Am I in a Harem?

Chapter 10

Festival

Umi and Nozomi went into the warehouse building of the shrine and started to plan all sorts of things that they could do. Umi, however, was the only one coming up with ideas. Nozomi just couldn't really wrap her head around how willing this girl was to help get this shrine back in business. Unfortunately, their time wasn't very long since Nozomi was only there for a few more minutes.

When they parted ways, Umi immediately got to work. She went back to her house and start to make fliers that could help spread the word about the shrine. The two of them decided that a festival would be the best idea so she made sure to make the prettiest, most appealing fliers she could. Once she was done, she headed into town and posted them all over the place so that everyone could see. The fliers grabbed a lot of people's attention so her plan was working.

During the next day of school, Umi kept herself busy by posting all over the school and talking to her friends about it. Honoka, Kotori, Hanayo, and Eli were all of the people she talked to and they all seemed willing to go. They also agreed to help Umi spread the word about this.

Umi was completely unaware of it, but all of this work was pulling her away from the fact that she had just lost her grandparents. In times like this, keeping busy and not thinking about sad things was the best thing she could.

As she continued to run around the school with fliers, she accidentally ran into Maki and caused the both of them to fall to the ground, dropping all of their things.

"I'm so sorry. I was not paying attention to where I was going. Wait, is this right?"

"No, it's… Umi-senpai," she said with a flustered voice. "No, no. It's my fault. I was the one not paying attention."

"Wow, this feels like déjà vu."

"What does?"

"Nothing. Anyway, Maki-chan, I was actually wanting to talk to you."

"Really?" Her face immediately turned red.

"Yeah. So, this girl and I are trying to revive the local shrine by throwing a festival together. The only way to make this a success is if a lot of people come and see how wonderful this shrine is. And I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming to check it out."

"Me? I mean, I guess. I don't think I have anything."

"If you could come, that would awesome. The more people who come would make it that much better."

"Okay. I will try my best to go."

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I gotta go, but I hope to see you there." Umi waved goodbye and went on her way to her next destination.

Meanwhile, Maki was completely speechless. It's been so long since she's talked with Umi and this time just felt so right. She wanted it to go on forever even though she wasn't too good with her words when Umi talked to her. However, now she had a chance to talk with. She could go to the festival and spend as much time with her possible. For the rest of the day, the two of them could only think about the festival and what it would bring for everyone.

…

When the weekend came, Umi and Nozomi were hard at work decorating the shrine. Umi hung up lights and all sorts of other festival styles things all over the place. Nozomi was working on something else and when Umi found out what it was, she was completely stunned. Nozomi was wearing a special shrine outfit and was working on a special dance to show to everyone who showed up. Umi couldn't help but comment on it, but Nozomi insisted that it wasn't special at all. Once her practice was done, she walked outside and saw all of the decorations that Umi did all by herself.

"Wow, this looks incredible. You did all this?"

"Of course I did. I did kind of come up with this idea so I can't just sit around and do nothing." Umi looked at Nozomi who was so lost in all of the festivities that Umi provided. That's when she saw a smile on her face and a small tear leave her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm wonderful. It's just… Seeing this place so lively makes me feel so good." Nozomi turned to Umi and smile even bigger. "Thank you so much for what you've done. It means so much to me."

"Don't thank me just yet. We have to see how the actual festival goes. Then you can thank me. Deal?"

"Deal." The two of them went back to finishing up the last minute decorations and then headed home to prepare for a big day tomorrow.

…

When the next came around, Umi woke up bright and early and headed to the shrine just to make sure that nothing went wrong. Right as she exited the house, she saw that the whole town was buzzing. People were dressed up and nice and talking about the shrine festival that was being held. That's when she couldn't help but smile. After getting over that, she headed to the shrine and found herself another surprise. Multiple stands were set up that offered numerous festival fun times. The odd thing was that they were all free. People were quickly swarming onto the shrine grounds which only made Umi happier.

"I guess it's time to manage." She headed to the warehouse building to put away her things. After that, she enjoyed the day at the festival.

During the day, all of her friends managed to find her and say hello. They were all really happy that she invited them as well as being able to see her. They were all dressed in yukatas while Umi was in her normal clothes. This was the only thing that made her a little sad. She didn't prepare her own yukata and it was already too late to go back home to change into one. However, that wasn't the point of this festival. It was to liven up this shrine once more.

Things continued to go by smoothly. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Umi made her way through the crowd of people to make sure that everything was going smoothly when she bumped into another one of her friends.

"Maki-chan, you made it."

"Hi Umi-senpai. I guess I was free after all today."

"That's awesome. I'm so glad you're here."

"You are?"

"Of course. The more people, the better."

Umi was unaware of it, but Maki's face dimmed down a bit.

"Maki-chan, you look so cute."

"Umi-senpai, you're too nice…"

"Umi, just Umi. I don't like senpai. It's too weird."

"But you are my…"

"Ah, don't worry about it. Umi's perfectly fine by me. We're friends after all, right?"

"Yeah… Umi-san," she said nervously.

"See. That's better."

"Yeah… Um… Umi-san, I was wondering…"

"I'm so sorry, Maki-chan, but I gotta go. I gotta help prepare for the main event. I'll talk with you later. Bye."

Unable to finish her sentence, Maki was forced to watch her leave once again. She sighed out loud and turned around in the direction of her house.

All that was left was the shrine maiden dance that Nozomi had prepared. The lights turned low and all of the attention was put towards the main shrine building where Nozomi was performing. Immediately, her apparel captivated everyone's eyes. Her beauty and elegance had everyone in awe. It appeared that her plan was working. Umi looked at everyone and could tell that they were enjoying every minute of this festival. She couldn't help but pump her fist to herself. When her performance was done, Umi headed to the back where Nozomi escaped to cool off.

"Nozomi-san, that was incredibly. I was so moved."

"Thank you, Umi-chan. You really made a difference here. I can't thank you enough though."

"It's okay. I wanted to do this."

"I know you did. I just don't really know how to express my gratitude."

"It's fine."

Boom! Crash! The two of them looked up to see fireworks in the sky. Those were completely unplanned, but it still made this seem like an official public gathering. Umi was so captivated by the fireworks that she forgot that she was talking with Nozomi. On the other hand, Nozomi walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. That's when Umi returned to reality.

"W-What was that for?"

"It was the best thank you I could give you. I think, now, I'm confident enough to express my feelings to the one I love. Thank you once again Umi. You are a wonderful person." Nozomi turned around and headed towards the mass of people, only to disappear from sight.

"You're… You're welcome."

…

As the fireworks continued to brighten the skies, Kotori was all alone amongst the hoard of people. There was only one thought going through her head.

"Umi-chan, I want you to be here with me."

End of Chapter 10