Chase The Truth

Chapter 35: Fireworks Show

Begin!

~Normal POV

8/30 - Tuesday

Tonight was a special occasion. Inaba was having a fireworks festival that would be visible from the hill overlooking the town. While Yu could honestly say he'd rather go to the show with Rise alone, he knew the others would be showing up too. It'd be impossible to avoid them. But it would be fun. It had been a long time since he saw a fireworks show. And it'd be even better getting to see it with all his friends. Nanako said she'd be coming later with her dad. Dojima might trust Yu and his friends at this point, but he didn't like letting Nanako stay out late with them.

So that evening, the gang met up and went to the hill for the show. They would have gone somewhere else, but as they walked together it became obvious that the whole town had come out to see the show. This was the only spot left where there was still only a handful of people around. Everywhere else was packed with spectators. For whatever reason, Teddie wasn't with them. And Yosuke didn't address his absence.

"Ohh! The crowd's pretty thin here," Yosuke commented.

"The riverbanks were packed. I'm surprised you found a spot like this," Kanji said.

"Oh no, I knew about it," Yukiko replied, "I pass by the mountainside a lot. Customers ask me about it too. I wonder if Nanako-chan will make it. I called and told her where we'd be before I left..."

"Hey, where's Teddie," Rise asked, looking around.

Yosuke shrugged dismissively. "Well, he left the house with me. And on our way to meet up with you guys, not only was he hitting on girls non-stop, he accidentally put the moves on Hanako and she dragged him away. He ducked into his bear skin right away and acted like a bear, but he still got dragged off without a word."

"You sound so concerned about leaving him behind," Yu said, sarcastically.

"Sure we can leave him." Yosuke said, "His karma caught up to him."

"Aren't you being a little cold to Teddie today, Yosuke-senpai?" Rise asked.

"When I think back to what he did this morning?" Yosuke said, frowning, "Hm. Nope. Not really. Truth be told, I wish I could send two or three more Hanakos at him..."

"Oh, will you just tell us what the fuck happened," Kanji asked.

"I don't even wanna remember it..." Yosuke replied. He turned a bit red and continued. "He... dug up some... private stuff from my room and brought it to the Hanamura family breakfast. He was all like, 'Yosuke, what's this magazine about?' Can you imagine the humiliation I went through because of him!?"

Chie gave him an unamused look. "It's your fault for having that stuff!"

"It's not like I thought anyone would wave it around in front of my parents!"

"Is this really what you wanna be talking about with girls around," Rise asked, dryly.

"Huh? Is he not talking about his secret savings?" Yukiko asked, innocently.

The three boys shared a look with Chie and Rise. It seemed that despite being the girl with the best grades, Yukiko was not knowledgeable in everything.

"Secret savings... for a guy..." Rise said, slowly. "Right... Let's just leave it alone..."

At this point, they saw Teddie approach them. He was still in his bear suit and looking rather haggard.

"Ugh, what a tragedy... My lovely fur is completely ruined..."

"That's... ok that's worse than I was expecting..." Yosuke said, sounding a little regretful. "Anyway, people are gonna stare at you like that. Hurry and take it off."