32. In the Country of Hearts

CHAPTER 32

          "Oh c'mon, just let me have a turn."

          "I'd rather not. You're going to get the princess kidnapped."

          Yuji frowned as he plucked the game system right out of Hiro's hands. "This is Mario. We all know the princess is getting kidnapped."

          "Miyuki-san, may I speak to you for a minute?"

          I craned my neck away from the manga my eyes were set on to find Takuma waiting by the doorway. I quickly picked myself off the floor and bobbed my head.

          "Yeah, sure."

          Both Hiro and Yuji were too occupied to notice what was going on. I pursued Takuma out the doors of the boys room and down the hallways until we reached a veranda. We stepped out into the nature, where scenic flowers were sprawled out before us; even a cute little bamboo shoot. As Takuma took a seat on the patio so I collapsed a polite distance away from him.

          At first it was awkward, as Takuma kept a smile on his face as he eyed our surroundings, but soon enough he broke through my building paranoia with a question.

          "Have you been enjoying yourself?"

          "Oh, uh, yeah," I replied. "It's been really fun."

"That's good to hear."

         I snuck Takuma a quick glance as he placed his palms flat on the deck. Despite his weary features and lithe frame—almost grey hair and blue eyes—I could truly see some similarities of Wannabe in him. Well, what did I expect? They were related.

"Kazuya has told me you're all apart of the same extracurricular activity."

I woke from my daze when he met my eyes. His mouth curled up in amusement, and I averted my gaze in a heartbeat. Great... He caught me staring. But Kazuya...? That was Wannabe, wasn't it? I kept forgetting he had a name like that.

"Yeah," I responded anyway, and tensed. "I mean, yes. We're in the same club."

Takuma laughed yet again. I sighed at my informal behaviour.

"Is Kazuya a good leader?" he asked.

Leader? my mind echoed. Like a PowerPoint, our past occurrences flashed through, leaving me to purse my lips. Well, he was Club President at least.

"He directs the Humanity Club with unwavering passion," I said, knowing Wannabe would want me to.

"Humanity... Club?" Takuma startled me by sitting up straighter than before. His eyelids had risen high before suddenly tapering.

My body stiffened as a result. I carefully bobbed my head. "We're apart of the Humanity Club."

"He's not apart of the Student Council?" Takuma was growing more and more impatient for answers, as if I had caught him off guard with the news.

"Wannabe—I mean, Kazuya—isn't apart of the Student Council. We all aren't," I said, scrunching up my eyebrows. They were actually our enemies, waiting for the next chance to demolish our club, if anything. "Is there some kind of misunderstanding?"

All at once, Takuma's jaw set into place. "No," he responded, his smouldering intensity portraying the opposite of his words. "There's none. None at all."

I tilted my head in confusion. Takuma hurriedly sent me a warm smile as he rose to his feet. He slipped out his cellphone and unlocked it as he headed backwards inside.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to make a quick phone call."

Takuma was gone at that, leaving me outside to ponder about that weird conversation. My heart sank a little in my chest.

Something tells me I screwed something up big time.

I made a face as I hoisted myself upright. Oh whatever, I'm thirsty.

Padding across the floor, I made my way to the nearest vending machine. I didn't get too far before familiar voices shouted across the corridor. I halted by the entrance to the main room only to find the cause was Hibiki and Wannabe standing at the ping pong table, glaring profusely at one another.

"She was looking at me," Hibiki hissed.

"She was clearly giggling because of me," Wannabe retorted.

They glowered at each other like wild animals. Off to the side of the room was whom I believed they were talking about—a teenage girl giggling with her friends. I scrunched my eyebrows together as the girls made their way past me to leave the room. Nonetheless, the doofuses didn't seem to notice or really, care.

"I'm way more popular," Wannabe accused.

My face fell in repulsion. Wait. Were they seriously arguing about...

"I can charm girls better than you can," Hibiki challenged. "Without having to hug them and force them into bed with me."

Wannabe's jaw dramatically fell. After fumbling around for words, he regained his confidence. "At least I can get girls into bed with me."

Hibiki scowled at him and extended out his paddle. "You're talking about my Miyuki like she's some kind of—"

"Everyone gets it already, you're both pathetic." They finally noticed my presence at once and swivelled around to face me. I folded my arms over my chest as I primmed my lips. "What kind of argument have you two girls gotten into this time?"

Wannabe immediately shied away, probably due to his embarrassment of his claim. Hibiki, on the other hand, clenched his fist.

"Miyuki, you tell us."

I dipped an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh?"

"Which one of us is better looking?" Wannabe cut in with newfound conviction. "Me, right?"

"I clearly am," Hibiki retorted.

"Oh, please." Wannabe ran his fingers through his hair. "I've been sexy since the day I was born."

Hibiki scoffed. "Who's been lying to you you're entire life?"

"I can ask you the same thing," Wannabe returned.

"Do you even think things through before you say them?" Hibiki demanded. "You're a dumb blond through and through aren't you?"

"Says the dumb brunet!"

"It doesn't work like that."

"Well you make it work like that."

After continuing to growl at each other like a pair of children, they went straight back into their ping pong game, waving their paddles to flawlessly clash the white ball back and forth. I watched this madness befall in utter disbelief.

"So immature," I groaned. "Fighting like girls... No, not even girls. You guys are way more childish—"

Hibiki snorted, his eyes not leaving the ball at any moment, "Like you're any better."

I sent him a black look. "Weren't you the one crying your eyes out when we went into that haunted house the other day?"

The ball slipped past Hibiki and hit the floor. Wannabe threw his arms into the air in celebration and after clicking his tongue and shooting me a glare, Hibiki puffed up his cheeks in defence. "At least I didn't scream."

Embarrassment consumed me at once. I darted away my eyes away at once. "That was Wannabe, remember?"

"Hey!" Wannabe cut in. A proud grin slapped itself onto his face as he boasted, "I only screamed twice!"

Hibiki and I deadpanned. Why did he appear so accomplished by that?

"Anyway," Hibiki enunciated, picking up the miniature ball, "This isn't over."

"Kazuya." Our attention snapped to the entranceway where a solemn Takuma stood, a hand over his phone. He awkwardly ignored the looks of the other groups of people in the room and settled his gaze onto Wannabe. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

My gut strung with expected astonishment. Wannabe put down the paddle in his fingers, almost as if in disappointment. "Can't it wait?"

"It's urgent," Takuma said, rather grimly. He held up his cellphone, sending him a firm stare. "Your father's on the line."

Wannabe nearly leaped from his skin. "Father?" he demanded. "Why?"

Takuma spared me a glance, drawing both Wannabe's and Hibiki's attention to me in confusion. I immediately darted my eyes. Oh great... I knew I screwed up.

"You have a lot to talk about," Takuma finally declared. "Concerning this... 'Humanity Club' business."

All colour and emotions drained from Wannabe's face at once. His teeth gritted together as he ducked his head. Then, he dropped the paddle onto the table.

"Sorry," I hurriedly whispered. "I probably said something I shouldn't have."

Although there was a flicker of melancholy, Wannabe quickly put on a bright smile for me. "Don't worry about it," he said. "My precious underclassman should have no reason to worry about their club president. It's just a little phone call, I'll be fine."

My eyelids lifted higher but Wannabe had already spun around to head to Takuma. As soon as his back was turned, there was no nonchalance radiating from him.

Takuma made a face of discontent, shaking his head when Wannabe finally made it to him. Before they could leave entirely, Takuma sent a baffled Hibiki and I a polite nod before guiding Wannabe out of the room and our sights.

"Ouch," Hibiki sucked in a shaky breath when we were left by ourselves. "That didn't look too good."

It didn't. I exhaled loudly as I twisted on my toes to face him. Did this all have to do with that odd question Takuma had asked? If so, why did Wannabe lie about us being apart of the Student Council?

"Maybe Wannabe isn't as easygoing as I thought," I murmured.

"Guess so," Hibiki drawled, connecting eyes with mine. He held up his paddle. "Anyway, best out of three?"

I grinned and seized the paddle from the table. "It's on."

———————————————————

"I really must apologize!"

"It's perfectly fine, Takuma-san," Hiro reassured him. "This trip was fun enough as it was."

Takuma didn't pick his head up from the bow. "Even still, I apologize. We'd agreed on a week but we'll have to cut this trip off short. And tomorrow of all things..."

"You said it's because of a family emergency, didn't you?" Yuji responded. "We should really be leaving tonight then."

Takuma picked himself up, apology etched into every portion of his face. "I cannot risk inconveniencing you all if I did that. Besides, this emergency can wait an extra day or so. Right, Kazuya?"

Wannabe from beside him, who appeared as disinterested as a board casted aside his gaze with a feeble nod. "Yeah. It's not like anyone's suddenly fallen ill or anything. It's between Uncle Takuma and my father's work."

I shared a glance with Hibiki from beside me, and unlike an oblivious Yuji and Hiro ahead, we both had an entirely different idea in mind.

"I really screwed up," I groaned.

"It's fine," Hibiki said, quietly so only I was able to hear. He scurried over to Wannabe and clasped an arm around his shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. "We still have tomorrow so let's all enjoy ourselves to the fullest!"

Yuji cheered as he drank in every portion of our surroundings. "First we'll start with this festival."

I considered our surroundings also, and the passing crowds of people. Gorgeous lights and people in stylish yukatas and outfits was enough to light up this summer evening, a rival against warm-hearted colours and lanterns. Music drifted through the air, festive beats lifting the spirits of those around us, enough to make a couple sway and sing along. The heavenly scents were to die for as well—festivals really were a place of unrestrained joy and unrecognizable amazement. As if I'd stepped into another world; like Alice who'd just entered the Country of Hearts.

"Exactly," Takuma responded, a smile growing on his face. "Let's enjoy ourselves tonight. Don't go off too far, and be sure to constantly check your cellphones because at 8:30 we should all meet up to watch the fireworks together."

"Roger." I mock-saluted. I narrowed my eyes at Hibiki, grinning from ear to ear. "I bet you can't scoop up as many goldfish as I can."

"Oh, please," Hibiki responded as he unhanded Wannabe. "After I prove to you that I can we're battling to see who can shoot down the most items."

"And when I win that, you're treating me to some shaved ice," I said.

Hibiki feigned a bow. "As you wish, princess."

"Wow, you guys have really gotten close haven't you?" Yuji interjected with a smile. "But you can't exclude me from time with you, Miyuki."

"Of course not." I grinned. "You and I are going to enjoy ourselves stuffing ourselves with the different dishes they offer here until we barf."

"Now we're talking," Yuji chuckled.

Snorting, I rolled my eyes before they landed on the silent fellow. "Hiro."

He flinched, not expecting me to call his name. I laughed at how jumpy he was, sending him a wide smile.

"We haven't really gotten to spend some time yet so tomorrow I'm taking you with me to Akihabara."

Hiro's eyes widened in surprise as Hibiki made a pouty face.

"Aww, without me?"

"I only want Hiro," I responded firmly. Hiro had clearly been taken off guard—a rose tint crossing his face. Cocking my head to the side, I met his eyes. "It is fine with you, right?"

He once again froze up. His hand slapped to his nape, almost awkwardly. "Oh, um..."

Yuji's countenance fell flat as he breathed, "Hiro's totally happy because he thinks it's a date."

A red-faced Hiro glowered immediately. "No, I—"

"A date with otaku destiny," I responded, laughing. I flashed him a toothy grin anyway. "We're going even if you say no, alright?"

Many emotions sifted upon Hiro's features until he averted his eyes in defeat. "Whatever."

Brushing it aside with another chortle, my focus gandered left. "Wannabe, have you ever been to—"

My voice died in my throat to find he was lowly disputing with Takeshi. A little glimpse and I could already tell it wasn't a fun conversation, much less one I wanted to interrupt. My lips met, my chest heavy. I hurriedly returned my back gaze to the guys ahead of me.

"Why don't we go on ahead?" I said, and raised my voice as I waved. "Takuma-san, Wannabe, we're going on without you!"

Their words came to a halt and Wannabe though frowning moments earlier, saw our looks and immediately smiled once again. "We'll catch up."

"You better," Yuji replied.

"There's only a limited amount of time I can withstand being with these people," Hiro added.

"Ha ha," I said, nudging then forward. "Let's go have some fun."

And fun we did. Although I'd been to festivals in the past, they were small trips with my family, never with people around my age. Hibiki and I had probably only gone to one festival together but because he was with his other guy friends that it'd left a lot of boredom on my part. Regardless, today was different.

Between playing childish games (and creaming Hibiki with ease), trying the various dishes sold by the stands (to which Yuji gladly ate all my leftovers for the ones I didn't like) and scaring Hiro by wearing masks (he really screamed like a girl)—I was having a blast. We got into childish arguments and competitions; may or may not have knocked off the wig of a passing civilian and booked it to safety. The only thing not so favourable was the fact that it was crowded, which give and take was pretty reasonable considering the time of year.

"I'm telling you blueberry's the best flavour," Yuji reasoned as we all were digging into our shaved ice flavours.

"Green tea," Hiro responded as he shovelled a spoonful into his mouth.

"Tea's not a good ice flavour," I protested and Hibiki and I extended out our arms.

"Strawberry rules!" we declared in unison.

"How are you two always in sync?" Yuji tsked.

Hiro mumbled, "It's creepy how similar you are."

"Hibiki's always been a copycat," I said. "I keep telling him he'll never live up to the original..."

Hibiki chuckled. "Whatever." We jostled passed others through the crowd to remain together, but it was still extremely difficult. He glanced at his phone. "We should try to find Takuma-san and Kazuya. The fireworks should be starting soon."

My shoulder knocked against Yuji's arm as we walked side by side. I was momentarily startled to find that he had already finished his treat despite only getting them a couple minutes ago.

He clicked his tongue as we passed a stand. "I should've gotten some cotton candy."

"You ate practically everything here and you're still not full?" I asked with a snort. "You're seriously a monster."

Yuji grinned. "I consider my black hole of a stomach one of my charm points."

"Which is true," I said and raked him over with a head shake. "And still you're so thin. Teach me your secrets."

"Well," he said, "I think the first thing you should do is stop being such a couch potato and actually work out."

I gasped. "Work...out? What is that horrifying phrase?"

"Exactly," he snorted. "Hiro, where are we supposed to meet up again?"

His question was met with silence, which confused the both of us. We glanced over our shoulders and were caught off guard to see that both Hibiki and Hiro were nowhere to be found.

"Wait, what?" I demanded, scouring the passing faces.

Yuji on the other hand had his eyes glued to the floor. "Hiro? Are you down there?"

I swatted his arm for him to take this seriously as the crowd behind us continued to push us forward, giving us no choice but to walk.

"What are we going to do?" I pressed. "I have no idea where we're supposed to meet up."

"We should've kept the responsible ones on a leash," Yuji sighed as he stared at his phone screen. "I don't have signal here."

"Me neither," I responded, shoving my cell into my pocket. During my brief look though, Yuji had grown a good distance apart. I picked up my pace. "We're not losing each other."

"That's sweet. I'll never let you go."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious, Yuji. So, under no circumstances do not get distracted and..."

My words trailed off as the passing stand caught my eye. My mouth dramatically fell at once. It was a stand of utter beauty—anime merchandise galore. My feet were already travelling towards it but before I could get to far, Yuji's voice called out louder than the raucous voices of the other civilians.

"Miyuki, stop straying so far back."

My eyes couldn't leave the figurines in front of me. "But the merchandise—"

"Come on, fangirl," Yuji said, clasping me by the sleeve and dragging me off into the crowd. I had no choice but to follow his broad shoulders through, but the more we shoved through the crowd, the looser his hold got.

Seeing as I didn't want to lose him like I'd lost the others, I properly reached for his hand. All at once though, Yuji stiffened and tugged back his arm. The wave of people overwhelmed me at once, leaving me to drift backwards. Before I could stray too far back again, Yuji snapped out of his surprise and snagged my hand yet again, intertwining his fingers with mine.

I craned my head upwards, and got the opportunity to watch his back as he steered us into the clear. Near the back of the stalls, a vacant area where people weren't so compacted, we were able to get more freedom, and I was granted with even more oxygen.

Straightening myself out, I heaved a loud breath. "I hate crowds."

No means of response originated from Yuji, but when I felt my arm raise, I briefly glanced his way. He was admiring our still interlaced fingers, but for the first time ever, Yuji was utterly dazzled. As if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Yuji?" I asked, growing more uncomfortable by the second. Even my heartbeat was set off by an irregular rhythm as our situation finally settled in.

The guy finally seemed to return to his senses, blinking rapidly. "Huh?"

"Aren't you going to let go of our hands?"

As if it had hit him, Yuji liberated me at once, fumbling backwards with his hands in the air. "Sorry!"

The breeze of cold air swept through, the warmth from his hand still lingering upon my skin. I wiped it against my jeans only to be offset further when I felt Yuji's eyes on me. Wide, coated in newfound awe—my gut wrung with nervousness.

"Should we go find the others?" I awkwardly asked.

Yuji's lips flattened, and he dodged my eyes by framing it to the ground. He still clenched and unclenched his hand, still somewhat amazed. But as if he had made up his mind, Yuji once again fixed his gaze onto me.

"So that's why."

I could only cock an eyebrow. I approached Yuji, lifting myself onto my tiptoes to slap my palm onto his forehead. It was warm. My lips downturned as I retreated. "Is all that food finally getting to you? You feeling sick?"

Yuji who had stiffened at my contact, was able to relax when I departed. An amused smile quirked up his lips, warm and genuine. "Extremely," he responded, leaving me baffled. "I really came down with the worst illness there ever could be."

"Then we should we return to the inn," I said, reaching out to grab his arm. "You should rest."

Fireworks chose that exact moment to explode above, the vivid colours igniting the otherwise black sky. It caught my attention immediately, as did Yuji's, leaving me in awe. Every streak bore a curve of some sort, brilliant patterns unique and breathtaking, never to be repeated again.

"Miyuki." I barely heard Yuji over the loud fireworks but I turned my attention to him anyway. "I understand it now," he went on after I met his gaze.

I craned my neck further, eyebrows surging together. "Understand what?" I asked him.

"That I like you." His words open fired at my chest with a newfound jolt. His eyes were twinkling—sparkling. More so, when another loud bang of the gorgeous fireworks hit the sky before fluttering into silence—a mirror of his chipper smile. "The fact that I really like you, Miyuki."

___________________________________

So how many of you guys actually still care and want to read the rest of this story? If 'yes, please, omg,' are you cool with a flurry of updates or would you rather I update every other day/weekly? If 'no, wth even is this book,' can I take THC down and rewrite it then, lol.

     School's still killing me, slowly but surely, but I've kept you guys waiting long enough. I'm sorry.

—Misty

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