"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me," Shujinkou sung as he steered his ship through the calm blue sea. The winds were fair and the big blue sky inspired him to find a remote spot to spend his vacation at.
But that peaceful respite wouldn't last long he suddenly found himself in the middle of a violent storm. The waves crashed against his ship as the sea captain struggled to break through the weather. The water eventually rose over the pirate boat, knocked him away from the wheel and pushed him on the concrete floor.
"Exam results day can really be harsh," Shujinkou thought as he scratched his right cheek.
A pair of hands soon wrapped themselves around his arms and helped the daydreaming student onto his feet.
"This isn't the time to be daydreaming, Shujinkou. The hallways are dangerous on this type of day," Sayori reminded him.
"Right…" a tired sigh escaped through his mouth after he said this.
Shujinkou never really cared how high he was ranked every time test results were posted but only if he had scored high enough to avoid taking the make-up exams during Summer Break. After spending what seemed like an eternity looking for his test score and rank, Shujinkou finally found his name and nervously checked the results that would decide his fate.
"Yes! No Summer exams!" he cheered. But he only cheered in his head as not to attract any attention.
"We both got the summer off!" Sayori cheered. "The long nights doing nothing but studying really paid off. I can't wait to everyone at the club after school!"
"But clubs are cancelled until the next term."
Sayori remained silent as the information entered and processed into her brain.
"Oh yeah…" she chuckled with red cheeks. "I guess this means that we use the extra time to plan our vacation. What are you going to do for vacation?"
Her question was met with silence as memories of the Cultural Festival surfaced in Shujinkou's head. He remembered how he was met with a similar question the day before the event which led to her pleading with him to break his planned role.
"Not that it was a bad thing…" he said.
"Huh?" surprise gripped his soul the moment he realized Sayori heard the last part of his thought. "What wasn't a bad thing?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking that I don't really have anything planned for the upcoming break," Shujinkou answered. "I'll probably just wing it."
"Mm… Okay," Sayori beamed. "I'll probably just wing it too."
"Maybe we can wing it together?" Shujinkou suggested.
"Eh?!" Sayori's eyes widened with shock. "Really?"
"Well, we haven't really spent a vacation together since we were kids," Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he slightly diverted his gaze. "We could make up for lost time."
Sayori's cheeks once again grew bright red as she silently stared at her friend.
"Rei!" she suddenly exclaimed.
Shujinkou immediately turned around; the shock he felt was enough to almost cause his heart to skip over a few of its beats.
"H-Hey, Rei," he weakly waved at the silent student. "Did you already check your score?"
Rei raised her left arm and pointed at the first ranking sheet.
"#11?!" Shujinkou exclaimed.
"Whoa! That's impressive, Rei!" Sayori congratulated.
Rei's gaze was soon directed towards Sayori. It was subtle but Shujinkou noticed the change from her usual blank stare to the same surprised stare she once gave him the day they first met.
"She's right, Rei. You got a really great score," he nodded his head in agreement.
The silent girl's curious stare was then pointed towards Shujinkou just before the school bell rang.
"Time to go. See you two later," Sayori grinned at the two students before happily skipping off.
Shujinkou soon followed suit and waved goodbye to Rei as he left for his next class, disappearing into the sea of students just as the silent girl raised her hand to wave back.
Later at the end of the school day, Natsuki stood in the vacant clubroom staring at her various boxes of manga. With all clubs cancelled until next term, she was faced with a very serious question: "Where could she store her collection until then?"
Her brain quickly presented an answer, but instead of that solution providing relief towards her situation, all it was cause her cheeks to glow red. It wasn't like she considered the idea to be terrible, yet Natsuki found it hard to actively pursue it. The conflicted student gripped her phone and contemplated the idea more and more to until a very recent memory decided to help resolve her internal conflict.
It was brief, but it was enough for to give Natsuki the strength to use her phone and send a message. Not too long after that sent message, Shujinkou walked into room.
"You wanted to see me?" he asked, scratching his right cheek as he did so.
"Yeah, I… I need to ask for a favor," Natsuki struggled to maintain eye contact as she continued, "Since we can't use this room until after the break, I was kinda wondering if I could keep my manga at your place."
"At my place?" he repeated in disbelief.
"It shouldn't be that much of an issue right? After all, you said that I can come over whenever I want and you already liked some of stuff so…"
"No, it's not really an issue… But wouldn't you want your stuff at your place?"
Shujinkou watched as Natsuki's entire body tensed up, an action that did nothing but confuse him.
"Of course I would, but… That is…" Natsuki glanced away as she tried to find the words she wanted to say.
"Never mind, it's none of my business," Shujinkou said. "But, this may be a more than one day job if it's just the two of u…"
Quickly cutting himself off, a look of curiosity was plastered on his face as he turned around to find Sayori looking in from the classroom door.
"Sayori?!" Natsuki exclaimed.
"Ehe…" Sayori nervously walked into the classroom and approached the two.
"What are you doing here, Sayori? Shujinkou asked.
"I noticed you were heading to the club room and was wondering what was going on," she answered.
"Did you come with Yuri and Monika?"
"No. Why?"
Using his eyes, Shujinkou directed Sayori to turn around. She wasted no time in doing just that and was shocked to find Monika and Yuri behind her.
"What are you guys doing here?" Sayori asked.
"We noticed you were sneaking around while following Shujinkou to the clubroom and were wondering if something was going on," Monika answered.
"Sorry if we're interrupting something important," Yuri quickly apologized.
"Speaking of which…" Sayori turned her gaze back to Shujinkou and asked, "What are you two doing here?"
"Erk… We were just…" Natsuki glanced away from the group. "I was just asking him for a favor. It's nothing special!"
"Actually, do you think you guys could help us bring Natsuki's stuff to my house?" Shujinkou asked.
"Huh?" Sayori's questioning gaze landed on Natsuki. "Why are you taking your stuff to Shujinkou's place?"
"Uh…
"Actually, the thought of going through the entire break without a chance to read some of her books was almost too much to bear. So, I asked her if she could loan them out to me," Shujinkou answered. "She agreed under the promise that I would have to buy her a whole new set if I mess any of them up."
"That does sound like Natsuki," Monika chuckled.
"You wouldn't be laughing if your collection was at risk," Natsuki stated bluntly.
"So, will you guys help us?" Shujinkou asked.
The three nodded their heads and the club wasted no time in carrying Natsuki's collection to Shujinkou's room.
"Huh. So this is what your room looks like, Shujinkou," Monika said. "It suits you."
"You think?" Shujinkou felt the urge to scratch his right cheek, but couldn't at the moment.
Yuri thoroughly examined the room as its occupant approached his closet.
"It feels safe in here…" she thought. From the corner of her eyes, the young maiden glanced at Shujinkou. A bashful smile formed on her face as she started to play with her hair. "Just like when around him…"
Shujinkou finished neatly placing Natsuki's manga in his closet, just as an unwelcome though made itself known.
"I have four girls in my room…" he slightly whimpered as the realization set in. "Gotta do something before my nerves get to me."
"Shujinkou, would it be okay if we took a picture in here?" Monika asked.
"Huh?" Unable to hide his surprise, Shujinkou couldn't keep himself from asking, "Why?"
"I thought it would be fun if we took a picture of the club outside of school," Monika happily replied.
"Oo. We haven't done a club photo since before Shujinkou joined," Sayori said with a nostalgic smile.
"Really? Then we should really do one," Monika's eyes trailed back to Shujinkou. "What do you say?"
"Well… I don't really have any issues with the idea…" he replied as he scratched his right cheek.
Great! Okay, everyone, time to gather around," Monika instructed.
Shujinkou followed the movements of the other members and found himself in the middle of the group, which naturally meant that he was given the role of taking the photo. Monika handed her phone to him and he quickly held it up in front of the group.
"We're not all in it," Shujinkou said. "We need to gather closer."
Those words he would instantly regret as the other club members bodies squeezed against his. The young man could feel his heart pounding against his test as he tried to endure the close contact he was subjected too.
"Everyone ready?" he asked.
The four girls nodded their heads. With everyone ready, he forced his face to form a casual smile just before taking the photo.
"It looks great," Monika complimented.
"Really? It looks like we're all clustered together," Natsuki said.
"No, it really does look good," Monika smiled as she looked down at her phone. She thought, "Everyone looks a lot more comfortable this time around."
Suddenly, a loud musical tune started up in Shujinkou's pocket. Wasting no time in eliminating the tone, Shujinkou reached for his phone and answered. Soon, Lady Hisa's face appeared on the screen.
"Hey, Shujinkou," she waved.
"Granny Hisa?" he answered alongside Sayori.
"You're there too, Sayori?" she said.
"Everyone's here," Sayori happily replied.
"Really? Shujinkou, let me do a room scan," Hisa said.
Shujinkou turned his phone around, allowing his grandmother to see the rest of the club.
"Hey, girls," Hisa waved.
The three guests waved back at the ecstatic lady on the phone. Then Hisa asked that Shujinkou walk out of the room so she could say something in private. Following his grandmother's wishes, he walked out of his room and closed the door behind him.
"It's not like that!" his guests heard from the other side of the door.
Moments later, Shujinkou walked in with a red face.
"So, why'd you call Granny Hisa?" he asked.
"Well, call me prepared, but I was wondering if you were in the mood to join your poor, lonely grandmother for the annual fireworks festival at the end of summer," Hisa suggested.
"The fireworks? Uh, sure. I'll go," Shujinkou replied.
"Great! What about you, Sayori? You want to come along too?" Hisa asked.
"Yes!" Sayori answered instantly.
"What about the rest of you? You want to come along?" Hisa offered.
"You want us to come too?" Natsuki asked in disbelief.
"The more the merrier," Hisa nodded. "Of course you would need permission before you go off somewhere with defenseless old lady like me."
"She says that and yet she doesn't look old or seem defenseless…" Natsuki thought.
"Anyway, just think about and get permission if you want to go. I have some business to attend to," Hisa continued.
"What kind of business?" Sayori queried.
"Hisa-buisness," she happily answered before ending the call.
"You're grandmother seems good at controlling a discussion…" Yuri noted.
"Well… She had to be when grandpa was still around…" Shujinkou weakly chuckled as he scratched his right cheek. "But she only uses that power for good."
"That's a good quality for any debater," Monika pointed out.
"The using the power for good part?" Natsuki said perplexed.
"No. The leading the conversation part," Monika said with a smile.
Natsuki blankly stared at the club president.
"You… You don't abuse that power now do you?" she asked.
"No. Most of the time, I don't," Monika giggled.
"Urk… You know what, forget it. I'm not going to stress over if you're being serious or not," Natsuki pouted.
"But even if she's no longer in the debate team, it's also a useful quality for a president to lead a discussion in such a way," said Yuri.
"Really? Do I have the ability to lead a conversation?" Sayori wondered aloud.
Sayori's question was met with silence.
"Don't I?" Sayori asked.
Like the first one, Sayori's question was once again met with silence.
"Shujinkou?" Sayori gazed at Shujinkou with pleading eyes.
"Uhm…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he pondered what he could say. "Well, you're not as good as a debate team member, but a presidential quality you do have is your occasional tricky personality."
"Really?" Sayori chuckled.
"Why are you happy about that? He just said that you're good at manipulati-" Natsuki quickly cut herself off as she realized what she was saying. "Oh. Someone with president in their title would take that as a compliment."
"Exactly," Sayori confirmed.
"So, we have two very qualified presidents," Yuri concluded.
"Actually, now that I think about it, it also kind of means that we can't trust our presidents half of the time…" Shujinkou said.
"That's… A really interesting position," Monika complimented.
"I guess… But that's not true at all, we're both totally trustworthy," Sayori argued.
"Funny coming from someone who embraces their tricky personality," Natsuki snickered.
"But that doesn't mean we're not trustworthy," Sayori insisted. "Right, Yuri?"
"Well… You can't really have it both ways," Yuri slightly giggled.
"Aa… Then I don't want to be the known as the tricky one!" Sayori squealed.
"We're just joking, Sayori. We know we can trust you and Monika," Shujinkou assured her. "…Well, most of the time in your case."
"When haven't I been completely trustworthy?" Sayori asked.
"You lured me to the club with Natsuki's cupcakes after you convinced her that I was coming which led to her making them in the first place," he replied using a matter-of-fact tone.
"…It worked out in the end though..." Sayori nervously chuckled. "Ah! Speaking of sweets… We should get some to celebrate a free summer."
"From where?" Shujinkou wondered aloud.
Later that very same afternoon, Shujinkou was given a tray that held five vanilla milkshakes and carried it to the table that the rest of the club occupied.
"So what's the firework festival your grandmother mentioned like?" Monika suddenly asked.
"Uh, it's just like any other festivals. It's kinda like a big party," Shujinkou answered. "I used to have fun there every summer."
"Would it really be okay if we came along?" Yuri wondered.
"Granny Hisa said it was okay, so there shouldn't be any problems. After all…" Shuinkou reached for a napkin and waved it like a fan. "She just a simple lady who likes to make people happy."
"Seems to run in the family…" Natsuki thought.
"But no pressure or anything. You don't have to feel like you're forced to come," Shujinkou continued.
"Like anyone would feel like they're forced to return to a popular spa resort for a festival, dummy" Natsuki chuckled.
"Touché," Shujinkou replied.
"If we all do go together, it would be like having another slumber party," Sayori pointed out. "With Shujinkou this time too."
An awkward silence cut the conversation short.
"Ah… It would be nice to attend another festival together…" said Yuri.
And to experience one that isn't dead because Monika lured everyone away," Natsuki added.
"I didn't lure everyone away," Monika argued with red cheeks.
"She's technically right about that one," Shujinkou said. "She only attracted 98% of everyone."
The Literature Club shared a hearty laugh together before going back to their milkshakes.
"Kitsune Firework Festival…" Shujinkou thought as he continued to drink his treat. "I kinda hope…"