Cory left the Shunivalen marketing booth to the other members of his group and helped Shuraina with her work. To be honest, it was more accurate to say that he was being held hostage by Shuraina.
"Um, didn't you say that you didn't like Shunivalen anymore, sir DuBois."
"...."
Shuraina was in the midst of cleaning up her magic circle samples as she jokingly asked.
"You wanted to get my signature, shake hands with me and. Fulfill your wish? Hahaha. Eck."
"..."
Instead of giving her a verbal response, Cory pushed down Shuraina's face slightly. He understood why Swanhaden always tried to avoid her gaze too, now. Her behavior was supposed to be slightly aggravating, but everything she did became lovable with just a single glance. He was in too deep.
He helped her wrap up her things and placed them in his own dimension pocket, and tried to leave right there without a sound. Or, at least, he tried to disappear without a word. Shuraina grabbed him by the nape of his neck as he tried to leave in embarrassment, so he ended up stuck next to her.
Other than a few Shuval Stan Group members and Cory, nobody else approached Shunivalen. There were a lot of magicians who wanted to approach her, but Cory was monopolizing her so there was no way they would come nearby. When they mustered up the courage to approach her, Cory turned his head to gaze at them. Then they hurriedly left the scene. Cory was quite excited to know that his fierce face was actually useful for once.
Cory ended up sticking next to Shuraina for the entire day. He decided to stare at her for as long as he could, for the times that he couldn't see her when he wanted. Cory smiled thinly, seeing how Shuraina treated him as if they had hung out just yesterday after not seeing each other for a long time.
Unlike Cory whose head was seconds away from bursting after yesterday's confession, it seemed like it hadn't affected Shuraina at all. He wondered if she really didn't have even the slightest bit of feelings for him as he smiled bitterly. Or was he supposed to be thankful that she was pretending everything was okay? That meant they could stay as friends. Thinking at it from that perspective made him happier.
"Sorry."
"...?"
He was taking Shuraina to a booth with a circle that she would like when she suddenly apologized.
"I wasn't planning on continuing to fool you."
The second day of the festival was coming to a close, and the sky was bursting into color with different fireworks. Her face bloomed into the color of the fireworks.
Cory just shrugged his shoulders at Shuraina's apology. It was okay, he meant. To be honest, he hadn't been that bothered by it. He had been a bit shocked and embarrassed, but being able to tell her his feelings made him feel at ease. It seemed like he had been dumped, based on her reaction, but so what? He was more happy to see Shuraina than he was ashamed.
"Don't you want to take a closer look at the fireworks?"
He said as he watched Shuraina stare at the fireworks in awe. She nodded her head up and down in agreement, so he grabbed her hand and made her float in the air. She looked stifled with her robe around her and her hood down, so he cast a spell to make her invisible.
"Oh."
Shuraina checked to see what had been cast on her before smiling in awe.
"I'm free."
Once she realized that she was out of everyone's sight, she took off the thick robe she had been wearing. When she nodded her head in thanks, Cory smiled back.
"Can you make me a few of your magic stones?"
Shuraina asked as she looked at the fireworks, explaining that she wanted to make her own. She only asked for a few, but Cory handed her a stone around the size of her entire face. The stone was shining like a jewel in the dark–it looked ethereal. Shuraina looked baffled at the ridiculous size of the stone before putting her hand over it and absorbing the magic.
Then, she raised a single finger and drew a firework circle.
"Pew."
She directed the firework circle into the night sky and shot small fireworks into the air. She changed one of the formulas that changed the shape of the fireworks and began shooting out shapes that she wanted. Fireworks in the shape of pizza, ciabatta, macarons, etc. Everything always went back to food.
Unlike Shuraina, who kept staring at the fireworks, Cory only stared at Shuraina herself. A tiny bit of his heart ached painfully as he saw how excited Shuraina seemed.
"Should I make an even bigger one?"
"Uh huh. Try and make one as big as you can."
Shuraina urged, eyes still glued on the night sky. Cory smiled gently and drew a massive circle towards the sky. Shuraina was briefly taken aback at the size and detail of the circle. How big was he planning on making it if the circle was so big? Shuraina was slightly excited as she put her face close to the circle.
Cory's finger moved swiftly. He soon completed the circle. Cory poured his magic on top of it. The magic flowed across the top of the circle, and, soon.
Peeeeeeeew!
The night sky exploded with fireworks. Amber, the color of fire, burned through the sky. The dark night sky suddenly resembled sunset. The smaller fireworks that decorated the sky mixed beautifully with the amber color and made the scene even more beautiful.
"Wow...…"
Shuraina's mouth was agape as she stared at the beautiful sight. She felt like she was going to get sucked in by the fireworks.
"But, Cory."
She hugged her knees and stared at the fireworks when she noticed something strange and her face stiffened.
"…..didn't you shoot the fireworks a bit too close? You didn't confused the Meteo circle and the formula, right?"
Cory's fireworks had exploded a bit too close. The embers that fell from the fireworks began to shoot down to the ground. They would be gone by the time they hit the ground, but it was a bit dangerous for where the two of them sat.
"Be careful!"
When Cory was about to get hit by an ember, Shuraina threw her body towards him. Cory just calmly stared at Shuraina before catching her body as she fell towards him. It wasn't intended, but Shuraina had hugged him so he was very happy.
"Keep looking, you'll see something great."
Cory hugged Shuraina back and moved his hand from left to right.
The embers began to shoot threateningly down to the ground before soon changing shape.
Gentle swaying. The firework embers changed to pink flower petals and gently swayed onto the ground. When the massive fireworks were gone, countless petals began to rain down onto the floor. The entire place became covered in petals. It was pink everywhere.
"Haha. What is this? I thought it was the end of the world."
"It's revenge for you playing jokes on me earlier."
Thinking back, Cory was kind but he wasn't someone who just allowed things to slide all the time. Shuraina huffed out a laugh at his meager bout of revenge.
Petals landed on Shuraina's head, shoulders, hand, and all over her. When she raised her hand, petals piled on top of it. Cory had created a transparent floor in the air, so petals began to pile on top of the transparent floor. Shuraina put her hand in the pile of petals and threw them back in the air. The pink petals began to dance in the air once again, gracefully falling down.
Cory touched Shuraina's long, waist-length orange hair.
"Shuraina, are you going to be uncomfortable if I'm enthusiastic in my attempts? I told you that I was going to be desperate, so I wanted to confess a few more times."
Cory asked, still hugging Shuraina tightly. Shuraina's eyes grew wide, taken aback at the sudden question that had come in the midst of her flower viewing. She just touched the petals and didn't answer.
Instead, Shuraina looked up to see Cory. Cory's eyes were full of affection. Cory had just decided to be completely honest with his emotions after being caught. He just stared at her in her eyes and continuedspeaking.
"I like you so much that I can't hide it anymore."
Cory carefully wrapped his hands around Shuraina's face. Shuraina's face was soft and warmer in his hands. It grew even warmer.
"I have a request."
"..."
"I won't act awkward no matter how many times you reject me, so don't treat me awkwardly either."
"..."
Shuraina didn't respond. Instead, she grabbed his hands, still on her face, and used them to hide her face. Her face was much warmer than the surrounding air. It must've been because of the fireworks, but Shuraina's face was even redder than the fireworks in the sky.
When a brightly-colored firework shot up in the air again, her face became even more exposed. Cory was initially anxious at her lack of response, but soon panicked as he stared at Shuraina's blushing face.
"What is this, DuBois."
Shuraina lowered Cory's hands slightly. He could finally see Shuraina's eyes. Their eyes met, and neither of them thought about looking away.
"….it's so cringey."
Her voice was slightly higher-pitched. Shuraina's half-lidded, relaxed eyes curved into a half-moon smile. Her ears were red from embarrassment, but so were her eyes.
Cory's brain stopped working for a moment. It wasn't that he wanted his brain to reboot just then, but it just happened. He'd always thought this, but there were moments when Shuraina was just incredibly beautiful. It just swooped in and made his brain pause whenever he lowered his guard.
"To be honest, I'd never thought of you as anything more than friends."
Cory nodded as if he understood. Cory slowly blinked and held his breath–he had felt a bit of hope as he looked at Shuraina's expression. His shoulders slumped when she continued speaking.
"But, I've thought about it recently."
"...….huh?"
Shuraina said, frowning for a bit before smiling.
"It doesn't sound too bad."
"What does that mean?"
"To be really honest, I feel like it's a bit awkward, but it makes me a tiny bit excited."
He had only thought of the negatives, but the situation was flowing in a way he hadn't even dreamed of. He felt like he had been shoved off a cliff, saved, and dropped again, and saved again.
Shuraina was acting coy, as if she was going to accept him and rejected him.
"I like you a lot, too. I like being with you too. Being glued to you like this doesn't sound bad, either. Although I'm not sure if this is what you're feeling."
"..."
Shuraina began teasing him slightly, enjoying his reaction.
"Desperate confessions? I'll allow it, so do as you please. Make me fall head over heels in love with you."
Cory tilted his head and wondered what the heck she was talking about. So what did this mean? Was I dumped or was she accepting me? He was confused, but he soon understood the situation after looking at Shuraina's face.
"…..you."
She looked incredibly, extremely amused. Unlike her bold statement, her eyes were shining as she expectantly awaited Cory's response.
"This situation, is this one of the plans in your dating life checklist from before?"
"...…..!"
Cory asked, thinking back to the love life plans that Shuraina had written down in her notebook. He had been watching Shuraina as she slept in the club room, notebook still open. He had read the contents once. He remembered seeing something about how she wanted someone to cling onto her, desperate for her love.
Shuraina had been eagerly awaiting his response when a chill ran down her spine. Her face stiffened and she pretended that it wasn't true, but she was obviously shocked. N, no, no way. She tried to deny it, but her voice was shaking.
"Puhaha, come over here, you."
Cory burst into laughter as he hugged her tight and supported the back of her neck with his hand. He buried his face into her shoulder and continued laughing. His shoulders even shook.
"I'll cling onto you until you're content, so do you want to check that off your list?"
"I ripped the list after I ended it with Eric."
"I can make it again."
"I'm going to rip it again."
Shuraina stared as Cory still shook with laughter. Her face turned bright red.
"Stop laughing!"