The Tale of a Century \\ SoraMafu

>> Sixteen <<

"There you guys are."

Mafu looked up and saw Soraru running over. "What took you so long?" he heard Amatsuki ask from next to him.

"It took me a while to find this place," Soraru slowed to a stop, collapsing on the bench next to Mafu. "I couldn't find you guys because I thought you were where I left you."

"You did say to go on," Amatsuki replied.

"I didn't think you'd actually."

There was a silence between him, and Soraru opened his phone. "We have an hour left until the new year," he informed. "There's going to be a lot of people at the shrine, we should start heading over now."

"I heard there was going to be fireworks?" Amatsuki asked.

"Ah, yeah, now that I think about it, I did pick up a little on that," Soraru replied, putting away his phone.

Mafu sat in between them, watching. He didn't know why, but Soraru's presence made the atmosphere a million times more comfortable. It was more heartwarming, almost like the three of them were brothers, which two of them technically were.

Soraru stood up and offered his hand to Mafu, smiling. "Shall we go, Mafu-kun?"

Mafu stared at Soraru's open hand for a second before giving him a small smile and taking it. He didn't overlook how Soraru's eyes softened as Mafu stood up. "You too, Amatsuki," Soraru said.

"Yeah, I know," Amatsuki laughed, jumping up from the bench. "I didn't think it would be a good idea to interrupt your flirting time, you know."

Soraru, trying to hold back a smile, pushed Amatsuki forward with his free arm. "You're leading the way."

"Oh, so apparently I am."

They started walking, Amatsuki a few steps ahead, and Soraru and Mafu side by side, holding each others' hand. When they reached the shrine, people filled up almost every corner. Soraru checked his phone. "30 minutes until show-time," he said. "What do you want to do?'

"We'll wait," Amatsuki replied.

|*|*|

It was when a quiet hush fell over the crowd when Soraru, Mafu, and Amatsuki looked up at the sky. "It should be starting," Soraru whispered and squeezed Mafu's hand. Mafu averted his attention to Soraru, whose head was raised, then to the sky. First was the sound of the flare, then a thunderous boom as a red flower appeared in the sky. The process repeated itself, gradually getting more and more extravagant.

Without realizing how fast the time passed, it was the grand finale. Mafu watched in amazement at the display before him. When the fireworks were finally over, Soraru looked over at Mafu and Amatsuki. "We can probably stay here for another hour or so before we head back," he said.

"Alright, we should wait until the people thin out," Amatsuki replied glancing around. "But wasn't that awesome?"

Mafu nodded.

Roughly half and hour after the fireworks ended, the crowd of people had been reduced to only a couple of people. Amatsuki, Soraru, and Mafu also made their way back after a while.

When they made it back to the festival grounds, Soraru pulled out his phone. "We're going to head back, now," Soraru said. "Did you have fun, Mafu-kun?"

"Yes!"