The second day of Inaba's summer festival was in full swing as evening settled over the town. Groups of families and friends wandered among the stalls, some dressed up in festival attire, some not. And at the very edge of it all stood Kanji, wearing his normal summer clothes, eating a topsicle, and watching the people walk by. He found himself with nothing to do this evening and he was always up for some good festival food. He also figured that maybe he'd run into a few of his friends. Sure enough, just as the sun set and the lights of the fest began to glow, Kanji heard some familiar voices coming towards him.
"Come on, Chie! I wanna go get some more ice cream!"
"Hold on, Teddie! You're gonna pull my arm off!"
"You heard her, you dumb bear! Let her go! And slow down, I'm gonna spill her food!" Kanji looked around and saw three of his friends: Yosuke-senpai, Chie-senpai, and Teddie. Teddie had a grip on Chie-senpai's arm and was dragging her along, while Yosuke-senpai was trying to keep up and hold on to what looked like a steak bowl. Somehow nothing about the scene surprised Kanji in the least.
"Hey! You guys!" Kanji called when the others were close enough.
"Oh, look! It's Kanji!" Teddie said cheerfully. Chie-senpai took the distraction to pull her arm free.
"Finally!" she said, rushing over to Yosuke-senpai. "Gimme that bowl! I'm starved!"
"Ok, geez!" he said as she yanked the bowl from his hands. "Just make sure to leave me my fingers!" That remark earned him a healthy glare, but she was too busy eating to respond. "So, what are you doing over here, all by yourself?"
"Nothin' much." Kanji replied. "Was bored at home, so I figured I'd hang out here and maybe run into some of you guys. I was just people watchin' till then."
"People watching?" Yosuke-senpai said, suspicious. "Yeah, cause that's not creepy at all..."
"Hey! It ain't creepy! I just like all of the outfits, that's all!"
"Uh-huh..." Yosuke-senpai looked off to the side as something further on into the fest caught his eye. "Just people watching, you say? I'd say more like 'person' watching...and that's still creepy." Kanji followed his gaze to figure out what he was talking about and his stomach immediately leaped up into his throat. Standing at a stall across the way was a particular blue-clad boy, speaking to the person working there.
"T-that's...Hey! That ain't why I'm here!" Kanji protested. "I didn't even know he was gonna be here!"
"Come on, Yosuke, leave him alone." Chie-senpai said, taking one last bite of her food. "How the heck was he suppose to know that?"
"A-and anyways!" Kanji said. "I seem to remember a certain pair following me around like creepers a little while back..."
"Wait, so Yosuke was stalking Kanji!?" Teddie chimed in, thoroughly entertained.
"H-how's about we change the subject?" Yosuke-senpai said quickly, pushing Teddie away.
"What are you three up to?" Kanji asked.
"I had to make a run for Junes when I ran into Chie and then Teddie showed up just as I was about to get some free food!" he replied, pouting.
"I'm still good for it!" Chie-senpai reassured him. "Just pick something."
"OK, how about...huh?" Yosuke-senpai stopped mid-sentence as he noticed that Teddie was at one of the stalls, chatting up the female attendant who was giggling like a school girl. "Hey! You! Would you cut that out!" Kanji and Chie-senpai laughed as he went over to get the runaway bear.
"Hey, Chie-senpai? Can I ask you something?" Kanji said after a few moments.
"What's up, Kanji?"
"Since we caught that murderer...Now what?" Chie-senpai looked at him, curious.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you know...We spent all this time tryin' to catch the bastard, so what do we do now that we did it?"
"I guess...we go back to our everyday lives."
"That's the problem. I mean, my old everyday life is pretty different from my new one." Kanji sighed.
"There's nothing wrong with that. It just means you grew from the experience. I have, too. Everything that's happened, it's gotten me thinking...about the future and stuff..."
"The future?" Chie-senpai smiled at him.
"Yeah. I never thought about it much before, but I am now. Learning about myself helped me sort out who I want to be, you know?" Kanji was quiet for a bit, thinking about what she just said.
"Future, huh?" he finally said, scratching his head. "I'm not sure I'm ready for all that yet. But I think I get what you mean. Maybe I'll stick to near future. Like, I hope we all stay friends now that this is over. That's something new I'd definitely like to keep."
"Of course!" Chie-senpai said, laughing and shoving his shoulder a little. "Aww, Kanji, you really are just a big, old softy, aren't you?'
"H-hey! S-shut up!" Kanji said, blushing. "Ain't nothing soft about me!"
"Um...Kanji? What the hell are you talking about?" Yosuke-senpai and Teddie had just walked back over and only heard the last thing Kanji had said. "Are you being creepy again?"
"I already told ya, I ain't creepy! Say that again and I'll introduce you to my fist!" Chie-senpai and Teddie laughed as Kanji chased Yosuke-senpai around the festival.
Kanji and Chie feel their relationship has grown yet deeper…