"Takoyaki! Get yourself some fresh takoyaki!"
"Come one, come all! Try your luck at this ring toss game and win some prizes!"
"Get your hands on some masks here right now!"
Many stalls were lined up as Doggie and I walked around. There was the usual takoyaki stand, a goldfish scooping stand, a place where you can buy and wear masks, typically the stuff you would see at a festival. How nostalgic. It had been a long time since I had been to a festival like this. I missed this feeling a lot. I looked around, seeing all of the hustle and bustle and the liveliness that was happening everywhere, like a little kid who is experiencing his first time visiting. As we walked further in, I started to visit each stall, enjoying the various games and eating the delicious food. I was having a great time.
Well, almost.
Every single stall that we went to, food or game, the owner of that stall would say stuff like,
"Ahh, giving the prize to your boyfriend?"
"Sharing food with your boyfriend?"
And I would reply with,
"He's not my boyfriend!"
After going to many stalls and trying out the various things they had, Doggie and I decided to take a walk along a path that had a stretch of wooden plaques, wishes and heartfelt thoughts written on each and every one of them.
I then took out something that I had bought from a stall while Doggie wasn't looking around. It was red in colour, and had a single Japanese kanji word that meant, "Love".
...it was a relationship charm.
I stared at the thing, as if something magical would happen to it. I should give this to Doggie... I thought. It would be a nice gift...
"...Hey, Doggie-chan." I said, catching Doggie's attention.
"Hm? What is it?" said Doggie.
I walked up to him and put the relationship charm onto his hands.
"Here, you can have this."
Doggie looked down at his gift, not moving a muscle. There were a few seconds of silence. Then Doggie suddenly widened his eyes in shock.
"Wha—whaaaat?!! Ehh?!!!" He said, face getting red. "Ah... um, uhhhh... what is this? Don't tell me... your serious?!"
Hm? Why is he acting so flustered all of a sudden? And why did he ask if I'm serious?
"Why wouldn't I be serious? Take it, I'm giving it to you." I replied.
"Ehhhh?!!!" Doggie replied in greater shock than before. "But...why so sudden?"
"Well... I never realised it until just a few seconds ago that I wanted to give this to you..."
At that Doggie's face was very red, his eyes so wide they could pop out any second. But soon he calmed down, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"I...i'm very happy that you gave this to me, but... we should at least go out on... a date first... a-a-and... I need to think it over..." Doggie said, his face still red.
"Think it over? Date? What are you talking about? You have been acting strange this whole tim—" I said, turning my head to my left. I stopped mid sentence upon seeing a wooden sign. It said,
"If a person is giving a relationship charm to someone, it means they're proposing."
I stared at the sign. In a moment, my eyes widened and my face grew red as soon as I finished reading it. It made sense now. Doggie must have read this just now,and right after that, I gave him the charm!
"I-i-i-it's n-n-not what you think! I didn't know that giving you a relationship charm meant something like this, i meant it as a gift and nothing else!" I quickly explained, blushing heavily.
"Huh? Oh... I see... Yeah! It's all a misunderstanding! So don't worry about it!" Doggie said, laughing nervously and blushing as well. "And, one more thing..." he added.
"Hm?"
Doggie smiled warmly at me as he said,
"Thank you for the gift."
In that moment, I could feel my heart getting pierced by an arrow. I could also feel my face getting hotter. And redder.
"I'm sorry I don't have anything. I didn't expect a gift from you." Doggie said, scratching the back of his neck.
"What? You don't need to do that, Doggie-chan. Just you being with me is the greatest gift I could ask for." I replied, smiling back.
Now it was Doggie's turn to have his face get hotter. And redder. He really looks so cute when he's like that.
"I see... but, I really want to give you something, at he very least. I insist." Doggie said.
"If you say so... in that case, do anything you like. I don't mind." I told Doggie.
Doggie's eyes widened. "Really? Anything?"
"Anything."
"Ok. In that case..." Doggie said as he stepped closer, face getting redder. He then took a hold of my hand and started walking.
"Wha-?"
"We better hurry. Otherwise, others might spot us again."
said Doggie.
Spot us? Ah. Doggie must have heard about the recent rumours going around.
Soon, we found a bench after walking for a while. We sat down, taking a small breather.
"So... back to what we were doing earlier..." Doggie said.
"Eh?"
"I said just now that I wanted to give you something."
I shook my head. "Oh. But you see, Doggie-chan... like I said, being with you is the greatest gift I could ask for."
"But—"
I put a finger on his soft, kissable lips, effectively silencing him. "But, if you insist..."
I then put a hand around Doggie, pulling him closer until his head was resting against my shoulder.
"This is what I want. To have you by my side as long." I said.
Initially surprised by the sudden action but calming down immediately, Doggie relaxed and snuggled closer. Neither of us said a word as we enjoyed the warmth and comfort of each other's company.
