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“And here I thought your face couldn't look any dumber.”
Yuugo shoots his companion an affronted look, but it is halfhearted at best. But he recovers almost immediately and soon the wide, foolish smile is back on his face. Yuuri looks amazing, dressed in a plum-coloured summer yukata and a decorative flower pin in his hair. Yuugo had ended up in a blue one since Yuuri had insisted they match.
“Shut up, Yuuri,” he says, his voice impossibly fond. “You agreed to this, remember? I can't believe you've never been to one before.”
Yuuri huffs and casts a disdainful look at their surroundings, seemingly unimpressed by the colourful streamers and the crowds of people milling around the festival stalls. Yuugo can’t imagine why; the obvious cheer and energy in the air is so infectious that he had been certain even Yuuri could get caught up in it. “This is a waste of time. I can think of a thousand things I'd rather do. Starting with you, perhaps,” A hint of red creeps up Yuugo's neck when Yuuri raises a suggestive eyebrow as his gaze travels up to meet his eyes.
“Not in public,” Yuugo says hurriedly, breaking into a brisk walk to drag them away from a gaggle of high school girls who had been gaping at them. “And it'll be fun. It’s tanabata!”
Yuugo had never seen Yuuri’s expression go so flat. “Who indeed,” he says. The way he picks idly at his sleeve projects such an utter disinterest in his surroundings that it's almost tangible. Yuugo tries his best not to let that dampen his enthusiasm. He coughs to clear the air and in no time he's grinning again.
“It'll be fun,” he repeats with conviction although he's not sure if he is trying to convince Yuuri or himself. “Oh! Look, they've got a goldfish stand!” Without giving Yuuri enough time to protest, he snatches up Yuuri’s hand and makes a mad dash over to the booth and nearly knocks over no less than five pedestrians along the way.
Yuugo squeals over the tiny fish while Yuuri stands over him perfecting his look of utter boredom and disdain for humanity.
“See? They've got those little paper things over there and you try to scoop them up without breaking the paper!” Yuugo enthuses like a little kid. “And if you win you get to take it home.”
“Right,” Yuuri says, rolling his eyes. “And why would you want to do that?”
The old man at the booth grins down at them with several gold teeth. “You kids fancy a go, then? Only 100¥ for three tries.”
"Yeah!” Ignoring Yuuri’s disgust over being called a kid, Yuugo immediately forks over the money without hesitation and crouches down, gripping the paddle with intense focus. He draws a deep breath and steadies his hand. A few minutes later, Yuugo is cursing up a storm and about 1,000¥ poorer. The fish swim in mocking circles beneath him. “Aw, crap! Why is this so hard?!” Yuugo laments as he reaches for his last paddle.
Yuuri cooly watches him throw a tantrum before huffing and kneeling down next to him. “Give me that,” he demands and snatches it out of his hand. Yuugo stares at him dumbfoundedly but settles back to admire the white line of Yuuri’s neck as it dips beneath the yukata’s collar. Yuuri’s magenta gaze sharps with concentration as he steadies the scoop with casual elegance.
And the little fish with its shimmering golden scales founders for a moment before falling right through the rice paper. Yuuri’s eye twitches as he stares down at the broken paddle as an ominous aura slowly envelops him.
Before Yuugo could think better of it, he snickers. “See! It's harder than it looks!” The glare that Yuuri shoots him is so thoroughly withering that Yuugo yelps and quickly feigns an interest in studying his nails.
“Again!” Yuuri snaps as he slams another 100¥ coin on the table so hard that the entire booth rattles. The old vendor grins knowingly and slides another three paddles forward.
Yuugo watches in poorly hidden bemusement as Yuuri fails over and over again to catch a goldfish. The coins and broken paddles start piling up as does the annoyance on Yuuri’s face.
“Uh. Yuuri?” Yuugo says when he notices the time. “D’you wanna try another game or- Ack! Okay, time out, time out! Stop throwing those things at me!” Yuugo breathes a sigh of relief when Yuuri puts down the useless paddles that he had been using as projectiles to go back to his game. If he knew it was going to be like this, he would never have picked a game that Yuuri wasn't good at. There is a crowd drawing and Yuugo fights to keep a straight face when he likens the scene to a cat pawing angrily at the fish tank.
Eventually, he sneaks away when his stomach starts growling. Yuuri doesn’t seem to notice, far too absorbed in his game. Yuugo ends up getting lost, circling the booths with a hopeless expression for a good twenty minutes. By the time he finally gets back, the booth owner is the one who looks ready to blow his top as Yuuri serenely and perfectly scoops up another goldfish. He’s practically surrounded by little plastic jars with tiny squirming fish and there are children gathered around him and gazing up at him in worship. They let out adorable little cheers every time Yuuri succeeds and Yuugo is grinning so hard that his cheeks are starting to hurt.
Finally feeling sorry for the old man, Yuugo carefully navigates the little containers on the ground and pokes a stick of takoyaki under his nose.
“What's this?” Yuuri asks with suspicion, wrinkling his nose in a childish way that makes Yuugo’s cheeks warm and his pulse speed up. Then, he ruthlessly squashes the urge to do something incredibly stupid like lean over and kiss it. The whole point of coming out here with Yuuri was to spend quality time with each other and do an activity where they were both vertical and clothed. Plus the kiddies are still staring at them.
“Fried octopus balls,” Yuugo says quickly, swallowing hard. “I thought you’d be hungry by now.”
Yuuri raises a sardonic eyebrow and makes no move to take his offering. But the moment Yuugo starts to pull his hand back, Yuuri opens his mouth; perfectly pink lips parting with deliberate slowness as he continues to watch him with an expectant look in his eyes. Yuugo turns red, staring at his open mouth with too much fascination as his traitorous brain starts to migrate south. He quickly shakes himself out of his stupor and nudges the stick closer so Yuuri can take a bite. This time, he’s smart enough to look away as Yuuri chews.
“You like it?” Yuugo asks hopefully.
“Hmph,” is all Yuuri says but then he opens his mouth again and a brilliant grin spreads across Yuugo’s face.
Behind them, the old man clears his throat. “Sirs... are you going to keep playing?”
Yuuri turns, a smug smirk tugging at his lips when he notices that the sad little pond looks decidedly empty. “No, I’ve had my fun,” he laughs and waves a hand negligently at the children staring up at him with wide eyes. “Go ahead and take whatever you want.” There is a round of resounding cheers as the old man’s face turns sour but Yuuri pays none of them any heed. He turns on his heel and links arms with Yuugo so suddenly that he nearly drops the rest of the takoyaki. Yuugo flushes, nearly giddy with joy as the two of them wander further into the crowd.
They try a few more festival foods and play a few more games without too much incident, aside from them both getting a bit too trigger happy at a shooting booth. By the time they make it to the shrine, the sun has long since set and Yuugo’s satchel is crammed with enormous stuffed animals.
“Why did I end up carrying everything?” he complains half-heartedly, but he’s too busy sneaking soppy smiles over at Yuuri to actually mind. Yuuri’s eyes are narrowed in concentration, each stroke of his brush meticulous as he inks out his wishes. In comparison, Yuugo’s writing is barely in a straight line and looks worse than chicken scratch.
‘I want to be with Yuuri forever.’
Yuugo nearly tears the paper in half, immediately embarrassed by writing down such a childish sentiment. In the end, he hangs it up anyway, taking extra care not to let Yuuri see or else he would die from his endless ridicule. But after tonight, after seeing Yuuri laugh so brightly and so unguardedly, he doesn’t think he could ever want anything else.
As the fireworks explode across the sky and he reaches into the dark for Yuuri’s hand. He can see the dazzling lights and colours reflected in his eyes like stars and it is only when the noises die down that he realizes that he had spent all his time watching Yuuri instead. But he doesn’t mind. Seeing that almost childish excitement and wonder on his face was far more precious than anything else.
“Here,” Yuuri says, suddenly pressing something into his stomach. Yuugo blinks down and two tiny goldfishes with wispy fins on their heads circle each other in a little plastic jar.
“Yuuri,” Yuugo says thickly, his voice choked with emotion. “You actually-? Thank you! You’re the best boyfriend ever!”
Yuuri scowls and drops his hand like a rock, making Yuugo scramble to catch the poor little fishes before they fell. “Stop that,” he says distastefully, turning his face away. “If I knew you were going to be so disgustingly sentimental, I wouldn’t have bothered.”
Yuugo doesn’t take it to heart, holding the precious little container closer to his chest. Then he blinks, tilting his head consideringly as he gazes at the hint of darkness on Yuuri’s cheeks.
“Huh? Yuuri, you’re not-”
“Finish that sentence and I’ll make it so that you won’t be able to ride your bike for a month.”