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Tonight is the night of the New Year festival at Cecilia’s school.
A rather unlikely sight outside of her room’s window, because it seems that snow is falling. Under the moonlight, the temperature is below zero, which convinced Cecilia to not go outside.
Additionally, Cecilia doesn’t really care about festivals, let alone attending one. She’d rather stay at home, gulp down a cup of tea, and do whatever eases her mind off stress.
Cecilia, already in her pajamas, held her green jasmine flavoured cup of tea, often sipping it while scrolling through her group chat. Not a single minute of silence is present inside of it.
A notification then appeared on her group chat. It appears that she is mentioned in Fauna’s message.
faufau : @Cecilll hey are you going or not.. Why not make it a special occasion tonight?
Cecilll: No thanks
faufau : I’ll pay for you
Cecilll : Are you saying that I’m broke??? Okay I see how it is
rarra : You’re not? I thought Gigi spent all of your money for her crane games
Cecilll : I would’ve punched her in the face
faufau : Anyways just saying that Ina is searching for you
Cecilll : You’re lying… Don’t say it as if she misses me
rarra : She kinda does though
Out of both embarrassment and frustration, Cecilia closes her discord app. The possibility of Ina searching for her flooded Cecilia’s mind, and she’s anxious of it becoming true.
Cecilia considers Ina as one of her best friends, as well as Ina. Both of them first met when they were a child, and the pair would accompany each other, growing a long-lasting relationship between them. Several years have passed and their friendship still hasn’t weakened.
The idea of their friendship advancing to a romantic relationship made Cecilia fluster. Well, not that she wouldn’t accept. She often ponders that Ina would be a great partner, but Cecilia doesn’t think that it also applies to herself.
“Something is wrong with me,” Cecilia sighs. She then took a sip of her tea, expecting a warm sensation of the tea on her tongue, before being greeted by the air that had already replaced the tea.
Cecilia then places the empty mug on top of her drawer beside her bed, she was too lazy to bring it downstairs to the kitchen. She then turned off the light, before heading towards her bed.
Just when she walked, yet another discord notification popped out of her phone. With frustration, Cecilia grumbled, “What is it this time..”
It’s Ina.
Cecilia can feel her heart beating slightly faster than before, a faint blush covering her cheeks. “Come on, Ceci. It’s just Ina, your friend. It’s not like she would ask me on a date,” Cecilia convinces herself, before she opens Ina’s direct messages.
Inaaa : Hii ceciiiii
Inaaa : I was wondering if you’d show up at the festival
Inaaa : I’ve opened up a small takoyaki booth
Inaaa : I figured that you should try some
Inaaa : And while we’re at the festival we could
Inaaa : You know
Inaaa : Hang out and stuff :> Like we used to do when we were younger
Oh, Ina is actually asking me out on a date.
Cecilia’s heart is now beating faster. She could feel her chest tightens. The faint blush on her cheeks are now very obvious.
Cecilia took a few deep breaths, she tried to get a hold of herself despite the message Ina had sent to her was enough to make her jump out of the window..
Cecilll : I’ll be there in a few minutes
Inaaa : Okayyyy
Inaaa : My booth is not far from the entrance! I’ll meet you there
I guess I’m not that sleepy anymore. She wipes the sleep of her eyes, and turns off her phone yet again. Cecilia swung her wardrobe open. She burrows through her stack of regular clothes, not caring if she’s making a mess right now.
She glances over her window, the view outside shows her the sidewalk in front of her house that is nearly covered in snow. Even with her windows closed, she could feel the air’s cold breeze. Right, guess I should put on my jacket, then.
As she searched for her jacket, something caught her attention in the corner of her eyes. It’s Cecilia’s New Year costume she wore last year. Cecilia’s hand reaches out to it. It’s quite old and dusty, but a few brushes could make it look clean.
Arriving at the festival with only her regular clothes and a jacket sounds pathetic, it’s New Year, after all. With the costume in her hand, Cecilia then closes her wardrobe. It looks warm, and probably can handle the cold.
Cecilia hums a tune, as she begins to put on the costume’s accessories. Silence hangs in the air, accompanied by the clock’s ticking, which currently shows 7:39 PM. Plenty of time for her to prepare.
Her footsteps echo through the hall as she hastily walks downstairs. She found the ruffles of her costume quite obnoxious.
Cecilia then puts on her white boots, before heading off to the festival. The excitement of meeting Ina, as more than a friend, began to rapidly expand in her body.
Accompanied by the light that’s illuminated by the lampposts, the snow on the sidewalk crushes beneath Cecilia’s boots. The air is getting colder as the night continues to pass on. Apparently, her costume’s “warmth” is not helping at all. At the school’s gate, Cecilia was met with a dim exterior of the school, Cecilia guessed that the festival would take place in the park right behind the school.
In the school’s front yard Cecilia could see several students in their own fancy outfit. As far as she could tell, the students are quite busy. With decorations as well as other things in their hands, the festival is most likely still being prepared. Cecilia is thankful that she could spend some time with Ina before their date.
The second Cecilia enters the park, her sight is promptly blinded by the amount of decorative light that surrounds the park. It is Cecilia who can’t handle such lighting in the night, proven by her eyes that is squinting dramatically. Who’s idea is this to cover the entire park in lamps?
With a side glance, Cecilia then notices a familiar figure. It’s Ina, who appears to be preparing her takoyaki booth. Cecilia could feel her heart pounding again. Her chest tightens. Who could guess that greeting a childhood friend would be this hard?
Cecilia composes herself, before heading towards Ina's booth.
Ina's eyes lit up as she noticed Cecilia walking towards her booth, greeting her with excitement. "Ceci!"
“..Hi,” Cecilia nervously greeted. “Woah, What’s this smell?” She spoke with excitement. A scrumptious smell of takoyaki surrounds Ina’s booth. Behind Ina, a takoyaki pan can be seen. A warm heat radiating off of it.
“It’s my takoyaki! I assumed that my friends would arrive before I even set up the booth, so I decided to make them early.” Ina grabbed a small box that’s filled with 4 of them, handing it to Cecilia. “Wanna try some?”
Cecilia stepped forward, before grabbing one. “Hm, not bad,” Cecilia commented whilst enjoying the warm sensation inside her mouth.
Cecilia reaches out to her purse, “How much for it?” Ina hurriedly stopped her hand before she could grab her purse, “Don’t worry! This one’s on the house, just for my friends,” she smiled.
Ina’s smile unexpectedly made Cecilia flutter. She can only wonder why her heart suddenly began to see Ina in a new perspective.
..Gosh, I hate myself..
Cecilia offered to help Ina set up her booth, which she accepted gratefully. She had also seen Raora and Fauna, of course teasing Cecilia while on their way. Her friends also seemed to be busy with their own booth.
The most notable one is Gigi and Calli’s booth, where they would set up a ‘kissing booth’ with Calli as the main attraction. Probably an excuse for Gigi to kiss her, though Cecilia could see her fighting with Ollie to get the first spot in line.
It’s now 11 PM, Cecilia had spent the hours helping Ina, as well as meeting each of her friends at their booths. The festival had already started an hour ago.
And Cecilia decided it’s time to actually go on a date with Ina.
At the bench behind Ina’s booth, Cecilia glances over at her, who appears to be preparing a few boxes of takoyakis. Of course, Cecilia doesn’t want to bother Ina, but in about thirty minutes, the fireworks would appear.
Cecilia wants their moment to be special, especially since this is their first date.
Before Cecilia could even ask her, Ina decided to beat her to it. “Ceci, I think I’ve run out of ingredients, and it’s about time I close my booth. Do you.. Want to hang out for a bit?” Ina spoke, whilst closing her booth.
And again, Cecilia could feel the same tingling in her chest she had when admiring Ina’s smile. Without hesitation, she accepted her request. Cecilia then stood up whilst holding her bag, “Oh, uh.. Sure! So, where.. Uh, should we go?”
Abruptly, Ina grabbed Cecilia’s hand by surprise. Before Cecilia could even react, she found herself holding hands with Ina. “Ina, are yo-” Cecilia was cut off by as Ina pulled her into the crowd, “Try not to get lost, okay?” Ina winked.
Hanging lanterns lit up the night, as if it was replacing the sun’s light. The festival is at its peak, in the company of children as well as adults. Almost every stall in the festival has at least 2 customers trying out their product.
The pair walked across the crowd, while also stopping each time one of them found an interesting booth. Both of them are afraid that they’d lost each other in the crowd, so Ina would sub-consciously hold hands with Cecilia. Cecilia’s the one to be very aware of this.
Cecilia’s eyes perked up at the sight of a booth that had a sign that said “Art Supplies”. Cecilia knew that Ina is highly skilled when it comes to art, so she decided to nudge Ina. As soon as Ina noticed the booth, she hurriedly marched towards it without hesitation.
Cecilia followed behind, in a more calm manner. She took a closer look at the stall owner, before realising it was Raora. The panther greeted the pair. Though Raora’s way of greeting Cecilia is with a smug grin.
Cecilia glared at Raora, gritting her teeth with embarrassment as she approached her booth. Raora couldn’t help but silently giggle seeing the pair together. Ina inspected a few canvases and brushes, blissfully unaware of their beef with each other.
“Soo.. You changed your mind when it comes to her, eh?” Raora teased Cecilia with her well pleased grin.
Cecilia let out a heavy sigh, it’s about time that her friends would notice her liking towards Ina, not to mention that she’s horrible at hiding things.
“Just.. don’t be annoying, okay?” Cecilia groaned.
Raora motioned her hand to zip her mouth, followed by an “okay” sign.
“Have fun, you two!” Raora farewelled, as the pair continued their walk.
Cecilia glances at her watch, twenty minutes until the fireworks would appear, before she sighs with relief. Still plenty of time to spend with Ina.
Cecilia’s gaze darted across the booths, searching for another interesting one for them to visit. As she searches, Cecilia unconsciously grabs Ina’s hand straight away, without hesitation. Ina was flustered by Cecilia’s sudden contact.
“..Cecilia?”
“Yeah?”
Shortly, Cecilia notices that her hand was touching Ina’s. “Ah! Sorry, I wasn’t aware of that..” Cecilia quickly separates their hands. Her embarrassment started to swallow her whole.
Both of them tried to avoid eye contact. An awkward silence hangs in the air, before Ina spoke first. “I don’t mind.. Do you..?” What?! Cecilia was obviously not expecting that to come from Ina.
Cecilia clears her throat, though she can still feel the warmness in her cheeks. “Well, if you’re okay with it.” They searched for each other’s hand, even if they still tried to avoid looking at each other.
After what felt like an eternity to them, they finally found each other. They could feel their hands trembling out of embarrassment. Another awkward silence appeared between them.
“Ha! Another one,” Cecilia declared with a smug on her face after landing the fourth ring on a bottle, without missing any. Ina and the twins clapped in amusement.
“Woah! Ceci, didn’t know you were this good at festivals even though I've never seen you in one before,” Mococo said with amazement.
“Oh, you know, it’s just one of my many talents. It’s just a matter of time for me to show you guys this one,” Cecilia exclaimed pridefully. Fuwawa, with a grin similar to Raora’s, decided to tease Cecilia. “I think I know why you finally decided to show up.”
Cecilia unintentionally glances over Ina, who seems to be struggling to grab a huge octopus plushie on top of Fuwamoco’s booth. Cecilia frowns at the twins that are trying to hold their laughs.
This is probably the seventh time Cecilia had been teased going out with Ina in this festival.
Ina hops over to the three of them, with multiple bags hanging from her arms. Ina’s movements are now constricted due to the huge octopus plushie she is hugging. “Let’s go to another booth!” Ina excitedly requested Cecilia.
Cecilia was baffled that Ina still had the audacity to walk around the festival with a butt-ton of bags. “Ina, you sure you don’t want me to hold on to one of those?” Cecilia once again offered for the nth time.
The excitement that was radiating from Ina is now replaced by a pouting face, “No. You’ve helped me enough with my booth, and this is how I repay you.”
Cecilia grunted, before she attempted to take a few bags by force. “Are you tickling me? Stop!” Ina tries to get rid of Cecilia’s hand that is reaching her bags. The pair gleefully laughed at each other’s antics, which is spectated by the twins like it’s one of the most historical moments.
From her arms that are supposedly trying to tickle Ina, Cecilia could see her watch. And from her watch, Cecilia could see the current time, which indicates 11:23 PM, seven minutes before the fireworks show would start. And Cecilia still hasn’t found a good spot for her date yet.
Cecilia’s playful giggles abruptly stopped at the sight of the current time. Her mind went completely blank for a second, before realising the situation she’s in. Then, a special spot for occasions like this was brought to Cecilia’s mind.
She immediately grabbed Ina by her hand. Before the group would have time to react, she then dragged Ina in a hurry. “Sorry, Fuwamoco, We’re in a hurry! See you later though!” Cecilia shouts, waving farewell to the twins.
“Do you think that they’d be a great couple, Moco-chan?”
“I think the answer is yes.”
Ina tried to keep up with Cecilia’s fast walking, even if every step felt like she would trip over. “Ceci, are you mad at me? Do you want to hold one of my bags?” Ina questions Cecilia, with a slight anxious tone.
“What? No! Just.. follow me.”
The crowds are now nowhere to be seen, no booths in sight, along with hanging lanterns that no longer illuminate their path as they are replaced with regular lightposts.
Cecilia found a lone bench at the very edge of the park, it seems abandoned, but they could still see the festival’s lights from here.
Cecilia then sat on the right side of the bench, drooping her body out of exhaustion. “Come, sit. We could have a nice view of the fireworks from here,” Cecilia invited Ina, patting the empty spot of the bench.
Ina, who’s still stunned at Cecilia’s sudden rushing, decided to rest her body as well, flicking Cecilia’s forehead in the process of it. “That’s what you get for dragging me. I’m lucky enough to not fall,” Ina protests.
“Sorry.. It’s just that the fireworks show would start in a few min-”
Cecilia’s sentences are cut off by the fireworks. The glowing light brightened up the sky from afar, a sight Cecilia would rarely experience. She was glad that Ina had searched for her.
Ina then rests her head on Cecilia’s shoulder. She perked at Ina’s sudden movements. Despite her throbbing heart, Cecilia is slightly calmer this time, determined to at least enjoy a moment with her.
“..Cecilia.”
“Yes?”
The pair turned their heads to face each other. But instead of meeting each other's eyes, they were met with a warm touch on their lips.
Out of thin air, they found themselves kissing. Ina tries to process what is happening, while Cecilia is painfully aware of it.
Cecilia hides her face that is now as red as Raora's hair, What have I done!? I just kissed someone's daughter!! Ina was still trying to process what had just happened between them, only realising it after Cecilia's reaction. Both of them froze, the next sentence for this conversation would be difficult.
The fireworks are still blaring in the pitch black sky, as if the world was celebrating not because of a new year.
Despite Ina's trembling voice, she broke the silence between them, even with a volume that's more of a mumbling rather than her normal intonation. “..My house isn't far away from here, you want to walk over there..?”
The year is now 2026, it wasn't just a few minutes ago.
The air is getting colder. The warm breeze of the festival is now nowhere to be felt on Cecilia's skin.
The only warmth she could feel whilst surrounded by the night’s harsh cold is radiating from Ina, who's walking right beside her. The pair hadn't spoken with each other after their sudden kiss, as their mind was still dazed by it.
Cecilia often took a few glances over Ina's face, her embarrassed expression still showing. The same thing can be said towards Cecilia.
The pair had found themselves in front of Ina's house, signalling the end of their date.
“Is this a date..?” Cecilia asks.
Ina then cups Cecilia's face, before kissing her on the lips. Cecilia's eyes widened, unlike Ina who has them closed shut.
This time, Cecilia stayed calm. She closes her eyes as she favoured this moment as one of the most important ones in her entire life.
The pair opened their eyes at the same time, they were met with each other's flustered faces.
Without any farewell, Ina speed walked towards her house's door. The door is now closed.
The taste of takoyaki lingers on Cecilia’s lips.