“Wow, there are so many people. Yukino, why don’t we take the next train?”
When they came out of the crepe shop, the train was already packed with people. Tamamo Hikari looked left and right, then shrank back. She didn’t want to be turned into a squashed biscuit.
“Mhm.”
Yukino nodded, holding the crepe wrapper in both hands, and took a bite.
‘So sweet…’
She didn’t like sweets very much, but she didn’t mind them when she was with Ye Xi.
“There’s something on your face.”
The handsome black-haired young man reached out, picking up the snow-white cream stuck to Yukino’s lip with his fingertip and waving it in front of her eyes.
“Ah…”
Yukino’s cheeks turned slightly red. She buried her face in her light blue scarf. The little snowman embroidered on it seemed to break into a smile due to the folds in the silk.
Then, she saw Ye Xi smear the cream on his own lips, making it look like Santa Claus’s thick white beard.
“What’s that? You look like an old man…!”
Yukino tapped the young man’s shoulder, revealing a picturesque smile. She lowered her head and took another bite of the crepe.
‘So sweet.’
But…
“There’s something on your face.”
Tamamo Hikari’s voice brought her back to her senses. The shapely fox girl leaned over, reaching out to wipe the cream off her lips, but Yukino tilted her head to avoid her.
Yukino wiped it off with her own fingertip and cleaned it with a napkin, saying indifferently, “We aren’t close enough for that yet.”
‘Was I… spacing out just now?’ the girl realized. ‘…Did I think about when I was with him?’
“Eh — Yukino is so hard to get close to. So cold, even though I just wanted to be friends.” Tamamo Hikari looked as if all the air had been let out of her.
Seeing the sexy girl looking so pitiful, Yukino sighed. She didn’t understand Tamamo Hikari’s purpose for approaching her.
With the *ring-ring* of the departure bell, the train rumbled to a start, gradually pulling away and disappearing at the end of the track. Only the two of them remained on the platform.
***
“Whoa!!!”
Kususue’s cry was drowned out by the noise.
After 30 minutes of being squished like a meat bun, the three finally arrived at their destination.
The five large characters for “Ulthar Amusement Park” seemed carved into the sky, moving with the viewers’ perspective so that they were always seen head-on. Below the sign, the castle gate made of stone bricks was already overcrowded. From a distance, it looked like a dense black mass of people.
People were packed like sardines on the train, and the amusement park was no different. Shioya’s head throbbed from the noise, and she couldn’t help but lean closer to her two companions.
“Big sister, wait for me!”
Two children ran past her one after another. Their parents followed behind, smiling and saying, “Slow down!” Two or three high school girls with cat ears walked together, leaning on each other’s shoulders as they shared stories from school, their tails wagging happily.
“Ah, sorry!”
While observing, Shioya wasn’t looking where she was going and bumped into something with a *thud*.
She thought she had hit a wall and rubbed her reddening head in pain. Looking up, she saw a giant standing before her like a city wall, with only a single eye in its massive head.
“It’s fine.”
The cracked mouth beneath the single eye slowly split into a grin. The cyclops answered, its voice echoing in its chest like a drum against Shioya’s eardrums.
Shioya covered her ears. Once the giant walked away with thundering steps, she quickened her pace, trying to catch up with the other two. There were so many people that if they got separated, it might as well be worlds apart, never to see each other again in this lifetime.
*Squish!*
Before she could take more than a few steps, the girl felt something soft beneath her foot.
This sensation…
‘Eww, did I step in poop…?’ Shioya thought she was having the worst luck.
“You’re the poop! Your whole family is poop!”
The poop spoke!
She looked down sharply and saw a puddle of green jelly squirming on the ground, leaving a trail of slime on the bricks it passed over.
“Are you… a slime?” Shioya asked hesitantly.
“What else? You eyeless, smelly dragon! Apologize already!”
‘Wow, what a bad attitude…’
Shioya thought privately. Then again, if someone stepped on her head, she probably wouldn’t be in a good mood either. She apologized sincerely, “Sorry, I really didn’t see you…”
“That’s more like it, hmph!”
The slime wiggled away. Shioya watched it for a while, only to see it get flattened into a pancake by a cyclops who had just finished buying cotton candy.
There was a loud *squelch*, but she was probably the only one who noticed.
‘I hope the slime is okay…’
Suppressing her laughter, Shioya pressed her hands together in a prayer for peace. After this little interlude, the frustration from the crowds dissipated. She started walking.
All right, time to enjoy the fair with them… right?
Hmm…
Eh?
The little cherry blossom dragon stood still, looking at the surging crowd. She hurriedly looked around, but she could only see backs that looked like mountains to her.
‘Where is everyone!? You lost your dragon!’
Shioya quickly pulled out her phone to contact them, but a sudden force pushed her from behind. Caught off guard, the girl didn’t have time to react before falling forward.
“Ugh — ?!”
Just when she thought her head was going to hit the ground, her arm was grabbed. She fell backward, landing on something soft. It didn’t hurt.
“Ugh… eh?”
The girl’s tightly closed eyes slowly opened.
‘I… didn’t fall?’
The little cherry blossom dragon squinted and looked up.
‘Where did the sun go? It’s so dark…’
She didn’t realize what was happening at first. It wasn’t until a head peeked out from behind the red mountains blocking the sun that she understood.
“Oh my, little one, I’m so sorry!”
The person holding her wore a revealing kimono, had apricot-colored curly hair, and a pair of pointed fox ears on her head.
“It’s… it’s okay.”
The girl’s face turned red all the way to the tips of her ears. She broke free from the gentle embrace and took a few steps back, her dragon tail curling around her ankles.
“There are just too many people, I didn’t see you.” The big fox scratched her head and apologized again. “If you’re all right, we’ll be going now. Yukino — “
She turned back to call for someone. Shioya nodded, intending to leave.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I also… hm?”
The name the big fox mentioned caught her attention. Almost subconsciously, she turned around and saw a familiar person walking out from the crowd.
A light blue scarf swayed with her footsteps. A pair of icy eyes looked over, revealing a hint of confusion.
“XI — !”
Shioya almost blurted it out. She quickly changed her mind, but she couldn’t think of any word starting with that sound, so she pouted.
“Xiu — !”
“Xiu?”
Not just the big fox, even Shioya was stunned by her own stupidity. Both of them tilted their heads at the same time.
“‘Xiu — !’ as in?” The big fox appropriately expressed her curiosity.
“It’s… just…”
Shioya’s voice trembled. On one hand, she was nervous in front of Yukino; on the other, she was so embarrassed she wanted to find a hole to crawl into. She struggled for a while, then turned and left.
Meanwhile, Yukino stared at the little cherry blossom dragon’s face, finding it strangely familiar. Seeing her about to leave, Yukino reached out to stop her, but her hand happened to catch the dragon’s swinging tail.