Yamagishi Saki skipped happily in between and around the crowded halls of the school festival easily. Being smaller than her other classmates, there was also a chance of the little girl getting hurt by other people who weren't looking where they were going. That's why Kiryu Shogo was there. Despite having the option of going home he didn't….and to be frank, he might've just regretted it. The loud buzz of laughter and chatter gave him a migraine and unlike his small friend, he was actually taller than most people.

"Let's go there," shouted Yamagishi, turning back, "it looks cute!" Shogo turned his head towards the direction of her pointing finger. A shooting gallery. Probably rigged thought the tall boy.

"You're not holding the rifle right," commented Shogo towards Saki, "You're gonna shoot someone's eye out at this rate." The tiny girl struggled around with the school safe weapon that was almost longer than the width of her arms. Suddenly, she pulled the trigger and almost fell back due to the force. Shogo sighed and helped her with the positioning of her arms.

"This is hard," pouted the small girl, struggling with the heavy rifle, "I can't even pick it up anymore."

Shogo sighed again and lifted the rifle from her. "Which one do you want?"

"The bunny!" shouted Saki excitedly, pointing at the stuffed anime that might've been bigger than her head…it was also one of the farthest ones. Not like it was challenge for Shogo.

XXX

"Thank you so much Kiryu-kun!" shouted Yamagishi, cuddling her new stuffed anime and hopping along the crowded halls.

"It isn't really that big of a deal," muttered Shogo, looking away and putting his hands in his pockets.

"Saki-chan! Kiryu-kun!" shouted a voice. The two turned around to find Fujimiya Kaori waving towards them and quickly ran over to her.

"We were just about to sign up for the scavenger hunt," said Hase, "They say when you complete it, you get a prize!"

"That sounds fun~!" shouted Saki, clapping her hands, "Can we try too, Kiryu-kun?"

"Sure, why not?" he muttered, "but it's stupid because they won't tell us the prize. Who knows, it might be just a free drink or something even though they made us parade around the whole school like a couple of idiots."

"Don't be such a pessimist!" encouraged Yuuki, "It's gonna be great!'

"You thought it too," whispered Shogo.

Around and around the school they went, but in two groups. Kaori with Yuuki and Shogo with Saki. But before they departed, they made a bet that whoever finished first would win and the losing team would have to treat the winners to parfaits.

"So after this calligraphy center, our last stop is the haunted house?" asked Yamagishi, delicately stroking an inked brush on plain white paper, attempting to write her name.

"It looks like it….I think it was right next to the starting point," muttered Shogo, stretching.

"Here we come parfaits!" shouted Saki excitedly, "What's your favorite flavor Kiryu-kun?"

"I dunno," he sighed, "probably mango."

"Mine is strawberry!" shouted Saki, flinging her hands up in the air, "Let's get going!"

The two walked towards class 4-C where the haunted house was…until they somehow met up with Kaori and Yuuki at the entrance.

"I hear it's a maze," said Hase determinedly, "whoever gets out and gets to the counter is the winner, right?"

"Aren't you afraid of haunted houses?" asked Shogo to Hase. Yuuki quickly silenced Shogo.

"Let's start then!" said Kaori cheerfully.

When they reached the first intersection, Saki and Shogo turned left whilst Yuuki and Kaori went straight.

The walls were a dark murky green and covered with cobwebs. A fog machine was working hard somewhere hidden in the room and scary music was booming into people's eardrums so that they couldn't hear the scuffle of students in costumes hiding. Suddenly a student with a zombie mask popped out of a corner.

"BOOOOOOOOO!" he shouted….a bit derpily at that.

Shogo remained unfazed and calm, but Saki was definitely not okay. As they proceeded along the twists and turns, Saki started trembling with fear. For being such a small, fragile girl, everything must've gotten to here.

"Are you ok?" asked Shogo, clearly seeing that she wasn't.

"N-nokay," she whimpered. Shogo sighed. It can't be helped he thought and grabbed her hand. The small girl stopped shivering and looked up. She merely gave a steady nod as Shogo turned away. Thank goodness it was dark so she couldn't see him blushing.

"Let's move on then~!" shouted Saki, regaining her confidence, "Now that Kiryu-kun is protecting me, I can do anything!"

"Don't be stupid," muttered Kiryu quietly, looking in the opposite direction. His big hand wrapped around her cold tiny ones, spreading warmth.

"There's the exit!" shouted Yamagishi happily, "I hope we beat Hase-kun and Kaori-chan~!"

Yamagishi Saki was so happy that Shogo couldn't help himself but smile. The memories of her crying face in primary school were washed away and they were replaced by new images of the girl smiling. They walked towards the starting point only to see Hase and Kaori just walk out of the haunted house. And Yuuki was not looking particularly good.

"We ran into so many dead ends," panted Fujimiya, "and there were so many jump scares. We just wanted to get out of there."

"B-before you say anything else Shogo," panted Yuuki, "you won so just shut up." Fujimiya giggled a bit before Shogo turned around and handed the student their stamp ticket.

"Congratulations!" shouted the ticket handler, "You two win…two matching phone straps!" The ticket handler almost pitied Shogo as he handed him a green phone strap with a green chibi sheep on it while Saki got a pink one.

"These are so cute~" squealed Yamagishi putting her strap on, "Aren't you gonna put yours on?"

"Excuse me?" asked Shogo in disbelief. Saki pouted and looked at him with her wide (adorable) puppy dog eyes.

"N-no….f-fine," sighed Shogo who was already succumbing to his weakness. Saki smiled.

"Time for parfaits?" she asked looking up at Kiryu, "Mango and strawberry, right Kiryu-kun?"

"Sure," he muttered again, putting his phone back into his pocket. Before they left, Saki held on to Shogo's hand.

"For safety," she said.