"A school festival?"
Walking together in a synchronized pace, Zero Two looks at Hiro with eyes full of curiosity after the latter suddenly mentions something about a festival FRANXX high holds every year. "Oh, haven't your school had one of those?" she shakes her head sadly. "I don't believe we have one of those." she mutters under her breath before turning to her darling once more to ask questions, in hopes of knowing what kind of festival did their school conduct. "What is it like darling, is it fun?"
Hiro stops and thinks for a bit, his gaze focusing on the sky, before answering the horned girl, "Well...there are a lot of things going on during that time.." he says thoughtfully, "It's kinda like the school transforms into this, carnival, or something like that…"
"Ohh, that really DOES sounds like fun!" Zero Two flashes a toothy grin, unable to contain her excitement for the said event. Seeing her being overly enthusiastic, Hiro smiles, despite being sixteen year olds, the pinkette showed the innocence and happiness of a little girl who'd just been promised she'd be going to Disneyland.
Speaking of Disneyland, Hiro wonders what Zero Two's reaction would be when she goes there; it'd probably be ten times more giddy than her reaction with the school festival.
Hiro could feel his insides warming up by the thought.
Entering their classroom, Hiro and Zero Two are met with the whole class being unusually quiet with Ichigo preceding at the front; it almost felt like they were conducting some very important meeting between a mafia boss and his cronies. Hiro sweat drops at the image, but quickly realizes why the whole class were acting that way.
'Ah, that's right..it's the school festival…'
But Zero Two had absolutely ZERO ideas on what the hell was going on. Naturally, she asks her darling, leaning down slightly to whisper in his ear,
"Darling, what's wrong with everyone?" seeing everyone seem so serious sent little shivers down her spine. Even Zorome was awfully silent, she felt like she was somewhat transported to another dimension.
"Ah well, you see...remember what I said earlier about a school festival?" the pinkette nods, "Well, us students are the ones who prepare everything, so we kind of have to have some brainstorming on what activities we could do for the festival." even after darling's, explanation, Zero Two still couldn't fathom why everyone was acting so weird.
"Still, what's everyone so worked up about?"
Suddenly, they all jump in shock when they hear a loud 'BANG' on the table, although the whole class didn't have to turn their heads to realize just who the culprit was.
"I told you Ichigo, we should just set up a booth where people could take a photo with me, Zorome sama!" Zorome points to himself, his pseudo suaveness acting up again. Their other classmates, especially Miku, could only look at him in disbelief and annoyance. "What did I tell you before you big doofus...YOU'RE STUPID IDEA WON'T WORK!" the redhead yells, clearly done with the boy's conceitedness.
"AND WHY WOULDN'T IT, HMM?" Zorome asks, his arms crossed into his chest and his eyebrows raised tauntingly at Miku. "Haven't you realized how AWESOME and POPULAR I am, woman?" Miku scoffs, raising a brow of her own,
"Oh reaaaallyy?" sarcasm laces her voice, clearly signaling she was about to make a haughty comeback, "Well then, haven't YOU realized just how high your head is right now in the clouds?"
"HEY! What's that supposed to mean?!"
"It clearly means you're-
"Enough, you two." Ichigo finally calls them out, rubbing her temples out of the stress these two gives her with their unending squabbles. When they finally calm down, albeit begrudgingly, she finally voices her opinions on Zorome's plan. "A photobooth wouldn't be a bad idea, but, I think we could think of other things that are more, attractive to the visitors!"
"Well then, how about a play?" a random student suggests, his idea receiving some mix reactions from the others.
"But haven't we done that last year?" another random student voices out, with a lot agreeing with him.
"That's true, I've also heard the other class will be conducting one for this festival…" the whole class erupts into nothing but whispers, only to be silenced by the petite girl standing before them. Clearing her throat, she asks all of them one more time whether they had any ideas. Most of the others proposed some overused ideas like setting up a haunted house, which was highly approved by Miku only to be rejected by Futoshi, Zorome and even Ichigo herself, leaving the redhead pouting over the missed opportunity.
Speaking of Futoshi, the bread loving guy suggests setting up a cafe, to which, almost everyone considered. The only question now was, what theme could make the class's cafe even more interesting to the visitors.
Cosplay cafe? No, it was too overrated.
Mecha themed cafe? Preparations for the props and costumes would be too tedious (Zero Two was left sulking at a corner)
Sexy Bunny cafe? Well, almost all the boys voted strongly for this one, evident with the blood streaming from their noses, but the girls HAD to refuse, president included.
A Host Club? Wait, wasn't that concept used in another anime, before?
Gender bender cafe? Just like the girls, ALL the boys refused. (There goes Zero Two's chance to see darling in a cute outfit)
Neko Maid cafe? Well, for Miku's sake, they all had to skip that idea. (Thanks to her vlog about that horrifying experience)
"How about a gambling booth?" Ikuno suddenly suggests, to which Kokoro, to everybody's surprise, supports, "Oh yes! That would be quite fun, indeed!" the gentle girl beams excitedly.
"U-um, I don't think the teachers would support us once they find out though…" Ichigo sweat drops over her friend's bizarre (and illegal) suggestion. Sighing to herself, looks like planning for the school festival wouldn't be as easy as she thought it would be.
Unless….
'I got it!'
Suddenly, an idea pops into her mind as she reminisces the time she and the girls did some karaoke.
"Well, if you put it that way...why don't we form a group? It would be a fun experience!" Miku suggests, turning to Ichigo who had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Wouldn't it, Ichigo?"
"A concert…." The whole class turns to Ichigo since they didn't hear her clearly the first time. "Why don't we have a concert, since y'know..nobody has ever done it yet?" Ichigo feels slightly nervous when the whole class suddenly goes quiet. 'They must be considering it…'
And true to her thoughts, one hand goes up, and she motions for them to speak. "If we're gonna have a concert, then who's gonna perform?" 'well…' in her mind, Ichigo clearly had an idea who would be fit to perform on stage, herself included, so her eyes unconsciously gaze at the other girls whom she sang with nights prior. First of all, Miku was a natural performer; she had a lively tune to her voice and she was the best when it came to choreography, and not only that, she had a charisma that gives off a cutesy vibe, something most people love when they want to see a performance.
Second, Kokoro had the most range in her voice. She was has great control with her breathing which makes her modulation good. Not only that, she was already considered very popular, especially with the male population, for her gentle personality and womanly charms, which Ichigo firmly believes could be a great advantage in reeling in viewers. To keep things simple, Kokoro was the main visual of the group.
Third,although her voice wasn't as cute as Miku's, or as sweet as Kokoro's, Ikuno was the most stable in terms of belting out notes, some may consider as highly difficult, plus, she had that mature and mysterious kind of vibe, which too, was something most viewers find interesting to see. Also, Ichigo knew that Ikuno was quite skilled with the guitar, given her and her cousin were tutored in music at an early age. One time she saw Ikuno playing all by herself in the school's music room, Ichigo instantly realizes that whether it was an acoustic or electric guitar, Ikuno would absolutely nail it.
Meanwhile, although Ichigo didn't consider herself having special traits when it comes to singing or performing, she knew that once a group is formed, one must have to stand up and be a leader, or else they'll just end up in a scattered mess; and who else was ready to stand up for them? Herself, of course.
Lastly, she just couldn't imagine Zero Two not being in their group, if ever they'll perform. Last time at the Karaoke bar, they all knew the pinkette never did have any experience in singing, in fact, it was at that moment where she first got a hold of a mic and despite her initial timidness and reluctance, the moment Zero Two opened her mouth, they were all left blown away. Her voice wasn't the best, but the way she sang with so much emotion, it just had Ichigo speechless beyond her expectations.
So, with the performers decided, she began calling them one by one, and luckily, they all complied; all except Zero Two who remained silent. This greatly worried Ichigo, but somehow, she vaguely remembers the pinkette agreeing to them before, although, there was also a high probability that she must've didn't take the idea of forming a group too seriously.
Ichigo hopes this isn't the case.
Before she could open her mouth to ask Zero Two one more time if it was okay with her, the pinkette slowly raises her hand to ask a question.
"Would that mean I get to sing in front of darling?" dumbfounded, Ichigo nods, getting even more surprised when said girl actually jumps for joy and goes to Hiro, enclosing both his hands with hers,
"Did you hear that, darling? I get to perform in front of you!" She giggles like a small child and this makes Ichigo feel a warm, tender feeling in her chest. It was good seeing Zero Two constantly prove to everyone day by day that she was FAR from the horned delinquent everyone thought she was. Instead, they were seeing slowly seeing the sides to her, only Hiro could let out, and indeed, she really was just a normal girl who was a bit naive and excitable at most.
And now, with everyone ultimately agreeing to the plan, all that's left is for them to prepare for their grandest event yet.
And hopefully, the most memorable too.
Author's Note: Here's the start of a new story arc, which is...THE OVERUSED SCHOOL FESTIVAL ARC! ahh, but I'm a sucker for this trope~
Anyways, hope you could find some of the anime references I just did (There are 2, I believe). Post your guesses on the Review section once you find them!
As always, hope you continue enjoying the story! XOXO