modern

It was late in the afternoon. School had let out a long time ago, and the people remaining behind were either stuck in detention, didn't want to head home or were part of a club. The weather was sunny, with a hint of cloud, and there was just enough of a breeze to siphon the heat away to make it cool instead of swelteringly hot.

In the fields at the back of the school, Seiyuu Akihiko was stretched out on the grass, resting his head on his arms. With his eyes closed, he looked like he was taking a nap, but that was far from the case. Instead, he was reviewing the advice (if it could even be called that) Mikami-Sensei had said yesterday and the reasons for why.

Something about Fairytales fracturing reality after the stupid festival last month (he could've won! Akihiko just - didn't choose to, all the other normals should be grateful for that chance in the spotlight), and magic coming to life. Akihiko hadn't really paid attention to those bits, since they hadn't involved him. Yesterday during club activities, however, the teacher had said something to all of them.

"It'd be good if we could get more people to join the club," Mikami-Sensei had said, leaning against the wall. "If you see any people with brands, like ours, try to see if they can join the club, alright?"

Hmph. Akihiko's brows furrowed together in annoyance at the memory. Why should he, of all people, be tasked with such a boorish chore?! Surely others could do such a thing? Not that Akihiko couldn't - he could talk others into joining perfectly! (conveniently ignoring that most of his attempts at talking to people were more talking at people and had a tendency to end badly). He just didn't want to! That was all! The others could surely take over the task for him.

Still.... there was a buzzing sound near his ear. Eyes flying open, Akihiko flung himself upwards like a catapult. Still seated on the grass, he looked around wildly for the source of the buzzing.

Nothing. Not a fly in sight, just a mosquito. With a shudder, Akihiko slapped it away. Even after the curse was dealt with, Akihiko couldn't stand the sight of anything smaller than his thumbnail that could fly without shivers going down his back.

Who knew if it would come back....

Maybe he should put at least a little effort into finding out who had brands. Showing generosity by providing the poor sensei some help! Not because he couldn't handle it, of course, why ever would people ever think that. But showing kindness to those below him isn't such a bad thing! With that, Akihiko stood up. Brushing his clothes free from dirt and grass, Akihiko picked up his bag once he had made sure he'd look immaculate as always and set off for the clubs, walking towards the walkway.

Halfway to the building, he bumped into someone, a girl with brown hair who was accompanied by another girl (boy?) with blonde hair. Akihiko dusted himself off with a scowl. "Watch where you're going!" he snapped, shooting them a glance before preparing to head off.

---

---

The Watanabe restaurant was located on the edge of town, a fifteen-minute walk from Takazara's beach. Though not a landmark or the hippest tent in town, the restaurant had remained one of the local darlings. The building had a Minka feel to it and it's construction dated back generations to the Edo period. From the traditional roof protection's on it's vernacular, Gasshō-style roof to the many trinkets from all over the world displayed in it's windows; the Watanabe restaurant was loaded with all kinds of history.

The interior of what had once been an artisan's house, had been refurbished into a lounge. On the ground floor, the guests sat on futons along low wooden tables, where they could see the kitchen behind the counter. Many of the walls had decorative carvings of deities etched in them – and the restaurant's owner, mister Watanabe, would proudly tell any customer that his forefathers had carved art for the lords of the time. According to mister Watanabe, those carvings in the walls were the sketches leading up to his great, great, great grandfathers their art. The first floor was reserved for busier nights or exclusive reservations, but many of the regulars better enjoyed the company down below.

Having been passed down from generation to generation, the Watanabe restaurant had kept traditional and regional foods on the menu. Many of it's regulars were Takazara's elderly, families with young children, red-skinned tourists and curious foreigners. On a beach day like this, the restaurant was guaranteed to be buzzing in the evening and the family's son, Watanabe Tatsuo, thanked his lucky stars he didn't have a kitchen duty.

Tatsuo had opened his chemistry book from behind the register – for as long as the afternoon remained relatively quiet, he had time to study for his upcoming test. Tatsuo placed his hand over the textbook page to test himself if he remembered what he'd just read. Now how many carbon atoms are in this molecule again...

“Hah, that's my boy!” Tatsuo's father walked up behind him and ruffled his hair.

“Dad!” Tatsuo jumped up from his seat, causing his old man to chuckle. “Not in front the customers.” Tatsuo muttered under his breath, as he tried to pat his hair back down.

“Can't a father be proud of his son?” Mister Watanabe waved his son's complaint away. “You know how many fathers would kill for a kid that took their studies so seriously?” Tatsuo's dad leaned in closer to poke Tatsuo's side with his elbow. “I brag about it to my friends, you know!”

“Dad!” Tatsuo shot up again, about to sweat bullets as he felt the gazes of customers creep up on him.

“What? Hana understands, don't you Hana-chan?” Mister Watanabe beckoned one of the waitresses; Tsukino Hana, Tatsuo's senior in school and part-time employee at the restaurant. “It's just the way parents show their love, am I right or am I right, Hana-chan?” Tatsuo could just feel the blush heating up his face as he tried to avoid the girl's eyes and dove back into his text book.

“Anyway, this one's for table four.” Mister Watanabe handed a tray with two bowls of fish head soup. The eyes were still clear, picked with care for the elderly couple of regulars it was meant for. “Can you get it for me?”

“Oh and Tatsuo,” Mister Watanabe added after handing Hana the tray, “You take care of those two customers over there, will you?”

Tatsuo looked up from his textbook and saw two familiar faces about the enter the restaurant. Nishizaka Mashiro and Nishizaka Minoru, two other seniors from Ichiro High and fellow members of the recently formed after-school Buster Club.

“Welcome, Nishizaka-senpai.” Tatsuo scrambled himself together, grabbed a menu from the counter and walked up to greet the pair of cousins. “How may I help you?” He asked, as he offered the carte to his upperclassmen.

"So I'm assigned to the loony bin again huh?" Takeshi huffed as he collected the necessary cleaning equipment from the supply room. Inside, a lot of the senior staff members were getting ready: dressing up, mixing soap and water and putting out their cigs and taking out their trash.

The loony bin AKA the Fairy Tale Club. Takeshi's always wondered what the deal was with that club. And he had seen a bunch of weird clubs back in Shikoku even. As he usually started from the first floor up, it would be some time before he gets to the club room in question.

"Hey Ichinose-san!" He calls to a fellow janitor doing the desks as he takes off the AC filter on one of the units in the first year classroom to dust it off. The way things usually go is that filters are cleaned almost daily while the actual units themselves are cleaned once a month. As it hasn't been some time since the last deep clean they've conducted, there really wasn't much to do apart from cleaning the dust off the filters.

"What is it?" The older male asked, not looking up from the windows he was wiping.

"What do they do in the loony bin anyway?" Takeshi asked. He recalls installing the lighting and ventilation in that room. Lots of books. It almost resembled a small library even.

"I don't know. Maybe they make your dreams come true if you know what I mean eh? Haha~" The older male laughed.

"Well, I suppose that's not too far off." Takeshi goes along with the joke, placing the filter back in its right spot as he balanced on the small ladder.

"Seriously kid. Have you never had those kinds of club in your old school before?"

"I've seen my fair share of weird clubs old man. This is on a whole different level of weird." Takeshi jumps down, taking the ladder with him and following the older out of the room and into the next.

"There was the occult research club run by that British chick. The drama club and their secret gatherings for "research". A club for kids who never outgrew their toys. But I've never, in my life, heard of a club that studies fairy tales." Takeshi recalls his experiences as he got to work on the next AC unit.

"Hmm...I think it's an extension of the Classics Club. This one probably just chose to specialize in children's stories." Ichinose grunted as he also started on his task. "It's probably run by a bunch of nerds who can't get their noses out of their make-believe worlds. The adviser's a good man though. I've seen him around a couple of times."

"Oh yeah, him. Got my first compliment from him. Said I was 'interesting'."

"No kidding?"

"Yep. Apparently people who almost went to jail for something they didn't do is what counts for interesting nowadays." Finishing up the second unit, Takeshi again, jumps down from the ladder, wiping off some dirt on the back of his right hand, revealing a small rash developing on it. Ichinose notices this too.

"Weird. Did you eat something funny?" He asked, thinking it may lead to something worse. "You've been hanging out with that gypsy right? Maybe you're having allergies to the things she cooks."

"I don't know. This has been around for some time. Not a whole year though and I've always eaten Stella's cooking ever since I moved in." Takeshi explained, finding the mark a lot more puzzling every time he glanced at it.

"Hmm...probably a bite from one of them nasty buggers lurking in those vents. Try rubbing toothpaste on it. See what happens." Ichinose shrugged and the two made their way to the next room. They overheard a man passing by and a sharp retort directed to a couple of students ahead.

"Kid drama?" Takeshi wondered, still with the ladder hoisted over his shoulders.

"It's that guy who gets into fights. Leave him be." Ichinose just sighed and forged on.

---

"Well, last stop's yours." Ichinose pats Takeshi on the back as they reached the landing leading to the club rooms. From this point on, only Takeshi needed to go to clean out the ACs. The rest of the cleaning were expected from the club members so Ichinose wasn't really needed at this point.

"Yeah. I'll be saving the loonies last though. Maybe I'll still be around when they start their uhh...studying."

"Yeah, you do that kid. Hey! If they do make your dreams come true, just give me a holler okay?"

"Well my dream's different from yours but fine. See you old man!"

Working in silence, Takeshi finished the right wing in record time. The ACs were positioned a little lower this time, given that these are rather new acquisitions so he didn't really need to set the ladder up to reach them on the ceiling. One last room.

"Right. Well--" Takeshi gives the door a couple of light raps before opening it and letting himself in. Non-club members are usually berated for doing so but he was a janitor right now. Ichinose assured him that he can technically walk in if he wants.

"AC cleaning reporting for duty. Will only take a few seconds--" He speaks up as he enters, towing his supplies along.

So far her shift had been going well. No forgetful or clumsy mistakes, this had Hana in a really jolly mood. She was peacefully enjoying the afternoon, and as she was to approach the counter Mr. Watanabe was ruffling the hair on Tatsuo’s head. Bringing her hand up to cover her smile, Hana giggled lightly into her palm. Well, if I had a child who studied that hard I’d be over the moon. Hana couldn’t help but be a little impressed by Watanabe’s motivation to study because she found it difficult to do it herself. Compared to what she might be doing instead, studying was always something she procrastinated over.

Hana straightened her back when Mr. Watanabe asked her a question. Not too sure how to answer at first, she hesitated a second before smiling and speaking softly, “Right. My father would be just as happy if I studied like your son does. Truly something to be proud of.”


As she was asked to take the orders of fish head soup over to an elderly couple, Hana nodded politely and replaces the empty tray she has been carrying by sliding it onto the counter before she receives the the right tray from her boss. “Got’cha.” She spoke pleasantly as she noticed Tatsuo’s bright and embarrassed face while walking away to deliver to the pair of regulars. She knew how he must’ve felt at that moment. Even her father, a relatively serious and cold man sometimes had his moments of embarrassing his girls. It must be a parent thing.

While making her way to table four, Hana's face brightens up again as she greeted the customers who have already taken a liking to the waitress for her hospitality. "Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura. It's nice to see you two again." She gently placed the bowls down before bowing slightly as the elderly folk smiled back at her. "Please enjoy your meal." Hana then turned away to check on the other customers to make sure that everything is how it should be. As she turned she recognized two familiar faces, faces from school, but she continued with what she was doing as Watanabe had them covered. She wondered though... Aren't they apart of some new club?