"So many people~"
Looking at the bustling, crowded streets, Kaguya exclaimed. This was her first time attending a festival, and she hadn't expected so many people.
Heads bobbed everywhere, large and small, and the dark world was brightly lit by countless lanterns, creating a lively ocean that seemed to rush forward, easily drawing one into the joyous atmosphere.
"There's still some time until the fireworks, so let's explore the festival first."
As the local most familiar with the area, Mei naturally led everyone into the festival.
Because there were too many people, the group split into two teams when they merged with the crowd: Mei took Kiana and Sirin, while Yǔ took the remaining three.
"Wow, this smells so good!!"
"Indeed!"
Smelling the rich aroma from the stall, Kiana and Sirin immediately dashed over, leaving Mei, who was following behind, utterly exhausted.
Yǔ's side was much better. Everyone walked unhurriedly with the flow of people. He had his arm around Kaguya, preventing any unwelcome contact.
As for Seele and Bronya?
He didn't need to worry about those two.
Ring toss, shooting games, goldfish scooping—their smiling figures were seen at various mini-games.
Soon, feeling a bit tired from walking, Seele and Bronya took Kaguya to buy some snacks and pastries, while Yǔ stood at the intersection, waiting for them.
Just as he was boredly scrolling on his phone, a surprised voice called out.
"Ah, it's A Yu!"
He looked up in confusion, and Ken's smiling, waving figure came into view.
Kazuto and lori were also walking beside him. The three of them happily quickened their pace upon seeing Yǔ.
"Hey, hey, hey, so the 'something' you had to do was come to the festival?"
"You dared to reject our invitation, kid. Your guts have grown a lot."
"Ah haha..."
Yǔ was noncommittal, waving to the approaching group.
However, when he saw the small figure following Kazuto, his expression showed some surprise.
After high-fiving the three, Yǔ looked at the girl in the yukata and greeted her with a smile: "Oh, Zhiya also came. Long time no see."
The young girl might have been a bit shy; she quickly bowed, looking at A Yu and shyly saying, "Na, Nangong Ge, long time no see."
All four of them were wearing yukatas, making his regular clothes seem a bit out of place.
"Indeed, I didn't expect Zhiya to have become so beautiful after a year."
Yǔ tried to raise his hand to pat Zhiya's head, but Kazuto immediately slapped it away.
"What are you doing?"
He looked at the somewhat wary Kazuto in confusion, who then said seriously, "You feel too much like a scumbag. I don't want Zhiya to fall victim to your evil clutches."
"Hey, hey, hey, you don't trust your brother that much?"
"It's precisely because you're my brother that I don't trust you."
"..."
Alright, well-reasoned and convincing.
Seeing this, lori immediately jumped out and excitedly said, "Awesome, He Ren! As expected of my uncle—pfft!!!!"
Ken punched lori in the stomach, then looked apologetically at Zhiya, who was clearly startled: "Sorry, this guy's had too much to drink and keeps talking nonsense. Zhiya, don't mind him."
"Uh, mm..."
Zhiya took a step back, trying her best to maintain a smile. She held her phone and said with an embarrassed laugh, "Well, um, my friends called me to join them. You guys go have fun, don't mind me!"
With that, Zhiya bowed sharply and then quickly ran into the crowd.
"It's all your fault for scaring her, pfft..."
Just as he was blaming Yǔ, lori's stomach received another punch.
He rubbed it, stood up indifferently, and said to the older men, "Well, now even the only girl is gone."
"Who do you think is to blame? Who told you to talk nonsense the whole way?"
Kazuto added with a look of disgust. After thinking about it, he ultimately didn't give him another punch.
lori scratched his head and slowly sighed.
"Since that's the case, want to grab a bite? I remember there's a pretty good stir-fried noodles place over there."
"Sure, I'm hungry too."
"Mm, what about you, A Yu?"
Ken asked Yǔ, who hadn't said much.
"Ah, I just..."
"Brother~"
A sweet voice came from the side. Under lori's furious gaze, an incredibly cute girl happily hugged Yǔ's arm, then looked at them with her pure, sky-like eyes.
"Who are they?"
"I mentioned them before: Ken, Kazuto, and lori."
Hearing Yǔ's introduction, Seele suddenly understood. She politely said, "They're Brother's friends, right? Thank you all for taking care of Brother."
"That... I mean, Uncle—pfft!!!!"
This time, Yǔ put a little more force into it, so much so that lori couldn't get up for a long time. He patted Seele's little head and introduced her to everyone.
"My younger sister, or rather, my lover, Seele Vollerei."
The term 'Brother' immediately brought a sweet smile to Seele's face. She followed up, "You can just call me Seele."
"Hiss, it hurts... Lover is lover, why play at this brother-sister intimacy? Seriously, what a disappointment."
Rubbing his stomach, lori grumbled unhappily.
"Use your brain a bit. They're so close, and their surnames are different. You can figure it out if you just think a little," Ken said helplessly, punching lori's shoulder. Then, he looked at Yǔ with envy: "No wonder A Yu you didn't come with us. It's great to have your lover with you."
"Yes, it's really great~"
When will they be able to... "Husband, I found a delicious snack! Try it quickly~"
Under the somewhat bewildered gazes of the three, another indescribably beautiful girl, who perfectly fit their definition of beauty, walked up to their brother. She then intimately fed him with a toothpick, and after feeding him, she used a handkerchief to wipe the corners of his mouth.
And, what was that she called him just now?
Husband?
lori's face showed some contortion. He forced himself to remain calm, stiffly turned his head, and looked at his two single brothers beside him, saying, "Did I mishear just now?"
"Probably."
"I think so too."
"You didn't mishear."
"!!!! You shut up!"
Under the angry glares of the three, Yǔ directly hugged the somewhat dazed Kaguya and said to them with a smile, "Kaguya, my fiancée."
"Heh heh, I, I might not be fully awake."
"It's fake, it's all fake."
"Re, really amazing..."
The three looked at each other, then said in unison, "Let's go eat stir-fried noodles."
But before they could escape, another voice came.
"What are you talking about, so lively?"
Bronya hugged Yǔ from behind, and after speaking, she naturally fed him the dessert fruit she had just bought, mouth to mouth. The three of them were dumbfounded by her unreserved manner.
lori's Dao Heart shattered directly, and he turned around and walked away without hesitation. Ken and Kazuto quickly followed his steps.
"Well, actually, I'm also interested in fried noodles..."
"Get lost!!!"
As the angry roar fell, the three figures also disappeared into the crowd not far away.
"What happened?"
Bronya licked her lips, tilting her head in confusion. Why did everyone leave as soon as she arrived?
"Nothing, just three bachelors who couldn't handle the blow."
Suddenly showing off in front of his brothers made Yǔ feel completely refreshed, and he immediately beamed with a smile.
"Husband, did I do something wrong?"
She was too eager to share with her husband just now, so Kaguya didn't notice the three people beside her at all.
"No, no, Kaguya, you did very well."
Humming a cheerful tune, Yǔ waved his hand forward: "Let's go, let's continue to have fun~"
Time passed bit by bit, and the fireworks display was about to begin.
Mei picked up her phone to confirm the viewing spot she had reserved, then looked at Kiana and Sirin, who still wanted to run around beside her: "Kiana, Sirin, it's time to go. Let's confirm our spot for later."
"Huh? But I still have things I want to eat..."
Seeing Kiana's mouth covered in oil, Mei's face immediately wrinkled.
Eat, eat, she's been eating all the way, why is she still thinking about food?
"It's not just me, Sirin too, right, Sirin?"
She poked her sister, who was eating an apple candy beside her, and Sirin immediately nodded quickly.
"Oh, it's fine, Mei, you go ahead. Just send me your location soon, and I'll bring Sirin over."
"The fireworks are about to start."
Mei was a bit conflicted.
"Don't worry, we'll eat at most three... no, just two more places, and we'll definitely be there!"
"Mm-hmm!" Sirin couldn't speak, but her head nodded very quickly.
"Alright, Sirin's phone has some issues, so you two can't get separated, okay?"
Since the afternoon, Sirin's phone had no signal for some reason.
Worried, she gave a few more instructions, then Mei walked towards her reserved direction, looking back every few steps.
This was an uninhabited riverside. Mei looked at the flat ground with tables and chairs and the unobstructed view, then nodded with satisfaction. After that, she picked up her phone.
Not long after the message was sent, she saw Yǔ and his group of four walking over. Just as she was about to greet them, she noticed with some confusion that Yǔ's clothes looked a bit dirty.
"What happened?"
He looked like he had rolled around on the ground.
"Pfft~"
As soon as she asked, except for Yǔ's darkened face, the three of them couldn't help but laugh.
Bronya patted the dust off Yǔ's body while laughing and said, "Someone overdid it with the showing off, so he got dragged into the bushes and beaten up."
"Tsk, they're just jealous."
"Alright, alright, turn around."
That perfunctory response made Yǔ even more annoyed, secretly vowing to teach those bastards a profound lesson when school started.
By the time his body was mostly cleaned, Kiana also slowly walked back.
"Mmm, I'm back..."
Her mouth was full, and she showed off a large bag of spoils in her hand to them.
She wanted to share it, but then she met Mei's serious gaze: "Where's Sirin?"
"Huh?"
She quickly turned her head and looked at the empty space behind her. Kiana froze, and the bag in her hand dropped to the ground with a thud.
...
"Kiana, this looks delicious too, let's go buy... Huh?"
Sirin's attention was focused on the stall, completely unaware of the increasingly crowded flow of people because the fireworks were about to start. When she realized something and reached out her hand to her side, she found she touched nothing.
"Kiana?"
She quickly looked left and right, but couldn't find her sister's figure anywhere.
"Kiana?!"
Her voice grew louder, but it was instantly drowned out by the sound waves from the noisy crowd.
She immediately panicked.
"The fireworks are about to start, let's hurry!"
A loud complaint from some child, she didn't know whose, made the crowd surge even faster. Sirin was even directly bumped, stumbling and almost falling, getting squeezed to the very edge.
She looked at the commotion in front of her, her eyes filled with confusion.
Did she... get left behind?
Gradually, the crowd moved away and gathered by the riverside. On the entire street, only Sirin remained.
"Yo, little girl, why aren't you going to watch the fireworks?"
The snack vendor, while tidying his things, curiously looked at Sirin, who was standing still, at a loss.
"I... nothing."
Sirin bit her lip. She lifted her leg, wanting to go to the riverside. She remembered Mei seemed to have said that her reserved spot was very close to the river.
But the leg she had just stepped out retracted.
What if, what if they came back to look for her? And, the fireworks were about to start.
As she was agonizing, Sirin soon heard a buzzing sound.
The sound of fireworks with their tail flames was urgent, and soon they bloomed with brilliant light in the sky.
The colorful lights flashed incessantly, making Sirin involuntarily turn her gaze to the sky.
"Is it pretty?"
"Mm."
A question came from beside her ear, and Sirin subconsciously nodded.
Then, she suddenly reacted and immediately stepped aside.
"What are you so excited about? It's me."
Yǔ grabbed Sirin, who almost fell, and said rather speechlessly.
"You, you, you, when did you get here?"
Stuttering a bit due to panic, Sirin calmed her rapidly beating heart.
She was startled.
"Here, when the fireworks just started."
Raising his phone towards Sirin, Yǔ continued, "I've already sent messages to everyone saying I found you. Don't worry, everyone knows."
"Oh, that's... thank you."
Walking side by side with Yǔ, Sirin said a little awkwardly.
"You really should thank me. To find you, I gave up the romantic scene of kissing my lovers under the fireworks."
"Tsk, you really are... aren't there three of them, Seele? Which one will you choose?"
"Why choose? Wouldn't it be enough to kiss them all?"
"As expected of you, truly a clear scumbag."
"You flatter me, you flatter me."
"Not going back?"
"It's too late, let's just watch here."
Looking up, there was another moment of silence as they watched the fireworks in the sky. After a while, Sirin quietly said, "Hey."
"Hmm?"
"Sorry."
"Mm."
"Can't you just say 'hmm'?"
"Oh."
"Tsk."
Lowering his head, Yǔ chuckled as he looked at Sirin's somewhat annoyed but also apologetic expression. Then, under her confused gaze, he walked to a nearby balloon shooting stall.
"Hey, uncle, can I use that guitar?"
The shopkeeper originally didn't want to lend it, but when he saw Yǔ, and then Sirin peeking out from behind him, he immediately showed a mischievous expression.
He took down the special prize guitar, extended his hand to hand it over, and winked at him: "You're a lucky kid. These strings are freshly tuned. Only for one song, though~"
"Thanks, one song is enough."
He took the guitar, held it in his arms, strummed it lightly twice, and after feeling the sound quality, nodded with satisfaction.
Not bad.
Returning to Sirin's side, he met the little girl's curious gaze: "Want to be my audience for a bit?"
"You can do this too?"
"I just know a little."
The guitar was one of the few instruments he knew how to play in both his past and present lives. Plus, after learning it after starting to make games, saying he knew a little was naturally just a humble statement.
Although he didn't know many songs from the Far East in his previous life, there was one that happened to fit.
He also moved a stool from a nearby vendor. Yǔ sat directly in the middle of the road. Without any preparation, he used the fireworks as a backdrop to play the song called 'Uchiage Hanabi'.
Clean guitar, beautiful singing, fireworks blooming all over the sky, and of course, most importantly, the smiling person under the fireworks.
This scene made Sirin couldn't help but take out her phone to record it, and then silently set it as her wallpaper.
...
The fireworks ended quickly.
Yǔ returned the guitar and left with Sirin amidst the whistles of the shopkeepers.
"Let's go, they are still waiting for us over there."
"Okay."
Noticing that Sirin's cheeks were slightly red, Yǔ couldn't help but smile and said, "Don't mind the shopkeepers' teasing, they are just joking."
"Okay."
"Why do you only say 'Okay' now?"
"Oh."
"..."
Yǔ gave up complaining and walked ahead. Sirin behind him quickly followed him, as if afraid of getting lost again, tightly clutching the corner of his clothes.
Before long, Sirin noticed Kiana's silhouette from afar. She looked down at the corner of Yu's clothes she was holding, hesitated for a moment, and finally let go. After looking up at him, she immediately quickened her pace and ran over.
"Sirin!!!!!"
Kiana rushed over directly, hugging Sirin with tears in her eyes: "Wuwuwu, I'm sorry Sirin, wuwuwu..."
"Tsk, I'm fine."
Pushing away Kiana's approaching face with some disgust, she raised her head and looked at Yǔ, who was surrounded by Seele, Huiye, and Bronya, with a complicated expression.
"Hmph hmph, let me tell you, I looked so cool playing the guitar under the fireworks just now..."
"Really? What a pity, Seele didn't see it."
Imagining the appearance described by her brother, Seele's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Sirin~"
Yǔ's voice awakened her from her daze.
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, did you take a picture just now? It would be a pity not to record that scene."
Sirin's hand subconsciously placed on the phone in her pocket, gently squeezed it, and then looked at him and slowly shook her head.
"Sorry, I didn't."