The festival lights flickered on just as the sun began to sink.
Lanterns lined the streets near the pier, glowing soft gold against the deepening blue sky. Laughter filled the air. Music drifted between food stalls. It smelled like sugar and salt and summer.
Ren stood at the edge of it all.
He had come.
Aio was already holding two skewers of grilled squid, waving one around dramatically. "If you're going to mope, at least do it with food," he said.
Mio adjusted her yukata sleeve. "He's not moping," she said gently. "He's thinking."
"That's worse," Aio replied.
Ren barely heard them.
He kept imagining a space beside him where Yuna should have been.
Miles away, Yuna sat on the rooftop of her apartment building. The city had its own festival tonight—smaller, but bright. Fireworks would start soon. She could hear people gathering below.
Her phone rested beside her.
She hadn't decided whether to call.
Back at the pier, the first firework shot into the sky.
A sharp whistle.
Then—
Bloom.
Gold exploded over the ocean, reflected in the dark water below.
The crowd cheered.
Ren looked up, eyes wide despite himself.
Without thinking, he grabbed his phone.
Ren: They started.
Yuna smiled the moment it buzzed.
As if on cue, her sky answered.
A firework burst above the city skyline—blue and silver, scattering light like falling stars.
Yuna: Ours too.
He sent a picture.
She sent one back.
Different colors.
Different silhouettes.
Same moment.
Aio peeked over Ren's shoulder. "You two are disgustingly sentimental."
Ren didn't argue.
Another explosion filled the sky—red this time, bright and fierce.
Yuna lay back against the rooftop concrete, watching sparks fade into darkness. For the first time since moving, the loneliness didn't feel overwhelming.
It felt shared.
Her phone buzzed again.
Ren: Next summer. Same place. No distance.
Her heart skipped.
That wasn't a question.
It was a promise.
She typed slowly, carefully.
Yuna: Deal.
On the pier, Ren exhaled, tension easing from his shoulders.
Mio watched him and smiled softly.
Aio nudged him with his elbow. "See? You survived."
Ren glanced at the sky again as the biggest firework yet erupted overhead, flooding the ocean with light.
"We all did," he said quietly.
On a rooftop in another city, Yuna watched the same sky shimmer with color.
Fireworks you couldn't touch.
Moments you couldn't hold.
But feelings—
Those stretched farther than any distance.
Summertimes were coming.
And this one, even apart, still belonged to them.