My First Cultural Festival

"Tanahashi, this order is from Table 4."

I replied, "Gotcha."

Yuuki yelled, "Milkshake for Table 9 is ready! Someone take it!"

Itsuki replied, "I'll be there!"

Today's the second day of the Cultural Festival. Yesterday wasn't hectic but for some reason, more people went today than yesterday.

—

Two weeks ago...

Yuuki was on the blackboard and asked everyone an important question.

"Does anyone have any suggestions for the festival?"

A male classmate suggested, "How about a haunted house?"

Yuuki replied, "Certainly not."

He asked, "Why not?"

Yuuki lied, "Well, there's already another class doing that."

A female student suggested, "How about we do a play?"

Yuuki asked, "What kind of play?"

She replied, "Cinderella but cross-dress."

The boys in the class reacted to it negatively.

Yuuki replied, "I think the majority of the class doesn't want it."

Miu suggested, "Cafe?"

Yuuki asked, "Cafe? Like what kind of cafe?"

Miu replied, "Maid cafe?"

The class reacted somewhat fine to it.

Yuuki asked, "Hands up if you want to do a maid cafe at the festival?"

The majority of the class put their hands up.

Yuuki declared, "Majority of the class said "yes" to the maid cafe. Who wants to be the lead designer for the costumes?"

Nise volunteered, "I'll do it!"

Yuuki asked, "Who wants to lead service?"

Sakura raised her hand up, "I'll do it, Yuuki."

Yuuki asked, "Who's going to help me with the food?"

No one volunteered. I guess I have no choice.

I raised my hand, "I volunteer."

Yuuki announced, "Okay, then that sets it. To everyone who is willing to make the costumes, you guys help Nise. If some of you prefer doing service, you guys help Sakura."

Someone asked, "How about who isn't interested in both?"

Yuuki replied, "You guys can split into two, either advertising or standby. We need people to advertise the cafe and we need some people who are on standby, just in case we need someone to buy stuff outside of the school."

Itsuki and Miu are both helping Sakura with service. Nise will be leading the design and the costume. Yuuki and I are the ones who are responsible for the food.

"Shin, what food should we do for the cafe?"

"I actually don't know, Yuuki. Have you been in a maid cafe before?"

"I haven't. Have you?"

"Me neither."

"How about the two of us go together tomorrow, Shin?"

"I'll go to the hospital in the morning. I can meet you at lunch."

"I'll come along with you to the hospital."

"You sure? Wouldn't that be troublesome?"

"Shin, out of the two of us, I'm the troublemaker here right?"

I giggled, "Well, you're right."

"Where do we meet, Shin?"

"At the station? The hospital is in Tokyo?"

"Sure."

Nise suddenly yelled, "The design is done!"

Yuuki and I were surprised, "Already?"

...

It's the day after. I'd arrived at the station and I see Yuuki, waiting for me.

"Good Morning, Shin."

"Good Morning, Yuuki."

Yuuki is in her winter clothes. The last time I saw her in casual clothes, was during summer vacation. It's already December. Yuuki caught me staring and asked, "Is there something wrong?" I replied, "No, there isn't," as I look away from her. She teased, "I thought, you were going to say the same thing before."

...

How am I supposed to say anything after that?

We went to the hospital and I met with Dr. Minoru to have a check-up. Yuuki greeted, "Good Morning, Dr. Minoru." Dr. Minoru greeted back, "Morning too, Uchida-san. I'm surprised you brought her with you, Tanahashi," I replied, "We are going somewhere today. Can we have the check-up right now?" He answered, "Sure," as he started to get ready his equipment.

"Yuuki, is it fine if you wait outside?"

She replied, "It's fine," as she leaves the door.

Dr. Minoru asked, "Why did you let her wait outside? Does she know about it?"

I replied, "She doesn't know yet."

Dr. Minoru followed, "Better tell her someday."

I replied, "I will."

We proceeded with the check-up while Yuuki's waiting outside of the room. I got an x-ray, blood tests, and such. 

Dr. Minoru asked, "Are you stressed recently, Tanahashi?"

I replied, "Not really. Is there a problem?"

Dr. Minoru answered, "Not really, just take care of yourself. Everything seems fine at the moment. You can go now."

I stand up and left the room, "Thank you, Dr. Minoru," and closed the door.

I looked at Yuuki and said, "We can go now." She nods at me and we left the hospital.

I asked, "By the way, where's the maid cafe your saying?"

Yuuki replied, "It's on Akihabara."

We took the train to Akihabara, which is only a few minutes. Around five minutes, we finally arrived at Akihabara. Akihabara, to define this place, it's literally a shrine to otakus, gamers, tech guys, and more. It's like a golden place for them. 

Yuuki pointed somewhere, "Over there, Shin."

She's pointing at the maid cafe that is within our vision. It's on the far end of the street.

An excited Yuuki insisted, "Let's go, Shin," as she holds my hand out of nowhere and drags me to the cafe.

"Welcome home, Masters!"

We got greeted by a maid as we entered the maid cafe. The maid guide us to an open table and sat there. The maid handed over the menu, "Here's our menu. Please call me if you need anything."

Yuuki opened the menu, "There's a lot of food here. What should we order, Shin?"

I replied, "I'll order the omurice and a milkshake."

Yuuki followed, "I guess, I'll order the sandwich and a parfait."

We called the maid and ordered our food. Surprisingly, they came out so fast. Around five minutes.

Yuuki reacted, "Your omurice looks good, Shin!"

The omurice has an omelet with a heart on top of it, made from ketchup. There's rice also on the bottom of the omelet. The milkshake has a ribbon on it.

On the other hand, Yuuki's sandwich looks neat. It looks like a standard sandwich but, the plating on it is cute. The parfait has strawberries and is covered with a strawberry sauce I think.

I proposed, "How about we split it? I get half of your sandwich, you get half of my omurice."

She agreed, "Sure," as she gave me half of the sandwich, and I gave her half of the omurice.

We took a bite of our food. The sandwich has a sweet sauce, while the omelet is overflowing with cheese and the rice is also good.

I looked at Yuuki, and she was enjoying her meal as well.

I tried the milkshake and it's nothing special to it.

Yuuki tries her strawberry parfait, and she was enjoying it.

Yuuki looked at me and asked, "How's your food, Shin?"

I replied, "The omurice is good but the milkshake is nothing special. The sandwich is fine also. How about yours?"

Yuuki answered, "It's tasty. I quite enjoy it."

We both enjoyed our food but that's not what we came here for.

I realized, "What do we do about the menu?"

Yuuki replied, "Oh, right. How about sandwiches? It's easy to make."

I followed, "It's not that costly as well."

Yuuki asked, "What should we add next?"

I replied, "How about coffee?"

Yuuki followed, "We can add that too. Omurice?"

I agreed, "It's not that difficult to make. Let's add that."

Yuuki looked around the cafe. I don't know what's on her mind. Then, she looked at me.

Yuuki mumbled, "What's next...Master?"

What?! Did she just say, "Master"?

I replied, "You know, you wouldn't be doing that. We're cooking remember?"

Yuuki replied back, "I know...I just want to try it, you know?"

I just laughed and she reacted, "Why are you laughing?" I replied, "I mean, I didn't know you had this side of yours, Yuuki." Instead of being embarrassed about it, she just laughed it off.

After that, I requested for the bill and we paid our food and left the cafe.

—

Fast forward to today...

Yuuki yelled, "Can someone buy more ingredients?"

One of our classmates yelled, "I'll do it."

Sakura asked, "Shin, where's the omurice of Table 4?"

I hand the omurice to Sakura, "Just finished, you can take it."

Miu asked, "Coffee for Table 8."

Yuuki replied, "Will be done shortly."

—

A middle-aged guy with a hat and a young guy with glasses entered the cafe.

The middle-aged guy said, "That girl with white hair and a face mask."

The young guy asked, "What about it?"

The middle-aged guy replied, "She looks familiar. It seems I have seen her before."

The young guy looks at Miu, "You're right."

—

The cafe was so hectic. 

...

After an hour, the cafe closed.

Miu sat down, feeling tired, "Finally, we're done!"

Yuuki yelled, "Good work, everyone!"

Everyone in the classroom clapped their hands and told each other, "Good work, today."

Yuuki approached me, "Good work, Shin."

I replied back, "Good work too, Yuuki."

Miu and the rest came to us, "Good work guys!"

Yuuki replied back, "Good work, too."

Nise asked, "Are you guys gonna go to the bonfire later?"

I replied, "I might if the others are going."

The bonfire has been part of the cultural festival. At this point, it's like a yearly ritual for students, where they dance around the bonfire. There's a legend that if you dance together with a partner, you end up together with that person in the future.

Miu insisted, "Let's all go!"

Itsuki followed, "We only do this once in a while. So, why not, right?"

Sakura replied, "You're right."

Yuuki spoke, "I guess, we're all going later."

The bonfire will be later tonight, and the class still needs to clean the classroom first.

Yuuki ordered, "Everyone start cleaning, so everyone can do whatever they want."

The whole class started cleaning. It took us an hour to finish cleaning the whole room. 

The group went to the bonfire but there was no fire yet.

I asked, "When's it going to start?"

Yuuki replied, "I don't know, maybe in a couple of minutes."

Itsuki followed, "They're setting up the archer?"

I asked, "Archer?"

Miu answered, "There's always one person who will shoot an arrow on the bonfire. The arrow is also set on fire."

Sakura pointed at the rooftop, "Over there. It's about to start."

We looked at the rooftop and we saw the archer aiming for the bonfire. She shoots it and it ignited the bonfire making a big fire in the middle of the school field. The speakers started playing music. Students start dancing around the bonfire.

Miu insisted, "Let's dance guys!"

Nise replied, "I'm in!"

Itsuki joined, "Wait for me guys."

Sakura followed, "Hold on, let me join too."

Miu asked, "What about you two?"

I replied, "I'll join in a bit. I'm a bit tired."

Yuuki followed, "Me too. I'll follow you guys after I rest for a bit."

Itsuki, Miu, Nise, and Sakura started dancing along the bonfire, while Yuuki and I rest underneath a tree.

Yuuki stand up and said, "I'll be back," as she went somewhere. A minute later, she returned holding two cans.

She gave one of the cans to me, "Here you go, Shin."

I asked, "What's this for?"

She replied, "It's our prize for working hard in the kitchen."

I grabbed the can and said, "Okay. Thanks, Yuuki."

She sits down next to me and starts drinking her drink. I started drinking mine as well, it's hot coffee. Just perfect for winter.

I asked her, "Should we join them?"

She replied, "Uhmmm..."

She was hesitating to speak, so I asked her, "What's the matter, Yuuki?"

She replied, "Could we dance for a bit?"

I paused for a bit and giggled, "That's it?"

She's embarrassed, "I mean...I'm really shy to dance, so if I dance with you..."

I accepted her request, "Okay, let's do it."

I stood up and hold my hand out to her, she grabbed it stands up and we went to the bonfire together. I put my other hand on her waist, while she puts her other hand on my shoulders and we started dancing.

She started having fun, then she accidentally tripped and was about to fall, before I caught her at the last second. 

Miu saw us and teased, "Look at these two. Not inviting us in their little dance."

That's right, we didn't join them. We just dance in our little way.

Sakura followed, "Yuuki, you brave girl."

Yuuki tries her best to explain the situation while being embarrassed, "It's not...what you...think."

Itsuki also teased, "I wish, I could be brave as Shin."

Nise followed, "Shin is cheating on me!"

I replied, "We're not even a thing!"

Miu replied back, "So, you and Yuuki are a thing?"

Yuuki replied, "No, we're not."

Sakura noted, "But, you're still holding hands."

We looked at our hands, and she was right. We let go of it immediately and tried looking at the opposite side of each other.

Sakura added, "See?"

I replied, "You just misunderstood it."

Then, everyone laughed and Itsuki said, "Don't take it to heart. We're just messing with you guys."

I just laughed it off also, while Yuuki was still annoyed and tried a way to get back to them but failed to do so.

My first cultural festival was fun. The hard work we all put in, and the fun that we had after it was rewarding.

I hope next year will just be like this.