Hourglass [Quintessential Quintuplets]

To You, My Everyday Life Passing By (I)

— | 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐲𝐨, 𝐊𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐤𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 | — | 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎 | — | 𝟐𝟖𝟎 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 | —

Ten days before the close of a year riddled with oddities, and only four days before Christmas, the last thing Kurosawa Kazuma expected was to be asked out on a date—especially not by her. This was precisely what his thought during the time he waited in Kagurazaka's renowned Chinatown.

Yet here he was, standing beneath the Chinese Paper Lanterns, waiting at the exact address the lady had sent him.

The streets pulses with life, a symphony of chatter, sizzling woks, and the occasional bark of street vendors calling out to passersby. The air was thick with the intoxicating aroma of freshly steamed dumplings, chili oil, and five-spice, each note weaving seamlessly into the crisp winter chill. Overhead, paper lanterns bathed the cobblestone streets in a shifting crimson glow, lending the entire district a dreamlike quality.

And yet, despite the vibrancy around him, Kazuma felt strangely adrift. ''...'' Though he had heard of this place before but never set foot in it until now, so navigating it for the first time proved somewhat troublesome among these maze-like place. 

Still, no sign of her.

Kazuma exhaled slowly, slipping his hands into the pockets of his coat. He surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings and people countless times by now. At least, he knew this would never happen again—𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

''...How the hell do they even survive in this shit?"

. . .

Today marks her first day of freedom after a long twenty days. Madoka had finally been allowed to go out and would soon be able to return to school, an idea that doesn't exactly fill her with excitement.