During Standby

"During Standby" (待ち時間の間で) is a short story for volume 5 of 2nd Year arc of You-Zitsu light novel series, from the purchase of MF Tape J 067 collection, with other three short stories.

Summary
After school, Satō went to the special section of the school, a classroom where they were demonstrating their maid café. Matsushita, Mii-chan, and Maezono were waiting for her there. Matsushita was taken aback when she learned that Satō had asked Kiyotaka to accompany Suzune. Satō claims that she called him because he was nearby when she discussed it with Suzune. Masushita doesn't believe her and asks if she's still not giving up on him, but she says she just wanted to get a guy's opinion.

Matsushita, attempting to ascertain Satō's true intentions, asks her about the truth, to which Satō replies that since they would have to show the maid café to all the boys once it was accepted, she just wanted to show him the maid café first. Mii-chan suddenly realises how embarrassing it would be to cosplay in front of the boys, but Matsushita reprimands her, telling her that in the real event, she will need to have more courage or else Suzune will definitely reject her. Maezono encouraged her as well and went to stand guard.

As they put on their dresses, the girls tried to reassure Mii-chan by telling her that showing it to Ayanokouji would serve as would be good practice before the real event. They added that because it was Kiyotaka, he wouldn't look at her strangely and would be dependable. They said that he was similar to Hirata in this regard. Mii-chan was taken aback when she heard Hirata's name, but quickly recovers. However, after Hirata was mentioned, Matushita and Satō told her that many girls were after him, but because Mii-chan seemed to be getting along with Kōenji lately, they assumed she had given up.

Mii-chan quickly attempts to clear up the misunderstanding, stating that Kōenji is surprisingly easy to talk to, adding that his point of view can be very different at times. She says that his unusual way of looking at the world had helped them win a huge reward in the treasure hunt. However, regardless of what Mii-chan said, Matushita and Satō didn't change their assessment of Kōenji.

Maezono abruptly warned them to stop chatting and continue changing, leaving them surprised.