He stood utterly frozen, bombarded with bright lights, enticing smells and the joyous laughter of children—all crashing into a mind that wasn't accustomed to any of it.

  What lay before him wasn't just a festival, but life itself in its purest social form.

  The air was thick with hundreds of competing scents belonging to various fried dishes he'd never seen before. Sizzling meat, bubbling oils, caramelized sugars—just to name a few. Each aroma danced around him like invisible sprites vying for his attention.

  A gentle warmth soon enveloped him, beckoning him forward. Not the oppressive kind of warmth that makes you sweat either. The rare kind that recalls a mother's comforting embrace. Had he been a different man, he might've been moved to tears.

  What realm had he stumbled into? Was this truly the same world he'd spent all his life in? If so, why was this pocket of happiness not shared with the rest of humanity?

  As he grappled with these questions, his brain finally registered the hundreds of wooden stalls, and a familiar unease crept back like frost across a windowpane.

  “On second thought…” He murmured, taking a half-step backward, his heel catching slightly on the uneven ground. “Let's not do this. Why don't we just go to Burger Queen or something? Yeah, I could kill for a Nerd Burger right now.”

  He’d attempted to mask his rising panic, but the slight tremor at the end of his sentence betrayed him.

  Sensing that tremor, a firm grip seized his left wrist, yanking him back into the depths of what he could only describe as sensory limbo. The touch was slightly warm, and a bit frail. He felt as if a single wrong move would snap their wrist in half. And yet, he was pulled in all the same.

  “C'mon Akuma. Let's go have some fun.”

  Jacob's voice was gentle but insistent, his eyes reflecting the colorful lanterns hanging overhead.

  Despite his reluctance, Akuma found himself standing before a food stall, his eyes fixed on the sample dish with uncertainty battling hunger. Its golden crust caught the lantern light, the steam carrying notes of sweetness and savory spice. But it was the sheer simplicity of the dish that struck him the most. To him, it resembled a golden seashell glistening beneath a twilight sky.

  Akuma's fingers closed around the golden-coated morsel skewered on a wooden stick—often referred to as fried chicken.

  One bite was all it took. His eyes widened, then sparkled like polished garnets catching firelight. The crunch gave way to tender juiciness, an explosion of flavor that sent shivers from his tongue to the base of his spine.

  “Are you seriously telling me you've never had fried chicken before?” Jacob asked, baffled by the absurdity of it.

  .

  “Never.” Akuma replied, the answer muffled by his still-chewing mouth.

  He savored each molecule of flavor like a man who'd discovered water after days stranded in a desert.

  A single bead of sweat traced Jacob's cheek, glistening under the festival lights.

  “Where have you been hiding all these years, grandpa?”

  Before Jacob could press further, Akuma's attention shifted entirely, his prior anxiety seemingly vaporized by the discovery of fried poultry.

  “Let's try that next!” He exclaimed, already on the move, his finger extended toward a spinning cloud of sugar at a nearby stall.

  His eyes held the wonder of a child. The kind of wonder where all caution is thrown out the window, forgotten in the face of a new sensory adventure.

  “Don't tell me you've never had cotton candy either...”

  Jacob's words faded into the festival noise as Akuma darted ahead, already engaging the vendor, his shoulders relaxed in a way they hadn't been moments before.

  “Yeah, that guy over there's gonna pay for me.” He announced, gesturing back at Jacob without a hint of shame, a half-smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

  With a resigned sigh that couldn't quite mask his laughter, Jacob caught up, watching as Akuma devoured the rainbow confection with childlike wonder. The colored sugar dissolved against Akuma's lips, leaving faint traces of blue and pink at the corners of his mouth.

  Jacob hesitated for a moment, questioning if he should disturb the glutton who seemed lost in his own world of sugar-induced bliss.

  “Say, Akuma… We're about the same age. So does that mean you're starting high school next week too?”

  Though the question seemed casual, Jacob's fingers fidgeted with the hem of his shirt as he awaited Akuma’s answer.

  “Hm? Oh, yeah.”

  Akuma paused between bites, the sugar dissolving on his tongue. He pulled a strand of cotton candy away, watching it stretch and thin before breaking.

  “I'll be going to Saint Peter High next week. What about you?”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Same here.”

  Jacob's gaze drifted skyward, lost among the thin clouds illuminated by the festival lights. The night sky above them was a canvas of deep indigo, punctuated by stars competing with the glow of the festival below.

  “I really hope we end up as classmates…” He added, his voice barely audible above the surrounding commotion.

  “What was that?”

  Akuma leaned closer, a tuft of cotton candy still clutched in his hand.

  “Nothing!” Jacob replied instantly, his eyes darting away, a flush creeping up his cheek that had nothing to do with the summer heat.

  “If you say so... By the way, this cloud thing is really good.”

  “I bet it is…” Jacob mumbled, watching Akuma's obvious delight with a mixture of amusement and something softer, less definable.

  The awkward silence that followed settled between them as Akuma finished the last sugary strands, licking residue from his fingers with unabashed enjoyment.

  While looking for their next adventure, his attention was caught by a crowd gathered around a shooting gallery. Specifically, it was the loud popping of cork guns that caught his attention.

  “What's happening over there?”

  He nodded toward the commotion, his eyes tracking a child walking away with a massive stuffed bear almost bigger than himself.

  Jacob followed his gaze, recognizing the attraction immediately, his posture deflating slightly.

  “It's a target practice event. You know, shoot down a prize and you keep it, kind of thing.”

  His expression clouded as he finished, his shoulders slumping forward like wilting flowers.

  “I really wanted that dragon plushie, but...”

  Then a sigh escaped him, heavy with regret and defeat.

  “I'm terrible at that game.”

  “A plushie…?”

  Akuma raised a brow, a hint of teasing entering his voice.

  “Are you sure you're a boy?”

  “Rude! Boys can like plushies too, you know!”

  Jacob's cheeks flushed a bit as he tried to defend himself, his arms crossing over his chest in mock indignation.

  “Besides, I wasn't trying to get it for myself.”

  “Hm?” Akuma questioned, his expression softening when he caught the shift in Jacob's tone. “Oh, was it for Ely?”

  “Yeah...” Jacob replied, his voice laced with regret.

  His gaze drifted to a young couple walking by, the girl clutching a similar, much smaller dragon to her chest.

  “Earlier today, I tried winning it for him. You should have seen his eyes, dude. Nothing but complete trust… But I just couldn't get it. The worst part is that he didn't even complain. He can be such a grown-up sometimes.”

  A half-hearted laugh escaped him as he tried making himself feel better about his uselessness.

  “Then let's go.”

  “Huh?”

  Jacob looked up to find Akuma's hand extended toward him, accompanied by a smile that somehow dispelled his self-disappointment like sunshine burning through morning fog.

  Before he could process what was happening, he found himself pulled through the crowd toward the shooting gallery as if swept into an adventure not of his choosing. Akuma's grip was firm, his palm warm and tight against Jacob's wrist.

  “Yeah, this guy right here's gonna pay for me.” He announced to the booth operator, his thumb jabbing in Jacob's direction, his face a mask of perfect innocence.

  Jacob sighed, digging into his wallet for more cash.

  “Way to ruin the moment, dude.”

  “Eh? What happened?”

  Akuma's puzzled expression seemed genuine, his head tilted slightly to one side.

  Jacob shook his head, fighting to hold his laughter.

  “Nothing.”

  With casual confidence, Akuma took the fake rifle, examining the wooden cork nestled in the barrel. He hefted it, testing its weight.

  Jacob couldn’t help but notice how precise his movements seemed to be, especially for someone who claimed to be unfamiliar with the world.

  “So I just shoot down one of these prizes? That's all?”

  He squinted one eye, taking aim at the row of spinning targets.

  “Yep. But trust me, it isn't as easy as–”

  Pop!

  The cork shot forward with a sharp pop, and there was a faint metallic clang as it struck its target dead center. The prized dragon plushie tumbled from its perch as if in slow motion.

  “Congratulations, sir!” The stall keeper's voice boomed, already extending the plush dragon toward Akuma. “Consider yourself fortunate, my boy. This very prize reduced several children to tears today.”

  Akuma accepted it with a shrug, running his fingers over the soft purple fabric.

  “Must be from some popular kids show or something.”

  “Wait a minute!”

  Jacob stared, his eyes widened by disbelief mingling with envy. His mouth moved soundlessly for a moment before the right words came to him.

  “H-how? What did you do? Did you cheat?”

  He leaned in, examining the rifle as if it might reveal some secret.

  “Now who's being rude?” Akuma asked, feigning offense, one hand pressed dramatically to his chest. “Do I really strike you as someone who'd cheat at a carnival game?”

  “Okay, maybe not. But how? Isn't this your first time playing?”

  Jacob's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

  “Sure is.”

  Akuma crossed the short distance between them, offering him the dragon. Its beaded were like twin points of reflection that seemed to wink at Jacob.

  “Here you go.”

  For a moment Jacob hesitated, his brotherly instinct battling against his pride. The battle was fierce, but there could only be one victor. His fingers twitched at his sides, torn between reaching out and maintaining his dignity.

  “Th-thanks…” He whispered, his fingers closing around the soft fabric, clutching it to his chest as if it were made of porcelain rather than polyester.

  “You're very welcome.”

  The words were simple, but Akuma's expression held genuine warmth that reached his eyes and softened his usual guarded features. Jacob was also a bit embarrassed by Akuma actually hearing his whisper, his ears turning slightly pink at the tips.

  They spent the next few hours immersed in pretty much every experience the festival had to offer. Games of chance and skill, street performances, and an endless buffet of foods Akuma had never encountered.

  They watched a fire dancer twirl flaming batons that seemingly left trails of light in the darkness. They also applauded a street magician who pulled flowers from thin air. And even marveled at an old woman with gnarled hands weaving impossible patterns with a single piece of string between her fingers.

  And if you're curious, out of all the games they played, Jacob didn't manage to win a single one. Not even the fish-scooping game—which he seemed highly confident in until the paper net dissolved in his hands before he could capture a single goldfish.

  It was an evening neither would soon forget. Though in Akuma's case, the evening would truly be unforgettable. And I mean that for entirely wrong reasons.

  The overwhelming happiness that had initially dissolved his phobia began to ebb with each passing hour, like a tide retreating from shore. What started as a slight tightness in his chest evolved into something more insidious, a darkness creeping in from the edges of his mind.

  The bright lanterns that once seemed magical now burned like miniature suns against his retinas, each pulse of light a needle driving into his brain. The joyous laughter of children and couples morphed into a discordant symphony that hammered against his skull. Even his skin grew hypersensitive to every brush of passing pedestrians, each accidental bump like sandpaper against his nerves.

  His breathing quickened, becoming shallow and weak. Each inhale felt like sucking peanut butter through a straw.

  Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, running down his pulsing temples. The world began to tilt and swirl around him, colors bleeding into one another like watercolors in the rain.

  “Jacob...”

  The name escaped as little more than a strained whisper, barely audible above the crowd. Luckily his fingers found Jacob's sleeve, clutching the fabric with a desperate tugg.

  “Help me... Please.”

  “Hm?”

  Jacob turned, his expression transforming from happiness to concern in an instant. In his worry, he’d dropped the dragon plushie.

  “Akuma? …Akuma?! Dude, you're as pale as a ghost! What happened?!”

  His free hand rose instinctively to Akuma's forehead, checking for fever.

  “I'll explain... later…” Akuma managed between ragged breaths, one hand clutching at his chest where his heart hammered against his ribs like a frightened bird in a cage. “But please... I need to get out of here.”

  Confusion washed over Jacob, but more than that, concern for his friend capsized any other emotion. Without hesitation, he positioned himself at Akuma's side, guiding his arm across his shoulders to support his increasingly unsteady frame.

  Carefully, he navigated through the festival crowd, spotting a quiet alley some distance away that might offer the escape Akuma so desperately needed.

  “Just hold on…” Jacob murmured, his breath warm against Akuma's ear. “I've got you.”