Hi guys! I'm back with another story! It's been ages since I last wrote one. And with my latest obsession with Kagerou Project/Mekakucity Actors, I just have to write a fic about Shintarou and Ayano (they're so cute, okay?) :3
Disclaimer: I don't own Kagerou Project. Jin does. Or else, I would've made Ayano alive. Teehee. :3 OH. And I don't own the cover image I used. Credit goes to the owner!
Hope you'll enjoy it! I had fun writing this one.
"What took you guys so long?" Takane piped out.
It's already summer and the summer festival is just right around the corner. Takane suggested to the whole Mekakushi dan that they should all go and see the festivities. So the group agreed to meet up by the shrine to celebrate.
The first group who arrived was Takane and Haruka, followed by Tsubomi, Kousuke, Shuuya, Marry and Ayano who are wearing traditional kimonos. Hibiya arrived with Hiyori a few minutes later. It was a miracle that Takane managed to convince the introvert, Shintarou to come along.
"Sorry. It took me awhile to wear my kimono." Momo, Shintarou's sister apologized. She's wearing an orange kimono with flower designs. She blends well with Tsubomi, who's wearing a purple one, Marry, who's wearing a pink one and Ayano, who's wearing a red one and her signature red scarf. Shintarou didn't bother to wear one and went for his usual look; red jersey jacket over his black shirt, pants, sneakers and a bored look on his face.
"You look cute, Momo!" Ayano complimented. "It took me awhile also to convince Tsubomi to wear a kimono." She giggled while the girl in question darted her gaze away from her sister.
"Yeah yeah. Everyone's cute. Can we go now?" Shuuya complained while walking ahead towards the festival booths with his hands behind his head. Marry and Kousuke went with him while Hiyori insisted to go with Momo, which Hibiya followed. Tsubomi followed up with Shuuya while Takane and Haruka darted off towards the game booths. All that's left were Ayano and Shintarou.
"Shall we get going too?" Ayano asked.
Shintarou just shrugged but at least he walked with her as they stroll around the festival booths.
"Oh! Takoyaki!" Ayano exclaimed as she ran up to the stall ahead of her. Shintarou waited for the girl to come back with two orders of takoyaki on her hands, giving one to her companion.
"Here!" Ayano smiled.
"Thanks" Shintarou replied.
The two of them walked around while eating their takoyakis. It seems that the festivities this year were livelier than last year. So many booths of food and games alike are around. Most of the people spent their time, wandering around after paying their respects to the shrine. Kids are running through with masks on their faces and cotton candy on their hands.
"Isn't it hard to walk around with a kimono?" Shintarou asked suddenly.
"Hmm? It is, but it's fun!" Ayano replied with a smile, twirling around for a cute effect. "I don't usually wear these types of clothes so…"
Shintarou stopped in his tracks upon hearing the girl trail off. The girl looked at one of the game booths that got a cute brown bear with a ribbon as their first prize. Players should knock all the pins down with three balls in order to win it.
Many people have tried their luck in getting it but none of them managed to knock the pins down. The stall manager smiled at them with glee, taunting them that it is the hardest prize to get in his booth. Most of the people who tried either went away with sad looks on their faces or with keychains as a consolation prize.
"Step right up! Step right up! Let's see if you can knock 'em down! You there!" The stall manager pointed at the two of them. "You look like you can knock my pins down. Wanna try it, little man?" He taunted.
Shintarou glared at him. One of the few things that he hated is that he is being taunted by some random stranger. He left Ayano's side and paid for his game.
"One game."
"Shin…tarou?" Ayano asked.
Shintarou eyed the stacked pins by the shelf while playing with one of the balls. Judging by his concentration, he seems to be eyeing the pins; looking for a weak spot in their stacking to hit. Ayano watched with curiosity her companion while he took his aim and threw ball.
The first ball managed to graze one of the pins, making it quiver before falling down.
"Too bad, little man!" The stall manager laughed. However, his laughter was cut short when he heard the sound of the toppling pins before they hit the ground. He saw that none of the pins remained upright on his shelf. Shintarou gave the man a taunting smirk while tossing the supposedly second ball up and down. Ayano also couldn't believe that Shintarou managed to hit it with only one shot.
The stall manager grabbed the teddy bear from its place and gave it to Shintarou.
"As promised, first prize goes to the person who can knock down all the pins on the shelf." The man said. He sulked back to his stall and rearranged the knocked down pins.
"Here." Shintarou gave the bear to Ayano who happily accepted it.
"O-Oh. Thank you, Shintarou!" She flashed one of her dazzling smiles as she cuddled with the stuff toy. The two of them started to walk away from the booth, with Ayano leading, before Shintarou stopped and returned to the booth.
Ayano was lost in her bliss with her new present from Shintarou to notice the boy's absence. Before she could even notice that he had left her alone, Shintarou was walking back towards her direction.
"Did you forget something?" Ayano asked.
"Nah. Forget about it." He replied.
The two of them continued to enjoy the festivities. They both went to the fishing booth where Shintarou failed on all of his attempts to catch the fishes. Ayano giggled while he glared at the girl, challenging her to do it. The girl agreed and did a "catch and release" with all the fishes she caught. Shintarou got his jaw hanging, prompting Ayano to laugh out loud at his expression.
They also bought masks; rather, Ayano bought a mask. The stall sells various masks, ranging from cartoon characters to hero characters. Ayano, being the usual "hero", bought a red hero mask to compliment her kimono and her scarf. Little kids started to surround her and she began to play with them. Shintarou watched the girl as she played and chased around the little kid while laughing herself.
"Heh. She looked so cute."
After saying their goodbyes, Ayano prompted Shintarou to pay their respects to the shrine. By the time they arrived at the shrine, the crowd had already thinned out and only a few people were in there, paying their respects or hanging up their emas. With her mask at the side of her head, they both threw their offerings and rattled the bell before clapping their hands twice and prayed.
Shintarou didn't take long with his so he waited for the girl to finish up.
"Hey, Shintarou?"
"Hmmm?"
"What did you wished for?"
Shintarou shrugged and started to walk to a nearest bench and sat down. Ayano pouted upon being ignored, as usual as she followed his suit. She fixed her red scarf before playing with the bear. The two enjoyed the comfortable silence that enveloped them as one is loss to a playful bliss while the other is lost, watching the stars above.
"I wished for the happiness of every one of my friends." Ayano said with a smile on her face. "Come on, I told mine so it's time to tell yours!"
"It's a…" Shintarou trailed off, avoiding eye contact with her.
"It's a?"
"It's embarrassing okay?" He said.
"Ohh. Come on, it's not that bad." And as usual, she keeps on pressing him. "I promise I won't laugh."
Shintarou shot her with a glare before deciding to just give in to the girl.
"I-It's… about someone."
"Really?!" Ayano exclaimed. She didn't know he managed to make friends with someone other than her and the Mekakushi Dan. So knowing him, having a friend other than them is big news to her.
"Jeez. You have to be so loud?" He replied with annoyance on his face.
"S-Sorry! It's just… that's so not like you, Shintarou!" The girl exclaimed. "I'm really happy for you."
The boy decided to take a plunge and hope to all the gods in the world that it will not end in vain.
"Hey Ayano…"
Before Ayano could reply, something soft brushed on her lips. Shintarou probably did the most daring thing that he ever did in his entire lifeline.
He kissed her.
It was a quick kiss and he immediately pulled away.
"What I wished for is… you." He whispered.
When he saw Ayano's expression, he began to count his death wishes.
"Ah. I just dug my own grave and lowered myself in it, didn't I?" He thought.
After the girl's not been responsive for a few seconds, he began to think the worst cases possible in response for his bold action. It could cause him his friendship with his bestfriend, someone whom, despite brushing her usually cheerfulness, treated it as a precious thing for himself. Losing her would probably affect him permanently.
"A…Ayano…?" He could feel the grip of Death on his shoulder as he stared at the stunned girl. Her prolonged silence is what's scaring him. He visualized all the possible scenarios that could happen after the kiss and managed to come up with different excuses to brush it off if ever. But now that it's the real deal, his mind betrayed him and stopped thinking about those so-called "excuses".
"Shintarou…"
Finally hearing a response from the girl, Shintarou quickly began formulating one of his excuses.
"Eheheh… S-Sorry… I-I g-g-got carried away." He stuttered while scratching the back of his head.
"Does that mean… you like me?" Ayano asked.
"Yeah." He was surprised on how fast he replied to her. Normally, he would think things through. For some reason, admitting his feelings to the girl he liked shuts down all the logic that he knows.
Before he could grasp what happened, Ayano threw herself and hugged the now-stunned boy. He could hear soft sobbing coming from her.
"O-Oi… Are you okay?" Shintarou tried to ask.
"I'm… glad. I am so glad." Ayano sobbed. He didn't understand what Ayano meant so he waited for the girl to calm down.
"I… I like you too, Shintarou." Ayano said with the most beautiful smile that Shintarou had ever seen. He's so happy that it managed to end well. He sent a silent thanks to all the gods for making his confession as a success.
Shintarou fished something from his pocket and when Ayano asked about it, he brought out a small hair clip with a red flower design on it.
"I got you this at that shooting game we went."
Shintarou reached for her red clips and unfastened the two of them. He fastened the new hairclip and scooted back to check on her.
"Perfect."
Ayano managed a cute blush while playing with her old hairclips in hand. The flower clip blended well with her outfit for tonight.
"Thank you, Shintarou." She thanked him.
Sudden explosion was heard. The two of them looked up in the sky and saw that the fireworks have already started. Bright colors painted the night sky as different sizes of fireworks exploded above them. The people stopped at whatever they're doing and gazed up on the majestic finale of the festival.
"I love you too, Shintarou." Ayano confessed before giving him a small peck on the cheek.
Shintarou's glad that Takane managed to convince him out for tonight. He's glad that he managed to spend some time alone with Ayano tonight. He's glad that he finally mustered up and confessed his feelings to his bestfriend.
And for the first time, under the beautiful display of fireworks, Shintarou gave his true smile.
Reviews would be appreciated! :D