Chapter 14: Cultural Festival

She honestly doesn't know how exactly she got forced into do this...Oh wait...Yes she does.

Nobuyuji-fuckin-Yuji.

He bribed her with a payment she couldn't resist. All of his notes from his first year would be given to her if she did this. And that was a lot of notes. She couldn't pass the opportunity up, not with mid-terms coming along rather rapidly and her grades only just barely being average. It was the deal of a life time. She could handle it, she could grin and bear it, it wasn't that long of a duration.

Or so she thought.

Tatsumaki looks herself over in the mirror, a frown marring her lips as she takes in her attire. This probably, now that she thinks about it, also seconds as a punishment for down right refusing to help with the set up for their club. As she had predicted, she was going to be the main event. Constantly running and beating people, team after team of random runners made up of friends and random people like. Running herself into the ground. The boys would also be running, but she had the most scheduled. Just because she's a powerhouse doesn't mean they need to try and drain her of every ounce of energy she has.

So Yuji tricked her into picking either helping her class's own 'stand' or give in and run herself into the ground. She sighs. She should have found out what her classmates had in mind first or she would have gladly crushed person after person through out the day. Gladly. Her fellow adolescents had voted unanimously on the idea of having a cafe with a twist. Instead of just a maid cafe, nor a fantasy one or cat one or whatever, they went and meshed it all together to make a 'True Dreams' cafe. It was a big job, but somehow they managed to do it while she was off lazing about with her favorite basketball player. Every hour on the hour the theme of their cafe changes. From simple maid cafe to fantasy cafe, to wild animal cafe, to samurai cafe to sports cafe. Then a break for lunch. And then it would continue with a gothic cafe onto a host club cafe. Each guest would be asked to vote on their favorite theme regardless of when they visit. These votes would be tallied for a total. The final one would be a mixture of them all where the waiters and waitresses would dress up in their preferred costume and act accordingly.

"I hate life so much right now," she grumbles to herself in the mirror.

"Don't be like that," a girl with pretty brown hair and honey colored eyes whines, "I worked hard to make all your costumes; this one's my favorite!" The girl, whom insists on calling Tatsumaki 'Tatsu-chan' and for Tatsumaki to call her Sei-chan- short for Seiko- grasps the taller girl's shoulders as they look her over. It is morning, and soon they'll be opening up for business with the first theme of your simple maid cafe. In opening their doors, the maids and butlers would be lined up on either side and bowing as though it were truly a place of glamor. Tatsumaki relishes in the feeling of shrugging the girl off gruffly. Tall girls in short skirts don't mix. Tatsumaki's outfit consists of a common maid outfit with a short skirt and thigh black leggings held up by matching garter strings- her long legs drinking in the air. The black and white ensemble clings to her features, the low cut of the blouse portion complete with some frills along the hem and short short sleeves made to double as straps with white frills. The fabric that centers over her bust is white opposed to the black bodice, a white 'cute' apron tied into a bow at the back positioned around her waist. A strip of black with white cloth is around her neck, however luckily she managed to forgo the head band. Her makeup has been done in a way that draws to her vibrant green eyes, her black lashes curled to look even longer and eyeliner applied to go with the lip gloss that covers full lips.

"I look like a whore," she snaps.

Seiko frowns, "You do not. You look lovely. Now come on, it's almost time to begin". Not allowing the taller freshman to refuse, she grabs onto her wrist and smiles when eyes land on the two of them. "Sorry it took so long~!" A cute giggle comes from her as chimes of 'woah' and 'uwahh' come from various students, their eyes locked onto the graceful white haired girl at her side. "Now come on Tatsu-chan, time to line up!" She pushes the amazonian woman along, urging for her to get into position.

If looks could kill however, Seiko would be more than just six feet under. "I hate you," she snaps and turns robotically into position. When the doors open, the nightmare continues. She can't help but scorn Aomine- and Momoi as she's the one that took him from her- for working with the basketball club right now.

"Because I'm checking on her," Yuji answers the grumbling second year. At his side walks Yatsuhiro, his arms crossed over his chest and a frown marring his lips. "It's not my fault that you went and hurt yourself so now you can't run. It's only a minor pull but we can't have it turning into anything worse. Walking like this even shouldn't be done a lot".

Yatsuhiro sighs and looks away, mentally snarling at the twinge he feels with each stride he takes. This is what he gets for stepping weirdly during practice the other day. Ridiculous. "Yea but why do I have to come with you?"

At this, Yuji pauses as though confused. However, after a short shrug he denies, "I honestly don't know. Taicho just told you to come with me, right? You know that sometimes his plans are his own".

He looks above the door that denotes which room they have stopped at. Realizing that it is the room that should hold Tensai at the moment, he makes to follow Nobuyuki inside to get this done and over with. "Yea yea yea". Yatsuhiro closes his eyes and rolls them in secret, gruffly taking the answer as is. Having been walking behind the green haired male, he stops and stumbles back when he knocks into the other's person. "Oi, what the he-" however, he does not get to demand a new answer.

"Good afternoon," the voice greets with a beaming smile, her pretty tawny eyes bright and welcoming, "Are you looking for a table for two?" The girl whom greets them is not dressed normally- not by a long shot. The topless shirt is a tannish color, held up by her bust and allowing for plenty of cleavage and skin to show. The fact that the school even allowed this costume is saying something. It looks like it belongs better on someone else with a certain profession instead of a high school freshman. With the hem ragged as though to look like fur, white covers the front of her person where as the sides and are that golden brown, being that of a full shirt. Around her hips is a skirt most would wear to cover themselves up at a beach, the skirt being tied on one hip and the hem sitting on a slant and holding that golden brown color as well. On her hands are gloves that stop at her wrists and on her feet are leggings that stop mid-calf. She wears no shoes and her toe nails are painted black. Atop her head is a pair of rounded tan feline ears, surrounded by straight hair that sits on her shoulders and around her neck like a mane. And upon further inspection, from behind her dangles a tail with a tuft of hair at the end.

Startled by her appearance, Yuji hesitates and looks around, only to find the entire room transformed into different types of regions. From the door to the first six round tables within the room, it looks like they've stepped into a safari. The floor has been replaced by something painted to look like sand, the detail intricate and obviously time consuming. The table cloths have been designed to make the table look like a gathering of boulders. Sitting next to the door itself is a simple tree one would find. In the right corner closest to to the new visitors is a place carefully made to look like a rain forest, 'trees' covering the walls, tables designed to look like shrubs and fallen trees. The left corner is the same. The center of the room looks like a plain desert, however the back left corner looks like grasslands. The far right corner however has been situated to seem like a a snow covered mountain top.

"Yea," Yuji allows at last.

"Where would you like to sit? I'm afraid the grasslands has a waiting period of fifteen minutes and the safari for an hour. However we have seating in the rain forest and the mountaintops," the girl replies gently, tilting her head gently to the side.

"What the hell is going on here?" Yatsuhiro exclaims, utterly baffled by it all.. Seriously! When did they do all this?!

"Don't mind him," Yuji requests as he jabs the confused blond's ribs roughly. "We'll sit where ever Tensai Tatsumaki is," he announces.

"Tatsu-chan?" the girl replies, honestly surprised. However all the same she smiles and nods, "Alright sirs, right this way". With a beaming smile, she turns on her heel and leads the way to the back right corner, the white decoration and paintings depicting the tops of mountains, 'snow' covering the floor and 'trees'. The boys carefully trail behind her, attempting to not watch the tail that sways from side to side with her hips. Waving a hand to an empty table- one of the few there, surprisingly- she offers, "Your waitress will be with you momentarily. Enjoy your stay~".

Uncertain if it's okay to talk, both Yuji and Katsu sit across from one another silently, watching the students of this particular classroom mill around. It was odd enough that the girls were dressed up, but it would appear that some of the guys are as well. Patrons around them chatter happily, boys and girls alike eating small cakes or drinking simple beverages such as coffee or hot chocolate or even a latte. Giggles and laughter fill the air around them, obviously pleased that they have some sort of entertainment be it thanks to the animal waitresses or the animal waiters or one another.

"Welcome to true dreams. I'll be your waitress for the duration of your sta-," her bored and obviously displeased voice is cut off when she opens her eyes to look at the two whom dared step into her work area. Tatsuaki's emerald eyes turn to cold green glaciers as shock hits her. "...What are you two doing here?"

But both of the boys are too busy looking at the girl at their table side, eyes wide and bodies riddled with honest shock. Did they know she cleaned up this well? Hell no. Not even Yuji, whom has known her for over ten years, knew she could end up this way. The basic shape of her attire is the same as the first girl's- sleeveless top and skirt that ties at the hip. However opposed to being two solid colors, her white based attire is spotted black, the circles with dots within them dancing across the tight tube top that shows a flat stomach and soft looking skin coupled with smooth skin and a bust that is surprisingly larger than it appears when she wears the school's uniform. The skirt is longer, adding to the get-up a grace the lion girl's did not have, taunting the viewer with just one long leg being seen. Her gloves are fingerless, hinting at a savageness despite her grace, and travel up to to mid-bicep. Her white normally wavy hair has been straightened in full, her makeup given a smokey look to make her already stunning eyes pop, the dark eyeliner contrasting almost too well with the forest color. Unlike the lion girl, they cannot see her ears, her hair having been carefully situated to hide them. All nails have been painted a white color to look further match the snowy atmosphere. Finally, pulling the whole thing together is a thick and long bushy tail that had it been attached to her would be currently whipping back and forth in a displeased manner.

"...Tensai?" Yatsuhiro stares, his eyes 'subtly' looking over the first year another three times in an attempt to see if the girl is some sort of doppelganger. "Is that really you?" There's no way that this pretty girl is honestly the bitch that wins them races every now and then and goes on to brag about it. No way in hell. But...On the off chance that it is her, holy shit. He had never figured that the cocky disrespectful bitch had the ability to actually pull off the sexy look put onto her. She looks older, dressed up like this, far more alluring with the help of the curves that should belong to a senior student rather than someone that's just a first year. It really is a shame he hates her, seriously, or else she'd totally be his type.

Tatsumaki scoffs, the normal friendliness she feels towards people long since gone. Ever since that morning, really. This is bullshit. Her face has felt heavy all day, her skin dry from makeup remover and the appliance of it, and currently she feels more exposed than she would even if she were half naked. The glare she gives her current patron is deadly, filled with malice. What kind of question is that anyways? Why wouldn't it be her? It's not like she has a stunt double or anything like that, that she could call up and order to do this for her- trust her, she would if she could but she can't. "Obviously," she grumbles, "Who else would it be, Yatsuhiro?" Her glare shoots to the guy who ultimately tricked her into do this this in the first place. "What are you staring at, Nobuyuki?"

He realizes her use of his last name is meant to further show her current hate for him at the moment, but the genius first year cannot help but continue to stare. Which makes no sense. Why can't he look away? She's seen her in nothing but her undergarments, to be honest, and has managed to be unphased. So why is it, that as she stands before him like some snowy large feline that he can't help but look her way with admiration for her build. As he meets her gaze as well, he finds himself mesmerized. Have her eyes always been so green? Looking at her and her irritation, he decides that yes, the probably have been that way all this time. "S-Sorry," he fights down a blush, making to look passed her instead of at her in order to compose himself. "So this was what your class had planned? I thought it was just going to be a normal cafe. I'm sorry". Quietly he clears his throat as to rid himself of any other possible voice breakage.

"Yea, you better be," she hisses lowly, "Anyways, what are you doing here? And while I'm at it, what do you want?"

Yuji pauses before sighing, not even bothering to push his apology further onto her. There's no point; she won't be accepting it any time soon it would appear. "Ah, well Taicho said for us to come and check on you. By the way, can I just get a latte?"

"I'll take coffee- black," the other male announces.

"To come check on me?" She releases a forced, scornful, laugh, "As if I could get away. You do realize that the only reason you managed to get a seat right away is because it's slow right now. This morning I couldn't get away from people". Turning away, she crosses her arms under her bust and over her smooth flesh, "I'll be back with your drinks. But after that you have to pay and leave".

"Tch. Leave it to you to be an improper hostess," Yatsuhiro grumbles with a low snarl, earning a sneer sent his way.

Tatsumaki doesn't have any patience for this asshole. She's in a bad enough mood as it is and she really up for dealing with his bullshit. "Shut up. I'm not kicking you out because I want to- but trust me, I do want to- but instead because we're going to be changing scenes soon. We have to break down this whole set up and put the other one up- we do that on the hour every hour. If you look around, everyone else is getting kicked out too. In fact- screw it- I'll get someone to bring your drinks to you. Just get out of here so I can take care of this shit".

Before Yatsuhiro can insist that as a costumer he wants to at least sit at the table until they get their beverages, Yuji stands abruptly. "Alright, we'll go. Thanks for taking our order," he allows. He can see the tenseness in her shoulders and the urge to punch Yatsuhiro strong in her gaze. Tatsumaki is not a normally violent girl- in fact, she often does her best to avoid violence and will normally talk someone down before lifting a single violent finger. However, she is the kind to lash out when pissed and her punches are pretty damn strong for someone whom isn't formally trained to fight. "We'll see you later," he turns and drags the hot tempered blond man after him by the back of his blazer, not daring to bring forth the wrath of the snow tiger dressed girl behind them.

"What the hell was that for?!" Yatsuhiro demands as they stand outside, waiting for their drinks while others wait to be let back in with excited faces- whispers about what scene may be next circle around them.

Yuji blandly tells his technical senpai, "Saving your life. You were getting her pissed off and she's the kind of girl you don't want to make honestly angry".

Feh! Katsu snorts. His father is a damn General and he's been trained in not only Judo but also Kendo and how to handle a gun. He can handle a singular pissed off girl. He tells the sixteen year old this blandly, obviously insulted that he'd think Katsu wouldn't be able to fend her off. "It'd be too easy for me to break her in a few seconds".

But Yuji returns the snort himself, "Yea, keep telling yourself that. Last time she was pissed, the threw a football player at someone. He was fully dressed in his gear and built like a brick house too. Just don't antagonize her, okay?" But all he gets in return is a superior scoff.

Lunch went by far too quickly for her liking. She had been permitted to leave the room to eat, but she had figured it to be easier if she just stayed in the room. So that's what she did, ignoring the happy students who were pleased by the turn out of all their work and their laughter. She would give anything to just go on break, but she hasn't gotten one yet. She wasn't due one until after the next set up having pulled the short straw. None the less, she blandly stares at Seiko as she holds out to her her next costume. Hanging on a hanger, it is simple being a black and red jersey and short shorts coupled with a pair of sneakers. Nothing overly flattering save for the extra low cut of the jersey and said shorts but irritating all the same. Why wouldn't be when she can't just dress in her Stride attire- apparently she has to 'mix it up', whatever that means- instead of this? It's the only outfit she doesn't have an issue against clothing wise, at least. But why does she have to be number 5?

Whatever.

She ignores Seiko's grinning face and instead opts to go and get dressed. Luckily she doesn't have to wear any makeup- thank god- for this scene. Instead, all she has to do is put on the shirt, tuck it into the tight short shorts and put on the sneakers supplied to her. Howe the hell Seiko knows her sizes, Tatsumaki doesn't dare to ask and refuses to wonder. She pulls her hair from the up-do it had been tied into for the samurai scene earlier on, letting it flow back into place as it pleases. Brushing a comb through it lets it fully relax as she looks herself over in the mirror. "Well," she assures herself, "The only thing that could go wrong is if Aomine were to see me dressed up as him basically". After all, he's on the basketball team and he is number 5...Oddly enough, the jersey is actually kind of big on her, now that she thinks about it. Maybe Seiko made a mistake? She doesn't care, but still.

None the less, she steps out of the 'changing room' that had been set up for the waiters and waitresses, coming to find the room changed around again. Being that her area is the back right corner, she makes her way to the various tables that have been now covered up to look like bleachers, the floor to look like a basket ball court and even a simple wall-basket hanging off the wall. Above head is a hand-crafted buzzer with a made score under 'home' and 'visitor' as well as a fabricated time. The only thing that she finds amusing is the fact that they even managed to get a basketball for her for the props. She's not the only waitress that works in this section, however she is on the front line so to speak. Picking up the orange and black globe, she cannot help but wonder how her favorite ace is doing. Are they running him into the ground like her team planned to? Or did he manage to get away from them? Maybe things are going well for him? Or maybe no one visited? Absently she twirls the ball on her forefinger, pleased to find that she succeeds.

"Tatsu-chan," Seiko calls for her as she makes her way to the taller girl, "You have a guest again. They asked specifically for you". It's a sentence the shorter girl has been saying all day with that annoying smile of hers.

Tatsumaki cringes at the nickname for the thousandth time today, but all the same puts the ball under her arm and nods, "Okay. Thanks Seiko," before leaving the girl to mope about the fact that she wasn't called 'Sei-chan' again. Only slightly irritated by the sensation of the short shorts clinging to her skin- something that doesn't fit the sporty attire on her torso- she manages a small smile. "Welcome to True Dreams. What can I do you for?"

"Eh~. So it was the truth," his voice intones from below her, staring up bemusedly with a smirk on his lips.

The suddenly all too familiar voice speaking to her shocks her into focusing fully. Her gaze widens when she spots a certain someone in the school's uniform, his body slouched against the table in front of him. His chin rests on the clenched hand on the table as his navy blues twinkle with quiet laughter. "Aomine?" Okay, when she thought about him only moments ago, that didn't mean he had to make an appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a break," not really but whatever. He tilts his head, silent as he looks the girl over, surprisingly appreciative of what he sees. Long legs that go for miles, a bust that is surprisingly larger looking than it normally is and with a basketball in hand. Simple but alluring- especially when she cocks a hip, "I kept on hearing about this cafe that was making big bucks. Since our class, I decided to check up on it and see if the rumors were true. Apparently they were. Why are you here?" He thought she'd be doing stuff for her team too.

Tatsumaki shivers as his eyes blatantly drag over her body. Though she cannot tell exactly whether or not if it's a good or bad shiver. She decides not to really focus on it. Instead she answers, "Yuji said he'd give me all his notes from last year if I did this since I absolutely refused to race all day like the team planned for me to do. I didn't realize that the class decided on something this intricate though". Thank god she's not dressed like she was the last few times now that he's here.

The ace is silent for a moment, uttering a single 'huh' to acknowledge the fact that he gets it now. After all, mid-terms are nearly there. So of course she would need the studying material. None the less he stands before she can take his order- he didn't come here for the food or drinks as it were. He wanted to check up on her- and find this hot first year a bunch of people kept on talking about, not figuring it to be very girl in front of him. Honestly she has to be the best looking out of all of those who greet and serve the guests that laugh a smile to him with happy eyes. It's a surprise, but an amusing one. The only thing that confuses him though is, "Are you wearing a push up bra?"

Tatsumaki's brows furrow, a frown now tugging at her lips, "No, you jerk," of course he would take note of her current size. Pervert. "I normally wear a sports bra since they're more supportive. It's not my fault you didn't take that into consideration," her bust still isn't anything compared to Mai-chan's, but they certainly are visibly larger than what she normally seems to have.

"...Huh. Anyways, did you have a break yet?" she shakes her head, "Then let's go". Aomine takes the girl's wrist, pulling her forward as he turns to leave the room. Passing the girl that had brought him to his table he grunts, "She's going on her break now," and doesn't take 'no' for an answer. Or rather, they're out the door too fast for his statement to be denied.

Tatsumaki trails behind the tall blue haired male with wide eyes, surprised to have been drug off so easily, his fingers closing around her wrist. The skin on skin contact brings her back to the day of the last race she ran- when Touou went against Honan, crushing them with ease. Back to when he held her hand as they left the race site for food, and the fact that he had refused to release her at all. He had kept her hand in his for a good while, and though she had fought his prolonged hold at first it was merely a reaction to the rejected first pull away. The fact that he held onto her hand despite her trying to pull away shocked her and oddly made her heart beat rapidly and for a blush to come to her cheeks. She tried to pull away again and again, but he held fast until she relented. It wasn't fun to be walking around with a blush on her face that she skillfully hid by not looking at him, for the first half hour, but after words the time with him was a blast.

She never did figure out why she had been blushing in the first place, though.

Her hand tingles as he holds onto her wrist, pulling her along steadily through the crowd of person after person both familiar and not. She ignores the looks she gets for her odd attire, and instead focuses on the question at hand. "So, where are we going?"

Aomine pauses and looks over his shoulder. As he does so, slyly does his hand slide down from her wrist and to her hand where his grip tightens again. "I don't know. What do you want to do?"

The girl blanches, "...Good quesiton. Now that I think about it, I'm not really a fan of stuff like this".

"Same here".

"...Wanna just go to the roof?"

Aomines smirks, amused by the suggestion but pleased all the same. Letting her walk at his side instead of tugging her along like some useless child, his blue hues look down to their clasped palms when her fingers slowly wrap around his hand. The gaze returns forward after a moment of studying the gesture, a warmth traveling up his arm and into the rest of his body. "Heh. I was thinking that myself actually".