Soul for a Girlfriend?

Saishi was standing quietly, looking into the distance. He was wondering if Adachi was in this festival as well or not. Or whether he would get an opportunity to talk with her if she was indeed here.

Whenever Saishi found himself enjoying a little too much, the hanging burden of that wretched contract became too prominent. It was like he could never enjoy himself without feeling completely dreadful.

While immersed in thoughts, Tsūmen walked up to him and stood beside. He looked at Saishi and understood that he was zoning out and lost in his labyrinth of thoughts. He also stood there in silence.

Meanwhile Saishi became aware of Tsūmen's presence. His eyes shifted towards him, as he asked, "She is looking great, isn't she?"

Saishi indirectly complimented Kana who was looking quite beautiful that evening. 

Her luscious hair was flowing freely, as she wore black dress with imprinted patterns on them. The shine of her silver earrings that she doesn't usually wear made her look almost like a heroine from shoujo manga.

"Why? You wanna hit on her?" Tsūmen chuckled and Saishi retorted, "Oh, how can I? I thought that's your lookout."

"Where is she?" Saishi asked with a subtle smile. Tsūmen lifted his index finger and pointed towards the direction Kana was standing, "There… she is having yakisoba."

"I didn't specify who." A smug formed on Saishi's face. Tsūmen's eyes grew wide as his green orbs stared directly at him. Realising he walked straight into his trap. He sighed and cursed him in defeat, "You little bastard!"

"Your eyes seemed to be keeping a track of her, huh?" Saishi always enjoyed teasing Tsūmen about her and making him dumbstruck.

"Well if you put it that way, I'm looking out for everyone." Tsūmen chuckled nervously. There was a slight crimson tint forming on cheeks from the embarrassment. Saishi rested his arm on his shoulders and said, "Yeah, don't hide it. It's obvious."

"Bruh, what's obvious? You can keep shipping me with her but nothing's gonna happen."

"Why? You like someone else?"

"Not really, but you get my point." Tsūmen quickly closed the topic and Saishi chuckled under his breath at the sight of his flustered friend.

Amidst this array of stirring events and vibrant moments, they didn't even realise how much time had passed. Until it was announced in the microphone that the fireworks were about to start in half an hour.

They were quite delighted to hear that since it was the main event everyone was waiting for. There was a wave of clamour and in this slight instance, one of the girls got separated in the crowd without anyone realising.

She tried to walk towards her seemingly close friends who were slowly starting to dissolve in the crowd. Before she could even try something, she accepted herself as people went past her, bumping her left and right.

When Reina tried to grab Kizhashi's hand who was supposed to be walking behind her, she felt nothing. Turning around, she realised that Kizhashi had disappeared and a slight onset of panic took her over. 

"Where is Koi?" She yelped in concern, as everyone stared at her. 

Tsūmen looked at Reina's agitated face. His eyes wandered around trying to assess the situation and as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"I can't find her!"

Everyone came to an abrupt halt and stared at her face. Her panicked voice made the others aware of the situation as well. Kana and Saki were also looking around in haste but there seemed to be no trace of her.

"What the… wasn't she with you guys?" Seryoku asked, but noticing Reina's silence, he added, "Don't tell me she got lost…"

"Oh don't worry, she has a good sense of direction." Reina said, trying to convince herself for the best.

"Definitely not!" Seryoku slapped his forehead. Gaisen advised, "Well, just call her."

There was a prompt reply from Kana as she already tried calling her but it was in vain, "Her mobile is switched off."

"Bruh… what is this? Crime thriller?" Seryoku commented but it didn't do much good in acting as a comedic relief.

"Don't worry, we won't be far." Tsūmen looked at Reina and said in a soft voice while his eyes were still shifting around in all directions.

"But the fireworks are about to start as well." Saki said and a frown formed on Gaisen's face. His eyes seemed to think of something as it reflected his concern for her.

It was actually something to be wary of since the crowd will only get rowdier once it starts. And amidst all the clamour of people and fireworks, it'll be impossible to find her let alone get a peek at her figure.

"Saishi…"

"Saishi?"

"What the hell… he got lost too?" Tsūmen exclaimed and everyone looked at him with their mouths hung open, trying to comprehend the situation.

"Oh no, he said he is going to buy some chocy milk." Gaisen shook his head from left to right, as Tsūmen let out a sigh of relief, "Damn, I thought he got lost as well."

"Yeah like in those psycho killer movies. One by one, everyone keeps dying." Seryoku said in a bland tone, as Tsūmen was at a loss for words, "Bruh this dude…"

"What will we do about Koi!?" Reina asked again, but Seryoku replied, "Don't worry, she ain't a child."

"But…" Reina tried to intervene further but Seryoku cut her off, "You're overreacting now… just chill."

His blunt and insouciant tone exasperated Reina as a stuff expression formed on her face and she continued, "I'm not overreacting! You're just too casual!"

"Huh? What do you want me to do? Call the cops or something?" Seryoku laughed, completely disregarding what she said.

"You're… I'm not even gonna say anything." Reina rolled her eyes, but Seryoku was throwing daggers out his mouth, "Yet you did. Just now. Walking contradiction."

"Shut the fu…"

"Where did you last see her?" Tsūmen cut her off and asked Saki. Her eyebrows furrowed as she replied after thinking for a moment, "She was with us, just now. We visited the Yakisoba vendor."

"Let's search for her from that spot then." Tsūmen said and headed towards the shop.. Gaisen nodded and followed him, "She won't have wandered away much."