Hello! This is the longest chapter I've written since the first one.
Enjoy
Chapter Eight- Preparation
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"Okay, so here's what we've got so far." I pick up our checklist and read aloud to everyone.
"A shooting range, that game where you try to catch goldfish, and a game involving cups and balls..."
"Wait, isn't that the same as the shooting range though?" Takashi tosses a piece of paper into a nearby bin, he sighs heavily.
"Dammit, that's all I had!"
We are all in class 2-3 right now, class ended a while ago and I decided to get everyone together to discuss our plans for the festival stand. We don't have much time left, so I hope that today's gonna be the day we finally settle on an idea.
Fukuhara sits in her chair while lazily drawing lines on her notepad, she hasn't 'said' anything for some time now. Kobayashi's no better, she's lost most of her steam and has been running off her emergency reserves. The only ideas she can come up with now are usually just words with no meaning.
Takashi's nearing his limit as well, he's been sketching out designs for the stall itself. But he also wanted to help with on the ideas front. Basically, we're all running on low.
Who knew a festival stand would be so hard to make, even if we haven't gotten to the physical labor aspect of it yet. I place the checklist down and sigh, as I glance over all of our failed ideas, a thought pops into my head.
"Why don't we mix them together?" I mutter sleepily. I feel everyone's eyes on me the instant the sentence leaves my mouth.
"What did you say?" Takashi questions. Kobayashi puts her hand on her chin.
"Mix them all together..." She ponders this for a while as Fukuhara starts writing again.
"Did I say something stupid?" I sit up and look around me, Takashi's got some life back in his eyes as he stares into the distance.
"Far from it Susu!" Kobayashi leaps from her chair and wraps me in a hug. My mind short circuits as I feel two big lovely things press into my side, Takashi falls out of his chair.
"That's it! That's it! We'll just make our stand a 'Jack of all trades' kinda thing!." Kobayashi bounces up and down, her arms still wrapped around me and her cargo jumping around with her. I think I can die happy now.
Fukuhara breaks up our excitement with her message, "But what are we going to use out of our ideas?" She has a point. Kobayashi stares at the message and continues to hang over me, is she doing this on purpose or is she oblivious to it all?
I decide to seek answers and rub my arm against her chest, I feel her gasp and blush before letting go of me.
"S-sorry!" She walks back to her chair and runs through the scraps of paper on our interlocked desks.
...
No, don't be sorry Kobayashi. I feel alive for the first time, I lean forward in my chair and stare into the distance. Takashi gazes at me with a look of jealousy and general admiration.
"Fuku's right though, what can we use?" Kobayashi digs through the scraps helplessly.
I know.
"Well," I grab a few of the scraps I like, "How about this. We can combine the shooting range with the cups, set up the goldfish near the front, and my personal favorite, that water dunk thing." I look at Takashi who just raises an eyebrow in confusion.
Fukuhara writes out another message, "That's all well and good but what about our budget?"
"What budget?" Takashi sticks a finger in his ear.
Shit, a budget. I forgot about that.
"I'll cover it." I state flatly, everyone stares at me oddly.
"You're joking right?" Takashi looks astonished.
"B-but, I looked it all over. It's not gonna be cheap." Kobayashi looks worried, Fukuhara just nods in concern.
"Guys, don't worry about it. I'll cover the whole thing, I've got the money."
"I'm not using it for anything anyway..." The girls look at me with concern and Takashi just looks at the ground.
"Anyway, what do we need to get?" I change the subject.
"Well," Kobayashi thinks before looking to Fukuhara, who starts writing out a new checklist.
She hands it to Kobayashi who reads it aloud.
"We need, cups, two large containers that can hold water, the goldfish, shooting range guns, and Building materials."
"the list goes on..." This isn't good, team morale is dropping.
"Alright! Let's split up. We'll go in groups of two, the first group will gather the paint and necssary building materials. Team two will head into town and gather the things for the games." Everyone nods and stands.
"But who's going with who?" Kobayashi asks.
"Well, Fukuhara an-"
"Hold up there pal." Takashi slides over to me and drapes his arm around my neck.
"I'll go with Fukuhara into town and you and Kobayashi go get the building stuff." Takashi secretly winks at me, taking your pick uh Takashi? Fine by me.
"Ok, we'll do that. You guys okay with that?" Fukuhara nods and Kobayashi looks a little nervous but she quickly nods as well.
"Okay team!" Takashi claps his hands together, "Let's roll out." Fukuhara leaves the classroom with Takashi who speaks up before disappearing behind the sliding door.
"Oh, and good luck with getting the student council to let you just take their supplies!" Takashi vanishes soon after that.
At least we don't need to ask a teacher, Mr. Okada comes to mind. No way he'd let me have the stuff. Student council though, I think we have a shot.
"Well, shall we get going as well?" Kobayashi blushes and nods before walking out of the classroom before me. I grab my crutch and hop out into the hallway. We both make our way to the student council office.
Here goes nothing.
.....
The student council office is rather empty, well not entirely. The person I was hoping to see is here, but the person I was hoping to avoid is here as well.
Iwasaki gasps and stands up instantly, Nakajima notices this and looks up blindly, "Who is it Chiyoko?"
"It's Kichirou! And...." Iwasaki gets stuck, I move in to help.
"Kobayashi."
"Right! What brings you here?" Iwasaki moves a little closer to me, crap not this again.
"Well, we are building a stand for the festival but we need access to the school's building supplies." Nakajima frowns a little and feels out the front of his blazer.
"Hm, we're already short on supplies as it is Susumu."
"I understand." I'm about to say goodbye but Iwasa- Chiyoko, speaks up.
"Nonsense Fumio! We've still got plenty!" Nakajima just sighs.
"Did you even see the list of our inventory Chiyoko?"
"Did you even see it?" I cringe and I feel Kobayashi look away in embarrassment. Not good.
I expect a fight but Nakajima just laughs and shakes his head.
"Alright, we'll let you have your pick."
"Thank you, if it's needed, I can pay towards buying more supplies if we end up taking too much." Chiyoko just looks at me with surprise, but Nakajima nods and looks in my general direction.
"You sure Susumu?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Nakajima rests his hands on his desk, "Chiyoko, give them the key to the shed."
"Shed? What happened to using the art room?"
"About that," he stands up with his cane and walks towards a nearby filing cabinet, "The art teacher decided this year that his class was going to do a group project this year for the festival."
"So we no longer have access to that room, but before they locked up, they placed a bunch of materials in a shed by the sports field." Chiyoko walks up to me and pulls out a key chain, that's a lot of keys.
I feel Chiyoko look Kobayashi over as I take the keys, "Thanks for this Iwa- Chiyoko." She smiles and winks at me.
"Anytime, just be sure you bring it back, 'kay?" she leans forward slightly, her blouse is slightly unbuttoned. Now that's not fair.
"Ok! We'll be going then. Thanks for this Nakajima." Nakajima nods and waves in our general direction as we leave.
Once outside, Kobayashi finally speaks up. "What's with Iwasaki? Are you two close." I feel my blood run cold.
"N-not exactly..." We exit the school building and head for the sports field.
.....
Well,
They got the ass end of this deal, this shed is in poor shape. How come the school staff haven't taken it down yet?
I fish the key chain out and begin trying all the keys on the lock.
"Hey," Kobayashi asks while looking out at the trackfield, "How do you think Fuku and Yamaguchi are doing in town?"
I can't help but laugh out loud. If I had to imagine it, I can just see Takashi walking close to Fukuhara. He's trying to be smooth but he keeps messing up while Fukuhara just flat out ignores his advances.
"I'm sure they're fine. Damn key..." Just how many do I have to try? I finally hear a click as the door opens.
Inside, it's pretty dark but not enough to be completely pitch black. I step inside and survey the materials.
"This looks good, what do we need again?" Kobayashi pulls out a list and looks it over.
"How about the paint first?"
"That's cool but, you're gonna have to use the ladder." I point at my leg, Kobayashi blushes and mutters an 'oh yeah' before looking around for a step-ladder. She finds it and promptly sets it up near the various paint cans stacked on a shelf.
"Can you read out what we need?" She asks as she mounts the ladder.
"Sure thing," I look over the checklist and begin reading out the names, Kobayashi finds the cans and starts hoisting them off the shelf. I want to help but I can barely balance without my crutch, let alone carry things.
I step a little closer to her anyway just in case. Things are going well until we get to the red, It seems to be slightly rarer than the other colours. Kobayashi does find it but she seems to be having trouble pulling it out.
"Hey, you alright there?" I ask while watching with concern.
"It's okay, I've go- Woah!" Kobayashi slips and falls off the ladder, I step in quickly but instantly remember that I can't really catch her. She ends up crashing into me and we both plummet to the floor.
Nothing's broken, in fact, I'm actually pretty happy about all this. What with Kobayashi's setup and everything.
Those thoughts of mine are instantly thrown away as I notice the red paint can fall off the shelf. It hits Kobayashi hard on the back, causing her to scream in agony.
The screams are a lot louder than I thought they would be, Kobayashi yells out in pain and digs her fingers into my chest. I flinch at the sensation of my skin tearing.
Kobayashi hasn't stopped screaming, she looks like she's being slowly tortured with acid.
"Hey! you okay?" Kobayashi's not listening as she rolls off of me and begins squirming on the floor. I look around for my crutch and stand up slightly, This isn't good. She's really hurt.
Before I can open my mouth though, Kobayashi stands up abruptly and speaks, "Hey... Is there a bathroom around?" Her voice is shaking like crazy.
"Uh, I think it's by the changing rooms for the track team." Kobayashi nods and runs out of the shed. I stand there motionless, confused as all hell about what just happened.
I glance down and look at the red paint can, it didn't spill at least. I hop over and pick it up slightly, it's not very full...
My eyes gaze out of the shed, That was rather terrifying. I've never seen a girl scream like that, well, I did see my m-
No. I shouldn't be thinking about that. I pick up the checklist off the floor and look it over, one of the paint cans listed is conveniently on the lowest shelf so I end up pulling it out. I put it by the others and feel a sting.
I feel my chest and look down, I notice blood beginning to stain my uniform.
Ouch, I sit down outside the shed and poke the wounds absentmindedly. After about another thirty-minutes go by, Kobayashi returns.
"Hey there! Sorry about the wait." She smiles and heads into the shed.
I stand, "You okay?" She turns her head and smiles sheepishly.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" She finds the checklist and looks over the paint cans on the floor.
What the hell? She looks fine now, but just a few minutes ago she was screaming for mercy.
Well, whatever. If she's okay, I'm not going to say anything.
Time passes as Kobayashi and I collect what we need for the festival stand, we end up really clearing the shed out.
After several trips back and forth, we manage to gather the materials in a spot behind the school. I open my phone and text Takashi as I sit down, I put it away and grab my can of soda.
"I texted Takashi, I let him know where we are." Kobayashi nods as she sips her cherry flavored fruit juice quietly.
I struggle with the can a little but I manage to open it, its contents spill out rapidly and I quickly start drinking. Kobayashi giggles at this.
"Unlucky." She smiles and looks off into the distance. I take some time to look her over.
Her hair is rather unique in this light, her long ponytail sits beside her. The blueish colour in it shines a little, She tucks some of her hair behind her ear and looks downwards.
"Hey."
"Hm?"
"You mind if... We not tell anyone about what happened?"
"I- uh, sure thing." I smile and take another sip of my drink. Kobayashi sighs before looking into my eyes.
"Thanks." She leans her head to one side and smiles bashfully, I blush and look away.
I feel my pocket vibrate and I pull my phone out, I look over the message.
"They'll be here soon, but they need help."
"They say they had to use a truck..." Kobayashi takes my phone and looks it over.
"W-what?"
I stand and drop my drink can, "C'mon, lets get to the gates!"
We both start rushing towards the school entrance, There isn't anyone here. Better check the school parking lot.
Sure enough, Fukuhara stands next to a large pickup truck. Takashi's standing by the drivers side window, he seems to be negotiating with someone.
"Look man, I'll give that much."
"No way kid! I got a family to feed."
"Like I care geezer! Haven't you every heard of charity?!"
"What the hell does that mean?!"
I stand there in shock, Fukuhara just places her face in her hand as the shouting match continues.
"H-how did it go Fukuhara?"
She shakes her head and begins writing on her notepad, "We got everything, but as you can see, there is a problem."
I walk towards Takashi, he's standing by a rather large man with a neckerchief.
"Like I said kid! 5,000 yen or you can kiss your cargo goodbye!" The man is furious, I need to fix this.
"Hey hey! calm down, Takashi. Pay him." Takashi spins around and glares at me.
"Are you freaking kidding me!? I ain't paying that, I live off that money!"
"And so does this guy! Now just fork it over." Takashi sighs and digs through his pocket.
"Would you look at that, you should learn some manners from your friend here." The man nods with a smile and I just bow.
"Sorry about the trouble sir." Takashi pulls out the money but doesn't hand it over, I grab his hand and pry the cash from his fingers. I give it to the man who takes it happily.
"Thank you, will you kids need help with all this?" I look over the stuff in the back before speaking.
"We'll be fine thank you." He nods but still helps us unload the stuff out of his truck.
He climbs back into his ride and starts the engine, he waves with a smile as he drives off. Although he did give Takashi a look of disgust before he left.
Takashi kicks the floor and scoffs, "Stupid geezer!"
"Just leave it man, Let's get this stuff over to the spot."
We carry the items into the school and place them next to the paints and stacks of wood. After making sure we have everything, I speak up.
"Alright guys, Let's start." Everyone nods and cheers as we start working on our stall.
The sun sets and after most of the light is gone, we decide to continue tomorrow. We all head off to our respective rooms and call it a night.
I hope we can finish this in time...
