"Guys!" Issei ran into our shared room, "There's a festival being held just an hour away!"

He caught us lazing about as usual, Ouroboras and me, I mean. Given it's been three whole weeks since we temporarily settled down in his parents' home turf, we had basically gotten into a rhythm of perpetual time-killing. I was trying to make sense of the numerous Japanese comic books Issei had on his shelf to no avail, and Ouroboras was burning through all the puzzles Asa had troubles dealing with.

"Okay?" I raised an Eyebrow, "And?"

"What do you mean and?" He furrowed his brows, "We can finally complete the checklist, remember? Go to a festival?"

"Oh right, there's that." I nodded before continuing to merely look at the foreign book in my hands, "I'll be honest, I totally forgot we were still doing that."

"An unfinished task leaves the mind in agony." Ouroboras tossed the completed sudoku puzzle onto the pile of thousands of other completed magazines, "Of course, since FRI connectivity originates from Nakijin, the people here have chosen to celebrate the day it was first announced as a sort of local festivity."

"Wait, that's what they're celebrating?" Issei looked offended, "What the hell, you're telling me they set up this whole elaborate carnival just because of National WiFi day?"

"The end of WiFi." Ouroboras briefly corrected him, "And yes, humans do indeed wish to find any and all opportunities to take the paid day off. I do not understand it myself..."

"Ah, if that's the case, I kind of feel like I understand their reasoning behind it now." I chuckled, "Then, what're we waiting for?"

"Lots of things, actually." Issei stopped the momentum, "Dad offered to go out and buy us some nice yukatas, mom said she'll be driving us since none of us have drivers licenses, and above all...!"

Above all...?

"You can't go to a festival during the day, everyone knows that!" He shouted confidently, "Fireworks! Clear stars and the moon in the sky! The dimly illuminated packed roads and alleys with food stalls on each side! The girl you're going with smiling as she frolics around in her yukata! The romance of the entire event is completely lost if you go during the day!"

"Except we're three dudes who are all away from our lovers." I raised a point.

"Then is that not what you humans call bromance?" Ouroboras asked a funny question with a totally serious face.

"Call it whatever you want, but if we're gonna do this, we have to do it right!" Issei raised his fists in the air.

And with that, we... sat back down and waited patiently for the evening to arrive. What? We just said there's nothing else for us to do but wait, so no need to be surprised. That being said, Itsuo hadn't come back until pretty late into the afternoon, making us worry something had happened to him on the way there. Thankfully, it seems he was just being a dumb father like all the other dumb fathers in the world.

"I got the yukatas!" He happily showed them to us.

"Where the hell have you been!?" Issei first chewed him out for coming back late.

"A-Ah, I bought Lune-san's and Ouroboras-san's yukatas in a nearby store, but I just couldn't bring myself to get my son any old yukata..." He nervously chuckled, "So, I called your grandma and asked her to prepare your grandfather's yukata while I drove over to pick it up."

"...You drove all the way to granny's?" Issei looked like he was holding back a thousand years of rage, "You almost doubled-no, TRIPLED your travel time just because of that!?"

"Just because? Son, it was your grandfather's dying wish to see you in the family yukata." He clicked his tongue, "Not like you'd known that, though..."

"Oi, are you blaming me for getting stranded in another world?"

"Well who else am I supposed to blame, dammit?!" Itsuo snapped, "Here I took the extra time and effort to get you fitted in something meaningful and nice, and you return the favor by focusing on me almost being late?"

"I never asked for your extra time and effort, I asked for a damned yukata!"

"And you got all that and more, you ungrateful son! Think about your grandfather for a second, if you even remember his face anymore...!"

"You take that back! I miss grandpa more than you could ever know, a thousand times more because I wasn't there when he bit the dust!"

"Yeah right, mister Another Worldwide and his two girlies! Screwing around in a dangerous and foreign situation all this time, leaving his parents to hopelessly look for him like a bunch of idio-!"

"Shut up already!" I couldn't hold back anymore, "He's been looking for a way back this entire time, don't you get it!?"

"You stay out of it!"

"Hell no! Issei's gone through hell and back just to see you again, and all you've been doing is complaining about him wanting to tie up all his loose ends! Well I'm sick of it, and I'm sure he is too!"

"If it was just something as banal as visiting the 7 World Wonders, then he could've done that in a year!" Itsuo refuted.

"In a land without trains? Or planes? Or even cars for that matter?" I leaned into my argument heavily, "What do you suggest he should've done? Ran the whole fucking way? Without any money to his name? In a land at least a hundred times more dangerous than this easy-mode island?"

"You're kind of hyperbolising there just a wee bit, Lune." Issei whispered.

"Hey, you're straying off topic now." Itsuo pointed his finger at me.

"Shut your facehole, I'm 100% on topic!" I shot back, "Because this man suffered a lot just to get back home! He got what he wanted, but what's the point if I'm here instead of Othelia and Eleanor!? The ladies that literally made his trip in another world worthwhile!"

"Alright, that is far more than enough." Ouroboras calmly put his hand on my shoulder, "Forgive me everyone, but I believe our main goal is to not be late for the festival, no?"

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Huh?" Itsuo tilted his head.

"If this is the case, then why are we postponing our arrival with needless arguments?" His Eyes glew White as the temperature in the room heightened, "Answer me, I-tsu-o-san..."

"AHHHH!"

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***

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The drive to the festival was quite awkward, I'll admit. After Ouroboras had literally branded Itsuo with a mark on his neck as a warning, he ran away apologizing, leaving us alone in the room with the three yukatas. Apparently, the Sun God had also gotten quite annoyed by this father's harsh words to his son, but even then - this isn't the way to solve the issue! We chewed him out for doing that as we put our yukatas on. I wanted to go look for Itsuo and cast Heal on him, but Ouroboras was adamant about prioritizing the festival.

"Thoughtless mortal..." Ouroboras leaned on the car window as a mortified Asa drove us to the place, "You should be thankful I did not kill him, Issei Kaido..."

"......."

Issei was quiet too, and honestly, who could blame him? Of course we know that Ouroboras is the one to blame for all this, but I'm sure in his mind he's technically blaming himself instead. In his Eyes, it was Issei's bickering that escalated the situation to such a degree and got his father branded, but not only that. Judging from the difficult expression he makes every time he sees the yukata he's wearing, a sense of grief, guilt and regret appears to wash over him. Certainly, if he had just thanked his father's efforts and respected his grandfather's traditions from the start, none of this would've happened, so it must be devouring him on the inside. Still, he's forced to just ignore all this and go enjoy a festival like nothing ever happened. What a horrible God Ouroboras is...

"H-Hey, come on, relax!" I patted him on the back as his mother sped off, "Look, I can always Heal your dad back to normal at the end of the festival, so no need to worry!"

"But that's a lot of hours from now..."

"Eh, the pain'll teach him to not yell at his son." I joked.

"Is this funny to you?"

"...No, sorry, I..."

"Cause it's hilarious to me!" Issei then swapped back to his normal self, "Attaboy, Lune! Your rationale always knows how to cheer me up! Yeah, I might've been an ass too, but he was definitely in the wrong! He can wait a few hours until he gets Healed, but until then - Banzai!"

"Banzai?" I raised an Eyebrow.

"Banzai." Ouroboras nodded knowingly, "Banzai, Lune Grimheart."

Looks like banzai it is, then. Actually, I think that's just something they shout as a sort of "Hooray", because that apparently meant it was time for us to start making our rounds around the whole festival. Walking amidst the crowded area, it was quite difficult for us not to get separated in the crowd, but we'll be damned if we had to hold hands because of it. That's what I thought at least, but then these two just grabbed me without my consent and whisked me off to the nearest stall.

"What's that smell?" I sniffed the air, "It's incredibly sweet!"

"Candy apples, dude." Issei pointed at the bright Red glazed balls with sticks for handles the booth vendor was offering, "A staple of Japanese festivals!"

"Indeed, one would be hard-pressed to imagine a festivity here without them." Ouroboras nodded.

"I know what candy apples are, you dolts." I shook my head, "But they don't look or smell anything like the ones from back home. Is it even safe to consume such a sweet thing?"

"Dude, you're at a festival." Issei grumped, "Screw the salad talk and live a little!"

Well, I guess when they both put it like that, I can't exactly say anything against it... Partaking in the first bite of the evening, I was immediately overwhelmed by all possible tastes, spanning from a glucal sweet to a fructal one as well. The apple's fruity, slightly sour sweetness only complimented the sugary glaze, which in turn amplified the apple. It was a never-ending loop that kept perpetually increasing the tastiness level. A bona fide upwards spiral.

"Incredible!" I shouted, "I want more!"

"Don't go stuffing your face full of candy apples, idiot." Issei snickered, "You've still got all sorts of delights to try before you get to come back to these."

Pointing behind me, Issei had shown the path we were gonna take leading up to the main plaza. An entire road of carnival attractions with all sorts of tasty food stalls scattered in to act as a sort of checkpoint between them. Right, where was I rushing to? We still have a ton of things to try, and yet the party's just getting started!

"Takoyaki!" They handed one over to me.

"Delicious!" I returned back a thumbs up.

"Yakisoba!"

"Nice!"

"Yakitori!"

"Why's everything got yaki in it!" I pointed out, "Also, awesome!"

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Issei smirked, "Karaage!"

"Mmm, yummy!"

"All of that is nothing new to him, Issei!" Ouroboras scolded him, "Rather, he should try something foreign yet indigenous to this land. In other words - Okonomiyaki!"

"G-Guys..." I struggled to eat any more.

"Dango, come on man!" Issei yelled back at him.

"I-I really can't, you two..."

"Watame!"

"I'm not feeling so... Ugh..." I gagged.

"Hey, you doing alright?" Issei finally stopped the semantics to ask if I was doing okay.

"Y-Yeah, just a bit queasy..." I could barely even talk without almost throwing up, "Just... gimme a minute."

"Oh, is that so? Well I've got the perfect thing to cheer you up!" He happily shoved the long dark Brown stick in my mouth, "A choco-banana!"

Yeah, I threw up all that tasty food immediately after, right then and there. They had to take me away from the crowd and wait for me to woozily cast Heal on my stomach as I cried my Eyes out from the embarrassment. Dammit, these two get way too heated at the most random times...! This festival got off to a really nasty start...