"There's a Chinese New Year celebration near campus and students get free admission!" Fia announced with a smile.
"That sounds fun," Nagisa replied, "Where's Haven?"
"She said she had something to do today and left really early," Fia replied. "I'll get the tickets for us! Where's Karma?"
The redhead walked out from his room. "Speak of the devil and he shall come," he grinned.
Fia shook her head with a smile. "I can see that. Karma, do you want to go to the Chinese New Year festival?"
He locked his hands behind his head with an indifferent expression. "I think I'll just stay here."
She tried to hide her disappointment. "O-Oh, alright…"
Nagisa held his chin contemplatively. "Karma, won't you get bored? Fia and I will probably be gone all day."
Karma smirked. "If you wanted me to go, you should have just said so."
His housemates exchanged wry smiles and laughed dryly.
Three pairs of eyes explored the large room. The festival was being held in one of the large community centers just a little way from campus. Lanterns were strewn from the ceiling and colorful, lively stalls created a maze of entertainment. Demonstrations were happening in sectioned-off areas and music, both traditional and popular, blasted through the stage speakers.
Excited, Fia grabbed onto Nagisa's arm and pulled him towards the stands. As the two happily chattered about what they were seeing as Karma lazily followed them through the crowds. It wasn't exactly his thing, but the atmosphere was still enjoyable to an extent.
"What does that character mean?" Nagisa asked Fia, who was holding a copper charm.
"It means 'Family' according the vendor, but I might want to get 'Faith,'" she explained. "Which one are you holding?"
"Courage," he said happily.
Fia and Karma peered over Nagisa's shoulder to see the charm in his palm.
"That's really cool!" Fia complemented the charm with a smile.
"It looks like it has your pigtails, Nagisa," Karma laughed. "How fitting."
Nagisa sweat-dropped at Karma's comment and put it back on the display board. "Are you getting something, Karma?"
"Nah, I already have everything I need," he replied. Karma slipped his hand into his pocket to find his dagger keychain waiting for him. "Where to next?"
The trio made their way through each stand, admiring different types of objects, clothing, and food.
Fia and Nagisa had a blast trying on different types of traditional clothing. While Fia was trying on different hair accessories, Nagisa admired the fans and Karma tried on different masks. Holding a fierce dragon mask to his face, Karma tapped on Fia's shoulder and leaned closer to her.
She turned around and jumped. "EEP!" It took Fia a few moments to recover, but when she did, she playfully pushed Karma and laughed. "Don't scare me like that!"
Karma and Nagisa simultaneously grabbed Fia and pulled her back towards them as a dazzling dragon handled by at least ten people danced past. Gasps escaped from the crowds as they were all dumbstruck with awe at its magnificence. Fia was no exception. Her eyes sparkled as she excitedly jumped up and down. Ever so subtly, Karma stole a few pictures with his phone and a contented smile.
Satisfied that they had thoroughly explored all of the stands, Karma, Nagisa, and Fia bought some Chinese food to share. They took seats around a table in front of the performance stage and watched the beautifully-choreographed dances as well as the animated, powerful drum performances.
The lion dancing was amazing. The tempo of the drums changed and five, festively-decorated lions emerged from a back entrance. The pairs manning each lion costume made their lion come to life, blinking their eyelids over the mesmerizing lights the lions had for eyes, flicking their ears, and moving their maws. Each lion leapt and danced their way through the stalls and towards the stage.
"What's up with that one?" Karma asked as a black and white lion with a particularly active backside danced past.
Fia covered her mouth with her hand. "It looks like it's twerking…" she mumbled.
Karma laughed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, it kind of does!"
The bluenette sweat-dropped. "Come on, guys. It's not that bad…" He followed the lion's movements with his eyes and soon became really dizzy. "Okay, m-maybe it is…"
The lions meandered to the stage and began dancing on it. They rolled over and lay down, and got back up. The lions reared, uncovering the front dancers' heads for a few moments. Underneath the black and white lion from earlier, appeared a familiar white-haired person.
Nagisa and Karma exchanged glances and then looked at Fia. "Wasn't that Haven?"
Fia nodded with a happy expression. "She's a lion dancer. Did I forget to mention that?"
Nagisa scribbled something down in his notebook and smiled. "That explains your birthday gift to her."
Olive eyes glittered. "You noticed!"
Suddenly, the music changed again and a group of people, each holding cabbage attached to long poles, moved onto the stage.
Leaning in to talk to Fia over the loud music, Nagisa asked, "What are they doing?"
Fia pointed at the cabbages. "The lions 'eat' the cabbage and then spit them out over the audience for good luck. Or something like that," she giggled.
The black and white lion that Haven was in grabbed the cabbage and, in sync with the other lions, made the shredded cabbages rain over the nearby audience. The crowd broke into laughter and applause, but it should be noticed that the black and white lion, standing directly in front of the housemates' table, had rained cabbage down on everyone except a particular redhead. While everyone applauded, he raised a middle finger to the stage. The dance ended with the lions lined up next to each other, each one holding a bright red banner with golden calligraphy on it as the curtain fell.
Sweat-dropping, Fia picked some cabbage out of her hair and blew it at Karma with a meek smile. He shot her a look, then sighed, nodding in appreciation. He was totally going to find Haven after this.
"Hey, Haven, good job!" an asian boy came up and gave her a big pat on the back.
"Yeah, yeah.. Don't you have a martial arts demonstration to prepare for?" Haven asked with slight annoyance. "And you were too excited. The lion looked weird."
"Ah, come on, I'm not lion when I say it was fun!" the boy replied.
Haven face-palmed, "Get over to the martial arts demo, NOW."
The three spotted Haven and ran over.
"Well, see you later, Haven," the boy gave her a big hug.
"You're suffocating me!" Haven tried to pry the larger boy off. He let go and ran off into the crowd, waving.
"Who was that?" Karma asked as he pointed in the direction that the boy had just run off.
"None of your business, Akabane," Haven replied flatly.
"He looks like the guy on your computer wall paper," Nagisa commented.
"It is," Haven replied.
Without another word, Haven turned and made her way over to the area where the martial arts demonstration was being held. The other three followed her quickly in hope that they wouldn't miss out. The crowd oohed and ahhed as the two in the matted arena sparred. One was Haven's acquaintance and partner from the lion dance, the other was a boy slightly older than him.
"Did that one just wink at you?" Nagisa sweat-dropped.
"I think so," Haven nodded her head.
Finally, the match ended with the older boy on the mat.
"Any of you want to match me?" the victor asked. Most of the crowd stepped back or shook their heads.
Karma raised his hand with a smirk, "I do."
Haven put her arm in front of him, blocking his way. "I will," Haven walked into the arena.
"Ah! Come on, how am I supposed to fight a girl like you?" the boy asked.
"Because I can beat you up," Haven replied with a slight smile as she got into position, "and you winked at me."
"Well, if you're certain. I will give you an earnest fight," the boy smiled back.
"That was cruel and unusual 'pun'-ishment," Haven smiled. Nobody in the audience got what they were talking about.
Fia and Nagisa exchanged concerned glances but said nothing as they watched the fight unfold. Karma readied his sharp, orange eyes to carefully observe each fighter's every move.
Haven walked towards the boy and attempted a punch. He blocked and made a counter attack, which Haven dodged.
Fia was getting nervous as the pair exchanged blows. They were fairly equally matched, so the fight seemed to be dragging a little bit longer than the boy's first match had. She gripped the wooden beam holding back the crowd tightly and leaned forward to try and get a closer look. Suddenly, she heard splintering and Fia found herself falling face-first onto the mats. She somehow ended up in the center of the ring, right between Haven and her opponent. The two stopped fighting and went to help her.
"Tsu-chan?" Haven asked.
She rubbed her butt. "O-ow…" Fia looked around and was mortified to find that all eyes were on her. She glanced between the surprised fighters. "I'm s-so sorry! I-I didn't m-mean to interrupt the m-match!"
The boy extended a hand to her. "Are you okay?" he asked. "That looked like a hard fall." Tapping the mat with his foot, he added "The fight hardly mat-ters if someone got hurt."
Fia accepted his help and brushed herself off. Embarrassedly and shyly, she asked, "Are you sure?"
"It's all for the best," the boy smiled, "I didn't want to fight her anyway, 'cause in a way, it would kill me to see her get hurt." He gave Haven a lopsided smile.
"Just stop with the puns," Haven sighed, "No one is getting them."
Looking between Haven and her opponent in confusion, Fia quickly exited from the arena and hid behind Nagisa and Karma from the blatant stares of the other audience members.
"Are you alright?" Nagisa asked.
Fia nodded slowly, still not releasing her grip on either of the boys' arms. Karma crossed his arms and, in doing so, lightly placed his hand over Fia's. The gesture contrasted with the smug grin on his face that read "Yeah, your fall was as embarrassing as you thought."
Nagisa observed Haven and the boy as they talked in the middle of ring. "That's the same guy from the lion dancing, isn't it? They look really close," he noted quietly.
Fia's and Karma's gazes met, then turned back to where the mysterious boy was waving Haven off and exiting with the rest of his martial arts group. Haven returned to her housemates with an unreadable expression.
"I'm tired. Let's go back now."
Holding a flyer in her hand, Fia approached Haven. "Hey, Angel? What's the Chinese lantern festival about?"
"It's the last day of the Chinese New Year. The holiday technically lasts 15 days," Haven said.
She smiled. "I know it's been a long week for you, but do you want to go?" Her eyes shone with a hint of hope.
"I have to. There's more lion dancing," Haven sighed, "Hopefully my partner isn't as enthusiastic."
Fia laughed. "He's not going to twerk again, is he?"
Haven gave her a flat look, "I certainly hope not."
It wasn't long until the day of the festival rolled around. Fia frowned in front of her mirror as Haven donned her black and white lion dancing pants.
"Angel, what am I supposed to wear?" she frowned slightly. Normally, she wouldn't have cared, but Jelavic and Felicia's constant lecturing was finally starting to get to her.
"Something comfortable and warm? It's still rather cold and this festival is held outside," Haven sighed.
"You alright, Angel?" Fia asked as she pulled on a warm white sweater and fluffy green scarf."
"You lucky people who get to bundle up," Haven grumbled.
She smiled wryly. "You can't wear a sweater under that costume of yours?"
"It's not exactly permitted for this routine," Haven sighed.
"I'll bring you a jacket for before and after then," Fia smiled.
True to her word, she draped Haven's jacket over her arms as she, Haven, Nagisa, and Karma found their way to the location of the lantern festival. It was late afternoon, but they were hoping to explore the stands before the releasing of the lanterns after dark. As soon as they got to the festival, Haven ran off.
"I'll find you after the dancing," Haven called as she disappeared into the crowd.
"We'll go see some of the stands before we check out the lion dancing," Nagisa explained. "Does that sound like a good plan?"
Fia nodded while Karma shrugged indifferently. With that, the three took to exploring the stands. It was very similar to the stands they had been to at the convention center, but there were more food, games, and informational stands here.
After trying their hand at Chinese calligraphy, which came much more naturally to the boys than it did Fia - hers looked trampled flowers, the trio made their way over to watch the Chinese Yo-Yo demonstrations.
"Would you like to try?" a few small children asked with smiles.
"Sure!" the housemates smiled together.
After dropping his blue yo-yo more than a few times, Nagisa had finally begun to make some sense of the more simple tricks the children were showing him. Karma seemed to have a little less trouble with his red yo-yo than Nagisa had with his and soon took to entertaining a few of the small girls who had gathered around him. Fia, realizing that she had an extremely difficult time with the yo-yos, opted to sit with the children around Karma. She clapped happily for him.
Nagisa approached Fia with a friendly smile. "Would you like me to show you how to do it?" he asked.
Her face lit up and she got to her feet. "Please and thank you!"
After completing another showy toss and catch, Karma scanned his audience. He found Nagisa and Fia standing off towards a corner. The two seemed to be laughing as Fia tried to untangle herself from the yo-yo string. Once free, Fia handed Nagisa her green yo-yo and shook her head. Karma was fascinated to see Fia run off and quickly run back with a silver tray. The girl bowed and then began creating tricks of her own with the tray, a few of which they had seen in one of the dances before the lion dance. The two laughed again and Karma handed his yo-yo to a kid at his side. Ruffling the kids' hair, he made his way over to Fia and Nagisa.
"Having fun?" Karma asked as he neared the pair.
Having stacked the yo-yos on top of the tray on top of her head, Fia curtsied to Karma in greeting. "Yup~!"
Nagisa smiled and helped Fia remove the objects from her head before turning to Karma. "Ready to go check out the riddle lanterns? I hear those are really popular at this festival."
Karma grabbed Fia's shoulders and pulled her through the tightly-packed crowd. Nagisa led the way to where the riddle lanterns were, but he stopped as he approached them.
"Isn't that Haven?" the bluenette asked, pointing towards a white-haired girl, dressed in festive black and white pants, standing by the lanterns.
She was looking at a certain riddle lantern with a thoughtful expression on her face when two hands covered her eyes. After a few seconds, she lifted them off and turned around to reprimand the boy behind her who was wearing matching pants. He laughed it off and gave her a quick hug. Then she turned back around and pulled the slip of paper off of the lantern and headed to the lantern owner.
Noticing the boys' curious expressions, Fia quickly explained how the riddle lanterns worked. Haven had done the same for her two years before, and she did her best to do the tradition justice.
Nodding in understanding, the boys turned to try the lanterns out for themselves. Nagisa had hoped to talk to Haven, but she and the other black-haired boy had already disappeared. He sighed and contented himself to wait until the lion dance was finished.
There were several short columns placed on the temporary platform where the demonstrations were being held. Momentarily, loud clangs and bangs were heard, proclaiming the start of the lion dancing. The lions made their way through the crowd and to the stage where several of them, including a very familiar black one, began balancing on top of the columns. From atop the columns, several lions went up on their back legs by placing the front dancer on the back dancer's shoulders. Haven's lion was one of the three that did so.
Fia clapped happily to the music and she watched her friend with pride. Nagisa watched the black lion too, but he wore a much softer expression than his excited female counterpart. Karma just shook his head with a smile. He crossed his arms atop Fia's head and leaned against her like a desk. The happy girl shrugged it off and kept cheering until the finale of the dance.
The lion dance ended with the lions being set on the stage and the dancers coming to the front to bow. All of them wore the same sleeveless outfit except the color of their pants.
"I'll be able to hang out with you guys now!" Haven ran up to her friends in her coat and a pair of normal pants. "Who wants to eat yuanxiao?" Haven grabbed her friends and dragged them to a booth where they were selling food. "Five servings of yuanxiao, please!" Haven asked and handed over some money. In return she got five bowls of round, white balls in a clear liquid.
Fia smiled and gratefully accepted a bowl from Haven. "Thanks, Angel!"
Karma stared skeptically down at his bowl. "What's in it?" He leaned down and ate one of the white dumplings out of Fia's hand. "Don't mind if I do~."
Fia watched the dumpling disappear into Karma's mouth and her gaze followed his adam's apple as he swallowed it. She wasn't sure if she should feel embarrassed by Karma's behavior or devastated by the loss of her precious dumpling. Either way, she wasn't exactly enthusiastic. "KARMA! Wh-What are you doing?"
He laughed and switched their bowls so that she would have a full set of five again. "Testing for poison~."
She paled. "SO YOU'D LET ME EAT THE POISONED ONES!"
Grinning smugly, he retorted with "You can just use your wicked chemistry skills to come up with an antidote!"
Fia stomped her foot in a fluster. "THAT'S N-NOT HOW IT WORKS!"
Nagisa laughed at the two's friendly bantering. It was much better that they were playfully messing with each other than actually trying to get on each other's nerves. This was a pleasant change from last month.
Suddenly, Haven squeaked as the bowl in front of her disappeared. "Who said you could take that!" she protested to the guy standing next to her.
"Why else would you have two bowls?" he smiled and laughed.
"Maybe I was planning to eat both." she pouted.
"You'll get more later at my mom's house. She'll kill you if you don't come," he popped one in his mouth and patted her on the head.
"Bug off!" Haven replied with a slightly smaller pout.
"Oh, come on! You don't completely hate my 'ant'-ics," he laughed. "Besides, we're supposed to eat them for togetherness or something, right?"
"You don't even believe in that stuff!" she said as she tried to elbow him.
"I get it, I get it, I'm going," he began walking away with the bowl, "Don't forget to find me later tonight!"
"As if you'd let me," Haven called after him. She stuck her tongue out before turning around and to eat the rest of her food.
Fia looked between Haven and the boy disappearing into a nearby crowd. "We've seen him a lot lately… Who is that, Angel?"
"He's the rear half of the lion," she replied, "We've been paired up since we were little kids." Haven smiled as she reminisced.
She giggled. "That sounds really cute… Does the backside have a name?"
"Earnest," Haven laughed.
Nagisa's smile faltered. That was Earnest…?
Fia smiled. "Well, he does seem earnest to say the least!"
"Yes, he really is, and he loves the pun as well."
She covered her mouth with a hand to stifle a giggle. "Why didn't you introduce us sooner!"
"Cause two punny people together would be torture."
Karma frowned slightly and Nagisa shifted uncomfortably, even as the girls continued to laugh lightly.
"What do you guys think of the yuanxiao?" Haven asked as she popped another one in her mouth.
Fia shot Karma a dirty look. "I dunno. I haven't had the chance to try one yet."
"Then be my guest." Karma smirked as he shoved a dumpling into Fia's open mouth.
Resembling a squirrel with puffed-up cheeks, Fia chewed slowly. Her eyes widened and slowly began to sparkle. "Rish sho tashphy!" she declared with her mouth full.
Haven smiled, "I'm glad you like it Tsu-chan! What about you, Gisa?"
He nodded and smiled slightly. "It's good! What's in it?"
"Sesame paste," Haven replied.
Karma sighed and held a dumpling up to the light. "Togetherness, huh…?"
"Did you say something?" Fia smiled up at Karma as she finished her last dumpling.
He smiled and held out his bowl to her. "No, not really."
Fia's grin widened as she grabbed a white dumpling. "Grazie~!" Although it wasn't traditional, Fia touched her dumpling to Karma's in a toast of sorts. "To being with friends and loved ones!"
As the light began to fade, the four made their way to where the lanterns would be set off.
Nagisa surveyed the scene. "Do the lanterns symbolize anything?" he asked Haven.
"Yes. Hmmm…" she thought for a moment, "Lighting one is mainly a way to hope for a smooth future."
Fia bounced on her heels. "Where do we get them?" She intently gazed at people passing by with their lanterns already in hand.
"Almost any booth will sell you one today," Haven smiled, "Just wait here!" When she came back, she was carrying something the size and shape of a small clothes hamper. "Here we are, a typical lantern," she smiled.
Fia's jaw fell slack. "That's huge! I should have stayed for the lantern launching last year…"
"Let's find a place to send this one off." Haven walked around until she found a spot next to the river. "Here's great! Three of us will take a side of the lantern while the fourth lights it. This way the whole lantern won't catch on fire."
Karma pulled a lighter from his pocket and handed it to Fia. "Here."
Her eyes widened. "Me?"
Nagisa laughed lightly. "Sometimes, you really are the glue of the household. It's only fitting."
Fia smiled happily and glomped her three housemates. "I LOVE YOU GUYS!"
"Tsu-chan, you're kind of smothering me!"
Karma laughed with a growing smirk. "Was that a confession?"
The bluenette sweat-dropped with pinkish cheeks. "You're kind of smothering me too…"
"Oh!" Fia let go and laughed embarrassedly. "Sorry, guys! Ready to light the lantern~?" she smiled blissfully.
The three got into position.
"You'll see a ring down there. Light that," Haven instructed.
"Si, I see it!" Fia reached over and carefully lit the ring. Her expression became illuminated as if to mirror the glowing lantern. "Wow! It's so pretty!"
"Now, we all hold it until it fills with warm air," Haven's smile was also illuminated by the lantern.
Haven and Karma made room so that Fia could squeeze in and grab the lantern too. Once it was filled with hot air, they grabbed the rim of the lantern and lifted it slowly into the sky where it and several dozen other lanterns floated serenely on the wind.
Fia's eyes glittered and she leaned against Karma as she admired the floating lights. "They're like fireflies…" she mumbled happily.
"Look into the river," Haven smiled at the reflection of the lanterns.
Nagisa wrapped his scarf tighter around himself and smiled serenely as he watched the crowds of lanterns and people move about him, each with their own happy light.
She gasped audibly when she saw the mirror-like surface of the water. Fia ran to the riverbed and crouched down. Hesitantly, Fia cupped her hands in the frigid water. She hadn't wanted to disturb the beautiful image with ripples, but she had to have a piece of it in her own hands. Laughing, she slowly let the water cascade back into the river like glittering waterfalls.
"You're going to get frostbite," Karma called.
Fia came bounding back and splashed some of the cold water dripping from her hands at him. She giggled. "It was worth it!"
Karma shook his head and gave her his gloves. "Am I always going to have to do this for you?"
She laughed happily. "As long as we're together, you will. I hope that's for a long time to come!"
They hadn't noticed Haven slip away until they saw her standing a little ways away, readying to launch another lantern with Earnest. She was smiling as the two lifted it into the sky.
Nagisa's gaze fell and his smile faltered. "Those two really are close, aren't they…?"
"Hey, guys, go on home without me. It's a tradition for us to go eat with our families after the festival," Haven told them.
Waving exaggeratedly in her enthusiasm, Fia called "See you later, Angel! Say 'hi' to your mom for me!"
"I will!" Haven called as she walked away with Earnest. He slung his arm around her shoulder and they disappeared into the crowd.
Noticing the boys' solemn expressions, Fia grabbed both of their arms. "C'mon, guys. We're family too! So let's go home~." Not waiting for an answer, Fia began toting them back to their apartment.
Karma: (Sweat-drops) Fia, what are you doing…?
Fia: I don't want Earnest to beat me out on puns!
Karma: You're kidding, right?
Nagisa: I wish she was… She's been trying them out on me since we got back!
Karma: Do I even want to hear them?
Nagisa: (Putting his hand over Fia's mouth) No. You really don't. Hey, is Earnest Haven's boyfriend?
Fia: (Exchanges a glance with Karma) I really don't know… They seem close, but I really couldn't tell you.
Karma: What will you do if he is Haven's boyfriend, Nagisa?
Nagisa: I'm just curious, that's all.
Karma: (Sniffing the air)
Fia: What are you doing?
Karma: Is that… denial that I smell?
Nagisa: (blushes) What are you talking about?
Narrator: (sigh) These four and their blind spots. Chapter 23 will be a noteworthy chapter. Look forward to it!
