Freya stretched, yawning. Satos took back their horses, as they also were too tired, and the firework was nearing. The noise and smell of gunpowder would be too much for them. And by "them" Satos meant their horses and themselves. She could see it in their eyes.
Despite their young spirit, their bodies needed the proper rest. Since their stall closed for the day, they ventured around, ignoring the soreness of their feet. This was the only time they could have fun.
Among the people, she had glanced at the headmistress and a few reporters or important looking men. She had a speech before the firework, but Freya wasn't interested.
"Freya-chan?" Aiyoku whispered next to her, gaining her attention.
Rigaku was measuring his throw to not miss like in the last five tries. On the other hand, Kagetsu hit all the targets.
She leaned her head towards Aiyoku, listening to his quiet request. Her eyes shot open as he, like the other two, presented his wish.
'What a strange trio of brothers.'
She replied to him with a nod and smile, joining the rest under the light from LED paper lanterns. The sun had set, and only an hour divided them from the firework.
Rigaku didn't win a single price. While Kagetsu got a big cat plush, Freya had won a cup with a picture of a guinea pig, and Aiyoku won a small star-shaped key chain with a horse picture. He almost cried with joy as Star remained by his side.
Nobody saw who received the wink Kagetsu had sent, but he only stuck his tongue a bit in the answer.
'Why am I thinking about an invisible friend?' Rigaku pondered, stepping away from his sure-to-hit-throw calculations he scribbled into the dirt. 'Oh well, I guess he is going to be an eternal child in his heart.'
The dark horse walked next to Kagetsu, bringing nobody a misfortune. Perhaps it lived only in the youngest brother's imagination. Maybe not.
At the mask painting stall, they had found Ueno in the costume. She kept it, even taking a few photographs with the visitors. She had almost finished her cat-themed mask. Each of them made one ranging from a cat, dog, mouse, to tanuki. The casual chatter continued, and Ueno joined them, this time at her own pace. They stopped by Kenta's stall, sad they missed all of his readings in the Caffee, where he earned applause.
The poor boy shivered like a twig in the wind, but he recited his poems. His club friends weren't any better, but they gathered a few possible members for the next semester, and that already counted as an enormous success.
Ueno divided from them as she wanted to check on the firework's preparations. She headed to the roof while she had heard her mother's speech. The sweet tone made her sick, but she had a too good time to let it bother her.
Upon reaching the roof, she had seen two men gesticulating.
"Is something happening?" she asked, approaching them.
Behind them stood the fireworks, cables, and boxes she guessed were part of the remotely controlled lit-up device. Gone were times when thin thread and a match started the fire parade in the sky.
The older man turned her way. He needed a few moments to recognize her. "There is only a minor setback. Nothing, young lady Ueno-san, need to worry about."
"It's alright. I won't tell my mother."
They fidgeted a bit before the younger one spoke, "I've checked it trice, yet there is a small fire-box missing."
"It's a separate unit to fire our firework," the older man added, seeing it puzzled Ueno. "We design them to hold a certain amount of rockets, firing them based on the program." He nodded toward the laptop, standing on a big box.
The younger one came to the laptop, typing. "All the parts are connected to the wi-fi, so we can light them anytime in any order."
Ueno looked over his shoulder, seeing something that reminded her of a complex schedule. The younger man typed on his laptop, starting a scan that resulted in one red unit.
"At first, I thought it didn't connect to the Internet, but I can't find it at all."
They all looked at the boxes arranged in the middle of the roof. The wind flew among them, but not enough to alter their trajectory.
"No worries about that," Ueno said after a while. "As long it doesn't mess the whole show, nobody will notice. We can find out what happened to it later."
After this, she returned down, hearing her mother's talk. Since she finished her work for the day, she had found a place to watch the fireworks. Most people gathered in the U where the countdown was projected onto the white screen.
Only minutes remained until the firework and an hour till the closing time. Yet the streams of people refused to thin out. How could this turn into such a big event? She almost wished it was less popular.
No more pretended smiles. No need for touring a perverted reporter. No battles for the best feedback. Just fun and great memories. Spending time with friends over the hot tea or biscuits. No mother, demanding her daughter to boost her status.
Leaning back under a tree, her eyes locked with the dark sky. Only lonely dots hid in corners, pushed back by the city's lights. Only the Moon shone brightly, but its body was thinning each day, and soon there wouldn't be any of it.
A tap on her shoulder asked for her attention. Casting her eyes back to the ground, she saw Freya with two cups of steaming tea in her hands. Kamini brothers stood behind her.
Aiyoku sent her a small smile while Kagetsu mimicked clumsy salute. Rigaku sent her way nod, taking a sip from his cup. Without words and smiling, Ueno accepted the cup from Freya, and together they waited the last seconds.
Clapping announced the start as the first rocket whistled towards the sky. It burst in shining rain with the burning tails spreading like a blooming flower. And another followed, higher and exploding into a palm.
Each second, more and more rockets aimed for the Moon, as if they raced. Red, blue, purple, yellow, and green blossomed above their heads, and clouds from the explosions couldn't completely hide the spectacle. Flashes of light from around them captured the fleeting moments for the next generation.
A burst of flames filled their ears, but nobody minded. This was a moment for a huge spectacle, and each firework fulfilled the desire to be amazed.
Rays of fireflies grew from the roof, and above it grew trees of red and blue leaves. Hyperactive ghosts swished and zigzagged through the air, joining the stars above.
The minutes had passed, and the miracle of fire ended. The last rocket whistled, expanding into three spheres of purple until the sparkles died out.
The murmur around them spread. Everybody enjoyed the fire spectacle, and it would be a talk for a few days.
After this, most people went away, and only a small percentage of them remained until the closing time. Sunday would bring in fewer visitors, as they had opened only until the late afternoon with no night program.
The school had to prepare for the last week before the tests and to sort out the feedback left by visitors.
However, for now, everybody could enjoy the Fest for a tad longer.
With the clear sky, nothing suggested a bigger spectacle would take place the next day.