171 School Cultural Fest

Shikamaru and Shun sat behind a table, but the thing was, the table wasn't in a classroom, or even inside the school building.

Both of them were sitting beneath the shade provided by a huge umbrella.

It was the school cultural fest, and Shikamaru was assigned the responsibility to sit on the help desk near the entry of the school.

The ever lazy Shikamaru wasn't thrilled with the aspect of talking with the guests and parents that would come to visit the fest, so he somehow convinced President Temari to have Shun sit with him.

Shun was outgoing and polite, so Temari allowed it. And thus, Shun was roped in to sit at the help desk.

Currently, both of them were sitting in silence, with no visitors coming to the school. It was still early in the morning, and it would still take an hour for people to start arriving.

Shun was bored, so he chatted with his friend.

Shun: "Do you know if you run three to five kilometers every day..."

Shikamaru interrupted and spoke.

Shikamaru: "Let me guess, running that much has some amazing health benefits."

Shun shook his head and responded.

Shun: "Well yeah, there will be health to run daily, but that wasn't what it was going to say."

Shikamaru glanced at his friend and asked.

Shikamaru: "Hmm, then what were you going to say?"

Shun smiled faintly and replied.

Shun: "If you run three to five kilometers every day, then surely in five years, you would be far from home."

Shikamaru turned to his silver-haired friend and spoke.

Shikamaru: "I am not going to laugh at that."

Shun nodded and replied.

Shun: "Figured."

Both of them once again sat in silence, but after a while, Shun once again spoke.

Shun: "How about one more?"

Shikamaru sighed and questioned.

Shikamaru: "Will you stop if I say no?"

The answer came.

Shun: "... No."

He once again sighed and talked.

Shikamaru: "Go on."

Shun smiled and picked up the pen. He pulled the yellow pad on the table and wrote on it, and then passed it to Shikamaru, who picked it up and read the writing.

Shikamaru: "Neil Armstrong was the first person to land on the moon.

And, the backward of Neil A. is Alien..."

Shikamaru stared at the pad for a while and then patted Shun's shoulder.

Shikamaru: "Let's keep this between ourselves. We don't want the CIA or FBI to pick us up."

Shun nodded and smiled at his friend, who was taking part in the joke.

Sometime later, visitors started to trickle in.

A few of them would walk to the help desk and ask for directions, and Shun with a smile on would answer their queries while Shikamaru silently handed them a brochure.

Shun finished informing a couple of parents to the classroom of their child and turned to Shikamaru.

Shun: "You aren't going to speak a word, are you?"

Shikamaru rested his chin on the table and said.

Shikamaru: "There are so many people, and speaking to all of them is such a drag."

It was then when he heard a voice that scared Shikamaru.

???: "Shikamaru! Sit up straight!"

Shikamaru, like a trained professional, sat up in the chair with his back straight as an iron rod.

His face betrayed all his emotions for everyone to see. Shikamaru was feeling annoyance and irritated himself for letting his guard down.

He looked up to see the person that he considered a troublesome woman. He greeted the person.

Shikamaru: "Mom. You came."

The person who Shikamaru just called mom was Nara Yoshino. She had long, dark brown hair kept in a low ponytail with three strands framing her face, fair skin, and dark eyes.

Nara Yoshino, with a frown on her face, spoke.

Yoshino: "Of course, when you told me that you were on the cultural fest committee, I was so happy that you were doing something productive with your time.

But, then I became worried if you would do your work properly. So, I decided to come today to check on you.

And, here you are hunched over your table, looking lazy."

Shun stood up and greeted Shikamaru's mother with a bow.

Shun: "Good Afternoon, Mrs. Nara."

Yoshino turned to look at Shun and smiled at the silver-haired boy.

Yoshino: "Kageyama-kun, a good afternoon to you as well, you have grown from the last time I see you."

Yoshino sighed and lamented.

Yoshino: "If only Shikamaru could be a little more like you."

Shikamaru just sat there in his seat, with his back straight, muttered.

Shikamaru: "That would be troublesome."

Yoshino glared at her son and rebuked.

Yoshino: "Everything is troublesome to you! You should learn from Kageyama-kun. He gets good grades, he is polite, and participates in sports."

She turned to Shun and praised.

Yoshino: "Kageyama-kun, my idiot son tells me that you are now the captain of the basketball ball team.

Congratulations."

Shun smiled and replied.

Shun: "Thank you, ma'am."

He then turned to Shikamaru and suggested.

Shun: "Shikamaru, why don't you guide your mother through the fest, I will handle the station here."

Shikamaru mightly frowned, and Yoshino asked.

Yoshino: "Oh, no. There is no need for that. I don't want to impose on you, Kageyama-kun."

Shikamaru's frown eased a little when he heard that he wouldn't have to spend time with his mother in school, as he knew that if his mother crossed paths with a teacher, then she would inquire about his behavior in class, and then Shikamaru would suffer the aftermath.

Shikamaru: 'If I stay here, at least she wouldn't lecture me in front of everybody.'

But, Shun's words thwarted all his hopes.

Shun: "It will be no problem at all. I can handle this much on my own, and Shikamaru was on the planning committee, so he would be able to guide through the whole fest and show you all the events and displays.

Please, don't worry about me and go ahead and enjoy yourself."

Shikamaru cranked his neck to look up at his friend and saw a smiling Shun. To others, the smile would seem like a natural and pleasant smile, but Shikamaru, who spent hours with Shun every day, identified the hidden intent behind the smile.

Shikamaru: 'He is trying to make me go with mom.'

Shikamaru internally groaned and hoped that his mother would refuse, but it wasn't his day, as his mother said with a gentle smile on her face.

Yoshino: "Well, if you insist so much. I will take Shikamaru with me. Thank you Kageyama-kun, you are a good child."

She turned to Shikamaru and ordered.

Yoshino: "Shikamaru, thank Shun."

Shikamaru stayed silent for a moment before looking at Shun and cracked his thanks with the utmost difficulty.

Shikamaru: "...Thank you."

Shun flashed a friendly smile and responded.

Shun: "Don't mention it."

Shikamaru stood up from his seat and walked with his mother towards the school building.

Shun waved them goodbye.

Shikamaru looked back at Shun and mouthed out the words.

Shikamaru: *I will get you for this.*

Shun smirked and mouthed back.

Shun: *I will worry about that later.*

And, shouted to the mother-son pair, though it was only directed to Shikamaru.

Shun: "Have fun!"

Shun watched them until they entered the school building, and then sat down on his seat.

Shun: "That was fun."

Shun looked around and said to himself.

Shun: "Now, what should I do."

Just as Shun was thinking of doing something, he caught Romio walking towards with a bottle of water in his hands.

Romio waved and spoke when he reached the help desk.

Romio: "Shun, here you go. A bottle of water."

Shun received the bottle and replied.

Shun: "Oh, thanks."

Romio nodded and spoke.

Romio: "I saw Shikamaru with his mother. He didn't look happy."

Shun smirked at his friend and opened the bottle to take a sip.

When he finished drinking, he saw Romio staring at the yellow pad with wide-eyes.

Shun titled his head and asked.

Shun: "What happened to you?"

Romio looked up towards Shun and stuttered.

Romio: "S-Shun, this is your handwriting, isn't it?

I-Is this true?"

Shun glanced at the yellow pad and saw the Neil A. and Alien joke on it. He beamed in his mind and thought.

Shun: 'Oh, this is going to be good.'

He put on a serious face and talked in a grave voice.

Shun: "Romio, listen to me. What you saw is of extreme importance..."

Romio gulped and took in all the bullcrap that Shun said in the next few minutes, by the time Shun ended, Romio was completely convinced of all sorts of things.

What Shun said is a story for another time. [1]

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A/N [1]: I am not going to write that. It is just what writers write to end the chapter/episodes.

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