Kyoyota Arianagi woke up and did his usual routine before going to sleep. The only difference was that he slept in for an extra five minutes, because he already knew the plan for the day.
When Kyo reached the gates of Hanabira High, he saw a taller grey haired woman wearing black leggings and a grey cardigan. Despite being in her forties, she looked like she was in her mid twenties. Next to her was a shorter girl, a blond haired twin tailed grade schooler with green eyes wearing a tan top, a long black skirt, and a light tanned coat.
These two people are Kyo's family. The household maid Annie and Kyo's younger step sister Mei. Looking at these two people brought back memories. Memories of the cold household he was from, memories of his step fathers dark gaze, but Kyo shook his head and walked over.
"Big brother!" Mei yelled, hugging Kyo.
"Hi Mei, I've missed you." Kyo then looked at the Ariangi family maid, Annie, who spoke with joy, "Young master Kyo. It has been too long."
"Annie! The students at this school do not need to know about my family!"
"Oh are you embarrassed that your social status might boost you to popularity?"
"No! I am worried that I will be viewed as different and that people will become more distant."
Mei intervened, "Isn't every student at this school like super rich? I mean big brothers Kimori, Himori, and Goda are rich aren't they?"
When did me and my friends talk about finances in front of Mei? Kyo crouched down and asked, what makes you think that? It wasn't a wrong statement, but I want to know how she knows.
"Well Goda mentioned it a few years ago. He bought me a sucker and mentioned he has an allowance. Most of my friends at school said having an allowance means your parents are rich."
Kyo stands up, and in his mind blames Goda. "It might be true that some of the students here have families who are well off. However, not all of the students are. Some got in through scholarships, some families can barely afford the school's tuition and just want the best for their children." Kyo said this like some kind of rant, an educational lecture, but Mei got bored at "some got in" and ran to check out the stalls on the school grounds.
When Kyo opened his eyes he realized that Mei was gone. "Young master Kyo, the mistress has wandered off."
"On her own!" Kyo panicked for a second, getting ready to run and find her.
Annie placed her arm of Kyo with a sense of ease, "Young master. Mei is old enough now to be on her own two feet. This school is safe, and she is a smart kid. If she runs off, then that is a choice she made of her own free will."
Kyo re-composed himself, "forgive me, I am used to my mother having a field of gravity around her with a demanding force to always be at her side, so I panicked."
"Master Arianagi has been busy in her new position, she hasn't spent much time with Mei, for better or for worse, you got the special treatment." Hearing this, Kyo dropped his shoulders. Even though Mei is not his real sister, his mother treated them equally. She loved them, helped them, and forced them to do better. Since Kyo left, Mei has been ignored, this made him wonder what his mother was thinking and how Mei was feeling.
"Big brother, come look at this!"
This line from the excited grade schooler snapped him back to reality. Kyo walked over and saw cookies being made, it was a portable oven, Mei and Kyo looked in awe as the dough rose. "Excuse me, young master, may I ask what the plan is for the day?"
"Oh, right, the plan is to do everything. The plant presentation, the play, the haunted house, the cafe, the chess match, and more."
Annie's eyes went sour, despite appearances, she did like to laze around when she could. Mei, however, looked super excited. "What is first on the list, big brother?"
"We are gonna go see an old friend."
The time was currently 8am. The first event started in over an hour. The way he chose to kill time was to go to the gymnasium.
Walking into the gym, Mei was awe struck at its sheer size. However, what really caught her eye was the giant, Goda Ota. The moment she noticed him, Mei sprinted at full speed, and then stopped her dead sprint right in front of him. Her arms flourished out and her heels were the only part on the ground. "Do you have a sucker for me today?"
Goda looked with a slight smile, and said, "as it happens, I do, pick a flavor." Goda said this while grabbing a bag of candy that was out for the children to have. Mei's eyes lit up like a christmas tree as she grabbed a blueberry sucker. She undid the wrapper and handed it to Goda while smiling ear to ear.
This small interaction got some attention as one person said, "what kind of kid has the confidence to treat Goda like a trash can." Goda simply smiled at the interaction. A full smile. "It has been far too long Mei."
"Indeed, so long in fact, that I demand we hang out soon!"
"Sure thing." Goda said, looking at Kyo for approval. "I already invited you over to my place." Kyo said not knowing what else to do.
"See it is settled, we will hang out at Kyo's place on my birthday!"
Annie's eyes soured again, "more finagling to allow the two young masters to meet" she whispered.
The four of them talked for a bit, while Kyo did his student council duties in helping the sports clubs set everything up.
…
On top of the school roof, Mei ran over to the shack, and sat down ready for the presentation. Mei, like Kyo, was a musician. Kyo specialized in the piano while Mei specializes in the violin, flute, and piano. Although Kyo grew to hate music and how it was forced upon him, Mei was the opposite, she liked sounds, and learning facts about bugs, might allow her to know more about sounds.
"I can't wait to ask what bugs play music and how that works."
Kyo leaned next to Mei and said, "I can probably get you a one-on-one meeting with the person running this event so you can ask a bunch of questions."
"Reallllyyyy?!?! If you can, that makes you the coolest." Kyo smiled as the presentation began.
The presentation was a repeat of yesterday's event. The difference was that Yōsei Komiri was more relaxed so the presentation went smoother. Children were still hamming her for questions, which stopped Mei from getting her questions answered.
"I am sorry Mei, there were too many people for you to get a question in."
"That's ok, if we run into her today, I will ask her questions then."
"Did you have fun at least?" Kyo said a little worried.
"Yup! I learned that crickets, cicadas, and katydids all use their bodies to create sounds as a form of communication. This sound of the body could be considered music. If I had a super power, I would love to make music throughout my entire body!"
"Drummers play music with their feet and their hands at the same time, so maybe something like that?" Annie chirped in.
"Ohh, I should pick up the drums then!"
"Maybe for Christmas."
"Right!"
…
The three of them went to the play.
Jekyll and Hyde was a play meant for middle school/high school level comprehension. It wasn't the most child friendly play out there. Ultimately the reactions were small.
Mei was bored and only liked the subtle music in the background of the play. It reached a point where she closed her eyes and tuned out the world, just focusing on the suspenseful music.
Kyo was thoroughly impressed. Since it was the second day of the performances, same with the plant presentation, the actors were less stressed, so the dialogue felt smoother, and the acting was a bit better. He would later talk with Shino and discuss the play.
Annie was bored. She did like mysteries, but she had been to a lot of plays and symphonies since working for Asa Ariangai, but Annie lacked the technical know-how to be impressed. It was average at best, in her eyes.
...
Next was human chess. The mandatory thing that Kyo had to do. This time he walked over and just put on the outfit, then asked President Shosha if Annie and Mei could participate. To which he said "of course!" Handing them the costumes as well. Other people were flooding in until they had all thirty two spots taken.The board was now set up, Mei and Annie were the two pawns on the far left side.
"Are you ready Gaku?"
"I am."
This time, when Gaku spoke, it was with a cold sounding vengeance. Yesterday's match was a massacre, ending in only twenty turns, Gaku wanted to tie the score, and he was being serious. Shosha made the first move.
"Pawn to E4."
"Pawn to E5" Gaku's goal is simple. Stop the push early by locking Shosha out.
Shosha sees this and responds by using the one piece that can go over a blockade, "knight to F3." Kyo moves to the location.
Gaku responds in kind, "knight to C6"
Shosha moves his other knight to C3. Gaku moves his knight. Now there is a square of knights. Kyo is instructed to take down Gaku's pawn. In turn Kyo is sacrificed and out of the game.
"Pawn to D3." Gaku's knight has to move back. Shosha just moves the same pawn forward once more. Gaku moves his knight back again, wasting a turn. Shosha moves pawn to F3 pincering Gaku's knight. Gaku is forced back. Both of his knights are now in the right corner.
Shosha advances his pawn to D6. Gaku takes it with his pawn, but Shosha takes it with his. It's a back and fourth, but Shosha is still pushing forwards.
Gaku advances his queen. Now that the left is a vacant area, Shosha moves his knight over.
The two have a small amount of wiggle room and Gaku makes his next move. Shosha moves his bishop to B6 putting Gaku in check.
Gaku moves his king in defense, but Shosha pushes with his knight. Once again, the king is in check. Gaku has to move the king, and Shosha takes the castle. Shosha's bishop is once again aimed at Gaku's king.
It was an endless struggle of checks while Shosha moved all the right pieces into place so Gaku had nowhere else to run. If an analogy had to be used, Gaku was a fish pulled out of water by Shosha and unable to return to his home.
The score on day two was 2-0.
Gaku was frustrated, being defeated first in twenty moves, and now being defeated in twenty five moves, but the crowd had fun. The two presidents once again shook hands. "I will beat you tomorrow."
"I look forward to it." Shosha said with a smile.
Kyo, Annie, and Mei were about to walk away when Shosha yelled "Arianagi wait a second!" The three turned and greeted the president.
"Shosha, this is my little sister Mei and my family's house cleaner Annie. Mei and Annie, this is the president of the board game club president Shosha."
"I wanna learn how to play chess!" Mei announced with enthusiasm. Shosha nodded and left for a second before returning with a book, a beginners guide to chess. It was used to help audience members understand the rules, but since it was no longer needed, "here you go little missy."
Mei looked down and gently grabbed the book, "I can have it?"
"Yup, we no longer need it. Once you learn how to play, I will be waiting for you in the club room. Kinda like the final boss in a video game."
"You're on!"
Shosha then turned towards Kyo. "I didn't know you had a little sister, you are just full of surprises aren't you?" Then he walked closer to Kyo and whispered, "will these two meet the president?"
Kyo was shocked, he hadn't thought about it since saying he liked her to Shosha. However, this was the best time for them to meet. Kyo's dumbfounded face made Mei and Shosha laugh. Annie was being cautious that the young master had made such an expression. Shosha then pointed to someone in the crowd, and then moved his finger downwards, like telling them to meet him there.
That person was none other than the Student Council President Yuuki Hanami, who was watching the match from afar. Yuuki hesitated, but walked over. Despite being nervous to meet Kyo's family, she put on her usual student council smile.
Kyo's eyes widened at the realization of what Shosha had done, but he could do nothing to stop it. Before Kyo could properly introduce each other like he did with Shosha, Yuuki spoke, "it is an honor to meet you Mrs. Arianagi and Mei."
That's right. The student council president, loved and well respected by all, mistook Annie, the Arianagi household's maid, for Kyoyota Arianagi's mother.
Shosha laughed.
Kyo was shocked.
Mei was looking at Kyo and Annie to see the resemblance.
Annie just smiled and said, "I can tell that you are eager to make a good impression on the young master's family, but I am simply his family's maid."
Yuuki's face went red. Bright red. "I am so sorry for the misunderstanding, Kyo doesn't talk about his family much, so I just assumed!"
"You are ok, miss, although I don't see any resemblance between young master Kyo and myself."
"It's the eyes. They are both round, they aren't the same color, but they are both the exact same shape."
"That is the first time anyone has ever said that," Kyo said, kinda shocked at the reasoning.
Shosha and Mei beamed at Kyo and Annie like an interrogation. "Annie has grey eyes and Kyo has green eyes, but they are the same shape!" Mei exclaimed. Shosha agreed with the take. Then he turned towards Mei, "Your eyes are more hooded," Shosha surmised.
"Well, I am his step sister, so that's why they are different. I just never noticed that Annie and Kyo have the same eyes."
As the others were talking, Yuuki pieced something together. Mei was his step sister, Kyo mentioned his aunt more than his parents, and there was the house maid. Either his parents died and he was taken in by his aunt or something bad happened when Mei came into his life.
What snapped Yuuki back to reality was when the conversation finally died out and Kyo said "right proper introductions are in order. Annie and Mei, this is my friend Yuuki Hanami, the president of the student council. Yuuki, this is Annie and Mei."
"Wow, you are the president of this whole school. I bet you can do whatever you want to like declare war on the teachers."
"Haha, I will have to write that idea down as a new school event," Yuuki said with a soft smile while in the back of her mind she was still wondering what happened between Kyo and his family.
"Where are you guys off to next?" Shosha asked, realizing that he has to help out the board game club some more.
"Gonna grab some food then head over to check out the haunted house."
"You four have fun!" Shosha said leaving the gang behind.
"Will you be joining us Miss. Hanami?"
"If you will have me."
The four of them walked around the school grounds and got some food. Then they went over to the line for the haunted house. The line would be a while,but if timed right, once they got out all they had to do was head over to the science event and see the experiment. In line behind them was Yōsei Komiri who wanted to experience the haunted house again, by herself.
Once Kyo pointed out who was behind them, Mei went up and asked if she could ask some questions from the presentation from earlier. Komiri was more than happy to hear and answer the questions of a curious child.
…
A while later they heard the voice of one of the event organizers,"next group please!" Mei quickly waved goodbye to the nice green haired lady and the four of them entered the haunted house.
Kyo and Yuuki had already experienced this once before so they let Annie and Mei go in front. The lungs, which was just a long hall of fabric being pushed by air, was just hard for Mei to get through, which caused Annie to be more worried than scared. Mei, nearly tripping, was face to face with the now realistically painted blood on the fabric.
"EEEEK!"
Her scream was loud, causing the event organizers to peer in. Yuuki turned and gave them a thumbs up.
Finally the four of them made it to the center of the room. Mei was grossed out seeing the heart. Annie was impressed by the realism. Yuuki and Kyo shared Annie's sentiment.
When the people in black robes entered, they snuck up behind Annie and Mei and attempted to scare them, Mei, having already looked away from the heart, noticed them. The group abandoned the idea and did their regular routine of walking around the group and slowly turning the room black.
Moving to the last section Mei was fascinated by the slow change in color from black to white. This time when the end pieces of the spinal column fell a bone popping noise was made, then as the centipede feet moved, the legs made a crackle crackle crackle sound.
When they reached the end they turned and saw the realistic looking bloody hip.
"Ohhhh, it was meant to be a person who was cut in half and slowly dying. That is sooo gross!" Mei exclaimed.
"I think it was to show bugs taking over a rotten corpse," Annie clarified.
"That is even worse!" Mei was excited about it. "What did you two think?" She asked, looking at Kyo and Yuuki.
"We've already experienced it, but it's better than last time."
"You've already done this event?" Mei said with a slight head tilt.
"That's what it means to be a part of the student council, we help out the students of this school." Yuuki Hanami in an answer to Mei's question.
This shocked Mei, she looked towards her brother for confirmation,"Big brother, you are a member of a club?"
The tone suddenly shifted. Kyo's eyes went wide. He slipped up, forgetting to tell Yuuki not to mention it. Yuuki felt the tension increase but didn't understand why. Annie's eyes narrowed.
"I-I have. I am the student council treasurer."
"Does mom know?" Mei asked in a blunt tone, one unnecessary for a child her age to have.
Kyo shook his head in silence, his face looked down to the floor as though being forced down.
"You do know that I have to inform the master, don't you?" Annie said also knowing the implantations of this news.
Kyo nodded. Clutching his gut. The noise of the other students turned to silence to his ears.
A pause filled only by thick air took place.
"I forbid you to!"
"Mei?" Annie said, shocked.
"You shall not tell mom. I may not know the details, but I doubt mom said big brother couldn't join the student council, did she?"
Annie thought back, another pause took place, "Not those exact words, no."
"Then it is fine. How are you doing at school?" She said having moved her attention to Kyo.
"Perfect scores so far…" Kyo said in disbelief of his younger sister's act of helping him.
"Then that is that, can we get back to the festivities?" Mei then started to march, not walk, march to the next event.
Kyo looked at the confused Yuuki, "Don't worry about it, I should have asked you to keep it a secret." Kyo whispered to the now extremely worried Yuuki.
…
Outside, there were a lot of people. Probably two hundred in total. They were here for the spectacle that would be the Science and Witchcraft clubs experiment.
The four of them missed the part where the actual science behind the experiment was explained and what it is they would be seeing in a few short moments. They showed up, moved as close to the front as they could, and there they saw Kagaku Gaku (president of the science club), Doku Kuroshi (president of the witchcraft club), and other members of each club wearing lab coats.
There was a white table in front of them with four ingredients on it: A bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a bottle of potassium iodide, soap, and different food colorings. They then set down a large glass erlenmeyer beaker.
Kuroshi yells out, "Someone pick a color if they dare." Some child yells out "pink!" She takes the pink food die and squeezes it into the beaker. Kagaku then pours in the soap. Kuroshi then pours in the hydrogen peroxide. As if like clockwork, Kagaku dumps the potassium iodide into the beaker.
Everyone of the two clubs takes a step back. In an instant the beaker is shooting out a bright pink foam that is steaming. The foam launches into the air and makes a line of pink when it finally falls to the ground.
Kuroshi then asks again, "someone yell out a color!"
"Blue!"
Again.
"Red"
Again
"Orange!"
After the ingredients run out. All of the children, including Mei, run and mess with the foam. Some are tossing it into the air, while others are having a foam snow ball fight.
"That concludes our elephant toothpaste experiment, feel free to stick around and ask questions as we clean up."
As Mei is away playing with other children in the elephant toothpaste, Annie asks Kyo a question. "Despite what your mother would think, getting to be a member of the student council as a first year student is rather impressive. Good job younger master."
"I really did want to tell you."
Annie shook her head. "My allegiance is to Asa. I understand the need for secrets."
"Then will you go over Mei's back and tell my mom?"
"Of course not. Mei wouldn't speak to me for months if I did that which would make Asa more angry."
"I see."
"I am sorry."
Yuuki did hear this conversation, but Annie needed to say it before Mei came back. Yuuki said nothing, but Kyo figured he would have to explain himself better later on.
…
The end of the day came. Mei played for over an hour, the time was now 5:30pm. The sun was setting. Annie, Mei, Yuuki, and Kyo were standing at the school gate. Yuuki was a few steps away from them waving goodbye to people as they headed home. Really it was to give Mei and Kyo room to say their farewells for the time being.
"Annie, may I please have a moment with my brother?"
"Of course."
Annie took twenty steps away and covered her ears. Mei looked up and smiled, then waved her hand down, signaling Kyo to drop to her level.
Foof
A hug. Mei hugged Kyo. A warm hug shared between two siblings who have missed each other. "Mom has been scary lately. Dad has been distant. School has been hard. Annie is more busy lately. I feel alone."
"Mei, I"
"This has been a good day! Thank you big brother" She interrupted with light tears in her eyes. She pulled away with a smile.
" … " as if choking on his own words nothing would come out. A million thoughts ran through his head. I want to help. How can I ease the burden? It should be me, not her! But nothing happened.
Kyo forced a smile to her sister, as Mei called Annie back over. "Ready to go young miss?"
"Mhmm"
"Goodbye for now. We will hang out again on your birthday. I promise."
Mei held out her pinky. Kyo smiled, and reciprocated the promise. Then Kyo waved as the two walked away.
…
Yuuki came over to Kyo and said, "your sister is really cute, and you are a great older brother."
"That came out of nowhere!"
"From our conversation a few days back. You seemed worried that she would be coming over, and although I wish you had told me Annie was your family's assistant and not your mom, they both seem like wonderful people."
"They are. Mei is a good kid who knows more than she lets on and Annie has been with me since I was a baby."
"And the rest of your family? If you don't mind me asking."
"My real dad is out of the picture, he abandoned us when I was three. My step dad is a stern business man, not bad, but not a good replacement either, I never viewed him as the father figure type. As for my mother, she …" Kyo paused, not knowing how to describe Asa Arianagi. "She is accomplished, and as all good things, great achievements usually cost a heavy price, her accomplishments led to a falling out between us. If that makes any sense."
"I am sorry to hear that." That is all Yuuki could say having heard part of the truth.
Kyo shook his head, "I have no regrets." The two watched the sun set, in silence. Yuuki had a lot of thoughts coursing through her mind, many questions about Kyo, but didn't want to ask them yet. Kyo also had a lot going through his mind, but was too scared to go into further detail with Yuuki. After a few minutes, the two said their goodbye's, and parted ways for the day.
Day two of the Hanabira High Welcoming Festival ended with tears formed and promises made.