Author's Note:
I have a draft going of a culture festival at Teikō, too! We'll see how it goes. ️
Comment if you know any anime with culture festival scenes! I'll be looking for ideas lol.
A Few Days
Before the Culture Festival
The second-year guys clustered in a group after Coach Ukai announced that they'll be starting individual practice. Ai went around giving water bottles to people after refilling them outside. Currently, she was chatting with Asahi about strengthening his serves.
Narita frowned. "No one has his number, though."
Nishinoya turned and opened his mouth wide. "A-mmf?!"
Ennoshita didn't miss a beat and whispered into his ear, having clamped a hand over the libero's mouth. "Could youbemore obvious? You're going to ruin the surprise."
"Yeah, but how are we gonna steal her phone?" Kinoshita wondered as the five of them conspired. "She's gonna know."
Tanaka looked as smug as an evil genius. He clicked his tongue confidently and smirked like a cat that'd caught a mouse. "Easy. Watch this."
He turned and called out to her. She'd finished talking to the ace, it seemed. "Hey, Ai!"
She looked over and changed course from heading to the right edge of the stage to where her peers stood near the middle. She carried three water bottles in her arms. "Yes, Ryū?"
"Can you take some videos of my spikes? I wanna see my form when I hit," he asked as she walked over.
Kinoshita and Narita shared a wordless smile.Good plan, Tanaka.
"Of course. Do you want me to borrow the tablet from Coach Ukai?"
"Err- N-nah, it's cool," he tried to suggest casually. Her question was not part of his plan. "Can we just use your phone?"
Thankfully, she agreed good-naturedly. "Alright."
The No. 5 grinned and yelled at the younger setter next. "Hey, Kageyama! C'mere for a sec!"
Kageyama stopped and placed the ball that he was going to serve back into the cart. He jogged over to his upperclassman acquiescently. Meanwhile, Ai got out her phone from her school skirt pocket and prepared to start filming. Ennoshita and Narita each took a water bottle and left the third one for Kageyama.
With the younger setter's assistance, the buzzcut wing spiker did a few cross shots and a couple of straights.
"You did really well, Ryū," she said after they were done. Ai entrusted Tanaka with her phone so he could look at the video. "I think if we continue those stretches, it'll help your shoulders and arms become more flexible."
Kageyama peered in with them, curious to check his plays, too. It wasn't like they practiced in front of a big mirror like a dance class. That would be a safety hazard.
By then, Hinata had gained interest in what the second-years were doing and wanted to get in on the fun. "Kageyama! Throw me some tosses, too! Ai-senpai, could you record me, too?"
Ennoshita stepped in as a timely intervention. "That's a great idea, Hinata. But, maybe you can use Ukai-san's tablet? I think we might borrow her phone for a little."
Ai glanced at Tanaka, Kinoshita, and Nishinoya, who were still, deliberately, crowding over her phone.
"Can we borrow this a bit more?" Kinoshita asked, pointing at the small device replaying the video again.
Ai cocked a brow at them. "You may."
Ennoshita showed her a reassuring smile, and so did Narita when she looked at him.
A little skeptical but convinced, Ai turned to Hinata. "We can ask if we can borrow the tablet. I'd be happy to record you with that."
Hinata beamed. "Awesome! I'll go ask!"
"Nice going, Hinata!" Tanaka stage whispered with a thumbs up. Nishinoya also grinned with a big thumbs up.
"Huh? Oh, uh, sure? I guess...?" The orange-haired first-year tilted his head in confusion. But, if his senpai who he respected was happy, it wasn't a bad thing.
"Kageyama, you go with Hinata, too." Kinoshita playfully shooed him away.
"You should go with them, Ai. I think Ukai-san will feel better about lending his tablet if you're going to be with those two. Wouldn't want a repeat of Tanaka's PSP," Ennoshita recalled.
"Yeah, my sis got real mad about that..."
Everybody remembered the tragedy that happened to the red game console on the curb in front of Sakanoshita.
"Alright. Just leave it with the towels when you're done," she said.
As Ai left with the two first-years, the remaining second-years all blew out a breath of relief. It worked.
"Okay. She's not looking," Kinoshita checked.
"What are you guys doing?" the captain's voice resounded. Daichi and Asahi came up to them with questioning looks.
"N-nothing!" Tanaka fumbled.
"Isn't that Ai's phone?" Asahi noticed.
"We're planning a surprise for her," Ennoshita explained calmly.
Knowing how the second-years were, the captain hummed suspiciously. "Oh really... Don't do anything crazy."
"We won't," the No. 6 answered, and the third-years left them alone.
"Contacts..." Tanaka mumbled as he went through her phone. "How do you think she has him listed on her phone? Heart emojis?"
"Ai? Using heart emojis?" The thought was somehow unimaginable to Kinoshita.
"Or pet names?" Nishinoya suggested.
The guys cackled and smacked each other playfully.
"Stop messing around. She's going to notice," Ennoshita chided.
"Check the text messages. She's bound to have texted him recently," Narita offered.
"Oh, right. ... Who's 'Takanobu-kun'?" Tanaka read.
"That's the most recent conversation. It says yesterday," Kinoshita noticed.
"Does it matter? Focus!" Ennoshita half-pleaded, wanting to get this over with. They were already invading her privacy as it was.
"...And the next one after that says 'Keiji-kun'."
Kinoshita muttered, "Dude, what if she's cheating?"
"Like she has time to date anybody else without us noticing. Hurry up."
"What if she's dating that ace from Seijoh?! Oh ho ho, I'm gonna beat him up!" Tanaka said, starting to get fired up.
Ennoshita made a face at his incredulous theory. "No. And don't you dare, Tanaka."
Nishinoya gasped. "What if she's dating someone on the team...!?"
"Stop it. She's not cheating on anyone. Just look for the one that says 'Seijuro'."
"She did say before that she didn't break up with her boyfriend..." Narita murmured.
Fortunately, they found the chat they were looking for. "There!"
"She doesn't even have time to text her boyfriend every day?" Narita murmured. Did their club keep her that busy? The guys never really knew all of the work that the managers did behind the curtains.
Kinoshita shrugged. "Maybe he's super busy too."
"I wouldn't be surprised." Ennoshita remembered his first impression of the guy. "Alright. Copy his number."
"Are you all so invested in Ryū's spikes, or is there something else interesting on my phone?"
In a millisecond, they all whipped their heads up to face the voice. Ai was looking at them quizzically with a raised eyebrow, but still —thankfully— from a distance away.
"Ah, sorry. We were looking at the other photos you took," Ennoshita lied smoothly.
"Y-yeah. I didn't know you took pictures at the barbecue," Kinoshita added.
"I like the one with you and your friend. It's ...nice," Narita said, for lack of a better word. The gears in his brain had stopped turning.
"Satsuki wanted to take pictures since we all got together."
"Sorry, we got distracted with your photo gallery." Ennoshita took the phone from Tanaka after checking that he was done and handed it back to her.
"Not a problem. Hitoka-chan took over for me so that I could grab my notebook." She placed her phone next to her other stuff and picked out her orange notebook. "Do you want me to stay?"
"Nah, I think we'll take a break and stretch for a bit," Tanaka decided.
Ai nodded and left with her usual 'Call me if you need me' offer. The guys put on a smile and nodded. However, as soon as she was out of the gymnasium, they heaved a big sigh.
Now that they had her boyfriend's number in their possession, there was the next problem.
Kinoshita voiced the question. "... Okay, so who's gonna text him?"
—
September 22
(Saturday)
The culture festival was in the middle of September, but every class started thinking of events the moment Sports Day was over. The sooner they all came up with ideas that got approved by the council of teachers, the sooner they could start planning. Even if they had allotted time during the school day to work on the festival, the students had no time to spare.
The second-years had the option of running food stands, and the first and third-years kept things simple; it would be the first-years' first time doing a culture festival in high school, and the third-years had to study for college exams or think about their future careers.
Her class, 2-4, made a planetarium. Ai assisted in researching astronomy and checking the celestial accuracy. They painted the constellations that glowed in the dark on dark blue construction paper, and they were mindful of the varying sizes of each star. With a class full of scholarly people like Ennoshita and Narita, it was a great success. On occasion, she had Nishinoya and other wandering visitors from different classes during the preparation period. Ai would get unceasing requests to join the basketball team of their school —perhaps because of the Basketball Monthly magazine that everybody seems to have read— and invitations to try going to watch them play sometime. First, it was the small forward from the class next door. Then, even the new second-year captain came to try to persuade her to come to basketball practice, knowing next year would be great if she joined. Before she could even decline, her "brother" drove every single one of them away with hisses and snarls.
So, she would incline her head to them in greeting, as a duchess would to her people, and the manager let Nishinoya and her other bodyguards do all the work.
.
After a month and a half of rigorously planning, budgeting, painting, building, and practicing, the two-day school festival finally began.
"Ai! Ai! Come here!" Nishinoya bounded up to her while wearing his costume for his play.
"Yū, don't you have a dress rehearsal before the school gates open?"
"I'll go back to my class in a minute!" he assured her.
Usually, schools weren't always open to the public, especially if it was a private school like Seirin or Aoba Johsai. However, the school festival was one of the few occasions when anybody could come and visit. Commonly, friends and parents came by to see the school and activities the students had prepared. Many people had friends from local middle schools who went to different high schools visit during this open house event. Some of the guys, like Tanaka, were expecting a few of his old friends to stop by.
Nishinoya looped his arm around her shoulders and dragged her away from her classroom. "Since your boyfriend can't be here, we're gonna take you around the festival!"
Ennoshita and Narita trotted along, going with the plan.
"I don't have to be around my boyfriend all the time. I'm happy to go around the festival with friends from high school, too, you know."
"Then, let's go!" Excitedly, the libero pulled her along to start the tour.
They walked the hallways of the first and third-year floors, visiting classrooms and their exhibits. The first-year classes had classroom museums of art projects and science fairs for Yamaguchi and Tsukishima's class. The third-years played prerecorded movies of various videos; a smart way to make the most of their limited time. They were already in the midst of college applications as it was. They passed by classes that were doing haunted houses, games, a cafe, and mazes.
Outside in the courtyard, there were food stands, more games, and people who were starting to advertise their classroom events to get people to come. They briefly checked in with their yakisoba stand which Sugawara and Yamaguchi were setting up for the volleyball club, too. The setter smiled when Nishinoya told him they were accompanying Ai to see the festival. Narita pointed out a fortune-telling booth that the girls' tennis club was doing, and Ai saw the baseball team getting ready for their comedy skit. Meanwhile, Sugawara exchanged a quiet word with Ennoshita and told Ai to have fun.
"Don't worry about helping out here if you can't. We've got it all covered!" the vice-captain said with a bright smile. "I know you'll be busy with the sadō club, too."
"Thank you, Sugawara-senpai. But, I'll try to be back and switch with you or Tadashi soo-"
Suddenly, Nishinoya shouted after checking his phone. "Oh! Let's go back to your classroom! Come on! We gotta go!"
"What's the rush, Yū? The planetarium exhibit will be open the whole day."
"Nope, nuh uh, we gotta go! Sorry, Suga-san, we gotta get back and go to the planetarium before my class play starts!"
"O-oh, okay," was all she could manage to say when the libero started pushing her back to make her walk faster. Ennoshita and Narita fast-walked with them. "We can always go after your play, Yū."
"It's all good, Ai. Don't worry, we have a plan," Ennoshita reassured.
Ai relented, allowing herself to go with the flow. If anyone, she trusted Ennoshita.
Back at her classroom, the four of them came to a door next to windows that were completely covered. When Nishinoya slid open the door, the classroom inside was pitch black. They stood in a makeshift entryway with a blackout curtain in front of them.
"Hey! Welcome back, Ennoshita, Narita! Hey, Akatsuki-san," a classmate greeted at the door.
"How's it going?" Ennoshita asked.
"Good so far. There've only been a few people in and out yet."
"Can we go inside?" Narita asked.
"Sure. You know where to go."
They walked through the curtains and into the rest of the room. On the floor were pieces of glow-in-the-dark tape to guide people where to walk and where to go. There were pool inflatables scattered around the room where people could sit and look up. There was music playing from someone's speakers, and an exit sign glowed in the far left corner.
There were four other people, but seeing as there were plenty of empty seats, the guys chose a spot away from them. Ennoshita dragged another pool inflatable over, and he and Nishinoya sat on that one while Ai shared a seat with Narita.
The middle blocker started pointing out the different constellations they'd made and talked about how well they came out. Ai was happy with the result, too. The astronomical ambiance was great; the stars looked really good.
After about a minute or so, Nishinoya tapped on her shoulder. He gave her his phone.
"What is it, Yū?" She brought the phone up to her ear, thinking perhaps someone from the club needed something at their food booth. "Hello?"
"Ai."
She double-checked the device she was currently holding, and sure enough, it was his voice coming through from Nishinoya's phone. "Seijuro?"
"How is your culture festival going? Are you having fun?"
"Yes. It's wonderful," she said, smiling brightly at Nishinoya in the dark.
"Nishinoya-kun told me you're enjoying the planetarium your class made."
"Yes. It turned out so well." Ai tilted her head upward again. "We made the Milky Way and both summer and winter constellations. Although, we made the summer ones a bit dimmer."
"I don't doubt it. I'm sure you put a lot of effort into making it all come together."
"I didn't have too much work, since I'm not a class representative like you are." She found the Virgo constellation first, and then the Sagittarius a little further.
"I can't wait to stargaze together with you. We spoke about it in July, but I don't think we really did."
"That sounds like an amazing time."
She heard him chuckle. "Good luck with your sadō performance, also. I hope all goes well."
"Thank you, Seijuro."
"I'll call you again tonight, watching the real stars."
When they ended the call, Ai gave the phone back to the libero and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you, Yū," she whispered.
"You bet!" he said, returning the hug.
She released him and moved to give Narita and Ennoshita a hug, too. "Thank you all for planning this."
"Tanaka and Kinoshita were in on it, too," the No. 6 said.
After they enjoyed the planetarium display a little longer, Nishinoya had to go back to his class. So, they all left the classroom together to head to the second gymnasium where the play was going to be.
While Nishinoya ran ahead to get ready, Kinoshita was in the hallway waiting for them. "Well? Did it go well?"
"I'd say it was a success," Ennoshita smiled, then turned to her to verify.
"Yes. I loved your surprise. Thank you all." She gave Kinoshita a hug, too.
"We wanted to do something special for you since you were so busy this past month doing everything on top of this culture festival planning," Ennoshita explained.
Kinoshita added, "And, you seemed kinda down when you came back from your basketball game."
Her heart warmed. Even if she'd lost someone dear to her, she still had so many people who loved her and supported her. "Thank you, guys."
"You're welcome, Ai." Ennoshita smiled, glad it was all a success and worth the effort. They had been so nervous that she would figure out their secret plan before today, but it turned out in the best way possible.
"You all stop by the Japanese tea room if only to get a sweet confectionery, okay?" she made them promise.
The four of them collected Tanaka on the way and walked the familiar route to the second gymnasium that they took every day.
Nishinoya's class did a play ...something Cinderella-ish. She honestly didn't know what else to call it. It was a retelling of the classic fairy tale, and Nishinoya played one of the knights and looked like he had a lot of fun on stage. After, Tanaka and Kinoshita walked with her outside. They each worked at a food stand: her for their volleyball club and the guys for their respective classes. Their booths were relatively nearby, so they were able to go back and forth when it was slow. Ennoshita and Narita went back to 2-4 to help out the classroom planetarium, and they didn't seem to have many problems with it since it was a pretty low-maintenance exhibit.
Everyone had promised to go to her tea ceremony club, and they stopped by throughout the day as promised. Although she only had a couple of shifts where she had the main role, she kept busy while she was there with jobs backstage. She helped her fellow club members orchestrate the sessions and directed the first-years to assist the upperclassmen.
Some of the guys from the volleyball club came for the sweet confectionary rather than the bitter tea, but all were impressed by her skills that she didn't usually show them. Her movements flowed in a smooth motion, resembling a calm river. She was graceful, gentle, and serene, bowing carefully and speaking softly. Customer service was also something she was used to, thanks to her hours of volunteering at Sakanoshita.
The guests were enthralled, regardless of their former knowledge of the ceremony. Sugawara, Ennoshita, Yachi, and Tsukishima were the ones familiar with the procedure, and they whispered instructions to their peers on how to drink the tea properly. At traditional tea ceremonies, even the guests had to keep proper manners and play their part. She was glad none of them sat in the first or second guests' seats, as being the guests of honor would've added a couple more extra things for them to do as participants in the ceremony. Still, Ai was relieved they taught each other how to act and what to do during the performance. It was amusing to watch from the corner of her eye.
Hinata fumbled with his bowl precariously, and Kageyama scrunched his face at the bitterness. Nishinoya looked as if sitting still for the twenty-minute performance was killing him, and Tanaka's feet had gone numb by the end. The third-years were better accustomed; it wasn't Daichi, Asahi, or Kiyoko's first time. The older manager even stayed behind after the performance to compliment her and give her a hug.
Everyone finally understood what she went off to do every Friday instead of coming to practice with them. They were trapped in awe. Next year, she would wear a traditional kimono as a third-year. Her five classmates and five young ones couldn't wait to see her dressed up.
Reference:
I debated whether the Karasuno VBC would do a Yakisoba stand or the play Hamlet, like in the Haikyuu stage play, but I chose to stick with the official art since I used it for the shooting game stand idea for Fukurōdani.
Also, if you're not familiar with sadō (茶道)/Japanese tea ceremonies, you can look up a video of it or there's a scene of something similar in the anime "Skip Beat"!
The tea ceremony was indoors for me though, and the culture festival spanned over two days (Friday and Saturday) when I did it.
KnB Culture-festival-themed official art:
I found two versions: one was all chibi characters and the other only had two people from each school. I think if I were to write about the KnB culture festivals, I'd pick and choose a mix of these two versions lol. (Like, for example, I think Rakuzan would do a concert instead of a tea ceremony because the latter takes hours of practice and memorization to learn, and detail is everything in sadō. It's something you have to practice every day if possible and master little by little over time. Even if Akashi knew sadō from before, I doubt everyone else on his team does... But I think if you already knew how to play an instrument, it'd be easier to prep for while continuing their usual basketball practice hours...?)
Who do you think would have friends from middle school come to visit?
(Tanaka and his sister both went to Karasuno, so I assumed he lives nearby. But, we all know Hinata has tobike over a mountainto get to school every day. Tsukishima's brother also went to Karasuno before, but I didn't know if he had close friends other than Yamaguchi in middle school. ...I guess you could say that Yamaguchi also lives in Karasuno's neighborhood. I think Daichi and Ikejiri live far apart since they hadn't seen each other in a while beforetheymet at the tournament. Who knows, maybe some people moved closer to Karasuno for high school like Ai did, or they have a really long commute like Hinata? ️...Okay, maybe not as insane as his, but still lol.)
Total Word Count: 3893
(Thank you for reading! Come back when I post something again in the indefinite future! )
