Prison School: No More Prison

Chapter 21: The Big Day

20th of July, Friday. (Day of the festival) 

Kiyoshi's POV:

07:00 AM

*Alarm Sound*

I quickly slapped my alarm clock off…

Today was the day. I decided to wake up as early as possible, just to make sure of some stuff:

First, I want to check if the councils or any club needs anything. After a quick check, I'll talk to the school guards, Anzu to be specific, to check if any of them could let me know the moment my parents arrive…

Second, I want to take a quick bath and dress myself as well as possible, so if either my mom or my dad finds me, I won't have to be criticized for my recent looks.

And lastly… I want to read the script once more… I didn't have time to read the last modifications, I was too busy worrying about my parents to read anything.

"Mmmm~~... Anzuu~~ Turn it off…"

Sorry Shingo, I hope you're doing well with Anzu-san…

Now that I think about it… I never made it up to making him fight with her on that date they had right?... Maybe I should help him after this… Yeah! I will! He's an old friend of mine after all, plus a true man would do so, right?

Before leaving the room, I took a quick second to pray to PBR-Sama as I've been doing for the most part this week. I've become strangely attached to this idol… I gotta say it's good to have something or 'someone' to 'pray' to.

Well… It's time… I hope everything goes well… The WTC depends on it! PBR-Sama… Maybe I've been asking for too many things this week… But I really hope you can lend us your strength to overcome this difficulty!

As I stopped 'praying' to the bottle idol, I finally got fully dressed and decided to go to the showers. 

Before going, though, I took away the bandages I had on my arm and took a quick shower. 

The cold water ran through my body. It was a refreshing moment after the incredibly hot days we've been having… 

Ah… I really want to go to the beach with Chiyo-chan… Seeing her in a beautiful bikini while I put sunscreen on her back… Ugh… I still don't know how to feel about it… Maybe Chiyo will hate the WTC… But I have to remain strong…

But for that… I also have to prove to her I'm worthy of doing so… And I have to make sure the summer trip successfully gets funded. This has to go well.

As I got consumed with my thoughts, a familiar person entered the showers.

"Yo, Kiyoshi *cough*. Starting the day early too, huh?"

"Heh, guess the two of us are now busy men, right Joe?"

"We sure are… Are you nervous for today?"

I have to admit I am… Not only for how everything will go, but also for both my parents and my performance at the play…

"Well… Yeah, a bit… I just hope everything goes well…"

"Heh, I gotta admit I am too" Joe gave a reassuring smile. It looks like the cafe thing made him change in a surprisingly good way. "I just hope everything goes okay… Not only that… I want to make both Cake-san and Anmitsu-sensei happy"

"Hmm? Happy?"

"... *cough* Nevermind, nevermind" He suddenly turned his head the other way. "But this has to go perfectly… For the WTC!"

"... Yeah! For the WTC!"

After a quick chat and shower, we parted ways: He went straight to the cafeteria, were they managed to get it with Kate's influence, and I went to the USC's office.

I have to say… It calmed a bit to have a small chat with Joe… It's surprisingly reassuring to talk to your friends…

[...]

07:35 AM

School was pretty much empty at this hour. Back in our prison time, we had to get up around this time, and even though now we prefer to sleep a tad more on days when our classes start later, watching how calm the school is now brings back memories.

Not really pleasant ones, but nostalgic nonetheless. And having the chance to walk without feeling most girls disgusted by my existence is pretty good. I hope today's performance makes not only me, but Joe's and Shingo's image a tad better.

*Knock Knock*

"Come in"

"With your permission"

To my surprise, I found the office a bit more filled than I expected. Meiko, Kate, Anzu, Risa and Hana were in the room. They all looked serious, but I could sense the nervousness of them all in the air… All of them except…

"Kiyoshi, you're late you know?! Today's an important day, get here on time!" Maybe it was the fact she became the president, maybe it's her hate towards men or maybe she's just like this, but Meiko looked as energetic as always.

"S-Sorry, I was taking a shower"

"Agh… Just come here and listen to the plan for today"

I followed her orders as said, saluted everyone in the room and took a seat next to our blonde vice-president, who quietly remained without even glancing at me.

"Now that everyones here…" Kate looked at all of us with a slightly nervous face, but she did her best to remain cool. "Here's the plan: As all of us should know, the school doors fully open at 11 AM, so we have around three and a half hours to make sure everything is going well. We should make sure that every club is ready for the festival. In case anything goes wrong, we communicate to the others about it and we try to find a way to fix it… Together" 

I see… We have some time to make sure everything goes well, I'll also use that time to finish reading the script and read my lines again.

"After the doors open, regardless of how many people arrive, we go make sure the clubs and the visitors are doing well, while the guards and Risa make sure no one infiltrates the school or anything weird happens. The rest of us will help in any way we can. If any of us has to go help their club, we cover their position or find a way to do so" Kate seemed strangely focused, I understand now why she was Mari's rival.

"And what about the play?" Risa asked.

"Well, at 2 PM, when the performances on stage start, we go get ready, okay? It will take some time but we have to get ready" We all quietly nodded in agreement. "I guess that's it…"

"You'll be fine by yourself after we go into our performances, Anzu-san?" Meiko asked.

"Yes, Ma'am president! My girls are able to put anyone in please if needed!"

"And before that, I'll make sure to help her" Risa added.

"Meiko, I'll go help you with the selling of products on the school door once I'm finished" Kate seemingly started speaking to her.

"Ah… Thanks, I'll need some help with that"

"Hey Risa, do you have any socials?"

"H-Huh? Uhm… Not really"

"Really? I thought you could help us promote the festival, I thought for sure you had some punk followers or something" Anzu started laughing to herself while Risa looked a bit awkward yet happy.

Everyone in the room seemed to be having fun even in this situation. I guess everyone here had time to get to know each other more while organizing this event… It's actually a really good vibe! 

But… Their conversation only made my silence grow louder… Yet, I wasn't the only one quiet in the room. Besides me, a blond girl remained quiet with her bangs slightly covering her face.

I guess… A small talk couldn' t hurt no one.

"So uhm… How are you feeling today? A bit nervous?" I asked Hana.

"... Y-Yeah"

"I-I guess I am too, you know?" I added with an awkward smile. "I heard you are now ranked third in the karate club! Congrats about that too!"

"... T-Thanks…"

"Ah… I promised to try it out, but I didn't have the time. Maybe after the festival's over I can go and you can teach me something, right?"

"... S-Sure" Hana remained evasive and slightly quiet towards me.

Well, this is awkward… I haven't really talked that much to her since our meeting with Chiyo so… I don't really know how she's feeling around me… Maybe she's a bit angry? I shouldn't really push my luck but-

"s-so uhm… are you really sure about this?" She suddenly asked.

"E-Eh? About what?"

"a-about… our scenes a-and stuff…" She said while looking in the other direction.

"Well, of course! I want to give the best performance possible, you know?... Maybe we should have trained a bit before today"

And as I said that she finally looked at me with wide eyes. Her face was a bit red, maybe nervousness or the embarrassment of having to act in a scenario. I get it.

"... Y-You're really weird, you know? After everything you said in Chiyo's room… to go through with this…" She said as her voice slowly went down.

I don't really know what she meant, but if I have to guess… She's probably talking about me keeping my appearances low… Well, this is not for my image nor me, it's for the greater future of the summer trip!

I glanced back at the group to find Kate looking at us with a smile, she suddenly gave a thumbs up at me. Who would say she would be this supportive of our event, we really couldn't have done it without her… 

"Okay, since we've done talking, let's get on position" Meiko returned to her presidential status by giving us orders, and by us, I mean me. "Kiyoshi, you go check how everything's going in the cafeteria!" 

"Y-Yes Ma'am!"

"What are you waiting for?! Go!"

And so I left to check out how the others were doing in the cafeteria.

End of Kiyoshi's POV.

Joe's POV:

08:05 AM

Well… Things are going surprisingly well…

I came to the cafeteria thinking I would be the only one to arrive at this hour but…

"Hey! Joe-kun!" Mitsuko was sitting there with a big stock of books and notebooks on her side. She looked like she had not slept in the whole night.

"A-Anmitsu-sensei… Are you okay?"

"Of course! I had to deliver the best work possible, so I didn't have that much time to sleep, but I'm sure that now everything will go great!"

"S-Sure… *cough* Just don't push yourself, please. By the way, have you heard of Cake-san?"

"Nope, but I believe everything's here, so… I thought she would either be with you or busy somewhere else"

"Huh?" I looked at the counter and found a ton of food already on it. Cake-san must have been here already. "So you haven't seen her, at all?"

"W-Well… No, not at all"

…

I have a bad feeling about this… Last time we talked, it felt like she felt a bit awkward or maybe not interested in the cafe… I should really talk to her now…

"Hey there!" Kiyoshi suddenly entered the cafeteria.

"Kiyoshi, my man, just who I was looking for!" I grabbed him by the shoulders. "I need your help dude *cough*"

"E-Eh? Sure man, what's up? I came here to see if you needed anything"

"Well… I do, I need you to cover the cafeteria while Mitsuko and I go look for Cake-san"

"E-Eh? Satou-san? E-Ehm sure dude, go for it"

"Thanks man! I mean it!" I looked at Anmitsu-sensei, who looked at me a bit confused. "Let's go look for her!"

[...]

08:25 AM

We went to check on different clubs, classes and everything.

Cake-san was nowhere to be found.

Could it be that she's nervous about working in the cafe? Maybe she's upset about something?

"W-What about the bedroom? Maybe she's just taking a nap or something…"

"A-Ah, you are right, sensei, let's go check"

As we dashed to her room the last conversation we had came back to my head. I believe I have a slight idea of what could be happening right now…

*Knock Knock*

"Cake-san? *cough* it's me, Joe, are you there?"

…

Silence…

*Knock Knock*

"Is there anyone there?"

…

"Please, I just want to check if everything's good…"

…

*Door opening*

"... Hey…" Cake-san finally opened the door. She looked a bit sad, but mostly tired.

"H-Hey… W-What's wrong? You look really tired… Have you slept well?"

"... N-No… I ended up working really early in the morning today…"

"H-Huh? But I've been in the cafeteria since 7:30 in the morning" Mitsuko added.

"Y-Yeah… But I asked the janitor for the keys and uhm… I got there around 5 in the morning…"

"W-What?!" Both of us asked.

"W-Why would you do that, Cake-san? We still had a lot of time left to help you!"

"Y-Yeah Satou-san!"

"..." She didn't look at us. "I-I'm just not feeling well… I'd rather spend the day here than going and ruining the mood"

"W-What?" I grabbed the frame of the door. "What happened? I thought everything was going well?"

"Y-Yeah… B-But I feel like I'm not really part of it…"

…

As I thought… It seems that Mitsuko and I may have put too much pressure on her.

"... Sorry, Cake-san *cough cough*, I should have asked you about this before doing anything…"

"e-eh?"

"You didn't really want to make a yaoi cafe, did you?"

"... W-Well… No, not really, b-but-"

"I see… It seems like I pushed you to do something you didn't really want. I'm sorry for that, Satou-san"

" W-What? N-No wait"

She suddenly grabbed my uniform. Her hand trembled a little.

"E-Ehm… Listen… I know you really wanted to make something fun for the three of us but… I really wanted to have a normal cafe where I could show my skills… I-I'm sorry guys…"

…

D-Damn… If I only knew… I wouldn't have put us three in this situation. But… I have to face the consequences of my actions… Like a man!

"... Cake-san" 

"Y-Yes?"

"Listen *cough*, I'm sorry, I should have known you didn't really want this…"

"N-No, please, you two should just do as you wanted and-"

"But there's still a chance to accomplish your dream"

"E-Eh?"

"H-Huh?" Mitsuko, who had remained as a spectator, finally joined the conversation.

Well… I'll have to sacrifice both time and myself but… I'll do it… For the dream of us three!

"Let's have two cafes at the same time!"

End of Joe's POV.

Mitsuko's POV:

"W-What?"

I was surprised by Joe-kun's sudden proposal, and by her face, Satou-san was too.

"Well *cough* I thought that if we talk to the president or Kate-san, they might be able to get us a second room to have a normal cafe, for those who don't want to join ours! *cough*"

"...r-really?" Satou asked quietly.

"Yeah! We have to just ask for it and-"

"Wait wait, what?!" I had to interrupt them. "What about our plans?"

"It's okay, Anmitsu-sensei, I'll help you both with it!" He said while looking at me.

All I could think about… Is that I felt a weird sense of Deja vu. A bad one, that is. It made me think about that day with Bitch-san and… Gakuto…

"N-No… You can't just choose both stuff, just pick one!" I said bluntly.

To be honest I don't have any problem with it but…

I want to be chosen. Just once. Why is it that guys just can't choose with us girls?

Am I this dumb?

"Anmitsu-sensei…" Joe grabbed me politely by the shoulders. "I'm sorry. I know you want me to help you too but, I can't let Cake-san alone in a situation like this"

"W-What?"

"It would be really bad of me to just ignore her feelings like this, right?"

…

Now that I think about it… Bitch-san likes Gakuto-kun, right? She probably still does… Just like me… But she put her differences away to become my friend…

"B-But… I had this dream too, just like her!"

"And as I said *cough*, I'll make sure to help you two accomplish it!" He said with a reassuring tone. "I'll help you two as much as I can"

"J-Joe-kun"

"..." I was left speechless… Did Gakuto-kun feel this way too? He wanted to make us two happy as well?

"Please, just let me try!" He said with… puppy eyes?

"... Okay… Let's do this…"

[...]

08:50 AM

I walked through the walkways alone headed to the cafeteria. After a small talk with Meiko and Kate, we managed to get things sorted out. Cake-san went to the cooking club and grabbed some extra stuff to begin her small cafe, with Joe-kun's help that is.

Though it hurts a bit, I'm happy both of us will have a chance to do what we want… I guess I haven't really thought about Satou-san's feelings, thank goodness Joe-kun noticed them….

I should really talk with Bitch-san, I wonder how she feels about our situation…

And maybe… I should talk to him too…

"Hey, Mitsuko-chan!"

I turned my head to find the USC's ex-president's sister waving at me.

"Hey, Chiyo-chan, how are you today?"

"I'm doing well" She glanced at me with a slightly worried face. "W-What about you?"

"A-Ah, I'm fine, just a bit tired!" I said while trying to stop my next yawn. "Getting ready for today?"

"Yeah, I'm happy to be able to go and play with new people from the club"

"Ah, you're in the 'go' club, right?"

"Yeah! I always liked the game, so…"

"And what about Sumo? I heard you really liked it… Heh, I even heard you tried to sumo tackle Kate-san"

"P-Please don't say that… I-I got angry a-and… w-well" She suddenly started blushing. "A-Anyways, what are you up to?"

"Ah! I'm going to the cafeteria! We're having a yaoi cafe, you should check it out later!"

"Y-Yaoi? Uhm… Sure! I'll go check it out!"

"Kiyoshi-kun and Joe-kun will be helping us as waiters, you can talk to them too!"

"... K-Kiyoshi?... Sure" She said with a weird tone in her voice. It was a mix between confusion and shyness.

Hmm? That's weird, I thought they were friends… Or maybe… Is she into maids and stuff?!

"Ah… I have to say he'll surely be in a small waiter dress, just like a maid cafe or something, would you like to see that?" I said with a joking tone.

"R-Really?!" She seemed surprised and blushing by my words. "... T-Those dresses that make your butt a bit… bigger?"

"H-Huh?"

"A-Ah! N-Nothing, nevermind…"

W-What? Could it be… She's into boys' butts? J-Just like me when I started getting into yaoi… 

"Ah… Could it be… You like butts too?"

"... I-I mean, I wouldn't say-"

"If you like butts… You truly are my daugh- - -ter!" A sudden voice came from in front of us.

Chiyo's face was filled with happiness and surprise the moment she saw the face of the man in front of us.

"F-Father!" She suddenly ran towards him giving him a small hug, just to pull away quickly with a red face. "You're back!"

"Haha! Of course, I wouldn't lose this festi- - - val!" She said as she patted her head. "I'm glad to be back to - - - school!"

The chairman of Hachimitsu is back.

To be continued…

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