Insane. He has
to be insane! Barely lunch hours and over four thousand guests
crowded the school.
Noriko staggered
when a huge man almost bowled her over. Maybe she should have stayed
in their room, but she refused to spend the entire festival indoors.
She had earned
her break, but at the moment she regretted coming here. The streets
were almost impassable, but soon the first major event in the gym
hall should remove some of the pressure on the stalls.
Loud laughing
voices and the smell of fast food sold around her belied the
frightened faces she saw in some of the stalls. Most of the students
manning them simply didn't understand how crowded the school had
become.
She hoped they
could stay ignorant for a while longer, because with understanding
came fear.
Irishima high had
arrived in force. She recognised a lot of their faces, and from
conversations she overheard she guessed the rest. What was worse was
the large number of Red Rose uniforms she saw. Almost all of them
from the middle school, but a few from the high school as well.
What's going
on? We never spoke of Himekaizen during my years there. That had
come later, and only as a suggestion from her parents. Why are you
in uniform? It's Sunday.
Noriko waved to a
freshman from 4:1 in one stall and was let inside.
“Sorry, but I
have to make a call,” she said to the baffled student in a yukata.
“Want a bite?”
the girl offered. “Just don't tell anyone.”
Noriko thought
for a few seconds. “Thank you. I'd love to,” she said. She
wouldn't be able to have lunch later anyway.
Sitting on the
ground she wolfed down takoyaki, and from time to time she looked up
and gave the girl a tankful look. “You're a lifesaver,” she said
after she swallowed the last ball. “Good! You make really good
takoyaki.”
“Thanks! Dad
runs a small restaurant and I help out some.”
“Send him my
regards.”
It was time to
make that call. She switched off her radio and dug in her pockets for
her cell phone. This wasn't a topic for the open channel.
“Ryu,” she
said after her brother answered, “there's an awful lot of Red Rose
students here.”
“I know,” he
answered. “I've told Urufu, and he's visiting Principal Nakagawa
right now.”
Noriko pushed
herself tighter under the counter to be as much out of the way as
possible. From where she sat on the ground she saw the three students
manning the stall frantically trying to serve an ever increasing
number of orders.
“Good, then
I'll leave it to him.” She crawled out from her corner and rose.
“Ryu we're in trouble down here. The main street stalls can't
handle this much longer.” During the time she spent eating even
more people had arrived.
“What do you
want me to do?”
“We can't allow
any more people inside until we can fill the gym hall or Kuri's
outdoor show is running.
“I'll cancel
the patrols and send them to the gates then. It's not like they're
much use with the school crammed anyway.”
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