109 Ending Of The Festival

"It was pretty interesting to know that Ennoshita had a talent for making crafted braids."

"Hehe I know right. I feel like I did a great job on mine, see."

"Yes I can see it so you can stop sticking it in my face now."

Mahiru stuck out her tongue as she looked at the braided bracelet she had made during their trip to Ennoshita's stall.

His class had a surprisingly calmer atmosphere compared to the others as it had different stations for certain types of crafts a person may want to make.

Things such as origami, stamp art and making bracelets using threads which was the one station Haruto and Mahiru decided to choose.

The two of them continued to walk through the halls and a quiet mood fell between them as Haruto continued to look around while Mahiru gently pushed her fingers together.

"So has Takeda-sensei talked to you about the specific date of the training camp yet or…"

"This came out of nowhere."

"Just answer it!"

"Well I did get a date, it's going to be held on a Tuesday near the middle half of December." Haruto smiled as he slowed down his walking speed to recall the information Takeda had said to him.

"Oh it's going to be just like Golden Week so I'll be gone for 5 days."

"I see."

"Is my sweet girlfriend going to miss me?"

"Yes I am."

Haruto's eyes widened a bit after hearing her straight forward answer compared to her usual banter they always do.

"Hmm~ I see." he hummed happily after hearing her answer.

"We practically see each other everyday so it will be a bit strange not seeing you for a few days. It's going to be like that time during Golden Week all over again…"

Mahiru locked arms with Haruto and hugged him tight as she recalled that time but Haruto on the other hand felt like he had just heard something interesting.

"Wait, you said 'it's going to be like Golden Week all over again' right?"

"Ahem, I don't know what you're talking about."

Mahiru turned her eyes away as she realized that she had just something slip her tongue.

"That was before our first date…so you were thinking of me even that far back?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"No need to be shy. I was also the same, you know. Plus once I'm back we're going on a trip with my family remember."

Even with her denying it, Haruto felt a bit happy knowing the fact that she enjoyed his presence even if it was just a tiny bit during the time before they had anything big between them.

Faced with a Mahiru who was now hiding herself in his arms, Haruto brought out the simple trick of coaxing her with some food which worked wonders as she tried to take her attention away from her slip up.

*Ring Ring

An alarm began to go off near Mahiru's pocket and she realized that it was time for her to go back to her shift at her classroom.

"It looks like my time ran out." Mahiru looked at her phone showing a hint of disappointment on her face.

"Are you going back to serving?"

"No, I finished that role earlier this morning. This time I have to stand outside and hand out flyers for our stall."

"So a poster girl?"

"I guess you can say that."

Mahiru giggled as she remembered how Yachi tried her best to fight for a spot for the two of them to have the same schedules for the day. 

Haruto quietly listened to her as he guided Mahiru back to her class.

"Haru–to!!"

"Why the heck is he here too."

A few minutes after they returned to their usual atmosphere, Haruto heard a loud voice call out to him and a guy with a stylish bowl cut came running to him.

"You look stylish as ever." Tsutomu whistled as he scanned Haruto who was wearing his suit.

"What made you come here? You usually stay at your dorm and only go out when it comes to Volleyball related things."

"I also go out you know…"

"Pfft."

"Okay maybe I don't…But! I'm not an old hermit like your sister is." Tsutomu nodded his head as he was 100% sure of his answer. 

"Hmm, okay you got me there."

"Right."

Haruto agreed with Tsutomu's answer and somewhere near the food stands, a girl with long black hair let out a big sneeze.

"I feel a disturbance in the force…" Akane narrowed her eyes as she looked around and wondered if anyone was talking about her behind her back.

"Honey, do you understand what she's saying?"

"Just ignore it, she sometimes makes strange remarks every now and then."

Jiro blankly nodded head as he listened to Yui who was snacking on corn about the strange words her daughter sometimes says.

'I hope she gets a good boyfriend that can at least understand what she says sometimes…'

Jiro gave out a sigh as he ate the food his wife gave him 

"Ah Shiina-san you also look amazing in your maid outfit too!" 

"Thank you Goshiki-san."

Mahiru gave her thanks and Tsutomu gave a small glance at Haruto who looked at him confused.

'You turned into a total normie now huh'

'I don't know what you mean.'

'Girlfriend, festival date, should I say anything more.'

The two of them signaled with their eyes and were somehow able to convey a conversation between them.

Mahiru looked at the two and felt amazed by how they were talking without saying anything and wondered if it was a Volleyball thing since he was able to do the same thing with the other boys on the team.

"Anyways, did you come here after hearing there was a festival?" Trying to bring the conversation back on track, Haruto passed Tsutomu some candy and asked him a question.

"I was forced to go out by my parents after hearing I was staying home at the dorm so I called out Akane to see if she had any good places I could go to and here I am."

"Forced to touch grass huh."

Tsutomu nodded his head and continued to eat the candy Haruto gave him.

"Anyways it looked like you guys were on a date so I'll leave you guys to that. I'll explore what this place has to offer."

"Actually you can tag along with us since I'm bringing Mahiru back to her classroom."

Tsutomu looked at Mahiru to see if what Haruto said was true and she gestured that it was correct.

Now with Tsutomu tagging along, the two of them began to talk as it had been a while since they had properly hung out since that time they entered a grass volleyball tournament together.

"I heard you got invited to that All-Japan Youth Camp tight?"

"Yeah I was pretty excited when I heard I got an invitation."

"Do you know the date you're going?"

Once he heard Tsutomu's words he felt a strange hint of deja vu.

"Did you also miss me during Golden Week?"

"Why would I miss you?" Tsutomu looked at Haruto with a strange expression.

"Ah it's nothing you can forget it."

Haruto tried his best to not let a laugh out as he felt a sharp pain near his waist on the side where Mahiru was walking beside him

Telling Tsutomu the same thing he told Mahiru, he showed a pretty surprised expression.

"I'm actually attending a training camp the same day as you."

"Is it the one that's being hosted at your school?"

"Yeah it's that one. Is someone from your team attending that camp?"

"Our tall middle blocker is."

Tsutomu recalled how Tsukishima played during the final's match and felt a bit excited for the upcoming camp.

"Try to break through his blocks."

"I would do that even without you telling me."

Haruto laughed as he felt that having Tsukishima face against Tsutomu would be great practice for him in preparation for Nationals coming up.

"Thanks for bringing me."

"It's obvious for me to do it so it's fine."

"I'll see you at the afterparty later."

Reaching Mahiru's classroom, the two shared a quick farewell with each other before having a brief kiss and leaving Mahiru to go inside her classroom.

"Show off."

"Come let's go somewhere fun."

Ignoring Tsutomu's words, Haruto walked ahead and scanned around the area to see some fun things to do now that Mahiru is gone.

***

"And we're done! Good work everyone!!"

"YEAHH!!"

"Finally finished…"

Bringing Tsutomu to different places to catch up, Haruto returned back to his classroom during the last 2 hours of them closing and helped out as Tsutomu went back home feeling full from all the food he ate. 

"..Do you feel that Kageyama is acting a bit differently?"

"He was like that ever since he came back from his break."

Haruto and Hinata whispered to each other as they looked at Kageyama who was blankly staring at the window of the classroom.

Feeling a bit curious, Haruto walked up to Kageyama to see what was happening.

"So how was your break?"

"A-Ah well it was a-alright."

Kageyama flinched as he turned his head away.

Haruto noted his reaction and a lightbulb went off in his head as he slyly smiled towards him.

"Hmm I see how it is."

"W-What."

"Congratulations."

He showed Kageyama a knowing expression while he patted him on the shoulder.

"So did you find anything out?" Hinata went up to him and Haruto just pulled him towards the door as the announcement called for all classes to go to the gym for the after party.

"Spring time arrived for him."

"Springtime? But we're just entering the winter season?"

Hinata felt confused by Haruto's words to which he just gave out a heavy sigh.

"Yachi is in for a rough time…"

Entering the huge gymnasium, crowds of students had already begun to move into certain groups as they patiently waited for the teachers to arrive.

Haruto had managed to spot Mahiru who was standing with Yachi and a few of her classmates. Seeing Mahiru enjoying her time with her friends, he decided to leave her and stay with Hinata and Kageyama.

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi eventually joined them and seeing that the majority of the students arrived, the principal went up to the podium.

[I just want to say that I was happy to see all the bright and creative ideas our students have made to create such an exciting festival for our school.] 

[As you have known there is a grand prize for the classroom that generated the most revenue during our active hours and to my surprise two classes had come really close.]

Murmurs began to spread as two stalls in particular came to mind during the whole festival and eyes began to spread towards Haruto and Mahiru.

"So is the 'Prince Effect' stronger than the 'Angel Effect'?"

Haruto rolled his eyes hearing Tsukishima's snarky remark and just paid his attention towards the podium.

[And the winner for Karasuno's Annual Cultural Festival is… Class 1-1's Butler Cafe!!]

"Haruto we won first place!!"

Hinata jumped up as he cheered alongside his classroom and Haruto smiled as he felt surprised that they had won.

'Maybe it's because Mahiru came to my classroom..'

Haruto remembered the crowd Mahiru had seemed to bring in when she entered and also remembered how his family also brought a crowd in as well.

Thanking in his mind the amount of advertisements some people bought for them he looked towards Mahiru who was smiling alongside Yachi and saw how she mouthed the words 'Congratulations'.

[We have prepared some food for you so places enjoy yourselves.]

Leaving the podium, various teachers began to leave a wide space in the middle of the gym while others started opening up the buffet table near the back of the gym.

"It looks like they're allowing people to dance in the middle."

"Ehh so are you going to ask anyone to dance with you."

Seeing how the lights dimmed and slow music began to take place, the atmosphere around the gym began to shift to a mood that was very lively.

After saying a few words to the people around him, Haruto walked up to where Mahiru was and held out his hand.

"Let's dance?"

Mahiru looked at him for a bit and felt the gazes of her classmates suddenly on her.

"Is this the prize for the winner?"

"Who knows."

The two of them laughed together and held hands as they walked towards the middle of the gymnasium where it was empty.

Noticing that the song changed to a slow tempo one as soon as they arrived, Mahiru placed her arms around Haruto while he wrapped his around her waist. 

The spectators watched as they quietly swayed to the song's rhythm and how they didn't break eye contact with each other for even the slightest moment.

Wanting to experience this type of moment for themselves, couples and even friends began to move towards the center so that they could create a sweet moment just like the one they had seen.

This all happened while the two fell into their own world, enjoying themselves as Karasuno's Annual Cultural Festival comes to a close.

***

Has anyone else seen the Ruan Mei drip marketing.. She looks too good for me to skip but I also heard that Black Swan is coming soon so I'm torn between the two… Anyways I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu.