The Long Awaited Summer Festival

“Ahh, that was fun!” Asahi commented as we all went out from the arcade.

The sun had started to set, so Yuuki pestered us to quickly go home.

“I’ll definitely defeat you next time, Koyama.” Ouji glared at Yuuki with blazing eyes.

“Stop it, this is the last time I’ll ever step foot into the arcade.” Yuuki wearily shot him down. “What kind of Student Council president plays around in the arcade until sunset, huh?”

“ “ “Just you.” ” ”

As Yuuki was reeling from a chorus of accusations, I looked around the crowd of delinquents.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Ryuu?” Kazu caught my suspicious behavior and asked.

“No…have you seen Sakuya-san, Senpai? She suddenly disappeared after we played the crane game together.” I explained.

“Now that you mention it…” Kazu also looked around. “I haven’t seen her either.”

“What?! You played a crane game together with Sakuya-chan?!”

Suddenly I was ambushed by Hiiro from behind.

“Why didn’t you call us too?! I thought we were friends, Ryuuji-kun!”

Asahi also popped out and started shaking my shoulders violently.

“No…that’s…I kind of forgot…” I averted my eyes. Even if I remembered, I wouldn’t call for you guys. Who would share such precious moments with Sakuya-san?

“Ryuu, here you are.”

The person in question’s voice appeared behind me.

“Sakuya-san, where have you been…?!” I quickly escaped the two Sakuya fans and turned around, just to have a doll thrusted into my arms. “Eh? This is…”

It was a black dog-shaped doll. Compared to the one we got from the machine earlier, its black fur was well-combed and shiny. It also seemed like a brand new doll, without a single flaw to it.

“It’s the prize from the crane game earlier.” Sakuya answered flatly.

“Oh, so you exchanged it for the newer doll?” I looked at her with gratitude.

“No, it’s the same doll.”

“Oh, it’s the same—huh?! Wait, no matter how you looked at it, it’s a completely different doll, isn’t it?!” I protested in surprise.

“It’s the same doll.” Sakuya insisted. “I simply borrowed some tools from the staff and fixed it up.”

“That’s…amazing.” I examined the doll with newfound admiration. Her handiwork was already at pro level.

“I’ll give it to you, so treasure it well, okay?” Sakuya smiled softly.

My heart couldn’t help but skip a beat, and my face was completely flushed.

“Aah, that’s unfair! Sakuya-chan, what about me?!” Hiiro interjected and started whining like a child.

“Me too! I also want something from you!” Asahi piped in excitedly.

“Then, I’ll give you two these.” Sakuya, unexpectedly, took out two keychains and gave it to them.

“Whoa! Thank you, Sakuya-chan! I’ll make it my family’s heirloom!” Hiiro carefully, very carefully, stored the keychain inside his pocket.

“Thank you! I’ll make sure to use it!” On the other hand, Asahi quickly swapped his house key’s keychain with the one Sakuya just gave him.

“Hey, Sakuya.” I secretly whispered to her. “Aren’t those keychains…?”

“Consolation prizes.” Sakuya answered nonchalantly.

“I knew it…” I gave the two boys a pitiful gaze. Those keychains were something that Sakuya got in the passing when she tried another crane game. “Sakuya-san, you should stop that bad habit of yours to gift meaningless things to other people.”

“So, is the black dog meaningless?”

I was taken aback by Sakuya’s unexpected question.

“That’s…no, I’m really happy to receive it.” I shook my head.

“Then it’s fine.” Sakuya smiled faintly. “Because I don’t give special gifts to just anyone.”

“H-Huh?” I could feel my face heating up again. “Wait, what does that—?”

“All of you, go home quickly before it’s dark, okay?!” Yuuki’s loud voice interrupted my sentence. “And make sure not to cause trouble for anyone during summer break!”

“Yes…” The delinquents answered flatly, like a bunch of kids being nagged.

“Sakuya-san…huh?” I tried to continue my question earlier, but Sakuya was already gone. “…I feel like I’m getting played around by her.” I sighed, but my hands hugged the black dog tighter than before.

And thus, our summer holiday officially started.

*****

True to her words, Sakuya did spend the rest of her summer holiday with the delinquents. And they never forgot to kidnap—take me along with them, to the point that I didn’t have time to finish any of my summer homework.

If I were to tell all the events that we did during summer, I was sure that it would take a whole book on its own. Basically, we went out almost every day and had fun together—while also troubling everyone else around us.

There was that time when we all went to the beach, and nearly got detained by the beach guard because he thought we wanted to forcefully take over the whole beach for ourselves. There was also a time when we went to watch Sakuya acting in a drama alongside the drama club—as a result of her deal with the club president to borrow their practice hall. Sakuya was so embarrassed that she shut herself in her apartment for three days afterward.

And let’s not forget that time when we got our hands on some juicy watermelons, so we sneaked into Natsuhiko’s school, Takamine Academy—simply because they had an outdoor pool available. The new Banchou, Kyoya, kindly guided us inside in exchange for a few slices of watermelon.

The party started getting out of hand when some idiots (read: Abe and Narumi) brought fireworks and the delinquents played around without any restraints. As the result, a neighbor called for the police and we had to run for our lives. After that, Sakuya thoroughly chewed them out for getting carried away.

As the summer days passed by, a feeling of uneasiness started sprouting inside my chest. I really enjoyed every day of my summer break, but conversely, it made me anxious. It felt like I was too happy, and something bad was bound to happen to balance it out.

Nonetheless, the end of our summer holiday approached regardless of how I felt about it.

Today was our last day of summer break, and we all promised to go to the summer festival tonight—in our yukatas.

The last time I wore a yukata was in elementary school, so it took me quite some time to wear it properly. By the time I reached the temple where the summer festival was held, the delinquents were already gathered around the entrance.

“Ah, there he is! Ryuu, over here!” Hiiro waved at me. He was wearing a jade green yukata with leaf patterns. The color complimented his blonde hair and gave him a refreshing look.

“Sorry I’m late! Am I the last one?” I asked while panting heavily.

“No, Kagura-san isn’t here yet.” Ouji answered. The delinquent was clad in navy blue yukata that suited his cool demeanor really well. Despite the subdued color, the yukata had patterns of dragon on it, subtly revealing Ouji’s hotblooded nature.

Compared to the two, I was wearing a plain black colored yukata, since I had just bought it at the last minute. I coughed awkwardly and looked around, hoping that I wasn’t the only plain-looking man here.

However, all the other delinquents were clearly excited for tonight’s festival. They wore flashy-looking yukata and proudly showed off their new appearance. Many passerby stared at us curiously, who were occupying the temple’s entrance like a group of mafias.

Under normal circumstances, they’d have already called for a police officer. But as the old saying goes—fine feathers make fine birds. Their yukata made the delinquents look cooler than usual, which turned them into a feast for the eye. I even saw several groups of girls stealing glances at our group, like a hawk eyeing their prey before it got taken by someone else.

Unfortunately, the girls’ confidence was splendidly crushed when a single girl stepped into the fray.

“Sorry for the wait.”

A strong, familiar voice rang clearly in my ear.

“Ah, Sakuya-san—”

I turned around…and completely forgot how to breathe.

A petite girl was walking toward us. Each of her movements were elegant and graceful, completely different from her usual fierce demeanor. She was wearing a jet-black yukata dotted with vivid red camellia flowers. The yukata’s color contrasted her pale skin, yet the flowers complemented her ruby red eyes. Her long hair was pulled up into an elegant knot, revealing her snow-white nape.

“It’s been a while since I wore a yukata, so it took more time than I expected.” Sakuya explained as she joined our group. Then she noticed our dumbfounded stares. “What is it? Does it look weird?” Sakuya looked at her yukata with a frown.

“No!” “Definitely not!” “It doesn’t look weird!”

All of us snapped out from our daze and hurriedly assured her.

“Is that so? I’m glad.” Sakuya smiled softly. “It’s worth the trouble of dressing up, at least.”

The effect of her dazzling smile, coupled with her lovely appearance, resulted in our complete defeat. Some of the delinquents were writhing on the ground from happiness, some of them were fervently thanking the gods, while the others were busily taking pictures of Sakuya in yukata. As a side note, I refrained from doing any of the above, but I swore to get her picture from the delinquents later.

“Then, shall we go and enjoy the festival?” Sakuya was about to take a step forward when Hiiro suddenly blocked her way.

“Please wait, Sakuya-chan! Don’t you know how rare this event is?!” Hiiro exclaimed exaggeratedly. “Everyone here wants to spend time with you, but if we go around with such a huge number of people, it will trouble everyone else! And so, we came up with an idea!”

He presented a box of lottery to Sakuya.

“Please draw three names from this box, Sakuya-chan. Those three will have the privilege of walking around the festival with you! So, won’t you choose who the lucky person will be? Incidentally, since me and Ouji-senpai are your closest subordinates, we automatically get the privilege!” Hiiro added with a sly smirk.

As expected, everyone started booing Hiiro for his blatant abuse of power.

“I agree with everyone, Tarou.” Sakuya crossed her arms and glared at him. “Everyone needs to have an equal chance to enjoy themselves tonight. So I’ll still choose three names.”

“Hmph…fine, but we’ll only do this once, okay? No redo, no matter what the result is!” Hiiro pouted, but he backed down quite easily.

I stared at the blonde delinquent suspiciously. He was usually so stubborn when it came to Sakuya. Could it be that Hiiro had predicted this development and tampered with the lottery box? But before I could voice my suspicions, Sakuya already agreed and reached out to draw a name.

“The first name is…” Sakuya started opening the lottery paper and everyone leaned forward in anticipation. “…Mikoto Hiiro.”

“Yeah!” Hiiro yelled happily and pumped his fist in the air.

I could hear a grumble here and there, but everyone still remained optimistic. After all, there was still two more spots that they could take.

“And the next one is…” Sakuya took out another paper. “…Mikado Ouji.”

This time, more people were groaning in frustration. Ouji had a proud look on his face, but he remained silent.

“The last one is…” Sakuya took the last lottery, but her face changed the moment she opened it. “…another Mikoto Hiiro?”

For a moment, silence descended among us.

The next second, everyone shot accusing glares at Hiiro, who stuck his tongue out in retaliation.

“I never said there’s only one name each inside the box, though?”

“ “ “Y-You cheater!!!” ” ”

The delinquents yelled loudly and lunged forward to beat Hiiro up.

Fortunately, Sakuya quickly intervened before it turned into a brawl and got us into more trouble.

“Well, calm down and hear me out first, you all. How about this? Tarou will be disqualified for cheating, and I’ll draw two more names. Okay?” Sakuya spoke in soothing tone.

“WHAT?!” Hiiro looked at Sakuya in shock, while everyone else was nodding in agreement. “But…! But…! You can’t do this…!”

“Sorry Tarou, but you brought this upon yourself.”

Sakuya snatched the box out of Hiiro’s hand and drew another name.

“Shirasaki Touma.” Sakuya announced, eliciting another wave of groans from everyone.

“Ah, I’ll pass.” Touma raised his hand and instantly rejected the honor. “I planned on going around the festival with my girlfriend tonight. Ryuu-san, why don’t you take my place?”

“Eh? Me?”

Suddenly I was stabbed with numerous envious gazes from the delinquents.

“Aaah! Why did he choose Ryuu?!”

“Touma! I’m also a good Senpai to you, right?! Why don’t you choose me?!”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, Touma! Pick me!”

This time, the delinquents were pestering Touma to pick them. But he shut them up with a single sentence, “I think Ryuu-san deserves it the most.”

I was surprised by the sincerity in Touma’s voice, and I was even more shocked when the delinquents accepted his words, albeit begrudgingly.

“Then, it’s decided that Ryuu will replace Touma.” Sakuya announced.

Her face didn’t change when she said that, but I felt like the edge of her lips rose for an instant. Was she looking forward to going around with me? I quickly shook my head to chase away that wishful thinking.

“And the last one is…” Sakuya took out the last paper. “…Karasu Takashi.”

Was it just my imagination that her voice had a hint of exasperation in it?

“Eh?! Seriously?! I won?!” Takashi’s jaw slackened at the unexpected victory.

“If you don’t want it, then nominate me!” Hiiro immediately lunged at Takashi and threatened him with bloodshot eyes. “Say that you’ll give that position to me! Or I’ll reveal your most embarrassing secret to everyone here—gah!”

Before Hiiro could finish his sentence, Sakuya’s fist hit his head squarely. Hiiro immediately collapsed on the ground, cradling his head with a silent scream of pain.

“Tarou, no blackmailing your friends.” Sakuya scolded him like a master scolding its dog. “If you behave, I’ll spare some time for you later.”

“Yes! I’ll be a good boy, Sakuya-chan!” Hiiro instantly sprung to his feet, as if he had already forgotten his pain.

“She’s completely wrapped him around her finger…” I muttered to myself.

Then I noticed the absence of someone who usually got mixed among us.

“Hm? Where’s Asahi?” I asked. “It’s not like him to miss this kind of event.”

“Aah, he caught a cold and was forced to stay home.” Tanaka, the delinquent who always discovered Asahi, spoke up. Before we knew it, he had gotten close enough with Asahi to exchange text messages every few days. “He wanted to come as well, but he can’t even get up from bed. His twin told me.”

And apparently Tanaka also knew Mitsuki. At this rate, Hiiro’s position as the twins’ childhood friend might be threatened.

“O-Oh, I see. Thank you for telling me, Tanaka-kun.” I nodded.

“Then, now that everything is settled, let’s enjoy the festival!” Sakuya announced.

*****

We went around the festival and enjoyed every second of it…was what I wanted to say, but sadly that wasn’t what happened. Because we were still stuck at the entrance while Ouji and Takashi were arguing over where to go first.

“Like I said, summer festival is all about food! We should visit every food stall and try everything!” Takashi insisted. “Just imagine eating those takoyaki, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, and…and…”

“You can buy those anytime you want. What’s so special about summer festivals are their game stalls. That’s where we should go first.” Ouji argued coldly.

“Well yeah, but I’m starving here!” Takashi inadvertently let his true feelings slip out. “A-And eating festival food during a festival is completely different from eating them normally!”

Before Ouji could refute him, I quickly stepped in between those two.

“If you guys keep arguing like that, we won’t get anywhere tonight. Why don’t you two decide it with rock-paper-scissors? The winner gets to choose where to go first.” I suggested.

Thus, after a quick three-rounds of the game, Ouji smoothly won. He took us to a shooting game stall. It was very much like him to choose such an aggressive, competitive game.

“Kagura-san, which prize would you like to have?” Ouji asked as he picked up one of the rifles. “I’ll get them for you.”

Ouji looked incredibly gallant as he drew his rifle, just like a prince who was going to hunt a game for his princess. The image fitted his name really well.

“Ha! I’ll get you that prize before this guy does!” Takashi grabbed the other rifle. “Then I’ll take the position of your right-hand man from him!”

He looked like a rogue ready to snatch the princess from the prince’s hand.

“Wait, did he just lower his target from ‘Banchou’ to ‘Banchou’s right-hand man’ because he gave up on defeating Sakuya-san?” I thought with amusement.

“I really appreciate the offer, guys, but…”

BANG!

Before anyone could react, Sakuya had grabbed the remaining rifle and did a perfect head-shot on the yellow duck doll sitting on the prize rack. It wobbled back and forth before finally diving head-first to the ground.

“…I’ll get what I want with my own hands.” Sakuya grinned fiercely.

All three of us stared at Sakuya in awe, stunned by her speed and the beautiful shot she made. Even the stall owner clapped for her amazing skills.

“I’ve been doing this for years, but I’ve never seen anyone did it as fast and as cleanly as you, little miss!” The owner complimented Sakuya when he handed the doll over. “Are you a military otaku or something?”

“No, it’s just a hobby of mine.” Sakuya shrugged as she accepted the doll.

“Ngh…I won’t lose!” Ouji’s eyes blazed as he took his position and carefully aimed the rifle.

“M-Me too! I’ll get the biggest prize here!” Takashi hurriedly copied Ouji’s movement.

“Ryuu, hold this for me.” Sakuya thrusted the duck doll into my arms before taking another aim at the prizes.

“Eh?! You’re planning to get more?!” I glanced at the stall owner, who turned pale at the realization.

“Well…” The edge of Sakuya’s lips curled into a smirk. “This is the first time I participated in a summer festival, so I’ll enjoy it without holding back.”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

*****

In the end, we caused the stall owner to close his stall early after almost emptying his prize rack. Sakuya walked ahead with a spring in her step as I followed behind her. My arms were already full with the prizes she won in the shooting game stall.

“Sakuya-san, you should really learn how to hold back.” I complained. “The stall owner is pitiful enough, but you even broke those two’s spirits!”

Behind us, Ouji and Takashi plodded along with dead eyes. Sakuya had swept most of the prizes before they could, leaving their prides shattered and hearts wounded.

“…all I manage to get is a small figure…” Ouji muttered as he stared blankly at the figure of a famous blue cat standing on two legs.

“At least that’s better than a bunch of cards from some random card game that I don’t even play!” Takashi retorted while waving around a pack of cards with cute monsters drawn on it.

“Well, you can do better on the next stall. Why don’t you pick a different game this time, riffraff?” Sakuya suggested.

“Eh?! You’re still going to play more?!” I shouted in disbelief.

“Okay, you’ve said it! I’ll beat you with my specialty! Just wait for it!” Hearing that, Takashi instantly brightened up again.

“What is this specialty you’re talking about?” Ouji, whose interest got piqued, asked.

Takashi smirked and answered, “Hehe…that is…”