It's finally the day...

Yeah.
Also, I can't wait to see what the other classes are gonna do.

And we get to vote on which did the best, right? How awesome would it be to win first prize?!

F-First might be kinda tough...
I heard the other classes also put a lot of effort into their things.

Hey, you guys!

Oh... Hi, Akiyama, Aoyagi...

Your class is performing a dance routine, right? Don't you guys need to change? Do you still have time?

Yup!
When we drew straws to see who's gonna go first, our class ended up somewhere towards the end!

Your class made a film, right?
How'd it turn out...?

Just fine. Shooting it wasn't easy, but all that's left for us is to have everyone watch it.

I dunno if I'm gonna be nervous or excited when it plays.

Does that mean the shoot went well...?

It did. And the books you found for me really helped a lot, Aoyagi.

Sorry I couldn't thank you sooner.
But I really appreciate what you did for me...

While we're on the subject, Li'l Bro, you're the star, right? I can't wait to see how you did.

Just sit and watch quietly for me, will you?

The opening ceremony for the first annual Kamiyama High School Arts Festival will now begin. We ask that you all please take your seats.

Oh, it's starting!
Let's go rejoin our class!

See you later, guys!
It's the first ever arts festival, so let's make it a fun one♪

(Everyone's gonna see our film soon...)

(It doesn't screen for a while, but my heart's already pounding... I'm not sure it's gonna make it through the whole thing...)

“Thank you all for watching...”

“Thank you very much!!!”

That was a great play!
Kamishiro's class did such a good job!

But it sorta didn't make any sense...
What happened to paying homage to “The Phantom Of The Opera”...?

I wouldn't have guessed there'd be a passage to another world hidden underground, or that they'd fight a dragon there... It is something they'd come up with, though.

(They did put on a really good performance, but I couldn't focus on it towards the end...)

(Because... Next...)

That concludes Class 3-C's play.
Next, we have a film by Class 2-A.

Our screening of “The Wandering Cook: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale of Gourmet Martial Arts” will now begin.

This is it...

Yeah... I'm so nervous...
My face is gonna be on that screen.

It's way too late to be saying anything like that.

Look who's talking. You seem pretty tense.
I bet you're just as nervous.

Quiet...

(These two get nervous about stuff?)

(I really got to see a new side of everyone through this festival...)

Oh, it's starting...!

“Far in the future...
A series of disasters has led humanity to the brink of extinction...”

“Huff... Huff...
I'm almost home...”

“I'm just a humble cook...”

Hey, An and Li'l Bro are both doing a pretty good job!

Yes, they are...

“I'm a cook...
My purpose in life is to make the best food I can for those who need it...”

“I don't care how hard it's going to be for me to do that. I'm not giving up...!”

Well now... Those are some very convincing stunts.

They must've practiced quite a lot.

“No, Mr. Cook, where are you going...?!”

“Please stay...!
I want you to stay in this village forever and ever!”

“Yeah, boss! You even helped us change our ways! After we attacked you, we became so hungry that we couldn't move... But then you made food for us...”

“You also reminded us of the importance of wanting to serve people the best food possible regardless of who comes asking...!”

“Yeah! So, please stay in this village and teach us your ways!”

“I'm a cook...”

“I have a purpose to fulfill.”

“Yeah, we know...
You have to keep helping everyone that's in need of your cooking.”

“But promise me this...”

“If we ever need your cooking again, you have to come back and make food for us, okay...?”

“Okay, I promise.”

“And so, the Wandering Cook resumed his journey to help those in need of good food.”

“He would venture back into the wastes, but a figure kept watching over him. The girl as she awaited his return.”

“Goodbye, Mr. Cook.”

That concludes all the presentations for the first annual Kamiyama High School Arts Festival.

Every class did such an amazing job!
I really loved the dance routine Mizuki's class did!

Aoyagi looked like he had fun dancing too.

But everyone cheered like crazy when they saw our film. That means we did a pretty good job too, right?

Yeah!
Do you think we have a shot at winning?!

Haha. I dunno about that.
I mean, Kusanagi said it's gonna be hard for us to...

We might actually have a shot...

What?

To tell you the truth, I was worried sick this whole time...

I thought we did a good job since we worked really hard on it, but I still wasn't sure how others would react to it...

Kusanagi...

But I could see that everyone was enjoying it once they started watching it...

Including me.
Once it started playing on the big screen...

I found myself also having fun!

When everyone first asked me to direct our film, I wasn't at all sure how I'd do...

I'm really shy...
I also felt this wall between me and all of you guys.

You did?

Y-Yeah... But I got to know all of you as we worked on our film and became more comfortable as time went on.

And I'm really glad we did this.

Kusanagi...

Kusanagi!

Eep!
Wh-Why are you shaking my hand...?

Hehe♪
What you just said makes me feel so happy!

So, thank you!
Making that film with you was super duper fun!

Yeah, I also had a lot of fun!
We should go fly drones together again sometime!

And you promised to go clothes shopping with me, remember?

You gotta stop by my dojo sometime!
I wanna introduce our film's director to all the kids!

All of you...

Thanks.

Alright, you guys, settle down...

Thank you all for being so patient.
We have our tallies.

Oh...

It's time...

I hope we do well since we worked so hard on our film...!

We'll get started right away by announcing our third-place winner.
Class 2-B.

With their interpretive dance titled “Alligator: Where Will The Waters Take Us?”

Please send a representative up to the stage.

We did it, Akiyama...!

Yeah! It was really tough conceptually, but I'm glad we worked so hard on the costumes for it!

Next, in second place comes...
Class 1-A with their orchestral rendition of “A Sonata For You”.

Oh, that class with the orchestra...

They even roped in the music teacher. It's hard to believe some were playing their instruments for the first time...

Yeah, they definitely deserve a spot on the podium...!

(Which just leaves first place...)

(Maybe we never really had a shot. But...)

Now, in first place.
The winner of the first annual Kamiyama High School Arts Festival is...

Class 3-C!
With their play titled “The Phantom Of The Opera And The Tunnel To Another World”.

Yeeeessss!
We did it, Rui!

We really did. Thank you, Tsukasa, everyone... Our hard work paid off.

That's too bad...

Yeah...
I really thought we had a chance too.

But not placing isn't the end of the world.
To me, what we made means...

Next, we have a special prize from our judge.

Huh...?

A special prize...?

Oh, our teacher did mention something about inviting a special guest to serve as the judge...

We've specially invited screenwriter Mr. Heizaburo Taniyama to serve as our judge today. And his decision is in.

Our special prize goes to... Class 2-A!

What...?

Whaaaat?!?!

To be honest, as a screenwriter, I wasn't sure how this class was going to keep the story in this film together. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

However, they ended up doing a wonderful job. And in every frame, I could tell that they really worked as a team to make this film happen.

I believe the tale of the Wandering Cook was an extraordinary expression of your youth... And I hereby award you with this prize. Congratulations.

Oh...

We did it, Kusanagi!
We won the judge's prize!

Yeah... I'm so glad...!

Will the representative for Class 2-A please come join us on the stage to accept this trophy.

The representative...?

Guess who, right?

Yup!
Go on up, Kusanagi!

Huh? M-Me...?!

Go! You're the director!

O-Okay...

Congratulations on your fantastic film.

Th-Thank you very much.

(This trophy's heavier than I expected...)

(It's like I'm carrying everyone with me...)

Over here, Director! We wanna take some pictures!

Way to go, Director!

Y-You guys...

(I'm a bit different from them, and they're still really prone to getting excited over the littlest things...)

(But I'm so glad I agreed to become the director...)

(I hope we get to have more fun and keep doing stuff like this together.)