The sun sank in the west. Normally, this was the ti when everything quieted down as the day ended. But right now, a bustling, lively scene unfolded before Shido's eyes.
On one side of the overpass, the usually quiet shrine was now glowing with colorful lights. Beautiful lanterns, noisy stalls, and crowds of people moving about. Cute girls walking by in beautiful yukatas looked like they stepped right out of a painting.
"As expected of Yakumo-senpai."
The peaceful, tranquil image of the shrine was completely flipped upside down. Just looking at it from a distance made him want to run over and join the fun.
"Yo, Itsuka. You ca too."
Shido turned around and saw his good friend, Tonomachi, waving at him.
"Tonomachi, you're here too."
"Of course I am! It's not just , almost all the guys from school are here. Missing Yakumo-senpai's Kagura dance would be the biggest regret of our lives," Tonomachi said, looking deeply moved.
"I... I see."
Seeing how excited his friend was, Shido gave a wry smile. Unlike the other Spirits, Mikoto wasn't running a food stall. As the shrine maiden, her main job today was performing the Kagura dance.
To say he wasn't looking forward to it would be a lie. But since it was still early, Shido decided to check out everyone's stalls first.
[First up is Tohka.]
When it ca to running a stall, out of everyone (besides Yoshino), Tohka was the one Shido was most worried about. Her incredibly airheaded personality, combined with cooking skills capable of physically destroying a kitchen, made for a highly volatile mix.
He and Tonomachi walked through the shrine grounds. Soon enough, a food stall that looked very "Tohka" appeared in front of them.
"Kinako bread..."
Mountains of kinako bread were piled up on the cute looking stall. It was definitely not a normal festival food. What made Shido laugh and cry at the sa ti was that the stall owner herself was completely missing.
"Where did Tohka go?"
"Shido!"
Just as Shido was looking around, an energetic voice called out from nearby.
Turning around, he saw Tohka wearing a yukata, a festival mask tilted on her head, holding a box of okonomiyaki in her left hand, and balancing grilled corn, cotton candy, and a chocolate banana between the fingers of her right hand.
"Ahaha..."
Seeing the girl fully enjoying the festival, having completely forgotten about selling her kinako bread, Shido laughed weakly.
"Look, Shido! This is my kinako bread stall! A lively festival like this absolutely needs kinako bread!" The girl proudly showed off her work, her face practically begging for praise.
"Amazing, amazing. Well then, let buy one."
Shido patted Tohka's head.
"Umu! Here you go, Shido! Oh... right! And this too..."
Tohka handed him a piece of bread, then dug out a small can from the stall.
"What's that?"
Shido noticed it was a small can of whipped cream.
"And... finished!"
Tohka used the cream to draw a big heart on Shido's bread, then wrote the word "Shido" right next to it.
"W-Wait, what is this?"
Looking at the kinako bread radiating an overwhelming lovey dovey aura, Shido didn't know what to do.
"Eh? Mikoto told that if I did this, you'd definitely be super happy. Was... was she wrong?" Tohka tilted her head, asking nervously.
"No... I'm very happy..."
Shido scratched his cheek, blushing. Right beside him, Tonomachi scread, "Go to hell, you normie Itsuka!" before sprinting away at top speed.
[That sounds exactly like sothing Senpai would do.]
Patting Tohka's head again, Shido looked at the incredibly direct cream drawing on his bread and smiled wryly to himself.
After that, he continued searching for the other Spirits's stalls while munching on his kinako bread.
"Hey, hey, did you hear? At that stall over there, there's a girl using magic to make shaved ice out of thin air!"
"Are you serious?"
"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes. It cos right out of a rabbit puppet's mouth!"
Soon, he overheard a very interesting rumor.
[A rabbit puppet spitting out shaved ice... Don't tell ...]
Shido followed the group of people to a highly popular stall.
"Yoshino!"
"Shido... san..."
Sursurrounded by so many custors, Yoshino had looked incredibly nervous. But the mont she heard Shido's voice, her anxiety lted into a happy smile.
"You're here, Shin."
"Oh my, my. Our VIP custor has finally arrived. If you order now, you can try Yoshino-chan's secret 'Adult Flavor' shaved ice!"
Reine and Yoshinon greeted him as well.
"You have so many custors! That's amazing."
"Ehehe..."
Shido gently patted the girl's head. Yoshino narrowed her eyes, smiling happily.
"So... Shin, what flavor of shaved ice do you want?" Reine asked.
"Hmm, I think I'll let Yoshino recomnd one," Shido decided.
"Then it's settled! Yoshino-chan's secret adult-flavor shaved ice, exclusively for our lucky pervert Shido-kun! Waaah—!"
With that, Yoshinon opened its mouth and spat a massive pile of shaved ice right into the bowl.
"Reine-san, this is..." Shido whispered, staring at the ice-spitting puppet.
"Actually, Yoshino's mood has been fluctuating a bit since we got here. It's very low-level, but as you can see, she can manifest shaved ice. It's fine, we're just using magic trick as an excuse" Reine explained softly.
"I see."
If it's just spitting out ice, it should be fine, Shido thought. Just as he accepted it, a heaping bowl of shaved ice was placed in front of him.
"This is... Blue Hawaii flavor?"
"Mhm..."
Seeing the distinct blue syrup, Shido looked surprised, and Yoshino nodded happily. It was the exact sa flavor they ate together during the Tengu River fireworks festival. The young girl had perfectly recreated it.
"Hey, hey, how is it? Is the ice Yoshinon spat out delicious?"
"Umm... yeah, it's really good."
Even though he really wanted to comnt on the phrase "spat out", Shido just patted the girl's head again and praised her with a smile.
Hearing Shido's praise, Yoshino and Yoshinon lightly high fived, clearly overjoyed that Shido liked it.
After finishing his shaved ice and saying goodbye to Yoshino, Shido continued wandering through the sea of stalls.
[Where are Kotori, Kaguya, and Yuzuru's stalls?]
Just as he was wondering, a familiar voice called out from behind him.
???: "Ara ara~ If it isn't Shido-san. What a coincidence."
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