The Culture Festival Begins

The day of the culture festival has finally begun. Even after waiting for her to say something to him, Arata still received no apology. Perhaps Akiba was wrong about her feelings?

No… He refused to believe that. Or more actually, didn't want that to be the truth. Eating on his own, going home by himself, even just doing the duties he had always done alone. This was supposed to be what he had been wanting since getting blackmailed.

Yet it gave him no happiness. No joy in getting exactly what he was asking for. As if what he truly wanted, was something else. Arata had never felt like this before.

Of course, what he was stuck doing now for the culture festival was doing him no favors either.

"Why do we have to do this?" He complained to Yogi. This cosplay cafe was not exactly what he was expecting. "Everyone knows that maid cafes are at least 10 times better."

"Oh come on, I think we look pretty snazzy in these." Yogi laughed it off. These two were stuck being the hosts of a cosplay cafe, with the boys on display.

"You know I hate being the center of attention." He replied in irritation. "It was a terrible idea to let Matsu lead the way." That girl was getting on his nerves today. Especially with the way she was enjoying this.

"I think you two look so cute." She came up to them, giving Arata a big hug. "You're the cutest though."

Oh ha ha." He pushed her off, not enjoying her teasing. "I'm only doing this because no one else wanted to, plus I couldn't just let Yogi do this on his own." He cursed the fact that boy was only one that volunteered. Then again, there would just be a random drawing on who was up and that meant there was a chance he'd still be stuck with this.

"I'm glad that you're here with me at least." Yogi smiled. "Also, Matsu was kind enough that she's wearing a maid costume. So it's not like it's just us."

"Yep." She spun, showing off her outfit. The classic black maid uniform, to match with their old-fashion costumes. "D-do you like it?" She shyly asked Arata.

"I think it's fine…" She was really cute to him in that outfit. Not that he's say that out loud.

"I think it's adorable." Yogi basically said what Arata really felt for him. "I bet everyone's going to like it." With that out of the way, their little cafe opened up. Leading to a barrage of students, mainly girls, to enter.

"This is pretty troublesome." Arata murmured to himself, as the flood entered. He knew what they were really here for. And it wasn't going to be the coffee, nor even their tasty treats. Well… They were looking for a treat all right.

"Oh my gosh, can we take a picture with you?" A girl asked.

"Come on, us first." Another pair of girls said. If there was one thing that he could be glad about. It was that Yogi took all the attention from him.

And so, their challenging job had begun. Not only from these girls just wanting to look at cute boys, actually just one boy. But also because there were actually people that wanted some food and drink.

It sucked being the only two boys on duty, with Matsu manning the register and orders. Trying to work his way through this crowded space was hard, to say the least. It was even worse trying to hear everyone with all the yelling.

Thankfully, time passed and more people got their orders done, eventually things started to calm down.

"Okay, I'll just get this cleaned up for you." Arata noticed one of the tables had finished their order. Actually, it was more just one girl sitting all by herself. Judging by her black hair, the glasses that covered her eyes, and her rather plain body. It was clear to him, that this girl was rather unpopular. Even more than him before he started hanging with Yogi and the rest.

"Actually, may I ask for one more thing?"

"You want to take something to go?"

"Well, no. It's not that." She corrected. "Is it possible if I could take a picture with you?" She asked him.

"I think you've got the wrong guy, I can get Yogi for you-"

"No, I really mean with you. You're Arata Kashimura, correct?" How did she know his name?

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe I know you." He replied. This was a confusing interaction for him.

"It's a shame you don't recognize me, but I guess I don't really stand out." Hearing her say that, it made him feel pretty bad. He dug his brain more to see if there was a point he ever met or saw her.

"Wait… I think I recognize you. You're the girl that runs the library during lunch, right?"

"Oh, so you do remember me." She gave a glowing smile after hearing that.

"Well, that still doesn't mean I really know you, or your name."

"It's Hifumi, Hifumi Onuki." She formally introduced herself.

"Oh, well I guess we should take that picture now." Hifumi gave him her phone, so that he could take a good picture with her. Bending over to her seat, a snap of the camera and it was done.

He thought it was strange that some random girl would ask him of all people for a photo. Especially since Yogi was working with him, but it wasn't that important.

"Oh no!" The sudden words from Matsu caught his attention.

"What's wrong?" Yogi asked her.

"The gardening club, I'm going to be late."

"Oh, you mean about that garden you're making for the festival right?" Arata asked.

"Yep." She answered in glee. "It's thanks to you that we could do it in the first place." He remembered that he really had to stand up to Misei that day. It was one of the most stressful moments in his life.

"But if you go, then who's going to run this place?" Yogi asked her.

"I can." Another girl from their class offered. Looking on as they worked, she thought it was a lot of fun. Matsu was glad for the assistance, and left the job for her. She ran out of the classroom.

"Too bad that no one's going to take our jobs." Arata would be wrong in that statement as they were approached by two boys from their class.

"We can take it if you want." He was pretty certain that they only wanted it for the attention of the female side. Not that he was going to complain.

"Sure, just let us change... Hey what are you doing?!" Without giving either of them a chance, they stripped Yogi and Arata from their outfits. Leaving them in their underwear.

"Well that wasn't nice." Said Yogi.

"Yeah, can we at least-" Their school uniforms were thrown to them. Caught by both of them. "Thanks…"

"I'm sorry, I almost forgot to give you my outfit…" Matsu returned in her school uniform. So that the girl replacing her could be in the maid outfit. She stood in shock when she saw the two.

"Hey, Matsu." Arata was still almost naked in the middle of this cafe. "Funny story, actually." She couldn't believe the view she was getting. It was too much for her, her nose started to bleed and she fell backwards to the ground.

"She fainted!" Yogi yelled in worry.

They revived her, after they made themselves decent. Then they were able to help her get to where her club was tending their garden display. It wasn't spectacular, but it was rather impressive. The diverse range of flowers and plants they had set up, with little pages of text describing them. It was clear to anyone that they had put a lot of work into this.

"Wow, this is a really good job you've done." Yogi complimented them.

"Yeah, and trust me. As a fellow gardener, this really is an impressive piece of work you've done." These flowers were beautiful to him. He was reminded of Hine's garden during their peak.

"Of course this is amazing. After all, we were the ones that made it." Karino bragged.

"I'm glad you like it. I hope everyone else feels the same way." Yumeho continued.

"So how was the cafe?" Hanaka asked. Yogi explained how tiring it was for both of them. There were so many customers for just the two of them to handle. There was quite a line forming at one point.

"Yeah, but I think that Yogi had the tougher job." Arata finished. "So many girls wanted to take pictures with, and of him."

"Well, you had that one girl at least." Yogi noticed it, something that Matsu didn't see. Her friends could tell how upset she was to hear that.

"What… Girl?" She asked.

"Hmm? Well she said her name was Hifumi Onuki."

"The student librarian?" Hanaka asked.

"So you know her too?" They explained to him that they met her once. It was when their club was getting started, and they needed information on tending to different types of flowers. The books she offered were very valuable to their goals.

"I wonder why she wanted a picture with you?" Yumeho pondered.

"Well I just think she was just intimated with how many girls were with Yogi." Yogi chuckled nervously from his statement. "Then again, she did know my name."

"She did?!" Matsu replied a little louder than she wanted to.

"Um, yeah…" He responded. Now that he was thinking about it. It was a bit of a wonder as to why she knew his name. Maybe they had met before and he had forgotten. It was hard for him to say, since she didn't stand out, nor was he the type to pay attention to others.

Hanaka looked over to Matsu. She could tell that she wasn't happy to hear that news. The others in their group knew it too, so they silently agreed to a plan.

"Hey Ku." She said. "I think with all the work you've done here and at the cafe. You should get some time to enjoy the festival." She offered that they rest of them finished up here before going with her.

"Yeah, and Aono…" Karino continued. "Do you mind helping us, just for a little bit."

"Sure, I'd love to help."

"Okay then." Arata sighed, this was a sight too common for him. "Just don't spend too much time here. Not only do we still have the play, but you should at least enjoy this festival too." He was about to walk away to slink off and hide away until the play. However, Matsu had different plans.

"Here." She grabbed his arm. "We should go together then."

"Wait, but…" He tried to protest, but she pulled him away without giving him the chance. She wasn't going to let this opportunity get away from her.