Act 4-2 – Cultural Festival β

The next day, all of us met up at the pancake restaurant to help Hinata with her girly problem.

And by "problem", I really mean…

"Feli! I can't believe you're making me wear this!"

"Well, you did ask for help, Hinata." I said to her from the other side of the curtain.

"Yeah, but not THIS kind of help!"

"Just come out already, Hinata." Futaba said.

"Yeah! I wanna see you in your cute and girly outfit!" Rin yelled.

"*sigh* Fine."

Once the curtain was opened, Hinata stepped out of the changing room we had in the back of the restaurant to reveal herself wearing a light-red maid outfit with pink frills coming from the sleeves and neck area.

"Oh…" Futaba said.

"My…" Naoko said.

"God…" Rin said.

…

…

…

"Pfft Hahahaha Hahahaha!" Then all three of them started to laugh. Really hard.

"Sh-Shut up! St-Stop laughing!" Hinata yelled with a high amount of blush on her face.

"S-Sorry, Hinata. It's just…just…Baaahahahaha!" Futaba went back to laughing.

"Guys…"

"Hey, guys. What's with all the laugh…" Yuuta opened the door and saw what the rest of us were looking at. We thought that he froze in place. Until he shook his head and rubbed his eyes a bit.

"P-Permission to laugh?"

"No!" Hinata yelled.

"Permission granted." Futaba said.

"Th-Thank you. Baaahahahaha!"

"Grr! Damn you all!"

"Alright right, you guys. I think Hinata's had enough." Satoshi said as he and Miki joined us all in the break room.

"Thank you, Mr. Okazaki." Hinata said with a sigh of relief.

"Still, I find it quite odd that we even had a maid outfit just lying around. I don't even remember getting it."

"We found it in your guy's closet when we were looking for Feli's phone that night."

"O-Our closet? How did it get…Miki." Satoshi turned to his wife.

"U-Uh, well. Y-You see, dear…I kinda bought that during my pregnancy with Yuuta."

"What?!" Both man and boy reacted.

"I thought Yuuta was going to be a girl. So I bought it thinking about this time I could get him to wear it. B-But since she was a he…it never went to use."

"Thank God…" Yuuta said.

"Why didn't you return it, then?" Satoshi asked.

"You honestly think I would return such a beautiful maid costume like that? Of course, I kept it. Thinking that we'll have another girl someday."

"Y-You want another?!"

"No way!" Both Okazaki siblings yelled out.

"Well, it's something to think about, right? Right?"

"Miki…please." Satoshi said with a facepalm.

"So…why am I wearing Female Yuuta's maid outfit?" Hinata asked.

"H-Hey!" Yuuta got insulted.

"Well, Hinata. If you really want to prove to us that you can be girly, then you'll have to wear that maid outfit while helping us out with the restaurant today." Futaba explained.

"Wh-What?! Y-You mean that I have to wear this thing all day?!"

"And Sunday's the busiest day of the week for us." I added.

"I-I-I change my mind! I-I-I don't want to be girly! Forget about that stupid café idea! I don't know what I was thinking!"

"Oh come on, Hinata. I actually thought it was a good idea." Naoko said.

"Yeah, me too." Rin added.

"I'm actually jealous that I didn't think of it myself." I said.

"Plus, we could really use some help today. The week before the Cultural Festival is one of our busiest days ever." Futaba said.

"W-Well…" Hinata looked a bit unsure of the idea.

"A-And, uh…you do look cute in it. If that helps." Yuuta added.

"C-Cute?!"

Hinata froze for a second. Then grew a smirk on her face as she started doing multiple poses with the maid outfit on.

"Well, if you really mean that, then I can't refuse your request now, can I? *giggle*"

"So gullible…" Naoko and Futaba whispered to themselves with an added facepalm.

*INSERT SOUND OF AN ALARM HERE*

"Welp. It's time to open up. Is everyone ready?" Satoshi asked.

"Yep." Futaba said.

"I'm ready." I said.

"Yeah, sure." Yuuta said.

"I'm so ready to flaunt my cute stuff to the general public!" Hinata said while making yet another pose.

"Shut up, you weirdo." Futaba said to her.

"We'll lend a hand as much as we can. Right, Rin?" Naoko asked.

"Sure! I'm willing to help! As long as I get…"

"No free food." Satoshi and Miki said.

"Aw! Fine! I'll still help!" Rin whined.

"Alright! Thanks, you guys!" Futaba cheered. Then she grabbed my hand and held it tight with excitement.

"Let's go get loaded with cash!" She said to me.

"Uh…okay." Was the only reasonable response I could think of for such a statement.

*BOOM*

*POW*

*EXPLOSION*

"GAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Yeah! Another monster defeated! Thanks for helping me out, fellow magical girls! Let's keep going until no more monsters exist! Cutie!"

"Woah! So cool!"

"There you are, Amitie."

I turn to see Lidelle and Lemres walking up towards me. With Lidelle carrying a few bags in her hands.

"I can't believe you ran off while I had to carry these bags from the store. They're super heavy." Lidelle complained.

"Sorry, guys. It's just I got into this super cool show recently and I didn't want to miss it."

"Well…I see that you've gotten into anime, huh Amitie?" Lemres asked.

"Anime?" We both asked.

"It's a type of television program that's exclusive to this world. There's so many, it even has its own list of genres. Though, it's not my cup of tea."

"Woah…"

*INSERT ANIME ENDING THEME HERE*

"So what was this one called?" Lidelle asked me.

"Uh…hold on. I actually wrote it down. It's called…Mahō Shōjo Kyūtīpai Erica-chan's Doki Doki Kiseki no Chiryō-hō."

"What?"

"I don't know, Lidelle. It took me a while to even say that the first time I saw it."

"I believe it translates to Magical Girl Cutie Pie Erica's Heart-throbbing Miracle Cure." Lemres said.

"Now the name sounds even more ridiculous." Lidelle said.

"Lemres, how did you know that?" I asked.

"What you have written down is a language known as Japanese. It's what most people in this world speak. Although some know English as well."

"Whoa. A new world with a new language. I gotta learn it! Can you teach me, Lemres? Please?" Lidelle asked.

"I would, Lidelle…but I don't know it either. I can only translate it into English."

"Really? Well, maybe I can do it, too."

"Huh?" Me and Lemres were confused.

"Well, it's worth a shot, right?"

"I guess. But can you really learn a new language so easily?" I asked.

"Well…maybe if we go to a place were people speak this "Japanese", I can get a good understanding of it. What's a good spot to go to?"

*GROWL*

"H-How about a restaurant?" I asked while holding my stomach.

"Right. I haven't eaten anything since this morning." Lemres added.

"Well, if it's a restaurant you guys want, then I know the perfect spot. There's one right down the block that makes the best pancakes."

"Pancakes? But it's nearly 3 in the afternoon." I said.

"There's no set time for pancakes, Amitie." Lidelle said with a big derpy smile.

"Lidelle…you're drooling."

"Hmm. I say we give it a chance." Lemres said. "If it's the best, then we can't deny it, can we?"

"True." I then remembered something. "What do you think, Bal?"

"ARF ARF!" Baldanders moved inside the bag.

"You just want something to eat, huh? *sigh* I get you. Alright, let's go."

"Super Duper Quadruple-stacked pancakes, here I come! Hahahaha!"

"Lidelle. Please wipe your mouth." I said to her. Trying not to look at her waterfall of drool.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just a regular day for Feli and the others. But Amitie, Lidelle, Lemres, and Baldanders are nearby. Will the two groups meet at last? Keep reading and find out.

Also, Magical Girl Cutie Pie Erica's Heart-throbbing Miracle Cure is not a real anime. In case some of you didn't know. God, I cannot say that name with a straight face.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Later.