The picture looked as good as I had hoped when I pulled it from the envelope. As soon as I woke up the day after the water park, I took a thumb drive, loaded up our new picture, and took it to get developed. The shop was a decent walk from my house, and by the time I reached it, the heat had begun blanketing the neighborhood. The shop itself was a quaint little print shop that mostly specialized in old film printing, but they had modernized enough to keep up with the times. As I left, I had to squint for a while to give my eyes time to readjust to light.

  I know just where this will go, too.

  I pulled out my phone and called both Denki and Nina. It was the last day of summer break, and there would be a festival later on that night that our group had decided to go to. However, before it happened, I wanted to make a stop by a place where the three of us had become regulars since the beginning of the semester. We agreed to meet at the shop for dinner, and I set off towards my house. Cicadas' cries filled the air as the heatwaves bounced off of the concrete.

  Another summer has come and gone since I came back... kind of hard to believe, it barely feels like it hasn't even been a year.

  When I walked into my home, I found Mother meticulously fixing Yui's hair for the festival. Even though she had the day off and could have spent it doing nothing, Mother volunteered to help out with the stand that the neighborhood ladies group that she was a part of. Her hair and makeup was already done beautifully; I understood where Yui found the inspiration for her elegant facade.

  "Oh? Kazuma?" she noticed as I stood in the doorway. "You're going with your friends tonight, right?"

  "Yes ma'am."

  "Will a certain friend from elementary school be there as well?" her eyes squinted slightly as a smile crept across her face.

  "Y-yes ma'am."

  "That little witch!" Yui blurted out. "I'll fight her myself. I'll keep her away from you, Zu — AGH!" Mother had maneuvered some of her almost glued hair in a way that looked painful even to me.

  "Yui," her voice was quiet and deep. "Don't make trouble for your brother tonight. Understand?"

  "Yes ma'am," she pouted with tears still forming.

  I went upstairs and threw my hair into a very short pony tail. I had wanted to style it, but that seemed more than enough. I put on my jinbei and grabbed my sandals before heading back downstairs. I knew that I would probably be the only guy in one, but I liked how mine felt. It was simple, a solid blue pattern with little in the way of designs. It had belonged to Father when he was in high school, and, thankfully, it was still in good condition when we brought it back from Grandmother's the previous summer.

  I took one more look at Yui before I left. Her hair had been done in a very nice bun, and her makeup looked similar to Mother's. I could tell that she was enjoying herself, Yui too. For all the correcting her that Mother does, she still loved Yui unconditionally, and Yui loved her just as much. Seeing that peaceful moment brought a smile to my face that I wore long after I left the house.

  The sun was still baking the sky as I made my way to the ramen shop, Stella Heart. Kids laughed and played while their parents looked on and carried on among themselves. Since everyone knew about the festival, no one looked at me differently despite being out and about painfully early. The closer I got to the shop, the closer the sun got to touching the horizon. Once I arrived and sat down with Denki, it was just dusk.

  The shop was run by an elderly couple, Watanabe Shinsuke and Mizuki. Since the first day we walked in at the beginning of the semester, they have remembered our names and faces as well as our orders down to the extra noodles and meat for both Denki and Nina. As I sat down, Mr. Watanabe gave me a faint smile and nodded his head. Even without saying anything, he knew that Denki and I would be waiting on a third. After a few minutes, Nina walked in and joined us at the counter.

  "Now that everyone's here, I guess I should get started on your orders, yeah?" Mr. Watanabe smirked as he turned back to begin.

  Initially, both Nina and Denki were on edge when they looked at him. He had serious eyes that seemed a bit sunken and his face seemed to be stuck in a scowl. On our first visit, I was the brave soul that first walked in and took a seat. He was silent that first visit until his wife poked his face and greeted us. After that, the two of them became one of our favorite parts of the area around the school. We would show up during lunch sometimes and get scolded: we were required to stay on the school grounds after the gates were closed, but the food was worth the earful we would receive upon our return.

  While I was remembering the past, Mr. Watanabe finished our meals and set them before us. The mountain of toppings stood up from the deep brown and barely steaming broth. From the peak, it went greens, beansprouts, thinly sliced pork, and on the side rested the egg. Everything was beautifully made, and I could tell that the two of them took great pride in their work. I had wondered a lot about who they were before they became ramen shop owners near a large high school. Aside from a few remarks about a blonde girl with a princess complex, neither of them said much about their homeland that I could tell.

  "You're spacing again, dear," Mrs. Watanabe poked her husband's face.

  "Hardly," he chuckled. "I was just thinking, don't you think these three look and act like they've been best friends forever?"

  "Getting sentimental in your old age?" she gave him a look that I was all too familiar with: impending teasing from your childhood friend. "Did sappy feelings replace your long hair?"

  "Bah," he let out a chuckling grunt. "Forget it."

  The three of us paid for our meals, thanked them for wonderful food yet again, and left. The first of our group to meet up with us was Natsu who had been sort of lingering near the shop. Nina had told him that he could join, but he insisted that the ramen shop was our thing. To that, she shook her head, and the four of us continued walking back to the shrine to meet the rest of our group.

  * * * * *

  The lanterns that were set up along the stairs and throughout the shrine could be seen clearly even from several kilometers away that we had started off at. I was the only one of the four of us in festive dress, but again, I hardly felt out of place. The closer we got to the shrine, the more kimonos I began to see. Finally, at the base of the stairs, we saw the other four, all but one were fully dressed for the occasion.

  "Wow, Kazuma," Kaori marveled. "I expected Nini to dress up but not you, and here I wanted to see her in a yukata." She pursed her lips to the side in a pout.

  "I hardly wanted to wear one anyway," Nina looked away. "Too constricting if I needed to run."

  Much like the beach, Kaori's and Ino's gowns matched and complimented each other. I occasionally forgot that they had been friends for as long as or longer than Denki and I had been. The black backdrop and deep red designs that danced along the fabric of both of them almost disappeared into the evening only to be brought back onto full display when one of them passed by the light. Their well-made hair buns looked almost identical as well. If not for the stark difference in hair color, I was sure that even Rito might have a hard time distinguishing between the two of them.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  My eyes turned to Chika, and everything slowed to a crawl just like during the school festival. Again, she was adorned in white; only this time, instead of the snowscape covering her body, there were simple designs in a light pink along with sporadic flowers and a deep pink band wrapped around her torso and tied in a perfect bow behind her. Her hair was still too short to style in any way besides its natural hang, but having it shorter did nothing to detract from the wonder that I beheld. The lantern light reminded me of the candle light when I first saw her in that white dress, and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest again.

  "What's wrong, Kazu?" she tried to start teasing me. "At a loss for words?"

  Wouldn't you be if you saw a real life angel?

  "Alright, you two," Kaori jumped in and hugged Chika. "We don't have all night, you know. Let's hit the stands!"

  Our group started up the stairs. The stairs climbed high onto the hill where the shrine rested. I had often run them as training, but it was more pleasant to walk them with my friends. Everyone already seemed to be having a good time. We reached the top to see a scene not unlike what we had witnessed on the first day of the high school festival. There were stands lining the cobblestone path, exquisite smells filled the air, and the sound of children laughing and music danced in our ears.

  The moment our feet touched the final platform, Kaori dragged Nina and Ino off to go get festival food while Rito desperately tried to keep up. Denki and Natsu made a bee line for the nearest stand to start their string of competitions. Before I knew it, I was alone with Chika. My heart pounded in my chest, and a silence fell between the two of us.

  "Y-you look really nice," I finally managed to spit out.

  "Thank you," she smiled at the ground.

  "So," I smacked my face trying to bring sense back to myself. "Do you want to get food? Or do you want to walk around and see some of the stands?"

  "I think food sounds good, yakisoba?"

  Her death from the school festival flashed before my eyes, and I almost violently shook my head. We instead opted for candied apples and cotton candy. Chika seemed hesitant at first, but she trusted that I had my reasons. We enjoyed our snacks as we continued walking through the crowds. While many of the stands sold a varying amount of food, there were, of course, plenty that had nothing to do with food. Raffles, games of chance, and games of skill made up the remainder of the stands.

  We passed one stand where the game was to get as many rings on the many bottles as possible. At that particular stand, Denki and Natsu yelled at each other as their competition raged on. At another, Nina and Kaori took turns trying to catch goldfish with paper nets; Nina's frustration cut through the crowd after we had passed.

  An unexpected but familiar face drew my eyes as we passed a cork rifle stand: Angelica Grey stood among a group of girls that I could only infer were from Makarov. She looked like was enjoying the festival too in her own way. I said nothing as we passed unnoticed. Ino and Rito were at a mask stand where she was trying on a kitsune mask. As we passed, I caught a glimpse of a smiling oni, and my mind flashed back to Damien who had vanished again since the Swell.

  Was he really there that day? I swear I heard his voice before I passed out... I definitely felt his glare in my dreams. Maybe HE was and still is the creeping danger he warned me about. That makes no sense, though. Why would he warn me about himself?

  We continued to wade through the sea of people, and I grabbed Chika's hand so that she would have to stay close to me. I knew that she would interpret it as an opportunity to tease me, but that hardly mattered. I saw a handmade jewelry stand and took off towards it. Chika said nothing as we found ourselves in front of it at last.

  "Good evening," the attendant smiled at us. "Does anything catch your eye?"

  "I think... this one," I pointed at a necklace that looked like a sun and moon intertwined.

  "Ahh, a sharp set of eyes," the elderly lady picked it up. "This one was made by my late husband before he passed on. He started it as one, but as fate would have it, by the time he was finished with it, it was a couple's piece."

  "Please, I'll take it," I was determined.

  "Kazu?"

  I've come this far, I can't back down. I've made up my mind.

  "Thank you very much," the attendant smiled and bowed as we left.

  "Kazu, w-what's going through —"

  Before she could finish her teasing question, I grabbed her hand again and set off through the crowd. I had been to the shrine a handful of times and during those times, my old habits came back causing me to find multiple vantage points overlooking the neighborhood. After almost dragging Chika for a few minutes, we came to one such vantage point. It was a large oak tree overlooking the park off to our left and had a glimpse of the shopping district far off in front of us. I turned back and froze when I saw her again.

  The light of the festival shone behind her like heaven had opened its doors late at night looking for a lost angel. She gripped her bag in front of her and blushed as she looked down. As I stared at perfection embodied, I lost my nerve and fiddled with the box holding her necklace. Before I could back out of the corner I had shoved myself into, a warm breeze blew and seemed to gently push me from behind. I took a step forward and continued off of the momentum.

  Thanks, partner.

  "Chika."

  "Kazu?"

  "This is the other half of your birthday gift from me."

  I pulled out the necklace and separated the sun from the moon before putting the latter back into the box. I boldly walked up to her and wrapped my arms around her neck. When I pulled back, the half sun dangled outside of her yukata; I pulled the box back out and put mine on.

  "There's something I've owed you for a while now," I stood right in front of her and held the side of her head in my hand. "And it's time for me to pay up."

  I was lost in her eyes as they stared into mine. Her beautiful lips separated slightly although she remained silent. I mustered up the courage to pull her in, and our lips met once again. All at once, my world lit up as bright as the sun that hung from her neck. The night sky was illuminated and our ears were filled with the sound of a firework reaching its climax as I held her embrace. After months of worrying and fighting, I had finally returned her feelings.

  "Tachibana Chika," I said in a soft voice as I pulled away after another short eternity. "You have stolen my heart. Will you be my girlfriend?"

  The initial shock instantly wore off, and tears filled her eyes as she smiled bigger than I had ever seen.

  "Yes!"

  I pulled her back in, and the kiss that we shared filled my heart with more emotion than I had ever thought possible. I held her as the remaining fireworks burst and cracked filling the sky with every imaginable color. The warm and gentle breeze again brushed by the two of us as the show ended, and I smiled.

  I'll take care of her as best as I can, partner. Rest easy.

  * * * * *

  I skipped out on my run the next morning: it was the first day of school, after all. I got up, brushed my teeth, and did my hair. After throwing on my uniform and grabbing my bag, I went downstairs to grab some breakfast. As I rounded the corner, I saw Yui in the kitchen oddly more awake than she normally was most mornings.

  "Good morning, sis, happy birthday," I smiled.

  "Who the hell are you?! How did you get into my house?!" She sprang back and frantically reached for her phone.

  What the hell?

  "Get out! I'm calling the police!"

  "Sis, what's going on? What weird game are you playing now?"

  "Hello? Emergency dispatch? There's a stranger in my house, send the police. Please!" She held her phone in one hand and grabbed a kitchen knife in the other. "S-s-stay back!"

  Her shaking stopped along with everything else as I froze time. I saw genuine fear in her eyes. Whatever was happening was horrifyingly real. She had no idea who I was. I grabbed my bag and quickly left the house before releasing my control. Along the way, a patrol car passed me with its sirens off but lights on.

  What the hell was that? What's going on?

  Ahead of me, I saw Chika meeting up with Denki and I ran forward to catch up with them.

  "Guys! Wait up!" I called out.

  They turned back, and I saw a small difference in my girlfriend. The green ribbon she always wore on the first day of school was replaced with a light blue one. Despite my calling, they hadn’t slowed down by a single step. Almost running, I caught up to them and gave a goofy smile.

  "What's the big idea, huh?" I tried to laugh. "Getting a head start on the teasing by leaving me behind? I thought you always wore a green ribbon on the first day of school?"

  Neither of them gave an immediate response. Instead they looked at each other with confusion covering their faces. After a painfully long silence, Chika turned back to me.

  "I'm sorry," her voice held no fear like Yui’s had, but her words filled my heart with true terror. "Have we met? Who are you?"