Interlude 02: Memé’s Management Journal (In the Middle of the Festival)

Interlude 02:
Memé’s Management Journal
(In the Middle of the Festival)

 

“Eee! Eee! Eeek!”

Memé was inside the abandoned church.

She was too nervous and excited to think straight. She’d run away to the back of the church. The fashion show, where Memé and Plum took turns showing off clothes in front of spectators, was finally over.

“Memé-chi, what are you doing? Are you pretending to be a dog?”

“Who are you calling a dog? I can’t stand up!”

“Why not?”

“I-I’m too drained… Eee…! Eeek!”

She looked more like a newborn fawn than a dog.

At any rate, Memé wasn’t used to being in front of people. The whole point of the fashion show was to face her shyness and let Plum get used to being in town. But now that it was over, Memé was completely spent.

“Besides, Plum! Who are you to talk?! You were so nervous your teeth were chattering! What about your Lindworm debut?!”

“Er…I-I’m fine! No one noticed my teeth were chattering! Everyone thought I was the cool, silent type!”

“Ergh…you always act like everything went the way you wanted it to.”

Plum’s personable demeanor, and the fact that she was a mysterious vampire, made her seem cool. But after spending a few days with her, Memé knew that her “cool” attitude was really just her fear of talking to people.

Memé’s teeth were chattering, too. But everyone in Lindworm already knew that she was shy. There was no way anyone would suddenly mistake her for being a cool, mysterious girl.

To make matters worse, her love of frilly, gothic-style clothes was out now. How had this all happened?

“Ahh, when is Arahnia coming back?” Memé started to gag.

“Hey, don’t puke!”

“I’m not puking! I just feel like I’m going to puke!”

“Either way, big yikes.” Plum made a disgusted face.

Arahnia had said that if they got all dressed up, they might be able to become the people they wanted to be. But in the end, even after starring in Arahnia’s fashion show, Memé had just reaffirmed her phobia of talking to people…and exposed her secret interests. Plum, on the other hand, was just fine.

Memé didn’t think Plum actually had problems talking to people at all. But neither did she know what to do about her own lack of communication skills.

“Well, the spectators said we were cute. That’s a positive, right?”

“Huh?” Memé looked over at Plum.

“You didn’t hear? Everyone was saying you were so cute and your cyclops eye was cute and stuff.”

“I-I didn’t hear… I mean, I was so nervous, I couldn’t hear anything.”

“Everyone was saying it.”

Memé had never considered herself cute before. She’d been sure that no one would say anything good about her in the fashion show, just Plum and Arahnia’s designs.

“Heh heh.” She didn’t even realize she was smiling. “Heh heh heh.”

“Memé-chi, make sure you don’t get picked up by any creepy guys, though.”

“What are you even talking about?!” Memé screamed.

Plum kept her cool. Plum really could become the person she aspired to be, couldn’t she?

But what about Memé?

There were people she admired, like Lulala, Illy, and Arahnia. They were all cheerful and strong and sociable. She envied that, but she could never imagine herself becoming like them.

Still, she was genuinely happy that people complimented her when she was dressed up.

This must be what Arahnia had been talking about. Even if the outfit wasn’t the real Memé, she was pleased to be praised.

Someday. If, someday, she got a compliment like that for being her true self…well, Memé wanted to become the kind of person who could accept such praise with confidence.

“Now, let’s change and get some drinks. I’m thirsty!”

“Uh…no, I need to get back. I have to tend to the store.”

“What? Seriously? Just take the day off!”

“No, I’m going home. I can’t handle crowds.”

“It’s fine! Who will I hang out with if there’s no Memé-chi?”

“Just find someone to talk to.”

“I can’t. I could never do that! And I don’t want anyone to think I don’t have friends. C’mon, Memé-chi. I’ll buy you a soda!” Plum cried out, clinging to Memé

Memé struggled to her feet.

She wondered where Glenn and the others had gone. She’d just recently delivered his special order.

“Memé-chi, why are you smiling?”

“Oh, oh… It’s n-nothing. Hey, get off me! You’re going to ruin your cool image.”

“Eeek… Memé-chi, you’re so cold, but only to me!”

She wondered if the accessories she’d made had reached their final destinations yet. Even if she couldn’t be cool, as long as the things she created made other people happy, she would be happy, too.

That’s when she realized…

Maybe this was the Memé that she wanted to become, even if no one called her cute or complimented her. She could always commend herself for the pieces that she worked so hard to make.

“Fine, I guess I have no choice. I’ll go with you.”

“Sweet! I’m gonna get peach juice.” The vampire girl was practically giddy.

“Ugh, how did I get here…?”

Although Plum exhausted her, Memé was optimistic that she would be able to enjoy the harvest festival.