Chapter 5
Makoto: (Wow, what a nice day. Not a cloud in the sky... ☆)
(The sun is bright, but there’s a nice breeze so it’s not that hot. Coming up to the roof was a great idea.)
(Fufu. I was freezing in the AV room because of the AC, so I came outside to warm up~ ♪)
(Um... Oh, that bench over there’s in the shade, so I can use my phone without the reflection from the screen.)
(Sunflower Live is held at the beach, so I guess it’s basically a summer festival. I’ll gear my research in that direction!)
~... ♪
Izumi: Yuu-kun~ ♪
Makoto: Eep?!
Izumi: Ufufu, that was a cute little yelp. You don’t have to freak out; I just came over to see you, y’know?
Makoto: Wh—hang on, anyone would freak out if someone suddenly got all up in their face like that!
Actually, why are you here, Izumi-san...? No way you came to the roof just because you saw me, right?
Izumi: Yes way ♪ I was about to head home, but then I saw you and came running as fast as I could.
What a coincidence, right? It must be fate! You’re just killing time, right? So let’s go home together ♪
Makoto: Gimme a break... How can you lie so easily? It’s not a coincidence—you did it on purpose!
And anyway, I’m busy preparing for a live, so I can’t go home with you. So if that’s all you wanted me for, can you just leave me alone?
Izumi: I know you’re just acting so mean and violent towards me because the sun is making you cranky, right Yuu-kun?
You are supposed to mind your manners even with the people you’re close to, but since I’m such a kind brother, I’ll forgive you ♪
Makoto: Yeah, you’re not my brother.
But I am sorry for getting snippy. I really am preparing for a live, so I don’t have any time to hang out with you, Izumi-san.
Izumi: You say that, but you’re playing around with your phone. So what are you looking up, then?
Makoto: I wanna know the kinds of stuff they sell at summer festivals.
Izumi: Summer festivals? Hmmm, are you going to perform at one, Yuu-kun?
Makoto: Mm... There’s an event called Sunflower Live happening at the end of the month on the beach nearby, and Trickstar is gonna perform in it.
We’re setting up a booth together too, and we’ll be selling merch that we made ourselves... We divvied up the roles, so now Akehoshi-kun and me are coming up with ideas for that merch.
Izumi: Hmm. Well, if Oniichan’s cute little brother’s in trouble, then he can’t just ignore that, can he? Right then, I’ll help you out ♪
Makoto: Uh, no thanks, I’m good on my own! If I let you help me, I have no idea what you’ll make me do in return!
Izumi: Don’t worry, I won’t make you do anything. I just want to help you out of the goodness of my heart.
Makoto: Urgh... I just can’t believe you when you say that, Izumi-san. But at the same time, you do keep up with trends, so I feel like it’d be helpful to get your advice.
...Are you sure you won’t ask for anything in return?
Nothing like “Call me Onii-chan” or “Tell me you love me,” right?
Izumi: Y–yeah. I can’t say I didn’t hesitate at that, but no, I won’t ask for anything. I’m serious this time, okay?
Makoto: Fine. Then in that case... here, look at this. I’ve narrowed it down to three options—What do you think would sell the most?
Izumi: A water bottle, a phone case, or a mug... They’re all safe options; I don’t think it’d be hard to sell any of them.
You said Sunflower Live is like a summer festival, right?
If that’s the case, aren’t T-shirts or towels more common?
Makoto: Oh, I see... Hmmm, we can make T-shirts by ourselves.
But even if we do, there’s a lot of different ways to make them. How do we know what to choose? Well, I don’t want to spend too much money, so we should go with the cheapest printing method, right?
We’re just printing things on a shirt, so it’s all the same in the end.
Izumi: Yuu-kun, remember: you get what you pay for. The fabric affects all this, so it’s possible the colors will turn out differently from what you expect.
You’ll need to read the specs carefully.
If the fabric is too cheap, it’ll be too thin and people will be able to see through it. You’ll want to get a good thickness.
Makoto: Oh, sure. I was focusing on the price, but it probably is better to splurge a bit so we have a good quality product.
Oh, this one might be good. It’s durable and the prints come out really nice, so it’s kinda pricey, but it’s cheaper if we buy in bulk.
Okay, I’ll ask the vendor about the cost for this fabric and printing method. Should we keep looking like this for the towels?
It’d help if you can give me some advice on that too, Izumi-san ♪