"Guuuuuuys!" Chitose exclaimed as he entered the bar. The rest of his friends shifted their gaze at him as he wheezed to catch his breath.
"What is it, Chitose?" Kusanagi asked.
"There's going to be a fireworks festival tonight! It's been a while since we went to one so... what do you guys say?" their resident ladies' man asked as he sat beside his eyeglasses-wearing friend.
"You just want to check the girls who'd be attending and get laid." said Dewa.
"If the one I love actually paid attention to me then I wouldn't be fooling around." Chitose mumbled as he looked at his friends as they came up with a decision. Dewa looked at his close friend and saw that there was something off with him.
"Anna-chan, do you want to go? You can wear some kimono for this festival." Kusanagi asked their youngest member who nodded.
"Sounds fun! I'm in!" Yata said.
"I'm sure there'd be plenty of food stalls to choose from so count me in!" Kamamoto said.
"Kamamoto-san, you just want to stock up for the winter, don't you?" Shouhei commented with a shake of his head.
"Well, I'm going to need some fats to warm me up for the latter part of the year." Kamamoto patted his flat stomach as he grinned. He was on his slim, summer-mode version.
"Hahaha as expected. Ne, San-chan. Let's go to the festival."
"No way." Bandou flat-out said.
"Oh, it's a pity then. I was planning to treat you some fried squid." Shouhei looked off to the side but kept an eye on his childhood friend. He knows Bandou loves fried squids.
"When the hell are we leaving?" The sunglasses-wearing man asked while Shouhei chuckled. His childhood friend was just too simple sometimes.
"You haven't been to any festival since you joined us, have you?" Fujishima asked Eric who shook his head.
"Then you'll go with the rest of us tonight."
"Okay."
"So it's settled! We'll all be going later!"
"This is so exciting!" Shouhei exclaimed as they made their way to the entrance.
"It really has been a while since we last attended a festival." Kusanagi commented.
"It's still amazing, though!" Yata said.
'It would've been more awesome if Mikoto-san and Totsuka-san were here... but I'm sure that wherever they are right now, they can also see this.' The small vanguard thought with a smile.
"Seems like they've started playing the taiko drums." Chitose said while looking around.
"Hold it." Kusanagi said when his co-clansmen started going further the festivities.
"What is it, Kusanagi-san?"
"How can you all enjoy the festival's atmosphere if you aren't wearing the proper clothing?" the bartender asked which caused the younger bunch of men to look at the clothes they were wearing.
"Oh right! Yukata! We should wear a yukata!" Shouhei excitedly pointed out.
"That's right. Yasuto-san should be here right now."
"Yasuto-san...?"
"He's one of our bar's regular who runs a traditional clothing store."
"Minna, konbanwa."
Everyone looked at the source of the voice and saw a tall, long-haired male wearing a blue yukata.
"I'm Suzumoto Yasuto. Nice to meet you."
-"Nice to meet you too."-
"Shall we go to the shop? I'm sure there are some yukata that should fit all of you."
-"Hai!"-
All of them followed Yasuto to his shop and a few minutes later, they were all wearing their yukata of choice.
"We all look so good in these! That fits you so well, San-chan." Shouhei said with a grin as he looked at Bandou.
"Shut up but dammit. I'm not used to not having my sunglasses with me." Bandou ran a hand through his hair.
"Calm down, San-chan. It's okay, besides, it's nighttime. You wouldn't have been able to see anything while wearing your sunglasses." Shouhei consoled his childhood friend who was still grumbling.
"Where's the chihuahua?" Eric asked.
"He's still in the shop with Anna-chan. Ah, there they are."
"Come on, Anna! Don't do this to me! This is so unfair!" came Yata's voice.
Anna went out of the shop while wearing a white kimono with red flowers on the sleeves and hem. Her hair was also done in a high ponytail and she was pulling a reluctant Yata Misaki behind her.
What the short vanguard was wearing really caught his co-clansmen off guard. He was donning an ombre-styled kimono that was peach on top that darkened to crimson red at the bottom. It had camellia flowers as design from the waist up. To finish the whole girly look, Yata's hair was in a side-ponytail with a camellia designed hair tie.
"This is so embarrassing...!" Yata covered his burning face with his free hand.
"Y-Yata-san, what are you wearing?" Kamamoto asked.
"I kinda miscalculated. Most of the male yukata had been rented so I got Yata-kun that one." Yasuto rubbed the back of his head.
"Ugh... Let me crawl under a rock now..."
"Don't worry, Yata-chan! You look good!" Kusanagi patted Yata on the shoulder.
"Izumo's right. Misaki is pretty in that kimono." Anna looked straight at Yata that caused him to blush further.
"They're right, Yata-san! You're so pretty like a girl!" What Shouhei said earned him a smack on the head courtesy of Bandou.
"You idiot! How's that supposed to make him feel better!?"
"But they're right, ya know? Yata pulled it off quite well." Dewa commented.
"Sh-Shut it! Fine, fine... I've got no other choice anyway." Yata sighed.
"Enjoy the festival, everyone." Yasuto waved before entering his shop.
"So, where are you going?" Kusanagi asked the rest.
"We'd be going to the fried squid stall." Bandou answered for him and Shouhei.
"We'd be looking at the masks." Dewa answered for both him and Chitose.
"There's this game stall I wanna try!" Yata answered.
"Alright. We can all split up then I'll just contact everyone where to meet up later, okay? Don't wander off too far and don't cause too much trouble!" Kusanagi reminded before they split up.
Yata went to a stall where players have to knock off the bottle tower to earn prizes. While he was busy looking at the prizes, he didn't notice someone approach him.
"Misaki?"
Said vanguard stiffened upon hearing his name. He slowly turned his head to the source of the voice and lo and behold, there was the guy whom he didn't want to see at the moment because of his outfit.
"S-Sa-Saru..! Wh-What the hell are you doing here!?" Yata exclaimed while looking at the megane teen.
"Doing my rounds. Captain assigned this work to us because of the festival. But putting that aside, why are you wearing that kimono, Misaki~?" Fushimi drawled with a smirk.
"N-None of your business!" Yata turned his attention to the stall and told the owner that he'd like a try. After paying, he was given a ball.
'Stupid fucking monkey..! Why did he appear now of all times!?' the ginger thought as he threw the ball, only to hit the top of the bottles and miss the lower bunch.
"Che!"
"Still no good at throwing, Misaki~?"
"Shut up! I'm way better at batting than pitching!"
Yata watched as Fushimi paid and received a ball. The megane teen threw the ball dead-center and the whole bottle tower collapsed.
"Congratulations! Pick a prize!" The owner said.
Fushimi looked at the prizes and saw a black necklace which he held out for Yata.
"Wh-What's this?"
"Necklace." Fushimi answered in a deadpan voice which irritated the shorter male.
"I know that, you asshole! I'm asking why you're giving me that!"
"It would complement that checkered scarf you bought."
"Oh."
Misaki took the necklace and smiled a bit. It seems like someone was still keeping tabs on him. He hid it in the kimono's inner pocket and started walking.
"You're still like a freaky stalker though."
"Only when it's Misaki~"
"Fucking monkey!"
The both of them then continued walking while looking at the different stalls around.
"Misaki~ Why are you really wearing a kimono?" Fushimi asked and Yata blushed.
"Th-The store ran out of yukata s-so the owner put me in this."
"Hmmm~"
"Wh-What?" Yata stole a glance at the taller teen.
"Nothing~ You look beautiful, Misaki~"
Yata felt the blush on his cheeks cover his whole face and neck so he punched Fushimi on the shoulder.
"Sh-Shut your trap!" That didn't stop the third-in-command from grinning, though.
"Ah, a food stall!" The ginger made a beeline to the food stall and pondered on what to buy.
"Hmm... Yakisoba or takoyaki... Which one should I pick?" Yata put a finger on his lips while trying to decide.
Just a couple of steps from him were to two guys who were checking him out.
"That chic looks cute, huh? She gives off a boyish aura." The taller one said while looking at Yata after mistaking him as a girl.
"She's unique!" The other commented.
"You go talk to her then!"
"Ehh~"
Fushimi clicked his tongue after hearing the two guys' conversation before approaching Yata and casually putting a hand on his waist.
"Wha- Saruhiko!" Yata snapped his head at Fushimi after feeling the other's hand on his waist.
"You sure you want to eat those, Misaki? There's a stall that sells cotton candy not far from here."
"Where? Show me!"
Fushimi led the way and sent a glare to the two guys from earlier who flinched and turned back after seeing the death glare.
"Whoa... She's got one scary boyfriend!"
"And from Scepter4 too!"
The red and blue clansmen went to the cotton candy stall and Fushimi bought one for Yata. The shorter vanguard held the cotton candy's cone and tore a chunk.
"Sweet! Ah, I tore too big." Yata said after biting off some of the chunk before pushing the rest of the cotton candy on his fingers in Fushimi's mouth.
Yata belatedly realized what he's done and the indirect kiss they shared. He was about to pull his hand back when Fushimi clasped his hand on the ginger-haired male's wrist before licking off the sugar residue on the fingers in his mouth.
The HOMRA vanguard blushed hotly upon feeling Fushimi's gentle licks and sucks on his fingers before the megane teen deemed them clean and let go of his wrist.
"Still too sweet." The blue clansman said.
"S-Stupid monkey... Just say if you don't want it."
"I just said it's too sweet. I didn't really say that I didn't want any."
The pair continued walking until Yata received a text from Kusanagi saying that he should go to the meeting place since it's almost time for the fireworks to start.
The red and blue pair went to the hill where the red clansmen were and to their surprise, the blue clansmen were there too.
"Ah, Yata-chan! Fushimi-kun!" Kusanagi said as he waved.
"We'd stay here, Kusanagi-san." Yata said as he sat on the railing. The bartender nodded and shifted his attention to Seri who was telling him something.
"Ne, Saru. Is it just me or does it seem like everyone from HOMRA's sort of... paired off?" Yata asked while looking at his co-clansmen.
Fushimi followed his gaze and saw Akagi and Bandou playfully teasing each other, Chitose's hand was planted on the ground behind Dewa and was leaning against the glasses-wearing male, Eric was holding Fujishima's sleeve while talking to each other and then, Kusanagi and Seri who were discussing something amongst themselves while occasionally asking for Anna's opinion.
"I guess so." the megane teen said after a little while.
Minutes later, the fireworks finally started and lit up the night sky with different colors. Yata grinned widely before grabbing Fushimi's sleeve and pointing at the sky.
"Did you see that, Saru? It was a crow-shape!"
Fushimi saw the delight in the other's eyes and smiled. He cupped a hand on the older teen's cheek and turned his face towards him.
"Saru?"
Said male closed his eyes upon feeling his lips touch the other's. Yata blushed and clutched the collar of Fushimi's clothes before returning the kiss and pulling the other male closer to him.
"I love you, Misaki." Fushimi said after they broke the kiss for air and Yata leaned his head on the other's chest.
"Love you too, baka Saru."
The megane teen smiled and wrapped an arm around the other's waist before they continued watching the beautiful fireworks on that summer night.