〄Hᴀʟғ-Bʟᴏᴏᴅs' Lᴇɢᴀᴄʏ〄 [Ch. 4 Up!]

[Tinkpetz]

That was so cool! I want to see that play now. ^^

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 31 – The Cultural Festival

Ayako was beside herself with how much approval her play got, so while she relished in the praise, the class actors stood around backstage chatting.

“Kaito how did you do that?” Mitsuru asked. “The trick with the sword?”

Kaito laughed at her eagerness. “A magician never reveals their secrets right?”

“Which only applies if you're actually a magician,” Ayako commented. “Which you’re not.”

“Ayako, you can be so mean,” Kaito stated mocking a wounded tone. “I could be for all you know.”

“But you’re not,” she replied matter-of-factly.

“What’s your costume made out of?” Natsumi asked once it was clear that Kaito wouldn’t give Mitsuru a clear answer.

Kaito shrugged. “I don’t know,” he lied smoothly. “But it’s soft.”

“Where’d you get it?” piped up Kimiko.

“I just bought it. You think I could actually sow?”

The three girls shrugged, and then broke out into a chorus of giggles.

“Girls...” Daisuke said with a shake of his head. “I’ll never understand them.”

“I doubt many could understand you either,” Kaito replied.

“Oh come on, I thought you were in a good mood Kaito.”

“Mika, you’re very beautiful like that,” Haruto said kindly, “with the blond hair and the gown. It looks nice. Of course, everyone looked good,” he quickly added as the other girls cast him a look.

“Yeah!” Masahiko agreed. “The costume designers did an awesome job.” He fiddled with his own general’s coat.

“Perhaps you should ask the costume girls to make all of your outfits,” Yuuichi teased. “After all, you love –”

“Shut up Yuuichi!” Masahiko yelped jumping to his feet and covering Yuuichi’s mouth with his hands. “I don’t love anyone,” he said to the others, although his face was slowly turning red.

The whole group burst into laughter at the two of them. After another few minutes of casual talking, Mika left first to change back into her normal attire. She was almost finished with taking the make-up off when the other three girls entered the dressing room.

“So what was it like Natsumi?” Kimiko was asking as they entered. “Being carried by Kaito is like a dream.”

“Well yeah...” Natsumi blushed. “He’s really strong, but really gentle too. He carried me much better than Daisuke did,” she said with a laugh.

“You’re so lucky!” Mitsuru said. “Hey! Are you thinking about asking him out?”

“Of course not!” Natsumi replied a bit too quickly. “I mean...” she cast a quick glance in Mika’s direction. “Aren’t you and Kaito dating?” she asked slowly.

Mika whirled around. “Of course we aren’t!” She said trying her best to keep up her composure, and not get too flustered. “We just happen to live in the same direction.”

“But I saw you out with him once,” Mitsuru said, “coming out of the store with a bunch of bags.”

“O-oh yeah,” Mika stuttered remembering that night so long ago that Kaito had healed her and then taken her out to eat and shop. “I ran across him in the store, and he offered to help after seeing how much I had bought... I kind of get carried away sometimes.” Mika broke off into an awkward laugh that none of the others joined her in.

“Well anyway,” Natsumi resumed talking to the other two after a couple seconds of silence. “What are you doing the rest of this weekend?”

Mika released the breath she’d been holding and swiftly finished changing before any of the other three could ask her anymore questions that she couldn’t answer.

“Where’s Kaito?” she asked Ayako and Kana as she neared them.

Ayako shrugged. “Still in the changing rooms I guess. Shall we go fetch him?” Without waiting for a reply, Ayako turned around and marched back toward the rooms. “He got his own room,” she said as she went, “so he definitely should be out by now.”

Ignoring the protests of Kana and Mika, Ayako stopped at the white, metal door, pounded on it and yelled, “Hey! Aren’t you done yet? Hurry up!” She went to pound on the door again, but as she hit it, it swung open and Ayako tumbled inside from the force of her own swing.

“Keep quiet would you?” Kaito said as Ayako fell in. He had most of his clothes folded up neatly except for the silk undershirt which he still had on, although he had unbuttoned it already.

“Did you do that?” Kana asked as she too stepped through the door.

"Last I checked, locked doors don’t usually swing open on their own. It's metal, so I can manipulate the magnetic field as I wish,” he said with a shrug. As soon as Mika had finally passed through, the door swung shut again in the same way that it had opened, and the lock clicked back into place.

“Oh so you’re locking us in here, are you?” Ayako said trying the door, testing to see if it had really locked.

“Stop flattering yourself.” Kaito smirked as Ayako’s face flushed ever so slightly. “You're the one that came barging in." He slipped off the silk shirt and replaced it with the nearly identical cotton one. Once he had folded it up as well, he stored his belongings in a small duffle bag.

“Well whatever,” Ayako said. “Let’s go have fun at the festival!” She whirled around, thrust open the door which Kaito had now unlocked, and was off, leaving the others to chase behind her.

Mika shut her eyes tightly against the bright sunlight as they emerged from the theater. When her eyes had finally adjusted, she found the grounds much more active than it had been when she’d arrived. Students were going in every direction, and even some middle school kids, younger children, parents, and grandparents could be seen.

Stands were set up on both sides of the entrance walkway, most of which contained food, but others had games or a display. An outdoor stage was also set up on the left side of the school for various bands and dancers.

“What would you like to do first?” Kana questioned.

“Get food of course!” Ayako answered without hesitation. “Didn’t one of the second year classes set up a café or something inside the school?”

“I think I did hear that somewhere,” Mika agreed. “Are we going to eat there?”

“If you want to,” Ayako replied with a smile. The others nodded in agreement and they headed inside of the school.

The café was being held in one of the larger classrooms on the second floor. Two girls dressed in a maid outfit greeted the guests and escorted them to one of the small tables they had set up. Soon another girl, also dressed in a maid-like outfit, came over and took the orders for drinks.

“Have you decided what you would like?” she asked politely after returning with the beverages.

“I want udon,” Ayako announced without hesitation.

“I would like the yakisoba, please,” Mika said.

Kana also ordered the yakisoba noodles while Kaito ordered a ramen dish.

Thirty minutes and four empty bowls later, the group left the shop for more exciting activities. They started off by wandering around the school looking at all of the club displays. Kana and Mika stopped for a while to talk with the literature club members while Ayako and Kaito continued through the school.

The two ended up outside at the very back of the school. In the large open lot, several of game clubs had gotten together and had created a giant maze out of cardboard boxes.

“Step right up you two, and try your luck at the Great Maze!” one of the club members said. “Usually one hundred yen per person but couples get –”

“We’re not together!” Ayako interrupted him swiftly with a glare. “Here,” She shoved the bill into the pot laid out for the money and marched through the entrance.

Kaito rolled his eyes and sighed, but he pulled out his own wallet and handed the gate keeper the money before following after Ayako. “Do you always have to be so rude?” he asked casually when he’d caught up to her.

“You’re the one that’s always rude and sarcastic. I was kindly correcting the guy.”

“How do you figure that?” he asked casting a glance in her direction.

Ayako didn’t reply, but suddenly took a sharp turn to the right, cutting Kaito off to head down another section of the maze. The walls of the maze were slightly above both of their heads so that neither could see if they were even going in the right direction. Ayako huffed as she reached a dead end, spun on her heels, and headed back the way she’d come without so much as a glance in Kaito’s direction.

Kaito could help chucking a bit at her seriousness. “It’s just a game; you don’t have to get so worked up about it.”

“Of course I do,” she replied. “All games are to be won.”

“I don’t think it’s that kind of –”

“Ah ha!!” Ayako rushed around another one of the corners and disappeared from view.

When Kaito glanced down the branch of the maze, he saw what had gotten Ayako’s attention. A small table was set up with a sign that read, ‘You have reached Checkpoint #1.’ On the small table was one large stack of paper and a stamp. “What’s the paper say?” he asked glancing down at it.

“’You have reached station number one,’” Ayako read. “’Those who find all five stations will be given a prize upon their exit. Please mark below with the stamp provided at each station.’ So I guess I use this then,” Ayako said picking up the stamp and inkpad on the table. She marked the paper with it, and grinned. “One down four to go! Aren’t you going to get one?” she asked when she noticed that Kaito was still glancing at the paper.

“Did you want me to?” he replied raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t care."

Kaito shrugged, and marked the paper with the stamp before catching up with Ayako who had run on ahead as usual.

Another five minutes later, they were no closer to finding checkpoint two. “How big can this stupid thing be? The open lot isn’t that huge!” Ayako shouted in frustration.

“And yet, it seems that the maze really is bigger than what it seems to be at first glance.”

“Can’t you, you know, use some of that freaky power of yours and find the right direction?”

“I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but I’m not a GPS. I can tell you which way North is, but I doubt that’d be of much use.”

“You’re right. You’re useless,” Ayako agreed.

“That’s not exactly what I said –”

“Oh look!! There’s another one!” Ayako rushed up to it. “’Checkpoint #3,’” she read aloud. “Darn it! We missed one! Where’s number two!?”

“We must’ve passed by it.” Kaito marked the paper and faced Ayako. “Shall we go back?”

“Naturally,” she turned back the way they’d come and stopped at a cross section. “So... which way did we come from again?”

“That way,” Kaito said pointing to the right. “Shall we go straight?”

“I guess,” she replied.

Several more twists and turns later, the two managed to locate another checkpoint. However, it was not the one that Ayako was hoping for.

“What the heck?!” She slammed the paper down on the table in frustration. “This is Checkpoint 4. Where’s Checkpoint 2?! Are we even going back the way we came?”

“I don’t know, Ayako,” Kaito replied slowly, enunciating every syllable. “But calm down, we’ll find it.”

And so Kaito took the lead, and in just a couple of minutes they happened across Checkpoint 2, and shortly after that, Checkpoint 5.”

“This was composed by the gaming clubs; they probably set it up like that to mess with everyone’s heads. But anyway, we found them all! Yes!” Ayako did a small little happy dance before turning around to face Kaito. “Now which way is out?”

“No clue.”

“Great, well we will find it I guess. If all else fails, we can just start knocking down the boxes,” Ayako said a bit too happily.

“I don’t think the club would appreciate that very much.”

“Well screw the club! It’s their fault for making the stupid thing so freakin’ hard!”

“Ayako, perhaps you’ll want to lower your voice slightly,” Kaito said.

“Why?” she looked around for a moment, and then saw what he was pointing at, several meters ahead of them and slightly to the left, was a big banner that said ‘Exit’. “Wonderful!” Ayako took off running straight ahead without a moment to spare.

“Ayako, wait!” Kaito shouted after her, although he followed slightly behind her nonetheless.

They hadn’t run far when Ayako veered sharply to the left and then immediately stopped. “A dead end? But the sign's right there!” She looked up to see the banner now almost right in front of her, but blocked by boxes. She swore, and lifted her foot prepared to just kick it down.

Kaito grabbed her by the waist and hauled her backward, doing his best to ignore her thrashing about. “It’s a maze Ayako. A maze,” he emphasized. “The exits are never just going to be straight in front of you.”

Ayako stilled for a moment as she let that sink in, and Kaito released her. “So we’ve gotta go back again?”

“Seems like it,” he agreed with a small nod.

After a bit of protesting, Ayako let Kaito take the lead once more, and after many more twists, turns, and even some backtracking, the exit opened up in front of them. Ayako sprinted past Kaito and ran under the banner.

“Congratulations!” A male club member said walking up to her. “Did you manage to find all of the checkpoints?” When Ayako nodded her head and handed it to him, he swiftly checked it over. “And did you find them all as well?” He asked as Kaito emerged from the maze. Kaito too, nodded and the man replied, “Wonderful! Then you both have won a free food ticket that can be used at any of the club stands outside of the school! Congratulations!” he said.

Ayako and Kaito both took the small ticket he handed them, and with a nod of farewell, left the club and their maze.

“Do you think Kana and Mika are still chatting?” Ayako asked as they walked.

“I doubt it. Neither of them are that talkative, and we were in that maze for a good half-hour.”

“So how are we going to – Oh wait!” she suddenly stopped and turned on Kaito. “You can find them, right? Good!”

“Do you even know how hard it is to separate the scents of two individuals amongst all of this?” He gestured around them to the mass of people and stands.

“Well obviously not, as I don’t have a superhuman sense of smell,” she replied.

“It clearly a rhetorical question, Ayako,” he said closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I can try, but don’t expect me to locate them anytime soon.”

“Well, we’ll find them one way or another.” With that, Ayako took up the lead again and headed off toward the front of the school where the main events were taking place.

They continued walked for several minutes before Kaito stopped and said, “Wait a sec.”

Ayako heeded his orders and halted, impatiently tapping her foot as she watched him take in several, rapid breaths. He looked around for a second before pointing to the stage and the group of people surrounding it. “Over there.”

Ayako turned, and her eyes instantly found the backs of Mika’s and Kana’s head. “Good job, demon boy,” she said loudly enough for him to hear, but soft enough for no one else to overhear. Ayako ran off in the direction of her friends, not waiting to hear Kaito’s response to her retort.

“Oh, there you are Ayako!” Mika exclaimed as Ayako ran up to them. “We wondered where you’d gone.”

“A couple of the gaming clubs have a pretty big maze set up out back. It took forever to go through it, but in the end I won,” she said smugly.

“I’ve already informed you that you can’t win a maze. It’s not that kind of game.”

“Well I was out of it before you were.”

“Only because I helped you find the checkpoints and the exit.”

“You –”

“It seems that the greatest accomplishment of this feat is that you both emerged in once piece without killing each other,” Kana said.

“Just barely,” Kaito agreed with a nod.

“So what should we do now?” Mika asked.

“Well this band sounds pretty decent,” Ayako replied glancing at the group of three band members. One was a guitarist, another was a drummer, and the third sang.

“They are quite good,” Kana stated.

The four of them stayed and watched them until the band finally relinquished the stage to a group of dancers. Although the dancers weren’t bad, Ayako had no interested in watching them, and suggested that they move on to other adventures.

Ayako led them from stand to stand playing different games, and by the end of it all, Ayako had a necklace with a small pink gem on it, a rubber wristband, and a good handful of candy. Mika carried a small stuffed animal of a bay horse with a blaze. Kana also had a beaded stuffed animal of a gray tabby with blue eyes that was only about as big as her hand, and a piece of candy. Kaito had opted out of participating in Ayako’s games.

“Hey, hey! Let’s go use the free food tickets now!”

“Where did you get food tickets?” Mika asked Ayako.

“After we completed the maze, one of the members gave it to us. Do you still have yours Kaito?”

“Yeah.” He pulled the slip out of his pocket, glanced over it a couple of times, and then handed it to Mika. “Why don’t you and Kana find yourselves something to enjoy?” he suggested.

“But you’re the one that won it,” Mika protested.

“Well I don’t need it. Why don’t you just accept my kind offer for once without complaint?” Kaito smirked as Mika tried and failed to put up an argument.

“Arigatou(Thank you),” Kana said with a small bow to Kaito, and a nod in Mika’s direction. They left Kaito who went off to find them a table in the eating area that the school had set up.

Kaito sat down in one of the folding metal chairs. All of the loud noises and smells coming from everywhere were beginning to wear on him and give him a bit of a headache.

It was already starting to get dark, and soon the school would have their last event of the day: fireworks. They were pretty, no doubt, but the repeated explosions were murder on his ears, and the intense smell of smoke didn’t help matters much. Kaito was jerked out of his thoughts as the trio sat down in front of him. “So what did you get?” Kaito asked scrutinizing the food.

“We decided on yakidango,” Mika said happily as she popped one of the fried, sweet dumplings in her mouth.

“And I got taiyaki!” Ayako announced.

“Interesting,” Kaito muttered staring at the fish-shaped sweet. “What’s inside of it exactly?”

“Red bean paste obviously,” Ayako answered. “What? You’ve never seen taiyaki before?”

“Not really, no,” Kaito said still staring at the food. “I’ve only been here a little over a year, I don’t know everything yet.” He paused for a moment and then asked another question. “Why put it in the shape of a fish? Why not just be spherical?”

“I don’t know. It's just... how it’s always done.”

“That’s so strange,” Kaito said after another few minutes. “It has nothing to do with fish, so why make it in the shape of a fish? Humans do the most unusual things sometimes.”

“Hah! You’re one to be talking,” Ayako laughed.

“Hey, guys,” Mika said getting their attention. “Look!” she turned and pointed to the figures on the school roof. “It looks like their getting ready for the fireworks.”

“So it would seem,” Kana agreed turning around in the chair to get a better view.

In another fifteen minutes, the sun had set, and the crew began the launching of the fireworks.

“They’re so pretty,” Mika said, awed by the brilliant displays of color.

“They’re so loud,” Kaito muttered under his breath, although the trio was too engrossed in the firework display to hear him.

Only a short ten minutes later, the show ended, and the guests began to leave the school while the high schoolers that were left started to pack up the remainder of their supplies and the tents.

“Aren’t you glad we didn’t do some sort of stand?” Ayako asked on the way back home. “We would still be there trying to clean everything up. Although I do wish they had bought more fireworks. I wouldn’t have minded staying to watch more.”

“Fireworks are expensive,” Kana replied. “It is surprising that the school purchased as much as they did.”

“It was a very nice ending though, don’t you think?” Mika asked.

“You know what would really be perfect?” Kaito asked. “If they invented silent fireworks, now that would be a worthwhile accomplishment.”

“That’s impossible,” Ayako stated simply.

“Is that so? One hundred years ago, the Internet would’ve been an impossible concept, not to mention computers, and yet, they are a common thing in society today. A hundred years ago, it was impossible to reach the moon, and that's been done too.”

“Well... that’s cause...” Ayako frowned as she attempted to think of a logical retort.

“One thing that I have learned in all my years, is that humans have made the impossible, quite possible and even common place.”

“Wait,” Mika interrupted. “You make it seem like it’s just us, but don’t you, you know, have technology and stuff?”

Kaito laughed, “I wish. We don’t even have efficient flowing water. Well, most clans don’t at least.”

“With all the time that you have, no one has invented this yet?” Kana questioned.

“I think it’s precisely because we have too much time. No one is very interested in making their lives better. Most of us are happy living the way that we do, and because it has been a certain way for so long, no one is interested in changing their lifestyle. We’re very stuck in our ways.”

The girls fell into silence, processing all that he’d said. Ayako was the first to break it with a farewell as she turned onto her road.

“So you’re basically trapped in the Middle Ages?” Mika asked.

“I don’t even know if we’ve made it to the Middle Ages, to be honest. It’s sad and pathetic if you ask me, but there’s very little I can do about it, I have my own things to deal with.”

“Like?” Mika prompted.

“That’s a story best left to another day,” Kaito said with a slight smile. “One I have to say I’m not particularly inclined to tell.”

“Oh,” Mika replied in a forlorn tone.

“Perhaps one day,” Kaito finally said, “but it’ll completely change your perception of me, and I’m not ready to let that happen just yet.”


A/N~ Well, this marks the end of the cultural festival, and next week the trip to Mt. Fuji will start which I think you all will enjoy.

<==Chapter 30

Chapter 32==>

[Muse.]

Cute chapter. ;D

Keep this awesomeness of yours up~

[scmarshtacky]

I intend to.
And I hope all your finals went well. ^^

[Muse.]

-shifty eyes-
Yeah um
maybe kinda
sorta. >~>

ANYWAY.
-votes-
Kaito x Mika anyone? ;D

[|~quitting~|]

Totally!! Haha!

[DoctorWhoCrazy]

yep!

[scmarshtacky]

All except for someone. Of course I'm completely unbiased here.

[DoctorWhoCrazy]

Did *you* vote, scmarshtacky?

[scmarshtacky]

No. That would throw off the poll wouldn't it? I have my opinions of my characters, but of course I love for everyone to have their own opinions which is the reason I try to have so many polls. I like to know the thoughts of everyone else. Also, polls are an excellent way of keeping track of how many people are reading this.