School Girls' Stories - Year 2

Chapter 26 – School Festival Part 1

“Psst, Shinwa.” Shinwa turned and faced a figure that surprised him so much he nearly toppled over. He had never seen Yuki looking so… feminine in his life. She wore her hair in beautiful gentle curls down her body, looking more vivid and alive than it ever had. Her cheeks were gently painted pink, her lips the same shade. She was dressed in a skirt, the only one he had ever seen her wear besides the one that went with her uniform, and behind her wide amethyst sunglasses he could see the delicate care she took to curl her eyelashes.

“Yuki!” He cried, reaching out to her and surrounding her in his arms. People from the booths surrounding the area he stood in all glanced, but he was used to that, used to it more while he was dating the short girl. Yuki wrapped herself around him happily, hugging him tightly and smiling her delight.

“Shinwa! It’s so nice to see you!” she cried up to him, her arms so tight around him that she was squeezing the life out of him. He hated to do it, but he slowly pushed her away so he could look down at her, at her and the wide smile that glistened in the beautiful sunlight of the day.

“Your parents let you escape?” he asked.

“Yes,” Yuki nodded, “but only because I promised I was coming with Shai, Shu, and Mr. Taiikuka, and I also promised you wouldn’t be here. Oh, and I have to be home before dark, which does not give us enough time.”

“I’m surprised they did not come along to watch over you,” Shinwa said sadly, hating to have to fight with her curfew and parents just to steal a few moments with her.

“No ticket,” Yuki smiled mischievously. “Come on, let’s catch up with Shai and Kyoei and Amatsu.”

“Amatsu’s here?” Shinwa asked, slightly shocked. “I wouldn’t have thought that Fuji would have offered him a ticket.”

“Um, well, she doesn’t know he’s here yet,” Yuki admitted, running her toe through the dirt as she often did when she grew nervous. “We have not caught up with her yet. She actually is here with someone else.”

“Devilin?” Shinwa asked, his eyes close to bulging. Yuki only nodded. “You know, I used to think Fuji was a smart girl, but she sure is making some stupid decisions lately… It’s like she’s deliberately…”

“What?” Yuki asked, wondering if he was catching on to something.

“Nothing,” Shinwa shook his head. “Come on, let’s find Shai, Kyoei, and Amatsu, and let Fuji deal with her own life…”

Shinwa was not being cruel, he liked Fuji, he just thought it was time that she made her own mistakes without someone to hide behind, and he had a huge feeling that she was going to make some huge mistakes. If not today, it would be very soon.

“Yuki, Shinwa!” Shai’s voice called from over at a booth serving teas from around the world. Kyoei was looking at the cup of tea in his hand oddly while Amatsu was sipping happily. It must have been a calming tea.

“Shai!” Yuki cried, running to her friend. The men watched the two girls jump up and down at the sight of each other like they had not seen each other at school just the day before. Girls sometimes became a little too excited, and yet men watched and admired and desired the whole time the two of them bounced. “Where’s your dad?” Yuki finally asked when they had finished their routine of happiness.

“He could not make it today,” Shai explained. “He was going to bring his new girlfriend along, but Fuji could not find the spare ticket we had, so she said if he wanted to spend the day with her that is all right.”

“I would have thought he would have tried harder to be here,” Shinwa butt in, never the one to be afraid to speak his mind. “She’s already having a hard time adjusting to him being her father, and she certainly does not see him as a father, him not coming is just assuring her that he has no intention of being a father.”

Shai shifted a bit, never at ease with discussing her father in a manner that was least becoming of him. “He wanted to come, I think Fuji just does not like his new girlfriend.”

“Why?” Yuki asked.

Kyoei shifted, obviously knowing the answer and took a large gulp of his tea, most likely wishing it were some great alcoholic beverage at that moment.

“Um, his girlfriend is, um, twenty,” Shai pointed out.

Yuki, Shinwa, and Amatsu all blinked in unison, just staring down at the other girl, who seemed to have shrunk since her admission.

“Hey, there’s a booth that serves Thai food, let’s go try some of that,” Kyoei pointed out, ready to change the subject. “It’s still another hour before we can go into the auditorium to see Fuji’s ‘talent’.”

“Do you think she’s playing the cello?” Yuki asked of Shai. “She had not touched it in a while, I can not see her utilizing that talent. I do not believe she even enjoyed playing.”

Shai shook her head. “I actually think it has something to do with dancing.”

For the oddest of reasons a picture of Fuji looking very much like Britney Spears in her first video, with her Catholic school girl uniform all askew, popped into Yuki’s mind. She shook her head vigorously. No, there was no way Fuji would do something like that. Right? But she had not told them what it was she was going to do. Actually, since the night the girls had spent together they had not spoken much. Fuji had talked to them long enough to give them the tickets, and that had been it. Even Shai admitted that she had been spending more time at her mother’s lately.

Yuki looked around as the group stopped at all of the booths they could, meeting the gorgeous female students of Fuji’s school. She glanced everything, and even spotted Fuji. For a moment she was floored, seeing Fuji in the corner between the booths, with a man standing a bit taller than her, leaning over her. That, and she had a smile on her face. A smile Yuki had never seen before, a smile that she had never even given Amatsu in the time they had been together. What was worse, the man above her was Devilin, and he was leaning in to kiss her. Fuji intercepted the kiss, making it quick and sweet, but it was still there, and the flush on both of their faces showed. She ran off quickly and Yuki just stared, her mouth agape, her feet immobile. Devilin turned and noticed her and gave a small jolt.

“Yuki, are you all right?” Shinwa asked, reaching out for her hand.

Yuki gave a small nod and turned back at Shinwa with a smile. “Yes, I’m great,” she lied. “Let’s go, we should be moving to the auditorium soon!”