This book is so long I don't even know anymore.
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Third Person View

Boom.

That was all Nagisa could think of that day. Giant explosions of colors in the night sky.

A fireworks festival was going to be held that night. Nagisa could hardly wait, even though she's been in one countless times already.

The thought of gathering with her friends and enjoying the show excited her greatly. She was going with her school friends. It would be their first festival together.

Nakano was going to be part of the festival tonight. She's going to be writing calligraphy behind a stand. Nagisa never knew Nakano had such talent, and that made her feel the need get to know her friends a bit better.

Nonetheless, she continued preparing.

-Time skip-

The shrine was full of people. Lanterns were illuminating the festival, making nice lighting. Murmuring and chattering of the crowd and the people behind the stands made the festival feel alive.

"There are so much people!" Arisa looked at the crowd with awe.

"Well, firework festivals have always been crowded," Chiyuki said.

Karma looked around, seeing if there are any stands that caught his interest. Nagisa was standing beside him, listening in to her friends' conversation.

"S-Sasahara-senpai, is that takoyaki?" Iyo's eyes glittered at the plastic case Sasahara was holding.

Sasahara looked at her, "Hm? Ah, yeah, it is."

Arisa looked at Sasahara. "You bought some already? No fair! Where's the stand!?" She looked around.

"A-Arisa-chan, wait up!" Chiyuki tried to run, but her yukata was restraining her to do so. Her sandals weren't helping, either.

She stopped and turned around, "Ah, Nagisa-chan, w-would you like us to buy some for you?"

Nagisa smiled at her, "Thanks, but it's fine! I'd like something else for now."

"Okay." Chiyuki smiled at her before chasing after the wild Arisa.

"Ah, there they go," Shougo looked at the girls.

"Well, we should go somewhere too," Nanashima said. "We'll meet you guys again once the fireworks are starting!" He waved.

Yamaguchi and the trio went on their way. The blonde secretly hoped that Iyo didn't notice so she wouldn't follow.

After they were out of her sight, Karma spoke. "Let's go."

Nagisa looked at the boy. "Eh? Where?"

Karma stopped walking and turned his body to her. "The candy apple stand. You want candy apples, right?" He showed her a smile.

The blue haired girl blushed, wondering how he knew. "Y-yeah."

The two went their own way, leaving Iyo behind with Sasahara.

"Hm? Where has everyone gone?" Iyo asked after looking around.

"You were too busy asking for my food, I guess," Sasahara said, remnants of takoyaki still in the process of being chewed.

The shorter girl beside him pouted, "And Iyo wanted to spend time with Karma-senpai, too..."

Her pout soon disappeared after she saw some kids trying to catch a yoyo ball in water. "Oh, Senpai! Iyo wants to try that!"

"Go try it yourself, then." Sasahara stabbed another takoyaki. However, before he could put it in his mouth, Iyo suddenly pulled his yukata sleeve and dragged him towards the stand.

"No! Sasahara-senpai needs to accompany Iyo!" She said. "Would Senpai let a cute girl like Iyo go alone?"

Sasahara looked at the girl who was dragging him. "Ah, right. And it isn't because it's your first time doing it, right?"

Iyo stopped her tracks, and Sasahara could see her ears going red from behind. "Ah, bingo."

"Th-that's not true!"

The raven-haired boy walked ahead with a smile. "Here, let me teach you."

As the two started trying out the minigame, Karma and Nagisa were heading towards the calligraphy stand elsewhere.

Nagisa was thoroughly enjoying her candy apple. It was hard not to get distracted, since there were tons of other stands waiting to be visited.

"Is it good?" Karma asked.

"Yeah!" She happily responded.

The two kept walking along the road, looking left and right. Karma would occasionally grab Nagisa's hand and nibble on her candy apple, even though he had his own to snack on.

Poor Nagisa would grab his hand and eat his candy apple as payback, only to realize she had fallen into his trap of an indirect kiss.

Karma chuckled at his girlfriend.

As they were walking, someone accidentally bumped into her, and she dropped her pouch.

"Ah, sorry!" The girl she bumped into picked up her pouch.

Nagisa looked at the girl, then her eyes widened at the girl who was sticking her tongue out. "Kaede!?"

"Yahoo, Nagisa!" The green-haired pudding lover waved her hand at the girl.

"It's been a while!" Nagisa smiled brightly, accepting her pouch from her.

"It really has!" Kayano hugged Nagisa tightly. "I see you're still close with Karma-kun, eh?" She smirked at the two.

Karma responded by sticking his tongue out. "Of course, Kayano-chan."

"Are you alone?" Nagisa asked.

"No, I'm with a few friends. But they wouldn't mind if I spent a little time with you!" Kayano winked.

The three talked to each other.

Soon, Arisa and Chiyuki found their way toward them. "Ah, Kayano-chan!" Arisa was waving at her as she held up cotton candy.

"Tanaka-chan, Shiraishi-chan!"

Not long after that, Iyo and Sasahara rejoined as well. "Karma-senpai!" Iyo was running with a yoyo in her hand.

"Geez, stop running so much!" Sasahara complained. "Do you know how hard it is to even walk in these sandals?"

"It's Senpai's fault for being so slow!" Iyo stuck her tongue out at him.

The group suddenly became larger, Nagisa said in her head. The thought warmed her heart, to know that she is spending time with all her friends.

"Oh, look at this, Nagisa-chan!" Arisa said while looking at a stand that was selling straps.

"Where?" Nagisa was about to turn, but she felt a sudden bump on her legs. She looked down to see a little girl with light blue hair in a yukata.

The girl's eyes widened, "Mama!"

Her friends eyes widened at her.

...

"Uhh..." Nagisa sweat dropped.

The little girl suddenly flinched. "I-I mean..."

Karma crouched down to her level. "Where are you from, little girl? Are you lost?"

"Papa!?" The little girl exclaimed once again. "Oh, er..."

Arisa tilted her head sideways while sweatdropping. "Um... Is there something you guys aren't telling us?"

"Wh... What's the meaning of this, Senpai!?" Iyo lunged forward.

"You got it wrong..." Karma and Nagisa said in unison, sweat dropping from their foreheads.

The blue-haired girl looked at the girl who had her head bowed down. She somehow had a look of melancholy.

"Are your parents around?" Nagisa asked. She looked like she was about in third or fourth grade.

The girl stared at Nagisa. "Yeah, but..."

The couple looked at her.

Nagisa then smiled, "Would you like to come with us until your parents come?"

"Eh?"

The boy beside Nagisa smiled. "It'll be fun."

The little girl smiled widely, "Okay!"

Arisa and Chiyuki looked at the little girl. "She's so cute!" Arisa smiled as she pinched both the little girl's cheeks.

"I wonder if we should tell the security?" Sasahara asked.

Karma looked at the little girl who was now walking beside Nagisa. "She seems happy enough, though."

The group started walking with the little girl.

"I'm so excited!" Arisa exclaimed, holding up her cotton candy.

Chiyuki spoke to the little girl, "Are you excited to see the fireworks?"

The little girl stared at Chiyuki, not saying anything.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

"That's my name!" The girl smiled widely. "My name is 'Hanabi'!"

Everyone looked at her. "I see!" Arisa smiled. "My name is Arisa! This here is Chiyuki and Nagisa!"

Hanabi smiled once again, her short light blue hair tied up into a ponytail bouncing.

They walked along, until Hanabi saw a certain stand. "Ah..."

"What's wrong, Hanabi-chan?" Nagisa stopped to look at her.

Hanabi pointed, "That!" It was a target shooting game that had a lot of prizes on the shelves.

"You want that, Hanabi-chan?" Iyo crouched down.

"Yeah!"

They walked to the stand.

Arisa put her fingers under her chin. "Hm... I'm no good at those..."

"Which one do you want, Hanabi-chan?" Karma smiled at her.

The man behind the stand snickered. "You think you got what it takes? 300 yen per try!"

Karma looked at the man. "My, he seems pretty confident I'll miss."

"Which one, Hanabi-chan?" Nagisa asked again.

Hanabi looked at the prizes, thinking hard. "Hm..."

"I'll get you the best one, how does that sound?" Karma said. He turned to the man and gave him 300 yen.

"You'll get to keep whatever drops!"

Karma grabbed a gun and started aiming. But instead of aiming for one of the prizes, he aimed elsewhere.

"Hm? Where are you aiming, boy?" The man laughed. "You'll never get it at that point-"

The red-haired boy pulled the trigger, and the bullet shot a loose nail under the shelf. The nail fell uselessly to the floor with a small "clank". The whole shelf fell on its side, and all of the prizes that were on it fell.

Everyone became shocked as they looked at the stand. Even people that were passing by stopped to take a second look.

"Well, would you look at that?" Karma smiled innocently. "We get everything that drops, right?"

The man behind the stand fell silent, his eyes and mouth widened.

Karma picked up the prizes, "Well, I'll be taking these, thanks pall!"

In his arms were stuffed animals, phone straps, and toys. "Here you go." He gave them to Hanabi.

"WOW, mister!" Hanabi was in awe. "That was amazing! Can I really have all these!?"

"Sure you can," Karma replied.

Nagisa turned to face him, her face blue. "Karma..."

Karma stuck his tongue out.

They continued their stroll. They went to the calligraphy stand, where Nakano was writing calligraphy.

Behind the stand, there was Nakano who was in a special yukata. She looked beautiful, Nagisa thought.

"Ah, everyone!" Nakano waved at them.

"Welcome!" Hitomi was in front of the stand, also wearing a yukata.

Arisa waved at them, "Hey, guys!"

Chiyuki looked at the stand. "You're amazing, Nakano-san, to be writing calligraphy in a festival..."

"Ehehe..." Nakano put a hand on her head. "To be honest, I didn't want to do it. Aside from that, would you like me to write something for you?"

Nagisa turned to Hanabi. "Would you like one, Hanabi-chan?"

"Yeah!"

Karma, Nagisa, Arisa, and Chiyuki went in front of the stand with Hanabi. Iyo watched the couple from behind.

"Iyo-chan, was it?" Kayano's voice made it through Iyo's ears.

"Ah, that's right," Iyo responded.

Kayano made her way to her side. She noticed that Iyo was a bit clingy to Karma, which made her think.

"You were looking at Karma-kun and Nagisa?" She asked.

Iyo's cheeks instantly went red.

"Here you go!" Nakano gave Hanabi the paper that had the calligraphy she wrote.

"Wow..."

"Isn't that great, Hanabi-chan? You got so many things today!" Arisa smiled brightly.

Chiyuko smiled, "Wouldn't your parents be worried if you're gone?"

What she said made Nagisa remember something. "Now that I think about it, you called me and Karma "mama" and "papa". Where did you come from?"

Her question made Hanabi flinch. "Oh, um..." She looked down.

"You see," She started. "Onee-chan and Onii-chan look a lot like my parents."

"Heeh, really?" Karma said.

Hanabi nodded. "But right now, my parents are fighting."

After she said those words, all became silent.

"We finally had some family time today! I was happy for a week!" Hanabi clenched her hands. But her enthusiasm quickly ran out. "But they were arguing again, so I went away by my own..."

The group looked at the little girl, who seemed to have a rough life.

Nagisa was the first to speak. "I see." She smiled and then crouched. "I also don't like it when my parents fight!"

"It makes you worry, right? When your parents fight," Karma followed.

"Right!?" Hanabi looked at the two. "I don't like it when my parents fight... Sometimes I feel like I'm responsible for it... Maybe if I'm not here, they wouldn't go out of their way to take care of me."

Hanabi looked down. Karma gently pat her head. "You're a good girl, to feel like that."

"Eh?"

Nagisa smiled at her. "You're a strong girl, Hanabi-chan. But don't feel that way."

"Your parents also love you very much. They're working hard for you. And sometimes they get stressed out from their work, and they take it out on each other." The bluenette explained.

She rubbed Hanabi's head. "You love your parents, right?"

Hanabi nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Then hold onto that. Don't forget that feeling, okay?" Karma said.

Hanabi looked at the two of them. She stayed quiet before smiling brightly. "Okay!"

Everyone smiled.

Iyo looked at the two from afar.

"Those two know the feeling of not feeling the warmth of their parents better than anyone," Kayano spoke beside her. "Sometimes, it really gets to them."

She looked at the two with Hanabi in between them, holding their hands.

"But they always have each other, and it's all okay in the end." Kayano smiled.

Iyo looked at her, staying quiet. Then she looked at the couple.

"I've always assumed... that Karma-senpai was in my range to reach out to," Iyo said to herself.

"But maybe... he's farther away than I thought."

She looked at the two bitterly.

And on that night, the fireworks she saw were duller than she remembered.
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Phew... That was a long one.

Oh, and, hanabi means fireworks, if some of you don't understand. :)

See you in the next chapter~