Hiro springs out of bed and starts his odd morning routine.
6:00am: wake up.
6:00am - 6:05am: today's pep talk in the mirror. "Hiro, you are fast, you are smart, etc…"
6:05am - 6:30am: change and eat breakfast.
6:30am - 7:00am: practice soccer drills outside.
7:00am - 7:40am: study
7:40am - 8:00am: go to school
The rest of the day is school, practice, homework, watch shows, shower, sleep; rinse repeat..
On weekends, he still follows this routine, the difference is that instead of school he plays soccer or hangs out with friends. Today was no exception. He woke up, did his routine, then took the train. His destination? Hanabira High.
Hiro arrived at the gates at 8:00am. Earlier than most on this fine Sunday morning. "Should I call Kyo? Nah it would be more fun to surprise him." He said allowed.
After a few minutes of waiting the gang showed up. Kimori and Himori appeared first. They hadn't seen Hiro since their time at the park so they caught up on school life. Soon after, Goda then came up to them. Hiro and Goda high fived and exchanged their excitement for the upcoming school nationals competition. Then Kyoyota Arianagi entered the scene.
"Hiro!?! When did you get here?"
"Pfft, haha, that is why. That face is the whole reason I wanted to come." Hiro's laughter was contagious and made Kimori and Himori chuckle. Kyo was embarrassed but missed his friend.
"So, Mr. Student Council, I would like a formal tour of the school and to experience the festivities." Hiro said as though mimicking someone of great importance.
"Right away, the first stop will be the school gymnasium." The group headed over to the school's gym and helped set up for the children. As they were doing this Goda went to speak with Kenji Koda, president of the basketball club, and one of the seven legends of Hanabira High.
"There is someone here I would like you to meet." Those were the words Goda said to Koda.
"Sure!" The two walked over to Hiro who was with Kyo setting up a table. They were the same height. One had a streak of red in his hair making him look like flame when running and the other's hair was pink like a web-footed gecko.
The two shook hands while Goda introduced them. "Hiro, meet my team captain, Kenji Koda, nicknamed Flare of the Blaring Winds, for his speed. Koda, meet my best friend Hiro Makame, the most skilled soccer player I know."
"Nice to meet ya!"
"Likewise, care for a race?" Hiro asked this question earnestly. He knew that Koda was a basketball player, so they would dominate the other person if they played that person's sport. However, Koda's nickname caught Hiro's attention, so he wanted a race.
"Yeah, I don't mind. I think the children would have some fun watching us."
Since this was the last day and there was candy to get rid of, as the children trickled in one-by-one Goda told them to bet on the newbie Hiro or the school's fastest Koda and that whoever guesses the winner gets an extra piece of candy.
In total there were about forty children, most of which were the younger siblings of one student or another who went to Hanabira High. Most of the children had heard about the legends from their siblings and voted on the mythological man known as Kenji Koda. Other children were more skeptical and voted for Hiro.
These votes were not an even split, rather it was about thirty kids for Koda and ten for Hiro. The older classmates also took bets. Kyo and Kimori bet on Hiro while Goda and Himori bet on Koda.
The vice president of the basketball club was the ref. "The rules are simple, you will start at the black line going vertically across the gym, run to the opposite black line, then run back. The first person back here wins." The two racers nodded.
3!
2!
1!
Koda and Hiro sprinted, but it was odd. Hiro did run, and not slowly by any means, but he was watching his opponent.
Koda meanwhile dead sprinted, full throttle, using the speed that earned him the nickname. Hiro was only half of that, watching Koda. To get from one end of the gym to the other took Koda only eleven seconds.
Hiro timed his enemy and made it to the other side only four seconds later, having picked up the speed a little. The moment Hiro hit the line he spun and blitzed.
One could not call it a run, or even a sprint, but a blur. Web-footed geckos run across sand dunes. If one considered Koda to be the fire of a desert, then Hiro was just fast enough to not get burned.
Seconds later.
"A draw!"
Koda was shocked by the result. Hiro made it from one of the gym to the other in seven seconds. Had he done that from the beginning Hiro would have won. Knowing this, Koda went up to him afterwards.
"Why didn't you do that at the start?" He was obviously frustrated but still held out his hand for a handshake as though to say "good match."
"Because I can't keep that pace up." Hiro reciprocated the handshake with a smile.
Goda gave each kid two pieces of candy claiming they were all winners. With that, Kimori and Himori left for their clubs and Kyo and Hiro walked around the school grounds.
After heading outside, "Kyo, why didn't you join in the race, you would have smoked us."
"I don't like running that fast unless I need to."
"Fair enough, where are we off to next?"
"Lets see, walk around, get some food, go through the haunted house, human chess, science experiment, then nap?"
"Yeah that works, lead the way Kyo!"
…
The two friends walked around Hanabira high starting with the fourth floor. "Here is the student council room."
"Ooo, where the magic happens."
"Here is the board game club."
"The costumes look good, that is what you will be wearing later?"
"Here is the theater room."
"Dark and mysterious!"
"Here is the basement"
"It's super quiet and cold, makes me wanna sleep."
"You have already been outside, but here we are."
"I wanna try the food!"
…
Hiro, like a squirrel, was darting his head around like crazy looking at the different options. There was a stall for okonomiyaki, takoyaki, yakisoba, dango's, onogiri, tempura, and sweets places with caramel apples and macaroons.
"I know!" Hiro said not being able to choose, he pulled out his phone and called someone. "Hey, Kimori, where should Kyo and I eat food."
"I am at the maid cafe right now if you wanna join?"
"We are on the way." Hiro looked to Kyo and said "I have our lunch place figured out!"
…
The two entered the maid cafe (the host club's club room located on the third floor) and sat with Kimori. The theme for this cafe was home. The walls had a covering that was tan colored on the top and wood on the bottom, there were signs with positive messages on them, and the food was what one would normally have at their house.
The reason for this theme was to make the guests both students and strangers alike feel at home at Hanabira High. The only thing that felt out of place was that the servers were wearing traditional butler and maid outfits.
A handsome man with slick black hair approached the table, "welcome home masters, how may I serve you?" He said this in a nonchalant way that came across as cool.
"Two orders of the pork cutlet bowl. One Melon soda, and one water too please." Hiro said not even asking Kyo if that was what he was in the mood for.
"Coming right up, masters."
"Why did you order for me too?"
"Because Kimori's dish looked really good and I figured you wouldn't complain."
"I would have given you a bite so you could have gotten something different."
"Really!? Can I have a bite now Kimori?"
"No way, you just ordered the same thing as me, why would I give you a bite on top of that?"
"Because I ran a lot today and am hungry."
"How did you run a lot when it isn't even eleven yet?"
"He tied against Koda today in a race."
"You tied against a third year, are you even human?"
"Hehe, I am pretty impressive, now give me some food, " Hiro said leaning over the table with his mouth open for a bite."
"No way!"
…
After a few minutes the food arrived. "Here you are masters."
The group enjoyed their food, Hiro was especially satisfied. The three of them then went to the haunted house. Kimori went because he had to get back to his station and let another student enjoy the festival. Hiro and Kyo went through the place.
This being Kyo's third time doing this, he was rather bored, so he just kept an eye on Hiro who was having a blast watching the whole thing.
"That was freaking dope!"
"They did a good job, Kimori helped with the heart the most."
"No wonder that was my favorite piece of the exhibit."
"It was a haunted house, not an art exhibit."
"It's all the same when you don't get scared."
Hiro was the kind of person to see things as they are, so unless caught off guard to an extreme degree or there was a real life flesh eating monster before him, he didn't really get spooked.
"Anyway, ready to play chess?"
"You bet, I wanna be on the opposing side, so I can laugh when I beat you."
"President Shosha is two to zero right now, so I am on the winning side."
"I always bet on the underdog."
"You don't even know how to play chess…"
"I don't need to. It's a feeling and I want to be against you like good old times."
…
The two headed over to the human chess outside and met with president Shosha. "Oh, Arianagi, do you always take different people on dates?"
"Very funny, this is my best friend, Hiro. He wants to be on president Gaku's side."
"Got it, nice to meet you." Shosha said with a handshake. Despite being in different specialties and fields, both of these people are competitive. Gamers are athletes too!
For the final time, Kyo put on his white knight outfit and Hiro wore a black pawn outfit. Hiro's friendly attitude is infectious and got the black side to be talking to each other, which eased president Gaku's mood.
"Ready!"
"Yes!" Gaku yelled with passion for the first time this whole event.
White moves first. "Pawn to G4."
"Pawn to D6." This time Gaku isn't mirroring Shosha, instead, he has a plan all of his own. Gaku's bishop is now in direct line of sight to Shosha's pawn.
Shosha responds in kind and moves his bishop to B2, having direct line of sight to one of Gaku's pawns.
Gaku, seeing this, moves his knight in the path of Shosha's bishop.
"Pawn to H3."
"Pawn to F3." Shosha can now take Gaku's pawn with his pawn, but doesn't fall for the trap and instead advances his pawn.
Gaku moves his pawn to E3, sitting next to the other pawn.
Shosha pushes his pawn forward to match the one with E3, now both pawns are stuck.
Gaku moves his queen to H5 and puts Shosha's king in check.
Shosha moves his knight, Kyo, to intercept.
Gaku moves his knight to Shosha's white pawn, Shosha could take Gaku's knight this his own.
Instead, Shosha moves his queen forwards. Gaku could back down, but instead moves his pawn forwards by taking Shosha's pawn.
Shosha takes the black pawn. The first attack has now drawn blood.
Gaku pushes with his bishop, Shosha's queen is now in danger.
Shosha moves his queen down to B7, taking a pawn, and allowing for easy access to Gaku's back line.
Gaku moves his bishop to put a check on the king.
The king moves right.
Pawn advances.
The Queen takes the castle, putting Gaku's king in check. Gaku moves the king up and now his knight is exposed.
Unphased, Gaku moves his horse to take Shosha's knight.
Shosha moves his bishop back.
Gaku moves his knight from the clutches of the enemy queen.
A series of attacks take place. Shosha moves to take the other castle.Gaku takes a pawn with his queen. White's bishop takes another pawn.
Gaku uses the confusion to his advantage and moves his queen to put Shosha in check once more. King moves right, but as though chasing a mouse, Gaku moves his bishop into place.
Although white takes Gaku's bishop with his own, it has now moved out of position. Gaku moves his knight to the enemy's back line. Shosha, seeing one-half of his error, quickly corrects it by taking the knight with his bishop, but now black's queen has full reign.
After three moves of Shosh's king running away from Gaku's queen, he is forced into a corner, and is placed in check mate.
Gaku breathes a sign of relief, before looking upon his opponent with a smile. Shosha, looks at the board state and runs the game back in his head. He nods as though understanding something he had missed before, then looks at Gaku and smiles a bright smile, "very well done!"
"How does it feel to lose?"
"Riveting, I love seeing how other play the same game, that was very well done indeed." The two presidents spoke for a moment.
Hiro took off his costume and ran over to Kyo, "see, I told you black would win today."
"Lucky guess."
"You owe me macaroons."
"A bet like that wasn't made."
"Hehe, it was now."
After their quick conversation, Kyo went up to Shosha, "thank you for letting me participate. That was a lot of fun."
"I am happy to hear it. Did you have fun too Hiro?"
"I freaking loved it, we should play again soon."
"For sure!"
With that out of the way, Kyo and Hiro took their leave and went back to the gymnasium. They had two hours before the next event and Hiro wanted to hang out with Goda more. They talked about nationals, top contenders, college teams, and a few other things. Basically sports nerds discussing their favorite teams and exercises.
…
Outside, they watched the science experiment. Maybe there was a curse on Kyoyota Arianagi because he once again missed the explanation of the science experiment because he was playing basketball with the kids. Hiro didn't mind missing the explanation, since he wasn't an academic.
The science experiment was the same as yesterday, elephant toothpaste. After covering that section of the field in bubbly puff, once it cooled down, they let everyone have fun with it. Hiro was enjoying running around tagging people with bubbly hands. After finally exhausting himself, he went back to Kyo and relaxed.
"That was fun!"
"I am surprised you didn't run longer."
"Even I need a break sometimes."
"Speaking of, wanna go take a nap?"
"Oh, that place that smelled nice in the basement. Yeah, I'm down."
…
Once the two made it down to the bottom floor, they entered the door to the napping club. The room was covered in blankets and pillows with the back of the room having a tea and coffee station. Kyo and Hiro grabbed drinks first.
Hiro's choice was green tea while Kyo opted for coffee with some creamer.
"Why coffee, that will wake you up?" Hiro asked with a puzzled look.
"I need the energy, keeping up with you guys has drained me, and my day isn't even done yet since I have to help take things down."
"That sounds like a pain, lucky me for just being a guest."
"I wish you would have gone to this school."
"I miss you too, but I have a future to look out for." Hiro said with a soft smile.
The two rested in the napping club for most of the rest of the day. Although Kyo figured he needed to do his job of being the student council's treasurer, he also knew he had little to no time to himself this week. Once 5:00pm rolled around, Hiro left to go home and Kyo stayed for the closing ceremony before starting to help clean up.
…
"That concludes this year's Welcoming Festival, we hope to see you all again next year!" President Hanami said with a bright smile waving a goodbye to the guests. It wasn't a mandatory event, so only about thirty people showed up, but it was her duty.
After her speech, Kyo went up to her. "What do you need help with?"
"Oh, please help the sports teams take down their materials and clean the gym. The rest of us will take care of inside the building. I have to talk with Zuko for a bit so I will be busy, but I will help out afterwards."
"Sounds good, see you later." Kyo said, as he started turning around to leave the gymnasium.
"Thank you for your help, Kyo." Yuuki said this with a genuine smile. Kyo turned to see Yuuki, with the ray of the orange sunset making her look radiant.
"Anytime," he said, happy knowing he helped this radiant person out. Kyo then left for the gym and helped Koda, Goda, and the other members of each sports club clean and put things away.
The other members of the student council helped inside the building, taking down flyers, putting materials away, taking posters off the wall, and more. The goal wasn't to put everything away in one day, but to make it easier when coming back from Golden week.
After Kyo helped the sports club clean the gym, the president of the soccer club asked people if they wanted to play a quick game. Sort of like a cooldown exercise. Kyo had no reason to say no, so he joined in.
"Arianagi, do you want to be the goalie?"
"Yeah, I don't mind."
Day three, the final day of the Hanabira High Welcoming Festival ended with no real hiccups…