School was now back in session, summer vacation now over. To Y/N, it went by real quick, considering he had a lot of fun out of all the summer vacations he's ever had. Many memories ran wild in his head of what occurred.

There was the beach trip of him running into Saki Kawasaki and her family, him receiving her phone number, and then going out to the fireworks festival with her. These memories were just examples of the fun he had done over the break, and these were the most memorable ones. Probably the ones that Y/N will most likely remember vividly once he grows older.

In the meantime, it was the next morning and he arrived at school, him greeted by Hayato Hayama and Kakeru Tobe. Out of all the people he knows in the school, Hayato Hayama and the boys in his clique were probably the ones he can consider his friends. Sure, there were the girls in the group, Yumiko Miura, Yui Yuigahama, and Hina Ebina. But those three were more acquaintances than friends, considering that Y/N never really talks to them much.

Once heading to their classroom, they went to their respective seats. Hayato and Tobe went to their respective seats at their clique with Y/N sitting in his seat behind the black-haired boy, who is known as Yuzuru Nakamura. The two rarely talked to each other in class, the only thing Y/N noting is that he always looked bored. However, he did note that he would get suspicious stares from him ever since he had been spending time with Saki a lot. 

As every other student began to file in, Saki walked in next. The blueish-haired girl tried to avoid eye contact between the two. The girl herself still felt embarrassed for the action she did on the night of the firework festival. Although, she thought of it as thanks, aside from taking Y/N to the firework festival. With a slight blush, she awkwardly shuffled to her seat as Y/N let out a small chuckle, only quiet enough that only she could hear him. After a while, Hiratsuka had come into the room, not bothering to wake up the two students asleep, Yuzuru Nakamura and Hachiman Hikigaya, and began to tell everyone details about the current event that was to occur later on in the week. 

The Cultural Festival.

This incited excitement among the class, aside from Y/N and Saki. This event would serve as an event to congregate with the other classes of their grade level and the younger and older grade levels. Not only that, each class would be able to hold themes and entertainment as not only would other students roam the halls, the families of the students would also be visiting. As soon as Hiratsuka stopped explaining everything, she announced that she needed a class representative. But, she ended up picking Hachiman and Yuzuru, making Y/N confused as to why they needed two when there should only be one boy representative.

Once the boys representatives were picked, both Yuzuru and Hachiman had woken up. Seeing the white board having their names being picked as the representatives, they got up from their seats and went to complain to the teacher.

"Do you need an explanation?" Hiratsuka says with raised eyebrows. "It was already time for the next class and everyone was still complaining about who should do it. So I volunteered you two."

"Isn't there supposed to be one person for each representative? Why am I there?", Yuzuru asks.

"For extra insurance," she stated, Hiratsuka then turning her head to Hachiman. "Blame yourself for sleeping through homeroom."

"Wait, Sensei, that's...", Hachiman states, clearly not happy with the decision.

The green-eyed teen begins to back away and heads to his seat, knowing the wrath of Shizuka Hiratsuka. After all, he's witnessed it before. Hachiman had a look of slight fear as he saw Hiratsuka's menacing look in her eyes, some sort of aura surrounding her.

"Take your seat. Can't start class with you up here. You guys can pick the girl after school."

Timeskip

Once classes had ended, the students of class 2-F had to now pick the female representative for their class. A boy with glasses stood at the front of the room, a black marker in his hand as he turned his head to the class.

"Uh, so do any girls want to be on the committee? Raise your hand."

None of the girls raised their hands. Of course, this wasn't a surprise. Being on the committee meant you had a responsibility of helping out and to ensure that planning for the festival wasn't slow and everything went smoothly. And once preparations were complete and the day of the festival arrives, they are also in charge that things don't go wrong and nothing delayed the important events during the festival.

The boy up front sighs. "If no one volunteers, rock-paper-scissors--"

"Huh?" Yumiko interrupts, clicking her tongue in annoyance. She would be unhappy with this arrangement as she didn't desire to be on the committee.

"Is it a hard job?," Yui Yuigahama questioned.

"It probably isn't. You just do what you're told. But it might be hard for a girl to do it," he responds, adjusting his glasses as he does so. "Frankly, it'd be great if you could do it. You're great with people. You'd be perfect for the job."

Yui was stunned. "No, I'm not really that..."

Someone then piped up from the other side of the room.

"Oh, you'll do it, Yui-chan? Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Like, an even with your friend? You'd, like, totally have fun?"

Y/N turned his head towards the voice. It was a girl with short brown hair, Minami Sagami. She didn't have any noteworthy qualities, the only thing known about her is being the leader of the second leading clique in 2-F, the first being Hayato's clique.

The Shiozaki boy rolled his eyes. He didn't think she was any special, the only thing that annoyed him about her was that her attitude did remind him of Chelsea. He did his best to forget about his ex-girlfriend, so he tried not to pay attention to her.

"Then are you suggesting you can do it better than her?," Yuzuru then piped up.

Minami was confused, "Huh?"

"From the way you act, you like to have fun yourself. You can do it too, if not better, can you?," Yuzuru replied with a small smirk.

This surprised Y/N a little. The Nakamura teen in front of him did nothing to attract attention towards him, the only attention being attracted to him was being one of the "princes" of the school. The Shiozaki teen then turned back to Minami, the girl speechless as she couldn't get a comeback in.

Also coming to Yui's save, aside from Yuzuru, was Yumiko, looking at the orange-haired girl with a bit of concern.

"And, like, you're helping us, like advertise. Can't do both."

"O-Oh, really? A-Advertising's really important too.," Minami said, clearly embarrassed. Her clique also nodded, embarrassed as well.

"Yeah, yeah! Advertising's really important--wait, I'm advertising!?", Yui exclaims.

Hayato then stands up from his seat, "So basically, we need someone who's good with people and has leadership skills?"

"Dude, that's, like totally Sagami-san."

After Tobe said his reply, Y/N facepalmed. Tobe wasn't known for his smarts, the orange male clearly dumb in most situations. Considering that Minami was trying to make fun of Yui, and Hayato suggesting those qualities, Tobe made his recommendation of Minami. However, the mask that Sagami wore was easily see through for some people, Y/N being one of them.

It's like he's noted before. Minami isn't anything special. She's just a girl acting clever and innocent, using this facade of hers to gain attention. However, Hayato thought of this as a way to help Minami realize her short comings and help her.

"Oh, you're right. Sagami-san'd probably do a good job.," Hayato agreed.

Sagami shook her head. "What? Me? No way! I'm totally not like that."

"Could you please? Just consider it, okay?"

"Well, if no one wants to do it, I guess I could. But me?"

After hearing Hayato's words, Minami blushed. It wasn't surprising to see why, seeing as she did have a crush on him. The blonde teen was aware of Minami's feelings, but he didn't feel the same way.

Tuning out the rest of the conversation, Y/N leaned his head back. With the Cultural Festival coming out, he had an idea run through his head. 

Should he ask the girl he's been interested in for a date?

He looked towards Saki, their gazes meeting each other. She blushed a slight bit of red and faced away from him, Y/N turning to look out the window. It was then decided. He wanted to get to know her a bit more and further their relationship, making it nice and steady.

---

The next day comes by, Minami, Hachiman, and Yuzuru going to the conference room at after school hours. With the preparations on the horizon with only a few days left till the Cultural Festival, the classes had to decide on the festivities they were planning on doing.

Class 2-F had decided to do a play, a romance one. The one in charge of the story board for the play was one of the girls in Hayato's circle of friends, Hina Ebina. Y/N's thoughts on the girl were a bit peculiar. The only thing he could sum her up to be was weird and someone into yaoi...a bit too much. Currently, both Hayato and Yuzuru were at the front of the room, looking at the white board.

While the blonde had a sheepish look on his face, the other teen had an irritated look. Obviously, Yuzuru wasn't happy with the casting of the roles.

"Why me?," Yuzuru questioned.

"Uh...," Hayato sweat dropped.

The main roles were the Pilot and the Prince. The Prince is Hayato and the Pilot is Yuzuru. However, the Pilot was originally supposed to be Hachiman, but the girls opted to switch him out with the "Lone Prince" of Sobu, much to Yuzuru's displeasure. 

"Do you need an explanation? Hehehehe...after all, I was the one who wrote that fanfiction! Did you enjoy it!?," Hina explained with a lewd smile.

"Like hell I did! This is not happening!," Yuzuru replies.

Hina was stunned. "Eh!? As much as I love HayaxHachi, I enjoy YuzuxHaya most! They are the must-buy RPS! No! Must-gay!"

Y/N grew a bit confused. A few months ago, before the summer break, he often wondered why the girls of 2-F, as well as some of the other girls in the whole school, were on a whole fritz. He did recall these girls holding booklets with the covers having the familiar princes of the school. While he was aware of Hina's yaoi fantasies, he didn't realize she made fanfiction of it.

"The prince turns the rough-and-tumble pilot into a hanger for his royal plane with his sweet words. That's the very essence of this work!," Hina shouts with a visible nosebleed.

Yuzuru deadpans at the yaoi girl, "This was not in the translation I read... I can't even do this anyway. I'm on the festival committee."

"Yeah. Acting would need rehearsal, so it's not very realistic," Hayato agreed.

"Oh, right. Darn." Hina pouted.

"Right. So it might be best to rethink the whole cast. Like who's playing the prince," Hayato says, trying to find a way out of the situation. 

The glasses girl seemed to ponder for a moment before she let out an enthusiastic shout. She then grabs a marker and begins to edit the cast, Hina putting the marker down, looking quite happy with her edits. Unfortunately for Hayato, he was still in the play, just casted as the Pilot. The Prince is now being played by Saika Totsuka, the leader of the Tennis Club.

"There. It's a lot tamer, but I think it works."

"So I can't get out playing a part, huh?," Hayato says, a dejected look on his face.

"Oh, that bad-boy look! That's what I want! If you need more lessons on being a bad boy, ask Shiozaki-kun over there!," Hina exclaims, pointing at Y/N.

Y/N points at himself confusedly, "Wait...me? I'm not...a bad-boy..."

"And the only job left is...costumes," Yui points out.

Hina gains a devious grin and points to a certain person. "You! Kawasaki-san!"

"...Eh!? Huh? Me?," Saki questioned.

The spiky-blonde haired teen looked at the girl with slight amazement. While he did admire her features and knows how Saki doesn't follow the school rules regarding the uniforms, Y/N has noticed that her uniform has slight alterations than the other girl uniforms.

"I've noticed you alter your blouse and blazer all the time. And this scrunchie is handmade," Hina says as she ogles Saki.

"I sewed these by hand, but I can use a machine too," Saki replies, uncomfortable. She then turns to her cousin while gritting her teeth. "Yuzu, help me here!"

Yuzuru only turns the other way and begins to whistle like nothing's happening. Gaining a small tick mark on her head, Saki jumps out of her seat.

"Son of a--come here!"

"Shit!," Yuzuru says, running out of the room with Saki on his tail.

As this happened, Y/N chuckled at the family interaction. It often reminded him of home as he would chase Akari around many times. Soon, Hachiman left the room to go to the conference room to attend his festival committee duties.

Hina was now in a thinking position, her gaining a bright idea as she looks to Y/N.

"Shiozaki-kun! I want to be able to make the play a movie. Can you handle the filming on the day we do the play!?"

"Uh, sure? But I'm more of a photographer though--"

"Perfect! So long as you can use a camera!"

"At least let me finish first," Y/N mutters, deadpanning at the girl.

With the plan now settled, the class day ended and students were free to leave. Some still remained as they were helping the committee set up.

Y/N would go home that day and head to the attic of his home, going through various boxes. Blowing away the dust as he searched through the box, he found an old film camera that belonged to his father. Before joining the military, Y/N's father had went to film school for a while, him teaching Y/N a few things. 

He checked the equipment to see if it was still working, and sure enough, it was. Heading out of the attic and into his room, he tucks the camera away into his bag. Tomorrow would be rehearsal, and Y/N's job would be to go out and buy and materials they should need if they run out. The camera wouldn't be used until the actual day the festival was happening.

---

"Before they grow big, the baobabs start out by being little."

But why don't you want the sheep to eat the little baobabs?," Hayato replied to Saika.

Saika blushes slightly, "Oh, come, come!"

"No!", Ebina cries out.

It was the next day and class 2-F were in their classroom. The two acting people look to the glasses girl, seeing her sitting in a chair with Y/N standing next to her, an annoyed look on his face. Since he wasn't filming yet, he stood next to Hina as he waved his notebook at her, producing a small breeze as the girl felt hot due to the hot weather. 

"You know what baobabs are a metaphor for, don't you? I hope you do. The prince needs to lean in and glance upwards, as though leading him on! Like, 'You know what I want to see, you tease! Come, come!' One more time, let's go!", Hina orders the two.

With a sigh, Hayato then faces Saika once more, preparing to do his lines again with him. It was quite obvious that Hayato Hayama was not enjoying his situation at all.

"Before they grow so big, the baobabs start out by being little," Saika says, shyly looking away.

Hayato then leans in, "But why do you want the sheep to eat the little baobabs?"

Saika then blushes, "Oh, come, come!"

With a lewd smile, Hina enjoying her work, the glasses girl's nose shoots out blood as she falls out of her chair, falling to the ground. Y/N looked at Hina weirdly before he set his notebook down and heads on over to Saki, who was making costumes with a few others and Minami watching the progress.

"You guys need anything?", Y/N asks.

"Oh, can I get some juice?", one girl replied.

"If we're asking for drinks, can I get an energy drink?"

"I-I guess I'll take a water," Saki says, a small blush as she began to remember that one beach moment.

"Is that all? Nothing else?", Y/N said.

"Oh, need me to tag along, Shiozaki-kun?~", Minami asked in a fairly obvious attempt at flirting.

Y/N noticed Saki clenching down on the costume she was currently sewing up still. However, Y/N was unamused, the way Minami asked had the same tone Chelsea had asked him back then. With a sigh, Y/N turned around, but not before saying something.

"You should probably focus on your other task, committee chairman."

The brown-haired girl seemed to pout a bit as Y/N exited the room. The blonde ran a hand through his hair, taking in a small breath of fresh air. He thought back to his previous life in America. So much had changed since then.

The school he was now enrolled in brought him a new group of friends and a bit more opportunities. And most of all, he found an interesting girl that made her different from the rest. Y/N wasn't sure what made Saki be different from the other girls. Was it the way she would shyly look at him? Her apparent aggressive nature at first before she softened up to him? It was all confusing to him, but that's what made it more interesting between him and her.

"Shiozaki!"

Hearing his last name made him perk up, Y/N turning his head around to see Saki run up to him.

"Kawasaki-san?"

Saki comes to a stop, "H-Hey. S-Sorry for stopping you all of a sudden..."

"No, it's fine. Is there something you need, Kawasaki-san?"

Saki clears her throat. "A-About the Cultural Festival...do you have plans after the play is done?"

"Probably not. Not unless Akari will follow me around like a lost puppy if she comes here? Why?", Y/N questioned.

The blueish-haired girl's cheeks seem to flare up, Y/N knowing that something was running through her mind. Although, he seemed to understand the idea.

"If you're asking for my plans, we can walk around the festival once the play is done."

"H-Huh? B-But I haven't even asked anything yet..."

"But that is what you're going to ask, right?"

"Y-Yeah..." Saki then straightens herself. "Then, once the play is over...d-do you want to go around the festival with me?"

Y/N smiles, "If that's what you want, Kawasaki-san."

---

And that was chapter six. Apologies for such a long wait on this book. Well, for any of my books for that matter.

For those of you who didn't know, I was tested positive for COVID two-ish weeks back and was quarantined since then, focusing on my health rather than posting chapters. But the good news is, I don't have symptoms anymore. 

Things may proceed as they were, but the uploads will slow down, considering school will be coming back in about a month or less. But anyway, happy to have recovered fine and hoping to get some chapters out before the school year starts up and we have slow processes again. Until the next chapter and I thank you for reading.