That's strange...Yoimiya isn't here today. You sat down at your desk, putting on your headphones. You sighed. Perhaps she's out sick. If she wasn't coming to school, she would have told me. Yoimiya was your best friend since childhood. She was the daughter of the owner of Naganohara Fireworks shop and every summer, her family would host the largest fireworks show on Narukami Island.
She made your mundane life exciting and fun, and she was there for you when you needed her most. You secretly harboured feelings for her since middle school.
She was also dense, so you doubted she actually knew.
Hmm...maybe her family needed her to stay home for summer festival preparations? I'll be sure to drop by her house after school.
It was the last day of school before summer break, so the summer festival was only a few days away. Yoimiya and her family were usually busy at this time.
After school I went straight home. I procrastinated on my homework and eventually got it done when the sun was setting. I had just gotten ready to go to Yoimiya's place when there was a knock on my door.
"Yoimiya?" She was wearing her orange yukata which she only saved for special occasions.
Wait...
"Y/N! I need to take you somewhere! It's urgent." Yoimiya took my hand in hers, and I flinched at the sudden contact.
"What's going on? Where are you taking me?"
Yoimiya didn't answer, instead she giggled and winked at me. I blushed and looked away.
By the time we arrived, it was already dark.
But the place she took me to wasn't. In fact, everything was aglow with lights and decorations. There were food stands and racks selling kitsune masks and sparklers.
I stared in awe. "Wha...what is all this?"
"Well, do you like it?" Yoimiya asked.
"Yes, but...what for? The summer festival is next week."
Yoimiya playfully hit my shoulders, a little too hard. "Silly! Today's your birthday! Did you really forget?"
I checked the date on my phone. Everything checked out. It was my birthday.
"Huh...I guess I did forget." I laughed sheepishly. But Yoimiya didn't forget, and the fact that she took this time off from school just to prepare all of this for you only made you love her more.
Yoimiya sighed in exasperation, and then she brightened and began dragging me to a stall. "The night is still young, come on! I'll make this a birthday you won't forget!"
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"Close your eyes, close your eyes! This is the most important part of the festival, and my birthday gift to you." Yoimiya held my hand to guide me.
I closed my eyes. "So you're telling me the festival wasn't it?"
"Yup!"
We walk for a while and then it turned into a bit of a hike, and then we stopped.
I opened my eyes, and shortly afterwards, the fireworks began.
They were like shooting stars in reverse, rising up into the sky before bursting into a glittering, glowing, beautiful flower and then fading away.
Beautiful yet fleeting, like one's first love in their youth.
But she was the only one I could look at, and the reflection of the fireworks in her eyes only made her ever more enchanting.
Yoimiya. I'd known her all my life. She was always there for me. She was kind and hardworking, a little stupid sometimes but she always made up for it. I wouldn't trade her for the world.
The feelings in my chest became unbearable, I needed to say it.
Under the light of the fireworks. It was the perfect moment.
