Crepes and Roses

"It's so noisy," Arina muttered.

Well, it's a cultural festival, so it's only natural.

Listening carefully, you would always be able to hear the music. The yellow voices and lingering scents of students and people passing by. It was fluffy. Very lively indeed.

It's said that the random number generator goes haywire when people are crowded together and their emotions explode. Normally, 0s and 1s are randomly generated and the ratio of 0s to 1s will eventually be the same (roughly), but on 9/11, when people were terrified, outraged, resentful, full of grief, and vengeful, there emerged a bias in the random number generator. The horrific colors of the people's minds affected the particles and quantum-level dimensions. It may have sounded unthinkable, but it really happened, and is an event that can't be ignored. [1]

Basically, I was wondering if the school was boiling in invisible human energy (or something).

"You have zero motivation, do you?"

"That's how my face is structured. Forgive me."

"I can't feel your energy."

"That's just what it looks on the outside. There's a good motivated young man on the inside."

"I wish they would chain him up instead of just consuming him."

"Arina-kun, are you a cannibal?"

I thought it would have been boring for the two of us to wander around, but it was actually pretty fun. As we strolled the halls, we could catch snippets of all the classes' events. If we were to remove our armbands, we would be mere students. It'd be nice to skip school for a bit and play around. I wonder if my neighbor would be up for it, though.

"Arina, hold up a sec."

"You're not going to kidnap a little girl again, are you?"

"Keep your voice down! That's a false accusation!"

She relented and waited for me, arms crossed. I stopped by a first-year class.

The first years wore aprons and were making crepes.

"Young lady. Two crepes please."

"Eh, young la— ah, yes! Right away!"[2]

After analyzing Arina's personality, it's clear that she doesn't participate in school festivities.

I have no idea how Arina spent her time during the school cultural festival when we were first years. And I'm not gonna be asking her about it directly, but I'm certain she wasn't very proactive. When I imagined her wandering around, by herself and lonely, I involuntarily felt the urge to pamper her.

I wanted her to enjoy herself, and since she's always wrinkling her brow, I hoped to loosen her up at least for today. That's what I'm trying to siay.

I paid and watched the crepes being made. I was quite impressed by their nimbleness at crepe-making.

"Ah, is that Sui-senpai?"

I heard a voice behind me and turned around to see a face I recently got acquainted with.

And there stood Nakatani Taku. A first year.

He's from the same junior high as Hiwa Arina. Someone who knew Arina's base personality. Someone who had feelings for her.

He reunited with Arina for the first time in years and tried to tell her his feelings. However, she had already become someone different from the Arina Taku knew, and he got disappointed by her harsh rejection. I wasn't aware of what happened afterwards.

"Oh, Taku? You making crepes?"

"I'm not very good at that, so I'm leaving it to the girls. I'm advertising our class instead. Are you by yourself, Sui-senpai?"

I was a bit lost. Should I tell him Arina was waiting for me in the hallway? Or should I blow it off? Either way, it would get awkward but I'll try to protect his mental health.

"That's right, I came here to buy crepes by myself. This world is so miserable and lonely."

And at just the perfectly inopportune moment, a female student who was concentrating on making crepes blurted out.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting! Two crepes here!"

"Ah, thank you."

"Two?"

Taku tilted his head.

"I was thinking of giving it to one of the idiots in my class. You know the guy who wore the horse mask at the opening? That's him. This is for him."

"Ah, is that what you mean? That guy stood out, didn't he?"

Phew.

Makoto, I'm glad you're a nutjob.

"Then I'll get back to what I was doing. Enjoy the festival!"

"Will do."

That was freaking dangerous. Almost got caught. If he found out that I was working with Arina, he probably wouldn't say it, but he'd be ticked off. After all, he probably suspects that Arina and I are dating. It'll take a while to completely get him off my tail.

As soon as I walked out into the hallway, I saw Arina showing a map to people and saying this and that. She was smiling gently. Arina used a soft, pleasant voice alongside a genuine expression. I couldn't help but be fascinated with a side of her I never usually saw.

As soon as she saw them off, Arina turned to me.

"You're slow."

"Sorry, sorry. Here, take this."

"Oh, why thank you."

She sent me a puzzled look and took the crepe.

"You wanna eat somewhere else?"

"It's fine to walk."

"As members of the discipline committee, that's a bit…"

"It's a school festival though? It's fine. You gotta enjoy 'em, right?"

This may have just been a selfish assumption on my part, but it seemed like Arina was having fun.

"I like school festivals. They're fun."

Notes:

[1] Apparently this relates to a national geographic article found here. (Source: skillz102)

[2] The reason the girl is surprised is because Sui called her "ojou-san" which is a way to refer to a young lady. Considering that it's from a second year to a first year, it's an unusual occurrence, to say the least, hence why she's surprised.