The Golden Pear [YA - Featured]

♫~Notes 122~♫

Aiyoku couldn't stop thinking about what was inside those bags. It could be simple trash, but he would trust it only if any other girl held them. Ueno was famous for twisting the words and actions of others.

The boy hid behind a tree, ducking to keep a low profile. His eyebrows knitted, as his brain's cogwheels tried to make a head and tail out of her behavior.

Ueno placed the bags by the bins as others laid next to them, ready to be collected the next morning. The walls around it protected it from wind and the roof from rain and snow. She dusted her hands, turning back, but after one step, she looked behind her shoulder.

'Is she sad?' Aiyoku squinted as he tried to decipher her expression.

She stepped away, however this time, it seemed she started a war with her inner self, pivoting back and forth. Her fingers messed her hair as she tried to scratch out what bugged her. A ladybug landed on Aiyoku's shoulder, and the boy exchanged with it a confused look before the bug flew away.

Finally, Ueno convinced herself it was time to go. She stopped one last time, giving those bags one final look and a wave of goodbye before she returned to the school.

The bell rang, and Aiyoku dashed out of his hiding place, grabbing one bag and ducking behind the wall. There he hugged the bag, wheezing. His ears perked, catching all sounds around him, but nobody seemed to be around.

Placing the bag on the ground, he carefully unwrapped it. His jaws almost hit the ground as his body jerked back as he stared at himself.

"What?" Recovering his composure, he realized those were posters and prints she had made for his Fanclub.

He let out a deep breath. Searching through the bag, he found out it was full of them. Yet, none of this made sense.

'Why she has thrown these?'

He closed the bag, placing it back at its place.

'Is it because I'm no longer her prince?' He pondered about it as he headed into his classroom. 'If so, she could send any of her friends to do it.'

The word friends in her case gave him a strange sour feeling in his mouth. 'Does she even know—'

He stopped at his tracks, as he almost slammed into the opened door leading to girls' toilets.

"—is such a witch!" one girl growled.

"Tell me about it," the other agreed, closing the door with her foot without noticing Aiyoku was behind them.

"She tore all the posters and disbanded the club!" she fenced with her hands.

"It would be great if she got run over by a car!"

Both burst laughing while Aiyoku wanted to slap them, something he would never think his brain would whisper to him. Curling his fingers, he let the girl get out of his field of vision. Only then, he continued, calmer and full of questions.

'Should I give Ueno-san one more chance? Should I ask Freya-chan for her opinion? Would she be against it? After all, it was she who suffered the most.'

Placing his famous smile, he hid all of his worries and joined his brother to prepare for the Summer Fest.

\\_(''>_<'')_//

Meanwhile, Ueno stood in the empty club room. The occasional tape with a piece of the poster clung to the wall as she ripped them down. Not too long ago, she added new posters, and there was a pile of unused ones as she had run out of space.

'There was still the ceiling.' She tilted her head, glad she posted nothing there. It would be a pain in her back to get it down.

The other students had homeroom lessons, debating over Summer Fest. No school had ever put so much work into a simple school fest. However, none of them were part of the newspapers and visited by people from far away.

'I'll be the reporter's guide this year, huh?' A shudder traveled down her back. She quickly pushed the memories of her first year away. 'It wouldn't repeat, right?'

Taking a moment to forget it, she stretched her body, finding her back aching. Last time, she boosted about selected stalls based on how the students bribed her or how much she could use them later. However, this year would be different.

Taking from her bag the copy of the plan, she glanced at every name. Cat Caffee was right beside the junction, gaining golden placement, for people had to walk around it no matter where they headed. Its stall was also the biggest, and they could seat twenty people at once while offering drinks to go. No matter the time, it was packed full.

Places selling paper masks, simple fast-food, handmade souvenirs, or custom drawings sketched in under ten minutes, were scattered around the school. She circled the places she wanted to show off the most. The Drama Club's corner was a big novelty, so she included it in her list.

'But I need to time it so they can see one of their short plays.'

Circling a few more places, her eyes found Freya's stall. Far from the main street, it seemed the placement made it impossible to find. Shuffling through the pile of ads concerning all the stalls, she found the right info.

'Take a photo with Hidden Beauty. Support a good cause by donating. Unique Polaroid photographs. Two horses in flower dresses wait for you.' The attached picture showed the design of the place, including used items like the camera or donation box.

"Hmm, I don't remember our Summer Fest ever featuring photographs with animals," she thought aloud. "I need to include this place."

Her yelling phone interrupted her in the middle of circling Freya's stall.