𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟐- 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐃
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(Y/N) sat on the edge of her bed, her hands pulled up as she held a small red elastic band. Tying her hair into a loose ponytail, she slowly gets up from her position with a sigh, and makes her way towards her desk side mirror.

Her mother had bought her a lovely white kimono, red painted petals running down her sides and stopping near her ankles. The sleeves came just about her wrist, and a red broach was placed beside her ear.

She studies her face for a few seconds, a tad bit nervous at her appearance, but happy knowing she didn't turn out looking like a hungover clown on his worst days.

Opening her door, (Y/N) jumps when she sees Haru, Nagisa and Makoto. They were all leaning to see into the peephole of her house, which caused her to raise her hand on instinct and hit both Makoto and Nagisa on the head.

The boys back away, and Haru ignores them to stare at his friend. His gaze was intense, but soft, and only grew as he studied the attire. His hand twitches at his side, before clearing his throat and meeting her gaze.

"..squid..festival."

(Y/N) raises a brow, "What?" Chuckling, she closes her door behind her, and places her hands into her sleeves to keep them warm. Makoto, who had finally calmed down from his throbbing head, looks up with a sheepish grin.

"We're heading to the Festival of Hachiman and wanted to know if you wanted to come with." Racking his eyes over her, a small blush blooms on his cheeks. "But it looks like you're already heading there yourself."

She hums, and shrugs her shoulders. "I mean, I wouldn't mind the company." At that, Nagisa is quick to grab her hand and drag her down the path leading to the road.

"Great!" He yells, and gestures for his two other friends to follow. "Let's hurry before they run out of Dango!"

Makoto and Haru stand at the entrance to the (L/N)'s residence a tad longer, their eyes following a kidnapped (Y/N). The brown haired boy looks down with a small smile.

"She looks great." He says bashfully, and Haru looks up at him in return. His eyes squint slightly at his friend's blushing cheeks, but sighs and nods.

"Yeah."

_____

The group had finally made it down to the festival, the warm glow of the lanterns and the smell of freshly cooked food giving the area a comforting atmosphere.

(Y/N) breathes in deep, and feels her stomach growl when she catches the numerous amounts of smells surrounding each stall. Smiling, she waves when she spots Rei, dressed in a black and grey Kimono with sharp patterns running across it.

"Sorry we're late." She says, and closes her eyes with a grin when they all close the distance. He shakes his head at her, and smiles. "It's fine, I just got here myself actually." His gaze wonders across her form, and he fidgets with his glasses.

"You look beautiful." He mumbles softly, and (Y/N) gently nudges him with her shoulder. "Such a gentlemen." She teases, and watches as steam begins to clog his glasses while red takes over his cheeks. Nagisa and Makoto laugh as they watch, and the younger of the two raises a finger towards the blue haired boy.

"Just so you guys know, that's what you're supposed to say when you arrive late for a date." Makoto sighs, and shakes his head. "At any rate, let's get over to the shrine."

"Sounds good."

Nagisa nods, and jumps to grab the only girl of the group into a headlock. "While we're at it, let's see if we can pray for (Y/N) to finally find a boyfriend!" His suggestion makes the group flinch, and (Y/N) grits her teeth as she tries to pull her friend off, her hand gripping the back of his kimono while the other was wrapped around his arm holding her hostage.

"That's not happening!" She yells, and for some unknown reason, both Makoto and Haru let out a sigh of relief.

_____

"Squid!"

"Squid!"

"Candy apples.."

"More squid!"

After about ten minutes of Nagisa teasing (Y/N) to find her lucky someone at the festival, the two had since come to a truce when stumbling upon the many stalls serving their favorite thing this world had to offer.

Food.

"I forgot how much squid they have here." She says through puffed out cheeks, her stomach moving tenfold at all the different smells. "It's like a squid buffet."

"Ex-squid-site." Rei tries to make a pun out of her hunger, but is ignored when she darts to a small stall harboring rounded squid type meatballs.

Ordering four, (Y/N) is quick to pop one into her mouth, before tossing one to her hungry companion beside her.

"Hey! I was making a joke!" Once again, he is ignored.

"Look, the squid stairway to heaven is about to start." Wrapping a loose arm around (Y/N), Makoto points towards a billboard showcasing a squid catching competition. While his friend ogles at the sign, he is quick to snatch one of the squid meatballs from her tiny plate and throws it into his mouth.

"..I saw that." Containing a muffled scream, Makoto looks down to see (Y/N) glaring at him, flames surrounding her. "Thief." She spits out, and tosses him the last piece before storming off to watch the game, Nagisa and Rei at her side.

Makoto watches her go, and chuckles when she turns over her shoulder to give him a small wink. Knowing that she was joking, he relaxed a little, and extends his hand to offer the last piece to Haru, who graciously excepted it without another word.

_____

(Y/N) holds her stomach, small bubbles of laughter escaping as she watches the men in a medium sized pool splash around trying to catch at least one of the many squid sloshing around at their feet.

She snorts when they bump into eachother and topple into the water, and turns her head away to contain her giggles. Looking up, she sees Haru eyeing her, and offers him a sheepish grin at being caught.

He jumps at her smile, but relaxes before cautiously leaning his hand down to graze against her own. She doesn't seem to notice, which gives him more confidence when he extends his middle and pointer finger to hook with her own.

He flinches when a voice calls out to them, and snaps his hand back to his side in fear of being seen. Looking up, (Y/N) squeals when she sees Gōu, as well as Chigusa Hanamura, who she had learnt was one of Gōu's closest friends.

The two were dressed in their kimonos, their hair done up similarly, yet (Y/N) couldn't contain the small blush that crept into her cheeks as she stared at them.

"I'm glad you guys are all here!" The maroon haired girl speaks up, and her eyes practically pop out of her skull when she spots her friend. "You look a-ma-ZING!" Grabbing her hands, Gōu eyes her friend from top to bottom, bouncing on the heels of her feet as she takes her in.

(Y/N) scoffs, and rolls her eyes. "Please! You both look so cute!" She grins, and the group all nod in agreement.

"The both of you look very cute." Makoto nods from behind her, and Chigusa giggles at the compliment. "Is it us or the outfits?" The question makes him jump in surprise, but other wise he entertains her to the best of his ability. "A little bit of both I think." He says, and she smiles cheekily.

"You know you shouldn't compliment other girls when you have a girlfriend!"

The group all raise their brows. "Mako dosnet have a girlfriend." Nagisa hums, and tilts his head when Chigusa looks up in surprise. "Oh! But I thought.." she looks between Makoto and (Y/N), once, twice, before snapping her fingers.

"Oh, then he must be your boyfriend, right?" This time, she points to Haru, who was standing on (Y/N)'s right.

Quickly, the (H/C) girl is quick to shake her head. "Nononono! We're all just friends." She says, sweat dropping at the miss information. Chigusa however, only frowns more as she sees that she was wrong once again.

"But.." she turns her head to stare at Gōu, whose eyes were wide and small bits of sweat slowly began rolling down her forehead. Before she could say anymore, her friend quickly slaps the palm of her hand over her mouth, and begins to drag her away.

"W-well it was nice catching up! But we've gotta go!" Gōu quickly makes an excuse, and rushes away, leaving the group to watch them, an awkward silence enveloping them.

(Y/N) sighs. "She acts like we won't see her tomorrow." Pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers, she shakes her head before turning around and facing her friends.

"Anyway, why don't we go grab some actual food." She smiles, and Nagisa is quick to jump on the ball. "Let's get grilled squid balls!"

"..but we just had that."

"Then let's have it again!"

"..no."

Deflating, the blond puffs out his cheeks. "So mean.." he whines, and shakes his head to think of something else. "That paella sounds really good!"

(Y/N) looks up at Makoto, who smiles down at her. "Let's see what options we have." He suggests, and the rest nod, finally coming to a decision.

Haru watches them from the side, his eyes mainly focused on (Y/N). He flicks the pad of his thumb against his palm, Chigusa's mistake still running in his head.

"He must be your boyfriend, right?"

He clenches his hand into a fist, before releasing it and sighing. Following after his friends, his gaze averted downwards, and he continues to stare at (Y/N)'s hand, swaying slowly at her side.

_____