The School Festival Begins!

“Welcome to the haunted house of dooooooom!”

Shinohara seemed to be really getting into the mood. I could hear him welcoming in visitors from where I was hiding inside the classroom. When 2C had been discussing what event our class should do, it had been almost unanimously decided on a haunted house. I still thought that the name we'd settled on was cheesy as hell, but I hadn't been put in charge of creating the signs, so I had no real say in the matter. At least everyone in the class seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Our classroom had been cordoned off inside by tarpaulin to create a labyrinth that stretched from one door to the other, and each of us that had been chosen to play the monsters hid just out of view of the entrance. I was dressed as a simple zombie, with a mask that covered most of my face. It was effective, but it was nothing compared to Nakamura's, who had gone all out on her ghost costume. She had used makeup to turn her face a sickly white, which contrasted against the long black wig that fell haphazardly over her eyes. The white robes she wore were loose-fitting and tattered, and stained with a red dye to give the impression of blood. The whole ensemble was very impressive.

“Why don't we try in here?”

It sounded like our haunted house had caught the interest of a pair of girls that had been passing by.

“I-I dunno…”

One of the girls, a voice I strangely recognised, didn't seem as confident as her friend.

“Oh come on, Hikari. It'll be fun!”

Hikari?

She hadn't said she was planning on visiting my school's festival today, but I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

Ah!

An evil grin grew across my face as an idea popped into my head. Hikari hated things like this, she had never done well with horror. This was the perfect chance for me to enact some payback for all the times she had messed with me. I spotted her as she entered with her friend and stayed where I was, hidden in the shadows until she was as close to me as possible. The moment she had passed me, I began to move, muffling the sounds of my footsteps as much as possible. Once I was only inches away from her, I gently placed my hand on her shoulder, and leaned forward, whispering into her ear.

“Hikariiiiii…”

“Yaaaaaahh!” she screamed out.

Oh, her reaction was priceless, I'd remember this moment for as long as I lived.

And then she spun around swiftly, planting her knee sharply into my gut.

“Hi-Hikari…” I spluttered.

She screamed again and ran back the way she had come. In retrospect, I probably should have seen that coming…

Oof.

I collapsed, clutching my stomach as I doubled over onto the floor.

***

After a little while, Nakamura and I were given a break to explore the festival. Once we had changed out of our costumes and cleaned up a little, Nakamura wondered if I wanted to go around together with her.

“Yeah, sure. Okay,” I agreed.

I was looking forward to stopping by the food stalls. I hadn't had anything since breakfast, so I was starting to feel hungry.

“How's your stomach?” She asked me as we made our way outside to the school grounds.

A number of stalls, each selling different things, lined the path leading all the way up to the school gates.

“Better now,” I groaned, “I still can't believe she kicked me!”

“It really was your own fault,” she chuckled.

As we slurped down the yakisoba we had just bought from one of the first-year class’s stalls, Nakamura made a suggestion.

“Want to go check out Chizuru’s class?”

“Huh? Sure. What are 2A putting on?”

“I don't actually know, she never mentioned it to me.”

“Well, now I'm curious,” I responded.

We made our way back inside and headed for Iwasaki's classroom. When we arrived, I stood frozen in the doorway. I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing.

They were doing a maid café.

“Ah, there she is. Hey Chizuru!” Nakamura waved.

Iwasaki looked up and spotted the pair of us. She waltzed over, the brim of her outfit fluttering as she did.

“Hey, you two… Er, I mean, welcome back, my lady and my young master,” she accompanied this with a slight bow.

“...”

I couldn't help but admire Iwasaki in her frilled, black and white dress, or the way her hair was tied into a side ponytail. I had never seen her with her hair like that before, but it suited her. She looked good.

“Tachi-kun?”

“Huh, I'm sorry, what?”

I snapped out of my trance by the pair of girls now looking at me. Iwasaki just looked confused, while Nakamura glared disgustedly at me.

“I know, I know. It's weird, isn't it? I wasn't thrilled when the suggestion was made,” Iwasaki continued, “but at least the outfits are kinda cute!”

“Y-yeah, they're definitely… cute,” I stammered back.

“Are you sitting in?” She asked us.

“Sure.”

She led us over to a free table, and then headed off to make some cups of tea. Nakamura was still frowning at me.

“You're acting like a total pervert, you know? It's embarrassing.”

“It isn't my fault, I was hit by a surprise attack! I didn't have time to prepare myself mentally.”

She sighed to herself, "What a hopeless guy..."

It wasn't long before Iwasaki reappeared, carrying a tray of drinks. She laid the two cups down on the table in front of us and smiled.

“How are you enjoying the festival?” She asked us, “I haven't had a chance to get away myself yet.”

“It's been fun,” answered Nakamura, “but we've only really seen a small portion of it so far.”

“You must be busy, especially with the club's performance coming up as well.”

“Yeah,” her smile faded, “you'll be there, won't you? Both of you?”

“Of course we will,” Nakamura reassured her.

“Yeah, we'll be cheering you on,” I agreed.

Once Iwasaki’s shift was over, we decided to accompany her over to the light music clubroom. Shinohara and Inaba were already waiting inside when we got there. Inaba was sat in a chair, tuning her guitar, while Shinohara was nearby reading something on his phone.

“Ah good, you're here finally, Iwasaki-san,” Inaba said, looking up at us.

“Sorry, I'm late,” she apologised, “I had to help out with my classes event.”

“No, it's fine, I was just hoping we could get some last minute practice in while we have the time.”

“Ah, sure.”

“Excellent, let's get started then.”

Inaba hopped up, guitar still in hand, and moved over to where the microphone and drum kit were set up. Shinohara plopped down onto the drum stool, and Iwasaki took her place at the front by the microphone. This wasn't the first time I had heard them perform, but I was no less impressed. It was clear that they had been training hard in preparation for this day. I just wished I knew more about music to be able to give them any kind of constructive advice, but all I could give them instead were my honest thoughts in that moment.

“Wow, that was great!”

“You all sounded really good, especially you, Chizuru.” Nakamura said.

"Oh, um, well..."

“You’re gonna do amazing, Iwasaki-san,” I said, reassuring her, “you’re gonna blow them all away!”

“He’s right, you know,” Inaba added, "you've been putting in so much effort. You've even been practicing alone at home. You'll do fine, believe that.”

“Geez, you didn't need to tell everyone that!” She looked down at the ground, blushing. It was pretty cute.

“But… thanks all of you, I won't let you down.”

I was happy to see that Iwasaki was starting to feel more confident in herself, now that she could see that we all had her back. Nakamura and I stuck around in the clubroom until the time had come to make our way over to the gym. The two of us parted ways with the band members, and we found ourselves in the center of the audience. I was surprised to see just how many people had gathered to watch the various club’s performances.

After a pretty hilarious play hosted by the drama club, it was time for the light music club to perform. There was a tinge of nervous excitement in the air, I was even starting to feel anxious myself. Iwasaki shuffled onto the stage, followed close behind by Shinohara and Inaba. There was a burst of applause from the audience welcoming the next act, but something felt off. Up on the stage, Iwasaki had turned deathly pale, and it looked like she was visibly shaking. Inaba leaned over to whisper something in her ear, before gently guiding her to the front of the stage. Iwasaki gripped the microphone stand, trying to stop her hands from trembling.

I watched from the crowd in horror. She wasn't going to be able to go through with this, and I knew she wouldn't be able to ever forgive herself for this failure. I had to help her somehow, but what could I possibly even do in this situation?