Fikush-ON!

Ch. 29: Another Festival Day

Waking up for no particular reason, I slowly opened my tired eyes, staring at my dark ceiling, only ever so slightly illuminated by the light shining from above the curtains. I closed my eyes again and rolled over to my side, trying to fall back asleep, until I realized something, turning to look at the window. It indeed was light outside. Thinking about it for a few seconds, I sat up with a grunt, got on my feet and slowly but surely made my way to the computer table to check my watch. Huh, only 10am. So I didn't oversleep. I mean, sure, I overslept in a sense, today's a school day after all. What I meant was the Sakuragaoka festival.

Walking over to the wardrobe, I put on my red hoodie and the other usual shit. I then stopped by the bathroom before heading down to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast, yawning all the way. Only one to greet me downstairs was Dash, who just gave me the quietest bark as a sign that she acknowledges my presence. Giving her a similar sounding grunt for an answer, I slipped into the kitchen and began making myself some coffee.

I had a good excuse for waking up so late. Yesterday, at Yui's club's room, Ui and I talked about today. Apparently, Ui and the others had a morning shift at their stall, so we agreed that it'd be better if I came later so that I wouldn't have to spend too much time alone. But there was also another reason. I didn't get much sleep last night, you see. Because of what happened last night. It was nothing too bad, now that I think about it, but it still kept me awake. Ui asking about me requesting a 'cute, ponytailed girl' to bring my order, and her weird reaction after I kinda admitted it. I'm still not sure if the reaction was good or bad. And, well, I'm kinda nervous about seeing her today. It's the same nervousness I felt after getting that kiss on the cheek from her on my birthday.

After eating the rest of my sandwich and gulping down my coffee, I got my shoes on and was quickly off to Sakuragaoka. Sure, I was a bit ahead of the schedule, so I'd have to wait for a while before the girls' shift ends, but whatever. The festival has a lot to offer. Maybe I'll check out the places I haven't paid much attention to before.

Roughly half-an-hour later I came across a familiar scene: the festival. The stalls, the noise of the crowd, the colorful decorations... It's always the same, but damn, it's still as awesome as many times before. Checking both my watch and the school building's clock, I noticed that I still have an hour to kill before meeting up with the girls. Well, off to roam I go, then.

Minutes passed as I walked around the campus, dodging people, and glancing at the different stalls and activities. None of them seemed to interest me at the moment, but maybe they'll be more fun with the gals. However, there was one stall that I absolutely couldn't help but to submit to, and it was the slushie stall. If there's one beverage I like more than coffee, it's slushies. I usually get a multi-colored one, but this time I felt like having a simple, orange slushie. Sipping my cold and tart drink, I took one last look around me, before deciding to head inside the school building.

I stood in the entrance hall, glancing at the hallways. One of them held Ui's class' stall. I didn't feel like visiting it again, and it'd be kinda awkward if the one greeting the customers at the door was someone I knew, so I decided to not go there for now. My eyes were drawn to the stairs in front of me. Hm, sure, a part of the second floor is closed off from the visitors, but not the whole floor, meaning there's still some stalls up there. I didn't get a good look at them yesterday, so might as well do it now, since I had nothing better to do.

Climbing up to the second floor, I picked the wing which wasn't closed off, and began slowly making my way through it, glancing at the classrooms. Food, food, haunted house, some astrologic bullshit, beverages, food... Ugh, it's kinda all the same. I didn't feel like wasting my money on any of them. Maybe I should head back outside and to the auditorium. Now that I think about it, I haven't really seen the other performances there. They can't be that bad... Hold on. Occult Club? The sign somehow just caught my eye. Well, that's something new.