Chapter 108: Cultural Festival 3
"Thank you for the food~"
Savoring the last few bits of her food, Akane licked her lips and patted her stomach as the parfait she had was better than she had expected.
Mahiru smiled and felt a giggle escape her mouth as her time with Haruto's family although was only for a short while, it was very enjoyable for someone like her.
The various interactions and brief moments of bickering made her feel strangely at peace as the feeling of being with a 'family' made her feel blessed that she could experience something like this.
"Are you guys done?"
"Yes sir! The food was pretty good for something like a butler cafe when the main appeal is the people serving you."
Haruto who came over to his family's table started to take some of the plates and glasses while also listening to his family's praises to the food they had just eaten.
"So what's my final score then?"
"Hmm…"
Haruto threw a question out in the open as he cleaned up and Akane rubbed her chin as if she was contemplating a really hard question.
"10."
"I agree with your mother."
Jiro spoke out as he took a napkin and wiped a stain off the corner of Yui's mouth and raised his thumb up towards Haruto. Yui cleared her throat feeling the gazes of her kids landing on her after seeing Jiro's actions and just sat quietly.
"Hmm…your score is at an 8 while the service you gave brought it up to an 8.5 which is pretty good. If I add your atmosphere and your polite language as well as your manners.."
"I ask her for a score not to start yapping.."
"It seems like she's very strict on her criteria huh."
Haruto placed a hand on his forehead as he continued to hear Akane blabbering on while Mahiru placed a hand on her mouth to silently let out a smile.
Wanting to stop his sister from talking any more, he pulled out pieces of candy from his pocket that was used as a topping for some of the other desserts on their menu and placed it in front of her.
This was given by the background staff to give their servers a small boost of energy if they ever needed some but Haruto didn't feel the need to have them.
"A perfect score is what I'll give you! 10/10! You know that you're the best brother I can ever have right?"
"Wow it seems like bribing the judge is pretty easy."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Throwing a piece of chocolate in her mouth, Akane hummed in happiness tasting the sweet flavors while she offhandedly ignored Haruto's accusations.
Jiro shook his head as he heard the interaction between his two kids and turned his head to Haruto.
"When are you done with your shift or are you planning to serve the whole time?"
"I've actually finished my shift now. I allocated my time to match Mahiru's so we could enjoy the festival during the second portion of the day."
Haruto loosened up his suit as he replied to his father's question.
"That's good then. You should go visit the other stalls with Mahiru since the ones we saw were pretty interesting."
"There's some good performances too."
Yui added onto Jiro words and began to recommend other things while they got ready to leave.
Haruto waved at Hinata and Kageyama who were also getting ready to explore their school. Kageyama said a few words before going to answer his phone that rang while Hinata met up with Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Yachi as he said that he would tag along with them.
"U-Umm father, mother it was nice to meet you guys today." Mahiru went up to Yui and Jiro and bowed her head slightly.
Yui looked at Mahiru with a warm gaze while Jiro gently ruffled through her hair with a bright smile on his face.
"Don't mention it since it was nice to meet you too. When the two of you go on your winter break, you should come with us on a trip since it would be pretty fun."
"Onsen is good for winter."
"That's a pretty good idea isn't it?"
Jiro laughed as he agreed with Yui's idea and began to formulate a rough outline based on her recommendation.
"Onsen sounds good..."
Haruto who came back overheard his family's plans and began to imagine himself sinking himself in the hot water while enjoying the view.
However a sudden thought began to appear in his head when he glanced at Mahiru who was beside him and shook his head feverishly.
'Don't get consumed by the horny demons.'
As Haruto was fighting the thoughts in his head, Mahiru also began to think about their potential onsen trip and a deep blush began to invade her beautiful face.
'I s-still haven't worn that thing I bought from that time…'
The two of them fought off their thoughts not knowing that two pairs of eyes were looking at them.
"Hahh.. is this youth.."
"Why are you acting like an old man?"
Yui looked at her husband who was sighing with a questioning look but decided to ignore him after listening to him ramble about some random topics that came out of nowhere.
***
With the departure of Haruto's family to visit other places in his school, the two began to wander around looking at the displays that each of the classes prepared to display for the festival.
Stalls that ranged from selling quick finger foods or ones that have activities that each person can play.
Mahiru scanned the area around her before seeing a large cloud-like object hovering in her field of view.
"Where did this come from?"
"They were selling some right there."
Haruto grinned as he bit into a cotton candy that he bought during the time Mahiru was engrossed in her surroundings. She gratefully took the stick that was handed to her and slowly ate the candy that melted in her mouth.
The stalls began to become more abundant as they began to walk through the halls and after going up the stairs to see what kind of stalls the second years were making, the two of them began to see a large crowd surround one particular stall.
"Hey you two!!"
"Ohh the two lovebirds! Come try our stall if you dare!"
Haruto saw both Nishinoya and Tanaka cross their arms as they stood tall wearing a catchy pink jumpsuit. They found an open space where they could stand and Haruto began to narrow his eyes when he saw what kind of stall the two of them were hosting.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm just getting a feeling that I need to redeem myself from my previous failure."
"So that means you played this game before? Then I wish you good luck."
Tanaka began to smirk as he handed both Mahiru and Haruto a round piece of candy that had a shape engraved into it. In front of him had the shape of a triangle on it while Mahiru had one that had the shape of a spider on it.
'Rest in peace Mahiru.'
Before starting his shape he gave Mahiru a brief prayer as her shape was very difficult and began to quickly carve out his shape.
Using the metal pin that was handed to him, he slowly scrapped at the grooves that were engraved into the candy.
Bit by bit he continued to break down the pieces.
*Snap
'Got one side.'
Licking his lips Haruto focused on one more side letting his steady hand guide the metal pin through the engravings.
"That was pretty difficult!"
"Huh."
Haruto turned to his side and looked at Mahiru's candy which caused his eyes to open wide since a perfectly carved spider was presented right in front of her.
"What the.."
*Snap
"Shi—!"
Feeling the sensation of something breaking Haruto looked down at his candy and saw that one of the sides broke off which made him sigh in relief.
'I'll just eat off the last part.'
He placed the candy in his mouth and bit off the final part which cleanly snapped off and a perfect triangle was placed in his hand.
"You also did it!"
"..Mahiru I think being a surgeon fits you well…"
Mahiru gave a confused look while Haruto just gave a bitter laugh.
"Ohh the two of you completed your shapes!!"
Nishinoya saw the finished shapes in front of the two and gave a satisfied nod. Seeing that they had completed the challenge, he got an item from under the table and handed them a coupon.
"This is a voucher for mozzarella corn dogs that are being sold at Kiyoko-san's stall on the third floor."
"We did a lot of work trying to convince their class to join ours but it finally worked out in the end."
Tanaka rubbed the area beneath his nose as he began to sing praises at how Kiyoko was a goddess for accepting their pleas in a joint collaboration.
Before they could hear anymore, Haruto said a quick bye but it was quickly pushed aside as the two were too busy talking to themselves.
"Shimizu is in the same class as Asahi, right."
Haruto said as he thought back to where Asahi's classroom was and after reaching the area, he waved at Sugawara who was holding a sign outside the classroom.
"It looks like a butler and maid couple have decided to visit our very own stall."
"We heard some praises from two very loud people so we had to come see what the fuss was about."
"It looks like those guys are doing a good job promoting us."
Sugawara bursted out in laughter when he heard Haruto's words and ushered them into their classroom.
"Do you guys have a voucher? If so, I can quickly hand you guys the food."
Hearing his question the two of them handed in their voucher before they quietly waited for Sugawara to come back.
Standing near the counter and idling chatting for a few mins, Sugawara came out and in his hands were two containers that had a large corn dog inside them.
"We gave you guys a bigger portion since we wanted to treat our cute juniors for coming to our stall."
Holding the food, the two of them looked at the back where Sugawara was pointing and saw Kiyoko, Asahi and Daichi waving at them with a bright smile.
They quickly gave a small bow as they were grateful for their consideration and talked for a few moments before leaving through the doors.
"Can you take a video of me biting it?"
"You got it ma'am."
Haruto chuckled seeing Mahiru's excited appearance and took out his phone to take a video of her.
Seeing that phone, Mahiru took a large bite and pulled the corn dog away from her mouth and her eyes opened wide when she saw the large cheese pull that came out.
She felt a bit flustered but tried her best to chew the melted mozzarella causing her cheeks to puff up.
"You look just like a squirrel. How cute."
"..You should also eat yours before it turns cold.." Mahiru felt a bit shy hearing his words and urged him to eat too.
Chuckling at her attempt to change the subject, Haruto also took a bite and felt the warm mozzarella spread throughout his mouth.
"They did a great job making this."
Using his tongue to gather the loose strings of mozzarella on his lips, he savored the taste that mixed well with the condiments that came with it.
Licking some of the ketchup that fell on his finger he looked to his side and saw Mahiru quietly eating her food with stars shining in her eyes.
He looked at her face and noticed that she had some of the sauce stick to the side of her mouth.
"You have some sauce on the side of your mouth." He gestured at where the sauce was and Mahiru took a tissue to wipe it off.
"Is it gone?"
"There's still some left, stay still and let me get it."
Raising his hand, Haruto traced the corner of her lips with his thumb and carefully wiped off the remaining marks that were still on her face.
Mahiru felt the soft sensation of his thumb tracing her lips and looked at Haruto in a daze when she saw him lick the sauce off his thumb.
"There, all done."
Haruto broke into a small smile while Mahiru continued to look at him.
"...Is this father's influence on him…?"
"What about dad?"
"It's nothing, let's go see what the other stalls have."
Mahiru shook her head and pulled Haruto's arm while she turned her head away, hiding her face as she thought back to the action he did with a bashful look on her face.
***
I am sadly hit with the nerf that prevents me from eating cheese so rip to the potential cheese pulls I could've had. I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu.
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