The show must go on [6/6]
We could make it happen - Swing out sister
Moving around constantly through the country with the circus its members often missed the local festivals for merely days, so it was always a great event when they could actually go to one. Most of the men owned old yukatas and sandals that, while not very up-to-date regarding fashion, could still be used for occasions like festivals. The adults would usually go together or split into pairs or small groups, but the three boys had started refusing to go with them since they turned ten, apparently feeling too embarrassed to be seen with the miscellaneous bunch of eccentric and out-of-fashion adults.
The town the circus was currently located at was having its local festival in the first week of august, and the three boys were excited about it; having made up after their fight they saw the festival as the perfect chance to have fun together again, so they had made their own preparations separated from the adults’ ones. It had been long since they had had the chance to go to a festival, so the three of them had grown too big for their old yukatas and needed new ones. Jin got a dark navy blue one with a light stripped pattern that made him look older than he was, and Pi bought a white one with black patterns like thick brushstrokes that matched his dark hair; he even got a white uchiwa to complete his attire. Kame was left with a white one covered in light purple flowers and waves and darker stripes that looked quite like a girl’s, which got the boy quite an amount of teasing by his two friends; it didn’t help that Kame was the only one that didn’t react fast enough to escape when Takki decided to arrange the boys’ hair, or that he was the only one with his hair long enough to actually be arranged. By the time they headed toward the festival location Kame’s hair was prettily tied up with pins of many colors and flowery shapes, and both Jin and Pi had started teasing him again much to the boy’s mortification.
They rode on the horses to the festival, which caused the kids to go crazy at them. In a moment they were surrounded by a bunch of loud little boys and girls that wanted to touch and ride on the animals. Kame laughed and between the three of them made sure each of the kids got a short ride on the equines, which got them some tips from grateful parents. They tied the animals to the trees around the parking lot near the festival location and set off toward the brightly illuminated stands with excited smiles. Jin took both his friends’ hands and squeezed them tightly; he couldn’t care less about what people might think of it and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let go now that he could finally do it.
The festival location was packed with stands illuminated by bright paper lamps and colorful light bulbs hanging from ropes between the stands. It was full of people in traditional clothing: young women and men with their friends or on dates, children playing with sparklers and pulling their smiling parents toward the game they wanted to try out and even some foreign people that stuck out within the crowd. The boys spent a while just wandering around to check the different stands and drool at the food, though it was mostly Jin who did that while his two lovers put up with it with a resigned rolling of eyes.
None of them was able to resist the delicious smelling food for long, though, and soon enough they were stuffing themselves with okonomiyaki, yakisoba, takoyaki, yakitori, onigiri, grilled fish and corn and many sweets like taiyaki and chocolate bananas until even Jin was too full to eat anything more. They barely managed to avoid the circus’ adults when Kame spotted Takki enthusiastically waving at them; the boys quickly ran into the haunted house before the eccentric bunch of adults could catch up to them, but it turned out not to be a great idea since Jin started screaming and jumping onto his two friends every time the demons moved toward them. Kame’s hair was completely messed up and Yamapi’s yukata falling off his shoulder slightly when they finally got out, with a still slightly whimpering Jin clinging to them.
Even though most of the game stands were for kids, Jin insisted on trying goldfish scooping when he saw green turtles swimming in the tank along the fishes. Kame rolled his eyes and pretended to be annoyed as Jin handed the stand’s owner the 100yen coin and readied himself to catch some of the tiny animals, but he couldn’t help a smile and a light blush when the boy handed him a water filled bag with two turtles swimming alongside a golden fish after a couple of tries and broken paper scoopers and 300 wasted yens. Kame was not fast enough to catch the scurrying fishes, but he had good aim and he managed to knock over all the stacked up cans with a hacky sack at once, but instead of choosing a big stuff animal he decided to take two smaller ones; he gave one doll sized seal to Jin and a cute pig to Yamapi. Pi was not to be left behind, and he tried a game of ring tossing; even though Yamapi only managed to get a girly flowery hair clip Kame laughed, happily clipping it over his ear and making a couple of funny girly poses, even daring to plant a quick chaste kiss on the boy’s cheek that made Pi blush.
It was well past midnight when the boys decided to leave the festival, though they weren’t lucky enough to avoid the adults. Takki’s cheeks were flushed under the effect of probably a little too much alcohol, and he hugged and messed with their hair and clothes until Nagase lifted him off with one arm and allowed the boys to escape, though not before taking the toys and the turtles and promising to bring them home. Jin thanked the man and the three boys rushed to run away before Takki could break free or - more likely - stretch his arms enough to get a vice-gripe like hold of them again.
美好的 - 許哲珮 (Beautiful - Peggy Hsu)
There was an hour ride to the nearest beach, but none of them minded much. Jin was riding alone on Faiya, so they made the horses keep a slow gait much to the boy’s relief; Jin wasn’t very fond of riding in the dark. From time to time Kame would spur Bonami and disappear in the darkness ahead only to come back a few minutes later. Neither Jin nor Pi minded much and they kept their own pace, chatting away about everything and anything. It was almost two in the morning when they finally arrived at the beach, so they hopped off the horses and sprawled on the sand to watch the fireworks that were about to start.
Despite the distance, the fireworks were shot high in the sky and were perfectly visible from the beach. The explosions sounded faint, but they covered the low rustle of the dying waves and their soft gasps of awe at the colorful lights in the dark sky. Pi cuddled against Jin’s chest with Kame’s head in his lap; Jin’s arms were comfortably wrapped around his shoulders while he played with the loose strands of the youngest boy’s hair. The atmosphere was nice and relaxed, and they lost track of time. The fireworks ended with a great golden explosion that shattered into small sparkles that slowly drifted down like stars until they disappeared. Jin wrapped his hand around Yamapi’s neck to gently twist his head and kiss him softly on the lips. Kame got up and moved to rest against Yamapi’s chest; he waited patiently for his turn, threading his fingers through the boy’s hair when Jin finally turned to kiss him, and Jin smiled from ear to ear when Yamapi pulled Kame closer to kiss him too.
They stayed like that until sunrise, a few hours later, too lazy and comfortable to actually move. As the first sunrays started to fall over the sand they pushed themselves up and mounted up their horses, but the scenery was too beautiful for them to go back just like that. Kame spurred Bonami to gallop along the shore, and the horse’s hooves splashed water drops that shone like tiny diamonds under the bright golden rays. As Jin and Pi nudged their own animals to follow the black one, Kame stood up on the saddle with his arms stretched out to the side; he was galloping toward the East and with the rising sun in front of him he was but a black silhouette for his friends.
Yamapi smirked and spurred Babieca to follow the bigger horse, but that made Faiya want to follow and Jin lost his balance as he had been trying to stand on the stirrups. Yamapi pulled on the white horse’s reins when he heard his friend’s squeak so he could take the chestnut animal’s reins and make it slow down again. Jin glared a little and tried to push Yamapi off his horse, which caused a small ruckus and Kame to laugh at them. When they looked up Kame was sitting backwards on the saddle, facing them and sticking his tongue out.
Jin couldn’t help but to smile. He smiled and spurred his horse to run faster, feeling the water splash around him and wet his cheeks, and Yamapi laughing and galloping beside him and Kame’s beautiful grin getting closer, and Jin felt so happy and thrilled as the three of them galloped under the sunrise that he thought his heart would explode, only he knew it wouldn’t because their time had only just started and if there was something he had learnt in the circus it was that the show must go on.
To part V
And with this we're done :) I hope you enjoy the fic, and the wonderful music it brings along courtesy of the wonderful singlehappiness who made me really happy for different reasons with this ♥