Kunugigaoka Academy's school festival was already famous nationwide.
People came from other districts for it. Companies set up booths. Students showed off. In a normal year, the main campus looked like a small city.
This year, the crowd was even worse.
Three girls cut through all of it anyway.
They did not stop for crepes. They did not stop for haunted houses. They did not stop for Class A's booth, which had practically built an entire entertainment industry inside a single booth.
The white-haired girl pointed uphill and sped up.
"Hurry, hurry! I think it's that way!"
The black-haired girl reached for her sleeve and missed.
"Rina, can't you slow down? There are a lot of stalls here."
"Mei-senpai, we can't wait." Rina pointed up the slope without looking back. "This is already the second day, and I got information that they close as soon as the ingredients run out. We have to rush. I have to see him today."
The shortest of the three followed at a steadier pace, her gray hair tied into twintails, her expression already tired.
"Rina Idiotka. You came all this way just for a guy from a YouTube video. You're not even sure he's real."
"Shut it, Yana. He is real. I checked. He really is handsome." Rina put both hands on her cheeks. "Too bad he is still a junior high student. But it's fine. We're just freshmen in college. There's not much age difference. I can wait for him."
Mei's face tightened.
"Rina. Behave yourself. You can't just say that out loud."
Yana already had her phone out.
"Let me call the police."
"Don't worry about those small things!" Rina cheered and dragged them onward. "Let's go check it out."
They skipped the rest of the festival and hit the crowd at the foot of the mountain.
Class 3-E's gate was a painted mess of food, steam, knives, and plates. In the middle of it, bigger than the menu, was a smiling photo of a white-haired boy.
Rina pointed at it like she had won an argument.
"See? He is real."
Yana did not even slow down.
"Idiotka. That is still just a photo. We don't know how he actually looks."
Rina smiled.
"We will find out."
Yada was working the entrance with a stack of tickets and a smile that had already survived too many people.
"Welcome, welcome! Class E's mountain cooking! A new taste sensation, made with the mountain's natural goodness! You hunt your own ingredients, then the famous new chef, Hoshino Akira, cooks them for you!"
Rina slammed her hands onto the table.
"We need three tickets."
"Sure." Yada pointed at the painted markers leading into the trees. "Follow those. Those are the ingredient-card spots."
Mei blinked.
"Ingredient cards? Not actual ingredients?"
Yada explained.
"Yes. For your own safety. And so nobody wrecks the mountain. Cards only."
Yana raised a finger.
"I have a doubt. What if we cannot collect any cards on the treasure hunt?"
"Don't worry. There are minigames on the path. You only get one chance at each, though." Yada pointed uphill. "If you miss all of them, there's still a capsule machine at the top. Random, but you'll get something."
Mei looked at the map like a person who respected logistics.
"This is really well thought out for a school festival."
Rina was already bouncing.
"Don't worry about that. Let's go, Mei-senpai. Yana. My idol is waiting for me."
Yada called after them, still smiling, and added the last rule like a curse.
"By the way. Each person can only get three ingredient cards, okay? And you can't switch them. Good luck."
The three of them took their tickets and stepped onto the mountain path.
Rina first.
Mei after her, sighing.
Yana last, muttering that this was how people disappeared in forests.
Rina rushed in.
"Let's go, let's go! We have to collect all of them!"
Mei caught Rina's sleeve this time.
"Slow down, Rina."
Rina turned to look at her.
"What, Mei-senpai? Are you not interested in the handsome guy?"
Mei looked up the path, then at the painted food on the trees.
"I am. A little. Though I'm more interested in his cooking. I wonder if I can steal his techniques by watching."
Yana did not look up from the photo on her phone.
"I don't think that's possible. And I'm still skeptical. His eyes are just too beautiful for a person."
Rina beamed.
"That's why we rush! Let's go!"
They tried the hunt first.
It did not work.
The mountain path was already packed with people poking under signs, shaking bushes that had already been shaken, and arguing over cards that were no longer there. By the time the three of them reached a marker, the cards had already been taken.
Yana stopped at a fork.
"A suggestion. Why don't we try our luck in the mini-games?"
Rina pointed both hands at her.
"Yes. That's a better idea."
Mei nodded.
They took the first stall.
Balloon shooting.
Chiba stood with a rifle that looked far too serious for a school festival. Hayami checked the balloons with the calm of someone who never missed.
"Each of you gets one shot," Hayami said. "The card is inside the balloon, so it's random. If you miss, you don't get a second chance."
A tall man in a trench coat tilted his head.
"Why only a single bullet?"
Chiba answered without looking away from the line.
"Because we have skilled guests coming to our restaurant, Lovro-san. People like you. We don't want to lose too many ingredients."
Lovro made a small sound.
"Yeah. That makes sense."
The girls lined up.
Rina lifted her rifle.
"Let's go, everyone. Fire!"
Three shots.
Three balloons burst.
Mei's card: egg.
Yana's card: crayfish.
Rina's card: mushroom.
Rina held it over her head anyway.
"Yeah! This is fun! Next game!"
The next stall was ring toss.
Okano explained the same rule with a smile that said she had already watched people cry today.
"One ring. One chance. Card underneath."
They threw.
Mei: fish.
Yana: mountain spinach.
Rina's ring kissed the rim and fell off.
She dropped to the dirt.
"I can't believe I missed."
Mei crouched beside her. Yana patted her head once, like a person checking if a machine was still working.
Okano waved them on.
"Don't worry. There's still one more mini-game. And even if you get nothing there, we have the capsule machine."
Rina bounced up so fast the dust stayed behind.
"That's right. I can't lose hope until I see my idol."
Magnetic fishing was farther up, near the shade.
Kurahashi clapped her hands.
"Now everyone stand in line! Remember, you only get one chance! You have to get those cards, so be careful, okay?"
The children in front of her shouted,
"Yes!"
and immediately began slapping magnetic fishing poles into the water, with varying degrees of disaster.
One small voice piped up.
"Sakura-neechan, you have to get it!"
Sakura tightened her grip.
"Yes. I will."
Rina watched the kids like this had solved physics.
"Children are here too, so this must be easy. Let's go."
Mei and Yana sighed, then followed.
Magnets dipped. Cards clicked.
Mei: wild grapes.
Yana: lemon.
Rina: mushrooms.
Rina's scream cleared a little space in the line.
"Seriously? Mushrooms again?!"
Mei turned the two cards over, trying to find a difference.
"Well… maybe they are different types of mushrooms."
Yana looked at both.
"I don't think so."
Mei put a hand on Rina's back.
"Don't worry. There's still that capsule thing. I'm sure you'll get a good ingredient."
They saw the machine before they reached it.
Then they understood they had underestimated it.
The capsule unit was huge. Bright. It looked like someone had built a gacha machine for giants and left it in a school forest.
Rina stopped.
"How did they get something like this?"
Yana answered without blinking.
"It's possible they made it."
Rina turned to her.
"How?"
Mei pushed her forward.
"Anyway. Rina, you're the only one with two ingredients. Go get the third. We're cheering for you."
Rina nodded like she was entering a boss fight.
She turned the key.
A capsule the size of a basketball rolled out and hit the tray with a sound that made people look over.
The three of them gathered.
Rina opened it.
Mushrooms.
Rina stared into the plastic like it had betrayed her bloodline.
"How is it possible?"
Yana folded her arms.
"Perhaps the universe is trying to tell you something."
Rina shook her head.
"I don't want to hear it. And why mushrooms? We can't even switch!"
Mei was already thinking about pans.
"Don't worry. I heard that guy has to cook from any ingredients you give him. I wanted to see what he would do with just mushrooms."
Rina wiped her face.
"Fine. I'm sure he will make great food."
"Rina Idiotka," Yana said, but she followed anyway.
The old school building had been turned into a restaurant.
In the middle of the yard, a cooking theater sat under lights, with a line already stretching around it.
Behind the counter, a white-haired boy cooked like the rest of the mountain did not exist.
Calm hands. Clean cuts. Face lowered in concentration.
Rina made a noise that was not language.
Mei forgot the cards in her hand.
Yana looked at the boy, then at the paused video on her phone, then back.
"…He was real."
Rina grabbed both of them.
"AND HE LOOKS EVEN MORE HANDSOME IN REAL LIFE!"
Mei did not argue.
Yana only muttered,
"The video compression really was worse than this."
Akira tossed the wok with one hand and cut with the other.
He did not look rushed. He looked like a machine that had decided to be beautiful about it.
Mei watched the knife and the pan at the same time and muttered,
"How am I supposed to steal that?"
Rina grabbed her arm.
"Don't worry about that. Let's go meet him. Let's go talk to him."
Yana poured cold water on it immediately.
"Rina Idiotka. Can you not see that huge line?"
Rina finally saw it.
The line was not a line. It was a siege.
"How could this be…?"
Mei estimated it like homework.
"This might take hours."
Rina put a fist over her heart.
"Don't worry, Mei-senpai. I will not quit. I will achieve my goal even if I have to wait hours."
Mei and Yana sighed in the same key.
A soft voice appeared at their elbow.
"Excuse me, sisters. Can you fill out these forms?"
They turned.
A small, pretty student stood there with a clipboard, smiling like this was already the hundredth time today.
Mei took the paper.
"Oh. What is it?"
"It's just a form," Nagisa said. "If you have any allergies, and what they are. Also if there's a certain type of food you don't like."
Yana nodded.
"Oh. That's quite thorough."
Nagisa smiled.
"We wanted to give everyone the best experience possible."
Rina beamed at him.
"Thank you, little sister. We don't have any allergies, and we don't care much about food either. But can you tell me when we can meet that handsome guy?"
Nagisa's smile twitched.
This was not the first time today someone had decided he was a girl, and it was not the first time the next sentence had been about Akira.
"Don't worry. Akira-kun works really fast, so you might reach him faster than you think. If you'll excuse me."
He walked away before the follow-up questions could hatch.
Rina watched him go.
"What a cute girl. Anyway, she said soon, right? How soon?"
"Rina," Mei said. "Have some patience. I'm sure we can reach him fast."
Rina had no choice.
She waited.
The line moved anyway.
Akira was clearing plates the way other people blinked. Thirty minutes later, they were at the front, which should not have been possible and somehow was.
The three of them stood in front of him.
There was no trace of exhaustion on his face. He smiled at them like the mountain had been built for this one greeting.
"Oh, ladies. Welcome. Can you give me those cards?"
It was as if Cupid had shot three arrows at once, and all three had hit.
What is this.
How can someone like this exist.
Mei stammered.
"Y-yes. Yes. Here you go."
Egg. Fish. Wild grapes.
Yana held hers out properly.
"Greetings. And here are my cards."
Crayfish. Mountain spinach. Lemon.
Rina did not move.
Mei stepped on her foot.
"Rina."
Rina came back into her body with a jolt.
"Sorry, little brother. I was just a little lost in thought. Here. My cards."
Three mushrooms.
Akira looked at them, understood immediately, and smiled like this was a kindness.
"Don't worry, sister. No need to be nervous. Take a deep breath and leave everything to me. I will make sure you have a great time."
It hit them like a Kamehameha to the face.
All three had the same thought, at the same volume, with no shame left.
Ikemen da!!
They did not even notice the voice grumbling in the distance.
"I know I was the one who told him to act like that, but still… but still…"
"Please calm down, Erika-san," Kanzaki whispered, holding her sleeve.
Akira was already working.
Three dishes. Same stove. Same hands. No wasted motion.
Up close, it was worse than the video. Heat, sound, the exact second a sauce turned glossy. Mei forgot to blink. Rina forgot to breathe. Yana forgot to be skeptical.
Then three plates landed in front of them.
Akira turned to Mei first.
"Here, sister. Deep-fried fish with wild grape sauce."
Then to Yana.
"Steamed crayfish, spinach salad, and lemon vinaigrette."
Then to Rina.
"And finally, for you, sister. Mushrooms three ways. Mushroom steak, mushroom sauce, and crispy fried mushroom on top."
All three stared at the last plate.
He actually made an only-mushroom dish?
Akira smiled.
"Please enjoy your food."
They took the plates to a table and ate.
One bite.
Their taste buds exploded.
All three of them cried.
"This is so good—"
"I never expected it—"
"Marry me—"
They finished the food in a dream, tears and all, and only when the plates were empty did the world come back.
Rina looked down in horror.
"Oh no. It's already over. And I'm still hungry."
Yana set her chopsticks down with grave respect.
"The taste is so good. But the portions are so small."
Mei wiped her eyes, trying to become a person again.
"Don't worry. We can get more food at the other booths."
Nakamura appeared as if summoned by revenue.
"Oh, big sisters. Still not full? Don't worry. You can order more from our restaurant."
Rina's head snapped up.
"We can order more from Akira?"
Nakamura smiled.
"Not from him. The dishes might not be as good as his, but I promise you'll love them. I personally recommend our acorn noodles. They have real acorn in them."
Rina did not need a second pitch.
"Acorn noodles? Okay. I'll try. I'm hungry."
They ordered from the normal restaurant and ate until the hole in their chests closed.
Rina sat back at last, full and ruined.
"I'm full. But it seems like it's time for us to leave. When will I ever meet him again…"
A shadow with perfume leaned over the table.
Irina smiled the smile of a woman selling limited hope.
"Oh? Want to meet him again? You're in luck. He has a concert this evening. Just one song. Limited tickets. I would hurry if I were you."
Rina stood so fast the chair complained.
"What? Why didn't you say so before?! Let's go, everyone! We have to get those tickets!"
Mei and Yana sighed and followed her anyway.
They also wanted to hear him sing.