Summer Festival

It was Thursday, two days before the summer vacation started, and the day of the summer festival.
It was eight o'clock in the morning when all the students came through the school gate for the final preparations before the summer festival started at ten o'clock. Everything was normal when Airi and Hana walked to the gate, except for a young man—he looked like he was in his early to mid-twenties—standing right at the pillar of the school brick wall, next to the school gate. He looked at the students going through the gate and looked very suspicious. He looked like someone that naturally wouldn't leave the house. Except for his jeans, he wore a pretty worn-out t-shirt and old sneakers. His hair looked like a mixture of well-groomed and unkempt which made him look even more suspicious. He occasionally checked his phone but most of the time looked into the crowd of students.
"That guy looks weird, right?" Hana asked Airi.
"Yeah, I've never seen him before." Airi replied.
Just as they were about to walk past the mysterious young man, Reina Kurosawa and Airi's other friends approached them and said: "Heyy, Airi-chan, and Kanzaki-chan!"
Reina and the other girls didn't like Hana that much so they called Hana by her last name, while they called Airi by her first name.
"Heyoo, everyone!" Airi greeted back.
"Hey!" was the only thing Hana said. After she greeted the others she looked to the mysterious man and noticed that he looked surprised. Like he witnessed something that he recognized. Airi and the others hugged each other while Hana was just standing beside them. Then they all went onto the school campus and through the school gate. The mysterious young man watching after them. Hana had the uncomfortable feeling that this man wasn't normal and that he had something bad in mind but on the other hand she didn't know anything about him except that he was mysterious and that he gave off a creepy aura.
Ren and Haruto were already at school and Ren helped, where he could, with the finishing touches that their maid café needed.
Then Airi and the others joined in and helped out. Some girls from Airi's friend group went to the biology room to change into the maid outfit while the rest that were left helped with the final decorations and finishing touches. The classroom of the class 2-C was a big mess. There were students walking from one side to the other everywhere.
One hour was left when the class finally finished everything. The "kitchen" with the prepared chocolates and cookies as well as cakes and coffee and tea was ready and the café as well. The maids were looking good and ready and so the class had one hour of relaxing before the big moment came and the summer festival began.
The school festival was a big event for the Midoridai High because they could do a lot of advertising out of the event. The first year showed what the school had to offer for new students, the second year did the small entertainment and money gathering for their third year and the third year had to make something big and impressive. Most of the times it was theater performances or other big events. For example a big water fight or other things. And at the end of the festival, which ended at three o'clock in the afternoon, the school gave something back to the students in return for their efforts, with a campfire, barbecue dinner, and a little time off. But only after the students were finished with cleaning everything up again.
It was ten o'clock and the school bell rang. It was time for the yearly summer festival of the Midoridai High to start.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Midoridai High Summer Festival. We hope you have a great time here and we wish you all much fun! The attractions are marked with signs. If you have questions regarding the school, please don't hesitate to ask a teacher. Thank you for your attention." And with a *beep* ended the announcement through the speakers.
Many people came to visit the Midoridai High Summer Festival. They came from all over Midoridai. They were parents with kids or with middle schoolers that are interested into signing their child into the school or even older people that just wanted to enjoy the festival the school made every year or even former students of the Midoridai High that wanted to see the teachers they had or to look around if anything had changed since they graduated from school.
It took a while until the maid café became a point of interest. Mainly because the people coming to the festival weren't hungry at first but from noon onwards, the café was in high demand. Meanwhile, Airi and Ren were walking through the hallways of the school building to look at what the others did. To kill the time they had, they even went into some attractions, for example the haunted house or the library where the book club had an exhibition of the best manga and anime that they could highly recommend and where you could also chat about them. Airi and Ren had a lot of fun time. 
"Hey, Sato-kun? Do you want to see the theater the third year did with me?" Airi asked him. She was a little embarrassed because the question sounded a little bit like she was asking him out.
"Yeah, why not? I think that is a good idea." Ren answered.
So they went off to the gymnasium where a stage was build to perform some theater plays and other performances.
"How did you like the day so far, having to hang out with me?" Airi asked curious.
"Pretty good. Especially in the haunted house and at the library where we talked about our favourite manga and anime."
"Yeah, me too. But why did you liked the haunted house? Because I got scared and clung onto you, haha?" Airi said a little toyingly.
"No... Well, a little. It was, maybe, a bit funny that you got scared so easily."
"You're mean to me, you know that?" Airi continued to toy with Ren.
"I'm truly sorry." Ren retorted and then they went into the gymnasium hall and took seats next to each other. During the conversation on the way to the gymnasium, Airi had somehow felt a little observed. Was she just imagining things?
The performances started and Airi and Ren had a good time watching the show. The third year of Midoridai High had some really good performances up their sleeves so the viewers couldn't get bored or anything.
It was two-thirty in the afternoon when the final performance ended and the viewers applauded loudly for the third year. Then the gymnasium gradually emptied out, and Airi and Ren also left the gymnasium. After they left the gymnasium, Ren's phone began to ring. He took it out of his right pocket and answered the call.
"Yes, what's up?" Ren asked the caller, who was Haruto.
"Hey, can you come to us and help out? Most of the dishes are sold out but there are still some left and the others and me have to tidy up the plates and stuff."
"Of course, no problem but I have to go to the restroom first before I can come and help."
"Okay, thank you for helping us!" Haruto said and hung up the call.
Ren put the phone in his pocket again and turned towards Airi.
"Hey, the guys need me at the maid café. Do you want to come with me or do you want to do something on your own?" Ren asked Airi.
"No, I want to come with you and help as well if I can." Airi retorted.
"Well then, but first of all I have to go to the restroom so we make a quick stop there before we go helping okay?"
"Yes." Airi ended the conversation and they were now both walking into the direction of their classroom with a slight detour to make a quick stop at the restrooms. 
When they reached the restrooms, Ren asked: "Do you want to wait for me or do you want to go ahead?"
Airi thought about what to answer but remembering that everything she did today was with Ren at her side, she had no other option than to say: "No, it's fine. I will wait for you."
After that case was closed, Ren went into the restroom and Airi stood in the hallway waiting for him.
While she was waiting for Ren, there appeared someone she recognized from the start of the day at school. He was waiting at the front gate that morning when everyone was arriving to finish preparing and to do the final touch on everyones attraction for the summer festival. It was the mysterious and ominous young man that looked a bit like a mixture of well-groomed and unkempt.
He walked down the hallway and suddenly started to approach Airi.
"Heyy, what a beauty we have here? Do you have a boyfriend or someone you like? I heard that the summer festival is ending at three o'clock in the afternoon," while he was talking, the mysterious guy started reaching for Airi's hand out of nowhere and before she knew it, he grabbed her hand with a tight grip, "so that means that you're free in a few minutes. Do you want to come with me to my house or do you want me to come with you and we get to know each other a little bit better?"
Airi didn't know what to do. She was scared and taken aback at the same time. The mysterious young man radiated a dangerous and intimidating aura to everyone. He looked Airi deep in her eyes. They stood in the middle of the school hallway. Why did no one do something against this guy and helped her? It wasn't like no one saw what happened but many of them pretended they hadn't seen anything and the rest was also shocked that such a guy would approach one of the most popular girls at school like this. But what everyone had in common was that they all were equally scared of the confrontation they had to have with this weird, mysterious and ominous young man.
Lucky for Airi, Ren was finished in the restroom and came back before the man could say more.
"Hey, what are you doing here?!" Ren said outraged.
The man only responded confused. "Huh?" And that was the right time for Airi to get lose from the man's grip and then she went to Ren and held him tight.
"He's my boyfriend so leave me alone!" Airi shouted at the man, grabbing Ren even tighter than before. Ren was feeling something soft pressing against him but he knew it was not the time to focus on trivial things but it was more important to focus on this mysterious man.
The man's gaze suddenly became evil and terrifying. Before that, he looked demanding and determined.
"Oh, so it's like that. Well then, I won't bother you lovebirds any longer." The man said with an angry tone. Then he left them and went down the stairs, left the building and then the school campus.
Airi breathed a sigh of relief and let go of Ren again. The man wasn't only mysterious or ominous, he was also very terrifying.
"Is everything okay? Did he do something weird? Do you want to take a breath for a moment and relax? We can go to the nurse office if you like?" Ren asked her, trying to calm her down and to help her.
"No, I only want to go to the maid café and help the guys. Everything's okay." Airi said a little depressed.
"Okay, then let's go to the classroom, and you can sit down there and take some deep breaths to calm down and process what happened and I will bring you some tea while I help the guys with giving out the last dishes to our maids." Ren said. Then they both went into the classroom and they did as Ren said. Airi sat down on a chair in the most quiet place they could find in the room and Ren brought her some tea while he helped out at the maid café.
Finally it was three o'clock in the evening and the school bell rang.
"Dear ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to tell you that it's already three o'clock now. So we have to thank you for coming and staying with us but the Midoridai High Summer Festival is over now. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and we like to welcome you to next years summer festival again! Thank you for your attention! And for the students of Midoridai High, please clean and tidy up everything so we can then have a nice evening with a campfire and some grilled dishes for dinner. The so called "After Party" goes until eight o'clock in the evening, so don't waste time!" And with a *beep* ended the announcement through the speakers.
The last visitors left the campus and the students cleaned and tidied up everything as quick as possible because they all wanted to relax as soon as possible.
The same applied to the class 2-C. The decorations and the room divider were clean and fast put together in a corner where it wouldn't be a bother to anyone and the plates and desks—that were put together so they would be used as tables—, the chairs, and the whole classroom were cleaned.
After the cleaning session was finished, the classroom looked like before. Nothing could let you know that there was a maid café in the classroom before, except of the few things that were stuffed together in a corner which would be taken home on the next and last day of school.
Everything was finished after two hours and now, everyone was sitting or standing outside around the big campfire that was made.
"I want to thank you all for your commitment and for your attractions. Especially the third year did really well this year. I hope that you will graduate as good as well." The school principal thanked the students.
"For now, we have a special evening for you all. You can talk with each other, relax, play some bord or party games or even do sports if you like. But only soccer because we do not want the baseball equipment to be used for extracurricular purposes. The dinner is now going to be grilled so if some of you are feeling hungry right now, don't panic, the dinner is ready in a few minutes. Thank you for you attention and now let's let the fun begin!" The principal continued.
The students were all very happy and started talking with each other. Some ran instantaniously to the soccer field and some sat on benches to relax.
The evening was slowly comming to an end and everyone had a really good time. Hana, Ren and Haruto sat around the campfire and Hana talked with Airi while Haruto waited for Ren to come back with some drinks. Then Airi said something to Hana and stood up and walked into the main building. Meanwhile, Ren came back from the drinks stand and saw Airi walking to the main building of the school. He walked to Haruto and gave him his drink.
"Hey, why is Airi leaving us?" Ren asked Haruto.
"I don't know. She said something to Hana and walked off. Maybe she's going to the restrooms?" Haruto answered.
"No, she wanted to catch some fresh air on the roof. If you want you can go and follow her Sato-san." Hana suddenly said to Ren.
"Okay. Here, can you hold it for me?" Ren said to Haruto and gave him his drink. Then he went off into the school building and went up the stairs until he arrived at the top, the roof of the main building. He opened the door and looked around. Then he saw Airi standing at the railing looking down at all the people around the campfire. It was seven thirty now and the sun began to slowly set. 
"Oh, it's you Sato-kun." Airi noticed him when he opened the door with a squeak.
"What's bringing you up here to me?" She continued asking.
"Uhm, actually, I don't really know but Kanzaki-san told me you were going up here to catch some fresh air and said that I could follow you if I want and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea since we're friends Fujimoto-san."
"Aha." Airi nodded to show that she understood.
"Look at how small everyone is from up here. Even though it is only a three-story building." Airi continued.
"Yeah, they're all having fun. And what's with you? Is it because of what happened today with that mysterious man? Don't let it get into your head so much. Sadly, there are many people of this kind out there which are intrusive. Look at the wonderful things today happened and don't think about the bad thing as much. It's only depressing you and I don't want that." Ren tried to calm her.
"Yeah, thank you Sato-kun. I'm thinking about the good things right now. And you were one of them." Airi said and blushed a little and so did Ren.
"What do you mean? I did nothing."
"Of course you did something, dummy. You saved me from this guy. And we had such a wonderful day together. I guess I would've just hung around Hana-chan if I couldn't walk with you all the time through the summer festival and do these super funny things like the haunted house or our conversation at the library with the book club."
"Well, but I only distracted him and you did the rest. You saved yourself Fujimoto-san. But I have to agree with you that I had a fun time with you as well. I never imagined that we would be so similar even though I'm the class shut in and you are one of the most popular girls in our class."
"As you can see, everyone has burdens and even though not everyone has the same status in class, we aren't that different from another." Airi concluded.
Then the conversation went silent and the only thing you could hear was the summer breeze and the people talking down at the campfire. But Airi broke the silence.
"Hey, Sato-kun. Do you remember what I said to the guy?" She asked him.
"Hm? I'm not sure." Ren answered.
"Uhmm, I don't really know how to say it but I want you to be it."
"Be what?" Ren asked confused. He couldn't remember what she told him back then, because everything was so sudden and he was focusing the mysterious man.
Airi hesitated. It looked like it was really hard for her to say it but then she overcame herself and said while blushing like a beetroot: "I love you Sato-kun! Do you want to go out with me?!"
Ren was taken aback. Did he hear that right?
"Huh? ... HUH?! What did you just say?!" Ren went as red as Airi.
"You heard me right, don't make me say it another time, it's embarrassing! S-so what's your answer?" She first scolded him and then shyly asked. Airi felt so much emotions all at once that she only wanted to get an answer from Ren.
"Uhm, what? I don't really know, it's all so sudden." Ren stuttered out. Airi didn't like the answer and wanted to leave but Ren stopped her.
"Wait! Don't go! I want to go out with you. I just needed a little bit of time to realize it. You helped me so much too and I'm very thankful for that. You're a really special person to me and that in only a few months. I never thought that I would let anyone close to me again and especially that I will be making a new friend again. But you changed all that! And I'm thankful for that. I want to be with you because I like you Fujimoto-san!"
Airi was moved to tears. She ran back to him and hugged him really tight. Now, Ren could feel and realize that her chest was being pressed against body. He felt Airi's heart pounding fast and she said: "I love you Sato-kun, I really do and I won't betray you like your old friends did!"
Ren hugged her too and they both were really happy. As they went to the staircase to leave the roof and to go to the other at the campfire again, they realized that they haven't exchanged phone numbers yet. After they exchanged their numbers, the two went downstairs and to the campfire were Hana and Haruto were waiting for them. After asking the two what had happened up there and Airi and Ren told them what had happened, Hana and Haruto congratulated them and the day was over. It was eight o'clock and the school principal asked the students to slowly go home now.
And so they did. One after the other left and Airi and Ren walked home as happy as they never were before. Airi walked with Hana for a while and so did Ren with Haruto. The normal route from school.
But Hana felt like they were being watched.
"Hey, Airi. Do you have a weird feeling as well? I think we get followed and watched by someone."
Hana looked around but couldn't find anyone suspicious.
"No, I think you only see shadows or something. I don't feel or see anything."
And so they continued. They went separate ways home from the same spot as they usually did and Airi was reaching the front door of the Sunrise Residence. Her parents were home, so she rang the bell three times in a row to signal them, that she was home. Then she unlocked the door and went in. But Hana wasn't wrong. There was someone watching.