Festival

Madoka's POV

"We're almost done with setting up our basketball station." said Ayaka

I put a basketball on the stand.

"Come on, we have 30 minutes to prep." said Homura

"Wait who's going to take care of the hoop?" asked a boy from the team

"I don't know, wasn't Kenji supposed to take care of that?" asked another boy

"No it was supposed to be you." said another boy

"Hey hey cut it out, help me move this." said Homura

Him and three other boys began to move the hoop.

"Madoka I need your help here at the stands." called out Emiko

I approached our stand where a bunch of baked treats were.

"Is this enough?" I asked

"No that's why we have a kitchen here." replied Emiko

'Good thing I'm not part of the station, but I don't want to be playing ball with random people.'

"Let's see can you bring that over to Kenji kun, I wanted to give it to him myself but I'm kind of embarrassed." said Emiko

Her cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Sure." I said

She hands me a plate of brownies so I take it and head over to the auditorium. I went to the backstage where there were a bunch of performers practicing. I looked for Kenji and I saw him just sitting on a chair with headphones on.

I approached him and patted his head and he jerked up in surprise before calming down when he saw me.

"What are you doing here?" asked Kenji

"Emiko wanted to give you this but she said she was too embarrassed." I said

Kenji saw the plate of brownies in my hand.

"That's nice of her." he replied

"You two seem to get along." I said

"Well she's just a friend..." replied Kenji, "Why do you not like her?"

"It's not that I don't like her, she's neither a friend nor a person I don't like." I replied

"I see well, I think it'll be better if you go now, everyone here knows Homura." said Kenji

"Okay I'll see you in a few minutes." I replied

I quickly left the stage avoiding eye contact with any of the performers. I got back to the station where Emiko was waiting, pacing around the inside the tent we built over our station.

"I'm back." I said

"Did he like it?" asked Emiko

"He didn't try it yet, he seemed busy but he told me to tell you that he said thanks." I replied

"Oh that's good." Emiko sighed in relief

"Why is there a problem?" I asked

"No there's no problem." replied Emiko, "For me no, but for us yea."

Emiko pointed to the station next to us and it was the track team, they were busy setting up their things.

"Okay and?" I questioned

"They're doing a hamburger stand. That's already better than us." she replied, "And you know Hina chan, the girl over there?"

She pointed at a girl who was about 165 cm tall with short brown hair. She seemed really loud and her skin was a fairly tan color.

"No." I replied

"Well she's probably the most famous girl in this entire school. She is in her third year and she's one of the most athletic girls and on top of that she's really pretty." said Emiko, "And pretty big, I wish I had her boobs."

Emiko looked down at her slightly flat boobs but she still had them. I wish I could trade mine with hers, these annoy me.

"Anyways a lot of guys want to try to talk to her and the festival is the perfect time." said Emiko

"I see." I said, "So what's the problem?"

"What if Kenji kun goes to her?" asked Emiko with a bit of jealousy and fear in her eyes.

"Do you follow him on instagram?" I asked

"Of course." replied Emiko

"Then check his following and followers." I said

"Right, you're pretty smart. Has Homura senpai teach you a lot of this?" asked Emiko

"No Homura senpai doesn't." I replied

'Kikotei does though.'

"You're following him?" questioned Emiko

My heart started beating fast.

"And he's following you back?" questioned Emiko

"He did that with everyone." I lied

"Oh right he does, he's such a good person. He doesn't follow Homura senpai though." said Emiko, "But what do you expect Homura senpai bullied him."

'So did I.'

"Oh great he's not following Hina chan but she's following him." sighed Emiko

That's when the bell rang, indicating that the show was about to start.

"What 30 minutes already passed?!" gasped Emiko, "I need to get there first so I could get a good seat."

Emiko and the other girls in my team all left and ran towards the auditorium with other people in my school. It kind of annoyed me how people were bumping into me while running towards the auditorium, it wasn't like we were late.

"Madoka let's sit together." said Homura

"Sure." I bluntly replied

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we walked towards the auditorium, we entered and it was already packed but the boys and girls basketball team saved an entire section for us. I took a seat next to Emiko who was sitting next to Yuziki who was sitting next to Haruka.

"I heard all the entire performance was going to take over 30 minutes." said Haruka

"When's Kenji kun going?" asked Yuziki

"Kenji Kun?" questioned Emiko

"Why can't I call someone I have interest in?" questioned Yuziki

"You like Kenji kun?" asked Emiko

"I've always have." replied Yuziki

Emiko seemed down and I just sighed and rubbed my eyes.

'I feel bad for Kenji.'

The lights in the auditorium began to die out and people in the school began to clap and cheer in excitement. This school was huge and it has a lot of people, probably about 20,000 people in one huge auditorium. Being famous in this school was probably one of the greatest achievements a regular person would want.

"Kenji's going last." said Homura

He was looking at a paper while shining his phone so he could see.

"Who's going first?" I asked

"This group of boy dancers." said Homura

Once he said that about 30 boys walked onto the stage and they were all wearing the same thing, black hoodies, black sweats and white shoes. The audience clapped and they all got into formation before the song started.

The song started and it was a hip hop type of song and they started doing their dance but I was not interested in it, it was good but they didn't grasp my attention.

After who knows how long the dance ended and everyone clapped and with that the next person was a comedian. I didn't like comedians because they always explain things and usually it's their laugh that makes me laugh, not the joke.

This comedian was the exact same with all the other comedians and I was getting tired, his laugh was the most annoying thing I've heard in my entire life. It sounded like he ran a marathon and was having an asthma attack.

I tried to sleep but I suddenly woke up to really loud music and it really annoyed me since it was a whole heavy metal band and everyone in the auditorium was standing up and enjoying it.

'Why did I decide to watch this from the beginning?'

Finally, the final performer, Kenji walked onto the stage with his guitar and he seemed calm.

"It's Kenji Kun..." quietly shrieked Emiko

I watched him plug in a jack into his guitar and he took a deep breath before strumming his guitar. As always it was beautiful, I could feel myself falling with the rhythm of the song.

"I know this song!" quietly shrieked Emiko again, "It's an English song, let me down slowly by Alec Benjamin."

'I know this song as well.'

Let Me Down Slowly by Alec Benjamin

This night is cold in the kingdom

I can feel you fade away

From the kitchen to the bathroom sink and

Your steps keep me awake

Don't cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste

I once was a man with dignity and grace

Now I'm slippin' through the cracks of your cold embrace

So please, please

Could you find a way to let me down slowly?

A little sympathy, I hope you can show me

If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely

If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly

Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down

Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down

If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely

If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly

Cold skin, drag my feet on the tile

As I'm walking down the corridor

And I know we haven't talked in a while

So I'm looking for an open door

Don't cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste

I once was a man with dignity and grace

Now I'm slippin' through the cracks of your cold embrace

So please, please

Could you find a way to let me down slowly?

A little sympathy, I hope you can show me

If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely

If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly

Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down

Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down

If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely

If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly

And I can't stop myself from fallin' (down) down

And I can't stop myself from fallin' (down) down

And I can't stop myself from fallin' (down) down

And I can't stop myself from fallin' (down) down

Could you find a way to let me down slowly?

A little sympathy, I hope you can show me

If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely

If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly

Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down

Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down

If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely

If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly

If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely

If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly

End

During the entire song, everyone had their flashlights on their phone on and waved it in the air. I didn't do it but it was just so amazing, it sounded just like the music video. Even though it was just him and his guitar it sounded perfect and on point.

Once he finished he backed away from the mic and bowed and the entire auditorium burst into cheer as they stood up and clapped and screamed as loud as they could.

Kenji seemed surprised that he was kind of taken aback and he just waved a bit and left the stage. And that was it, the concert was over and everyone was leaving to get to their stations and prepare the students who weren't part of any club or team.

I got to my station and luckily no one was here yet and I just picked up a basketball and started practicing around just for the fun of it and the boys were goofing around in the station.

About a minute later our station and the court became packed with kids trying to buy goods and other things.

"Madoka chan we need you here!" yelled Emiko

I sighed and just left the court and began helping the people stationed in here bake. I'm not really into this but they were short on staff and a lot of people were buying our food.

"Oh Kenji Kun!"

I turned around and Kenji entered the tent.

"Oh shit look it's that guy!" yelled a bunch of kids who were in line in front of cashier

Kenji just waved awkwardly and Emiko grabbed his arm.

"Can you help me with the money? I can't do math that fast." said Emiko

"No Kenji Kun I need some help with baking." said Yuziki

"Poor Kenji Kun, he looks new to this." chuckled Haruka

Ayaka just rolled her eyes while watching Kenji being fought over by two girls. Kenji seemed really confused and was just looking at the two of them arguing about who gets to have Kenji to help.

"Kenji you can help with the money first then come help us with the baking." I said

Kenji nodded in agreement and the two girls seemed to agree as well. So Kenji got to work and I knew he was smart but I didn't know he was that smart. He took the money and in less than 2 seconds hands them change, the right amount as well.

"Oh you're Kenji right?"

I looked over to Kenji and saw the Hina girl from the track team.

"Yes." replied Kenji

"You were amazing back there on the stage." she said

"Oh thanks, it means a lot." said Kenji

That's when Hina handed him a piece of paper and left but she turned and did the 'give me a call' signal and winked.

Kenji seemed a bit embarrassed but Emiko took the piece of paper and shoved it in her pocket. Kenji seemed confused but he just went back to work, not really caring.

"Looks like the boys are having fun playing with non basketball students." said Haruka

There was a huge crowd around the court and they seemed to be recording the game.

'I really hope this festival ends fast.'