fulmination (Mei x Reader)

Chapter 10~

-Your POV-

The days go by, and now it is Sunday. The day, according to the flyer, that the festival is on. Your alarm goes off and you grumble, but you wake up anyway. You decide to go prepare. First stop, the mall! You had made sure to cover yourself up so if you saw anybody familiar they wouldn't recognize you.

After walking around for a few minutes, a simple red sweater catches your eyes.

This is perfect! you think, taking it off the rack. Nice and simple, just how I like it.
You waste some more time in the mall, watching a movie on one of their big-screen TVs and later you order a bowl of noodles to make up for skipping breakfast. You decide to buy some firecrackers and a mask as well.

At around 2pm you decide to start heading towards the festival. A cold but peaceful breeze greets you as you step outside of the mall. You check the flyer again, then walk in the direction of the park where the celebrations would be at.

Soon enough, you could see pretty red lanterns above you, swaying with the wind. Continuing to walk, you feel happy, because you're able to go to a festival after so long. You eventually come to the park entrance and the sounds of children playing and people laughing fill the air. You smile, being freed from all your worries for just a day.

When you enter the area, you gasp.

A smoky but comforting scent fills the air. There are people everywhere: little children running around, laughing their heads off; parents having a bit of peace; food vendors at their stalls selling all sorts of food; and a whole bunch of others. Some people are wearing traditional clothing and masks and performing. You pull your own mask a bit lower on your face. The main events haven't started yet.

There are also a lot of decorations around the place. Red ribbons are hung across tree branches, bright lanterns hanging from ropes, and strings of lights as far as your eyes can see.

After wandering around, enjoying the view, you hear a vendor yelling "Rice cakes for sale!" Still feeling hungry, you decide to buy a few. You bite into the dessert, a sticky chewy texture filling your mouth.

Savoring the sweetness, you spot someone selling gifts to give to friends and family members. You buy one, but then realize you're an orphan, that none of your organization members are here, and also the fact you have no friends. Well. That was a waste of money.

Suddenly, you feel people crowding around you, and you try to step away from them instinctively. There's no place to move, though, because there were people everywhere. You have no idea what they're so interested in, but then you see the cause.

The dragon dance is starting.

The beautifully painted cloth dragon, with people supporting it underneath, gracefully moves up, down, right, and left through the crowded street. A person, holding a rod with a ball, is in front of the large dragon and leads the way. Soon after, a second dragon follows. Horns, gongs, and the large drum play in the background while people cheer and jump around. The performers are accompanied by lion dancers, acrobats, and people doing kung fu.

The person leading the dragons twirls the rod around, and the dragons match its movements. You look in awe as all the performers perfectly match and synchronize with each other. You've heard of the story about dragon dances before; the dragon chasing the pearl on the rod means it's always seeking wisdom.

The dance continues, the dragons' heads keeping in time with the drum as they swirl around each other and follow the pearl. Everyone's cheering grows louder when sparks fly from the dragons' mouths, making it look like they are breathing fire.

When the instruments grow louder as well, you clamp your hands over your ears to drown out the deafening sound. People continue to jostle you as they try to get a better view.

Yeah, nope. This is too much. You push your way through the crowd of cheering people until you finally break through to the other side.

It feels infinitely more peaceful from a distance, and you sigh in relief. You see the dragons intertwine with each other, causing another bout of noise, then the performers turn around and make their way back. They disappear where nobody can see them. The music dies down and after one last cheer, everyone disperses.

You linger for a moment, then turn away. "Beautiful," you murmur under your breath.

"Yeah, it really is! The lion and dragon dances are my favorite parts of Lunar New Year celebrations!" exclaims an energetic, strangely familiar voice from next to you.

You yelp, jumping back.

Then your mouth drops open when you see who had spoken.

Three girls stand near you. All of them familiar. One of them has a mouth turned up in a smirk and long, spiky pink hair...strangely enough she has something that looks like a pink mechanical tail. Another looks just like the first girl, but has a blue tail and blue hair and a monotone expression. The last girl, with short purple hair and no tail, wears a flower hairclip and an apologetic smile.

They've changed since you last saw them, which had been years and years ago. But there is no denying it...

Oh my God. It's them!