Clint lined up for ages before finally getting a mask that looked slightly handsome.
He held the mask against his face, then tied the strings behind his head. Turning his head, he noticed that Lewis seemed to have put on a mask today too.
"Lewis, are you dancing today too?" Clint asked in a low voice.
"Who are you talking to?" Lewis feigned ignorance, lowering his voice. "I'm not Lewis."
"——" Clint paused. "Alright, Lewis."
Having no desire to argue with Clint, ever since Lewis became mayor—going on twenty years now—he had never invited Marnie to dance, just to avoid suspicion.
Today was the perfect opportunity.
Thinking this, Lewis tugged at his somewhat ill-fitting suit and walked over in a few steps to Marnie, who was also wearing a mask.
"Ma'am, may I have this dance?" Lewis asked in a hushed voice.
"Me?" Marnie was taken aback. She sized up the person inviting her to dance, and the moment she met the eyes behind the mask, she instantly recognized him.
Marnie, who had originally just worn a mask to join in the fun, covered her mouth. After a long while, she nodded vigorously.
So, Lewis reached out and took Marnie's hand.
"Is this suit...?" Marnie asked softly. "The one from twenty years ago?"
"Yeah," Lewis nodded gently. "It's gotten a bit old... doesn't fit anymore."
He said it with an air of youth slipping away, never to return.
Lewis couldn't really say for himself whether sacrificing his prime years for Pelican Town, thereby missing out on a past with Marnie, was good or bad. He couldn't say if he regretted it either. But, at this moment, being able to make up for the regrets of the past wasn't bad at all for Lewis.
It really was a great idea.
Thinking this, Lewis looked over at the crowd and saw the upright figure standing in the corner, wearing a skull mask.
On the other side, Ron adjusted his mask and spotted Indeedee sneaking around in the crowd.
Indeedee was also wearing a mask, probably thinking it was the perfect disguise. It was currently mingling in the crowd, happily looking around everywhere.
Just as Ron was keeping an eye on Indeedee, a somewhat soft voice beside him quietly asked.
"Um... hello, would you like to dance?"
Ron turned his head and saw a pair of green eyes hidden beneath a mask. Her red curly hair was specially pinned up with a white hair clip. Paired with her white long dress, she exuded a charm she didn't usually possess.
"Of course." Ron extended his hand.
Haley and Emily, plus a similarly masked Sandy, were currently standing by the railing of the venue.
"How do we calculate this situation? Whoever finds Ron first wins?" Sandy asked.
"Did we say you could join our bet?" Haley was the first to ask.
"But it's more fun with more people." Sandy scanned the crowd as she asked, "What are the rules?"
"Since there's no limit on dance partners—" Emily rested her chin on her hand. "How about whoever doesn't find Ron today loses?"
Sandy felt this condition was practically giving them an easy out. She pursed her lips and then began surveying the crowd.
"What the heck are these idiots wearing on their faces?" Sandy said, looking like she'd seen a ghost.
Following Sandy's gaze, they saw bizarrely shaped faces wandering through the crowd.
"How does this look?" Sam, wearing a blobfish mask, asked Sebastian excitedly. "Isn't it cool?"
"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Sebastian humored him, pulling a goblin mask from the box and slipping it on. "Would asking Penny to dance while wearing this scare her?"
"She already has a dance partner," Sam said, pointing at Penny over there. "Never mind that for now, this mask is pretty good too."
Shane, on the other hand, was wearing a chicken mask, leisurely leaning against the fence.
Because his silhouette was recognizable enough, he was recognized at a glance.
"Aren't you going to dance?" Pam asked from beside him.
"No plans to at the moment." Shane smiled, touching the mask on his face.
This thing was practically the best accessory he'd seen all year; he even wanted to pay Ron to buy it off him!
"Uh... alright." Pam said, spotting Penny dancing with a man in a skull mask.
Everyone's hair color was more or less the same. Now that they were wearing weird masks, and some even covered their hair, Pam couldn't tell who was who. She could only guess that the person was probably Ron.
To be fair, the boys in town did have some height differences, but unless you were paying special attention, if they weren't standing side-by-side, it was hard to use that to judge who was who.
Emily's gaze was still scanning the crowd.
"I really don't know why they're wearing such stupid masks," Sandy complained, while simultaneously recognizing one of them. "Isn't that the one I made for that Rattata?"
"Yeah, and that one was made by me too," Emily said, pointing at the one Clint was wearing.
"Ah... that's Clint, right?" Sandy said.
Clint, who had been pointed at by Emily, felt his back stiffen. Then he remembered he was wearing a mask and couldn't help but relax. After taking a deep breath, he walked toward Emily, moving his arms and legs stiffly in awkward nervousness.
"Hello, ma'am, may I have this dance?"
Clint asked, deliberately lowering his voice.
"No, I'm busy," Emily smiled at Clint. "Sorry about that."
"Oh, alright."
Clint walked away just as stiffly as he came.
"He actually called you ma'am," Sandy laughed. "He doesn't think we can't recognize him, does he?"
"..."
"Who knows." Emily shrugged, trying to identify who Ron was by the cut of their clothes. She then took another glance at Clint's retreating back. "He should know, right? In Pelican Town, the only one with a similar build to his is Lewis."
And Lewis was currently dancing with Marnie.
"Who knows," Sandy shrugged, continuing her search.
Looking at the human-shaped monsters wandering the crowd, Sandy let out a long sigh after a while. "I think Pelican Town should pass a law banning people from wearing idiotic masks on their faces."
"Agreed," Haley chimed in from the side. "I can't imagine Ron's face hiding under any of those creepy masks."
"Ah, found him—"
Emily blew a kiss to the two of them. "I'll take my leave first—"
"That's not fair!" Sandy said. "You made his suit, of course he's easier for you to recognize! And didn't you say I couldn't play? I wasn't even part of this!"
"Exactly! Emily, you're cheating!" Haley paused, then grabbed Sandy, who was about to leave. "I now declare that you're playing with us."
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