Open My Eyes To You | Natsuki x Yuri DDLC

Our Confessions

Despite what she knew she was going to do tonight, Natsuki felt nothing but excitement as she walked into the park hosting the New Year's Eve festival with Yuri by her side.

Natsuki always adored festivals, and this one looked simply magical. This part of the park was a massive, flat expanse of field dotted with trees and thickly blanketed with snow from the earlier surge of weather. White-gold lights were strung between the trees, providing some of the light in the clearing. The rest came from the rows and rows of vending stands and food trucks effusing smells that made Natsuki's mouth water—she could not wait to get her hands on some fried squid—and from the light of the full moon pouring down from the black sky, giving the snow the slightest glow. It was still a little cloudy; there were no stars to be seen, but the festive lights made it look like the stars had been brought down to Earth instead. On the far side of the park, a very large screen had been set up, which would presumably have the countdown timer displayed once midnight drew closer.

Natsuki could feel the dazzled grin that was stretched across her face. "Wow," she breathed, turning to Yuri. "Isn't it so pretty?"

Yuri was taking in the sights with wide eyes. Natsuki could see flecks of the white-gold string lights reflected in their purple depths. Promptly she decided the festival didn't look half as magical as the girl before her.

"It's beautiful," Yuri agreed with a small, tight smile. Natsuki noticed her tension instantly. "Breathtaking, really. But this, er...this is quite a lot of people."

She had pointed out the final detail Natsuki had chosen to ignore in her initial appraisal of the setting: the colossal amount of people milling about the event and settled in chairs or on blankets, their chatter melding into a sound reminiscent of a small tornado.

"Well, this festival is a well-known thing," Natsuki pointed out. "Half the city is here, probably."

"Of course, I should have expected this," Yuri chuckled, still sounding a little nervous. Under one arm she held a rolled-up dark blue blanket she had borrowed from her house for the two of them to sit on. "We should find a spot away from the chaos. If that's even possible."

As she spoke, Natsuki's eyes caught on her hands, which were once again clad in familiar gray gloves. She smiled softly, fiddling with the edge of the navy scarf hanging from her neck. As they were leaving the house, Yuri had posed the puerile question of whether to continue their impromptu accessory swap. Natsuki had answered with the greatest question of reasoning: Why the heck not? And that was how she'd ended up with her neck enveloped in warmth and Yuri once more.

"Nat? Are you all right?"

"Oh—y-yes! Sorry," Natsuki stammered, mentally kicking herself for drifting off so easily. "I hear you. A quieter spot would definitely be nice." The last thing I need is for some idiots to ruin the moment I tell her, she added to herself darkly.

"Well, then..." Yuri straightened, adjusting her underarm grip on the blanket. "Shall we begin our search?"

"We shall. And then we shall raid the food trucks for the good stuff."

Yuri giggled at that, and the pair set off to find a less crowded place to lay out their blanket. It took them several minutes of meandering through masses of people before they succeeded. Through it all, Natsuki was tempted several times to grab Yuri's hand to make sure they didn't lose each other in the crowds. But she held herself back, resolving to just try and stay close to her.

Then, as they were straightening out the blanket on the ground, she recalled something Monika had said about going with Yuri to the festival. You can gauge how Yuri feels about you when you're with her. And Natsuki thought, Maybe I should just grab her hand. Yuri's reaction to the gesture, especially if said gesture was unexpected, would serve as a great signaler of how she felt, right?