The cultural festival was approaching once again. The time when all the classes displayed their work, working together to create special attractions. The time when all the clubs tried to attract new members. And Kaorin had a particular person in mind to recruit.
She had tried in vain to get Sakaki-san to join the astronomy club ever since school began. But every time, Sakaki would never pay attention to her. Her beloved senpai, who she looked up to, had rejected her again. But Kaorin would not let Sakaki reject her this time. Not at the cultural festival. She vowed in her heart, "I WILL get Sakaki to join, and I WILL be able to see the stars with her every night!".
This year, Kaorin was in charge of handing out the flyers from the booth the club had set up in the schoolyard. Hundreds of students passed by these booths, which offered not only club information but also typical festival food: takoyaki, ramune, everything expected from a festival booth. And after the student would buy the food, Kaorin would then hand them a flyer and launch into her pitch for the club. She had rehearsed it perfectly. "Join the Astronomy Club and gaze at the beautiful sea of stars with us!" It was a somewhat cheesy pitch, but cheesiness never deterred new members from signing up every year.
'And this year, we will definitely get another new member,' Kaorin thought to herself as she helped her clubmate set up the booth the morning of the festival. She hummed a happy song to herself as she put the huge stack of flyers on the table. The other girl, a short first-year with the surname of Matsubara, stared at Kaorin oddly, wondering what had gotten into her today. Kaorin did not bother paying attention to Matsubara, however, and continued humming.
Only 5 minutes until the festival began. Kaorin muttered the pitch under her breath over and over again. When Sakaki came, she did not want to flub or stumble over a single word. She would be as calm as she possibly could. She would NOT let Sakaki-san slip away from her again as she stuttered and sputtered. When she felt she had gotten the pitch completely perfect, she stood behind the table with the stack of flyers placed on it. Behind her, Matsubara was getting out the takoyaki grill and drink bottles, getting out the ingredients for takoyaki. Kaorin could hear the sizzle of the dough as it was poured into each "cup" in the grill.
Now the first few students were coming in. Kaorin scanned their faces. Nope, no Sakaki. "Kaorin! Would you please set out the drink bottles?" Matsubara said. "Sure", Kaorin replied. As Kaorin put the bottles of ramune and cans of soda on the table, Matsubara took over the flyer distribution. One of the students passed by the club booth and bought a bottle of ramune. Matsubara effortlessly handed him a flyer and said the pitch with perfect enunciation. The student thanked her and went to join his friends by the main school building.
Watching Matsubara, Kaorin made sure to observe her example, making sure that she would be as perfect as she was when Sakaki came. Soon, Kaorin had put all the drinks out, and she could now hand out the flyers while Matsubara cooked the takoyaki.
The first customer that Kaorin recognized was Mihama Chiyo. She went right up to the counter, pigtails bobbing. "Hi, Kaorin! You're working at your club's booth, I see!" she chirped. "Yeah. I'm handing out the flyers", Kaorin replied. "What are you doing, Chiyo-chan?" "Oh, I'm going to be dressing up as a penguin again for my class! We're having a cafe. If you have time, please stop by and say hello," Chiyo said. Chiyo then turned to Matsubara. "Two takoyaki, please!"
"OK, that will be 200 yen," Matsubara replied. As Chiyo got out the money, Matsubara stabbed two piping-hot takoyaki with toothpicks and placed them in a plastic tray. Chiyo gave her the money, and Matsubara handed the takoyaki to Chiyo with a smile. "Here you go. Enjoy!" "Thanks!", Chiyo said. She prepared to leave, but then Kaorin suddenly remembered what she had to do, and handed her a flyer while giving the pitch. Chiyo thanked Kaorin and then left the booth. Matsubara sighed. "Next time, be sure to hand out the flyer immediately!" she said. "Yes," Kaorin said. 'Next time, I will remember. Especially if Sakaki comes,' she thought.
Other customers came and went, but Sakaki still did not show up. Osaka-chan had come, Kagura had come, Tomo had come, but not Sakaki. Kaorin wondered if she really was going to show up after all...'Of course she wouldn't be interested in some stupid astronomy club,' Kaorin thought. 'She already rejected my offers before...' All Kaorin wanted was to be able to enjoy evenings with her senpai. She wanted to talk about the stars with her. She wanted to tell her about the constellations and the romantic stories behind them. She wanted to be with her every night, always. She always wanted to be by her side. Why couldn't Sakaki understand this? Why did Sakaki always ignore her offers? Why, why, why, why, WHY?!?!
Eventually, Kaorin and Matsubara switched roles again. Kaorin was in charge of the takoyaki cooking and money, while Matsubara handled the flyers. Matsubara had showed her the proper way to cook takoyaki, and how to serve it properly, but Kaorin was too caught up in thinking about Sakaki and her takoyaki often ended up burned, with much scolding from Matsubara. After Kaorin had burned the takoyaki for the umpteenth time, Matsubara took over and Kaorin again handed out flyers.
And then, it happened. Kaorin spotted a girl walking towards the booth from a distance. She was tall with long shiny black hair, and her hands looked somewhat beaten up.
'Sakaki-san!!!!'
Kaorin's heart beat furiously as Sakaki approached, and her cheeks flushed red. Kaorin thought she was going to burst at that moment, and though she tried to repeat to herself over and over again to calm down, she found it impossible to do so. Sakaki walked up to the counter, saying in her calm voice - 'oh how I love that voice' - "Two takoyaki and a bottle of ramune, please." Matsubara, ever-so-calmly, took Sakaki's money and handed her the takoyaki and ramune. Kaorin wondered how Matsubara could stay so calm in the presence of Sakaki-san. Then, Matsubara nudged Kaorin, whispering in her ear "Hey, hand her the flyer already." Kaorin, her heart thumping as though it was going to explode any second, picked up the flyer and handed it to Sakaki, her practice all gone to waste as she barely managed to get out "J-j-j-join the a-a-a-astronom-m-my club and g- g-g-gaze at the b-b-b-beautiful sea of sta-sta-sta-stars..."
Sakaki looked at the flyer for a minute, then smiled. "Thanks," she said in that voice of hers, and then she left.
That was all. "Thanks." No "Sure, I'll look into it." No "Of course I'll join. I'd love to look at the stars with you."
At that moment, when Sakaki could no longer be seen, Kaorin ran out of the booth with a crumpled-up flyer and burst into tears. No one noticed her as they passed by. No one noticed the pain she felt in her heart.
When would Sakaki ever recognize her love?