"Woah! Amazing!" Syo said, looking Hikari up and down.

"Right?" Sayua grinned, exceptionally pleased with her work. Everyone who was wearing costumes were wearing their waiter's uniforms.

"It looks amazing, Sakura!" Syo complimented her. Hikari looked down and mumbled, "Thank you..." Then she decided to compliment Syo on his costume too, but when she looked up, he had already turned away.

"What do you think~?" Arisu asked, modeling her costume.

Syo clapped appreciatively. Ren avoided eye-contact. Then finally, they all stared at the curtain, behind which one person was still left.

"Yuko. We're waiting." Syo called out.

"I didn't want this! It's like cosplay!" Yuko squeaked from behind the curtain.

"This is nothing like cosplay." Arisu told her.

"I don't want to come out! This is not me!" Yuko complained.

"Excuse me, that's a personal insult. I designed each dress perfectly." Sayua scoffed.

Yuko peeked out from behind the curtain, and they could see that she had done her hair.

"So far so good!" Ren told her. Yuko gave him a look.

"Seriously!" Michi appeared out of nowhere and pulled Yuko out. "See? You look very cute!"

"Yeah, she's right!"

"You're rocking it, Nishikawa!"

All her classmates hooted appreciatively. The costume was a simple yet stylish waiter's outfit, comprising of a maroon short-sleeved shirt along with black gloves, a black skirt, with black pants for the males, and a waist apron that had a couple of little pockets, and black stockings.

Yuko blushed at all the unwanted attention, but she knew her classmates' intentions were good. The festival had really help her connect with her classmates more.

Yuko took a few nervous steps backwards, and then bumped into someone, who turned out to be Takiyo.

"How are you doing?" he asked bluntly.

"I'm fine..." Yuko replied.

"Woah, Takiyo's here!" Syo called. Arisu wolf-whistled.

"That was unnecessary." Takiyo told her, as everyone burst out laughing. They all shouted out various compliments too. Takiyo really had changed a lot. All his classmates now found his company to be rather interesting and entertaining. He had gone much higher in everybody's estimations. Even Erika was keeping up with him. Saiki-sensei watched everyone with a smile on her face.

"Well then, everyone." she said. "Have fun!"

"Hey, Takiyo-kun, do you want to hang out later?" Yuko asked him, eyes bright.

"Yes, let us roam the festival together!" Syo said enthusiastically.

"What about it, Takin?" Arisu asked eagerly.

"Our duties end at different times." Takiyo told her.

"Then wait for us." Ren replied, smiling. "Tell you what, we can meet near the track and field club's stand, okay?"

Takiyo looked around at their shining faces. He agreed.

***

"Why did I... have to come along again?"

"I've already said it a million times. My cousin attends this school, and she wanted me to visit her festival!"

"But... why do I have to come?"

"Because there was no one else available. Now stop complaining, Hotaru."

"I'm not..." Hotaru said expressionlessly. Namie gave him a look and buried her hands deeper in her jacket, looking around. Coincidentally, their school was closed due to some maintenance today before their festival, so Namie's cousin had decided to invite her. Not willing to go alone, she brought Hotaru along.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. She grabbed Hotaru's arm, forcing him to stop.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Hotaru...do you recognise that person?" Namie asked, pointing at a blonde boy sitting beside a stand, browsing through his phone. "That's... that's Hamasaki-kun, right?"

Hotaru squinted in the direction Namie had indicated. "Oh, you're right!"

"I didn't know he went to this school!" Namie exclaimed, staring at him.

"...he's alone." Hotaru remarked. Namie exchanged looks with him. Takiyo was still alone?

Suddenly, they saw him look up. He didn't look at them. Instead, he looked at a group of four people.

"Yo, Takin~" a girl with a long blonde ponytail called, waving enthusiastically.

"Haha, you look so lonely," a girl with short blonde hair told him.

"It's your natural aura, isn't it?" a boy with an emo fringe said, grinning.

"Do not offend him. He's not like you," a tall boy with orange hair said, putting his arm around Takiyo's shoulders.

"You guys could have arrived in a less noisy way." Takiyo said, pocketing his phone.

"You're being lazy!" the girl with short blonde hair said, tugging on his arm. "Get up!"

"I'm getting up, calm down."

"Takin, you have no idea how much I had to restrict myself. Now you need to be in ultra fast mode, because I want to see all of it!" the girl with the ponytail said.

"I know, I know..."

Namie and Hotaru looked at each other. Even Hotaru could decipher the look of happiness on her face.

"You wanted him... to be happy... that badly?" Hotaru asked her.

"It just feels nice when a person is alright." Namie said.

"People are very lucky... that they have you looking out for them, Namie-san." Hotaru told her. "I'm.... would grateful be the right word?"

Namie nodded. Hotaru noticed her fidgeting.

"Do you want to... go and talk to him?" Hotaru inquired.

Namie looked at him in surprise. Then she looked back at Takiyo, who was surrounded by those people. She noticed a boy wave at him as he passed by.

"The last time we talked to him, he was cold as the Arctic." Namie said.

Hotaru looked at her for some time, then marched ahead.

"Hey– wait, Hotaru!" Namie chased after him, but he reached Takiyo first then turned back at Namie. She understood what he wanted to say wordlessly, which would be an amazing feat to other people.

Namie tapped Takiyo on the shoulder. He looked around, and Namie smiled at him.

"...can I help you?" Takiyo asked.

Namie sighed with relief inwardly. His statement didn't exactly have a friendly tone. It was the same dull tone he always had. But he wasn't cold. He wasn't the slightest bit cold.

"Hi!" Namie said. "Do you remember me? I'm Kinoshita Namie."

The people around him looked at him expectantly, but Takiyo looked blank. "Who?"

Namie felt stung. She quickly recovered, and then brought Hotaru in front of her by the shoulders. "You don't remember him either? Ikehara Hotaru."

Takiyo thought for some time. "...am I supposed to?" His four friends exchanged somewhat disappointed looks behind him. Takiyo suddenly remembered something. "Wait, what did you say your name was?"

"Kinoshita. Kinoshita Namie." she replied quickly.

"Namie..." Takiyo remembered. Michi had mentioned her name just a few days ago. "You were one of my classmates in junior high?"

Namie looked relieved, then nodded. "And this is Ikehara Hotaru. He was your classmate too."

The girl with the ponytail immediately jumped in. "You're an old friend of Takin?! I'm Kaneshiro Arisu, and this is Muranaka Ren, Nishikawa Yuko and Teruya Syo. We're friends of Takin too!"

Namie processed this. "Takin is..." she turned to Takiyo. "You?"

Takiyo nodded.

"Oh my god, is that Namie-chan?!"

They all turned to see Michi running in their direction. "Oh my god, Namie-chan! How have you been?" She hugged her.

"I've been good." Namie replied, patting her back. Michi looked around and saw Hotaru. "Ikehara-kun too? Hello!"

"Hello." Hotaru replied.

"I can't believe it!" Michi looked very pleased. Suddenly somebody called out to her.

"Michi! Where did you run off to?" Yoichi came into view. His eyes landed on Namie and Hotaru. "Hey, you're from..."

Namie nodded, and held out her hand. She had on a tight-lipped smile. Yoichi shook her hand, smiling politely.

"Yo-kun and I, it's our anniversary today!" Michi told Namie excitedly.

Namie glanced back at Takiyo. "I see." Then she looked at Hotaru.

"Michi, let's go?" Yoichi asked.

"Ah, okay! Namie-chan, let's get in contact again soon!" Michi said while running off.

"She didn't even take my mobile number..." Name mumbled, and Hotaru patted her shoulder. "No, Hotaru, you don't have to reassure me."

"Oh."

"Namie-san, don't you like Ishida-kun?" Arisu asked. "You were friends with Michi-chan, right?"

"I never really thought he was right." Namie replied. Then she looked back at them. "Besides, Hamasaki-kun likes Michi-chan, right?"

They all looked shocked.

"How do you know that?!" Takiyo asked her, shaking her by the shoulders.

"It was a hunch." Namie replied. "But I'm right, right?"

"Yes, you are right!" Arisu sqeauled happily. "Yes, we're going to be great friends! Can I call you..."

"Yeah, you can call me Namie." Namie said.

"No, no," Arisu waved away her offer. "That's too boring. Na-chan!"

"Um, okay." Namie agreed.

"And you're Hota-chin!!" Arisu said, pointing at Hotaru. He nodded, then she asked, "Is he Takin's cuter döppleganger or something?"

"No, no," Namie chuckled. "It's called alexithymia."

"Alexi...what?"

"Alexithymia. It means it's difficult for him to identify and express emotions. But he's getting better." Namie smiled at Hotaru.

"Yes, I'm... happy now. Because I made friends." Hotaru said bluntly.

"He's like a bunny..." Arisu said, eyes shining.

Namie smiled at her. "Nice to meet all of you, in fact. I'm really glad Hamasaki-kun was able to make friends."

"Oh! Then you can tell us how Takiyo was in junior high!" Syo said brightly.

"I don't know that much." Namie muttered. "But I'm glad to see that Hamasaki-kun isn't alone anymore."

"Namie-san worries a lot... about problems.... that aren't hers." Hotaru said.

Takiyo stared at Namie, who smiled at him somewhat sheepishly. He was so arrogant back then. So careless. Even then, there were people who cared about him. But he understood now. Just because one person wasn't there for him, it doesn't mean nobody will be there for him.

Don't blame humanity for the act of a single human.

Author's note
Yayyyy!!! It's Namie and Hotaru! This chapter went on longer than I'd planned.