As the evening slowly encroached and painted the skies of a comforting yellow and orange hue, I felt equally tired and full at the same time. As my face was stuffed with a taiyaki filled with green tea paste, I followed along with Riku who was having the time of her life venturing through the festival as if she had never been through it before.Her eyes of a dazzling gleam, drawn to every attraction and stalls the cherry blossom festival had to offer like a moth to a dancing flame. Though I felt like I was at my end's wits, I couldn't just pull her away and request that we rest for a moment, only a monster would strip away the smile from someone as joyful as her.Pulling myself together, we trekked through, and eventually, we met at one of the ends of the festival where but a few stalls and customers were looking around.It was a refresher to not stand in the middle of the crowds where each and every second is spent waiting in lines, pushing through crowds to get through places, and hearing the chatter of tourists who took pictures at every instance as a memento.I tried to catch a breath but before I could, I was pulled forth once again for one last purchase standing in front of a stall, I noticed an old lady was managing it; the wares she sold ranged from packaged sweets to what looked to be a variety of mochi.It was your everyday humble stall selling sweets for children and adults alike; the little exterior presentation of the place with the scare amount of advertising, added to the feeling that we were looking into a hidden store despite it being seen in plain view.I browsed the wares and as I shot a glance towards Riku, I noticed her eyeing something in front of her; the expression I was all too familiar with already as it has occurred countless times throughout the time I spent with her in this festival.She wanted to buy something"Obaasan! Please give me two skewers of Dango!" She exclaimed and immediately, she was handed the two colorful sticks of rice flour dumplings."Hehe, I haven't seen this much around from where we live. These are a must when it comes to the cherry blossom festival, they're iconic!""How about we end our eating spree with this, I can already tell you're getting full~," She said with a wide smirk as she took a picture of the colorful Dango she held onto.I looked down at the skewer I held and while the three round pieces of pink, white, and green rice dumplings remained in my hand, I recalled a memory of my sister and I.It was back when we were little and at around the age of six, my mother took my sister and me to a much smaller scaled cherry blossom festival that was held in our hometown. I remembered back then and though the memories were cloudy, I could clearly think back to a time when my sister and I were hesitant to share the differently flavored Dango in our hands with each other, simply because of how delicious they were.It really brought me back the memories of the past and as I bit into the strawberry-flavored Dango, tears then flowed out of my eyes; the wave of nostalgia added to how much I still missed my family all hitting me at the same time."Wh- What's wrong!? Is it really that delicious, how about I buy you another? Please stop crying!" She said in a panic, scrambling once more to stop the tears that poured out of my eyes.Before long, I managed to stop the tears from flowing and as I sniffled whatever was left in my mind, Riku looked toward me with a concerned look at first. The arm was raised ready to pat my vulnerable back and I opened my mouth which was moments away from speaking worlds of consolation switching all of a sudden.
She smiled instead and without saying another word, she stood in front of me expressing a set of eyes full of life and a stance that led me to think there was still a lot ahead of us for the day.
"Sorry about that... A memory just suddenly popped through my mind. I'm fine now..." I said as I rubbed my irritated eyes off its flowing tears.
"Don't worry about that, you can cry all you like, I won't judge~ After all, you must still have a lot on your mind, don't you?" "But since you said you're fine now... I think we should head for our next destination!" She exclaimed with yet another troubling and mischievous smile."Aha... I'm beginning to tire out, I'm not sure I can even walk another step forth..." I said as I felt my legs were about to turn to noodles from all the walking the two of us had done."Hehe, you won't be looking all tired like that when we finally arrive at the next destination! It's after all, a live concert held by one of my favorite indie bands after all..." "Hundreds of people are attending from what I've heard! I've already got the tickets for the two of us, exciting, isn't it?" She explained while presenting the two word-ridden tickets that would allow the entry of the two of us into the supposed exhilarating concert she described.Hearing her explain an entire concert that would be packed full of people and potentially even more than the cherry blossom festival we were at, I already felt tired as each and every word ran rampant through my exhausted mind.However like before, her smile quickly overtook any other thought I might have to outright avoid the concert she had been looking forward to all day.Reluctantly, I sighed and allowed myself to be pulled and led away once more to where the concert would be taking place............We took the train again as the venue was all the way to the other side of Kyoto from the festival. It was an hour-long ride and in addition to that, we had to walk all over the large city, taking twists and turns around the streets until finally we made it before the venue.We arrived half an hour early yet by the time we stood at the venue, we were taken aback to find hundreds of people already there waiting, dressed in what looked to me like merchandise sold by the performing band who would soon be on stage.Hundreds of people donned the same type of clothing and holding up homemade signs to cheer on the band, it was entirely different from what I had envisioned in my mind.A small stage set up in an empty parking lot and a few stalls set toward the left and right entrance of the venue were all there was. Apart from the few stray stores down the road, it looked like a pretty makeshift place for a band that was as popular as Riku described.We walked to the entrance and passed by the bouncers who merely took a glance at our tickets and allowed us passage, it was most definitely not what I was expecting from a concert.In my head, I envisioned the large stage set inside a small stadium, a naive and very narrow image I took from the channels I saw on the television. A place where hundreds of attendees would sit around and listen as bands filed out of the red curtains to perform their latest hits.But it was drastically different from the professional setting I had in mind.Not knowing what to make of it, I relied on Riku to pull me along once again, and with our first stop at the concert venue, we stopped by the merchandise store.The small stalls looked like they had been pitched up in a matter of minutes selling items of clothing, key chains, and such merchandise that represented the performing band. Moreover, despite the cheap pricing of what was being put on sale, it was much higher quality than what I would've expected.The black shirt with a tanned sticker of what appeared to be a bleeding dragon and a woman donned in white comforting the injured beast was certainly not a logo I would expect from a band recommended by none other than Riku herself."I didn't know you were into these things... Do you typically listen to these types of music?" I asked, turning over to see her already wearing the black t-shirt with a smile directed at the logo."That's right, but I don't only listen to rock, I actually like every genre of music. But rock in particular, there's just that sort of feeling you can't get unless you go to these concerts in person...""Trust me, you won't regret coming here once you hear them finally play!" She said, pushing a copy of the same shirt she was wearing into my arms, signaling to wear them quickly as the concert was about to begin.We quickened our pace, trying to secure our spot in the packed venue to listen and watch as the band began performing and focusing my eyes on the front, it then began.The lights that were previously illuminating the venue suddenly all shut off, except for one. The spotlight that was on top of the stage was still lit and shot its light down as bright as ever. It highlighted the stage and drew the people's attention to the center of the platform.People then began quieting down, the anticipation of the hundreds of fans that were present peeling their eyes and ears wide open, not wanting to miss even a second of what would happen next.Then in one climactic moment, the entire stage then was lit up and before the crowd could even react in time, the band began performing their first song of the night.Loud cheers abruptly followed and in a scripted moment, small-scaled fireworks began shooting out from the stage.Jets of sparks created a dazzling plume of light that added to the hype and intensity of the performance made by the band; the concoction of eye-catching colors made the hairs on my body stand with excitement while everyone continued their loud verbal applause.Before we knew it, the first song ended and for a short duration of time, the band stopped playing their instruments to speak to their fan and watch the audience."Thank you, thank you! We're honored to be here performing for each and every one of our fans! I hope you enjoyed our first song, District Fifty-Five, and for our next song..."The most-rated track of our career, String of Fate!" He shouted at the top of his lungs into the mic he held and in unison, the crowd cheered as they played; the loud-sounding instruments that blared down reverberated my very eardrums.It was beyond intense, the heart-palpitating sequence of events making it feel like the organs inside my body would burst from all the high-intensity music that played.The riff on the guitar, the hitting of drums, the skillful play of the base, and with the final cherry on top being the singer, I had never felt so enamored by the music that was playing right before my eyes. For a moment, I stood in a trance, unable to turn away from the bright shining lights and music that continued on, and as soon as I did, I turned over to see Riku as mesmerized as I was.She was staring straight at the playing band and as everything around her blurred out of vision, her eyes were set straight upon the scene of the playing band. She looked to be in bliss, eyes glittering and expression of nothing but true awe. For a moment, she looked cute and adorable. A feeling that didn't resemble that of a child's innocent cuteness but one that made my heart skip a beat because of the affection I felt towards her.Was it love that I felt?I couldn't put my finger on it even as the feeling persisted while the music in the background continued on; the shaking ground that felt like heartbeats, the constant chants that sent shivers down one's spine, the concert was truly unforgettable............Before long, the concert ended after a couple more songs and hype that was pushed back and forth from the audience and performers. As the lights of the stage shut off and cast the stage with moon glow, the attendees that came to the concert quickly dispersed, leaving nothing behind in the show of hundreds of people that lasted an entire hour. Standing there on the sidelines, I held a half-empty drink in my hand, still a little dazed from everything that had transpired that day. I couldn't forget the expression on her face back then.She opened her mouth that came from the epic performance and the gleaming eyes of diamonds that reflected off the dazzling bright stage lights, she looked almost enchanting.I smiled into the green translucent drink, delighted with today's ventures."I told you it was incredible, didn't I? It was literally worth dying for to see, wasn't it? Truly a once in a lifetime performance, I'd give anything to experience it again..." She said while skidding along the empty parking lot. "It... really was... I never knew watching a concert with a friend would be this fun... I'm glad you invited me out after all, I hadn't been this happy in a long while..." I said while smiling as I finished the rest of my drink and threw it into a rubbish bin that was full to the brim.While I spoke, her face suddenly flushed red as soon as she heard me say friend but before I could notice the change on her face, she turned away, embarrassed at how she blushed so easily."No problem, I'm glad that you enjoyed it as well. Honestly, I wasn't really sure if you were going to be so compliant with heading out all the way here with me, I figured you'd give up half..." "Yet you stayed until the end, I'm happy about that." She said, returning the smile with one of her one; the bright beaming curve of the very edge of her mouth filling my heart with a warmth I found rare in the past few weeks.We remained in silence for a second, taking in the silent atmosphere of the empty lot and before the moon had fully turned the skies into that of raven black, we took off back to the train station.The sounds of traffic that went about at night, the distant music of nightclubs that could be heard all across town, and the journey back felt almost dreamy with Riku by my side.And before I knew it, I was back home."I guess this is goodbye for today... Take care then, Eito-kun~" She said while waving."You too... Riku-chan..." I replied, walking back into my home with a stuffy and beating heart...