Clique
I wake to the sound of banging on my door. Again. What could it be this time?
Making my way over to the door, I'm glad to see that it isn’t too early. The sun is at least up this time.
Opening the door, I'm greeted by Chiharu in full protective gear and a bucket of cleaning supplies. She's fidgeting as she stands there.
“Morning Chiharu,” I say, somewhat annoyed by her disturbance. “What do you want?”
“It’s time to clean,” she responds, looking past me into my room. “We need to clean everything.”
That's something I'm definitely not in the mood for, so I try to divert her attention.
“Shouldn’t you be out enjoying the festival?” I ask.
This suggestion seems to horrify her as her eyes go wide and she back peddles away from me. At least I have some space now.
“Why would anyone want to do that?” Chiharu responds.
She genuinely seems horrified by the idea of the festival.
“Everything is so messy and dirty and disgusting," She says. "It should all be thrown out. Besides that, it’s Sunday and Sundays are for cleaning the dorm rooms."
I'm not sure how I'm going to handle this girl who seems ready to force her way into my room when Cho steps out of her room to save the day.
“Chiharu, how about you give Hatsumi a chance to get ready,” she says calmly. “Since she’s new, I’ll explain everything to her, and you’ll be able to get started just now.”
Chiharu stares at Cho for a moment before muttering something under her breath. She then retreats back into her room to leave the two of us standing in the corridor in silence.
“Don’t worry about her,” Cho says to me. “She really needs everything to be clean. So she likes to do a full service every week. We’ve found it best just to leave the doors unlocked and stay out of our rooms on Sunday. Nothing’s ever in the wrong place and she’s never taken anything, so you should just look at it as a weekly cleaning service.”
That's a very interesting way of dealing with our dorm mate, but if Cho says that that it's what I should do, then I'm inclined to believe her. I'm not really interested in going through the same troubles she probably did in learning how to deal with Chiharu.
“Why don’t you get ready for the day and then head downstairs. Nanami is already down in the common room waiting for me,” Cho says. “Why don’t you come with, and we can explore the festival together?"
I briefly considered Cho’s offer.
It probably would be more fun than wandering around alone.
“That would be great,” I say and Cho beams back at me. “Just give me a moment and I’ll be right down.”
Cho heads past me, probably on her way to fill Nanami in on the development while I head back into my room to throw some clothes on before heading off to catch up with the two of them.
When I make it downstairs, I find Cho and Nanami waiting by the door for me.
Nanami rushes up to me.
“I'm so happy you decided to join,” she says. “Let’s get going.”
We head out towards the festival, and I finally get to see how busy it is. The noise has been drifting up to my room, but it doesn’t do the crowds justice. Students fill the pathways, most of them still in school uniform.
Is that because they find it comfortable in the same way I do, or were they trying to stand out? I can see that many of the visitors from outside the school are careful in avoiding anyone in Yamaku uniform. It probably is safer for them to assume that anyone in uniform shouldn’t be bumped around in case anything went wrong.
All the stalls are busy, some more so than others. Anything that involved games has a long line of students while the food stalls seem to attract more outsiders.
That does make some sense as the town seems to mostly have an elderly population. They aren’t as interested in the festival games as the students.
“Let’s go catch a fish!” Nanami announces.
She did say she wanted to catch one herself, but it's funny that the first stall she wants to visit is her own.
Cho looks at me exasperatedly and I just shrug my shoulders back at her.
“Fine,” she says. “Let’s go catch you a fish.”
We head over to the band’s stall and there I see the large tank now filled with water and dozens of small goldfish.
Sitting behind it is Saki.
She sees us coming and immediately knows what this is about.
“You know you could just have one,” she says to Nanami.
“And you know that it’s not the same,” Cho responds for her.
“If you say so,” Saki replies shaking her head as she pulls out a paper net.
Nanami examines the net and then looks up at Saki. “Don’t try that with me Saki. I can see that’s the wrong net.”
What does Nanami mean by that?
Saki chuckled in response. “Thought I might give it a go,” she says before returning the paper net to its place and retrieving a much flimsier looking one.
“Just trying to get you the fish,” she says.
Apparently, there's a net for pity cases.
With Nanami’s desire and apparent inability to catch a fish common knowledge, I can see why Saki tried to fool her. Nanami, however, was clearly resolved to do things properly.
She crouches over the tank, staring into it as she tries to spot one she wants. She eventually does and dips her net into the water close to one of the edges of the tank. She then pins what might be the largest fish in the tank against the glass.
“You’ve got this,” Cho says also watching the fish intently as Nanami begins to lift the fish towards the surface.
Unfortunately, it looks as if Nanami has overestimated the strength of her paper net. The huge goldfish has already torn a small hole in her net.
By the time she gets it out of the water the fish falls back through the net and into the tank.
“So close,” Nanami says in frustration.
“You nearly got it,” Saki says. “Maybe aim for a smaller one next time?”
A few other people look like they want to try their luck, so Nanami steps back. She seems to have the sense to prioritize paying customers despite her desire to catch a fish.
“We can come back and try again later,” Cho says. “How about we go find some food instead?”
The suggestion of food causes Nanami to perk up. I also like the sound of that as it would be nice to get something after having skipped breakfast.
We walk along the stalls, passing several that sell snacks. Candy and chocolate won’t really do much to fill us up, so we continue on.
We arrive at a stall selling Takoyaki with lines that aren’t too long. The students at the stall seem to be very organised if the speed they are working at is anything to go by.
“Let’s get some Takoyaki,” Nanami suggests. “It might not be that filling, but it looks really nice.”
I have to agree with her. Several people walk by with plates of Takoyaki. There's steam rising off balls coated in bubbling oil.
The three of us join the queue and are soon presented with our own serving of the delicious snack.
I end up carrying the plate while the other two spear the balls with their little skewers from either side.
Even out of class they're looking to trap me in place.
Once we finish the food, we head over to another games stall where there are prizes to win by knocking cans over. The stuffed toys all along the display really are cute so we all decide to have a go.
Cho goes first, attempting to bring a whole tower of cans down with her throws. This plan doesn’t go to well and she ends up only knocking a few of the cans down.
Nanami is more successful, as she’s less ambitious which pays off as a large portion of the cans come tumbling down.
Finally, it’s my turn. Knowing that I have a powerful throw, I aim for the bottom of the largest tower.
My first throw shifts a few of the cans.
The second causes the entire tower to wobble.
Cho and Nanami watch with bated breath.
My final throw sends the entire tower tumbling to the floor. Cho and Nanami whoop in excitement and both envelop me in a tight hug.
“Well done!” They squeal simultaneously.
I am rather proud of my achievement.
The boy behind the stall hands me the largest prize available. I guess I don’t get much of a choice when there’s only one thing available for the grand prize. It’s a large dopey looking lion.
While he has a huge mane, he has a rather sleepy look on his face.
Cho and Nanami each choose their own prizes. Nanami picks out a cute little penguin while Cho chooses an oversized goldfish. The two of them then immediately swapped prizes with each other without a word.
We move on with our prizes, although I foresee mine becoming a problem before too long. We soon arrive at class 3-2’s noodle stall, which might be an opportunity for us to get something more filling.
“How about we get something here?” I ask my companions.
The two of them examine the stall menu before Nanami speaks up. “We could do with something more.”
Cho nods as well. It looks like they feel the same way I did.
We join the queue and steadily made our way towards the serving counter. They really have been ambitious with all the options available.
Looking at the student taking orders, I was happy to see a familiar face. He was apparently doing very well at handling the steady flow of customers.
“Hey Hiraku,” I say as we reached him.
His brown furrows for a moment as he tried to place my voice.
“Hatsumi,” he says with a smile. “I’m so glad you could make it. What would you like to order.”
I suppose he can’t really waste time chatting with all the customers waiting behind us.
“I think I’ll have the Tonkotsu Ramen,” I say.
“And we’ll have the Udon and the Soba salad,” Cho adds.
“Just a moment while we get that ready for you,” Hiraku responds, motioning to a little dish for us to place the money in.
We do so and it isn’t long before our food is ready. Hiraku passes the bowls to us one at a time.
“I hope you enjoy our food,” he says.
“I’m sure we will,” I respond. “But I do have a pretty strange request. I won this huge lion and need somewhere to keep it do you mind if I leave it here?”
Hiraku freezes and it’s almost as if he is staring at me in confusion.
“Of course we’ll look after your lion. Just take it around back,” he says.
Apparently, he’s thought better of asking for an explanation.
“We’ll keep your Ramen safe,” Nanami says. “Go find a home for that cute thing.”
I nod gratefully while handing over my bowl and head around the stall to find a place out of the way for my lion.
I look around, not wanting to leave it somewhere that someone might trip over it, and decide that its best to stuff it under a table as far back as possible.
I see a spot that would probably work just fine, but it's currently blocked by Lilly. She’s in the middle of a conversation with a slightly older woman who looks terribly similar to her. If it wasn’t for the suit and the shorter hair, I would have said that they were the same person.
“Excuse me Lilly,” I say, “Could I please get to that table behind you.”
Lilly cocks her head looking confused. “Who is it?” she asks.
“It Hatsumi,” I reply. “Hiraku said I could store something here.”
“That is a very interesting something,” the other woman says eyeing my toy lion.
“I won it in a game,” I say, feeling the need to provide at least some explanation.
“Well done,” she replies.
Lilly steps in to introduce us. “Akira. This is Hatsumi. She’s been a huge help in setting up the store. Hatsumi, this is my sister.”
The similarity makes sense now.
“It’s good to meet you,” I say, using the space that’s now appeared between them to stuff my lion out of sight.
“Good to meet you too,” she replies.
With that out of the way I make my excuses to leave and hurry back to Cho and Nanami. They’ve found an empty bench to eat at and are waiting for me to join them.
“Thanks,” I say taking my Ramen back as the other two begin to eat. “I got held up meeting Lilly’s sister.”
The two of them seem unsurprised by the revelation. They're also hungry, so the three of us continue to eat hurriedly.
Once we finish, I offer to take everything back to the stall.
Heading back, I drop the bowls off on a side table and shout to get Hiraku’s attention.
Thanks for the food, it was delicious,” I say. “And thanks for storing my lion.”
It’s no problem,” he calls back. “Will you be joining us this evening?”
Will I? I’m still not sure what I want to do with the day.
“I’ll let you know after the band performs,” I say. “Today might still get busy and I’m not sure if I’ll be up for anything after the festival.”
“Sure,” he replies. “I’ll be there anyway. Meet you then.”
With that he turns back to the serving counter to take orders from the line that keeps growing. I don’t know if their ingredients will last with so many customers.
I rejoin Cho and Nanami and we head of to explore some more of the stalls.
As we pass by a fortune telling stall, I spot another familiar face. It looks like she's already seen me as Rei is making a beeline for the three of us.
Cho and Nanami go quiet.
Maybe they’re worried about encountering someone on the Disciplinary Committee? I’m sure we haven’t done anything wrong though.
“Morning,” she says, smiling. “You look like you’re enjoying yourselves.”
This friendly approach calms the others, but they still hang back waiting for me to take the lead. It seems I truly am in charge of matters involving the Disciplinary Committee.
“It’s has been a lot of fun,” I say. “I can’t believe how much stuff there is. I mean, I helped here and there but its way more than I thought.”
“Yes, we’ve all been very busy,” Rei says looking around. “But it’s all worked out.”
She then shifts her attention to Cho and Nanami. “It’s good to meet you two as well. I’m sorry that I stole Hatsumi away from you that afternoon."
It takes the two of them a moment to figure out what she’s talking about, but the events of Wednesday afternoon quickly come back to them.
“It’s good to meet you too,” Cho says, she seems to have gotten over her wariness now. “I'm glad to see someone on the Disciplinary Committee getting on so well with one of our friends.”
“Even the Committee doesn’t get away with breaking the rules,” Rei replies cheekily. “So don’t think you can get away with anything just because you ‘know a girl’.”
The two of them seem to have hit it off well, which obviously means that Nanami is just as comfortable all of a sudden.
“I guess we can’t let you find out what we’ll be getting up to,’’ she says mischievously. “And it was all going to be so fun.”
“Nonsense,” Rei replies, puffing up her chest to look important. “I definitely need to know about these things. Can’t let you break the code of conduct.”
“Even if it means telling you how to bend it.” She continues in a whisper.
This draws laughter out of all three of them. It looks like our group has grown, even if it is just for the day.
She seems to have similar requirements to Giichi when it comes to talking to people.
I also realize she's still wearing trousers as well as her gloves and, as she spins into position on our right. I think back to what she said about how other people see her. It all seems done to hide her prosthetics. Granted, she does an excellent job of it. I’m not sure I’d notice anything was wrong if she hadn’t told me the truth.
Strangely, it’s as if her admitting what happened is what makes made all of the smoke and mirrors ineffective. I can tell that she goes to great lengths to keep the truth hidden.
It’s best not to think about that though, since I don’t want to become one of those people she hates. Who stare and pity her.
“How about you decide what to do next,” I say. “You’re the new student, so you get to pick what we show you.
“Of course there’s plenty I want to see,” she says sarcastically. “I’m sure you can use your experience to guide a new student like me around.”
She really is quick about turning anything around and Cho and Nanami can’t help laughing Rei’s response.
It is good even if it is at my expense.
“All right all right, we can all discover what’s on offer together,” I say. “I still think you should get to choose first."
“Fine by me,” Rei responds. I’m doing my rounds anyway, so follow me and we’ll see if we can find any fun while I look for rule breakers.”
It seemed Rei was still on duty despite her willingness to get involved in the fun of the day. We’d have to be careful with what we did around her, even if it did sound like she tended to interpret rules to suit her needs.
As she leads us to another area of the festival, we came across a rather interesting stall combining games and food. Laid out on the table were a whole line of jars filled with various condiments. According to the sign they were all homemade.
Most importantly was the fact that none of them were labelled. There was only a sheet of paper listing each item that was available.
Noticing our interest, the student behind the counter started to explain the rules.
“It’s simple,” she said. “You choose a jar, and you have to guess what’s in it. Once you choose, you can’t back down. Maybe you get a strawberry jam, maybe you get a habanero sauce. If you choose wrong, nothing happens. If you win, you can choose a prize from the list. And please, don't play along if you cant eat anything on that list.”
That sounds easy enough.
“But if you pick a bottle and refuse to have a taste after you open it, then we keep the 5 000 Yen you put up as collateral. And don’t worry if you can’t pay, we keep a tab for students.”
That really ups the stakes. I looked down the list of possible condiments and see some very hot sauces.
I was interested, but I didn’t need to play if the others weren’t up for it. Looking over at them I saw that Cho and Nanami were both trying to hide their excitement.
I wonder if they were hoping someone else would back down for them?
Rei is definitely up for this and is already looking for her wallet.
“What are you waiting for?” She says looking at us excitedly.
Of the three of us, she is the only one with enough money to cover the wager, but I don’t think she’ll need to worry about it if she couldn’t. She clearly intends to follow through with the game.
“Well, now that I have your details and wager, feel free to choose a jar,” the girl says. “I must warn you though, you can’t always judge a book by its cover.”
I examine each of the jars carefully while the others pounder their choices as well. Rei quickly settles on a bright orange sauce, while I take my time as I’d rather avoid something too hot if possible.
In the end we all settle on our choices. Nanami’s is a dark green, while Cho and I have both settled on bottles filled with a red condiment. Mine is slightly darker than hers.
“Here are your spoons,” the girl says, handing over four small teaspoons. “Enjoy."
Rei speaks up first.
“No sniffing the contents,” she says. “You keep it far away from your face until you’re ready to eat it.”
It looked like she wanted to go all in. No chance to back out if you realized you’d made a mistake.
It was probably a good idea. I'd rather eat something way too hot than lose that money.
We all unscrewed out lids and take a spoon of our mystery condiments.
“Three, two, one,” Rei says before shoving the whole thing into her mouth.
The three of us quickly follow suit.
I immediately knew that I had ended up with a jam. What exactly it was, I'm not quite sure.
Looking at the other three, I'm met with a range of reactions. Cho looks quite happy, though not as much as Rei who was almost jumping for joy.
Nanami does not look to happy.
“That’s habanero!” Rei says gleefully.
Apparently, she has a liking for spicy things.
“Correct,” responds the girl behind the stall.
Nanami is now breathing heavily through her mouth, trying to get as much air as possible. The girl holds out a glass of water which Nanami gratefully takes.
Cho on the other hand looks down the list of possible choices before looking up.
“That was strawberry jam,” she says calmly.
“Correct,” comes the answer.
Nanami now seems to have things under control. “Jalapeno?” she says hopefully.
The girl shakes her head.
I look down the list unsure of what I'd tasted. Eventually I settle on one that I felt could be right.
“Blackberry?” I ask.
“It looks like we have two winners,” the girl announces.
I had been wrong.
"What would you like as your prizes?” She asks the winners.
“I'll take the same again as my prize,” Rei says happily. “Maybe I can get those two with this.”
I guess she's planning a prank on the Disciplinary Committee.
“I’ll take the same again as well,” Cho says, and the girl hands over two larger jars with labels this time.
As we leave Cho looks at her watch.
“It’s time for you to start getting ready,” she says to Nanami.
I'm surprised by how much time has passed already.
“Let’s get going then,” Nanami says in response.
“I’m going to keep on with my patrol,” says Rei. “How about you stick with me Hatsumi? We’ll head through to see the band when they start their performance.”
“Yes, you should do that,” Cho answers for me, before heading off with Nanami in tow.
Once they disappear into the distance Rei speaks up. “I have to admit, you’ve found some interesting friends in a very short period of time.”
“They are great. Aren’t they?” I respond.
“They could be,” she agrees. “Now let’s get going. We might find Toru and I’m sure he’ll be good fun at a festival. With his size and strength, no game stands a chance against us.”
The two of us set out to find him. It shouldn’t be too difficult. It will be nice to see that he was okay after out last encounter and to see if anyone will actually let him try any strength-based games.
As expected, he isn’t too hard to find. Standing at the top of the stairs above Rin’s now completed mural from where he can probably see everything happening on school grounds.
“Hey Toru,” Rei says as we head up the stairs towards him.
“Rei, Hatsumi, have you been enjoying the festival?” He calls back.
“It’s been great Toru,” Rei replies with a smile “But we’ve come to get you involved in the fun.”
“What do you want me to do?” he asks.
Apparently, he knows that Rei wants to use him for something.
‘We’ve just got to see how good you are at some of the festival games,” she replies innocently.
Toru stares at her carefully, as if he's trying to decide whether to go along with her game.
“Fine,” he says. “I’ll play along. Just tell me what you want me to do?”
“Great!” Rei says gleefully. “Follow me and you’ll soon see.”
As we set off with Rei in the lead, I turn to Toru.
“I’m glad you seem to have recovered from yesterday,” I say. “I was worried.”
“That won’t keep me down,” he replies cheerfully. “I’m used to it by now, and it doesn’t last too long.”
“Still,” I say. “It doesn’t look pleasant.”
“No,” he agrees. “But it’s not the worst thing that could happen.”
For some reason, I don’t get the feeling that he means having something in place of his asthma. He did have an EpiPen on hand so his reaction yesterday could probably have been much worse.
Our conversation is interrupted as we arrive at our destination. Rei stands proudly in front of a stall with a high striker game.
“Let’s see you hit the bell on this,” Rei says. “I had my eye on the prize, and I’ll need your help with this massive hammer.”
The hammer is indeed large, and Rei would definitely not have been able to use it with only her one hand.
“You have no shame,” Toru says with a laugh. “All I’m here for is to win things for you. Do I at least get something in return?”
“A snack from one of the stalls?” Rei answers.
He gave her a long look.
“A free lunch?” She suggests.
“Fine,” he says. “But I will hold you to that.”
Toru steps forward before saying over his shoulder, “You can at least pay for this as well.”
Rei hands over the fee while Toru takes hold of the hammer.
“Not as heavy as I thought,” I hear him mutter before swinging it up onto his shoulder.
“Here we go!” he says, heaving the hammer high into the air before slamming it down as hard as he can.
The bell on the high striker rings out loudly as the puck slams into it.
“Good job!” Rei shouts before rushing over to the stall.
“I’ll be taking that,” she said pointing at what looks to be a forest tapestry. It's very high quality compared to the other prizes and, from the dismayed look on the stall operators face, should have been much harder to win.
Did Toru break a rigged machine?
With Rei claiming her prize, I feel it's about time to head through to the auditorium to see the bands performance. I can’t miss Nanami’s solo.
“We should get going if we don’t want to miss the start of the performance,” I say to the two of them.
Toru nods and Rei begins to walk in that direction.
“Hopefully we can get some good seats,” she says.
When we arrive, I see that most of the seats are full. Looking around I do see a few places we can sit.
Rei is already heading to three open seats when I spot Hiraku and Iwao sitting near the back with an open seat between them.
Iwao sees me and waves me over. I look between the two groups, slightly torn about what to do. I did say I would get back to Iwao and Hiraku, but Rei and Toru are now waiting for me by the seats they’ve claimed.
I wave back to Iwao and mouth and apology as he wouldn’t be able to hear me anyway before making my way over to rejoin the other two. I can see that Iwao is somewhat disappointed by my choice, though he does quickly get back into his conversation with Hiraku.
As I take my seat, the band members begin to file out onto the stage. After taking their places, the music teacher comes out to introduce herself and the band. We all applaud politely once she finishes her speech.
She then turns to the band and transitions into the role of conductor for them. They begin to play. It’s the typical classical stuff, but they perform it very well. Everyone on stage gets a chance to shine during the performance.
As the first song comes to an end and the crowd finishes its applause, the band continues into more songs. These ones are livelier and more focused on individual instruments which gives individual musicians on the stage a much better chance to show off their talents than in the first song.
I don’t recognize most of them, but Saki and Chisato both put on an excellent performance. Finally, it is Nanami’s turn to take centre stage. As she starts her trumpet solo, it’s incredible how such a small girl is able to fill the hall with sound.
She’s excellent as well. The twists and turns in the music are wonderful. I don’t recognize the music, but that isn’t really surprising. The piece is filled with many high notes and, although it is difficult to see from here, her hand is a flurry of activity as she flies through a solo that almost seems to convey a set of lyrics to the crowd despite the lack of singers.
Once she finishes, there's another round of applause. I like to think that it’s more powerful than before, but it’s probably more my own excitement for my friend than anything else.
I look to either side and see that they were also very impressed by what they just heard. Maybe it’s not just in my head.
There are a few more performances before the music teacher once again addresses the crowd. It’s all just formalities. Thanking the crowd, congratulating the performers, and asking for support to help further the bands ability to help its students.
Once it’s all wrapped up, the audience slowly begins to disperse to catch one last chance at any stalls they might have missed during the day.
I drag Rei and Toru to the front where I’ve spotted Nanami talking to Cho.
“Well done,” I say as I reach them. “That was amazing Nanami.”
Nanami skips up to me and hits me with a massive hug. It's a repeat of my first morning in the dorms.
“You did make it,” she says. “I couldn’t see you in the crowd so I thought you might have missed it.”
“Of course I wouldn’t miss your solo. You probably couldn’t see me because of him,” I say jabbing Toru in the ribs.
I think I end up hurting myself more than him.
“It was a very good performance,” Rei says. “The whole thing was stronger than I remember, and you still managed to stand out.”
It looked like that statement really moved Nanami as it almost seems like she's about to cry.
I would have liked to say more, but our conversation is interrupted by a bunch of band members who want to drag Nanami away to a party of their own. She seems happy about the prospect, so we let her go.
Cho watches her go before turning to me. “I think I’m going to head to the track stands. Everyone is probably gathering there to watch the fireworks. Do you want to head down there now?”
Before I have the chance to respond, Rei cuts in. “We’ve still got something we need to do. We’ll need to be quick, but I think it’ll be done before the fireworks.”
I look between the two girls.
“If it’s something important then I’ve got to follow along,” I say and Rei and Toru beam in sync.
Cho shrugs. “Don’t let me get in the way of Disciplinary Committee business,” she says. “See you tomorrow.”
With Cho gone, it’s back to just the three of us. Rei quickly takes the lead and I follow, interested in what it is she wants to do. We make our way through the courtyard where a few stalls are still serving the odd customer.
I begin to realize where we’re headed as we approach the auxiliary building. It’s not long before we’re at the door of the Disciplinary Committee office.
“We’re back,” Rei calls as she enters the room.
I follow and I see that the room is indeed occupied.
Standing at the window looking outward is Giichi.
He turns towards us and nods.
“Nothing to report,” Rei says with only a slightly serious tone in her voice. Toru just gives Giichi a thumbs up.
“Good, I haven’t spotted any issues either,” he says.
Looking around him, I see that there's a table and chair pulled up against one of the windows. There are also some empty takeaway boxes and a pair of binoculars.
At first that seems a bit weird, but then I realize what he's doing here.
He probably hasn’t been outside all day. Looking down on all the activities from above from where he's safe from the pushing and jostling. What had at first seemed creepy, now just seems sad.
Without his escort, he's just been sitting up here observing everything from a distance. Trying to use his height overlooking the crowds to spot any disturbances.
“How’s the day been for you?” I ask hesitantly.
I don’t really know what to say besides that.
Giichi turns to me sharply, as if he didn't really expected me to be here. Had I really escaped his notice until I spoke up?
“It’s been a successful day,” he responds. “Better than last year. With so many activities and food stalls, nobody had to worry about getting bored.”
Maybe he's avoiding my question on purpose? He has always been able to read my mind before.
“Well, I had lots of fun too,” Rei says heading towards Giichi. “I think you should try this though. It’s delicious.”
She then thrusts the bottle of hot sauce into his face, with the label hidden against her palm.
Giichi raises his eyebrow.
“I think that would be a terrible idea Rei,” he replies. “You’ll have to try harder than that to get me to try one of your hot sauces.”
Back to the mind reading. Who would guess that there would be hot sauce at a school festival?
“She got me to break some games too,” Toru adds.
Apparently I was right about what had happened with the high striker.
“I’m glad to see you’ve been taking your duties so seriously,” Giichi replies.
While he seems to be reprimanding them, the tone of his voice suggests that he isn’t really being serious, and they know that based on their behaviour.
He may have spent the whole day on duty, but he doesn’t expect others to when they have the opportunity to have some fun.
“You on the other hand,” he says focusing on me. “Should not be distracting my subordinates from their duties.”
Now I gulp as the frosty tone returns to his voice. The other two also seem unsure about whether he's being serious.
“She really wasn’t,” Toru says.
“She was a great help,” Rei adds.
Giichi seems to go into deep thought now.
“I suppose so,” he says. “It didn’t look like you were causing any trouble anyway.”
So, he has been watching us as well?
Rei chuckles at this. “You not allowed to get me back when my plan for you failed.”
“But you tried to trick me,” Giichi replies. “And intent is almost as bad. You got what you deserved.”
Wow. His deadpan nature really allows him to mess with people on things like this.
“Anyway,” he says turning back to me. “I’m afraid non-committee members are not allowed to make use of our office.”
Is he really about to kick me out right before the end of the festival?
“You’ll need to complete this or go join the rest of students out on the school grounds,” he continues.
He closes the distance between us quickly and I take a step back. In his outstretched hand is a form of some sort.
I take it and look closer. It’s an application to join the Disciplinary Committee. I look back up, but Giichi is already walking back over to his desk. It looks like he’s getting a pen.
He doesn’t seem to want to give me a choice in the matter.
“You’re asking me to join the committee?” I ask him.
Rei gives a soft whoop and Toru breaks out into a massive smile.
“Yes,” Giichi responds. “I think you’d make a good fit.”
That's a blunt explanation.
“Why?” I ask.
Giichi rolls his eyes. It’s probably the most expressive thing I’ve seen from him.
“You’re looking for a club to join, you’ve shown you want to help out, and you get along well with everyone here. It’s a perfect fit,” he says.
That’s a surprising response from him despite the curt delivery. He seems to include himself in the statement.
“As the newest member, you’ll also have the least responsibilities,” Toru says.
“And you can hang out here whenever you want,” Rei adds. “We’ve got aircon and summer can get very hot.”
They’re both clearly on board with the plan to recruit me and are throwing whatever benefits they can think of my way.
“You can sign or leave,” Giichi says, having returned with the pen. “I’m taking these two on patrol now and I will have to enforce the rules they decided to ignore today.”
I don’t seem to have much a choice in this matter.
“Fine,” I say taking the pen and signing the form that Giichi has, somehow, already filled out for me.
The other two break out into a round of applause once I hand the from back to Giichi and he stamps it.
“Excellent,” he says. “Now let’s get going.”
For once, Giichi takes the lead of our little group. I suppose there’s no reason not to. The grounds really are empty now.
He guides us into the main building, and I wonder if we’re going to miss the fireworks.
As we climb the stairs, I realize where we’re headed.
We reach the door onto the roof and Giichi pauses for a moment.
“They never lock the door, and the no entry sign has long been missing.” He says this mostly for my benefit, I think. “That means we need to check that no one is on the roof. It’s dangerous for students or visitors to be up here.”
I think I realize where Giichi was going with this.
“We get to kick everyone off the roof and have it all to ourselves,” I say.
Giichi looks at me sharply.
“No,” he begins to explain. “We kick everyone we can see of the roof and then we thoroughly search the roof for anyone trying to hide from us.”
I see how he thinks. Follow the rules in a way that gets you what you want. He really is a sneaky one.
We head out onto the roof and look around quickly. There doesn’t appear to be anyone up here.
Giichi leads us further out onto the roof, and I start to see a silhouette ahead of us in the darkness.
As we approach, I realize that it’s a student. He’s got extremely thick glasses on, and an empty bottle lies at his feet. From the slurred, almost incomprehensible speech, it seems like he’s been drinking.
“Toru,” Giichi says. “Please show Kenji the door.”
Apparently, they know who this boy is.
Toru marches over to the slumped figure and hoists him to his feet. At first there’s a shriek at what must be a rather sobering experience, then there’s a hushed exchange of words before Toru drags Kenji towards the door and shoves him through it.
He returns to us and hands the bottle over to Giichi.
He sighs. “We’ll have to have a word with him tomorrow.”
“Forget about that,” Rei says. “It’s almost time. Let’s enjoy the show.”
Giichi nods. There’s no need to keep up our cover story. With no one around and all of us knowing the official story for our presence, we can relax and have a bit of fun to end the night.
The three of us head over to the railing and look out across the school. We can see the rest of the students as well as some visitors crowded down at the track. Some of the noise reaches us, but it nearly silent.
Suddenly, lights are streaking up into the air. Only a few at first, but soon their numbers grow. They soar high above us and explode into huge bursts of colour.
Green, red, blue, gold.
The sky is filled with dancing lights of all colours, illuminating the entire school below. Cheering drifts up to us, but we remain silent.
The display is enthralling.
It lasts for several minutes until the pace slows down. When we are once again staring out into darkness, a lone rocket shoots high into the air. The final golden explosion dwarfs everything that came before it.
Again, we are plunged into darkness as the fireworks show comes to an end. It truly was a spectacular way to end the day’s festivities.
Toru steps back from the railing, a content look on his face. He steps over to me and ruffles my hair.
Despite being two years younger than me, I don’t mind it as it just suits him.
“I’m glad to have you on board,” he says before nodding to the other two and striding off towards the door.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun together,’ Rei says with fire in her eyes as she gives me a one-armed hug.
A quick wave to Giichi and she marches off in the same direction as Toru.
Finally, Giichi turns to me and reaches out for a handshake. That’s exactly what I expected from him.
“Welcome to the team,” he says as I take his hand.
His grip is firm enough.
I nod. There isn’t really anything to say.
Giichi turns away and returns to the railing to watch over everyone as they begin to disperse for the night.
With the night over for me as well, I head for the door as well.
Before walking through, I glance back to see the silhouette of our Chairman as he stares out at the school as if it’s his own kingdom.
I head down the stairs with that image stuck in my head.
I have a feeling that my choices tonight are going to have an interesting impact on the rest of my time at Yamaku.
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