She Comes And Goes As She Pleases (Part 58)
by BrDPirateMan

"Ugh! The heat!" groaned Eri. "I can't take it anymore!"

Bombarded from above by the merciless sun, I felt like every pore on my body was working on overdrive. Sweat poured off my skin like water from a faucet. Eri was at the end of her tether herself.

"Neku," she wheezed, "if I don't make it…"

"No, Eri," I panted, holding her limp form up by the arm. "Don't give up. Salvation is just up ahead. Look…"

She mustered up her last ounce of energy to lift her head. The sight that greeted her reinvigorated her tired muscles and she was suddenly filled with a surge of energy.

"At last," she laughed breathlessly. "At long last! …It's the pool!"

If Shibuya during the summer was the desert, then the local indoor pool was our oasis. Finally, we could get a reprieve from the heat. We climbed the stairs to the entrance, sweat dripping off our skin with each step.

"Hurry, Neku! Not a moment to lose!"

"Hey, don't strip here! We're still outside!"

We changed into our swimwear in record time and plunged into the water. The relief was immediate.

"Oh yeah!" I whooped. "This is the stuff!"

Eri floated past me with a grin. "Alright, it's official: I don't want to get out of this pool anymore. This is gonna be my new home. I'll install, like, a letterbox by the edge and everything and it'll be awesome. Oh, and a kitchen."

"Man, I kinda wish our apartment had a pool."

"Yeah, our bathtub's too small for swimming. Believe me, I tried."

"You don't need to try to know that much…"

We swam for an hour and then it was time for a break. Eri offered to buy food for us both and returned to the table hefting two packets of yakisoba in her hands.

Putting on a stuffy accent for fun, she said, "Thank you for waiting, good sir. Here is your yakisoba. I hope you had in the meantime enjoyed our complimentary… oxygen."

I laughed as she placed my food in front of me. "Oh, not to worry, I enjoyed it alright. I just wish it was orange-flavored."

"Orange is not available, sir." Now she sat down to join me. "It's very popular, and we've just run out. Perhaps you'd like to try our strawberry flavor instead? Guava is pretty popular too."

"…I swear, our conversations just keep getting weirder and weirder."

"Live with it," she chuckled. "It's what makes the world go round."

Snack time was interspersed with more jokes and talk on all kinds of topics. It's never a drag talking with her. Then halfway through, she had some news for me.

"My college is going to hold a summer festival," she said. "It's gonna take place in a couple of weeks."

"A summer festival… oh, I get it. It's like Hachi Fest, isn't it?"

"Yeah! No fireworks though. We worked out the details some time back so now everyone has a solid idea of what to do."

"So are you a part of it?"

Eri chuckled, pleased with herself. "The organizers have a Miss Campus beauty pageant planned as part of the lineup of activities. I was asked to take part."

"Oh my god, really? That's great! Heh, I bet you'd clinch first prize for sure."

"No, I'm not joining."

My face fell. Incredulous, I demanded answers. "What? Wh-Why not?"

"I thought to give the other girls a chance at the title. Not trying to put on airs here, believe me, but having a model who's appeared on magazines as one of the contestants just doesn't seem fair."

"You… You might have a point there. That's actually really thoughtful of you." I rubbed the back of my neck, laughing sheepishly. "I was hoping to see you in it, though."

"I had a feeling you'd say that," she giggled. "Anyway, I offered to help out with their cosplay cafe instead."

"Ooh, splendid!" If Eri wasn't going to be in the beauty pageant, then having her work at a novelty cafe was the next best thing. "I'll come visit you. Hey, what're you gonna be dressed as?"

She placed a finger to her lips and mischievously winked at me. "It's a secret."

"No fair," I pretended to whine. "No one ever tells me the good stuff."

"You'll know when you see it, young man. Have patience."

"I have to wait two weeks till the big day. I'll have everything but patience. Gimme a hint at least, before I explode into a million bits from all the guessing."

She just laughed. It must be so fun, letting people stew over things they can't know until a later time. That's why cliffhangers are so frustrating.

Frothing with glee, she said, "I suppose I can do that."

I perked up and was all ears, but this was Eri whom we were talking about. Would she ever give a straight answer?

"What I'm going to wear," she said, "is really nice."

"What… that's it?"

"Yup!"

When I threw my hands in the air in a show of mock frustration, she broke into an even louder laugh.

I needed to get back at her one of these days for that.

XOXOXOXOXO

Now let's see… Where was it? It's got to be around here somewhere…

The Concrete Boys just released a new album, and I was combing the shelves at AMX, looking for it. This shopping trip of mine was going to be both short and specific. No detours, no distractions. Buy that album, go home. Just half an hour ago I had dropped Eri off at her college. She had to meet up with her fellow colleagues-to-be for the cosplay cafe. No doubt they would be there to discuss attire choices and marketing strategies.

What would she be wearing for the festival? It's a cosplay cafe; it could be anything. My mind conjured up increasingly lewd outfits for her to dress up in. Things started out tame in my head at first – Gothic Lolita maid costumes and plain Jane waitress getups looked cute on her. But then sleeves started to shrink until they disappeared, skirts followed suit, and eventually she became sex on legs in a bunny suit. That butt of hers was just begging to be smacked…

WHAP!

Right at the exact moment when I imagined giving her a nice spank, I was slapped on the back pretty heftily. My insides were jostled like they were in a pinball machine. And then the shock of having my daydream interrupted was followed by a cheery greeting.

"Hi!"

I turned around… and there stood Shiki, grinning at me.

"That's some power you were packing," I joked, nursing my back. "Have you been working out?"

"Oh!" she gasped. "Did I hurt you? Sorry about that. Didn't mean to do that so hard."

"Hey, calm down. I'm fine, see? Strong." I patted my chest in a show of toughness. "So what's new?"

"My college is holding a festival two weeks from now," she said with a smile. "And I'm taking part."

"Oh yeah, Eri told me about it. Heh, look at you, ever the hard worker. You joining the Miss Campus thing?"

"What? Oh, no, don't be ridiculous. I won't even make the cut."

"You don't look half bad in a swimsuit. I bet you've got a chance. Who knows, maybe someone will scout you."

Blushing slightly from the compliments, she laughed it off and tried to play it cool. "You know, there are brown-nosers, and then there's you. Just so you know, if you're doing this to curry my favour, you won't get anywhere."

"Heh. Okay, seriously, what are you doing for the festival?"

"I'm in the festival committee. Basically I help a bunch of other guys to put the whole thing together. Much of what I'm doing is behind-the-scenes work."

"That sounds like a big job."

"It's not easy. We leave the other clubs to do their own thing with their stalls, but we're the ones who have to do stuff like putting up the general decorations around campus and making sure all of the required equipment is working and accounted for… There're a bunch of things to look into."

"You sure have a lot on your plate. But… so far so good?"

"Yeah, we're getting there. Stuff is happening at least." She gave me a friendly pat on the arm that actually didn't hurt and turned to leave. "Hey, I have to get back to work so I'll catch you later."

All I wanted to do initially was to buy a CD and go home to enjoy it. But seeing how Shiki could use some help, I changed my plans. She's a good friend who's helped me out on numerous occasions. I haven't finished repaying her kindness and I don't intend to stop anytime soon.

"Hold up," I called out, stopping her. "What're you planning to do for now?"

"I'm going to the bookstore to get some supplies. We need them for the decorations. Why?"

"Want me to come with? I don't have anything to do at the moment, so I can give you a hand. I can even help you guys out with making the decorations."

She drawled out a long "Well…" as she contemplated my offer, but eventually she accepted. "Yeah, I think that'd be great. I'll have a lot to carry, so I'd appreciate the extra set of arms. As for the decorations, however, I'm afraid I can't let you chip in. We don't allow outsiders to help us out; otherwise they'd know about our plans for the festival!"

"Fair enough. Shall we get going?"

"Depends," she teased. "Are you as strong as you claim to be?"

I flexed a bicep in jest. "You bet!"

"We'll see."

I drove her to the nearest bookstore. There, she picked out various coloured cardboards, felt-tip marker pens and other miscellaneous stationery according to a list she wrote up, dividing the goods equally amongst our two shopping baskets. Whatever it was she and her committee had planned, it had to be a big project.

We bought so much we could open a shop with what we had. Carrying the lot of it became quite strenuous on the arms, so thank heavens for my car and its spacious boot. As I drove her to college, we talked some more about the upcoming festival, but she was averse to providing additional details.

"Sorry I can't tell you much more," she said. "Orders from above."

"Is there anything at all you can tell me?"

She stroked her chin. "Maybe. There is one thing I can say."

"Lay it on me. If it's anything that can quench my curiosity, I'm all for it."

Shiki's smile grew. "The festival… will be lots of fun."

Damn, left in the dark again!

Amidst her giggling, I wryly muttered, "First Eri, now you. You guys must get a kick out of leaving people on cliffhangers."

"That's why we're best friends!"

One more person to have to exact my revenge on, it would seem. But my plans for sweet vengeance would have to wait.

When the jokes and ribbing settled down, I shot a good question her way. "So what made you decide to help out with the festival? It's a huge responsibility to undertake."

"It's hard for the festival committee to put everything together, so I thought to help them out a bit. I'm just one person, but if I can make a difference… then, well, it's all good, right?"

"Hmmm… yeah, it's always good to help. Yes, that's a good thing."

"Hee hee. I knew you'd agree with me! I'm not used to big jobs like this, so I'm kinda struggling. But it'll work out, I'm sure. There's two dozen of us on the committee and the President is really good at sorting things out, so we can totally make this gig work."

"Sounds you got it all in the bag, then. More or less."

"Well, there are some problems here and there, but we manage. You know how these things are. They're never perfect."

Her college loomed into view and I taxied into one of the available parking spaces. We grabbed her stuff from the boot and together we lugged the goods to wherever she needed to go.

I dropped Eri off every morning on the days we had classes, but I haven't stepped inside for a while. The last time I came to this college was a little over a year ago: Eri forgot to bring her homework and I just happened to be at home at the time, so she begged me to bring it to her as she was in the middle of a seminar and couldn't leave. The furthest I've been is the entrance, where she had met up with me to pick up her stuff. Any more than that… well, I might get to see today.

We got as far as the lobby when we were approached by a male student. He was a tall guy and spoke to Shiki in a friendly manner.

"I see you got the goods. Great going!" Then he turned to me. "Friend of yours, Shiki?"

"Um, yeah! He helped me carry all of this stuff, Prez. Really helpful."

'Prez'? Ah, so this must be the president of the festival committee whom she was talking about earlier.

"Thanks, bro," he said to me. "I'll take it from here."

I gave him the bag I was holding and was glad to be relieved of it. The weight took him by surprise and almost made him topple. Looking at his features, he was a little on the nerdy side with non-descript messy hair, but otherwise he was easy on the eyes. And he came across as a dependable sort of guy.

"Come on, Shiki," he grunted, his arm struggling not to fall off. "Let's get this back to the clubroom posthaste."

"You got it, Prez!" She turned to me and nodded. "Thanks for the help, Neku. Bye now!"

I waved as they left. "Later, gator."

Watching them walk off, I wondered about the things they must discuss in the committee. I didn't know why she wanted to join it in the first place, but it's admirable that she's taking on such a huge responsibility. Couldn't say I envied her though. It had to be tough work.

I turned round to leave, and jumped in surprise when I saw Eri behind me, looking like she was about to pounce.

"Gah!" she hissed. "Why did you have to turn around so soon, Neku? Now I've lost my chance…"

Confused, I asked, "Wh-What're you talking about?"

"I thought it'd be fun to play a trick in you. But when I snuck up behind you, I was faced with a difficult decision! Do I slap you real hard on the back, grope your butt, shout 'Boo!' in your ear or cover your eyes from behind and say 'Guess who?' I was leaning towards the groping option, but smacking you on the back was kinda tempting too…"

"What."

"Man, it'd have been the perfect prank! I just needed more time." She crossed her arms and shook her head, heaving a very disappointed sigh. "Ah well, missed opportunities…"

"No kidding," I said sarcastically. "I wouldn't know what to do, myself."

"So what brings you here?" But before I could answer, she snapped, "Wait! You knew I had a meeting today with the cosplay cafe guys…"

"Uh-huh. What about it?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Were you here to conduct corporate espionage? To spy on us so you could learn our secrets and find out what we're going to wear?! I'll have you know that's a closely guarded secret! And you're too late to find out anyway. The meeting's over."

"Good god, ease up on the doomsday scenarios there. I'm no spy."

"Hmmm… very suspicious…"

"Cut it out. I'm only here because Shiki needed my help."

I explained everything, omitting no details. By the time my story was finished, we had drifted to a bench in the shade.

"Ah, Shiki," sighed Eri. "My poor friend. She has it rough, you know?"

"Well, she's on the festival committee. Makes sense she'd be swamped with work."

"No, that's not it. I mean, yeah, of course she'd be busy and everything, but… it's not all rosy within the committee. See, apparently she doesn't get along with the other members. Or rather, they don't get along with her."

That was cause for concern. "Really? What happened exactly?"

"Shiki says that they don't think she's serious enough with her job… that she's there only because of the president, which isn't true. She doesn't have feelings for the guy, good-looking as he may be."

"But she really is working hard… Her going out of her way to buy festival supplies should be proof enough, right? She's taking it seriously alright."

"I know. Another thing: she's the only one among them who's not familiar with big projects such as this festival. Everyone else has been involved in leadership positions in some way or other in the past, and they have lots of experience under their belts. So they don't think much of a newbie like her."

Indignant at my friend being at the receiving end of ostracism, I huffed, "Now that's just unfair. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. You can't expect everyone to start off knowing everything. Hell, even those committee members had to be newbies once!"

"I guess they don't care much for this simple fact," said Eri sadly. "They only care about results."

"Isn't there anything we can do to help her?"

"Besides cheering her on? I don't think so… The committee doesn't allow anyone else to help. Seems like they have big plans for the festival, so everything's been hush-hush."

It frustrated me that I couldn't do anything for Shiki. I could tell Eri wasn't very happy about it either, but she was right. With the circumstances as they were, there wasn't much we could do.

"I hope she'll be alright," I said. "I'm worried she may have bitten off more than she can chew."

"You know, I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure she can do it; she's just not used to it."

Neither of us had anything left to do and so I drove her home.

How would Shiki fare from here on out? She may be surrounded by an entire committee, but she's pretty much on her own.

And we could only watch.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Thanks for your hard work."

I waved Mr H goodbye and took to the streets after a hard day at work. It was a warm Saturday evening two weeks after I'd last met Shiki, and the festival would take place tomorrow. I had in my hand a bag of leftover muffins that Mr H gave me. He rarely gave away freebies, so I had to admit I was slightly suspicious. But hey, free food. And it's muffins.

Muffins aside, I'd been making stabs in the dark these past couple of weeks about what Eri would wear for her role in the cosplay cafe. The bunny suit came up one too many times, and now it'd become her default costume in my mind's eye. The memory of it had saturated to a point where it was now impossible to consider any other options. My life wouldn't be complete unless she showed up in it. But these daydreams were all in good fun at the end of the day. It's not a matter of life and death.

Hmm? Wasn't that Shiki off in the distance? What's she doing at this time of night?

"Hey, Shiki."

She turned to face me and I was greeted with a very tired-looking face. The smile she flashed was both brief and weak.

"Oh hey… Neku. What's up?"

"I just finished work. I was heading home…"

"Heh… funny story. I… just finished work too."

"You have a part-time job?"

"No, silly. I was helping with last-minute preparations for tomorrow's festival. You know what they say: the last stretch is always the busiest! …Or something like that."

"It's already half past ten!" Concerned, I pressed for answers. "How long have you been at it?"

"The whole day," she yawned. "Met up with the rest of the committee at 8 this morning and we've been working ever since."

"Have you eaten?"

"Sure! I had a couple of cupcakes for afternoon tea."

"No!" I snapped, my tone marred by worry. "I meant dinner! Have… Have you not had dinner yet?"

She clutched her stomach. "Oh… so that's where my hunger pangs were coming from…"

"No dinner, huh. Good grief." I shoved the bag of muffins into her hands. "Here. Eat this. Now."

"But – "

"No buts. Eat it." And then, with a softer tone, I added, "Um, sorry if they're a little dry…"

She fished a muffin out of the bag and one whiff of its enticing vanilla aroma was enough to turn her into a ravenous beast. After settling down on a nearby bench, she polished all of the muffins on the spot. For those few moments, I was scared she might eat the bag too.

"Thanks for the food," she said, patting her stomach. "That hit the spot." She crumpled the bag into a ball and tossed it into the dustbin nearby.

"You've got a long day tomorrow. Best you go home now and – you know what? Let me drive you back home. I don't want you to take the bus and doze off on it."

"I'll be fine, don't worry."

"No, you don't worry about it. Now come on, I'll give you a ride."

And that's what I did. Contrary to her claims that she would be just fine, she plopped off to sleep as soon as she put on her safety belt and spent the entire way back deep in la-la land. I was right to suspect that she could stand the tiredness no longer. Eventually I reached her apartment and shook her shoulder gently to wake her up.

Her eyes fluttered open for two seconds before closing again. "Five more minutes…"

I shook her harder, forcing her to rouse fully. "Come on, we're already at your home."

When we reached her doorstep, she expressed her gratitude. "Thanks for accompanying me home, Neku. I'm just sorry you had to go through so much trouble. I'll make it up to you somehow…"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. I won't be able to live with myself if I just left you to your devices. But never mind that. Go and sleep for now. If you're still hungry, grab some instant noodles or something but don't take too long getting to bed. You need to be at your peak tomorrow."

"Yeah. I'll do that."

I bid her goodnight, but as I turned to leave, she grasped my sleeve. I glanced back just in time to see the look of uncertainty on her face.

"What's wrong, Shiki?"

She bit her lip and spoke softly. "Actually, I… I'm not sure how the festival will turn out. If it flops, and it's my fault…"

Were her feelings of uncertainty a result of her having to deal with colleagues who couldn't find it in themselves to trust her? What did she have to go through during her time in the committee? Maybe it's time to dig a little deeper into this. If I was truly her friend, then this was the time to show it.

"Shiki," I said gently, "I know you'll be alright. But what makes you think you'll fail?"

She clutched her arm, looking uneasy. Then, after some thought, "Could you come inside? Just for a bit. I won't be long."

It's been a while since I'd been here. Sitting on her couch, we sipped on green tea and listened to the purr of air-conditioning. Then she was ready to talk.

"My senpais in the committee feel I'm not up to the task," she began. "And the worst part is… I think they may be right. I've goofed up a few times because I'm not used to working on projects of this nature. I've tried again and again to make things right but I can't seem to make them happy."

"So then, they're just hard to please?"

"I… I can't say that for certain. They may seem difficult, but at the same time they're not wrong: I've made some mistakes they can't overlook. They often had to clean up after me. I offered to rectify my errors, but they just said I'd make things worse."

"Harsh…"

"I'd have been fine if they said it's because I'm not good at it yet, but then they have to say I'm just hanging around to chat with the president and that's why I'm not doing my job right!"

That tallied with what Eri told me. A heavy sigh rattled Shiki's breath, and with it came sadness and a bit of anger. She must feel really messed up right now. What a way to feel before the big day.

"You mean," I said, "they've ever said that to you? In your face?"

"I wouldn't know otherwise," she groaned. "Heck, the president isn't even my type. The only reason I talk to him at all is because he's the one I have to report to. That's all. I always denied these accusations, but no one believes me."

"That's not nice of them to say that. It's not right."

"You're telling me! I… I just want to help… and stuff."

She stretched her arms up and over her head, then let them fall to her sides limply. I saw a very frustrated young woman in her, for whom I felt bad. She's doing good things for the community by helping to put together a festival for everyone to enjoy, but she wasn't getting the respect she deserved. Even if she wasn't prepared for the workload, she should get some recognition at least for chipping in.

But there was a gap in the story I still needed to fill in before I could see the entire picture.

"Shiki, why did you join the festival committee in the first place? Is it really because you want to make a difference, or is there something else?"

She gazed at me wide-eyed, like she wasn't expecting me to say that. But I knew her better than anyone else… well, apart from Eri. And right now, my hunch was telling me that behind this show of generosity she had an ulterior motive.

In contrast to her earlier outburst, she was now very calm. She had a small, sad smile on her face – the look of someone who knows they've been found out.

"I really can't keep anything from you, can I, Neku…"

"Sorry, I'm not trying to guilt-trip you or anything."

"I know. Don't worry, I understand. I'll tell."

"Take your time."

"…The reason I joined the festival committee… is because I feel like I can't keep up with Eri anymore."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Have you seen how much she has achieved over the past couple of years? First, she landed that butler job at Tea & Orange. Despite the challenges that came with being in disguise the whole time, she did great and made her Seishirou-sama alter ego a sensation. Then she became a model… That modeling gig alone has turned her into a mini-celebrity – she's appeared in magazines and even took part in an anime convention. And of course, there is no end to the designs she comes up with for clothes. She truly is amazing.

"But I'm the complete opposite. I haven't had any luck securing a part-time position anywhere. Been trying for the past two years… well, okay, I did work as an assistant at a bookstore for a time, but I was so clumsy they kicked me out. Couldn't have been there for more than two weeks."

"Ouch." I gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I know how that feels like. I was fired from my first job too."

"You too?" She was shocked to hear that from me. "I'm sorry about that."

"Eh, don't worry about it. Sure, it sucked, but my boss was a tyrant, so it's good in a way that I was sacked."

"At least you found work after that. I haven't. Anyway, I got no job… so I thought I'd try thinking up some of my own clothing designs to make up for it. But no matter hard I tried, they just weren't any good. I've had some flashes of inspiration here and there, but they're few and far in between. Ironic, huh? What with me majoring in fashion design and all. And now my culinary skills can't compare to Eri's. Gotta say, this is all really humbling to me."

"In short," I said cautiously, "you're anxious that you're lagging behind?"

"That's about right, yeah." She leaned back into the couch, letting out a sigh. "I just… I want to be good at something. I don't want to be an underachiever. Maybe I can't match up to Eri's accomplishments, but at least I want to have a skill or achievement that I can confidently tell people about. You know, something with which I can say, 'Yeah, I did that!' That's why I jumped at the call when they advertised for volunteers to help out with the festival. Thought that if I did this, then I'd have something to be proud of…

"Turned out great, didn't it?" And she gave a grim little laugh. "People are always saying we should step outside of our comfort zones now and again, and I'm certainly doing that, but what am I doing wrong? Neku, what's your take on all of this?"

If she wanted an honest opinion then I had no intention of beating about the bush.

"You're worried that you're not measuring up to your peers, or Eri or anyone else for that matter… However, I don't think you should get too hung up over that."

She looked puzzled. "Isn't it natural to strive to improve yourself? That's what I'm doing right now."

"Yes, that's a good way to think. But it sounds like you're too concerned about results. I know it's cool to have something you can show off to people. If you can succeed in your endeavors, more power to you. But even if you don't really manage all that well, and the end result isn't very good, what does it matter? The most important thing is that you tried."

Upon hearing that, Shiki's eyes widened. I told her something along those lines years ago. It's just that she needed that reminder to set her straight again.

"Granted," I continued, "there are certain situations where results do matter, like if there's absolutely no margin for error… no middle ground, no getting away with nothin', but that's a whole can of worms altogether. I'm sure you'll know what they are when you come across them. Sometimes, however, just giving it your best shot is reason enough to be proud of yourself."

"A-Are you sure about that?"

"Sure. Face it. Out of all of the people at your college, how many want to spend the time to put together a festival? It's hard work, it gets tiring, things can go wrong and the stress racks up faster than you can say 'timeout'. Not many are capable or willing to undertake such a task – hell, I don't even want to think about it – and here you are… doing it. Take it from me, you're a lot more awesome than most of everyone else we know."

Her facial expression softened as she came to realize where she had gone wrong.

"If you put it like that," she muttered, "you make it sound like I'm amazing."

"You are. Don't second-guess yourself. Just do your best and you'll be fine. Then when this is all over you can kick back all proud of yourself and say, 'I did it.' And ignore those colleagues of yours who trash-talk you. If they can't bother to give you any constructive criticism, they're not worth your time."

Her lips curled up into a smile. "Heh… you're right. To be fair, I did help out a whole bunch. It's not their place to say I'm any less important than they are."

"That's right!"

"Of course I'm not going to shirk my responsibilities, and I'll work my hardest, but even if it doesn't turn out perfectly… well, at least I did something cool."

"You got it, girl. Does that help you feel better?"

"Yeah. Hey, thanks for listening, Neku. That really helps. I don't feel so lost now. I think I can pull this off now."

I returned her smile. "Once the festival is over, I'll treat you to lunch."

"Heh… I'll be looking forward to it."

I rose from the sofa, preparing to leave. She followed suit and escorted me to the front door.

"Relax, Shiki, you got this. You worked so hard for this. It'll work out."

"I believe you. Just remember to show up! You don't want to miss it. Especially not the beauty contest. Everyone's waiting for the Four Stellar Beauties!"

"I'll keep that in mind. Okay, I gotta run, Shiki."

"If you don't turn up, you'll have me and Eri to speak to."

I laughed at the threat she jokingly directed at me. "Ooh, scary."

As I walked off, she gave me a cheery little wave, waggling her fingers.

Every big event like this festival carries the risk that something could go awry. With so many people involved, there's easily a million bad things that could happen.

But I had faith in her… That's how I know everything would be okay. And even if the opposite turned out to be true, at least she's still awesome.