Spending time at the festival,
Winning and losing.
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A collab between Chromehound and Aliceee
Summary :
Hayate and Mimi spend time together at the festival, being held down town in Konohagakure.
[spoili]
She ran a bit as she threw looks around. There was much to see and to do. Not really caring if she had pushed herself a bit through the crowd that was visiting the festival, Mimi's eyes had ever grown big when she had seen the festival from a distance. There were decorations and a number of activity that were strange to her. Pointing at a stand that sold candy, Mimi wanted to ask if that they could get some, but then was distracted by a stand that offered to play a sort of game, which made her turn around and point at it as well. ''Mimi says go go go! Mimi thinks Silly Face should walk faster!'' Turning around, Mimi kept shifting her weight from one leg to another.
His hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his long coat, Hayate walked behind the excited girl, a strange look on his face. It was hard not to smile at the crazy antics of the young girl, but Hayate was not really in the mood to smile. Glancing around at the festival, he tried to get into the spirit, but it was a struggle. Putting on a weak attempt at a smile, Hayate looked down at Mimi.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Sheesh, how can a girl with such short legs move so quickly?"
Puffing up her cheeks, Mimi frowned at Hayate. He was really slow today.
''Mimi has been training. Mimi has been training alone, but still training. '' She told him, turning already around as she threw glances around the places. There were a lot of interesting people, stands and things. Not to mention that there was also that delicious smell that was attracting her attention.
''Mimi wants to eat something. Mimi then wants to euhm....' Wavering, she wasn't sure anymore what she wanted to do first. A few places offered games that seemed fun.
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth at the girl's indecision. Catching up to her, Hayate reached out with one of his hands, ruffling Mimi's hair gently.
"Come on, let's go get some snacks and then we can try out a few of the games." His thoughts traveling back to the note, Hayate felt a brief warmth.
After all, I owe you one Kiyomi-chan...
Turning in the direction of a stand that sold some sort of powdered pastry, Hayate caught a whiff of something delicious. His stomach grumbling, he grabbed hold of Mimi's hand.
"This one's on me."
Mimi nodded. She wouldn't mind if he would spend his money buying her a treat. It was nice to buy something yourself, but Mimi wouldn't mind to accept a treat from Hayate.
''Mimi thinks that is a good plan.'' Nodding again, as if she needed to confirm her own words, she stopped a bit with being so overactive. Yet she couldn't stop with throwing now and then a glance around. In her opinion there was a lot that was new to her. A lot of interesting things that she wanted to see.
Buying several of the mini pastries from the stand, Hayate handed a few to Mimi before taking a bite of his own. The taste was actually quite good, and Hayate pooped another one into his mouth as they walked. Spotting a nearby games stand where participants where supposed to throw darts at balloons in order to pop them, Hayate gently nudged Mimi.
"How does that look? Care to try a game?"
Accepting the mini pastries, Mimi closed her eyes in delight as she liked them. Though she was eating a bit too fast, which resulted that she made a sort of snorting sound, Mimi already looked up to see what Hayate meant. Noticing what kind of game it was, Mimi nodded several times. It looked fun, but even more, the prizes look great.
''Mimi thinks we should!'' Though her words would be clear, half of her mouth was still filled with a bite from a pastry.
Fighting back a laugh, Hayate led the girl over towards the stand.
"How much?" He asked the man running the booth.
"Three coins gets you five throws. Gotta get at least three balloons to win a small prize, four to win a medium and five will get you one of the big prizes. So what'll it be?"
Glancing down at Mimi, Hayate reached into his pocket and withdrew three coins. Handing them to the man, Hayate took the darts and handed them to Mimi.
"Alright Mimi, show me how well you've been practicing."
Rolling up the long sleeves of the jacket, that was still too large for her, Mimi was determined to show how much she had learned at the Academy. Accepting the darts from Hayate, Mimi took a step away from him. Focusing as good as she could, Mimi tried to aim the first dart a yellow colored balloon. She disliked the color and thus thought it would be a nice target for her first dart.
Throwing the dart, the ugly colored balloon exploded.
Seem to be surprised by her success, Mimi then grinned. Another one, but the balloon had a green color. Green was a nice color, Mimi thought, but she wanted a prize. Focusing again on her aim, she heard something at her right.
''Heh?'' She turned her head just as she threw the dart. The man behind the counter was forced to take a quick step to the left to avoid getting the dart land in his face. Noticing only a moment later at what she had almost done, Mimi's cheeks flustered.
''Euh,.... Mimi Mimi says sorry, wait! Mimi will pop another!''
Trying to aim and focus, she threw her last dart. But it completely missed the green colored balloon and went behind the stand. Somebody shouting a loud 'auw' could be heard and Mimi cringed.
''Mimi... not so good at aiming?''
Raising his hand to his mouth to stifle a chuckle, Hayate glanced up at the man behind the stand and saw him glaring. Gently placing a hand on the young girl's shoulder, Hayate spoke quietly,
"I think we should go before we cause any more trouble." Moving away from the stand, Hayate's eyes glanced around, looking for something else to pass the time.
At first Mimi wanted to refuse. She had done a decent job at the Academy during practice throwing. Nobody had then yelped in pain cause they were in the way of a projectile. But the man behind the counter was in a heavy discussion with somebody that had came from the back, holding up the dart. Deciding to not be too stubborn about it, Mimi would move away with Hayate. Then something caught her attention.
''Mimi thinks that looks nice!'' Pointing at where people had to throw rings at poles, she hoped that they could do that. Perhaps she could then gain a second chance.
Looking at where Mimi had pointed, Hayate furrowed his brow slightly.
"I guess you can't hurt anyone too badly with one of those..." Letting Mimi lead him over to the new booth, Hayate reached into his pockets, already preparing to pull out some change. He could see the sign showing the price for three rings and laid the money down on the counter.
"Well Mimi, shall we try again?" Smiling encouragingly at the girl, Hayate found himself to be having a little bit of fun, despite everything else.
The first reply of Hayate made Mimi pout. It wasn't her fault in her opinion that somebody had been so stupid to be in the way of where she had thrown the dart too. It was in her logic not her fault at all. Either it was the balloon, dart or the person who had been hurt. When Hayate asked if should try again, Mimi nodded firmly. Rolling again up the sleeves of the jacket, she had a very serious expression.
''Mimi is ready and ... ready!''
Handing Mimi the first ring, Hayate took a step back, watching how she did. The girl had spirit, that was for sure. Taking the ring in hand, Mimi threw a glance at it. It had that ugly color, yellow. It then seemed like she was weighing the ring and then would aim. Throwing the not sharp object, Mimi saw how it was soaring in the air, heading towards one of the small pillars. Biting her lower lip, she leaned a bit forward. The yellow object gently touched a pillar, but it bounced against one.
"Very close," Hayate said with an encouraging tone. Reaching over he passed Mimi the second ring.
"Try throwing just a little higher next time so that the ring can arc onto the pillar." Stepping back again, he would simply fold his arms and watch. Again she accepted a ring, but it had that ugly color as the previous ring. Pouting, Mimi wanted to say something. That she had tried to throw it a bit higher, cause it would be a tad stupid if she would aim at the ground. Wait, she actually had sort of aimed at the ground, but the short pillars were on the ground!
Trying to not confuse herself, she then aimed a bit higher. But also tried to put more of her strength and back into the throw. It resulted that the ring went up higher than the previous one. Way higher as it soared over the pillars and over another stand. Staring at how the ring soared out of sight, Mimi glanced sideways at Hayate.
''Mimi thinks.... Silly Face should try..''
Hiding a grin, Hayate shrugged his shoulders.
"If you are certain, I don't want to use up your last ring if you want another try." Glancing down to make sure it was okay, Hayate stepped forwards and grabbed one of the rings. Feeling its weight, he looked over at the pillars. Judging the distance, he pulled back the ring, aiming for his target. While he wasn't used to throwing a ring, he forced himself to think of it as an oddly shaped shuriken. Flicking his wrist, Hayate released the ring. It sailed through the air and towards its target. As it reached the pillar, the ring landed, revlolving around the pillar several times before finally sliding down to the ground. Satisfied, Hayate turned back to Mimi.
"So, what do you think?"
Pouting, Mimi saw how he had managed to do a much better job than her last attempt. But she didn't want to be a sore loser.
''Mimi thinks she should try to practise more. Mimi thinks.. Silly Face is a good ring thrower.'' Wishing secretly that he wasn't, Mimi vowed that she would put more effort in attempts to become better. It would be annoying if Kiyomi would also be a better ring thrower than her!
''Mimi wonders where Ki-yomi is.'' Frowning, Mimi hadn't seen much of Kiyomi lately. Perhaps Hayate and Kiyomi had gotten into an argument? Then they should probably talk with one of the sensei's at the Academy. They were the best in resolving arguments about who was allowed to play with what during recess, after all.
The mention of Kiyomi stung Hayate more than he wanted to show. Turning away so that Mimi wouldn't notice his reaction, he paused.
"Kiyomi-sama is very busy Mimi. She has a lot of responsibilites that she has to take care of now and... and it means we won't get to see her as much." Turning back, Hayate tried to hide behind a fake smile.
"But that means we can still spend more time together, unless of course I'm too boring for you?" He tried to make his tone joking, but it came out sounding hollow.
Wondering why Hayate turned away, Mimi was content with the answer. She shook her head firmly when Hayate made his last joke, which Mimi didn't find funny in the slightest.
''Mimi likes to spend time. Mimi likes fun times!'' She said, puffing her cheeks as she wanted to show how much she didn´t want him to go away. He wouldn´t probably though, leaving her behind.
''Mimi just hopes that Ki-yomi can soon join though. Mimi thinks that everybody needs candy.'' Candy was nice and nice people deserved candy. A rather simple logic, but she wasn't much for complex things.
"I like spending time with you too Mimi-chan." Smiling at the girl's simplistic views, Hayate couldn't help but find her naivety to be charming.
"Maybe if more people ate candy then this would be a nicer world." It was a nice thought, at least Hayate thought so.
"So what would you like to do now?" The answer of Hayate made Mimi cross her arms and nod. Of course the world would be nicer. Candy solved a lot of things. When he asked what she would like to do now, Mimi thought about it. She wasn't fond of trying something else that would involve something to throw. She had just some sheer amount of bad luck with that. Walking with Hayate, she noticed something fun. Something she could do. Grabbing Hayate's wrist, she pointed towards a stand.
''Mimi find that looking fun!''
The stand was simply where one needed to pull some ropes. Each person was allowed to pull three ropes and depending on it, you could pick a price. Harmless and fun.
Glancing over to where Mimi had pointed, Hayate nodded.
"I suppose that looks interesting." Holding the girl's hand, he walked them both over to the stand. The concept of the game seemed simple enough, yet Hayate couldn't help but wonder how they had rigged it, after all, his first experience at a carnival with Kiyomi had proved that you could never trust the games. Smiling at the memory of their first real "date" Hayate leaned down to Mimi.
"Alright Mimi, what say we both try this one, and whoever gets the biggest prize can buy Ice cream later!"
Looking with a more determined look, she was so ready for that. Releasing Hayate's hand, she looked at the few ropes. For a moment she just stared at them. There were so many, so which one should she pick? She was sure that pulling one a bit and then not further pulling it would be unfair. So she had to be careful. Seeing a green colored rope, she was confident that one would give a nice price. Pulling the rope, Mimi saw how the rope would lift a tinderbox.
''Mimi didn't expect that.'' She mumbled, letting the rope slowly lower the tinderbox. She had two more tries. Pulling a dark red rope, Mimi noticed that it lifted up another tinderbox.
''Eeeeeehhhhhh?''
Slowly loosening the red rope, she puffed her cheeks. Stupid tinderboxes! What would so she do if she would get another one? After all, tinderboxes weren't really a big prize. Looking a the colored ropes, she noticed a yellow one. She disliked the color, but perhaps that was the trick to success? Pulling the color you disliked. Cause one of the green colored rope had failed her. Carefully pulling up the yellow colored rope, she noticed it lifted up a small stuff animal. An elephant.
''Mimi likes that one.'' She mumbled, a bit happy that she had managed to score at least one decent prize. The owner of the stand gave her the small elephant and Mimi stepped aside to let Hayate try it.
Watching the girl as she carefully tested a few of the ropes, Hayate tried to puzzle out how they worked. There was such a wide array of different items strewn about that it was hard to see which rope led where. Hayate offered Mimi a quick smile as she managed to win herself a stuffed elephant.
"That is a very nice prize Mimi, I don't know if I can top it." Stepping up, Hayate took his time looking at the ropes. The first one that caught his eye was a bright blue colour. Reaching over, Hayate began pulling the rope. As he looked up, he noticed that it was lifting a small platform with a whistle on it.
Hmm, not quite gonna beat out a stuffed elephant... Allowing it to settle, Hayate turned and began examining the ropes once again.
Spotting a yellow rope that seemed to lead up to an area that was especially ripe with prizes, Hayate leaned over and began pulling on it. After all, Mimi managed to win a prize with the yellow rope, maybe that was the secret. Glancing up to try and spot what his prize was going to be, Hayate suddenly paused. The prize that had begun lifting with the rope was a simple wooden box.
That's not gonna do the trick either... Frowning, he allowed the rope to slide back into position and scratched the back of his head. Closing his eyes, Hayate decided that deciding at random was probably his best choice now. Reaching out he felt a rope touch his fingers and he quickly grabbed onto it. Pulling it up, he finally opened his eyes to see what it was. Looking up, a spark of hope filled his eyes to see -- a plain wooden tinderbox being lifted up... Sighing, Hayate accepted his prize and turned towards Mimi.
"Well little one, I suppose you win this round."
Yes! The tinderboxes were useful after all! Lifting up her prize, Mimi grinned. With the proper amount of dramatic tone, she proclaimed herself.
''Mimi is now the Queen of the festival. Mimi has won.'' She said. Now she was going to get free ice cream, which was just amazing. Lowering the small elephant, she glanced at Hayate and back to the stuffed animal.
''Mimi thinks that it is fair that Silly Face should have this.'' Lifting the stuffed animal up towards Hayate, she smiled.
Forgetting everything else around them, Hayate realized that he was slowly beginning to cheer up. Maybe coming here with Mimi had been a good idea after all. The girl always seemed to have a way to raise his mood, even if he wanted nothing more than to be alone. Smiling with a genuine warmth, Hayate reached out and gently took the stuffed elephant from Mimi's hands.
"You are too kind Mimi-chan, though, now I think I owe you something hmm?" Looking around for a brief moment, Hayate located a nearby ice cream cart. Reaching out his free hand, he took Mimi's in his own.
"If you're gonna be the Queen of the festival then we're gonna have to find you a crown, aren't we?"
A crown? Yes. Then she could rule over the festival and demand people to pay her tribute and such. Walking at the side of Hayate, she already could see it. They would erect a proper throne for her, a throne where she would be able to oversee most of the festival. Eating ice cream and other kind of nice things, as that would be one of her tasks.
''Queen Mimi then wants you to become the jester.'' She said, wishing that her daydream could become true.
"The jester?? Am I really that funny?" Hayate teased. As the line finally cleared for the ice cream, Hayate ordered a simple vanilla for himself and looked down to Mimi with a smile.
"And which flavour would her majesty prefer? I shall have the royal ice cream maker whip it up for you at once!" Behind him, the guy serving the ice cream just rolled his eyes, waiting for the slow customers to order so that he could continue with the next ones.
''Queen Mimi thinks so, yes. '' She nodded firmly. Hayate could be funny. Sometimes she found it fun to just poke him and then run around. Unlike some, he didn't seem to be so quick to be bothered by her antics. Wanting to give an answer, Mimi yawned.
''Mimi wants just vanille.'' She said, cheerful in hopes that the yawn would go unnotice.
"A very good choice Milady!" Swiveling on his heel, Hayate smiled at the server.
"Another vanilla if you'd be so kind! And be generous with the scoop, wouldn't want to disappoint the Queen now would you?" Winking at the bewildered ice cream cart server, Hayate retrieved the two cones, payed the man and turned back to Mimi. Handing the young girl the cone, Hayate thought of something.
"You know, her majesty is a little too important to be walking around on her own. She needs a trusty steed to take her around!" Picking Mimi up quickly, Hayate positioned her so that she was sitting up on his shoulders. Taking a bite of his ice cream, Hayate tried to keep talking with a mouthful of food, failing spectacularly.
"How id bat, your highnesh?"
Accepting the scone, Mimi gained a big smile on her face. Even more when she would get be allowed to get on Hayate's shoulders. Using her left hand to make sure she kept her balance, Mimi started to lick her ice cream. While she was doing so, she enjoyed the view from Hayate's shoulder. It was much better than to walk on her own, where things seemed much bigger. Perhaps it wasn't the throne she had in her day dream, but it was sufficient for now.
Walking carefully, so as not to make Mimi drop her ice cream, Hayate began making his way through the crowds. It was getting late, and despite the fact that the festivities were still going strong, Hayate wanted to get back to Azumi. He wasn't a huge fan of crowds as it was, and he had a feeling that more people were going to show up now that it had grown darker outside.
The festive lanterns that were hung up everywhere shed colourful lights throughout the city streets, and Hayate couldn't help but feel a sense of elation as they travelled further away from the celebration. This village was truly beautiful, and he was just happy he could call it home.
[/spoili]
