Chapter 22: The Festival Arrives!
After a short drive, Frank and I had finally pulled up to the store. What would be considered a perfectly normal and quick trip there, was turned in the opposite direction as we were walking up to the main entrance.
We were greeted by a small group led by none other than...
"Oh? Well look who it is! The american friends!" A very annoying, but familiar voice called out.
Before I had even looked up from my phone, I had already known who it was, as I have basically embedded that voice into the back of my mind unwillingly.
I ultimately decide to take the nice guy approach to the best of my ability.
"Ah, Koda right? What's up man." I said with whatever enthusiasm I could muster up.
Needless to say, it wasn't a whole lot.
"Yes hello there! Ah, ready for the big festival tomorrow are we fellas?" He said, almost purposely like an asshole. It was almost as if he knew I didn't like him at all.
Frank nods and takes the lead "Yup, been practicing and-"
"Yoo, Frank? Hayden?" Another voice called out from behind us.
Although this voice, was a much more friendlier and welcome one.
Frank and I both turn around to be greeted by none other than Motou and Hamada, with Akari, Ina and Akira following in the rear.
As soon as Akira and I had even glanced in each others direction, she had quickly turned away and hid her face from embarrassment.
Honestly I found myself almost doing the same, recalling what had just happened less than an hour ago.
"Ah! Akari as well? How goes it class rep?" Koda said in yet another somewhat douchey tone. But, maybe that was just how I was interpreting it.
You could almost tell that she was fairly used to it though, as if he was like this all the time, which I really wouldn't doubt.
She simply smiles and bows lightly. "Can't complain."
"How wonderful! Ah, your friend Shio-san should be coming out any second actually, she was just behind-"
Without even finishing his sentence, another girl walks up from the rear of Koda's group, who I could only assume to be this 'Shio-san'.
"Well speak of the devil." He says with a smile.
She glances at Frank and I, giving us a once over, then smirks proudly and snickers a bit to herself.
"Wow...so that's your secret weapon this year Akari? Some americans? What are they gonna do, country music us to death? Or, are you gonna stick to the old boring routine with some Mozart? Maybe some Bach?"
I raise an eye and I can slowly feel the politeness wanting to fade from me, though Akari had beat me to the punch, with a surprising comeback.
"Ah Shio, you're so funny! Hey, heard your boyfriend dumped you for a girl at our school recently. Must've gotten tired of that shitty rich girl attitude hm?" Akari said with a proud smirk.
Frank and I looked to one another and I can't express how badly we wanted to be like 'ohhhhh shiiit!'. But, we ultimately decided to keep it held in.
Shio grits her teeth with an annoyed grunt, but retaliates fairly quickly.
"Hm, maybe I should just take YOUR boyfriend then? Hmm what..was..his..name...ah, that's right! Masatsugu-san hm?"
Akari immediately goes completely red in the face. "B-B-Boyfriend?! He's not...he's not my..."
She couldn't even finish the sentence before turning away from embarassment.
"Heh, shouldn't be to hard. He looks like the type who loves being told what to do anyway doesn't he?"
At this point, Akari wasn't even retaliating anymore due to embarassment, though you could tell it was angering her a little.
But that didn't stop Shio one bit.
"I'm sure I could just belittle him a bit and he'd probably get rock hard because of how pathetic he-"
Suddenly I found myself unable to deal with this anymore, as I was already in a short tempered mood as it was.
"Boy, you sure don't know when to shut the fuck up do you?" I said, effectively gaining complete silence from all around me.
Shio lets out a small gasp of surprise and grits her teeth at me.
"Tch, stupid rude ass americans..."
"Rude? Me, rude? Miss, you've got quite the mouth on you to be calling anybody 'rude'. You walked out here right off the bat with the sole purpose of starting shit with Akari, and you took it a bit too far, so now, I'm ending it. On top of that, Ma-bou is a pretty good guy, so maybe don't try tainting his image just because you're a stuck up bitch, yeah?"
Suddenly one of the members from the back of their group stepped forward. A slightly tall, fairly athletic looking guy. I guess that would be the 'goon' in their group.
"Hey." He said pointing to me. "Apologize to the class rep, now."
I looked him up and down once, before raising an eye. "Oh come on you can't be serious, she's even got y'all thinking that her acting like that is right? You can't tell me that even you guys don't think that she went a bit too far with that."
"I said apologize, or else." He said, punching the palm of his hand.
Suddenly with the new tension forming, everyone had backed up a bit from me and this guy. Although I really just wanted to get the damn beer and go home, I was now getting even more ticked off.
"Yeah? I'm kinda keen to see what 'else' means big guy." I said, taking a step closer to him.
He lets off a cocky smirk and shakes his head. "Hm, you're lucky we're still in uniform or-"
"Uniform? Yeah, but we ain't on school grounds, so how about you do something instead of being all talk and-"
"Oooohhkay oohkay." Koda said, suddenly stepping forward. "Look I think we all got off on the wrong foot here tonight yes? I'm sure we all have stress built up due to the festival tomorrow and all the last minute preparations and whatnot."
I let out a little scoff and back down as the big guy does the same.
"Yeah, guess we did." I said.
"Everyone friends now? Okay good! Cause we really must be going now! Gotta meet up with Hotaru and the others of your prep commitee and all."
He takes a few steps forward before turning back around to me specifically."Oh and by the way wanted to congratulate you and Akira-san Hayden! Heard all about it, its good to see love blossom...isn't it."
He ended up saying the last part a bit too cockily, and it honestly sent me over the edge. Though, I didn't get to do anything about it since Frank put his hand on my shoulder and shook his head, letting me know that it wasn't even worth acknowledging.
"Wellp, I'll see you all at the festival tomorrow! I'd say good luck everyone but...I. Never. Lose."
Once more Koda has the most douchey smirk on his face.
"Ta ta Keifuu Academy." He says, finally leaving our view with his group after a couple of seconds.
"What a fuckin' prick." I said spitefully, gritting my teeth so hard they were on the verge of shattering.
"Hey, um...Hayden?" Akari meekly called out to me.
"Hm? What's up?"
"T-Thanks for taking up for me like that. And even moreso...thanks for taking up for Ma-b...M-Masatsugu-san."
I let out a little snicker and smile genuinely. "No problem Akari, I wouldn't let em degrade your man all that much."
He face had immediately gotten redder and redder.
"He...he's not my m-m-man! I don't l-l-l-like him like that or anything!" She said, fighting with the words coming from her mouth.
The entire rest of our group all looked to one another and I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the exact same thing.
'Yeah, you definitely do.'
We all walk into the store and everyone had grabbed what they all needed respectfully before we all finally left.
"You guys shouldn't have to wait too long, we just gotta drop the girls off at the train station and then we'll head to your place." Hamada said, getting into the car.
"Well shit, I mean Frank and I ended up picking up some food and all too to cook later tonight if you all want to come, that's up to the girls though."
"Hmm. Girls?" Hamada asked, leaning over the back of his seat towards the three girls who were all in the back.
"I vote yes!" Ina said raising her hand rather quickly.
"Hm, well, I suppose it can't be that bad an idea, It would save one trip too if we went there first." Akari surprisingly agreed.
Ina glances over towards Akira and smiles devilishly, effectively causing her to blush since she knew what it was about.
"This is your chance, and we're taking it." Ina whispered to her.
Motou and Hamada both looked towards Akira, who was still just blushing, before burying her face into her hands and nodding silently.
"Alright it's settled then." Hamada said, turning back towards me.
"Cool with me, I'll see you guys in a few minutes then." I said, fist bumping him before Frank and I both walked to our cars.
A few minutes up the road we had all arrived at our place.
"You know the drill, make yourselves at home." I said as we walked through the entrance, mostly talking to the four who had been here before.
As Akari had finally walked in, she took her shoes off and neatly placed them by the door before bowing respectfully towards Frank and I.
"We'll be in your care it seems." She said, still bowing.
"Akari, cut that out. You're all more than welcome here, you don't have to be so formal." I said genuinely.
"O-Oh...but this was my first time here and I didn't want to be a burden or-"
"You know, for a strict class rep, you're pretty meek outside of school huh?" I said playfully.
"Come on I'm not ALWAYS like that, you know. I just have to make sure I do my job when I'm at school." She said, actually smiling now.
"Just don't run in MY damn halls now." I said, gaining a few laughs around the room, her included.
First things first, after Frank and I had picked up the alcohol and groceries, we all immediately headed into the garage and began setting everything up.
"So uh, Akari...you were saying that Principal Miyako had said that us playing what we wanted was cool, right?" I asked, excidetly picking up my guitar.
"Well, technically yes. He said to me 'you are the class rep, I trust your judgement and will stand by whatever you choose'."
I throw a little fist pump to my side and nod. "Good, so all this practice won't be for nothing since-"
"But...I never had said that I fully wanted to go with you guys' idea yet...that was another reason I agreed to come here. I'd like to see for myself exactly what you'll be playing before making any further call."
Although she had said it a bit sternly, it was easy to tell that she was at least pretty open to the idea of change.
"Then if we play something, and you like it, then you gotta trust US and let us play what we choose to...deal?" I said, extending my fist out to her.
She looks down at it quizically for a second before smiling a bit and fist bumnping me back lightly. "Okay, you have a deal."
"Bet." I said with a nod. "You guys ready? We gotta play something good, but not too crazy since she's prolly not used to this kinda music."
"We got this, should be a walk in the park since its us four." Frank said proudly, puffing up his chest a bit while sitting at his drums.
"You better be prepared Akari, that's all I'm sayin. Hopefully you have open music taste like we do!" Ina said, slapping her back a bit to pep her up.
She scoffs a bit to herself and nods, glancing us all over as we had just finished setting everything up. "Yeah, let's hope I do for their sake."
The four of us had played a couple songs back to back that we had been practicing, and needless to say although she may not have wanted to admit as much, it was pretty easy to tell that Akari was quite surprised.
"I...was...not expecting that sound to come from you guys. The singing either, that was...unexpected to say the least." Akari said with a bit of a surprised look across her face.
I let out a very proud smirk, maybe even too proud for me. "Heh, told you. NOW will you entrust us to this task, O' great class representative?"
She raises an eye at me briefly before sighing to herself a bit.
She didn't say no, so I'll take a sigh over that anyday.
"I...will definitely consider at least." She said, looking almost as if she was trying to suppress a smile.
"Fuck it, good enough for me. Yall ready to eat? Cause I'm ready to eat." Frank said, stretching his arms a bit before placing his drumsticks back into his bag.
I nod and remove my guitar from around my shoulders, placing it neatly back onto my guitar stand. "Yeah, I second that. Come on, lets go back upstairs, we can touch up a bit more on practice as much as we can before the festival."
Once we had all gotten back upstairs, Frank and I had thawed out the meat that we had bought, broke out the alcohol, and got to doing what we do.
Throwing down in the kitchen.
After we had all made ourselves a plate and sat down around the table and bar, the five of them had all clapped briefly and bowed their heads one after the other.
"Thanks for the meal!" They had all said.
"That really is you guys' tradition huh?" I said, already scarfing down my food.
"It is indeed." Ina said, before taking a much smaller bite of her food than I had done of mine.
"I mean, I wasn't saying like it was bad or anything...honestly I find that to be a good form of mannerism, so go for it." I said with a smile, and a mouth full of chicken.
"Do you guys not do this where you're from?" Akari asked, surprisingly.
"I mean, technically in a sense some people do. Most christian raised families say 'grace' around the dinner table before eating."
"Basically it's like saying a thankful prayer before you eat." Frank said, backing up my previous statement.
Akari rubs her chin a bit before nodding. "I see. Interesting."
"I guess so, I never really did it much. I mean, not that I wasn't thankful for everything and all, but it just really wasn't my thing." I said, shrugging my shoulders as I had finished up my plate.
"Me either." Frank said, following suit.
Hamada looks towards Frank and I as we both stood up to throw our empty dishes into the sink.
"Jeez, where does all that food even go I wonder? I thought Motou and I ate a lot, but you two are walking garbage disposals."
Frank shrugs his shoulders before grabbing himself and I a beer from the fridge.
"Dunno, Hayden and I have just kinda always had an appetite like that."
After the rest of the crew had all finished up, Frank and I had already worked on cracking open our third beer.
Motou and Hamada had joined us in the beer crew, whereas we still had some sake left over from the last time Hotaru, Ageha and Kanako were over, which we heated up for the girls.
After about an hour or so, we were all feeling decently good, though Hamada had chilled out a bit since he was supposed to be the DD of the night.
"Well, It's getting a little late now, I guess we should be heading to the house pretty soon." Hamada said as he finished up his last beer.
"You guys coming back in the morning? I mean, that, or you two could always just crash here again if you really wanted to." I said, walking into the kitchen to grab myself and Frank another drink.
Hamada rubs his chin for a moment before replying.
"I mean, that's not a bad idea. I could just bring the girls to the train station real quick and head back and-"
"H-Hey now...don't leave us behind now, we wanna stay too!" A fairly drunk Akari said out of the blue.
Frank and I look to one another, surprised.
"Gotta say Akari, seen a few sides of you today that I did not think even existed." I said with a lighthearted chuckle.
"Ahh...if only Ma-kun was here too...hehehe..."
Now Frank and I's eyebrows were almost raised off of the top of our face.
Shortly after speaking, as if she had realized what she had just actually said, Akari's face had turned beet red, and it definitely wasn't from the alcohol.
"W-Wait, no I mean...that sounded weird, like I want to see him or something, but it...it's not like!-"
"Akari, do you like Ma-bou?" I asked her genuinely.
She makes a little surprised sound before burying her face into her hands.
"Yanno, you may as well just come clean, cause I'm pretty sure everyone here knows the answer already anyway. It was pretty easy to tell earlier back when that rich chick said all that crap about him to you."
Without saying a word, keeping her face buried into her palms, she simply nods.
I immediately grin proudly before leaning against the wall all cool like.
"So tell him! I think you may be surprised at the results."
She quickly looks up at me, with a much more serious expression now.
"No way." She said, holding her hand up as if telling me to 'stop'.
I just raised an eye at her questionably.
"And why not? You scared?"
She opens her mouth as if she's about to say something, but just looks away instead.
"Wait...you're seriously scared?" I asked, in a more serious tone.
She lets out a little sigh before nodding.
"Yeah. We've simply had the 'class rep and helper' image so long now that he's known by almost everyone as just that. That's why there's all of these different people that poke fun at him and all, as you saw earlier with Shio-san."
"Yeah, well nobody cares about nosy ass bitches. Tell me, do YOU see you and his current relationship with each other that way?"
She thinks for a moment before shaking her head.
"No, it's not that...but I think he's got it buried into his head as well. He's a really great guy and he really does help me so much...he's always there for me and...he always listens to me and..." She trails off at the end before blushing once again.
"Akari." I said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Just tell him how you feel. If you don't, then you really will always be just 'class rep and helper' as you said before.
She smiles at me for a moment before shaking her head.
"It's fine. I don't want to ruin anything between us, so if this is where we stay...as long as he's still there with me...then it's fine."
I let out a little sigh before nodding. "I gotcha. Well, I tell you what, tomorrow at the festival if these guys really do win again, then you have to tell Ma-bou how you feel...deal?"
She raises an eye at me as if she misheard.
"If...we lose? But I thought you guys were so keen on winning?"
"We will win. I promise you that, but...if we take a loss...then you have to take a 'loss' too. That being you telling him without thinking about any consequences. You just gotta go for it if so."
"Well...we've lost every year though, so I-"
"We ain't losing this year. This year you got us, AND since they're so used to what you guys usually do...they'll never be expecting what we got in store. So...deal?" I asked once again, extending my hand towards her and smiling.
She lets out another little sigh before smiling and nodding, shaking my hand lightly in the end. "Okay, I guess that seems fair."
"Good!"
After exchanging our little handshake and agreement, I had glanced back over towards the sofa to see Motou knocked out with Hamada on the floor at the foot of the sofa, passed out himself.
"I just roll my eyes and chuckle lightly at the sight. "Pff, lightweights."
Akari giggles a bit herself before stifling a yawn almost immediately after.
"Maybe I am too because I'm a little tired myself."
"You know I just thought about it, do any of you have any extra clothes and all to be out for the night?"
"Yeah, I usually keep a change in my bag since Akira, Ina and I are always at each others houses."
"Alright cool. Well, if you guys all wanna go first, feel free to go and use the bath whenever. I'm sure Frank and I are probably gonna be up a little while longer so we can wait."
She bows lightly before grabbing her bag from behind her on the floor.
"Akira and I are coming too!" Ina called out from the loveseat where her and Akira had been sitting.
After the three of them had finished up, Frank and I each took our turns in the shower as well before finally readying ourselves for bed.
"Damn." I said, checking my phone as I dried my wet hair with the towel. "Already almost midnight."
"Yup, which is exactly why I'm hitting the hay right about now." Frank said, passing me and heading up towards his room.
"Yeah, I won't be far behind honestly. Gonna go sit out on the foyer for a few minutes though, it's a nice night at least."
Frank looks around for a bit before leaning in closer to me.
"Still bummed about Hotaru I'm guessing?" He whispered to me.
I let out a little sigh and simply nod.
He gives me a light slap on the back and turns back towards his room.
"Just holler at me if you need to vent a bit."
I smile and shake my head before turning back towards the back door leading outside. "Nah, I'll be fine."
"Alright, then I'm crashing. Night man." He said, waving me off as he shut his door.
"Yeah, see you in the morning dude." I said, now walking outside to the foyer.
As soon as I had shut the door, Ina had rolled over on the futon that her, Akari and Akira had all been sharing.
"Psst...Akira, you still awake?" Ina asked in a low whisper.
Akira lifted her head up and over Akari, who had been dead asleep already.
"I mean, yeah a little bit I guess. Why?"
Ina just smirked and made a head gesture over towards the back door.
"Hayden just went out there by himself, It's now or never if you're gonna go through with this." She said.
Akira's face had turned a bit red for a moment before she let out a sigh and nodded, slowly getting up in an attempt not to wak anyone.
Ina had actually looked a bit surprised, raising an eye at her briefly.
"Wow, that was pretty fast for you to agree like that. You know...I'm not actually forcing you to do this, you don't really have to if-"
Akira shakes her head and smiles before stretching a bit as she stood up fully.
"Nah, honestly now I think is a good time to actually talk to Hayden anyway and clear up everything with him since...you know...THAT...happened a bit fast and unexpected."
Ina smiles and nods before laying her head back down upon her pillow.
"Well, good luck with everything then. I'm sure he'll understand everything anyway, Hayden's definitely a good guy."
Akira nods before finally heading over towards the door I had just walked through.
I look up from my phone when I had heard a noise behind me, to be greeted by none other than Akira standing in the doorway.
"Akira?" I said, turning away a bit from embarassment as I had reflected on what happened earlier.
She shuts the door behind her, turning away a bit as well, probably for the same reason.
"What's up?" I said, trying to break the awkward silence.
She points to the chair next to me.
"May I sit?" She asks politely.
I simply nod and kick my feet back up onto the railing as I had been before.
"Of course you can." I said genuinely.
A few minutes had passed and nothing else was said, so we were right back to that same awkward silence as before.
I tried once more to break the ice.
"Sooo...what's up? Everything cool?" I asked her.
"Well, first I think...I need to apologize for earlier."
She turns away once more, her face still beet red, before letting out a big sigh and tunring back towards me.
"I...I'm sorry for doing that, it was sudden and I'm sure it made you feel uncomfortable."
I just shrug my shoulders before taking another sip of the beer that I was still finishing from before.
"I wasn't really uncomfortable so to speak, just surprised. Heh, I mean I know you joke around and mess with me all the time, but I wasn't expecting you to mess with me about something like that is all."
She raises an eye at me before letting out a little sigh.
"Hayden, why do you think that I was messing with you? Do you not think that you're attractive or someting? Do you feel it impossible for a girl to have real feelings for you?"
I glance over towards her and raise an eye as I've never really heard her speak in such a serious tone.
"Wait...so you were'nt-"
"Messing with you? Hell no I wasn't. Hayden if it were up to me, the two of us would be together without a doubt. I kissed you because I like you, you dense idiot."
I felt like I wanted to at least say something back, but I just couldn't due to the bit of shock I was feeling from the situation.
Her face was still beet red, but ultimately she pushed through the shyness and continued.
"And now...well, now you know how I feel. That brings me to why I'm apologizing."
She scoots her chair more in front of me and looks me dead in the eyes.
"I know that you're into Hotaru. Ina and I have even been trying to figure out ways to help you and her get time alone together and to set the mood and all. I knew that, but I still kissed you, due to my own feelings, even though I shouldn't have."
I had almost choked on the bit of beer that I had just taken a sip of.
"Ack...i-into her?! I mean she's like a sister to me or, or like just a best friend or...uh, y'know...um..."
Akira raises an eye at me disbelievingly.
"Hayden, come on. You may be dense, but I'm not. Everyone knows."
I let out a huge sigh before facepalming myself a bit.
"E-everyone?"
"Except for Hotaru. Evidently, you aren't the only one who's oblivious to your surroundings when it comes to the opposite sex."
"Okay ouch, now you're just hurting my feelings." I said playfully, trying to keep the mood light. "Well, yeah I can't deny it...I'm crazy about her honestly."
She laughs a little at my statement before sighing to herself and looking off into the distant sky.
"Sorry, wasn't trying to, but seriously it's amazing how she hasn't noticed. Also...it's amazing that you haven't either." She said, whispering the last part.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, nothing. But seriously, why haven't you just told her?"
I shake my head and after thinking on I briefly, I could honestly come up with nothing.
"I don't know. If I'm being honest, I'm just scared to ruin what we have...well, I guess I can say what we HAD now. Pretty sure everything got fucked up from earlier."
Akira lets out a sigh and looks down towards the ground, frowning a bit.
"Come on, I already know what you're thinking. Stop, it isn't you're fault. I'm the one who kinda went off earlier when her and I argued, so I definitely screwed any bit of fixing the situation up."
A few minutes go by and neither of us had said anything.
Finally I stand up since I had been getting a little tired, and begin heading back inside.
"I'm about to hit the hay. It's getting late so you probably should too...and, Akira?"
"Hm?" She said, looking up towards me from her chair.
"Thanks for coming talk to me. I stick by what I said earlier by the fountain, I really am glad I met you no matter what you may think."
She remains silent and once more her face had become beet red.
I turn around to go back inside, but as soon as I had touched the door knob to open the door, I felt a light tug on the back of my shirt.
"Hm?" I said, turning around to face akira, who was now standing up and grabbing on to my shirt.
"Hayden?" She asks in a low whisper.
"Yeah? What's up?"
She lets out another big sigh before looking me directly in the eyes.
"Tomorrow, after you guys play and all...um...and I promise I mean this strictly just as friends, ...but...um, would you maybe...uh...want to...er..."
"Walk around the festival with you?" I said, helping her out a bit.
"Ah..uh...y-yes. I mean I TOTALLY understand if not, I'm not trying to pull you even further from Hotaru or anything like that I just...well...I never really looked forward to going before, so...I thought maybe even just a little bit...I could enjoy myself this time."
I chuckle to myself under my breath a bit and nod my head. "Sure. I mean, it's not like I'm gonna be going with anbody else now obviously, so why not?"
"Ahah...yeah, I guess not. Well, you're sure that you're okay with this, right?" She asked one last time, though it was easy to tell that she was excited about it regardless.
I smile and nod before grabbing the now empty beer bottle and throwing it in the little trash bin we had outside.
"Yes, I'm sure. Could be fun, ya know?" I said, opening the door behind me. "Come on, it's getting late and we all have to get up fairly early, let's get some sleep at least."
She nods and smiles, following behind me back into the house.
I began feeling the sleepiness hit me as I slowly trot up the stairs to my room.
"Jeez, it's already past 3am." I said, glancing at my phone right before plopping down onto my bed.
Once more I click the home button to unlock my phone before opening my messages to once more glance at Hotaru and I's last conversation from the other day.
With a heavy sigh, I place my phone onto the charger and stare at my cieling in the complete darkness.
"I guess there's not much I can do now." I said to myself before finally closing my eyes and dozing off a bit.