Her eyes laid on the torii gate while her ears listened to the festive sound above her. Rias barely contained her excitement as she had waited for this moment. The legendary Summer Festival, or Matsuri, was a yearly event that she had been excited for ever since she first knew it.
Her mood became better as she got to do so with her best friends! 'I wonder if Issei will wear a jinbei, samue, or boy kimono?' She turned giddy at the thought of her boy friend (emphasis on the spaces) wearing traditional clothes for this festival, as she knew Sona had prepared a Kimono for herself thanks to the redhead's insistence.
She felt a tap on her shoulder before looking up, seeing her parents pointing at a direction where the crowd was. Turning around, her face brightened at the sight of her friend, Sona, wearing a dark blue kimono with water patterns with a female young adult with black hair, tied into twin tails and blue eyes. She wore a pink kimono instead and was happily skipping with her little sister, who was trying to keep up with her.
"Big sister! Slow down!" Sona shouted at her sister before finally being able to take a breather once they were in front of the Gremory family. "He… Hello Rias…" She took a deep breath before managing a smile forming on her face. "You look great."
Rias twirled around and gave Sona her best smile as she took in the compliment. "I know right. But you're great too!" Sona reacted much more mildly, giving a nod of acknowledgement despite feeling good from it.
"Rias-chan!" Rias immediately got glomped on by Sona's sister before the redhead got to react. "Oooh, you look sooo cuuute! You must be as excited as me don'cha?"
"Air…" Rias managed to groan before the girl quickly let her go. Her expression remained the same childlike smile, emphasized by her constant light tapping of her feet. "Oh you must be because we get to go to a Matsuri! Oooh, maybe I can finally find a guy who I can confess to. But then I don't it to be ruined by some stupid fireworks. Maybe I can stop the fireworks before I confess?"
The young adult rambled on, unaware that she had fallen into her own world. Everyone who was at the scene felt a second hand embarrassment from her as bystanders looked at her weirdly.
Sona, unable to take it anymore, slapped her leg. "Serafall stop! You're going off to your delusions again!"
"Oh, oops." The young adult, Serafall, giggled, not at the least feeling sorry at all. "It's just this is the first time in forever since I get to celebrate this. I wonder if Cleria-chan will come here?"
"From what we heard from her, she and the Himejimas would be here to make sure nothing goes wrong in the shrine." Sirzech answered. "I guess it shouldn't be surprising cause we got some Exorcists stopping by."
Serafall pouted at the answer, grumbling under her breath. "This should be relaxing, not about work."
As their sibling converse, Sona looked around before a frown formed on her face. "Where is that idiot?"
Rias shrugged, not too disturbed by the fact that one of the members of their group was missing. "He told me that it would take a while to come here since his parents are insistent on something. I don't know what it is."
Maybe it has to do with his outfit? She will never know until the Hyoudou family arrives and she was a patient devil. "So are you excited, Sona?"
The bispectical girl nodded but Rias could tell she was as excited as she was from the look of her eyes. Sona can keep her emotions well enough, but not from her best friend. "We are just gonna wait for Ise-kun to be here and… There he is!"
Sona turned to where Rias pointed at, finally spotting the Hyoudou family walking towards the torii gate. Miki and Gorou were wearing a smart casual outfit that nicely fit the occasion. Issei, on the other hand, was wearing a red kimono with green linings around the edge of the outfit. The boy walked at a careful pace before jogging, grinning ear to ear after seeing his friends at the gate.
"Sorry I'm late." Sona gave a small huff but still managed to give a small smile, slightly happy that the boy didn't leave the girls alone. Rias was ecstatic when she looked at what Issei was wearing, not that she would think any less if he decided to wear something else. "Dad and mom argued about what to wear and well… we ended up with this."
Both girls laughed at the unfortunate event while Issei grumbled under his breath. The boy eventually noticed the kimono that the girls wore, especially Rias, and felt his heartbeat rise in speed.
Afterall, how can he lie that for some reason or other, he can describe Rias as beautiful right now. Her red hair and foerign feature were enhanced by the crimson kimono with sakura patterns and black lining at the edge. She also wore a necklace that has a green gem on it.
"Beautiful…" The boy quickly shut his mouth when Sona raised an eyebrow by his comment. In his mind, he hoped Rias didn't hear him say that. "N-nothing. Just you girls look great!" He tried to keep his nervousness hidden from sight and thankfully Rias didn't notice his blunder.
Rias gave a glowing smile and bowed to him, saying in a teasing tone. "Thank you, good sir."
The boy felt the sudden urge to scratch the back of his head, look away from the girl while he continued to feel his heartbeat rise. Sona, who was on the side, rolled her eyes at the obvious context of the scene.
Unfortunately for the children, someone has to point out the obvious.
"Oooh, you guys are so cute together!" Serafall suddenly appeared with a camera on hand and snapped some pictures of the two children. "This is so wholesome that I got diabetes! I can't wait until you guys get married!" She squealed like a fangirl while Rias and Issei blushed up a storm.
"We're not even dating yet!" Both of them denied loudly before facepalming, realizing their blunder on the situation.
Sona, who was once again feeling a second hand embarrassment, quickly stopped her older sister. "Sister! Stop embarrassing all of us please."
Seeing how her cute little sister was pleading by all her childish antics, she conceded with a surrender gesture. "Okay okay. But one day you guys are gonna miss all my teasing."
"Alright, that's enough of standing around." Sirzech took hold of Serafall's shoulder and gripped it slightly. "We got a festival to enjoy, don't you think?" The older sibling turned to Sirzech who was smiling, but she could feel him exuding his Power of Destruction in a form of thin aura. Understanding how far she had gotten, she nodded rapidly.
"Then let us go. The children are antsy about this already." Gorou quickly led the group through the torii gate and up the stairs, ready to begin having fun in the festival.
Rias glanced at the vacant hand of Issei and an idea formed in her mind. 'Maybe I can hold his hand?'
She quickly dismissed the idea, knowing that Serafall can use this chance to further tease the two for their 'wholesome moment'. And for as much as she wished she could do so, hand holding in the Matsuri was one of many tropes of an anime for a couple to solidify their relationship.
It might sound ridiculous but Rias was not ready to take on a new step in her relationship with Issei, provided he felt the same. Both of them are friends, and were still young. This was enough for her right now.
She lightly patted her cheeks together before pumping herself. 'No time for distractions! Time for some summer festival fun!'
A beautiful woman with gray hair and eyes, wearing a blue kimono walked through the crowd with grace unlike many of the customers. Some young men and women became mesmerized by her, while some became jealous of her.
She ignored all of them, but instead her eyes scanned through the crowd and ensured there were no disturbances. She had made it her duty with the Himejimas to make sure no one would ruin the festival at all cost.
But she couldn't help but sigh, wishing a certain man would walk through the place with her side by side. She understood that he too had a duty, and she would definitely put it above all else. Her devil side, however, was demanding her to take the man for herself and have a 'date' with him.
Perhaps one day.
"Cleria-chan!" She turned around and quickly spotted Serafall, the Gremory family, and an unrecognizable group going towards her. Well, more like Serafall was running to her and shoving the crowd with her inhumane strength. Knowing the kind of girl Serafall was, she braced herself and gave a friendly hug with her.
"Good to see you too, Leviathan-sama." Cleria politely spoke, keeping a level of formality as she usually does. "I hope you are enjoying the festival."
The immediate response Cleria got was a finger on her nose as Serafall gave her a mock glare. "Says the one who is supposed to be on break and enjoy this festival. Am I right Sirzech?"
Sirzech, who could only give a wry smile, shrugged his shoulders. "As much as I want to agree, I think only people like you think that making sure nothing goes wrong is not relaxing."
Serafall threw her hands up. "Oh you know what? I give up on you workaholics!" That got Cleria and Sirzech laughing. As their laughter subsided, Cleria noticed the three children who were following the group of adults.
Rias looked around the festive ground with starry eyes, trying to take in all the sight and barely keeping herself from running from one stall to another. Sona was analyzing each stall, gauging what each stall does and what fun they could get. The boy, however, was staring at her. She recognized the look of mesmerize as she had often gotten from people.
She giggled as she understood he couldn't help it. In fact, she would be insulted if no one admired her beauty. She knelt down to his level with a gentle smile before talking to him. "Hello there. I have never seen you before."
"I'm Issei Hyoudou! What's your name, pretty lady?"
Cleria giggled, feeling flattered by the boy. "You cute lady killer. My name is Cleria Belial."
"Cleria Be… Belial… Bell?" The boy struggled for a bit before accidentally calling her the last. This time, Cleria couldn't help but laugh out loud, finding the boy to be adorable as he felt embarrassed by fumbling her surname.
"You can call me Bell if that makes it easier."
Issei immediately took a shine with it before nodding rapidly. "Then from now on I'm going to call you Big Sis Bell!"
Right as soon as Issei said those words, Rias tugged his sleeve with a small pout on her face. Issei, confused by how upset she was, merely tilted his head. "You get to call her by a nickname while I have to call her Miss Belial?"
"If you want to, you may just call me with that nickname." Cleria found this mildly amusing for the little girl's jealousy, and decided to help the little girl.
Rias's eyes lit up and made a small jump. "Then I'll call you Big Sis Bell!"
Everyone, riding on the high happy energy, laughed together at the scene playing out. Cleria felt someone tap her shoulder with their finger before turning back. She gasped with a light blush on her face.
A handsome young man with long black hair, wearing a white Jinbei, greeted her with a small wave while keeping a charming smile. "Hello there, Belial."
Her heart skipped a beat by his young, attractive voice and felt her legs were about to be jelly. She reprimanded herself for being like a schoolgirl with a massive crush, so deep in her affection that the only thoughts were how to be in his lovely presence.
And that was exactly how she felt about the young man infront her named Masaomi Yaegaki.
"H-hi, Yaegaki-san." She mentally smacked herself for stuttering and not keeping her composed. "I am surprised you are here."
"Well, it's Matsuri. Of course I would be here to celebrate it even if I'm busy."
She felt silly about asking him. She knew he would be here since it was traditional for him to celebrate it. Yet a tiny voice in her mind told her to ask him whether he came for her.
Before their conversation could continue, Serafall hopped next to both of them with a sly smile. "Olala. Is that romance that I am seeing? Naughty naughty Cleria."
Both victims of Serafall's teasing felt their faces explode in red and tried, but failed, to tell her that they do not have such a relationship. Cleria, trying to distract herself from embarrassment, quickly turned to the adults.
Unfortunately for her, even the Gremories and Hyoudou were part of the teasing.
"S-stop it! We are just friends of opposite genders."
Issei and Rias raised their hands and spoke at the same time. "Like us?"
"Yes!" She nodded quickly before noticing everyone's grin got wider.
It was a trap.
Cleria sputtered out incoherent words before covering her face, feeling it began to burn up. She took a peek at her fellow victim and, to her pleasure, he also felt embarrassed. Their eyes met and a silent message was sent.
She walked to the man and hooked her arm around his before turning to the adults. "Since all of you are busy. I supposed I can have a "date" with Yaegaki-san now." The "couple" quickly leave them, still red faced from all the blood rushing to their head.
Sirzech shook his head, still having a smile on his face. "I think we went too far with the teasing."
"But can't you tell those two were an item?" Serafall quickly rebutted.
Leaning to Serafall, Sirzech whispered into her ear before she gasped, realizing the complicated nature of their relationship. She turned back to where the "couple" went with a worried frown.
Hopefully they won't be caught by those who were not accepting.
"You guys are a bit mean to Big Sis Bell." Serafall could hear Issei simply stating to his parents.
Yeah… a bit too mean.
Issei got a feel with the soft ball on his hand, trying to get used to the weight on it before turning to the tower of tin cans stacked on top of each other. He had one chance to win this game, one chance to show off to Rias and Sona his skill in this game.
He pulled his arm back, keeping his eyes on the target. With all of his strength and technique, he swung his arm then released the ball.
"FOR THE PLUSHIE!"
The ball flew true and hit the target, causing the structure to collapse. All the children jumped in joy and did a group hug in celebration. The stall owner gave a wry smile, thinking that maybe the loss was worth it.
"Alright kid. What'cha gonna get?" The gruffy stall owner asked Issei. The boy quickly pointed at the pair of dragon plushies and was given his reward. Without hesitation, the boy gave the girls a plushie each and they were grateful for it.
Especially Rias who squealed in happiness.
"So, anything you want to do next?" Issei asked them and he was quickly dragged away by the girls when they saw the goldfish game.
The adults watched the children having fun and smiled because of their infectious excitement. Gorou and Zeoticus occasionally took out their cameras and took pictures of the children when they were not paying attention to their surroundings.
Not that they minded. This was their first time having fun together in the festival and they wanted to keep those memories as much as possible.
Once they finished playing the fish scoop game, they continued exploring other stores and tried different games.
At one point, the children wanted to rest their legs after running around too much. They sat on a bench while Sirzech and Serafall went to get some snacks for everyone as they needed to replenish their energy.
As they sat and waited, a girl of similar age with shrine maiden outfit looked around with her purple eyes before approaching them. She had black hair that was tied into a ponytail with orange ribbon.
"Excuse me. Have you seen a gray haired woman? She's young and beautiful and wearing-"
"Do you mean Cleria Belial?" Sona quickly cut the girl's words once she realized who she was looking for. "We don't know where she went after going off with another man named Yaegaki."
The girl sighed, slumping by the disappointing news. "I guess she went off to enjoy the festival."
"Why? Are you not here for the festival?" Issei asked the saddened girl, who shook her head. She let out a sigh before kicking the pebble on the floor, sulking.
"I'm the daughter of the shrine owner here so I have to help mama and papa with a few things before we take our break." She wished she could enjoy it this year, but this time she had to be responsible for ensuring her mother was not swamped by more work.
"Why don't you rest here then?" Zeoticus came to the girl and offered a seat on the bench. "I can look for Cleria since I am her acquaintance."
The girl wanted to stop the man, but immediately stopped by his wife. "Don't worry about being scolded by your parents. We can tell them since we know them too." She ended with a wink and quickly hooked her arm around Zeoticus. They can hear Miki giggled at the sight as the pair left them.
The girl decided to listen to Zeoticus before sitting beside Issei.
As soon as she sat, Issei started a conversation with her. "So what's your name? I'm Issei Hyoudou, but you can call me Ise. This is Rias-chan and Sona-chan." He gestured to each girl, who waved at her.
The girl gave a polite smile and bowed, speaking elegantly. "My name is Akeno Himejima. Daughter of the owner of Himejima Shrine. It is a pleasure to meet all of you."
Issei tilted his head, curious at how she spoke. The girl quickly felt slight embarrassment before explaining herself. "Ah, that is how mama told me to speak when I introduce myself."
"That is good and nice to hear so no need to feel embarrassed." Sona nodded with approval that earned a small blush on her face. "Issei-san and Rias, on the other hand, didn't do that when they met me."
"Oh really? I remember you were pretty grumpy when we first introduced each other." Issei gave a deadpan expression to Sona, to which she responded by looking away, mumbling "I apologized already."
Akeno tilted her head, curiosity filled her being but decided to hold her tongue, as she can tell it can be a long story. Though it might be a hilarious one as she saw the other pair of adults, who were the Hyoudous, let out a wry smile.
"I'm sure it was in the past already." Akeno spoke with a slight nervousness.
Issei waved his hand, giving a dismissal gesture to her. "It's all in the past now so there's no need to worry about it. Everything worked out in the end."
"Yep." The girls agreed before Rias decided to ask Akeno with a small grin. "So Akeno…" Said girl blink rapidly at how she was addressed by the foreign girl, before remembering her father told her of how western culture addresses people. "... do you live here?"
The girl nodded hesitantly, unsure of what to expect from this question. "Do you know a good spot for us to watch the fireworks later? Somewhere we can watch it without the crowd blocking the view."
Akeno thought for a moment, thinking of all possible places that might fit the girl's criteria. She had pretty much memorized most of the area around the shrine with her parents, who enjoyed the "adventure".
"There are several spots I could think of, though there might be one that is… more children 'friendly' as my parents said. Don't ask why, I tried to ask before."
The children titled their heads, confused but decided not to ask. The Hyoudou adults let out an exasperated sigh, mumbling "youngsters".
"Then let's go there once Big Sis Bell is found! I'm sure she's not that hard to find." Everyone agreed with Issei and decided to have a comforting chat together, bonding over mundane things together.
After a while, Sirzech and Serafall came back with various snacks on their hands, including takoyaki, candy apple, chocolate banana, and more. The children salivated at the sight of various foods they could devour and urged them to hurry to them.
The young adults adhered to their demands with amusement and gave them the food. The children quickly introduced Akeno to them and shared their snack with her after insisting upon it.
When they were eating hot food like Takoyaki and Tempura, Sona nearly burned her tongue out of eagerness to try eating something she had never tried before. Rias got a good laugh out of it and was received with an ice cube placed on her neck that earned a yelp.
Rias immediately pushed Issei to 'avenge' her by ordering him to tickle Sona, who retaliated by tickling back at her friends. This eventually led to them chasing each other alongside Akeno who joined them, despite how exasperated the adults and teenagers who tried to stop them.
"What's going on?" The children stopped their chase as Venelana, accompanied by her husband, Belial, and surprisingly Yaegaki, approached the children with a disapproving look. The children didn't look the least guilty, smiling as sweat dripped on their faces.
Akeno, upon seeing Belial, thanked the Gremory adults for helping her before facing the woman. "Miss Belial, my parents are looking for you for some business… and uhm…" She awkwardly glanced at Yaegaki, who gave her an awkward wave. "Your companion can go with you."
Belial and Yaegaki looked at each other before the woman gave the girl an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I guess I was having too much fun just now. I'll go meet your parents now. Go have fun with your friends okay?"
The girl nodded and received a head pat by the woman. She said goodbye to everyone before Akeno began leading everyone to the place she had in her mind.
Traversing through uneven grounds of the forest, the Hyoudou, Gremory, Sitri, and Akeno managed to reach an old balcony where an old wooden bench can be seen.
The children, despite being slightly winded, felt a surge of energy quickly made their way to the balcony and admired the sight. In their sight, they saw the horizon mostly dark, but there was light coming from the shrine area and the starry night made the scene much more memorable for them.
"This place is empty and nice." Miki commented and sat on the bench with her husband. "I think you picked a lovely place, Akeno-chan."
The girl felt shy by the praise, and muttered "You're welcome." back to Miki.
"So when will the fireworks begin?" Rias asked excitedly, looking around the landscape to find a possible point of origin for the upcoming fireworks.
Akeno internally counted, as she knew the timing by heart, from 10 seconds until 3 seconds left, where she said it out loud. The other children quickly followed her lead and counted down with her before the light show began.
They became so entranced by the show that none of them said anything. Unconsciously, Rias brought her hand to Issei's one and reciprocated with him holding her hand. Her heart soars in happiness and squeals.
Her free hand was immediately taken by Sona, and she saw the other girl was smiling brightly like the redhaired girl. Rias lightly nudged Sona and gestured with her head towards Akeno. Understanding her intention, Sona took Akeno's hand, who was surprised for a moment before accepting it.
As if it was a moment of one mind, all of them raised their hands together in the air and shouted with pure happiness and glee.
"Tamaya!"
As the fireworks went on, Belial and Yaegaki watched the sky with soft, loving smiles and their hands intertwined. To them, today was the best day in their lives.
The circumstances would be better but…
"I want us to be like this everyday…" She muttered to herself. It was selfish as she knew how much Yaegaki was devoted to his work, yet she wanted their love to win against duty.
Her hand was lovingly squeezed by the man she loved before facing his smiling face that was illuminated by the fireworks. "Maybe one day we could."
He leaned forward, cupping her blushing cheeks before slowly closing his eyes just as she does. Their lips touched as the fireworks soar and explode in the sky, as if celebrating their first kiss.
And thus, this is the finale for season 1, despite being 7 chapters. It took me so long to finally get this done with and I am happy I can move on from it. I'm not too satisfied by the end but this is the best I can bring out before my internship. With that said, it would be great if I get comments so I know what else I can add and what are your expectations in the next season! See you guys in the next season.