Work Text:
Tonight was the night of the summer festival, Akane knew this well. Kiyoka and Kizuna had been hyping it up all day, and had even taken her to a store to buy a kimono since the maid didn't have one.
It seemed like the festival was going to be straightforward, but Kizuna suggested that they treat someone to "walking beside a pretty girl there, since these losers will probably be virgins forever," as she so put it. For Akane, her choice was easy. Kiyoka quickly invited Haruhiko and Satsuki to come with her, and Kizuna only allowed Mitch to come along if he payed for her food that night.
Akane immediately texted Utsuro using their student handbooks, asking if he wanted to go to the summer firework festival with her. The only response she got was a thumbs-up emoji to her message, which was still his way of saying yes to her. She was excited and prepared herself for that night.
When the sun finally began setting, people began making their way downtown to where the festival was being held. Akane had told Utsuro to meet her at the wineberry bush beside the fountain, and she hoped that he was wearing a traditional outfit to help him blend in. With the amount of students leaving Hope's Peak Academy's campus to join the festival, the maid was able to walk with the crowd to where she was to meet him.
Once she reached the fountain, she spotted him wearing a hakama by the bush. "Master Maeda!" she called over to him, using his alias in public. Utsuro quickly noticed her and walked over to her side. With a happy smile, she began guiding him towards the gates of the campus.
"Have you been to a firework festival before, Master Maeda?" she asked chipperly, leaving the campus with the brunette.
"...Not since I was still with my parents," he recalled, "I haven't been to another one since."
Akane looked at him, but tried to mask her pity for his sake. While she had no parents at all, his were horrible and used him as a tool for his Divine Luck. But he didn't like being pitied for such a thing, as she had learned quickly. So she hid her feelings and kept walking with him through the crowd.
They snuck onto a bus to get downtown, where they picked up a bit of food with some money that Utsuro dubiously 'found.' Akane got something expensive and large while Utsuro got the bare minimum of what he needed to eat. Akane fed him a bit of her food in response to that.
They continued to go down the street to look at the sights. "I'm sure the fireworks will go up soon. It's getting pretty dark, it's the perfect time to do it," Akane murmured. Utsuro heard her, but didn't feel strongly about whether the fireworks go up or not.
As the night got darker and they did their best to navigate the crowds, with Akane holding onto Utsuro's arm so they couldn't get separated, a sudden explosion rang out overhead. Everything stopped as the people looked up at the sky, where the fireworks had started exploding overhead. Utsuro and Akane had stopped as well, gazing up at the fireworks overhead.
"It's beautiful..." the maid gasped in amazement, having never seen the glittering colours up close. She had never attended a festival in person, she was always too busy with her job as a maid, trying to earn money. But all of her experiences of watching the fireworks from afar were nothing compared to what she saw now.
Utsuro said nothing, but looked over at her awestruck expression. His luck hadn't given her the fireworks, but she was still hanging onto his arm and enjoying herself. He always knew that people were less easy to get bored of, but the fact that she didn't care much for his luck and stayed by him regardless was interesting in itself.
About an hour later, the firework show had finished and Akane and Utsuro had walked away from the festival and found a bench in a park to sit down on together. The summer temperature was warm, even at night, so they didn't worry about freezing with how many layers they wore in their traditional outfit.
"The stars are dimmer than usual," Utsuro noticed, looking up at the night sky. The park around them was quiet due to the people having left the festival, so even his quiet words were easily heard.
"It's probably light pollution. The streetlights and such are blocking the light of the stars," Akane simply explained. While she wasn't sure if it was the truth or not, she had heard one of her former employers talking to his wife about the problem before.
All of a sudden, the streetlight above him began to glow brighter, then blew a fuse and suddenly turned off. The surrounding streetlights and even the lights within the buildings went out as well, plunging the city into darkness. "...That was not intentional," the brunette remarked.
"It never is," was the maid's reply, putting her hand over his on the bench. Utsuro didn't respond once again, deciding to look up at the sky instead.
Without the lights, the stars were much brighter now. He kept looking up out of boredom, but turned his head back down when he felt Akane's head drop against his shoulder as she fell asleep. He decided to leave her be and turn his gaze to the stars again.