Friends, Firsts, and Fireworks

Bunny Festival
Part 2:
Friends, Firsts, and Fireworks




Finally, he was away from that annoying purple duck.  He was no longer stuck babysitting Team 3 and Nao.  Though that didn't mean he got rid of them completely.  Raiden knew by now that he was never truly rid of them.  As he and Fujiko made their way to their not-so-secret spot for fireworks, he constantly was looking behind him in search of those kids.

"R-Rai-kun..." Fujiko mumbled.

He looked down at her and saw that her cheeks were dusted with a light shade of pink.  Like always, he didn't understand why she was blushing.  By now, though, he'd gotten used to it and thought that some girls developed a pinkish hue anyway.  But looking down at her, he did see that their fingers were interlocked with each other.

He knew that the touch had been innocent enough, but his body still reacted.  His palms got all sweaty and he immediately released her hand--trying to hide it by running his fingers through his gel free hair.  Raiden turned away as he felt his heart race and heat rush up to his face.

"Sorry about that," he said sheepishly.

"I-It's fine..."

They had reached their destination, though, which meant that he didn't have to drag her along anymore.  He turned back around to face her and smiled.  Giving her a nod in the direction of their favorite tree, Fujiko nodded back and they both made their way over.  The giant oak was always considered their tree.  This was the same tree that they had met under when they were younger.  Every time he came here, Raiden couldn't help but let those pleasant memories overtake his mind.

Just as they sat down, the first firework exploded into the sky.  They both "oo"ed and "ah"ed at the sight of brilliant light.  The different colors burst into the air as some formed familiar pictures of dango, the Heart Shrine insignia, and of course bunnies.  The colors ranged from white to red and pink to gold and blues.  Like past festivals, this one was making a name for itself.  The fireworks display was always the most revered part of any festival, but there was something much more unique about this one than any other festival he'd been to.

As the lights continued to explode in the sky, Raiden couldn't help but to look over at his friend.  Her green eyes were distracted by the fireworks and lit up along with them.  For as long as he could remember, both Raiden and Fujiko always watched the fireworks together.  There wasn't a festival that either of them watched the finale alone.  And every time, Raiden would cast a glance in her direction to see her reaction.  It was because of her reaction that he judged which festival was special and which was just ordinary.  This one was special.  Fujiko's eyes were brilliantly glowing as all sorts of colors danced in the air and as she smiled with each picture.  When she smiled, he smiled.

"Hey, Fu," he called out to her.  There had been a pause between a firework and she was able to hear him, casting her attention in his direction.  "I, uh, was wondering if you could do me a favor." He told her.  His voice had remained steady and low, almost intimate.

Fujiko couldn't form a verbal response and simply nodded her head.

"I'm having trouble with a song I'm coming up with.  Could you listen and tell me what you think about it?" He asked.

"Of course!" Her eyes grew wide and excited.  All nervousness seemed to wash away from her as she seated herself on her knees and smiled.  "I would love to listen to it."

"Great!" He shared her enthusiasm and pulled out a plain looking scroll from inside his yukata.  It was a simple seal technique that he'd picked up from the academy.  After activating it, his guitar appeared out of the smoke.  The sealing technique made transporting things so much easier.  "Alright, here I go."

He placed his hands on the guitar where they seemed to fit like a glove.  He'd played the instrument for so long that he no longer had to worry about what his hands were going to do.  They just seemed to know now.

Clearing his throat, he began in a soft and calming voice:

"What little gain I have to offer you
My scars all speak of where I came
What stands before you is broken and plain
I have no value to my name"

Fujiko remained silent and lost in a trance as he continued:

"My last breath
I promise you
When no one cares, I do"

He looked at her, his golden eyes burning into hers.  Raiden didn't know where the lyrics had come from except that they were just dying to get out of his mouth.  As he sang to her in his soft baritone voice, he knew that the words were being released to the right person:

"My hands
They shake
I swear that I can't speak

My heart
Skips beats
Near you I feel weak

I need
I want
Your love to hold me up"

He let the chord ring out as the fireworks had ended some time ago.  Letting his gaze drop on her, he saw that the blush had vanished from her face and her eyes were glazed over.  Raiden wasn't sure if she had liked the song or not, and quickly tried to make up for it if she didn't.

"I...uh...It's not done of course," he scratched the back of his head.  "I mean, if you don't like it, I can always change--"

"No!" Fujiko waved her hands out in front.  "No, I like it.  I really do." She smiled.  "But," her face quickly shied away, "i-is it f-for s-someone?" The blush returned to its rightful place, her cheeks.

Raiden smiled softly as he put his guitar down beside him.  Closing the gap between the both of them, he cupped her chin to keep her eyes on him.  "I had this dream..." he began, "And ever since then, I couldn't get these words out of my head...You were the first to hear them."

Now, her entire face turned a bright shade of red.  Her hands shot to her face immediately in hopes of covering the large blush but to no avail.  "O-Oh..." was all she could spit out.

SNAP!!!!

The loud crack broke the silence as both Raiden and Fujiko saw five bodies fall from the giant oak tree.  Luckily, Raiden had great reflexes and was able to grab Fujiko, but ended up tumbling down the little hill.  Raiden had landed on top of her.  Fujiko's magenta yukata was barely tied around her body, though it did hide any personal areas.  Her hair had come undone from its elegant design and sprawled all over the ground.  It looked as though her face was in a sea of purple.  Raiden had his hands on either side of her face and managed to keep most of his body weight off of her, though he remained frozen in place as he stared down at her sudden beauty.  The moon had come out of hiding and seemed as if it was shining down upon her.

"OOOOWWWW!!!!"

Several shouts of pain came from the top of the hill and reminded both Raiden and Fujiko what had just happened.  They turned their attention to the base of the giant oak and saw who had crashed their privacy.  Raiden helped Fujiko to her feet and they both made their way up the hill.

"Dou, you idiot!  They were so close!" Nagisa yelled at her teammate.

"It's not my fault!" He shouted back.  "Maybe you shouldn't have had that extra dango stick!"

"What?!" She gasped.  "Are you calling me fat?!"

"I'm just stating the obvious!"

"Guys..." Satu tried to speak over their shouting, but as usual, he was left in the shadows.

"Guys!" Nao shouted at both of them.  He seemed to be Satu's voice.

"WHAT?!" Both Nagisa and Dou targeted their anger on the blue-haired boy.

"You're sitting on Hikaru-nii!" He pointed at the fifth body on the ground.

"Ah!  Hikaru-nii!  I'm so sorry!" Nagisa cried as she hopped off of him.  Dou simply muttered his apologies as he, too, got off of the Kobiru.

"Ugh...You guys were heavy..." Hikaru muttered as he got into a sitting position.

"Ha!" Dou shouted and returned to quarreling with Nagisa.  "I told you!  You had too much dango!"

"Why you little--!" Nagisa leapt to attack the explosives junkie when Raiden grabbed hold of her midsection.  "Who's there?!" She was still heated from the argument that she didn't realize who had grabbed her.

"Wow...I didn't know ducks could be so vicious..." Raiden scoffed.

"Dino-nii!  Dou-chan called me fat!" Nagisa pursed her lips and tried her best at feigning a sad expression.

Raiden simply rolled his eyes.  "What are you guys doing here?  I thought you gave me the rest of the night off."

"Uh..." Both Nagisa and Dou turned their gazes somewhere else as they tried their best at whistling a tune.  Satu and Nao were the only ones who didn't understand what the problem was.

"Weren't we spying on them?" Nao asked.  Obliviousness must be transferred from Master to student.

"No we weren't!" The other two chimed together, though they glared daggers at one another afterward.

Satu nodded, "Yeah, we were.  Nagisa-chan, you said we had to be quiet."

"Yeah, and look who's not keeping his promise!" She retorted.

Ignoring the little squabble, Raiden turned his attention to Hikaru who seemed to be enjoying the banter going on between the kids.  "And you, what were you doing here?"

"Who me?" Hikaru smiled as he got to his feet, brushing the dirt off of him.  "Well, you see, I was taking a stroll in the park when I was kidnapped.  The next thing I knew I was falling out of a tree with those four screaming in my ear."

"Nice story," Raiden knew his friend all too well.  Of course that's not what happened.  "But I'd prefer the truth."

The Kobiru sighed and put his hands up.  "Alright, alright, you caught me." A pleasant smirk was plastered to his face.  "I had bumped into Nagisa at the festival and asked me for some advice.  How was I not suppose to follow her?" He shrugged.

Raiden simply sighed in defeat.  Clearly, it would take too long to get them to spill the beans and decided it was best to drop it altogether.  "Fine, whatever...but I think it's time you guys got home.  It's late." He told them.

"I'll take them home, Rai-kun." Fujiko piped up and volunteered.  "I mean, I need to get home too." She added.

"Thanks, Fu-chan.  I appreciate that." He gave her a smile.

Hikaru slung an arm around Raiden's shoulders and reeled him in close so that only the blue-haired man could hear him.  "Let's go out.  I think Hade-nii is in a festive mood tonight." He winked.

"Alright," Raiden agreed.  It was always fun celebrating anything with the eldest Kobiru.  Hade always made things interesting.