She Comes And Goes As She Pleases (Part 46)
by BrDPirateMan

The miso soup was bubbling nicely in the pot. I poured a little of it into a tiny saucer and placed it to my lips for a taste. Perfect.

Now when's Eri going to wake up? The summer holidays weren't over yet, so there's no need to get up early, but at this time of the morning there's no reason not to get up either.

I flicked the gas off and went back to my bedroom, where she was blissfully asleep. It was almost a shame to have to wake her up, but it's well past eight already. Any later and it'd put a serious spanner in our daily routine.

"Eri," I called, "get up."

I drew the curtains just enough to let a shaft of sunlight shine inside. It landed directly on her face and her eyelids pinched tighter to counter the glare in her eyes. Finally she stirred to life.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled, turning the other way.

"No can do. It's way too late to still be in bed. Breakfast is ready too, so let's eat already."

I grabbed the sheets she was tangled up in and tugged them away, leaving her completely exposed. Once again she didn't bother to put anything on before she went to bed last night. Nothing new by this point. The sight of her naked body was already welcome in itself, but when she reluctantly sat up to stretch, the sensation in my loins grew a little warmer. And even though her hair was in total disarray, there was something strangely erotic about it.

Eyes firmly shut, she mumbled, "Good morning… What… What time is it?"

"It's time for breakfast," I deadpanned.

Apparently too groggy to get the joke, she acknowledged it as an appropriate reply. "Oh… so it's breakfast o'clock… Okay."

Was she still asleep, perhaps?

I gently sat on the edge of the bed, right beside her. She was dangerously close to nodding off again. Ignoring the nudity in my face as best as I could, I took advantage of her helpless state to have some fun.

"Eri."

"Mmm…?"

"Hold out your paw."

Astonishingly, she outstretched her left hand, when anyone would have stopped and asked what the heck I was up to. She wasn't usually this bad with mornings, but when she was, it was on a whole different level altogether.

"No, Eri," I chuckled. "Right paw, not left."

And she reached out with her right hand, which had curled up into a loosely-clenched fist to resemble an animal's paw. Heh, it's like having my own trained dog.

I went through a few of the tricks people often make their dogs do and, unaware of what she was doing, she followed each of my commands to the letter. I made her shake hands, roll on the bed, and one time she even barked. Yup, she actually went "arf arf", and it was unbearably cute. Any normal person would have long woken up by now, but she wasn't normal in the first place.

I knew our miso soup was growing colder, but I wanted one last trick out of her before I woke her up for real.

"Okay, now say hi."

"Arf."

"That's a girl," I said, patting her head. Okay, that's about enough for –

"I'm awake, you know."

H-Huh?

She peeled her eyes half open, and in them I saw the look of someone who knew more than she let on. A cold sweat started to pour out of every pore on my body.

"Eri? H-How long… have you been up?"

"The whole time."

Oh, crud. The joke's on me.

And now I was going to pay for it.

As she crept closer, I instinctively inched backwards. Whatever punishment she had in store for me, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to take it.

She pounced and flung her arms around my neck. I didn't have time to think before she tossed me onto my back on the bed; the maneuver was probably some bastardization of a judo throw. Dazed, I had to spend a moment or two waiting for my blurred vision to clear up, just in time to see her sit on my lap. Her weight kept me in place.

"Geez," she huffed, "I trusted you to be my amazing boyfriend, but here you are, treating me like a dog!"

"S-Sorry! I… I was just messing with you. You looked so cute I couldn't help myself."

She ignored my excuses to make time for a wicked smile that she was cultivating on her face.

"Hey, I can relate to that. You're cute too, and now I want to mess with you."

Uh-oh. I tried to worm my way out from underneath her, but she simply lay down on my body, hugging me tightly. The incredible softness of her breasts effectively sent me into a catatonic state.

Whispering point-blank into my ear, she said, "I'm hungry."

"W-Well, we have miso soup… I just cooked it – "

"Bon appétit."

She gave my cheek a good lick, then gave the rest of my face the same treatment. She was surprisingly dainty about it too, using small laps with the tip of her tongue. In this regard, she's more like a cat than a dog… a naked cat with killer proportions.

"Eri, hey, ugh! Cut it out!"

No sign of slowing down. I tried again.

"Please?"

"You have a very sexy flavour this morning," she purred, our lips just shy of touching. "Is that miso I taste on you?"

"Uh, y-yeah, I told you we've got miso soup…"

"Then I'll have you as a side dish."

And she trailed her tongue across my neck, sending shivers up my spine. Any more of this, and I'd probably want her for breakfast too! But I willed the last remaining vestige of integrity within me to give me the strength I needed to repel her advances.

"Eri, let's give this a rest. For realsies, alright? Breakfast is – "

"Your metal detector is pinging."

"What? What metal – oh…"

That's a new euphemism if I ever heard one.

With an especially naughty grin, she gloated, "Wow, it's pointing at the right place… Struck it rich with the mother lode, huh?" Considering where our crotches were positioned at the moment, I'd say she wasn't half wrong. She even added, "The treasure ain't gonna dig itself out, you know. You'll need to make use of your… tools, if you get my drift."

"Um… uh-huh?"

"So… you wanna?"

It took every ounce of my strength to refuse.

"Not now! We need to have breakfast."

"Boo."

"Get off of me, please."

"I was hoping we could 'eat' before we eat. Eheh."

Eri relented and let me go. Man, that was an intense start to the morning… I snuck one last look over my shoulder as I was leaving the room. She was busy slipping on a pair of panties.

"Come on, Eri. Let's eat."

"Comiiiiing."

XOXOXOXOXO

About two weeks have passed since our vacation getaway at a beach resort called the Red Tide. I remember it being one heck of a fun time for both of us. Sure, there were some crazy moments, but on the whole it was wonderful. Another thing that stood out was that we gave each other something very important.

Our virginity.

On the final night, Eri and I made love for the first time.

To this day, the thought makes me blush. I couldn't ever forget that fateful night even if I tried. Being complete neophytes in bed, we were awkward beyond belief, though in the end we did manage to get the deed done adequately and we couldn't be happier.

We have an actual sex life now, but I wouldn't go into too much detail about it, only that we're fairly active. Nowhere near "the whole damn time we're awake" active, of course, but we do get it on at least twice a week. Life has certainly become a lot more interesting.

But that's not the main focus of the story this time round. Summer was going to end soon. There's only one thing on the minds of every Shibuyan worth his or her salt.

Breakfast was soon out of the way and we uttered a brief prayer of thanks. Then, when we were huddled together at the kitchen sink doing the dishes, she brought that up.

"Hey Neku, don't forget. Tonight is…"

"…the Hachi Fest. And no, I wouldn't forget."

"They say this year's Fest is gonna be the biggest one ever!"

"That's what they always say every year," I snorted. "So each year's Fest is always 'the biggest', 'the best', 'the most ultimate'…"

"Heh… Whatever works, right? It's still gonna be a blowout event at any rate."

I handed over the last plate to Eri. "Let's rub the Statue of Hachiko again for another year of good luck."

"I'm gonna molest it for all it's worth!"

"Sure, just don't get arrested over a statue."

"I'll be good. Hey, let's invite the rest of the gang to come with us. We haven't been able to hang out together ever since high school."

That's true. The five of us used to do everything together, but that pretty much came to an end when we graduated and got sent off in different directions to achieve our individual goals. It'd be nice to have us five back together again.

"Damn, I think that'd be great," I whistled. "I miss everybody."

"Too long has passed since I touched Rhyme's breasts… I must knead that fantastic dough of hers once more!" There was a twinkle of determination in her eyes and she made rather obscene grabbing motions with her fingers. I knew Rhyme wouldn't escape unscathed.

"Control yourself, Eri."

After a moment's thought, she quietly said, "I wonder if she still thinks we're… incompatible."

The younger Bito sibling had once treated our relationship with derision, claiming that we didn't match. That's the last Eri ever heard from her, and while it didn't plague her conscience any longer, it still didn't leave a good taste in her mouth. Come to think of it, I haven't told her the good news.

I surprised her with a hug, saying, "Don't worry. I talked to Rhyme while you were away, and she's changed her mind about us. She thinks we're great together."

"What?" Eri couldn't believe her ears. In fact, she almost didn't seem to want to believe me for a second. "Did she say that?"

"Yeah, she even said she's sorry for doubting us. I can vouch for that."

Eri broke into a smile. "Well, I'll be darned. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that. I think now I can finally be myself around her."

"I know. I'm glad too."

"Oh, I'm so looking forward to having fun with the whole gang! This'll be tons of fun!"

Don't worry, Eri. Everything's fine. We have everybody's support now, so feel free to be your happy-go-lucky self. You deserve it.

XOXOXOXOXO

Eri and I arrived at the Statue of Hachiko to see that the Hachi Fest was already in full swing. It's always something of a personal competition for the organizers to one-up the previous year's Fest in terms of extravagance and excitement factor. This year's was billed as the largest yet, with stalls numbering in the dozens. There were so many, in fact, that part of the road had to be closed off to accommodate for the other ones they couldn't squeeze in. And have I even started to talk about the people? They were numerous. Packed so tightly not even a fly could pass through between them. The turnout this year was outstanding.

"This is wicked!" she gushed. "We'll be here all night trying out everything!"

I took one sweeping glance at the crowd and whistled. "Whoa, there sure are a lot of people. Take care not to get squashed. I don't want you to become an Eri sandwich."

"I'll be careful."

"It's easy to get lost too. So stick close to me."

Eri had a quick and easy preventative measure for that. She clung onto the crook of my nearest arm, and pressed up against me so much I could feel her breasts against it.

"Is this close enough?" she giggled.

"Y-Yeah, that works."

Being so physically close with each other, I feared we might be the odd ones out. However, I was relieved to discover that there were couples everywhere, and if they weren't holding hands they were snuggling together to take selfies. I bet many of them had the same idea as us, which put my heart at ease.

Looking at them stirred Eri up into a frenzy. "Hey, let's take a selfie too!"

"Okay, sure." Our friends weren't here yet, so this was as good a time as any to goof around a bit.

My cell phone was in my hand in a flash and I readied its camera for the shot. Eri nudged as close as she possibly could so we'd both show up in the photo. Amusingly, her cheek was squashed up so much against mine that I told her to let up a bit because we both looked silly, like a pair of chipmunks. I had to wait for her to finish laughing before we could make the final preparations.

"Okay, you ready, Eri? I'm gonna take it now."

"Alright! Ready when you are!"

I held the phone at arm's length, doing my best to calm the quivering in my hand. My finger hovered just above the shutter button, poised to press it.

"Right, Eri! One… two… three – "

Suddenly, without warning, she planted her lips on my cheek, which caught me by surprise and caused me to accidentally press the shutter button. The moment was forever immortalized in my photo gallery. So was my expression, which made me look silly.

She reacted with glee upon checking it out. "Sweet! That's a really cool candid shot!"

I felt the heat creep into my cheeks, even more so in the one she had kissed. While her ambushing me with hugs and kisses was nothing new to me, it's being subject to that in public that I had yet to get used to. The displays of affection my mind was geared towards were more of the private, cuddle-up-at-home kind.

"E-Eri… p-please don't do that. There are people everywhere…"

"I couldn't help myself. Sorry!" She stuck out her tongue and lightly tapped herself on the head with her knuckles. "For serious, though. That turned out perfectly!"

There was something else I noticed in the photo. Off to the very edge was someone who was barely visible, but there was no mistaking the person who had accidentally gotten himself caught on camera.

I swung round to locate him, and there he was, beanie and all. Yup… good ol' Beat. And flanking him were Shiki and his sister Rhyme. Seeing this as their chance, they came forward to greet us.

"Yo man," chuckled Beat, "I hope we didn't get in the way while you were snappin' pics."

The whole gang was back once more. Five people, spread far apart every which way in life, brought together for this brief amount of time… and we were more elated than a cat high on catnip.

Eri had nothing but praise for Shiki's yukata. "Hot darn, girl! Somebody looks fabulous this evening!"

Shiki giggled. "I could say the same about you too, Eri."

The Bito siblings, who had turned up in casual wear, were subject to questioning from our intrepid pink-haired fashionista. "You're not wearing yukatas this year? I was looking forward to it!"

"Sorry," Rhyme said, with a friendly chuckle. "We didn't manage to get new ones for ourselves."

"Huh? Why'd you need new ones? Your old ones looked just fine…"

Beat scratched the back of his head, feeling sheepish. "Heh… um, we… kinda grew outta them. I got too big here, yo."

He jabbed a finger into his tummy to emphasize the weight he had gained. Then he flicked a sideways thumb towards Rhyme, adding, "An' she got too big… there."

It wasn't too hard to guess where. Her massive chest was the most prominent part about her. It really stood out.

Eri shamelessly let her eyes wander. "Oh, I'm sure you've had it rough… Hee hee…"

Poor Rhyme shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, crossing her arms in an attempt to shield herself from her unrelenting stare. "Um, yeah. D-Don't look at me like that…"

"It's exactly that vulnerable attitude of yours that makes me want to look even more – "

I delivered a light karate chop to Eri's head before she went too far.

"Ow!" She clutched where I had hit her. "Wh-What's that for? I was just kidding around."

"Oh, don't mind me. My hand just slipped."

Relieved, Rhyme took the initiative to finally get the ball rolling after that unnecessary diversion. "The Hachi Fest isn't gonna wait for us. What say we check things out right away?"

The first thing we did was to visit the main attraction of the evening: the Statue of Hachiko. I'm sure it's common knowledge by now, but just in case you forgot, here's a quick recap: you can rub the statue for good luck, but if you rub the wrong spot…

"You'll be cuuuuursed…"

Eri's breath tickled me as she whispered into my ear and I recoiled, almost crashing into Beat.

"Whoa, hey," I spluttered. "Don't scare me like that."

"Just wanted to make sure you're awake."

"It's sensory overload in this place," I huffed. "How could I be asleep?"

They said Hachiko's right paw was the place to touch for good luck this year, so we did exactly that, giving silent prayers of thanks. Once the rites were done, it was time for us five musketeers to enjoy the festival in earnest. The Hachi Fest came but once a year, so it'd be a waste not to go all out. And with Eri in tow, she'd make darn sure we did.

This was going to be fun.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Damn!" whistled Beat. "That was tight, yo! Well, my tummy's tight, I mean."

I paused between mouthfuls of yakisoba to pass a goodnatured comment, "I bet you were waiting for this real bad."

"Hell yeah. I ain't done yet… so what's next, guys?"

The first leg of our tour through the Hachi Fest was spent on eating. There was a lot of good food and Beat spared no expense trying out everything he could get his hands on. Dude's stomach was as bottomless as a pit. Swept up in his feeding frenzy, we stormed each stall as we went by, spoilt for choice and sampling like kings.

"Oh, this is fantastic," said Rhyme, praising the dango she'd brought. "Really good."

This got Shiki curious. "Which stall did you buy it from again?"

"That one. Try their cream puffs while you're at it. They're great too."

"That I most certainly will." And she slipped away to buy some.

Rhyme mused to herself, "Hmmm… I think I'll get another fried squid. Be right back." And she left, leaving me with our other two friends.

Meanwhile, Eri seemed to be typing on her phone for some reason. "Dango… cream puffs… and fried squid. Okay, got it."

I chuckled, "You're taking notes on what to eat for the Fest? Aren't you a hard worker – "

"So this is what Rhyme eats to grow those huge knockers of hers… Ha! I've cracked the code! I've found her secret!"

"Uh…"

"Stay right here! I'm gonna go stockpile on fried squid!" She vanished in a cloud of dust.

"Just how in the world," I wryly muttered to myself, "is fried squid supposed to make your breasts bigger?"

Chewing through a plate of takoyaki, Beat piped up, "She always like that, yo?"

"Yeah… She's got a real complex over it. I keep telling her they're just fine, but I guess the quest for a larger bust is a never-ending one."

Subtlety wasn't his forte. His next question was a painfully direct one that he asked without batting an eyelid.

"So you touch her goods all the time?"

I almost dropped my bubble tea, but quickly composed myself. He didn't even ask that in a teasing manner. It's more like he was simply being curious and that was why he was so nonchalant about it.

"You know I'm not at liberty to answer that, Beat."

"What? You're not at liberty? Of course you're not at the Statue of Liberty! Get serious, man! I's askin' you a question!"

There's that wonderfully poor command of his own mother tongue at work again. I already wanted to change topics.

"So did you or did you not?" Oh, now he's impatient. "I just wanna know if my bro's in good hands, man. We friends, yo… so don't go keepin' secrets from yo' friends!"

"Uh… look, I'm happy you care about my well-being, but I still can't tell you everything…"

"Can't tell me? Is it because you do touch them all the time?"

Hearing him draw so dangerously close to the truth, a cold sweat erupted all over my body. In vain I tried to defend myself. "N-No, that's not it. I never said that!"

"Then why can't you tell, yo?"

"Because it's a private matter. If you had a girlfriend of your own, and you touch her boobs regularly, wouldn't you want to keep it on the hush-hush from everyone? It's weird if you tell, right?"

He scratched his head. "I dunno these things yet, man. I still don't got a girl yet. But if that's your reasoning, then that's why you ain't tellin' me! It's 'cause you rub Eri's bazongas erryday and you rub 'em good!"

"I don't rub them everyday!" I squawked. "Only when – ack!"

How did my defense backfire upon myself?! I was left wide open! On hindsight, this was a losing battle… A hopeless battle of wits I had no chance of winning.

Beat shrugged. "Well, there you have it, yo. It'da been faster if you just told me, Phones. I's bound to find out sooner or later."

"Ugh…" Dammit!

"So do you two sleep together too?"

Now he's asking if we have sex?! Just how deep did he want to dig into our relationship?! And what should I say without trapping myself into a hole I couldn't climb out of? Unsure of how to answer, I maintained a vow of silence, not saying anything for fear that I'd totally mess up.

"Phones? Yo man, you aren't sayin' anything. That ain't cool, man. Slide me some info already!"

"Uh… I'm… drinking my… tea."

"Oh, okay. I can wait."

No, don't wait. And… gah! My bubble tea was… going… going… gone. Well, with only half a cup left, I never expected it to last very long. So with my only line of defense out of the way, I was left to tackle this awful question.

"So what's the story, man? You and Eri get it on much?"

"Um… well…"

"Yup!"

Before I could give my answer, a third voice did it for me. And with that one word, our deepest secret was right out in the open. Gee, great going, Eri!

But Beat didn't overreact for a change. He was actually calm, which sent a chill down my spine. Why was he so unfazed? Why didn't he jump or scream or do that monkey kung fu pose he was often laughed at for? Wasn't that part of his shtick?

"Figured you'd done it by now," he said. "I mean, hey, at this point? I'd be more surprised if you didn't."

He had a point. Maybe he's more mature than he looks… That helped me calm down a little.

"Heh… Phones, you've come a long way, man."

Eri was quick to seize the opportunity for a round of boasting. "Of course he has! He's the best boyfriend in the world! He even tried this new technique the other night, and it was – mmrgh?!"

I slapped my hand over her mouth and forced her into silence. Oh no you don't. I'm not letting you run off at the mouth again, Eri. Enough leaked secrets for one night, that's for sure!

"Oh my!" I exclaimed, desperate to put an end to the conversation. "What have you got there in your hands, Eri? Did you buy something?"

"Mmmphrah!"

"Oh, sorry!" I totally forgot she couldn't answer me with my hand over her mouth. "So, uh… you were saying?"

"You didn't need to suffocate me like that!" she huffed. "Anyway, can you carry this for me please, Neku?"

"What's this – whoa, h-how many fried squids did you buy?!"

"Enough to last me a week. If this helps me grow an inch, I'll be happy. 'Cause even one inch can be pretty noticeable!"

And she folded her arms proudly, like she had latched onto a great idea. Beat, who had peered over my shoulder into the bag, looked quite amused. Even the musclebrain could tell this was a stupid idea. But nothing was going to deter her once her mind was made up.

"Eri," I sighed, "I've never heard of scientific proof that fried squid can make your boobs grow. This outlandish scheme of yours simply isn't going to work. Period."

"Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But if I don't try at least, I wouldn't know for sure if it works!"

"It'll just make you bulge out in a different area…"

"I swim all the time. I can burn the fat off. And if this doesn't give me the improvement I'm looking for, I still have dango and cream puffs to experiment with!"

"…You know what?" I threw my arms in the air. "I give up. Do whatever you like."

"Good! So glad I have your support."

Satisfied, she told me to wait for her while she went off to splurge on more foodstuffs that were clearly ineffective at bust management. Beat was chuckling. I, on the other hand, didn't think it was very funny seeing my girlfriend make a fool of herself, but then again she's the type to wear her many eccentricities like a coat of arms. She's a total goof and proud of it.

"At least she's fun, yo!" laughed Beat, slapping me on the back. "You should be happy!"

"Right…"

Rhyme and Shiki returned and the first thing they saw was the bag of fried squid in my hand. Needless to say, their eyebrows were raised.

"Wh-Why'd you need that many?" asked Shiki. "Is fried squid, like, your favourite food, Neku?"

"…You're asking the wrong person."

XOXOXOXOXO

Going through the game stalls, Eri kept gushing about the prizes on display – mostly soft toys. Being a sucker for cute things, she was left in a state of near-constant awe.

The first game we invested in was goldfish scooping, the eternal favourite during summer festivals. It's like fishing, except without a line and tackle. All you need is a bowl and a tiny paddle – called a poi – to scoop the fish up into it. There's a catch, though: the pois are fitted with paper, which softens and weakens when it becomes wet. And since the paper is the part you use to scoop up the fish, it's a difficult task once it tears. And it tears easily. Some degree of skill and finesse is required.

We squatted around a large rectangular basin filled with water. Dozens of tiny goldfish swam around inside. With pois and bowls in hand, we got to work. It was a race against time to catch as many as we could before the poi tore. And fish don't stay still so actually catching them was a challenge in itself. Yet this was heaps of fun, especially when you hold contests with your friends to see who could catch the most fish.

"They keep slipping away," whined Rhyme. "I can't even get a bead on them."

Her brother helpfully tried to give her some hints. "How about you stir the water and get 'em dizzy, then grab 'em while they're all wobbly and stuff? That'll work, right?"

"For the last time, I'm not doing something so inhumane. And you better not do that either."

"Inhumane? But Rhyme, don'tchu always flush the goldfish you catch down the – "

"Shush! None of that!"

What other dark secrets was this girl hiding? I dared not think what became of those fish… I personally was hoping to sell whatever I had caught to a pet shop. That'd be the best, if still morally grey, option. Ah, damn. Now I was starting to feel bad about goldfish scooping. And this was supposed to be fun for people of all ages!

"Gotcha!" bellowed Beat, scooping up his second fish. His victory cry stirred up my fighting spirit and got me into a competitive mood. I caught the first fish for the evening, but that's all; I secretly hoped to catch more than him and doubled my efforts. But I resisted the urge to ask him how many he had caught. Dude was quick to see everything in life as a challenge and I wasn't quite ready to face him head-on in a contest I wouldn't be able to back out of.

Meanwhile, I could hear Shiki caught up in her own struggles.

"Come on, hold still!" she huffed. "I need to do this. I need to catch you! Now just stay right there and stop moving about so much!"

It was funny hearing her get so worked up. I was focused on my own thing and didn't take the time to see how she was doing, but in my head I conjured up images of her struggling with her poi and it was simply adorable.

"No, stop!" she continued, sounding annoyed. "You're a feisty one, aren't you… For the love of all things good, stop moving!"

At this point I could take the hilarity no longer and laughed.

"Shiki, it's just a game. You don't need to be so uptight about – "

As I was talking to her, I turned to see how she was faring, and that's when I saw that her bowl and poi had been left unattended by her feet. She didn't even touch them at all. Instead it was her cell phone she'd been busy fiddling around with.

Her finger made a flicking motion on the screen of her phone. Then she kept her breath held and stayed absolutely stock still.

"Did I get it?" she whispered to herself, close to turning blue from lack of oxygen. "Come on, come on… Don't you dare escape now… You just sit there nice and tight and – "

Her phone chimed, which was her cue to breathe normally again. She was oversaturated with relief. Then the celebrations followed with lots of fist pumping.

"Yeah! I gotcha! It's mine at last! Oh, it's so cute. Look at the eyes! The fins! The – "

"Shiki," I muttered flatly, "what are you doing?"

My words yanked her back to reality, but she was still dizzy with happiness, even when she was met with incredulous faces from the rest of us.

"Huh? Oh, don't mind me, ahaha! I was just… uh, playing a video game. You have no idea how long I've been waiting to catch this monster… and it just kinda showed up. I simply had to – "

"I thought you were supposed to be catching fish with the rest of us."

"Uh… um… Goldeen is kinda like a fish, right? That's what I caught, by the way…"

Rhyme, not amused by the faux pas Shiki had committed, coldly gave her two words, "Go home."

Not getting the hint at all, a confused Shiki protested, "B-But you can't really play this game at home… You need to get out of your house to catch 'em all."

"Just pick up that poi and get to it already."

Shiki sulkily put her cell phone away and actually joined us now. Eri, who was right beside me, was having trouble catching anything. No sooner did she start did her poi have a gaping hole where the paper used to be. She held it up and shook her head in disappointment.

"Too bad," I said, feeling sorry for her. "Well, you could pay for another go."

"I'm not out yet," she said, making an unexpected recovery. "The greatest people have always been able to achieve results with limited resources. I can do the same!"

She brought the lip of her bowl as close to the water surface as she could manage. She also held the torn poi vertically above the water, squarely in front of the bowl. Then she played the waiting game.

I knew what she was up to, and I chuckled. "Eri, are you trying to trick them into jumping through the poi and into the bowl?"

"Shh!" she hissed. "Don't reveal my plans to the fishes!"

"Look, I don't think goldfish are trained to jump through hoops. They're not circus animals."

"I-Is that why none of them is falling for my trap?"

"Most likely."

"I refuse to believe it. They just need some incentive." Adamant, Eri started to coo at the goldfish in an attempt to coax them into going along with her. "So how about you fishie-wishies all be darlings and jump into my bowl, hmm? I've got plenty of food waiting for you. Super tasty food! Who can resist fried squid? I'm sure you can't!"

"Do you seriously think goldfish can eat squid?!"

"Well, you never know. Maybe they're distant relatives of the piranha. We just need to tickle their innate predatory instincts… and bam! Instant win!"

"Uh, yeah. Good luck with that."

The girls weren't any good at goldfish scooping at all. None of them got anything, unless you counted the monster Shiki caught in her video game. I caught just one, while Beat was the obvious winner with four. My prize was swimming around in a clear plastic bag filled with water. Each of the girls got a balloon yo-yo as a consolation prize. With goldfish scooping out of the way, it was time to move on to something else.

My plan, as I stated earlier, was to sell the fish off to a pet shop. We didn't have an aquarium or fish bowl even if I wanted to keep it, and I never had any intention to.

But just as we were leaving the stall, I saw a kid trying his hand at the game, and he wound up empty-handed. Although he was given a yo-yo, the dejection on his face was hard to bear. He must really want a fish. That gave me an idea.

His accompanying mother took his hand, saying with a sympathetic smile, "Next time, I'm sure you'll get one. It's getting late, let's go home for now."

The boy didn't really want to leave, but acquiesced and let himself be led away, limply bouncing his yo-yo in his free hand.

I scrambled after them, calling out, "Excuse me, excuse me!"

The mother turned to address me. The boy's expression was so forlorn it tore gashes in my heart.

"Yes? Do you need something?"

"I saw your kid didn't get to catch any fish. If you're okay with it, will you let him have mine?"

I extended the fish towards the boy, who immediately lit up.

"I can have it?" he said, wide-eyed with disbelief. "Really, mister?"

Cautious of the orange-haired youth standing before her, the mother held her son's hand firmly, trying to stop him from jumping too much in excitement.

"Young man, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. Seriously, your kid can have it."

At my further urging, the boy happily relieved me of my fish.

"Be sure to thank him," reminded his mother.

"Thank you, mister!" And he flashed me a big dopey grin, revealing a missing tooth. All the sadness from earlier was gone.

They waved at me as I ran back to my gang. I came here to the Fest purely for fun. I never thought I'd get to do an act of kindness tonight. Sure felt like a million yen.

I rejoined Eri at her side, after which we all went back to milling around looking for more game stalls to visit. Both of us lingered around the rear of the group, leaving her with a prime opportunity to speak to me uninterrupted.

"I saw you earlier," she said. "Giving up your fish for that boy."

"Huh? Oh! Uh, I just thought someone else would need it more than me."

"Hee hee… He looked so happy. It's nice that you did what you did."

I scratched my head humbly, trying to appear nonchalant about the whole issue. "Eh, it's no big deal."

Even though she didn't pursue the matter further, she made it quite clear that she approved highly of what I did and sidled up against me while we walked, apparently in an even better mood than before.

Kindness was a quality that never failed to turn her on.

XOXOXOXOXO

We made frequent pit stops at game stalls that piqued our interest. There was the hoop toss. There were the shooting games that tested your accuracy. And then there was the one that gripped Eri by the horns and didn't let go because of the prizes it had on display.

"Everything's so cute!" she squealed. "That one in particular, though! Oh, that's the stuff dreams are made of!"

The plushie that caught her fancy was sitting on a shelf, waiting to be won and brought home. It was a round pudgy thing, dyed red as blood. It had a small beady eye that stood in contrast with the size of its toothy grin. A crown of horns completed the creature's ghastly appearance. I couldn't for the life of me see how this could be considered cute, but then Eri had strange tastes.

"They've got cacodemons now?" I said, cringing from the sight of it. "Why can't we have normal toys like everyone else?"

"Doesn't it just awaken your maternal instincts? Doesn't it make you want to hug it tight? Doesn't it make you go, 'I'm gonna call it Joe and take it home with me!'?"

"Doesn't it make you run and scream in terror?" …Joe?

"Of course not! That grotesqueness is part of its charm!" She turned to everyone else. "What do you think, guys? You agree with me, don't you? Tell me that's a cute little fella!"

Unfortunately for her, no one shared her love for the macabre. And she could tell.

Answering for herself, she muttered, "Oh, uh… I'm just gonna go ahead and assume from the looks of disgust from your faces that, despite our differences in opinion, deep down inside you actually agree with me."

"Th-That's a really warped way of interpreting a person's facial expression."

Eri paid my snark no mind and went back to gushing over the toy. "So, as I was saying, that plushie is cute."

"Uh-huh."

Eri edged closer, until our shoulders were touching.

"Like, really cute."

"U-Um… sure. Whatever floats your – "

Now she was nudging against me. A lot. It was a struggle to stand straight.

"It's cuuuuuuuute."

"Oh, for crying out loud," I said, gently pushing her away. "You want me to get it for you, don't you? You could've just asked right off the bat."

Seeing that I finally got the message, she eased up on the not-so-subtle hints and gave me the sweetest smile you could imagine. "Oh, I couldn't ask you to do so much for me. I'm just saying it would be great if you could win that. It'd make a nice addition to my bedroom."

"Like I said, if you want it, just ask…"

Shiki giggled, finding some humour in the whole matter. "She sure has you wrapped around her little finger, Neku."

I paid for a go at the game stall that held my girlfriend's favourite monster captive, and the stallholder gave me a toy gun to shoot it down with. Eri watched in fist-clenched anticipation as I lined up the shot. If she wanted it this bad, imagine her reaction if I messed up. I couldn't afford to do badly here. No pressure.

I pulled the trigger. There was a pop as the cork burst out of the gun's barrel and knocked the toy over. I'd done it. Eri whooped at my victory.

The stallholder cheerily handed me my prize, which I immediately passed to Eri. To say that she was happy was an understatement. Oh well, the toy may be a total abomination, but at least she liked it. That's the most important part.

"Thank you!" she squealed, giving me a quick hug. Then, tapping into her inner child, she spoke affectionately to the toy, "Alright Joe, when we get home I'll introduce you to Phones. You two are gonna be such good friends!"

"Yo girl," said Beat, "ain't Phones right here?"

"Oh, not this Phones. During last year's Fest, Neku won me a teddy, and I called it Phones. I'm talking about that one!"

He scratched his head, eyes skyward in thought. "Why you gotta call it that name, yo? Isn't it, you know, confuciusing?"

"Confusing," corrected his sister.

"Well, yeah, combobulating! Isn't it that, Eri?"

"Not at all! It's like identical twins. Sooner or later you can tell them apart."

"I… I don't think that's the same, yo."

But Eri simply laughed the matter off, choosing to keep it nice and mysterious. Off to the side, unnoticed by everyone, Rhyme slapped her forehead at Beat's inability to fix his poor vocabulary, as if to say, "Really?"

"Oh well, who's up for more food?" asked Beat. "Getting hungry here."

"Again?" sighed his sister. "You just had two plates of yakisoba, three beef kebabs, goodness knows how many takoyaki… and you still want to eat?"

"But there's somethin' good in the air, I can smell it, man!" He lifted his nose up high and took a whiff. "I know that smell. It's the smell of somethin' bein' fried up real good! And it's a great smell! That's one of the reasons I love fried food, you know?"

"That's also one of the reasons you became like this." And she jabbed him in his pudgy belly.

Beat's stomach was so dense he didn't even recoil from her finger poking him. "It's the Hachi Fest, yo," he said, in defense. "Only held once a year, you know? If you don't go nuts, whassa point? I can always worry about the details later!"

"Aha! Someone speaks my language!" Hearing this, Eri clung onto Rhyme and draped her arm around her. "Come on, this is our best chance! You don't want to wake up the next day regretting you didn't try everything, right? Remember, it'll be another 365 days till the next Fest!"

She's a master manipulator, that one. Just a couple dozen words and Rhyme was starting to have second thoughts on holding back. I guess regret was too big a burden for her soul to handle. Adding the "365 days" part was the icing on the cake.

"Okay, okay, I got it," sighed Rhyme in defeat. "Lead the way, Beat. And Eri?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Don't even try."

The hand that Eri had wrapped around Rhyme's shoulder was inching steadily towards the latter's left breast. I knew what she was trying to do.

Eri just giggled impishly. "Are you sure you aren't just being shy?"

"No. Hands off." Rhyme swatted her hand away, but it didn't stop the sex maniac from laughing.

Like a tour guide, Beat marched our little entourage along, trusting his nose to take us in the right direction. We queued up at a particularly long line of customers, insisting that this was where we should be. This was going to take a while.

"We're gettin' close, yo," said Beat, getting jumpy with excitement. "That awesome smell is gettin' stronger!"

Unenthusiastic about the possibility of gaining weight, Rhyme was most sarcastic as she muttered to herself under her breath. "That's the same smell that is associated with high cholesterol and clogged arteries…"

"Sis, y'say something?"

"Nope, nothing at all."

As we inched closer, the stall slowly came into view but we still couldn't see the entirety of it. Much of it was blocked by people as well as a giant chalkboard with the menu scrawled on it. It didn't help that there was a fat man directly in front of us who was as wide as he was tall.

We did manage to catch a glimpse of the banner hung up beside the stall. Fried Food Fanservice Fantasy… Well, that's pretty self-explanatory… minus the 'Fanservice Fantasy' part.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I wondered.

Just as Eri was about to launch into her own interpretation of the title, the fat man abruptly left the queue for whatever reason. With this massive roadblock out of the way we could finally get a clearer view of the action.

"There's a bunch of pretty girls manning the stall," observed Shiki.

She was right. They were all decked out in aprons, and as my experience with Eri in the kitchen will tell you, girls look infinitely cuter with a big sheet of cloth strapped to the front. If that's their idea of fanservice, they pretty much nailed it, though it's nothing new. It's like those maid cafes that are so frighteningly common in Akihabara.

Then one of the girls turned and my initial impressions were shattered to pieces. She was wearing shorts and a bikini top underneath!

Now that… That was new.

The sight of that vast expanse of skin came as an unexpected – but admittedly pleasant – surprise. That's when we saw the other girls were wearing the same thing.

"Damn," whistled Beat approvingly. "We came to the right place, yo… in more ways than one."

"Can't say I disagree with you there," I said, getting distracted for far too long at the girl's exposed back. "It's not half bad."

Saying that with my girlfriend within earshot was a big mistake. Even before my inevitable punishment I already knew I had screwed up. Blame it all on my big mouth…

With a cheery yet menacing grin, she said to me, "Where are you looking, Neku?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, nowhere in particular… ack?!"

She pinched me in the small of her back, her fingers like a pair of pliers. The pain was something else altogether.

"Nowhere in particular, I see," she said. "Would this 'nowhere in particular' have girls that don't look 'half bad'?"

"C-Could you let go, please? It really hurts."

Still smiling ever so creepily, she continued, "Don't mind me. My hand just slipped. Just watch where you're looking next time and maybe my hand wouldn't… slip so much."

"I… I got it already. I'll be good."

"That's more like it."

She finally released her death grip. The whole time, her smile never left. Remind me never to say stupid things in front of her again…

"I can't believe this actually got approved for the Hachi Fest," said Shiki in bemusement. "Wouldn't they blend in better at the beach or something?"

"Is the food even good?" snorted Rhyme. "It almost seems like, with how they're dressed, they're overcompensating for something."

"We gonna find out soon, man," said Beat, shamelessly drooling over both the food and the luscious stallholders. "Cuz we up next."

The customer in front of us left with a bag of food. I noticed that he held the bag so that it dangled over his crotch, like he was hiding something to prevent it from sticking out too much…

The girl who served us had a big smile to go with her big chest, which the fabric of her apron strained against. "Welcome! What can I getcha?"

Momentarily dazed by her eye-catching body, Beat coughed and spluttered, like he had forgotten how to think like a normal person. He bounced back eventually, though. For what it's worth. "Wh-Whatchu recommend… uh, y-yo?"

Neither the sweltering conditions of their stall nor an evening's worth of leering stares from male customers have dampened her spirit. I had to give her credit for staying enthusiastic against all odds.

"Well, we have deep-fried candy bars that just melt in your mouth, and then there are our triple-fried chicken wings, guaranteed to stay crispy for two days straight! Or you could try out the latest in culinary innovation: fried ice-cream pockets. Crispy on the outside, nice and icy cold on the inside… makes for a refreshing juxtaposition, don't you think? Wanna give it a try?"

"Uh… um… j-jugs-ta-position?"

While Beat was having vocabulary issues, Eri and her girlfriends exchanged uneasy looks with one another. Even Eri, who's good at keeping her figure, was hesitant.

The entire existence of this stall – from the scantily-clad girls to the absurdly unhealthy menu – was like a joke. Something you'd only see in a sitcom or a movie, and here it was. Whoever thought this up to be made a reality should get an award.

Shiki meekly pushed her luck with a dumb question. "A-Anything you got that's healthy?"

"Of course!" replied the girl. "We wouldn't forget about the health-conscious out there! Try our vegetable tempura kebabs, they're out of this world! Or our fried carrot fritters – "

"Oh, uh… never mind I asked…" It makes no sense if you fry your greens too…

The only undeterred one among us was Beat, who – despite still not knowing the meaning of 'juxtaposition' – happily asked for at least one of each of the things the stallholder mentioned. Yes, even the vegetable kebab, and he hated his veggies. I guess frying just makes everything so much better.

"Oi, y'all," he said to the rest of us, "whatchu want?"

I took one look at the girls and didn't need chicken brains to know they didn't need anything. Myself, on the other hand… I was morbidly curious to see how much of this I could stomach before I gave up.

"Gimme one fried candy bar," I said to the stallholder, then adding rather uselessly, "Uh… and try to go easy on the oil."

"Sure thing!" she chimed, though she might as well have said, "No promises, chump!"

Another girl got to work on my order. She unwrapped a chocolate bar and dipped it completely into a bowl of batter. Then she dunked it into a giant wok and I watched with growing repulsion as the oil chewed at the batter hungrily.

The end result was a goopy, misshapen and very greasy thing that looked less like food and more like a monster from a horror movie. And I was going to eat it. This went into a paper bag, and despite the multiple layers of paper towels wrapped around the bar, the oil already began to soak through.

"Careful now, it's hot," she said, handing it to me. "Thanks and come back real soon!"

After Beat also got his food, we retreated to a spot with less people so we could settle down and eat. And by "we", I mean him and myself. The girls sure weren't going to lay their hands on our food, much less eat it. Yet they were curious to know what it tasted like. So they made us their guinea pigs, pushing us to try out the deadly snacks and suffer the ill effects in their stead.

When Beat sank his teeth into his first fried chicken wing, the batter gave way with a resounding crunch.

"H-How is it?" asked his sister, practically hopping on the spot in anticipation.

He licked his lips thoroughly, in an attempt to remove the grease dripping from his mouth. "Damn, this is great stuff. They should patent this, yo."

Rhyme shuddered. "Good grief, no. For the love of all things good and healthy in this world, no, they should banish this and wipe all memories of its existence off the face of the earth. It's horrendous."

He just shrugged and kept eating, paying her no mind. Meanwhile I had the enviable task of giving my fried chocolate bar a taste test. The batter had a crunch to it too, and when my teeth made it to the bar in the centre, my tongue was greeted with a soft yet intense sensation that made my eyes pop out.

The girls waited anxiously for my input. Unable to stand the suspense any longer, Eri squawked, "Tell us about it already!"

"It's actually not bad," I said, after eating the whole thing. "Something about the grease mixing in with the melted chocolate actually works. But ten seconds from now, I think I'm gonna keel over and get a heart attack."

"Your sacrifice will not be in vain, Neku," she said in a comically serious manner. "We'll remember you forever."

In response to that, I deadpanned in return, "That's actually really heartwarming… in a morbid way."

"I'll bet. Another thing…"

"Yeah? What's that?"

She placed the fingers of one hand gently on my lips and wiped them slowly, from one corner of my mouth to the other. Stunned by this unexpected development, heck, the rest of us were stunned too – I just stood there, frozen in time as she did her thing.

After she was done, she graced me with a tiny innocent giggle as well as an explanation for her actions.

"You got chocolate all over your lips." She then happily took those same fingers and licked them clean.

That was… well, quite a bit of a turn-on, really. Maybe a bit too much.

Luckily I was still carrying that bag of fried squid for Eri. I took cues from the customer who was in front of us back when we were queuing up and discreetly hid my slowly bulging crotch with it.

Thank the gods she didn't go and say something cheesy like, "Is that squid in your bag or are you happy to see me?"

Everyone else was so embarrassed they didn't quite know where to look. Shiki had the reddest cheeks of them all.

Oblivious to what's going on, Eri simply cocked her head to the side. "Guys? What is with you? Something the matter?"

"N-No, it's nothing, really," mumbled Rhyme. "Are you two always this… touchy-feely with each other?"

"Touchy-feely? …Oh, one moment. I missed a spot."

Eri wrapped her arms around my neck to keep me still and trailed her tongue over the spot of chocolate on my lips that she claimed she didn't get to clean off. She lapped at it gently… in the exact same way she did this morning… while – as you may recall – she was clinging to me, completely naked. The memories of the morning, already fresh to begin with, came back in full force. All the more it was a good thing I still had that bag of fried squid to cover up how… "happy" I was.

"Done!" she said cheerily. Proud that she had done a splendid job, she let go of me and giggled cheerily.

Steam pouring out of every pore on my body, I muttered, "Um… thanks."

"Next time you got a spot of gravy or something on your face, just tell me and I'll get right on it."

"O-Or I could use a tissue…"

"But that's boring," she huffed. "Doing it my way is a lot more fun."

I glanced at my friends from the corner of my eye and saw them trying in vain to shield their faces.

"Uh… Eri?" Rhyme was stuttering badly. "W-Were you, perhaps… a dog in your previous life?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

XOXOXOXOXO

The evening was so much fun that none of us kept track of the time. It was good that Shiki checked her watch when she did.

"We've got twenty minutes before the fireworks display," she said. "Better find a good spot."

"How about the rooftop of 104?" suggested Eri. "I think we can get a great view from up there."

"Hmm, that's a plan. Alright, let's head over there right now. Twenty minutes aren't gonna last long."

The final event of the Hachi Fest was the fireworks display. This was arguably the thing everyone was looking forward to the most. It was always a blast (no pun intended) to watch and was perfect for capping off the evening. But good places from which to watch the spectacle unfold weren't many, since everywhere else the many tall buildings blocked the view. The few places that were perfect for watching the skies, however, were usually packed to the brim with people who all had the same idea. Take too long to stake out a suitable spot and someone will take it without fail.

I told everyone we should empty our bladders first, so that's what we did. I was quick to finish my business, and when I came out of the washroom I saw Rhyme was quite a distance away, striking up a conversation with Eri. Apparently they were done too. The one thing that puzzled me was the firm expression Rhyme was wearing.

"Eri," she said, "can I talk to you about something serious?"

When I heard this, I instinctively took cover behind a nearby tree and watched them, careful not to let them see me. Something told me I shouldn't bother them.

My girlfriend teased her lightly, "Are you planning to confess to me? I'm afraid my heart's already been taken. Any other day, though, I might even consider – "

Completely unaffected by the joke, Rhyme deflected it, clearly in no mood to waste time. "Listen, I just wanted to talk about you and Neku."

As soon as Eri heard this, she dropped the comedy routine altogether and became serious herself.

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

I had a hunch about what Rhyme wanted to get off of her chest. As it turned out, I was right.

"What I'm going to say isn't going to be the nicest thing, but please hear me out, Eri. I assure you though, I'm not out to offend you or anything."

"Okay."

"Way back when you and Neku were getting real close, he said he wanted to make you his girlfriend. The truth is, at the time, I wasn't… supportive of you both."

Eri kept silent, hanging onto every word that she said.

"When Beat confessed to you and you turned him down, I felt that it was unfair to him. More than anything, I simply wanted you to give my brother a chance, but he didn't even get that. Because of this, I resented you for a long time. And when you were hanging around Neku I hated it even more.

"But I've done a lot of thinking since then, and I realize that the one being unfair is actually me. It's not my place to dictate who you should go out with. It's your choice, whether or not anyone likes it."

Rhyme clutched her arm and fidgeted on the spot uneasily, but soldiered on. "So, I… um, I guess what I'm saying is… I'm in full support of your relationship with Neku now. That, and… most importantly, I…"

She bowed.

"…I'm very sorry!"

Rhyme's upper body was bent at a deep angle. She'd already made amends with me, so she must have wanted to do the same with her for a long while now. Personally, I was glad she was able to spit it out, but how was Eri going to take this? She'd be okay with it, right?

"Rhyme," she said softly, "thanks for this. I appreciate you telling me the truth. And I do forgive you."

The younger Bito sibling raised her head slowly, looking up at her.

"You don't… hate me for it?"

"Of course not!" Eri was grinning. "How could I? We're friends, aren't we?"

"Eri…"

"I'm sorry to hear you were disappointed that I turned down Beat's confession. I understand you were just looking out for your brother."

"N-No, no, no! It's fine!" Rhyme waved her hands frantically. "It's like I just said: it's not my place to tell you who you should go out with."

"Then I guess we're both cool, no?"

This time it was her turn to smile. "Yeah, we're both cool."

They shared a heartfelt hug, and with that, all the negative feelings they kept locked away inside vanished. I found myself beaming at this heartwarming scene. It's about time they made up.

Just as they broke the hug, full of warm smiles for each other, Beat and Shiki returned, completely unaware of what had just happened. For the sake of keeping things low on the awkwardness scale, it's probably better they were kept in the dark.

I left my hiding spot and returned to my gang, trying to act natural.

"So," said Shiki, "shall we be off?"

"Heck yeah!" whooped Eri. "It's fireworks time!"

"Hee hee… Energetic as usual. C'mon, then, everyone. Let's go!"

We left the premises behind us to scope out a good vantage point on the rooftop of 104 Building. When we arrived, I was hit by a mild spot of chagrin to discover that we weren't the only ones there. In fact, there was a sizable crowd camping out here, waiting for the grand finale of the Hachi Fest to begin. Why must so many people have the same idea as us? It'd have been awesome to have the whole rooftop to ourselves.

More people trickled out onto the rooftop. We elected to steer clear of any groups to give ourselves some breathing space.

"This is it, yo!" said Beat excitedly. "The sky flowers are gonna start!"

We craned our neck upwards just in time for the familiar radial patterns of fireworks to fill the skies. It was beautiful… reds and yellows blended in with blues and greens. The entire time, we were spellbound.

Midway through the performance, I felt Eri's hand touch my arm. I think she wanted for us to hold hands, but her eyes were fixed on the spectacle in the skies, so her fingers were searching around. I gently guided her hand to my own, and two seconds was all it took for her to lock our fingers together. The warmth in our hands spread all the way to my heart. I bet she felt the same way.

Towards the end of the fireworks performance, a series of explosions lingered in the sky like a string of firecrackers. Following one final big bang, the skies cleared and went silent once more. A round of applause rose from the crowd nearby.

And that was that. The Hachi Fest would soon be over. All in all it was a few hours well spent. There's not much left to do but go back downstairs, chatting about the highlights of the evening.

"That was a lot of fun," said Rhyme.

"And we got a good haul too!" agreed Eri, cradling her toy monster. And then, still energetic, she jabbed her arm straight up into the air. "So who's up for more Hachi Fest fun? There's no party like an after-party!"

Shiki stifled a yawn. "Think I'm gonna head back home. I'm getting tired." It was a sentiment shared by all of us, really…

…except Eri. "It's still early! What're you thinking going off at a time like this?"

"It's already close to 11 pm," mumbled Rhyme. "We're not night owls like you are."

"You guys are no fun. Oh well, I'll hang out with this here boyfriend of mine, then." And she clapped a hand on my shoulder, that Cheshire Cat grin spread wide on her face.

"Yeah, don't get too naughty, you two."

"We'll be good," giggled Eri. "We'll just find a really big bush to – ack!"

Having delivered another karate chop to her head, I muttered, "Timeout, Eri. Enough innuendos for the night."

"Ouch…" She nursed where I had whacked her and pretended to be more hurt than usual; regardless, she had enough audacity to slip in another one of her usual wisecracks. "Notwithstanding the danger of getting a bald spot, that actually felt kinda good."

"In that case, I'm sure you'll be delighted to receive the next few dozen or so."

She saw my hand poised to strike again and immediately retracted her earlier claims. "No, on second thought, I think I'll pass after all."

The others chuckled at our husband-and-wife comedy act. After a moment spent saying our goodbyes, we parted ways for the night, and Eri and I returned to what's left of the Hachi Fest arm-in-arm.

We took our sweet time walking around the festival area, stopping by the odd stall so Eri could buy herself some trinkets. She even got herself a fox mask; perhaps the fox motif was a nod to her mischievous nature. So was the demon mask she got for me any indication of my personality?

"Nah," she giggled, "I just think it'd be a riot to see a demon with orange hair."

"Then I could say the same for pink-haired foxes."

"Eheh."

Anyway, we weren't doing much. The Fest was officially over and many of the stallholders were starting to wrap things up, with only a handful clinging on for the festival-goers still milling around. But it was still nice. There's a certain sense of peace to be had spending time witnessing the ending of a great event.

Lightly grasping my arm for comfort, she said, "Hey, thank you so much for accompanying me tonight."

"Thank you. I really enjoyed myself."

"You're right, Neku."

"About what?"

"Rhyme really supports our relationship now," she said, hugging her soft toy closer to her chest. "She told me so herself. She even admitted that while she didn't think highly of our relationship before, she had since given it some thought and ultimately she said sorry for that."

I smiled. "Told you so."

"I never had any regrets dating you, Neku. I'm just super glad we finally have everyone's blessings now. The gang's on our side now, and then there's Kariya and Uzuki and Mr H… Even your aunt and uncle are fine with us going out!"

"All we need now is the green light from your parents, right?"

"They wouldn't be easy to convince," she grunted. "But… with how nice you are I don't think it's impossible. At least, that's what I'm hoping for."

"We'll work it out. And thanks, Eri."

The last of the stallholders had decided to call it a night and now there was a great deal more activity – equipment being packed away, banners and signboards being taken down. There was nothing left for anyone.

"Let's go home," I said. "We probably shouldn't get in the way when everyone's so busy. Besides, it really is late."

"Yeah. We've milked the evening's fun for all that it's worth. But before we exit stage left, there's just one last thing… Come on."

"Huh? Hey, where are we going?"

She maintained a firm grip on my arm as she scampered off, forcing me to keep up with her. When we stopped, we found ourselves back in front of the Statue of Hachiko.

"Neku," she said quietly, "I'm sure you're familiar with the superstition where you'll be blessed with good luck by touching the correct part of the statue."

"Yeah… why?"

"There's another lesser-known superstition… It goes like… If a couple shares a kiss in front of the, you know, Statue of Hachiko, they'll be blessed with… uh, even more good luck."

"You made that one up, didn't you?"

"Oh my," she laughed, "am I so transparent you can penetrate me?"

"I-I'd rather you not use the word 'penetrate' like that… but yeah, all the pauses and filler words didn't help your cause."

She pretended to throw a fit for the sake of cuteness. "C'mon, Neku! Let's do it right now! Anything for good vibes, right? You said so yourself!"

I took a furtive look all around me. Although almost everyone had gone home for the night, it's not like the place was completely deserted. There were still the stallholders who were packing up. There's no way we could kiss without being noticed.

I was always the one to shoot down her crazy schemes (albeit gently) and try to knock some sense into her. But this time, I simply couldn't bring myself to do it. She was in too good a mood for me to be a wet blanket. If we were quick, no one should raise a fuss over it.

"I don't mind the 'good vibes' part," I mumbled, "but don't take too long, 'cause we're not alone here. Five seconds, at the most, and that's it."

Beaming, she said, "You got it!"

Eri pressed her hands onto my chest and leaned in close. I shut my eyes, trying to block out all the background noise and the stares we might already be getting. I didn't want to leave them open for fear of catching a glimpse of some random peeping Tom. Kissing with your eyes open was kinda weird in itself anyway, so I never did that again after the one time I tried it.

Our lips came into contact. Through the darkness within my mind's eye a reddish tint poured in to mirror the warmth in my mouth. That's the colour of love, isn't it? There's no kiss we ever shared that I disliked. This one was no different.

Now let's see if Eri would keep her promise. Five seconds would be all we'd take and then that's it. Two… three… four…

Ten seconds went by and she showed no signs of stopping. Did she lose track of the time?

The seconds dragged on and I was screaming at her in my head to give it a rest already, because five was the magic number. Five seconds for bystanders to notice, five seconds to set up their phones to record a video, five minutes for said video to wind up on the internet and maybe another five more for it to go viral.

I eventually pried our lips apart. Gasping for air, I disentangled our intertwined bodies in a hurry and escorted her away to a quieter spot under the shade of a tree.

"Eri," I hissed, red-faced, "you… y-you promised to make it last five seconds!"

"I did," she said with a contented sigh.

"H-How was that five seconds? It was easily half a minute!"

"Hey, I was counting, you know. I went, like, 'one, two, three…'"

"Then how did you – "

"'…four, four and a half, four and two-thirds, four and three-quarters…'"

"Ohhhh boy."

"I went as far as four and thirty-one over thirty-two, but I strictly didn't even get up to five because you stopped me before I even got there."

"You had no intention to."

She edged closer, smiling devilishly. "And because I haven't even reached five, we still have a long way to go… don't we?"

Eri loved kissing to a fault – I knew this so well by now – but this was taking it up to eleven. I just gave up and decided to go with the flow. If people were going to stare and take videos of us, nothing I could do would stop them, anyway.

"Where are you up to again?" I asked.

"Four and thirty-one over thirty-two… no, wait, I think it was four and thirty-two over thirty-three. At least, I think so…"

"When you get to five, let me know."

"Hee hee… I gotcha."

Partially hidden under the shadow of the tree, we embraced and continued where we left off. Just as I expected, we didn't reach five for a long time.

In between kisses, Eri caught a break and whispered cheekily, "Four and ninety-seven over ninety-eight…"

Yeah, a loooong time.

XOXOXOXOXO

The next day, Eri found herself in quite the predicament. Her long-winded groan could be heard all the way from the living room.

"Neku… gimme a hand, please."

"What's the matter?"

She nodded towards the bag of fried squid lying on the coffee table. "I… uh, can't finish it all."

I knew this plan of hers was destined to fail. It's only a matter of time. I just never thought she'd give up the very next day. That's determination for you.

"Didn't you say you wanted bigger breasts?" I said wryly. "Then this is no time to slack off. By hook or by crook, you gotta finish it all."

"I don't care anymore!" she grumbled, flailing her arms like a child with a tantrum. "I've eaten at least twelve sticks… and I'm sick of it already. Help me finish it!"

"No way. I don't want to grow a couple of boobs. You finish it."

"Nekuuuuu…!"