuu remained stoic, even as their faces were uncomfortably close. Shinobu clapped enthusiastically. "Perfect! And that concludes our maid show! Thank you everyone!" Sanemi immediately let go and stepped away from Giyuu, fixing his outfit with jerky movements. The crowd was still cheering, some taking pictures of the two. Sanemi spotted a girl holding up her phone, zooming in on their faces.
"I'm going to find Shinobu and strangle her," he said darkly. Giyuu straightened up, equally determined to avoid any more photo opportunities. Shinobu had disappeared into the crowd, probably to watch their reactions from a safe distance. Giyuu spotted her near the refreshment stand.
"Let's get changed first," he suggested to Sanemi. Sanemi nodded vigorously, heading toward their assigned changing area. As they walked, a group of girls followed them, still giggling and whispering about how cute they were together.
"I can hear them," Sanemi said through clenched teeth. "This is going on social media already." Once they reached the changing area, Sanemi immediately started ripping off the maid outfit.
"I'm burning this when we get back." Giyuu changed more methodically, trying to ignore the sound of phones taking pictures outside.
"We should avoid public areas for a while."
Sanemi finished dressing and checked his phone, seeing several notifications from classmates tagging him in posts.
"Too late. Everyone at school is going to see this." He slammed his phone down in frustration. The walk back was tense and silent. Sanemi kept his head down while Giyuu maintained his usual composed demeanor, though his eyes were hard. When they arrived at their dorm, Sanemi slammed the door shut and threw himself onto his bed.
"I'm never going to another festival with that witch again." Giyuu sat on his own bed, pulling out his phone to check the damage. He saw several posts from their friends with screenshots of the performance and tags like "The Maid Tsunderes" and "Best Couple Moments." Sanemi's phone started buzzing with more notifications. "Ugh, they're spamming our group chat," Sanemi groaned. Giyuu scrolled through the chat where Tengen was posting edited photos of them dancing, adding heart emojis.
"Tengen won't stop anytime soon." Sanemi sat up suddenly.
"Wait. Did you see that one post? Someone's making fan art of us already." Giyuu checked the post - it was a poorly drawn but enthusiastic sketch of them dipping. "This is getting out of hand," he stated flatly.
Sanemi threw a pillow at the wall.
"I'm going to confront Shinobu tomorrow. This has to stop."