"Hey!" Iris said, walking up to us.

In the background the eleventh match started, inbetween two students that I didn't know nor care about.

"Congratulations." Irene replied, clapping her hands.

"Thanks!" Iris smiled. She then looked towards me, grabbing my hand.

"Yes?" I asked her.

And then she suddenly took off, running away while dragging me with her.

"Hey!" I heard the others shout. Glancing back, I saw them running after us.

Iris dragged me out of the stadium, back outside to the festival. We hid around the corner, watching as they ran past.

"So...why did we run away from everyone else?" I asked Iris, raising my eyebrow at her.

"Well, I think I deserve a reward for winning that match." Iris winked at me. "So I want to go on a festival date with you!"

A festival date? The last time I went on any date was with...her...

Don't think about it Ken. Don't think about it.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah." She smiled.

"Alright." I sighed.

I'm actually quite curious about the festival as well.

"Come on! Let's go!" Iris excitedly said, grabbing my hand and pulling me once more.

We walked through the crowd, looking at the multiple stands as we passed by. They sold a bunch of different goods, from hoodies and scarves to different food.

"Oh! Takoyaki!" Iris excitedly said.

She hopped over to a stand. We waited in the line for a minute or two until we both got a stick of takoyaki.

I held it in my hands, staring at it curiously.

This will actually be my first time eating takoyaki...

I placed the first one from the stick into my mouth, and instantly a delicious flavor filled my mouth. My taste buds screamed in joy at the food.

"Wow, this is good." I commented.

"I know." Iris smiled. "I love takoyaki."

The hot, steamy takoyaki had a nice contrast with the cool day. While it wasn't snowing today, the snow from the day before still lingered on the ground. Most of it was gone though, due to the many people walking across the Festival.

Our boots crunched through the small amount of remaining snow, walking through the Festival.

"Look! It's one of those shooting games!" Iris excitedly said.

"You really like the Festival, don't you?" I asked her.

"I've always enjoyed festivals, ever since I was young." Iris warmly smiled. "I still remember when Irene took me to my first one."

"Is there one you want?" I wondered.

"What?" She replied, confused.

"A prize. Is there one you want?" I restated.

Her eyes widened as a big smile grew on her face. "Yeah. Could you get me that yellow teddy bear?"

"A teddy bear?" I questioned.

"Yeah." Iris nodded.

"That shouldn't be too hard." I replied.

I walked up to the stand, paying the guy for five shots. Placing one in the gun, I aimed it towards the teddy bear.

It's a fairly large size. Larger than my hand but not my head. It won't budge if I hit the base of it, so I'll have to hit the top.

I pulled the trigger, the small bullet flying through the air and hitting the teddy bear on the snout, causing it to tilt backwards and fall over.

It fell to the ground.

The man grumbled as he passed the teddy bear to me. I handed it to Iris, who tightly hugged it.

"I still have four shots left. Anything else?" I asked her.

She shook her head, tightly hugging the teddy bear with a smile on her face. "Anything is fine."

"Alright then." I replied.

I looked back at the prizes. Is there anything that I might want?

"Is that the new YSquare Go?" I asked.

"Yep." The man nodded.

YSquare, this world's rip-off of one of the top video game consoles. They recently released a new one that is a portable handheld.

I like video games, and I have much more time now that I don't have to work multiple jobs for money.

While school and training do take up a lot of time, I do still have some free time to play video games.

I use the video games to let my muscles relax.

Overworking myself with training will only hurt me instead of help.

And some days I'm so sore...

Anyways, if I can get a the new YSquare for free, that would be awesome. Especially since I can take it places.

I know Erica would also be thrilled. Before she revealed she was a female, we were playing Fairy Knights on her old YSquare 630.

Now, I don't really need to worry about money because of the money I won from the Underground Fight Ring and I'm sure that Irene would give me any amount I needed, but...

It's free if I win. I like free things.

"Are you really going to go for that?" He scoffed. "No one has gotten that yet, and many have tried."

"Looks like I'll have to change that." I smirked.

The box is way to heavy to do the same method that I did with the teddy bear. At least, with one shot. I'll have to shoot multiple shots in rapid succession, hitting the top areas of the box to tip it over.

And because of the design of the gun I'll only be able to shoot one at a time before reloading. I'll have to be extremely quick.

I pulled the trigger, hitting the top right corner. I quickly reloaded, pulling the trigger again and hitting the top left corner. I then quickly reloaded and shot two more successive shots into the middle-top of the box.

Despite the reloading because of the design of the gun, I was able to complete this in about a second.

The man's face contorted into shock as he saw the box start to tip over, slowly getting closer. And then it reached the point where it's balance was lost, and it fell down.

He picked up the box, handing it to me in a numb shock.

Sick, I just got the a yellow teddy bear and the newest YSquare for about five bucks. I walked away from the stand with a satisfied smile.

"That was awesome!" Iris exclaimed. "How did you get so good at shooting?"

"I've done some practice." I stated.

Loki in his pistol form would be useless if I couldn't aim.

After that, Iris and I continued to enjoy the day around the festival, heading to multiple different stands and enjoying the experience.

But after a couple hours, it was starting to get dark. All of the matches had been completed, and now it was about time to head back to the hotel.

Looking at my phone, I saw a bunch of missed messages from the others.

I texted Irene that I was heading back to the hotel and that I would see her tomorrow. She texted me that after I won the next match the two of us would be going on a date, no matter what.

Putting my phone away, Iris and I walked back to the hotel. We headed over to the elevator, getting into it.

Iris pressed the button for the second floor while I pressed the button for the third.

"Hey Ken." Iris said.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"I love you." She suddenly said.

"A-Ah?!" I gasped in surprise.

My cheeks started to heat up, surprised by her sudden confession. Of course I knew it, but it was a different thing to hear it from the person.

Iris leaned up, placing a small kiss on my cheek as the door opened. Winking at me, she skipped out of the door and left the elevator.

I held my burning cheek numbly, before sighing.

That was fun, just like the other outings I've had with Lily, Erica, and the others, but...

This one felt like an actual date. And that caused a sickening pain in my heart. A pain that resided, even after years...

"I'm not ready...not after her." I whispered to myself.

I felt tears gather in the corners of my eyes, but I quickly forced them away. I headed back to my room with a sigh. Using the key to open the door, I entered.

I took my shoes off at the entrance, and placed my new YSquare onto a table, before face planting onto the bed.

I need some sleep...the second round starts tomorrow...

I need to get my mind off of some things...