𝓕ᵃᵗʰᵉʳ'ˢ 𝓟ᵉʳᶠᵉᶜᵗ 𝓛ⁱᵗᵗˡᵉ 𝓖ⁱʳˡ

IV | II

★・・・★

CHAPTER — II
part four

"MOTHER," YOU said, trying to sound as confident as possible as you straightened your posture, "Can-could I-hum, maybe go out, tonight ?" You voice wavered a little bit.

You were 18, a voice inside your head was telling you that of course you could go out if you wanted. Legally, you were an adult, meaning you were responsible for your own decisions.

The thing was, you'd never asked to go out before. You were always at home before the sun set. You didn't know what you were supposed to do, ask them if you were allowed to go out or simply inform them that you were going out.

Your mother looked up at you from where she was sitting on the dinner table, a newspaper in hand, with one eyebrow raised, she looked confused for a few seconds before her face morphed in a knowing smile, "Naturally you can, you're an adult."

You beamed.

You heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen, before your father stomped into the dinning room, a pan in hand.

"You don't even know where she's going !" Your father exclaimed, alarmed, he smoothed down the wrinkles on his apron, "That's a no from me."

"Darling, she's 18."

"Still too young."

"I'm simply going to church," you defended, "We're going to light up fireworks." You didn't know why you were trying to hard to convince them when you did not even really want to go, you realized, "But if father doesn't want me to go, I'll gladly stay." You quickly added.

"Darling," your mother gave your father an exhausted look, "Let her go, we both know she's a very careful girl."

"Why fireworks ? It's not the cultural festival..." he took a deep breath, "...if you're not here by 10, I'm coming to get you myself." He grumbled, making his way back in the kitchen.

Your mother then looked up at you, "Now, go get ready."

Get ready ? You frowned in confusion as you eyed your outfit.

★・・・★

Getting ready ? You still didn't know what that meant. You hadn't even thought that you were supposed to change your outfit... and you really liked your long black dress, it covered a lot of skin, and made you feel protected in some way.

Nevertheless, you opened your wardrobe, inspecting the few gowns you had. You opted for a white, flowy dress with a Peter Pan collar. The gown stopped right after your knees (still too short for you), and had a black bow on the back that accentuated your waist.

You looked... cute, cute but overdressed. You didn't have to try that hard, what if they thought you were pretentious ? With that in mind, you proceeded to undo your bow, trying to take it off when your mother marched into the room.

"Oh my," she let out, whistling, "Don't take it off, you look adorable in it." She picked up your bow and tied it even tighter around your waist, before dusting off the skirt of your dress with a satisfied smile.

"Now, you can go. Have fun."

★・・・★

You actually did have fun.

Nobara wasn't there, you assumed it had something to do with you. However, you wouldn't let it ruin your night since you did nothing wrong, so you had no reason to feel bad for her.

It was a bit late already, the sun was nowhere to be seen, instead you were looking at the moon, shining gloomily above you. It was warm, warm enough that you didn't need to put a jacket on.

You looked at the sparkles blossoming in your hands, you could feel it's warmth hitting your palm as you watched it grow, forming a beautiful flower of light, then die down. This wasn't the first time you had lit up those kind of fireworks and everytime, you found yourself thrilled by the beauty of their sight.

"__, step back!" Yuuji urged you in a fit of giggles as he grabbed your hands to pull you back. Maki then bent down to light up a little stack of fireworks, then ran up to you, pulling you closer as well as she hugged you. You shivered at their touch.

"Those are explosive, we should be careful."

The sound of their laughter filled the space as you joined them, your heart bursting in your ribcage. You never thought going out with people could be this fun.

You watched as splashes of green and red shot up in the sky, and suddenly, it was raining rainbows as yellow and orange sparks fell down, illuminating the entire area.

For a few seconds, you were worried the neighboring trees would be set on fire, but thankfully none of that happened.

As the sparkles died down, you glanced at the place on the ground where Yuuji had stock piled the fireworks. You were surprised by the variety there was. Which one would you light up now ? You thought giddily.

You looked up at Yuuji, an excited smile on your lips.

"You smell so good," his eyes seemed to be glowing in the night, it made him look surreal.

"You look so good too." Maki added, tightening her hold around you, "You're so cute, all dolled-up for us."

You felt your face heat up as you immediately looked down, suddenly embarrassed and uncomfortable.

"You guys are looking at her like you want to eat her up." You suddenly heard Megumi sigh out from behind you three. Yuuji let out a sheepish laugh as he untangled your hands.

"Sorry..." he mumbled.

"No... it's okay," you shook your head, "Do you want me to go pick up some coats, inside ? You guys are really cold."

Megumi let out a snort, "A coat ?" He gave Maki a look that meant 'look at what she's saying now'.

Maki went to the boy and the coldness of her body left you to be replaced by the warmth of the air around you... and you wondered to yourself how they weren't shaking and shivering with how icy their skin felt.

"I-I mean, their skin felt very cold..." you stammered, your cheeks were painted in a thick layer of embarrassment.

"Ever thought that maybe, your skin is just really hot."

What ? You tried to read more into his words, however you came up with nothing. Ever since you came in this town, not much made sense anymore.

"Megumi." Maki scolded him, then turned to you, "I'd love a coat, thank you."

You nodded energetically, your embarrassment gone, "Sure, I'll go."

When you were out of earshot Megumi rolled his eyes and crossed his hands, "For how long do we have to entertain her ?" He tilted his head in your direction.

Maki's eyes flashed to him, red and menacing, the air around her seemed to have change drastically "Don't act like Nobara, now."

Megumi shivered.

★・・・★