Today is the summer festival, the day we promised each other to meet and enjoy our holiday together before school starts.
"This is pepper spray, buzzer call, and... I should buy a stun gun next time..."
"Mom, please. I know you're worried about me, but I can handle it by myself."
"Did you already forget what I told you the last time?"
"Honey, let him take care of himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't enjoy it with his friends." — Dad said.
"If something happens, call me!" — Mom said that while being dragged by my father.
Well, there's still a bit of time left before we're supposed to meet. Guess I'll just wait here.
"Hello handsome, you really look good with yukata. Why don't you come with us to hang around?"
"Yeah, instead of waiting for someone, you can just hang around with us. We promise that we will have a good time."
Two girls are hitting on me right now. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I won't lie that I feel good being desired by girls, but at the same time that shows that everyone who warned me was right.
But regardless...
"I'm waiting for my friends."
"But we could be your friends too!"
"Girls, no matter what you say to me, I won't move from here unless you two grab me by force. Though, I still think you two would struggle with that."
"Okay, okay... You could just say no."
Then both of the girls went off.
"You really can deal with girls by yourself." — Ryuichi came from nowhere.
"I guess the one who got the male scholarship is something else." — Tachibana-san was with him.
"And you two were only watching me?"
"If you started going with them, we would interfere." — Ryuichi said.
"Sorry Tomoki-san, we were kind of curious how you would deal with them." — Tachibana-san said.
"I see, I see... next time I'll do the same to you... Ryuichi."
"You with your jokes, how funny... you're joking, right?"
"Tomoki-san, you look great with yukata! It's refreshing to see it."
"Thanks, Tachibana-san! And even if you're not wearing yukata, you look good too. Especially the clip, I noticed you changed it and it fits really well."
"Hey! Don't ignore me!"
"Thanks, Tomoki-san. You're the first person who said that to me."
"Seriously? It's a shame some guy doesn't notice it."
"Well... when you say it like that, sorry. I really didn't notice it." — said Ryuichi, I guess I went too far.
"It's okay, Satou-san... It´s okay..."
"I'm just messing with you, buddy. Though I'm still gonna watch you."
"Come on Tomoki, you wouldn't do that to your friend."
"On the contrary. Because you're my friend, I must watch you."
"What's the logic!?"
"Pftt— hahaha, sorry, you two are funny." — Tachibana-san laughed at us.
"Did I miss something? Hello everyone." — Ayame-san...
When I looked at her, she was just... wonderful. I already saw her in yukata at the ryokan, but this time I noticed she was wearing makeup and earrings.
"Edomae-san! You look so beautiful!" — Tachibana-san complimented her.
"Your earrings really match with your yukata. You look great!" — It seems he's improving.
"Fufu~ thanks, both of you. Tomoki-kun, you really look good in yukata. I kind of want to take a photo of you."
"And I... I want to make a photo frame of you. You look... wonderful." — I was really mesmerized by her.
"Then how about we take a selfie? Let's do this!" — Tachibana-san proposed.
Then Tachibana-san took her smartphone, and we grouped together to take a photo.
"This looks nice!" — Tachibana-san said.
"Hey Tomoki, what kind of face is that?" — Ryuichi asked.
"Fufu~ this is the first time seeing you making this face." — Ayame-san commented.
"Seriously? Was that bad? Let me see..."
Yep, I look like a dumb in this photo. Was I too mesmerized by Ayame-san?
"Okay, now what do we do?" — Tachibana-san asked.
"Let's try goldfish scooping, I really wanted to try." — Ryuichi said.
"I'm okay with that." — I replied.
"I want to try too." — Ayame-san said.
So... in the first stall.
"I got three! Look!" — Tachibana Himari.
"I got only one. Man, this is hard." — Satou Ryuichi.
"Fufu~ somehow I got ten." — Edomae Ayame.
"Aunt, let me try again!" — Me.
Second stall, yo-yo tsuri.
"Haha... I got only one this time." — Tachibana Himari.
"I got two! Hey, it's really fun when you get it." — Satou Ryuichi.
"Tomoki-kun, you can have mine. It's for you." — Edomae Ayame.
"Aunt, let me try again!" — ...
Third stall, shooting game.
"Yay! I got the plush penguin!" — Tachibana Himari.
"Phew— somehow I got this magic cube." — Satou Ryuichi.
"Tomoki-kun, look! I got two daruma dolls, you can have one." — Edomae Ayame.
"One more please!" — ... do I need to tell who said that?
Fourth stall, katanuki.
"..." — Tachibana Himari.
"..." — Satou Ryuichi.
"..." — Edomae Ayame.
"..." — Why is everyone staring at me?
"... boy, you really suck." — Aunt from the katanuki stall.
I could only glare at her, because the moment she said that, I broke my candy into tiny pieces.
♦♦♦
"This takoyaki is amazing! It's sooo good!" — Tachibana-san said.
"You're right! This is my first time eating this!" — Satou Ryuichi added.
"This is the summer festival for you, don't you agree, Tomoki-kun?" — Ayame-san asked me.
"Yeah, it's delicious! Man, it's the FIRST stall I spent money on and got something in return."
Everyone looked at each other and then burst into laughter.
"Ahaha! You never cease to impress me!" — Tachibana-san said.
"Pfft— Man, you really suck. I was holding back when that aunt said that!" — Ryuichi said.
"Pftt— sorry, I mean, in all the stalls— Ahahaha!" — Ayame-san kept laughing.
I couldn't get any prizes by myself. The only ones I got were from Ayame-san, who kept giving them to me despite my refusal. Now, whenever I see those prizes, they'll just remind me how incompetent I am.
Despite that, this is the first time I've hung out with my friends in this world. I'm really enjoying it, and I kind of get sentimental whenever I realize that.
I wonder how my old friends are now...
Enough reminiscing. Let's keep enjoying.
"It's almost firework time! Let's go!" — Ryuichi warned us.
Then we headed to the spot where we could see the fireworks.
"I'm really excited! My heart is almost jumping out of my mouth." — Tachibana-san said.
THREE!
"Wow! So many people! I need to prepare my camera." — Ryuichi said.
TWO!
"I wonder how they'll display the fireworks." — After all, it's another world.
ONE!
"Tomoki-kun, thanks for always staying by my side. Know that I will always lo—"
TAMAYA!
BOOM!
"Ayame-san!? Sorry! I couldn't hear you well!"
"Hahaha! I just wanted to test the ultimate firework censorship. It worked!" — Ayame-san was really bursting with laughter.
"Wait, was that important? Please tell me."
"No way! It's not something I'd tell anyone"
"So you'll play like this? Fine then. Listen well, the reason why I can talk normally with women is because I came—"
BOOM!
"You what!? I demand an explanation!"
"No way! It's something I'll take to my grave! Muwahaha!"
"Mou~!" — She pouted, how cute.
While Ayame-san and I were using the fireworks to mess up our lines of thought, Ryuichi and Tachibana-san were talking to each other about something too.
"Look at them. Who knew both of them act like children. Not that I can talk about others. Hahaha!" — Satou Ryuichi.
"..." — Tachibana Himari.
"Tachibana-san... are you perhaps... for Tomoki?"
"Oh, me? Hehe... it's alright, I already knew it."
"..."
"Sorry to make you worry. But as you probably know, I'm interested in Senpai now, you know him too, right?"
"Yeah, you're right! Sorry to ask a silly thing."
"It's okay, I'm kind of thirsty so tell them that I went to buy some juice. I shouldn't have screamed that loud."
"Sure, send us a message if something happens."
"Okay!"
Before I knew it, Tachibana-san had gone somewhere. Ryuichi explained that she needed to buy some beverages because of her throat. Well, I should buy too because I kind of raised my voice a lot.
♦♦♦
Pant!
"Hey! Look where you're going!"
Sob.
"Can't you slow down? You're bumping into everyone!"
"... pant... sorry..."
[Thanks, Tachibana-san! And even if you're not wearing yukata, you look good too. Especially the clip, I noticed you changed it and it fits really well.]
"Why are you the one saying that... sob"
[... Man, it's the FIRST stall I spent money on and got something in return.]
"How can you easily joke like that... hahaha... sob"
And then, she started recalling another boy.
[So you'll go with your friends now? And with that guy... Okay, my girlfriends asked me to go with them today, so I'll do that. It's a shame you're not wearing yukata, you would look better with it.]
"Unfair... just unfair... where did I go wrong... why..."
While she was distracted, she bumped into a man who was carrying a bunch of takoyakis.
"Kya!"
"Woah!"
When she opened her eyes, she realized the mess she had made. All the food was splattered across the ground.
"What's that girl doing? Poor guy." — one of the witnesses muttered.
"That's what happens when you're hasty. I hope she pays for it." — said another person passing by.
Then, Tachibana Himari started apologizing.
"Sorry, I'm really sorry, let me—"
"Hey! Are you okay!? You hit your head pretty hard on my shoulder — that must've hurt... And—holy shi—! Your clothes! I'm so sorry for ruining your beautiful outfit... even your hair clip!"
"Eh!?"
"Miss? Can you stand up? Wait, there's an emergency stall right there. Excuse me."
Then the boy proceeded to carry her.
"Ehhhh!?"