Mr. Kudo

"President, one tuna tenmi and two orders of nori sushi for table three!"

"Okay, this is the last serving of tenmi. After this, only marinated akami will be on the menu."

"Got it! Also, one tempura set for table five!"

The Literature Club had a limited budget, so they had bought akami, the cheapest cut of tuna. But even within that cut, the small portion right next to the backbone was a delicacy known as "tenmi," with a delicate, rich texture.

There was only a tiny amount of tenmi, and it sold out quickly.

Not just the tenmi-even the marinated akami had sold out a little over an hour after the cultural festival began.

Although the Literature Club's restaurant was in the Old Building, where there should have been very little foot traffic, word of mouth was a powerful thing. Once one person visited, they told ten others, who told a hundred more, and it soon became a must-visit spot at the festival.

The sashimi and sushi they had prepared to last the entire morning sold out an hour early, leaving only some tempura.

After all, practically anything could be fried as tempura, so they could use all kinds of ingredients.

Even so, the most popular item, the shrimp tempura, had long since sold out.

"President, should we go buy some more at the Fish Market?" Sugisaki asked.

"At this hour, we won't be able to get any of the freshest fish landed today that are suitable for sashimi," Huo Lin said.

Saltwater fish meant to be eaten raw as sashimi had to meet very high standards of freshness. Although they could have made do with ordinary fish at a cultural festival, Huo Lin couldn't bring herself to do that.

That was a requirement set by the head chef at Shinjukuya, who had taught her to make sushi.

"Chef, your skills are amazing! Are you really an elementary school student? This is just as good as what you'd get at a sushi restaurant!"

Their customers included parents of students as well as people who lived near the elementary school.

For the parents, it was hard to imagine a child the same age as their own, or even younger, being this capable. But the kitchen was right at the counter, and Huo Lin prepared everything before their eyes. There was no faking that skill.

"I help out at Shinjukuya."

"Shinjukuya? The famous Shinjukuya by the station?"

"Yes. Please do stop by the restaurant when you have some free time. Head Chef Fujimoto is much better than I am. You're sure to be satisfied."

Huo Lin didn't forget to put in a good word for Shinjukuya, which had kindly taken her on as a kitchen helper.

By noon, the Literature Club had no choice but to close, having completely run out of ingredients.

"Let's call it a day. You're free to do whatever you like this afternoon. We'll prepare more ingredients tomorrow. Sugisaki, Eriol, sorry for the trouble. I remember there's a little cart in the Literature Club's storeroom. You can push it home tonight. That way, you can buy more at the Fish Market tomorrow without wearing yourselves out."

"Oh, right, the cart! Why didn't I think of that?" Sugisaki said regretfully.

It was a small four-wheeled trolley they normally used to move books, kept in the storeroom behind the room. If he had thought of it earlier, he wouldn't have ended up with an aching back today.

Huo Lin glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost the time she had promised Hayate.

Time to find somewhere to change and put on a disguise.

Fortunately, she had the Changing Stage. As long as she found somewhere with no one around, she could finish in a few seconds.

The Cooking Club had decorated its entire classroom to look like a book club. There weren't many visitors, but thanks to several rare posters, it wasn't completely deserted either. Every so often, someone would be drawn inside.

Especially since those posters had personal signatures-not printed "autographs," but genuine handwritten ones.

Quite a few people had already offered to buy them, but every offer had been refused.

The one turning those visitors down was Mizutani, the Cooking Club's president.

Although Hayate didn't realize how valuable the posters were, Mizutani understood.

"Don't the posters say they're dedicated to 'Hayate Yagami' and our 'Cooking Club'?"

"But apart from those two, there are other posters, aren't there?"

"So Mr. Kudo is your friend, right? You can give a friend's gift to someone else, but you can't sell it. That's basic courtesy."

Was that how it worked?

Since the person in question was Huo Lin, Hayate really hadn't thought about it. Now that the president had pointed it out, it did seem true.

"Then there's no problem with giving one to a friend, right?" The speaker was a girl wearing glasses, the president of the school's Mystery Research Club.

The Cooking Club was actually holding a mystery novel book club. That was supposed to be the Mystery Research Club's activity, yet their visitor count fell far short of the Cooking Club's-because they didn't have these eye-catching props.

Those were posters personally signed by a master of mystery fiction!

"First of all, we're not friends," President Mizutani pointed out bluntly. "And since you're all here, what happened to the Mystery Research Club's activity?"

It wasn't just President Mitani who had come. The entire Mystery Research Club was there.

"We closed, of course. We had no visitors at all."

The mystery-solving game they had designed hadn't attracted anyone. They had even gone to the trouble of getting prizes, though those were only bookmarks.

Mitani sat down without ceremony on the desk in front of Mizutani, exposing her pale thighs beneath her pleated uniform skirt.

"That's so mean, Shizuku. Aren't we desk mates?"

"Desk mates, yes. Friends, no." Mizutani Shizuku was a girl too, so she had no qualms about pushing those exposed thighs off the desk. "Besides, the posters belong to Yagami, and she doesn't even know you."

"Fine." Mitani stopped dwelling on the posters. "Yagami, is it true that Mr. Kudo is coming to school today?"

Yes, that was the real reason the entire Mystery Research Club had gathered in the Cooking Club's room. The posters were only a secondary attraction. For mystery novel enthusiasts like them, the biggest draw was having a famous master of mystery fiction appear in person.

It was practically a fan meet-and-greet!

"Yes, he'll be here... I think?" As Hayate spoke, uncertainty crept back in, turning her statement into a question.

She had already heard that the restaurant Huo Lin's Literature Club was running was doing exceptionally well. Huo Lin might not be able to get away.

Just then, a commotion rose from the hallway outside, along with a few startled cries.

"Yusaku Kudo," dressed in a suit, walked into the Cooking Club's classroom.

He had actually come!

In fact, ever since changing into the disguise, "Yusaku Kudo" had attracted plenty of attention on the way through the school building. The crowd following him all squeezed into the classroom where the Cooking Club was holding its book club.

With posters covering the classroom, it looked more like a book signing or fan meet-and-greet for Mr. Kudo.

"Kudo" secretly winked his right eye at Hayate. Huo Lin knew Hayate had invited "Mr. Kudo" to publicize the Cooking Club's activity, and it certainly seemed to be working.

Too well, really.

Hayate was no longer sure inviting "Mr. Kudo" had been a good idea. The number of visitors had completely exceeded what their club could accommodate. A long line had even begun forming outside the classroom.

Even worse was her upperclassman Mitani's Mystery Research Club. Not only did they refuse to help, they kept clamoring for autographs.

All they did was make things worse.