“I’m still surprised you’d spend your free time at the school.” I turned to Ivy and asked.

“Aren’t you here also?” She frowned.

“It’s not like I had a choice… ah…” I didn’t want to get into how I was coerced into volunteering by Miss Alma. “I guess we all have our reasons.”

“Are you ignoring me?” Rosita demanded in a loud voice before Ivy could answer.

My eyes flickered to Rosita. “Did you need something?”

“I’m the student president.” She declared confidently.

“So?”

Her face flushed red with anger and she put her hands on her hips. “Miss Alma put me in charge while she is busy doing chaperoning, so you better not think that you can just play around with your g-girl… your friends and not do any work.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I responded dryly.

Ivy and Lana both looked awkward as Rosita shot them both a suspicious look. She then turned back to me, leaning closer.

“I’ve heard all about you.”

“Really?” I knew almost nothing about her.

“You’re a womanizer!” She spoke in a whisper so the other girls wouldn’t hear. “Miss Alma told me that under no circumstances are you to be left alone with any of the girls.”

I frowned slightly. It seemed like an odd thing for Miss Alma to say. I looked in her direction and Miss Alma’s face turned red and she distinctly avoided my eyes. Perhaps she was embarrassed by that thing that had happened before. I hoped she didn’t get the impression I might use that aphrodisiac on other women. I would need to find a time to correct that misconception with her.

“I understand.” I nodded to Rosita.

Her eyes widened, and she took a step back, but then her fierce expression returned. “B-besides, you’re the only boy she left me, so you’ll need to do all the heavy lifting!”

I realized that she had spoken true. It wasn’t a surprise though. Miss Alma had divided us into two groups to get the jobs done more quickly. Several of the girls, including Ivy and Lana, were suddenly pushed over to our side. Since Miss Alma was so popular among the boys, they had all naturally gravitated to her group. I was the only one who was forced into this group, most likely because I was late and didn’t have a chance to decide.

“H-hey! That’s not fair.” Lana protested.

“It’s none of your business!” Rosita shot Lana a dark look. “This is a very important job. If you came thinking you could just play around, you’re wrong! Too many students are just lazy and think they can get away without putting in any real work.”

Lana looked like she wanted to say more, but Ivy put her hand on her shoulder to stop her and then looked at Rosita. “Just tell us what to do.”

“Hmph!” Rosita looked like she wanted to complain more, but when she saw Ivy acting sufficiently subservient, she could only cross her arms and continue. “You will be doing ticket duty. Set up at the entrance and collect tickets.”

“Is that all?” Lana blinked.

“It’s a very important duty!” Rosita glared. “You can only allow people in that are from our school. Some people from other schools will try to sneak in, or worse, older people that have no business at our school.”

It’d be nice if I was included in that group. Technically, I was far older than this school should allow.

“We’ll do it.” Ivy cut in before Lana could protest anymore, giving a smile and then pulling Lana away.

As Lana was dragged away, her protests could be heard. “Wait… but… I want to…”

Whatever Ivy whispered into Lana’s ear, it was enough to calm her down. She gave me one last look before the pair of them turned a corner and were out of sight. I didn’t know why she glanced at me that way. I had nothing to do with it.

Miss Alma led the other students into the auditorium to set up the main dance floor. While she disappeared with her students, Rosita directed the other girls left in her group to complete various tasks. She continued to speak aggressively, and every girl immediately jumped to the task without arguing with her.

By the time the last girl was gone, it left just Rosita and me alone together. Rosita didn’t see herself as one of the girls that couldn’t be left alone with me. That was probably for the best, as it’d be very inconvenient if I had to deal with walking around on thin ice. I was also a bit happy that I wouldn’t have to interact with other people. Doing a job on my own was always preferable. I wasn’t a team player like the original Aiko, for obvious reasons.

She crossed her arms again, staring at me a bit like an insect. “There are chairs in the basement. You need to bring them up so people have a place to sit.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

I nodded. “Alright, where is the basement?”

“You don’t even know this much? Huh… I’ll just show you.” She pushed passed me and started leading the way.

I followed her until she ended up at a stairway. The heavy metal door needed a key to open, so even if I had known how to get there, I wouldn’t have been able to get in. She pulled out a key deliberately and opened the door. She seemed slightly unhappy about it. Had she been intending for me to waste my time coming back to her for the key?

She flicked the light switch, and the lights in the basement flickered a few times before turning on. Even with the lights on, the basement was dim. It was also wet and musty, with concrete and brick walls and flooring. Rosita gulped nervously. I immediately started walking down the stairs.

“Ah! W-wait! Where are you going?”

I looked back at her. “I’m going to get the chairs?”

“B-but… it looks…” She looked uncertain. “Scary…”

“This cellar isn’t so bad.” I shrugged. “There aren’t even the sounds of people being tortured or the screams of the damned.”

In my world, a dungeon smelled of human refuge, blood, and death. There were rats everywhere, and it was a genuinely unpleasant place. I had both lived and worked in dungeons several times throughout my life, so how could I be bothered by this place. It was nearly a paradise compared to the worst of them.

“W-wait…” She followed me down reluctantly.

“You don’t need to help. I can handle this on my own.” I declared, not even sure why she was following me if she was scared of this place.

“Ah! Th-that… Boys will just play around if you don’t supervise them. That’s why… that’s why I need to make sure you do the job.”

I had already entered the cellar, and I turned back to see Rosita standing at the foot of the stairway with her hands on her hips, looking at me defiantly. I preferred working alone, but I didn’t care one way or the other. I shrugged and started grabbing chairs. After a few moments, she realized she was standing around doing nothing and so she grabbed a chair or two as well.

The school cellar wasn’t that large. It only consisted of a single large room. There appeared to be some kind of boiler in it, but it currently wasn’t on. There were various vents, but they were barely reachable. Most of the room was dedicated to chairs, exercise mats, and other things that they didn’t have room for in the auditorium above. I got to work bringing the chairs up the stairway, and Rosita followed behind.

Her behavior from earlier had seemingly changed ever since she opened the basement. She had become quieter and a lot of her original fiery attitude dissipated. We did several rounds of seats. I was able to carry twice as many as she could. I didn’t need her help, but she insisted on joining me.

As we brought the chairs up into the auditorium, the place was slowly being decorated until it looked more and more like a dance. There was a band with speakers set up, and a table with drinks. Miss Alma seemed to be putting things together in record time.

“Hey! Why are you sitting around?” Rosita snapped after putting her chairs along the side of the dance area. “Stop being lazy!”

It was like she was trying to release her frustration and anger she’d been suppressing earlier, and it all came out on that group of girls. They were the girls assigned under her earlier. It looked like once they finished what she had told them to do, they started goofing off and were just playing around at the punch bowl. She chastised the three girls, giving them more work to do. They gave her a hateful glare but still left, brushing past Rosita as they left. Rosita looked like she wanted to argue more, but they were already out the door. I felt a bit relieved. At least Rosita’s attitude wasn’t completely directed at me. She seemed to have that vicious tongue with everyone.

We did another few rounds of chairs, and the dance was finished setting up and some early birds were starting to arrive. Loud music started playing over the speakers, and the dance was underway. Just as I was about to head away, a familiar voice caught my ear. I poked my head out into the hallway. There was a table set up there and some familiar faces. Lana and Ivy were sitting there, ready to sell tickets and admit people. However, it was the person who had just arrived that caught my eye.

“Sh-should we buy our tickets?” Kio asked nervously.

It was my older sister. It was the first time I had ever seen her dressed up like that. She was wearing a dress, makeup, and had even done her hair. Her appearance was getting a lot of attention, her breasts in particular. I had done good work. If she had been a 3 or a 4 before, she was a solid 7 now. Well, that was assuming Ivy, Skyler, and Lana were 9. That would be based on my own aesthetic experiences though. I wasn’t a miracle worker, it took more than one visit and the removal of acne to make her the top beauty in the school, but she was pretty enough. Her face could still use some work, but her body looked particularly good in that dress.

“How could I allow such a pretty girl to play on her own?” A boy next to her declared, giving a toothy smile.

Kio flushed, and then nodded to him. She seemed really happy. It wasn’t any of my business.

“S-stop looking at other girls like that!” Rosita had joined me where I was looking and then pinched my arm.

“It’s my sister.” I glared back.

“Ah, s-sister?” Rosita gave an awkward expression, “With him…”

“Is that a problem?”

Rosita looked away. “No, we still have a few more chairs left.”

I sighed and nodded, leaving Kio with her date. Now that I thought about it, she had mentioned she had a date tonight a few times. I hadn’t realized it was going to be at this dance. I followed Rosita down into the cellar one last time. More people were arriving every moment, and the music had started playing, creating a distant thumping sound overhead.

“Thank… you…” Rosita suddenly spoke, her back still to me.

“What is that?” I asked, grabbing the last two chairs.

“N-nothing!” She declared. “We need to get back up and start helping with the ticket sales.”

“Alright.” I nodded, but just then we heard some giggling noises that echoed through the basement eerily.

Rosita stiffened, her face turning white. “Ghosts?”

I frowned as I listened to the voices. I couldn’t hear what they were whispering, but it didn’t sound good. I got a bad premonition. Dropping the chairs, I ran to the stairway just as I heard the heavy metal door slam shut. As I ran up the stairway, I could hear a click, and as I grabbed the handle, the door predictably wouldn’t budge. Someone had locked us in the basement. There was some giggling on the other side, but it quickly was lost in the sound of the music.

“Please tell me you still have your keys.” I looked back down the stairway where Rosita was looking up with confusion.

“Of course, they are right-” She reached for her pocket, and then her eyes widened. “Th-they were here!”

I let out a sigh, rubbing my forehead. “It looks like someone might have swiped them off of you.”

“Wh-what? Why?” She ran up the stairway and pushed me aside as she began to hit the door. “Hey! Hey! We’re trapped in here! Hey!”

I shook my head and started to walk back down the stairs. “No one will hear us over that noise. We’ll have to wait until someone notices we’re gone.”

“W-we’re trapped?” Rosita’s voice dropped as she started to realize their situation.

“So it seems.”