30 Without A Hitch, The Festival Proceeds

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The cultural festival had finally come. The first day was closed to the public, but the excitement was at an all-time high. Everyone was busy for the opening ceremony and I was the one managing them. They would come to Yukinoshita for specific matters but come to me for the more trivial matters. That wasn't to say that those matters were negligible, though. The event wouldn't run properly if we didn't know where we could get the batteries for the microphone.

The opening ceremony started as soon as everything was ready. In the audience seats, we had the students and the teachers. They quieted down when the fluffy Meguri-senpai stepped onto the stage and gave her speech. I felt lightheaded by the end of her speech. That senpai was quite something else.

Yukinoshita's turn to give her speech came soon. As expected of her, she flawlessly delivered her overly formal and stiff speech.

"As the chairwoman of this event, I officially declare the cultural festival begins!"

Everyone clapped their hands loudly as Yukinoshita bowed. They exited the auditorium one by one orderly. Shinobu and I didn't rush to get out. Instead, we walked to Yuigahama and Yukinoshita who were chatting animatedly—well, at least that was the case with Yuigahama. They greeted us as soon as they noticed us.

"That was a splendid and stiff speech, Yukinoshita."

"Is that a compliment or an insult?"

"I would say it's a compliment."

"Then, I will see it this way."

I small smile unconsciously crept up my face. It had been quite some time since we had last bantered. We met often during the committee meetings but never bantered. Unlike the Service Club, the atmosphere there was always serious. We couldn't afford to banter with each other considering what we preached about hard work. In a way, I might be missing the Service Club.

"We'll attend the club after the festival, right? I can't wait for it!" Yuigahama expressed my thoughts.

My phone buzzed and I somehow knew who had messaged me. When I opened my phone, surely, I found a message from Ebina telling Shinobu and me to come to the class. Yuigahama seemed to also have the same message as she immediately looked at us. We excused ourselves to Yukinoshita, but she told us that she would come with us as she wanted to see how well I could act.

When we arrived at our class, we found two lines of students standing before it. The demographic was evenly split between male and female students. I had heard that some people had expressed their interest in our play after watching our practice the other day, but it surprised me how many of them were interested. A murmur broke out when they noticed me and Shinobu, but we paid no mind as we entered the class and got ready.

I heard Yukinoshita arguing with the students manning the reception desk. They were giving her the luxury of not having to wait in line because she was the chairwoman, but she vehemently denied that privilege, saying that it was unfair for everybody else. What a stubborn girl. A smile adorned my face as wore my costume. She only relented when she noticed she was making quite the scene.

When our preparation was ready and all of the customers were inside. The play began. The curtain was opened, revealing Shinobu in her white dress. Everyone was immediately captivated by her beauty. Nothing filled the room but her soliloquy. Before long, my turn came. Some of the females' eyes lit up upon seeing me and they listened to my soliloquy with rapt attention. Yukinoshita who sat at the front seat was no different.

When I took off my jacket and rolled up my sleeves, the female audience gasped whereas the male audience whistled in appreciation. I sat on the floor and began to fix the plane prop. It was at this moment that Shinobu joined me on the stage. Our conversation flowed as practiced. We went through every act and dialogue flawlessly, stealing the audience's entire attention.

The audience was on edge when the play took on a more somber tone. I heard some of the female audience sob, but I could understand them. Yuigahama had been pretty emotional too when she read the script for the first time. The play proceeded and, by this point, the audience seemed to have already figured out where the story was going. This time, some of the male audience also cried.

Seriously, what the heck is it with you guys? Aren't you too emotional for a play? Tobe, be more like Hayama! Your crying face is ugly, dude.

When I leaned on the tree having a soliloquy about how I didn't regret what I did, I noticed Shinobu doing something that was not in the script. She looked at me while holding her golden heart. She was supposed to never look back and let the pilot wither away. The audience got rowdy—well, as rowdy as they could be at a play—as they begged the little princess to see the pilot. Following their wish, she did.

I watched in silence as she walked to me, carrying her heart with her. I tuned out the audience's encouragement in favor of taking in her beauty. She stopped before my sitting form and leaned down slightly. Then, she put her heart before me.

"My beautiful heart may hurt you unknowingly, but it will guarantee you a fulfilling life and never leave you unless you decide to leave it. Know that it is very pure, so it sometimes doesn't know what it is doing. With all of the above, Mr. Pilot, are you willing to share my heart and stay with me?"

I was in a daze for a while before I managed to form an answer. No, the answer didn't come from the audience who was fiercely encouraging me to say yes.

"Hence, I declare you my new home. Even if I hurt myself, I shall protect you."

Shinobu smiled brightly and leaned closer. Then, without a care, she kissed me. Fortunately, the curtain was closed at that moment. The audience didn't see us kissing; but Ebina, Saki, and Miura did. As Shinobu pulled back, I flicked her forehead, causing her to flinch and pout. I stood up and looked at three girls wryly and they immediately knew what I meant. They nodded awkwardly with quite a vacant look in their eyes.

The other cast joined us on the stage and the curtain was opened once again. The audience cheered and whistled as we said our thanks and bowed. Some came up on stage and gave us flowers. A senpai from the drama club who was also its president cupped my hand and begged me to join the club, stating how impressed he was with my act. Of course, I refused. He approached Shinobu but was immediately turned down before he could say anything.

I pitied the drama enthusiast but envied him more. That was because he could get out of the room. I was stuck in it with the excited audience who incessantly threw praises at me for my performance. I didn't want to be a faker like Hayama, so I accepted all of their praises. Somehow, it only encouraged them to praise me more.

Seriously, aren't you too excited by a mere play?

….

The first day of the cultural festival had ended. Shinobu and I were on our way to her apartment. We were heading to the station to ride a train as she didn't ask her driver to pick us up today. I was slightly thankful for that since I needed to have a talk with her about what she did. It would be quite awkward talking about it in her car, knowing that her driver could hear us.

"We got quite a lot of flowers, didn't we?" Shinobu remarked, lifting the plastic bag filled with flowers in her hand.

"What are you going to do with that?" I asked curiously.

"I will put them in a vase. What about you? You got more than me, didn't you?"

"Not really. I got it from fewer students, but each of them happened to give me a lot." Shinobu hummed, seemingly doubtful. "I will let Komachi take care of them, but she will likely do what you do." Silence descended on us before I decided to break it. "Shino—no, Kiss-Shot. Did you mean what you say back then?"

Kiss-Shot looked up at me idly and smiled. "Am I too old for you?"

"I just don't want to misunderstand your words."

"Well, with what we have been doing, we should have been an item a long time ago!" she huffed.

"Sorry. It is my first time, so I am quite inexperienced."

"Well, it's my first time too, you know? You have other people and literature for references, damn it! I think all of my advances had all been obvious."

"I misunderstood someone once and it left me scarred," I explained, causing Kiss-Shot to hold my arm tighter. "I attributed what you had been doing as teasing because I don't want to repeat the same mistake. You are, after all, incredibly beautiful and capable, so I can't help feeling insecure. Compared to you, I am nothing. Just a thrall that you unintentionally made; unremarkable enough to not be part of your history."

Kiss-Shot stood still, holding in place. I looked at her in surprise and then in fright. She was glaring at me fiercely as if I had stolen her family heirloom. I whimpered a sorry and she didn't have any of it. As she pulled on my collar, I was expecting to get beaten. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised when she kissed me softly. I would have indulged myself in the kiss if we were not in public.

"L-Let's do it at home."

"My, bold, aren't you?" Kiss-Shot snickered before shaking her head. "Anyway, don't ever sell yourself short. You are remarkable, so seeing you do that irks me to no end."

"Will do, ma'am."

"Good. Let's go home, so we can continue what we are doing!"

Henceforth, Kiss-Shot and I were an item—as she liked to call it.

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Honorary Mention:

Venerable Immortal Bowzer

Venerable Immortal Drowz

Venerable Immortal Funéral

Venerable Immortal Orion

Venerable Immortal P. Felipe

Venerable Immortal W. M. Jones

Venerable Immortal x_iLaggedOut_x