Chapter Text
The festival happened three days later.
Megumi blamed Nobara entirely.
“This is stupid,” he said for what was probably the seventh time that evening as she dragged him through the crowded streets outside the shrine grounds.
Nobara didn’t even look back. “You say that about everything.”
“Because most things are stupid.”
“See? Exactly.”
Beside him, Yuji laughed quietly into the sleeve of his hoodie.
Megumi ignored him on principle.
Tokyo practically glowed around them tonight.
Rows of paper lanterns stretched overhead in warm gold and crimson, swaying gently in the summer wind while festival music echoed through the packed streets. Food stalls lined both sides of the pathway, smoke curling into the air from grills and fryers while people crowded shoulder-to-shoulder beneath the lights.
It was loud.
Too loud.
Children ran through the crowds laughing. Someone nearby was shouting about chocolate bananas. A group of teenagers nearly crashed into Megumi trying to take pictures near the entrance torii gate.
Megumi already wanted to leave.
“Megumi.”
“I’m not carrying your food.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“You were about to.”
Yuji grinned.
Which was the problem, honestly.
Megumi had been fully prepared to refuse coming tonight.
Then Yuji had shown up outside his dorm room wearing a black hoodie and that soft expression he got sometimes when asking for things he genuinely wanted.
*“C’mon,”* he’d said. *“One normal night.”*
And Megumi—
traitorously—
had caved almost immediately.
Now here he was getting shoved through crowds while Nobara aggressively hunted festival snacks like she’d been starving for weeks.
“This place is amazing,” Yuji said, looking around brightly.
Megumi glanced sideways at him.
The lantern light softened Yuji’s face strangely.
Made him look warmer somehow.
Less tired.
Megumi had noticed the difference immediately when Yuji met them outside the dorms earlier tonight.
Three days ago, Yuji had looked exhausted in a way that made Megumi’s chest ache.
Quiet.
Withdrawn.
Like he was carrying something too heavy alone.
Tonight wasn’t perfect—Megumi still noticed the faint shadows under his eyes if he looked too closely—but Yuji was smiling again.
Real smiles.
Not the fake automatic ones.
Megumi hadn’t realized how tense he’d been waiting for those to come back until now.
“You’re staring again.”
Megumi immediately looked away.
“I’m literally not.”
Yuji bumped his shoulder lightly with his own. “You literally are.”
“Your ego is embarrassing.”
“Your face is embarrassing.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It made sense emotionally.”
Megumi sighed deeply.
Nobara whipped around suddenly while walking backward through the crowd. “If you two flirt in front of me all night, I’m charging both of you emotional damages.”
“We’re not flirting,” Megumi said instantly.
Yuji nodded seriously. “We’re having an intellectual discussion.”
“About Megumi staring at you like he’s in a romance movie?”
Megumi felt heat crawl immediately up his neck.
Yuji burst into laughter beside him.
Nobara pointed at Megumi accusingly. “SEE?”
“Shut up.”
“Oh my god, you’re actually embarrassed.”
“I’m going home.”
“You say that every ten minutes.”
Because every ten minutes Nobara made his life worse.
The crowd thickened deeper into the festival grounds.
Yuji instinctively reached for the sleeve of Megumi’s yukata before they got separated by a passing group of people.
Such a casual movement.
Thoughtless.
Natural.
Megumi looked down at Yuji’s hand for half a second before forcing himself to keep walking normally.
Unfortunately, Nobara noticed immediately.
Her expression turned deeply evil.
“Oh my god,” she whispered dramatically. “You’re HOLDING ONTO EACH OTHER.”
“We’re literally not,” Megumi snapped.
Yuji was still holding his sleeve.
Nobara looked like she’d just witnessed divine revelation.
“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“You need better hobbies.”
“No, I need wedding invitations.”
Megumi considered exorcising her.
Yuji was laughing too hard to be useful.
The shrine stairs opened into the main festival grounds a few minutes later, and suddenly the noise doubled.
Lights stretched everywhere.
Games lined one side of the pathways while food stalls crowded the other, the entire place glowing under rows and rows of lanterns overhead.
Someone nearby set off small sparklers while music drifted from deeper inside the grounds.
Yuji stopped walking for a second just to stare around.
His eyes lit up immediately.
And there it was again—
that stupid ache in Megumi’s chest.
Because Yuji looked happy.
Not pretending.
Not forcing it.
Just…happy.
Megumi hated how much seeing that affected him.
“Okay,” Nobara announced, clapping her hands together. “First objective: food.”
“You already ate before we came here,” Megumi reminded her.
“That was pre-festival food. Completely different category.”
“She’s kind of right,” Yuji admitted.
Megumi looked at him. “Don’t encourage her.”
Too late.
Within minutes Nobara had disappeared toward a takoyaki stand with terrifying determination, dragging Yuji with her by the wrist.
Megumi followed because apparently this was his life now.
The line took forever.
Mostly because Nobara kept changing her order every thirty seconds while arguing with the vendor about topping ratios.
Yuji leaned closer beside Megumi while they waited.
“She’s gonna get us banned.”
“She should be banned from public spaces in general.”
Yuji snorted softly.
Then quieter—
“Thanks for coming tonight.”
Megumi glanced sideways.
Yuji wasn’t looking at him now.
Just watching the crowd around them with a small smile on his face.
But Megumi heard the sincerity in it immediately.
Something in his chest tightened a little.
“…You asked,” Megumi muttered.
Yuji looked over then.
Warm brown eyes. Soft lantern light. That same expression from outside Megumi’s dorm room.
For one dangerous second, Megumi forgot how to breathe properly.
Then Nobara returned holding three trays of food and yelling about mayonnaise distribution, completely ruining the moment before it could become something worse.
Later, the trio decided to go on the ferris wheel, Nobara said “I’m not sharing a cart with these two.” and was in a different cart from Megumi and Yuji.
The two boys sat side by side, holding hands, looking into the Tokyo skyline, “Isn’t it beautiful,” Megumi whispers.
“I wish we could do this everynight, looking into the sky together.” he continues.
“Yeah, me too.”
Back at the school, Nobara immediately went to her room, leaving the two young lovers alone.
“Hey Megs,” “Yeah?” “Wanna stay over tonight?” “Sure.”