// Author's Note: Thank you once again for the reviews on my oh so strange High school fanfic XD. So we meet a few more characters in this chapter, most of them will have bigger parts in later chapters though. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!
Oh, and also, I would like to take the time to promote Singkatsu-san's fanfics as well She's a great writer and a friend of mine, so ... check out her fanfics! XD End Author's Note //
Character Notes
Dr. Alex: I decided to make him older than the other MM bachelors, and make him the school doctor
Karen: If you've played BTN/FoMT, you know how bad Karen's cooking can be P
Chapter 9 - The Harvest Festival (Part 2)
'Almost there...' Lloyd thought to himself, running towards the square. There were many banners and decorations in town, and even a few flyers sticking to the walls of buildings advertising the festival. To get to the Square, Lloyd had to run halfway down Azure Street and then turn right in the middle to the square. The square was mostly used for School festivals or festivals within the Flowerbud and Azure area - The whole area was like a small town to them. The streets were pretty deserted, except for a few people, since everyone had to be at the Square. Lloyd turned the corner and ran right into the square. The square had walls on each side, though they weren't very high, and there were trees on the outside. Beautifully coloured leaves littered the ground as Lloyd walked into the Square, and many decorations had been put up. The long table was in the center, and there was an autumn center-piece in the middle, as well as booths lined all around the square. Many shop owners had come to the festival to sell their home made food at the booths. The whole square was crowded with many villagers chatting, talking, laughing, and even the kids were running around playing games. It was a true festival. He spotted Joe, Karen, Sacchun, and Meg all standing together, and decided to go see them.
"Wow, to think that I acctually got here before you!" Joe teased as he approached.
"Yeah yeah, I forgot! It happens once in a while to everyone." Lloyd said, rolling his eyes.
"Hi Lloyd!" Karen said. Lloyd waved, then stared at what was in her hands. A large jar of what looked suspiciously like... Rellish?
"Uhh... Is that...?" Lloyd started.
"Rellish? Yes! Yes, it is. The stew will taste great with my rellish!" Karen said happily. Lloyd glanced at Joe. Then to Sacchun.
"Uhh... Yes, I'm sure it will." Sacchun nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, my mom tried to stop me. She doesn't have a good taste when it comes to fine cuisine." Karen said, convinced that her rellish would really make the stew taste better.
"I mean, she practically runs when I ask her to taste my cooking!" Karen said, appalled.
"...I guess she just can't recognize... good... cooking, right guys?" Joe said, nodding at Lloyd and Sacchun. They both nodded.
"Yeah.."
"So what did you bring?" Karen asked them.
"I brought some Baked Sweet Potatoes for the table and some Yams for the stew." Lloyd said, pulling the stuff out.
"I brought Cupcakes for the table... Yummy." Sacchun said, rummaging through her plastic bag to find a plastic container of cupcakes.
"I brought some grilled fish for the table, and a fish for the stew!" Joe said, holding up his own plastic bag.
"Those look awesome, but I brought one of my own home-made recipes for the table!" Karen said proudly. They all exchanged quick glances of horror, all thinking the same thing: She better not make us try it!
Karen pulled out her own dish, covered in saran wrap. Inside was what looked like burnt bread covered in an odd thick sauce and had pieces of brocolli sticking out, and for some reason, it smelt suspiciously like fish.
"Uhhh... what is it?" Joe asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.
"It's a cream of brocolli pie!" she said, holding it closer. Joe backed away slightly.
"Maybe we should go put our stuff on the table." Sacchun said quickly, and she turned around and walked off to the long table. Lloyd, Joe, and Karen followed.
At the table they saw Gwen, putting a large bowl of soup with a plastic ladel in it on the table. The soup looked thick and light, and a rich aroma was coming from it. Joe drooled a bit - though it was unclear whether he was staring at Gwen or the soup...
"Gwen." Karen said coldly, glaring at her.
"Karen." Gwen said equally coldly. "I see you've made another abomination." she said, glancing in disgust at Karen's ... "pie".
"Hah! My cream of brocolli pie kicks the butt of your... smelly soup. What did you make it out of? Sweaty gym socks?" Karen said, sniffing the soup in disgust.
"Hahaha. Look who's talking. What kind of sauce is that? Fish blood?" Gwen said.
"I think they both look good!" said Sacchun, in an attempt to quell the fighting.
"Well who's is better?" Gwen said competetively.
"Uhh..." This was not what Sacchun had had in mind.
"Yes, Sacchun, tell us who's is better!" Karen urged her. Gwen poured a small bowl of soup and handed it to Sacchun. Karen cut a slice of her dish and gave it to Sacchun.
"Well?" they both said in unison.
"I don't know... I don't want to spoil my... appetite..." Sacchun muttered, but they didn't seem to notice.
"Poor Sacchun..." Lloyd whispered to Joe. Sacchun stared at them, as if trying to say "SAVE MEE!". Joe and Lloyd just shook their heads, and Sacchun was forced into it.
She took a sip of Gwen's soup, and the warmth and flavour was flawless. She took another sip, and in no time she had finished what was in the small bowl. Then... she turned to the... other plate.
"Okay!" Sacchun said bravely, trying to prepare herself. "I-I'm ready!" she said. "...Don't try to stop me or anything!"
"Well, go for it!" Karen said happily.
"Uhh... yup! Here I go!" Sacchun said, picking up her fork. They all stared at her. She took her sweet time cutting a piece of the pie with her fork, then picking it up with her fork, then moving it to her mouth, then putting it in. Karen watched with a fiery glint in her eyes, as if she was sure that her dish was perfect. Sacchun took a bite. Then chewed. And chewed again.
"...So?" They all asked. Sacchun staggered, her skin seemed to be tinted with green. Her eyes went out of focus, then back in, then out again. She stared at the plate of what she had just eaten, and unsurprisingly, fell to the ground, unconcious. Karen managed to catch the plate before it could reach the ground. Gwen laughed.
"Hahahaha! That should be good enough for you Karen - my dish is far superior to yours!" she said triumphantly.
"Sacchuuun!" Joe said, kneeling down, trying to shake her awake.
"Yeah right! Your soup probably made her pass out, she had barely even swallowed my meal!" Karen retorted.
"It wasn't my soup! My soup was great!" Gwen argued, offended.
"Yeah well, not so great if it made her pass out!"
"It was your pie that made her pass out!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!
"Was not!
"Was too!"
Joe and Lloyd dragged Sacchun off away from the arguing girls and went to find Dr. Alex. Dr. Alex was the school doctor, and they figured he'd be able to help Sacchun gain conciousness. They saw him at a Riceball stand, eating riceballs and observing the festivities. He saw them approached and quickly walked over to Sacchun. It seemed weird seeing Dr. Alex in casual jeans and a sweater - they were so used to seeing him in his doctor's coat.
"What happened to her?" Dr. Alex asked, inspecting her and feeling her pulse. Lloyd glanced around and leaned in to whisper to him.
"Karen." he said simply. A look of realisation dawned on Dr. Alex's face.
"Ahh... We have a victim of Karen's cooking every year." he said, shaking his head. He pulled out some Turbojolt and poured some into Sacchun's open mouth, closed it, and rubbed her throat. She swallowed it and opened her eyes.
"Oooh, pretty ninja stars..." she said, dazzled, then she looked up. From Sacchun's perspective, the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the dreamy face of Dr. Alex leaning over her. She had a huge crush on him, not that he knew. She blushed and sat right up, bonking her head on his head.
"Owwie..." Sacchun said, rubbing her head. Alex rubbed his head too.
"Want me to kiss your booboo?" Alex joked, grinning.
"Yes pwease..." Sacchun said, looking like a little child.
"What was that?" Alex said, as if he hadn't heard her. Sacchun came back to her senses.
"Oh! Uh, nothing, just nothing Mister Doctor man!" she said, getting up and thanking him and walking off. Lloyd and Joe thanked him, though Joe did so a little bitterly than you would've expected. Just as they went to catch up with Sacchun, they met up with Meg.
"Oh, hey guys! I've been looking for you." she said. She was eating a dumpling.
"Hey Meg. What'd you bring?" Lloyd asked conversationally.
"Some Carrot cake and some carrots." she said. Lloyd began to fill her in on everything she had missed out on, and Joe went off to catch up with Sacchun. Soon however, the crowd's conversation turned to murmuring as Gotz and Zack, the caretaker and Phys. Ed. teacher of the school both came in, pushing a huge, old fashioned copper pot into the middle of the square. Everyone admired it, as it was part of their culture's tradition.
Sasha, Karen's mom, brought a small ladder and set it up in front of the pot so that people could climb up and throw their stuff in. There was already a lot of boiling water and vegetable broth in it, and Gotz set a fire under the pot to allow it to simmer. Everyone watched, and Sasha got on top of the ladder so she could see everyone in the crowd.
"Welcome!" She shouted out to the crowd. "Welcome to the Harvest Festival! This festival has been continuing for generations, even when our bustling town was a small rural village, and even today we keep the tradition alive with our Autumn Harvest Pot!" she announced. Everyone clapped.
"Now one by one, I want you to form a single file line and put what you brought into the pot." she said, climbing down from the ladder and standing beside it. Everyone cheered and formed a line. It was a very long line, but Lloyd and Meg managed to get okay places. One by one villagers would climb up the ladder, throw in their ingredient, and climb down. Everyone continued to chatter while they waited in line. Lloyd looked ahead - Gwen was going up now, and he saw her throw in a Potato. Then, it was Karen's turn. There was a small commotion while her mom yelled at her for bringing a bad ingredient, and a few minutes later they saw Karen walking out of the line looking extremely agitated, and Gwen with a smug, satisfied smile on her face.
Lloyd's turn came, and he threw in his Yam. Meg threw in a carrot and they left the line and walked back to see if they could find Joe and Sacchun. They watched as they threw their ingredients in, and then joined them at the long table. They grabbed some food, and noticed that Karen's dish stood alone and untouched. They met Manna at the table and she seemed delighted to see them there. She went into a long story about one of her adventures as a kid at the Harvest Festival, and they were all very thankful when her husband, Duke pulled her away to the Sake stand.
So they ate, socialized, and had a lot of fun for about an hour, when the hot pot was ready.
"Okay everyone! Come get your helping!" Sasha called out, and everyone got into line again. There was more than enough stew for everyone. Many bowls had been stacked on a table next to the pot, and Sasha and some volunteers were handing out bowls of stew. They saw some other familiar faces - Ann, Ellen, and Mary were all standing together in line, and a little ahead, standing all by her lonesome was Dia. Kurt was standing with Gwen, Eve and Ray, an athletic soccer player who was intensely passionate about winning at sports. He had a toned body and shoulder length brown hair tied into a small ponytail. His arm was on Eve's back, and in a few moments they had seen them exchange a smell peck, which lead them to believe that they were probably going out. It wasn't that surprising though, because Eve went out with jocks like him all the time.
Lloyd, Meg, Joe, and Sacchun all got their bowls and went to eat at a table. Ellen, Ann, Mary, Kurt and Gwen had joined them, and Eve and Ray had gone off somewhere, presumably making out. The whole group had a really fun time eating and sharing and laughing together, and it seemed that afternoon, as the sun began to set, that everyone was satisfied and filled up. Dia had left early, as Lloyd had noticed, and soon, as stars began to dot the sky, people began leaving. Lloyd went to the pot and asked Sasha to scrape out some left overs he could give to the dogs. She did so happily, and Lloyd covered them in Saran wrap and gave one bowl to Meg and Sacchun.
"Thanks Lloydie" Meg said happily.
"Mmmm... I want moooore..." Sacchun said sadly.
"But Sacchun, you had like, three helpings.." Joe told her.
"Yes but I'm still hungry!" she whined.
"You must have a great metabolism to be able to eat so much and not gain a pound." Ann said enviously.
"Ahahaha! Ninja apprentices must have full meals." Sacchun said, trying to act wise.
"Speaking of which, who's up for some Uber Ninja Quest II madness back at our place?" Joe said happily.
"But... Joe, we have school tomorrow..." Lloyd reminded him.
"So? Last one there has to eat the rest of Karen's food!" he yelled, already running off. Needless to say, they all ran after him and ended up playing video games for most of the night, and payed for it dearly the next morning.
