Farewell to Past Regrets Pt. 1

Taiyori and I slowly made our way over to the festival, enjoying a lonely walk beneath the moon before it got too loud. The moment we saw the festival grounds in the distance, her face lit up like the brightest star.

In front of Yasuda Auditorium, colorful lanterns lit up the path down to the main gates. Stalls were lined up with people already vacating them. Some were selling food such as fried octopus balls, stir-fried noodles, shaved ice desserts, and a whole lot more. Others had a variety of games which, from an outsider's perspective, didn't look all that fun. Who knows, though? Maybe I'll be surprised.

"Wow..." Taiyori gasped. "For just an average school festival, it's beautiful."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I suppose we have you and Shiro to thank for that."

"Nah. To be honest, we didn't even do that much. The upperclassmen did most of the work. I just paid for some of the supplies since I have money to drop."

"Wow, my fault. I forgot that I'm standing next to possibly the richest girl in the entire school."

"Tch, run your mouth again, and I'm canceling this date."

"... Sorry..."

She let out a gentle giggle while glaring at me with an alluring smile.

"That's all it takes, huh?" she scoffed. "I guess you really want me to be your date tonight, don't you?"

"I won't say that I necessarily want you to, but it'd be nice," I said.

"Alright. Fine. Go have fun on your own."

"Eh? W-wait, I didn't me—"

That giggle turned into the most gracious laugh as she threw herself onto me, attaching herself to my left arm. With a taunting yet seductive smile, she glared at me, waiting and full of anticipation.

"Tell me what you want," she smiled. "Go on."

"Erm..."

The way her eyes curled so cunningly made me waver.

"I... I want you... to be my date," I muttered.

"Hehe... I'd love to, Tsuki," she giggled. "Now, let's go!"

Once again, she dragged me along with her. This is so bad for my heart. Taiyori has me dancing underneath her fingertip, and she knows that. I wonder just what exactly is going on in that head of hers.

Upon entering the festival, Taiyori's head twisted left and right as if she were trying to figure out where to start. Does she even know that she's the center of attention right now? While she's off in her own little world, everyone is stopping in their tracks to admire her. I don't blame them. She really is... so beautiful.

"Tsuki, Tsuki!" she shouted even though I was right next to her. "Let's go over there! Or how about that one? Ah... There's too many to choose from."

I couldn't help but smile at her childlike spur of joy. "Let's not forget that we're members of the culture club. We need to at least help out a bit before we can do our own thing."

"I don't want to... I wanna hang out with you."

"We can hang out afterward. Come on, let's go find Shiro."

"Mmm... Fine, but I'm not happy about it."

"Haha, relax. We have plenty of time."

We made our way towards the auditorium at the end of the festival ground, where most of the club officers were gathered, including Shiro. Even Sakuno was there next to her.

"Well, well, well," Sakuno hummed while nodding his head. "If it isn't the lovey-dovey couple of the night."

"Hand in hand and everything," Shiro snickered. "You could be less discreet about it, you know."

"There's no reason to do that," Taiyori said. "Might as well let all these delusional boys know that I'm taken for the night."

"Not even gonna try to hide it this time, eh?"

"At this point, it's whatever. I'm sure Tsuki doesn't mind being lumped in with me, right? You might get a little bit of jealous eyes here and there, but that's to be expected since you're my date."

"I suppose so," I said.

Sakuno and Shiro's jaws dropped.

"Date...? What do you mean by that?!" Shiro shouted.

"What's the meaning of this, Tsuki?!" Sakuno chimed in.

"There's not really a better way of explaining it than what Taiyori just said," I replied.

The two of them suddenly threw their arms around each other, turned around, and began whispering incoherent words. Just what are they doing now? Perhaps an even better question is, when did they get so close that they're able to mess around like this?

After giving each other a nod of approval, they broke from their huddle. Shiro stood in front of me while Sakuno stood in front of Taiyori.

"Take care of her, Tsuki," Shiro said while wiping a nonexistent tear. "She may be a bitch sometimes, but she's a good girl at heart."

"Tsuki has been through a lot," Sakuno said to Taiyori. "I hope you can give him a better life than his previous one, Taiyori. You know what I mean, don't you?"

"What is this...?" I sighed.

"Never mind us. Since when did you two get so buddy-buddy?" Taiyori grumbled.

"Alcohol is a hell of a conversation starter," Shiro grinned. "Anyway, let's get down to business. Since some of the other clubs are pitching in to help out with stall management, all the culture club is doing is making sure everything is running smoothly."

Taiyori pinched her chin. "Hm... So we're basically just walking around and checking things out? Sounds fun. Ready, Tsuki?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Whoa, whoa, why are you two talking like you're gonna be together?" asked Shiro.

At that moment, both Taiyori and I twisted our heads to look at her conniving face. She's just messing with us... right?

"What do you mean by that, Saki?!" Taiyori chided. "I have to go with Tsuki!"

"I don't know~" she snickered. "Should I? What do you think, Sakuno?"

"Hm..."

I shot a deadly glare at Sakuno, causing him to flinch.

"I think we should help them out just this once," he mumbled with a nervous smile. "Yep. Gotta help our friends, right?"

"Alright, fine," Shiro said. "You guys can head over to section 'E.' It's a bunch of food stalls manned by one of the culinary clubs. I think I saw one of them selling tapioca."

"Tapioca?!" Taiyori exclaimed enthusiastically. "Tsuki! Let's go!"

She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me away before I had the chance to say anything. The sounds of the festival were deafening, but for some reason, all I could hear was Taiyori's voice and laughter as she expressed her joy. 

The sun was setting, just like the day when Taiyori kissed me for the first time. I never thought I'd ever have the chance to be with her like this again. With our hands together and a smile on our faces, we ran deeper into the traffic of the festival.