Lanterns all along the Stargazer Park made the night as bright as the day. Seiji walked down the path with a ramune in one hand and a grilled squid in a stick in his other. His friends from the building he lived with had separated ways just a few hours ago, when the sun had still been up in the sky. He looked around as he hummed a song he had taken a liking to. It’s nice to see the town so lively. Children were running around everywhere laughing as they ate some cotton candies and candied apples as their parents tried to keep their eyes on them. Friends were crowding together sharing jokes and playing the games that had been provided – he saw the boys he’d been friends with on the shooting range and waved at them, stopping to chat for a while before he walked off again.
Before long, he found himself in front of the Kikuya Shrine. How odd. During normal days, he’d be grateful for a little noise and clamor – signs of life. But now, where noises and laughters and squeals were everything that filled his ears, he subconsciously fled the scene. He laughed to himself as he took a sig off the ramune, the sweetness washing off the savory taste of the grilled squid.
He seated himself on the stairs of the shrine when he noticed a silhouette on top of the stairs. His eyebrows shot up as he cocked his head to the side. He hadn’t expect anyone else to be seeking some quiet. And they didn’t look like an elderly as well, what with their back straight as a rod. “Uhhh–– Hi? Festival’s too loud for you”