(Kizhashi’s POV)

I ended up getting seperated from them.

I was wandering around in the crowd trying to reconcile with my friends. But as far as my eyes stretched, there was nothing except unfamiliar faces. In this stampede, I only ended up straying further from them.

I just heard the announcement and the fireworks were about to start soon as well. I was standing quietly near a fancy mask shop, watching people walking around in the clamour.

 I was regretting the fact to not charge my mobile before leaving the house. I couldn’t text any of my friends because it switched off. My e eyes were trying search for them but in this ocean of people, it was all in vain.

There was no way that I could afford searching for my friends group without risking the probability of missing the start of the fireworks. I stood there in silence contemplating on my next course of action.

Missing the fireworks wasn’t an option.

The place I was in at the moment was illuminated with so many tiny bulbs that it actually blocked the radiance of the night sky. The only thing I could see when I looked towards tge sky was a clouded up vision mixed with lights hitting my peripherals.

Standing around and thinking endlessly wasn’t going to get me anywhere. So I decided to walk towards a less congested part. With slouched shoulders, I turned around and started making my way through the mob.

After a few moments of wandering around, I finally reached a place which wasn’t as crowded. Letting out breath which fogged up before my mouth, I looked around. I wasn’t wearing a watch so couldn’t even check the time.

Now one might ask me why I didn’t ask a stranger for help.

Asking a stranger for their mobile to contact my friends was something that I would never even think about doing, let alone asking them time. Probably because I was a rather socially awkward person outside school.

As my eyes were shifting back and forth, a familiar figure caught my eyes. There was a sudden jerk of relief inside me, as I finally hoped to be in the company of someone I knew. I didn’t like being alone.

I squinted my eyes to get a clearer view. I could barely make out the figure to be of a boy walking towards me. As he got closer, I could finally see the all black outfit he was wearing and the can of drink in his hand. 

 “Saishi?” I called out to him. He stopped in his tracks and looked at me in surprise, “You… what are you doing here?”

He was as blunt as always. His bland eyes were gazing at me while he was fiddling with a dark coloured can his hand. And as usual, he was wearing an all black outfit from head to toe. Only his shoes were white from the snow over them.

“I can ask you the same thing.” I retorted immediately. He lifted the can in his hand and replied, “I wanted to buy some chocy milk.”

He definitely was more attached to chocy milk than he was to his girlfriend.

“You and your chocy milk…” I mumbled under my breath but he heard me and chuckled while muttering, “Eternal love.”

I found his uninvited humour very out of the place. I was perplexed at his demeanour. But then again, it wasn’t every day that one might see a chilled Saishi, playing along with my silly jokes.

I noticed his eyes wandering around before he asked me, “By the way, where are the others?” 

It was a very disgraceful moment for me. Being a grown up girl in highschool, I still managed to get lost in a festival. This was the exact reason why parents don’t let go of their kid’s hand in crowded places.

“I… got seperated… from them.” I replied hesitantly with a nervous smile on my lips. He narrowed his eyes at me and asked, “Separated? For what?”

I looked at his dumbfounded face and appeared to be genuinely lost. I took a deep breath but ended up yelling at him, “What do you mean? I got lost, you egghead!” 

“Oh… well, now that you said it. You’re indeed quite far from where we were.” He nodded, while opening the can in his hand and taking a sip of the drink while looking at me.

“How did you end up here?” I asked him. He laughed awkwardly and replied, “Oh, I was searching for a vending machine that actually had chocy milk. So, I ended up walking quite far.”

“You are clearly more stupid than I thought.” I found that pretty hilarious to be honest. He chuckled and retorted, “Not coming from you.”

“Yeah whatever!”

 “I tried to get back but everyone just kept his pushing me everywhere.” I felt like complaining because it appeared like he was forming weird opinions about me and my predicament.

“That sounds like a rough evening for you.” He said with a nod. He again tried to say something but swallowed the words before they could escape their mouth, “I don’t understand… nevermind.”

“What?” I asked him, but he denied, “Nothing.”

Him being reluctant about it made me even more curious. I walked a bit closer to him and stared at him while asking with a more prodding tone, “What?! What!?”

He stepped back a bit and averted his gaze from me. Lifting his hands against his chest, he avoided my question and suggested, “Nothing… jeez. You should be concerned about getting back.”

“As if I wasn’t just trying that.” I muttered. He looked at me and asked, “Why didn’t you try calling anyone?”

Of course it was legible questions and very common one as well. Someone with a functional mobile would’ve obviously contacted their friends by that point of time and asked for help.

But unfortunately it wasn’t the case with me.

“My phone died.” I replied in a plain tone.. Saishi didn’t even try to hide his chuckle, as he said, “You sure have one hell of a luck today.”