Trails of intertwined stars: Chapter 30

~Chapter 5: The Festival~

Zero walked out of the house again the next morning, prepared to dedicate another day to sketching for Tokumei. He noticed that the boy was acting off, sleeping constantly. He didn't even wake up yesterday, but Zero decided that it wasn't anything bad, since he'd woken up in the middle of the night to get a drink. Setsu stood in the garden, hanging the washing merrily.
"I'm off!" Zero hummed.
"Ah! Wait, Zero!" Setsu called after him.
Zero frowned, turning to a pause.
"I have a little errand, so hold on."
Zero nodded, but struggled to hold down the budding emotion of disappointment.

Zero walked glumly behind Setsu, who held a basket of lanterns.
"Honestly," Setsu scowled," He should be delivering these himself. 'I'm allergic to that lady' he says! But Ms Kadoya's been wanting to meet you, Zero. Her daughter, Nobuko, is a year younger than you."
Zero gasped, staring at the floor.

The Kadoya house was big, the colour choice almost made it look like it was crafted out of gold. Ms Kadoya sat on the floor, smiling as Setsu and Zero stood in front of her.
"Nobuko is at cram school today," Ms Kadoya sighed.
"Oh?" Setsu frowned," That's too bad."
"And this must be Zero? Nice to meet you."
"Oh, um...hello..."
"Ah!" Kadoya gasped, seeing the sketchbook," Do you draw? Can I see?"
Zero shook his head, shoving the book behind his back," U-uh! N-no! I'm not very good..."
Ms Kadoya hummed, nodding, respectfully.
"Well, then, you should go to the Tanabata Festival with Nobuko tomorrow."
Zero gasped, frowning, Setsu clapped her hands happily.
"Great idea! I should still have my son's yukata. You can wear it to the festival."
Zero frowned," But...alright..."
"I'll let Nobuko know," Ms Kadoya nodded," Now, come in."
Zero gasped, watching as Setsu entered.
"But- I-!"
"Oh, of course. Zero was originally going sketching. Go ahead!"
"B-bye-!"
Zero ran out of the house, Setsu smiling.
Zero scowled, walking down the path, miserable.
"I won't look good in it...None of her business!"

Zero walked down the steps to the shore of the marsh, searching for Toichi. His boat was tied to the pier, yet he wasn't anywhere nearby.
"He's not here..."
Zero gasped, something else catching his eye. On a hill, was a woman with an esiel, painting in the direction of the mansion. She seemed to be in her sixties, with a red shawl draped around her shoulders and a large sunhat on her head. She looked so professional. Zero walked over onto the grassy part of a hill, sitting down with the sketchbook and starting to colour in the mansion from there. He hadn't released how good a view it was from there, and he'd already gotten the key details from last time.

Zero had another dream that night, it was the same as before. He woke up on the marshy lump of earth with a groan, the fog slowly parting with a moaning whine. The water seemed to look as though it was drained out.
"The tide is out..."
He looked back at the window. The girl was still there, with her hair being tugged by an old lady. The woman tugged it tighter, the girl clenched her first. She stood up, the woman's face contorting into shock.

Zero woke, Tokumei stared at him, puzzled.
"Same dream?"
Zero nodded. The entity turned to look at the end of the bed, a yukata hung up for him; Tokumei was already in one. Zero sighed.
"I hate festivals..." Tokumei frowned

The streets were filled with children chanting at night, everyone holding onto their own vibrantly coloured lantern. Zero and Tokumei glumly followed behind Nobuko, and her other two friends. Her friend at the front let out a groan, being the only one without a yukata.
"I wish I was wearing a yukata, too!"
"At least you're comfortable!" The other giggled," My mum forces her taste on me. It's awful!"
"I think it looks cute!"
"What no way!"
"It's boring and tacky..."
Tokumei scowled at the conversation, sticking close to Zero.
"Think we could ditch them?"
The entity shook his head with a sigh. Nobuko glanced back at him, walking back to talk to them.
"So, Zero, where are you from?" Nobuko asked.
"Oh...uh..." Zero tried to think of where Hikari was from to lie," Near Diavolo's castle..."
"Cool, so close to the city. Bet it has great shopping!"
"Maybe lots of cute boys too!" The other girl snickered.
"You be quiet!" Nobuko shoved her forward.
"Sure, sure. Here in the boonies."
Nobuko walked back to Zero," So, why'd you come out here?"
"Well..."

"What's this? Nobuko!"
"What is it?"
"Look we can do our prayers! Good fortune here I come!"
"Oh please!"
On the top of the hill were a couple temples, and where the main festival seemed to be held. There were candles to light and fortunes to write and tie onto a tree. Zero held his unlit candle, gently hovering it over a lit one. The crimson embers flickered over the stick before lighting. He pushed it down onto a stand, ignoring the loud children nearby discussing what wish they'd write. Zero walked over to a desk, the woman passing him a bright red slip of vertical paper.
"Write your wish on this, okay?"
Zero nodded, walking off. He didn't exactly have a wish. He passed the slip of paper to Tokumei, the ghost boy stared at it, puzzled.
"Write your wish, since we are the same person it shouldn't be too far off."
Tokumei stared at it, before nodding with a gulp. Seemed he took it more seriously than Zero expected him to.
"My wish..."

Nobuko and her three friends stood at a tree, trying to tie their wish onto a branch. They stood next to a father, holding his young daughter up to tie on her own wish. Neither seemed to notice the boy in front of them, tying on his own.
"Can you reach?" The father hummed.
The girl whined, just slipping it on, accidentally kicking the boy in the head.
"Ite-!" The boy groaned.
The dad set his daughter on the floor, smiling sympathetically," Sorry about that."
The boy smiled awkwardly, nodding. Nobuko gasped, noticing Zero holding the slip that Tokumei had filled in; Tokumei anxiously followed Zero behind.
"Zero!" Nobuko gasped, hopscotching over," Hey, where were you? I was looking for you."
Nobuko glanced down.
"Oh, your wish!"
The girl snatched it off Zero, holding it up to read. Tokumei seemed distressed by it, so Zero attempted to get it back off her.
"Let's see...'I wish for a normal life everyday'. Normal? Zero, what do you mean by normal?"
"Uh, well..."
Nobuko leaned in close, assessing him, before gasping.
"Hey, your scales look really pretty in this light!"
"What?" Nobuko's friend glanced over.

"Zero's scales are really pretty! They're really pure white, like a foreigners-!"
"Leave me alone!" Zero snapped.
Nobuko turned back, dazed by the comment, her friend froze in shock.
"You fat pig!" Tokumei yelled.
Nobuko's expression twitched, her shocked expression glazed into that of anger, a blush covering her face. Zero realised, Tokumei's words did not come from his mouth, but from his own. The entity felt sweat bead up on his forehead.
"Uh...I mean..."
"I see what you mean by normal," Nobuko scoffed," But there's no use pretending to be normal. After all, you look like just what you are."
Zero gasped, glaring up at her with flared nostrils. Suddenly, she deserved the insult. Nobuko glared at Zero, before clapping her hands with a smile.
"Okay, now let's drop it. You should join us next-"
Tokumei seethed, slapping the wish out of her hands, tears burning in his eyes. The boy ran off, Zero chose to chase after him, rather than stay with the girls.
"Zero!"