Part 2: Seal, Part 2
Music: Culture Festival! (A)I hope you like 19 second loops.

Natsumi: It's supposed to rain all evening, so make sure you both take an umbrella with you.


Natsumi: Have fun today. And Shinohara, you be sure to think about where to go on that "date" of ours!
Sound Effect: Shine


Seiko had woken up ungodly early and pulled my futon away, forcing me up with a chill and a sneeze. We both combed our hair and put on our school uniforms, then scarfed down the breakfast my mom had made and flew out of the house. If we didn't hurry, we'd be late for setting up!





Every student in the junior and senior high alike was busy getting ready for the festivities, which were due to start in around 30 minutes. I wondered if I'd have any extra time afterward to go check out the other classes' projects.
We'd previously washed the bowls we were planning to use and laid them out in the home ec prep room. With those bowls in hand, I proceeded toward class 2-9. I climbed the usual staircase and headed toward the usual room, stepping carefully so I wouldn't drop any dishes. The plan this year was to host a red bean soup restaurant. I could smell the sweet red bean paste more and more clearly with every step I took. I'd eaten so much food at breakfast, and here we had even more food rearing its head. But when it comes to sweets, I say bring it on!
Naomi heads into class 2-9.






Hmm? Satoshi seemed a bit out of sorts. He was just staring blankly. Was he still half-asleep? It bothered me to see him like that, but I literally had my hands full, so I really couldn't dwell on it. I pushed on into the classroom. ...But I couldn't actually see what was in front of my feet, and I have to admit, it was kind of scary. It would be a real challenge not to drop anything.




Sound Effect: Clatter




Music: Culture Festival! (B)

And so began the culture festival. All day, we wore the clothes Suzumoto prepared for us and served red bean soup to our schoolmates. She had a lot of costuming experience, having worked on that side of things in the drama club for quite some time. She even did the sewing herself, putting all her practice to the test. And the kimonos she prepared for us really were all of exceptional quality. So good, in fact, that they became the centerpiece for us, bringing in students from the junior and senior high divisions alike. It made for a busy day.
When we weren't tending to customers...we were chasing after that slacker, Kishinuma, or taking time to check out some of the other class projects. In the end, not only did we have a really fun day, we also wound up being the most popular classroom in the whole festival. All in all, a rousing success!
Music: None

As our busy day drew to a close, we all stood around talking. We kept saying we should clean up but that kind of...didn't happen. Before I knew it, there were only seven of us left in the room: Satoshi, the class rep, Seiko, Morishige, Kishinuma, Suzumoto and myself. It seemed everyone else had already gone home. Our homeroom T.A., Ms. Shishido, showed up with Satoshi's little sister in tow, but they were it. We nine became the de facto cleanup crew.
Background Sound: Rain





Video: Déjà Vu
This video covers the remainder of the update.








This was to be her last day at Kisaragi Academy High School. Everyone here loves her, so this was a sad occasion indeed. She was truly a kind person, possessing no ulterior motives and harboring no ill will toward anyone. The thought of her leaving was just plain depressing. But time waits for no one, and sadly, the time had come to say our goodbyes. As one final hurrah, our occult-obsessed class rep asked us to perform some friendship ritual called "Sachiko Ever After."

Upon mentioning it, she procured a paper doll from her bag. It looked a lot like those proxy dolls you'll sometimes see in Shinto shrines, designed to absorb bad karma in somebody's place. Visually, this whole thing just seemed like the setup for a cursed seance or something. It was kind of scary, and I wasn't the only one who thought so.




Music: Unrest (A)








Satoshi had always been easily spooked, and in true form, he was pleading for his life that we stop what we were doing. It didn't sound THAT scary, though!



I kind of felt bad for him... But this was for Suzumoto. We all wanted to give her the best possible send-off. So all I could really do was silently wonder what had gotten into him.








With a pallid face, Satoshi quickly rushed over and grabbed the paper doll himself. He was joining us after all, it seemed. Everyone else smiled at him as if to say, finally, you've come to your senses! But I was just starting to get a really bad feeling about this.


