Festival

“Well, what do you think?”

Minori’s lustrous white hair that normally flowed freely was styled up using her kanzashi. She was wearing an elegant solid black yukata with an obi adorned with red spider lilies to match her kanzashi.

“Wow Minori, you look absolutely stunning.”

“Thanks Haru, I’m glad you like it.”

Haru stood gazing at her for a moment before reaching over for her hand.

“Would you do me the honor?”

She grabbed hold of his hand and smiled.

“Of course, let’s get this date started.”

The moment they step into the festival grounds glowing red chochin lanterns illuminated the area. They were hung from trees, arched over the game booths and even constructed into towers across the festival. The smell of delicious food coming from the nearby yatai wafted their noses. The rich sound of taiko drum beats could be heard in the distance.

“Look over there, let's both get one.”

“Haha ok you pick out mine and I'll pick out yours.”

She picked out a hyottoko mask for him and received a cat one in return. They both take a glance at what they picked for each other before putting them on off to the side.

“Is this because of that picture of you I took with your cute face all puckered.”

“Maaaybe. And did I get the cat one because you told me I act like an indecisive house cat?”

“Yeah but you’ve gotten a lot better. ‘

“Hmph. I’m glad you noticed.”

They lock arms and continue to the yatai.

“So what do you want to eat first, Minori?”

“Ooh ooh, taiyaki please.”

“Do you want custard or red bean?”

“I want one of each.”

“Ok. “

Haru purchases her taiyaki and hands it to her as she brightly smiles at him. As she scarfed them down she pulled him over to the cotton candy.

“And can I get one of these cool looking cotton candies?”

“Of course.”

“Thaaank you.”

“It almost looks too pretty to eat… but I’m going to eat it anyway. Is there a reason it has such a cosmic look to it?”

“Yeah it's because of the theme of this festival. It revolves around two star crossed lovers that are represented by the stars Altair and Vega. The milky way separates them from each other for the entire year except for on the single night of Tanabata that they yearn for year round.”

“That’s so romantic yet sad. The fact that they always wait for each other despite always being so far apart. It must be difficult.”

“Yeah but that must be what true love is.”

Haru gently smiles at her as she eats the rest of her cotton candy.

“Are you ready for me to start beating you at all of these festival games yet or do you want something else to eat?”

“Oh I'm ready to play but I won't be losing!”

They start off with water balloon yoyo. They both reach in with their tiny fishing hooks and Minori immediately pulls out two while Haru miserably fails at even getting a single one.

“Ha! That’s one win for me! What game do you want to lose next?”

“Don’t count me out yet. Let’s go over to that fish scooping game.”

They both get into their starting positions holding their bowls and scoopers side by side in front of the pool of fish.

“Ready… Set… Go!”

Haru’s scoop hovers over the water as he patiently watches the fish before scooping out eight of them in the blink of an eye without breaking his scoop. Minori on the other hand tears the paper from her scoop without getting a single fish.

“What happened? I seem to recall a beautiful girl bragging about her fish scooping skills after she caught a salmon in the river.”

“Well I guess you just remember everything don’t you?”

She playfully makes a face at him as they walk off further into the festival.

“Why don’t we just leave it at a tie and go over there to write a wish on a tanzaku?”

“That sounds like a good idea to me.”

They make their way over to the tanzaku booth and sit down to write out their wish.

“Don’t look over here Haru, you aren’t allowed to see what I wish for.”

“But you’re going to have to tie it up on the bamboo.”

“Still promise me you won’t look at it.”

“Ok I promise.”

They each write their wish and walk over to the nearest bamboo.

“You know they say that the higher you tie up your wish, the higher the chance is that it comes true.”

He reaches way over his head and ties his tanzaku.

“Really?”

Minori leaps high into the air and grabs hold of the bamboo to pull it down. After tying her tanzaku, she jumps back up and lets go to ensure everyone’s wishes don’t get flung off into the wind.

“That ought to get me my wish right?”

“I sure hope so.”

They both walked off as everyone around them stared in amazement at Minori’s ability to jump so high even though she was in a yukata. Their selfless wishes seemed to glow as brightly as the lanterns around them.

“So are you going to tell me your wish Haru?”

“No, I think both of our wishes can stay a secret. That’ll give us better odds of them coming true.”

Haru’s wish read: I wish for Minori to live happily after our love pact is over.

Minori’s wish read: I wish for Haru’s afflicted heart to be cured.

“Sounds good to me. I hope both of our wishes come true.”

As she looks over at him to smile, she suddenly falls over.

“What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

“I don’t know what happened, my feet just got weak all of a sudden.”

They look over to see her feet magically transformed into their mere bones.

“Not again. Maybe they’ll go back to normal any minute.”

“Well I can’t just leave you on the floor.”

He reaches down and picks her up, carrying her on his back.

“I’m so sorry Haru. I’m ruining our final date.”

“No need to apologize, we can just take a seat away from this crowd and talk until your feet transform back.”

He carries her back to a secluded area where they sit on the grass.

“Are you comfortable?”

“Yeah this is fine. I’m really sorry Haru.”

“I told you that you don’t need to apologize. I’m having a wonderful time with you.”

“I'm glad to hear that. Is there anything else you want to do while we're here?”

“There is one thing.”

“What is it?”

He looks deep into her eyes.

“Could you give me a kiss before we end our final date?”