The bright orange light from the lanterns littered across the streets gave the festival a strange warmth amidst the breezy winter winds.
Stalls of food, games, and so many other activities made the entire experience feel overwhelming for Hyogo and Lloyd.
They were walking through those busy streets with Izumi, someone who seemed all too familiar with the setting. At first, there was a somber mood to him, but he lightened once the conversation between them kicked into high gear.
"You should have seen the look on their faces when she told them that," he said to Hyogo. "It was like their souls were plucked out of their bodies."
"I'm kind of glad that I wasn't there to see her bad side," he said, trying to envision what Kanami's expression would have been like during the conversation he was describing.
"Where were you, by the way?" Lloyd asked.
"You've been sneaking around a lot lately," Izumi added. "That's quite suspicious."
"I'm not glued to you for more than ten seconds and you assume that I'm up to something," he said. "It almost seems like you're obsessed with me."
"Don't give us that crap. We know you're up to something," Izumi said.
"Fess up already," Lloyd said.
"Is it really that important to you what I do in my free time?" he asked. "This interrogation is making me feel suffocated."
"You've gotten really good at averting attention lately," Izumi said. "Why would you need that skill if you weren't hiding something?"
"Just cut it out," he said in an exhausted tone. "Let's just talk about something else."
"Like where are Miyuki and Ayako right now?"
"They told us to meet them by the statue," Lloyd replied.
"Where did they go?" he asked.
"I think they said something about picking up their robes from the tailor or something. I wasn't paying attention," Izumi replied. "I guess we'll find out when we get there."
"And we can sample some food on our way," he said, diverting toward a food stall.
The two of them were forced to follow as he hopped from one stall to another, sampling everything in sight.
By the time they made it to the statue, they were almost half an hour late. As you could tell, Miyuki was certainly not pleased.
The two of them immediately burst into an argument while Ayako, Hyogo, and Lloyd just watched.
"So how did the trip to the tailor go?" Lloyd asked Ayako.
"Great. He managed to fix up some of our old robes until they looked brand new," she replied while spreading her arms out, letting the sleeves of her deep red robe hang.
"It looks nice," Hyogo said softly, almost like a whisper.
"Thanks," she replied. "But I wish Kanami could have worked on it. She is much better at sewing and reviving torn robes."
"She really does have her work cut out for her thanks to the twins," Lloyd said. "I'm glad I asked her to fix my old clothes earlier."
With Miyuki and Izumi joining in, Ayako asked, "What do we do now?"
"I'm pretty much full, so I think I'll just go ahead to the shrine to meet Yuriko and Takae," Izumi said.
"Great, let's go," she said, but the three of them—Izumi, Lloyd, and Miyuki—exchanged glances, and Miyuki said, "The three of us will go on ahead. You two stay behind."
"Oh, do you need to talk about tomorrow?" she asked, and they nodded as if it was the perfect excuse.
Before they left, she pushed her closer to Hyogo and said, "I'm sure you two will be fine alone."
By the time she turned back, the three of them were already walking away. She just stood there watching them until she felt Hyogo take her hand and guide her in the opposite direction.
It was sudden, so she almost lost her balance, turning around.
"Slow down," she said, trying to match his pace. "What's the rush?"
"There's so much to do, so let's hurry," he said while looking away.
"You're right," she said, catching up to him. "I guess this is kind of like your first festival, right? Though not in the same way as it is for Lloyd."
"I guess," he said nervously.
She stared down at their locked hands and said, "I'm sorry about my rough hands. They must not feel very girly."
"On the contrary, I like rough hands because it makes mine feel a bit softer in comparison," he joked.
"Are you saying that my hands are rougher than yours?" she shot.
"What do you think?" he asked with a smirk.
"Damn you. You just had to go and ruin the mood, didn't you?" she said while trying to squeeze his hand, but she was the one who ended up getting hers squeezed.
He couldn't help but laugh as she was forced to crouch down from the pain, and she swore to get him back.
Meanwhile, Izumi, Lloyd, and Miyuki were on their way to the shrine.
"So how do you think it's going?" Miyuki asked.
"We did put them in the spot like that, so I'm guessing it's pretty awkward," Lloyd replied.
"But knowing them, they'll lighten up to each other in no time," Izumi said. "Hopefully some of that festival magic will rub off on them and they'll finally stop beating around the bush."
"What does happen?" Lloyd asked. "We've already seen all the stalls and games, but is there something else?"
"Yeah. Towards midnight, they set off some fireworks," Miyuki replied.
"Fireworks?" he asked. "What are those?"
"They're like sparkling balls of fire that explode into patterns in the air," Izumi replied, trying to mimic them with his hands.
"Wow, that's very descriptive," Lloyd said in a sarcastic tone.
"It's better if you see them for yourself instead of going off anything we can give you," Miyuki said.
"So did festivals happen often in the villages you guys came from?" he asked.
"They were pretty rare in ours since there weren't that many people," Miyuki replied. "I think it was like once every two years or something."
"What about you?" he asked Izumi.
"We had them at the start of every harvest," he replied.
"Now that I think of it, this all started for the three of us at a festival too," he said. "You'd be shocked by just how much one night can shake your entire worldview."
"Sorry for bringing it up," Lloyd said.
"It's fine," he replied. "You can't run away from the past just by ignoring it."
"Instead, you make the most of it by turning it into a reminder," Miyuki added. "That's a quote my father would say every now and then."
"Yeah, but I don't want any more reminders, if you ask me," Lloyd said. "So we have to do our best to keep them away."
"If we fail this time then it won't be just ours."