Heart

The second day of the culture festival was meant for the students. No events were planned and less people usually showed up so students were free to make more lenient work schedules and take part in their own events. Outsiders were still invited to visit but with less going on, less people usually showed up. At least, that was how it was supposed to be. There was more people than Roko would expect of what was supposed to be a relaxed day. Then again, he never saw exactly how crowed it was on the first day of the festival so maybe this was relatively less.

"I also don't know just how many people this festival usually attracts." Roko sighed.

He was standing in the entrance to the castle. The food stalls that he had helped the other day was bustling with business. Helena's ramen stall was still active though it didn't seem like Helena was manning it currently. Roko would have gone back to man his bar but he did have that promise to explore the festival with Corissa though they never did set up a time and place to meet up and Corissa was drunk at the time so Roko didn't know if she even remembered. Still, Roko stood off to the side, quietly waiting for someone that he wasn't sure would show up. Maybe he should check up on her just in case.

Roko turned around and walked into the castle, unsure of where Corissa would even be until he spotted a young familiar girl sitting alone in front of the fountain.

"What are you doing?" Roko asked as he approached Aida.

"Oh. Hey Roko." Aida looked up, "Not much. Just a bit of woodcarving."

"You can do that?"

"My dad was a fan of it." Aida held up the incomplete block of wood that she was working on, "He taught me but I wasn't all that interested. Nothing else to do now so I kind of picked it back up,"

Roko watched the young girl carefully cut away at the wooden block, whatever she was planning on carving still too incomplete to warrant a guess.

"Do you know where I can find Corissa?" Roko asked.

"I think I saw her in her classroom." Aida replied, "Are you looking for her?"

"You could say that."

"Can I come along?"

"You don't want to keep woodcarving?"

"Eh. Like I said, I was never too into it." Aida shrugged.

"Well sure. Don't see why not."

"Cool." Aida exchanged her block of wood and knife with a bar of chocolate in her pouch, "You're not doing the bar thing today?"

"No, I had other obligations."

"What obligations?"

"You'll find out."

"Come on Corissa, think."

"I-I'm trying!"

"Something wrong?" Roko asked as he walked up to Jasmine and Corissa who were both standing in front of the open cafe.

"Roko!" Corissa cried, "Roko, do you know any cocktails that need tea?!"

"Umm...some of them? Why? What happened?"

"We messed up and ordered double the shipment of tea leaves." Jasmine sighed, "We were supposed to be primarily a coffee cafe, we only had tea on the menu for the few people who didn't like coffee. We've pivoted to primarily offering tea but unless we have a real knockout drink, I don't think we're going to get our money back."

"What's the problem?" Aida asked as she nibbled her chocolate, "Tea leaves can last for a long time. You can just keep them around for personal use for years."

"That's great and all but that doesn't solve the money issue."

"I don't get it, you're still getting use out of them aren't you?"

"It's okay, you'll learn eventually." Roko patted Aida on the head, "Probably in economics."

"Anyway, you can teach us some cocktails that use tea right?!" Corissa cried.

"Well, putting aside the ones that are alcoholic, you would still need a few more ingredients to actually make them which it doesn't sound like you have."

"Right." Jasmine nodded, "We don't have much else aside from coffee and tea. I mean we do serve snacks and meals but I don't think that will be much help."

"Hmmm..." Roko thought it over, "Do you have milk and sugar?"

"Yeah we have plenty of those." Jasmine shrugged, "Basic coffee options. Why?"

"Let me try something." Roko said, "Mind if I use your kitchen for moment?"

"Be my guest."

In a short while, Roko presented a warm light brown drink in front of Jasmine and Corissa, "Try it."

"Is this a cocktail?" Corissa asked as Jasmine picked up her drink.

"No, it's another drink that's quite popular back in my old world."

"This is delicious!" Jasmine cried, "What is this?!"

"Milk tea." Roko explained, "Basically milk, tea and sugar mixed together."

"Is it really that good?!" Corissa grabbed her cup and took a sip, "It is!"

"I've never had anything like it." Jasmine looked over the drink curiously, "It's so simple too. We have plenty of ingredients too!"

"Strain the leaves out, add some sugar, add some milk and stir thoroughly." Roko explained, "Best served hot. There are a ton of variations you could do back in my world but this is the best that I can do with your ingredients."

"This could be the birthplace of milk tea." Jasmine rubbed her chin mischievously, "I could make a fortune."

"Maybe you need economics lessons too." Roko sighed, "At any rate, if the situation's sorted, can I borrow Corissa for a bit?"

"I mean, yeah sure but why?"

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"You mean after I got drunk?" Corissa asked her face turning red, "I-I don't want to think about it."

"I see."

"But I do remember the promise!" Corissa cried, "We're going to explore the festival together right?!"

"Well...yeah."

"Yes! Yay! Let's go!"

"Oho?" Jasmine raised an eyebrow, "What did I miss?"

"N-N-N-Nothing!" Corissa stuttered as she pushed Roko out of the cafe, "Let's go!"

"Phew." Corissa sighed, "Umm...are you sure you're okay with this?"

"What do you mean?" Roko asked.

"I mean, I was drunk when you made that promise." Corissa said as she nervously twiddled her fingers, "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to explore the festival by yourself or...even...go back to work..."

"...I already returned all the bar equipment so I couldn't go back to bartending if I even wanted to. I am curious about what the festival was like and I don't mind seeing it with you."

"R-Right." Corissa smiled softly, "Okay..."

…

"So should I leave?" Aida asked.

"Ah! Aida! I forgot about you!" Corissa cried.

"I'm not sure what's going on between you two but I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be here." Aida shrugged, "It's fine, I'll just go back to woodcarving."

Roko and Corissa glanced at each other, forming a silent agreement before Corissa turned back to the small child, "Aida, do you want to come with us?"

"Can I?" Aida said, surprised, "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"No, I feel bad that you had to leave yesterday because of my parents." Corissa smiled, "So I'd feel worse if we had to chase you out a second time. Come along, we can have fun together!"

"...Okay..." Aida said, unable to look Corissa in the eyes.

"Ehehe. Well let's head out then!"

"By the way, where's Varis?" Roko asked as Corissa began leading them away.

"Oh." Corissa sighed, "My parents are making him 'guard' them as they explore more of the festival."

"So they're just getting him out of our way." Roko sighed as well.

"Yeah."

"Well the good thing is with Varis around, your parents probably wouldn't be able to do anything like spying on us."

"That's true!" Corissa said, "Err...I'm sorry about my parents...both for today and yesterday."

"Well...they don't seem like bad people."

"They're not, they're just...enthusiastic."

"Hey there Aida!" One of the students running a game stall called out to their group as they walked around the fair, "Here to try our game again?"

"Oh yeah." Aida frowned, "I'll beat it this time!"

"This is a shooting gallery right?" Corissa said as she and Roko followed Aida up to the booth.

"Hey there princess! Yep, this is a simple game. Knock over the cans from behind that line and you can win one of these fluffy plushes!" The vendor grinned as he handed Aida a simple plastic bow and arrow, "You have three shots!"

"So you've played this before Aida?" Corissa asked as the vendor bought out a stool for Aida to stand on to aim at the tower of cans.

"When I wandering around yesterday, they made me play this game." Aida replied as she steadied herself and aimed her bow, "Never did win but now..."

Aida's shot flew through the air fell short of even touching the cans. Her next shot also fell short and her last shot knocked onto the top edges of a can, falling ineffectively onto the floor.

"Dammit!" Aida cried, "My mom was an archer, I should have gotten her to teach me more about it!"

"That last shot was pretty close." Corissa frowned, "Are you sure this is winnable?"

"It's perfectly winnable." The vendor grinned as he brushed an arm into one of the stacks, toppling the empty cans over, "See?"

"Just because the cans aren't tampered with doesn't mean it's entirely fair." Roko said as he walked up to Aida and took the bow from her, "The string might not be wound tight enough to launch an arrow with enough force to knock them down. It might not even be a big enough bow."

"Hey, these are the rules." The vendor shrugged, "I don't make the rules. But I will tell you, I have given out prizes before and it wasn't out of pity."

Roko thought it over as he plucked the string of the bow.

"So it might not even be winnable?" Aida frowned, "That sucks."

"Like I said, I've had winners, I wouldn't be able to run a business if you couldn't win at all."

"Let me see the arrow." Roko said.

Corissa and Aida watched as Roko tapped and flicked the head of the plastic arrow, practically able to hear the gears turning in his head.

"Can you win?" Aida asked.

Roko stepped behind the line and made more measurements, looking over the bow, the arrow, the cans, the distance, everything before answering, "I can try."

Aida stood off to the side as Roko notched the toy arrow into the toy bow, double checking the measurements in his head before he raised the bow and fired.

"That's-" Aida cried out as Roko's bow was raised way above the cans. But the arrow was already flying through the air, sailing upward before tiling down and hitting straight into the can at the center of the tower, kicking it out along with all the cans on top.

"The bottom ones are fine." Roko said, "But I hope this should suffice."

"It sure does." The vendor grinned.

"You did it!" Corissa and Aida cried as they hugged Roko, "You actually did it!"

"I'm just as surprised as you." Roko sighed, "I only had a few moments of practice in Momokami."

"How'd you do it?!" Aida cried, "How'd you know to aim that high?"

"Aiming high wasn't just for accuracy, it's to use gravity to give the arrow more power. The arrowhead was solid plastic so I could count on it to tilt downward."

"So what do you want little lady?" The vendor grinned.

"Oh, I don't really want anything, I just wanted to bear you." Aida shrugged.

"Is that right?" The vendor laughed.

"I don't really want anything." Roko said as he looked over the prizes, "Corissa what about you?"

"Eh? Me? I can choose?" Corissa said, surprised.

"Sure." Aida said, "Go ahead."

"Then...that one!"

The vendor looked up and removed a plushie from the stand, "Here ya go!"

"Yay!" Corissa grabbed the plush and hugged it.

"Why that one?" Aida frowned.

"Because, look!" Corissa held the plush up to Roko, "Doesn't it look familiar?! It's a bat plush with a little bow in its hair! Now the bat plush you got me has a friend!"

"I...suppose it does now." Roko blinked.

"That'll be 7 gold per shot." The vendor called.

"Now you tell me?!"

Roko accompanied the girls around the festival, taking part in many of the games, events and trying out the wide assortment of food available. It was in many ways the first time he had ever spent so much time with a girl, let alone two. Really it was the first time ever since he moved out of his parents house that he even hung out with anybody for so long. The first time he ever went to another festival. The first time he won an arcade game. The first time he felt so tired from having fun. By the end of the day, the three of them were thoroughly exhausted as people began to pack up their events, taking down their decorations and stalls for the year. It was the first time Roko felt sad watching the festivities come to an end.

"It's about time for the day to end." Corissa said sadly as she picked up a sleepy Aida.

"I'll escort you to your rooms." Roko offered.

"My, how gentlemanly." Corissa giggled, "But I have one last stop in mind, if you wouldn't mind."

"It's fine with me but I don't know what's still open at this time."

Corissa's request brought them back to her classroom, where the maid cafe was closed for the day. Not a single patron or maid remained though Roko could see Jasmine counting money behind the partitions.

"Jasmine!" Corissa called, "I'm here."

"Ah. Yeah sure, come in." Jasmine said, barely glancing up from her calculations, "Take a seat."

"Is this okay?" Roko asked.

"Don't worry about it." Corissa smiled as she placed Aida down on a chair, "We haven't had dinner yet right? I'll be right back."

Corissa turned and walked into the cafe's kitchen area. Jasmine counted up the last of her money and set it aside, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Good news, Roko!" Jasmine grinned as she walked over to their table, "We made our money back and then some! We actually had to order more tea to keep up with the orders, that's how popular your milk tea thing was."

"Well it was pretty popular back in my world." Roko replied, "Not surprised that it would do well here."

"I might have a new favorite drink now." Jasmine grinned, "I heard people talking about using different kinds of tea to make milk tea. I'm going to have to move quick if I want to corner the market."

"Are all princesses like this?"

"Hey, you've spent the entire day with Corissa right? You tell me."

"This is so fluffy." Aida said as she cradled Corissa's bat plush, "Much fluffier than the bear my mom made for me."

"I could have gotten you one." Roko sighed, "I won plenty of games."

"No...I'm too old for plushies."

"Talk like that is why we still treat you like a kid."

"Here you go!" Corissa called as she returned in a bunny girl maid outfit and a tray of food, "I did my best to make you all a cup of milk tea, the drink of the day and some egg drop soup as an appetizer."

Roko stared at her as Corissa placed down the dishes.

"And here's your menus." Corissa said, "I'll do my best to recreate any of the dishes there."

"Ah, thanks." Roko replied as he and Aida took a menu from her.

"Teehee. What do you think?" Corissa asked as she twirled around in her maid outfit, "I really wanted to try one of these. How do I look?"

"You're very...cute." Roko said, unsure of how to respond in this situation.

"Very cute." Jasmine nodded as she looked Corissa over, "Definitely a good idea to keep you off the store floor."

"Oh...that's...good?" Corissa said unsure of how to interpret that statement, "They never bothered preparing an outfit for me so I'm borrowing someone else's right now. It's...a bit tight in the chest...and the skirt seems a bit short."

"No, this is the standard skirt length." Jasmine said as she began flapping the skirt.

"WAIT, STOP, don't do that in front of people!" Corissa yelped as she quickly brushed Jasmine's hand off.

"I don't get it." Aida yawned, "What's so special about this outfit?"

"Hmmm...you'll understand when you grow older." Jasmine smiled.

"Am I going to have to wear that?" Aida frowned.

"Not if you don't want to." Roko replied.

"I think I'll pass." Aida nodded before turning back to the menu, "And I don't know what any of these food are like."

"What do you like?"

"Meat."

"Can you be more specific?"

"Deer meat."

"I don't believe we serve venison." Jasmine said.

"Rabbit meat?"

"Can you choose something more normal?" Corissa asked trying to keep a smile on her face.

"This is normal. I'm not asking for Tsuchinoko meat or anything."

"How about hamburg steak?" Roko suggested, "That's a simple dish."

"Whatever." Aida said as she placed the menu back on the table, "I don't know what any of these are anyway."

"Okay, one hamburg steak." Corissa said as she wrote it down on a notepad, "How about you, Roko?"

"I'll get a seared fish fillet."

"Roger that!" Corissa grinned, "I'll get right to it!"

Corissa ran off back to the kitchen to get started on their meals.

"Oh yeah." Jasmine returned to the staff room and returned with a piece of paper and crayons, "Here you go Aida. You can color in different pictures with this."

"I'm not a toddler!" Aida snarled as Jasmine placed the paper and crayons in front of her, "Wow, there's a lot of colors here. Can I color one of these maid uniforms red?"

"You can but they're usually black and white."

"I still don't get this maid uniform stuff." Aida said as picked out a black crayon, "Why is she a bunny too? Is this common stuff?"

"Maybe if you're rich." Jasmine smiled.

"So the entire point is to pretend like you're rich?" Aida frowned, "Is that it?"

"Not exactly." Roko sighed.

"I'm never going to get this. You seem pretty unimpressed through, Roko."

"Back in my world there was a tsundere catgirl maid cafe a few bus stops away from my house." Roko scoffed, "This cafe is tame by comparison. Not that I've ever been there."

"What's a tsundere?"

"You'll learn when you get older."

A few minutes later, Corissa returned with their meals, placing down dishes that were comparable to a professional chef's.

"Here you go!" Corissa grinned, "I hope you enjoy!"

The princess waited anxiously as the two sampled her dish.

"This is good." Aida said, "Is this cow?"

"It's beef, yes." Roko answered.

"We used to have cows but we didn't really get to eat them all that often." Aida explained, "We needed them more for their milk or something."

"Well, if you like it you can eat more of them if you want." Corissa said, "Meat like this is pretty common in modern society."

"Hmmmmm…" Aida considered her words silently as she ate.

"How's your fish?" Corissa asked Roko.

"Impeccably made." Roko replied, "You're probably a better chef than me, though that's not saying much."

"Don't say that, I'd love to try something you made!" Corissa grinned, "You came up with the milk tea after all."

"Well, I didn't exactly invent it."

"You can mix drinks! They were very delicious!"

"I'm not certified."

"You'd pass if you tried." Corissa pressed, "You could open a bar if your wanted!"

"I'm not sure I do."

"Why not?"

"Why don't you won't as an actual maid then?"

"I'm a princess." Corissa smiled, "I have a lot more responsibilities than a maid."

"Right."

"But I'm happy I could be a maid for a little while." Corissa leaned forward, "Even if I'm only your maid."

"Cease."

Corissa giggled as she straightened up again, "Where's Jasmine?"

"She left us to clean up and close out the cafe."

"Then I'd better eat and clean quickly before it gets too late. Can I join you?"

"Go ahead."

Corissa sat down next to Roko with a plate of curry and together the three chatted once last time for the night before they eventually went their separate ways again, leaving the festival behind as a happy memory.