After a round of laughter and playful banter, the group started making their way toward a prime spot to watch the fireworks.
"Where are we headed?" Draconis asked.
"To the rooftop of a restaurant—Nino reserved the whole thing," Yotsuba explained.
Draconis blinked, a little impressed. All this just for fireworks? They really didn't mind splurging.
"Hold up!" Nino called out suddenly. "We came all the way to the festival and haven't even bought that yet?"
The girls paused, then exchanged looks of sudden realization.
"Oh right! We haven't gotten that yet!"
"Wait, you mean that?"
"Do they have a stall for that here?"
"I want that so bad!"
Their excitement was palpable.
Watching their supposed synchronicity, Draconis raised an eyebrow. "So… what exactly is 'that'?"
Nino grinned. "Ready?"
She counted them in, and in the next instant, all five sisters shouted their answers at once.
"Candy apples!"
"Chocolate bananas!"
"Yakisoba!"
"Taiyaki!"
"Shaved ice!"
Five voices, five completely different cravings.
Draconis stared, deadpan. "So much for telepathy."
The girls just groaned, abandoning all pretense of unity. "We'll just buy everything!"
Draconis couldn't help but smile. With the energy of a shopping spree, the sisters dove into the festival stalls, and he dutifully followed—bodyguard, chaperone, and now personal snack mule.
"Draconis, keep up!" Miku called over her shoulder.
"Coming," he replied, quickening his pace until he was shoulder to shoulder with her. "You're all pretty fired up. Don't they do fireworks every year?"
Miku's voice softened. "Fireworks are memories of our mom. She loved them—used to take us every year. Even now, after she's gone, we still come together."
Draconis nodded, understanding. "Fireworks fade, but feelings last."
Miku smiled wistfully. "That's what they mean to us."
Up ahead, Ichika pulled out her phone, glanced at the screen, and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I need to take this call."
She slipped away from the noisy crowd to a quieter corner.
Draconis watched her go, thoughtful. Lately, Ichika seemed to get a lot of calls—always busy with something. He wondered what she was up to, but it wasn't his place to ask.
Suddenly, the festival's loudspeakers crackled—the fireworks were about to begin.
Nino hurried everyone toward the hotel, but in the surging crowd, the sisters were swept apart.
The tide of people pushed and jostled, scattering the quintuplets. Draconis kept his cool; for a demon, tracking auras was child's play.
He pushed through to Nino, who looked a little shaken from the crush. Draconis reached out and caught her wrist.
"Nino, where are the others?"
"We got split up. It's chaos out here. What do we do?"
"Don't worry. I'll get you to the hotel first."
Nino sighed, but let him lead her. She grew quiet, eyes down, lost in thought.
Soon, Draconis delivered her to the empty rooftop. Nino looked around, then groaned. "Crap, I'm the only one who knows the hotel address." She fumbled for her phone—no signal.
"What kind of place has no service on the rooftop?" she complained.
"Relax. The fireworks last an hour. Stay put—I'll bring the others."
With that, Draconis dashed downstairs, leaving Nino to stew in frustration.
Using his aura sense, he quickly located Yotsuba and Itsuki—one distracted by goldfish scooping, the other by food stalls. He gave them directions to the hotel, then set off to find Miku.
He found her limping, face pinched in pain.
"What happened?"
"Someone stepped on me… It hurts," Miku said, voice small.
Draconis glanced down, then knelt. "I'll carry you."
"Huh?"
"We promised all five would watch together, didn't we?"
Without waiting for a reply, he scooped her onto his back.
Miku clung to him, cheeks burning. The sudden closeness left her flustered—and worrying if she was too heavy.
But for Draconis, her weight was nothing; he did push-ups with Rias and Asia sitting on him every morning.
"Let's get you to the hotel. Did you see Ichika?"
"No…" Miku murmured, her voice muffled against his shoulder. "She's been acting strange lately."
"Yeah, I noticed."
"Oh, I think I saw her get out of some bearded guy's car once…" Miku added.
Draconis paused, thrown. A bearded guy's car?
What kind of twist was this?
He carried Miku up to the rooftop, finally reuniting four sisters. Only Ichika was missing.
Maybe it was all his running around, but the girls looked a little guilty. Still, they thanked him earnestly.
"Sorry for the trouble. Please bring Ichika back."
Draconis nodded. For the quintuplets, watching fireworks together was tradition—they wouldn't want to break it.
"Leave it to me."
He headed downstairs, tracking the last aura. He couldn't distinguish the sisters individually, but by process of elimination, the remaining one had to be Ichika.
He zeroed in on the familiar presence, spotting Ichika's figure. As he approached, arm outstretched to tap her shoulder, a man suddenly stepped between them.
"Who are you? What do you want with Ichika?"
Draconis sized up the newcomer—a bearded older man.
Well, this was getting interesting.
—
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