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There was no denying it now, summer was finally upon them. It wasn’t just the heat, though it still hung in the air even as evening began to set in. But that was a little easier for Rimi to ignore than all the voices filling the air.
“Yuri-chan, I didn’t know you’d be here!”
“Ah, Yuri-senpai! Is that your little sister?”
“Ushigome-san! Over here.”
“Yuri-senpai~”
“Yuri-sama!”
Rimi’s sister was pretty popular, wasn’t she? It wasn’t that many girls, in all. Maybe half a dozen or so Hanasakigawa students, though out of their uniforms and instead dressed up in their own yukata of various colors. Rimi didn’t recognize any of them, choosing to grip Yuri’s hand tighter still, rather than face the older girls directly. With her other hand, she clung onto Yuri’s sleeve, though delicately enough to not damage the material.
Yuri waved politely back, as they walked past games and food stalls, the street already buzzing with life and people. Maybe Rimi shouldn’t have gone to the festival this year after all. She hadn’t really made friends with any of the other girls in middle school since moving, so running into them would just be awkward for everyone. Just like all of Yuri’s friends, who must not want to hang out with some younger girl they didn’t know either.
“Yuri-rin~” a familiar voice called out, both sisters letting out a cry of shock as Yuri was tackled from behind. “Looks like you’ve already managed to snag a cutie on your arm, as expected.”
Nijikki Hinako. She wasn’t a bad person, but Rimi didn’t know how to deal with her at all. By all appearances, she seemed an unassuming girl, with short brown hair and soft features. The second she opened her mouth, all of that was ruined though. If the way she practically climbed onto Yuri’s back hadn’t given it away already.
“Hina…” Yuri groaned under the weight of her bandmate, but with a resigned tone which told Rimi it wasn’t for the first time. “Could you please get off of me?”
“Of course, of course,” Hinako laughed easily, releasing Yuri and jumping back to do a little twirl around. “It’s my very duty to relieve the burdens of such a lovely young lady as yourself.”
Rimi could only stare, as Hinako gave a small bow. Hadn’t Hinako been the burden to begin with? It was probably best not to think about it too hard. Hinako definitely hadn’t.
“Oh, and speaking of,” Hinako said, eyes darting over to Rimi, a small ‘eep’ leaking out in response. “I wouldn’t mind taking Rimi-rin off your hands as well tonight. Yuri-rin already has enough girls fighting over her, so it’s only fair she shares a little~”
Not waiting for permission, Hinako took Rimi by the hand, spouting her usual nonsense. But maybe it made a little sense, at least this one time? Not all the embarrassing stuff implying all those other girls at school found her sister attractive or something, but the broader point Rimi wasn’t entirely sure if Hinako was actually trying to make. Yuri deserved to spend some time with her friends, rather than having to drag her little sister around everywhere.
“I don’t know, Hina,” Yuri said evasively. “I’m not sure my mother would—”
“It’s okay, Onee-chan,” Rimi said, lifting her head up to look her sister in the eye. “You don’t need to stay behind on my account. Go have fun with the rest of your friends.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do~” Hinako sang out beside her, holding up Rimi’s hand and rubbing the back of it against her cheek.
“I wouldn’t!” Yuri snapped at Hinako, but her expression softened just as quick, turning back to Rimi. “…Are you sure it’s okay, Rimi?”
Rimi stood there, not sure in the slightest. Hinako wouldn’t be her first pick as a responsible young woman, but wasn’t Rimi old enough now that she shouldn’t need such supervision? If Hinako decided she wanted to mess with Rimi for a while, then it only made sense to let Yuri take advantage of that. And sooner or later, Hinako would get bored and lose interest anyway. An hour at most, it wouldn’t even be dark by then. Surely their parents wouldn’t complain over just that much.
“Yuri-senpai, is that you?”
“Oh wow, and Hina-chan too!”
More voices sprang out from the crowd, another group of girls approaching them. Rimi quickly made up her mind, before they got too close.
“G-Go ahead, Onee-chan,” Rimi said. “Hina-chan is reliable, in her own way.”
“I suppose she is,” Yuri giggled, before an unfamiliar girl tugged on her sleeve. “Ah—just a second—Stay safe with Hina, okay Rimi? We can meet up for tanzaku after—”
That was all Yuri managed to get out, before the rest of the girls descended upon her.
“Ufufu, it seems I’m still not nearly as much of a womanizer as Yuri-rin here,” Hinako nodded in agreement, though neither Rimi nor Yuri had said anything of the sort. “I’ve decided Rimi-rin is the only girl for me~”
Yuri turned back to greet the other girls, likely feeling the need to apologize on Hinako’s behalf. Rimi tried to listen to what she was saying, but then Hinako pulled her into a backwards hug, rubbing Rimi’s cheeks with both hands.
“It’s just you and me for our date tonight, Rimi-rin,” Hinako told her. “But don’t worry…”
As Hinako put a single finger up to Rimi’s lips, Rimi suddenly felt very worried.
“…Hina-chan knows exactly what women want~”
“Mmm…”
Rimi was in heaven. She had been nervous at first, but Hinako had opened up a whole new world of possibilities for her. Hina-chan World. Rimi loved the taste of it, savoring it, sweet on her tongue. Her heart pounded inside her chest, despite them both standing still. Rimi next to Hinako, both of them lost together.
“Taiyaki is just the best, isn’t it Rimi-rin~” Hinako said, letting out a long sigh as she finally took a break, most of a fish-shaped treat still in hand, with little more than just the head bitten off. “Hehe, and you thought we needed to have dinner first.”’
Rimi nodded numbly beside her. It still felt like Rimi was doing something she shouldn’t. Yuri would have talked her out of it, rather than encouraging such an indulgence. No festival food could exactly be described as healthy, but at least things takoyaki and yakitori could come together to pass for an actual meal. But no, Hinako had made her way straight for the sweets, dragging Rimi along with her. Even if there hadn’t exactly been all that much protesting on Rimi’s part.
Though it was almost blasphemous to even think such a thing, Rimi couldn’t help but compare her taiyaki to a chocolate cornet. The taiyaki was a little softer, more yielding to Rimi’s bite, the filling a bit runnier, threatening to spill out if Rimi wasn’t careful. But it was easy to point at differences, much harder to make a firm decision which was better. Couldn’t she just have both? Rimi would be happy with both, not forced to make such a terrible, impossible choice.
“It’s… really good, Hina-chan,” Rimi said, taking a few more bites, her tongue sneaking in to steal away at the chocolatey center. “You had jam in yours, right? Plum?”
“Yup, yup,” Hinako smiled at her, as the two of them looked back on the taiyaki stall they had just come from. “That’s the most amazing part, you can have so many different fillings—and even the same filling can taste different if you go between stalls! You could spend a lifetime eating taiyaki, and never taste the same one twice.”
Rimi nodded, feeling an odd profundity from Hinako’s words. Maybe Rimi had been too limited in her worldview, opting once more for the familiar sweetness of chocolate. She eyed Hinako’s taiyaki, the upper half of the fish quickly dwindling. Who was to say one filling was better than another, without having tried them all. Rimi’s mouth watered at the thought. Maybe not every flavor could match chocolate, but wouldn’t they still have their own appeal?
“Fufu, that’s a rather sinful expression on your face there, Rimi-rin,” Hinako teased, as Rimi caught herself staring a bit too intensely. “Envy, greed, gluttony… But it’s so hard to blame cute girls for anything, isn’t it? If you want a bite of mine, you only need to ask~”
Hinako tilted the remains of her taiyaki out towards Rimi, with sticky golden jam leaking out the top. Jagged chunks had been ripped out already, but there was still plenty left. One bite would hardly make a difference. Unless Rimi was greedy. How big could a single bite get, before it was no longer a single bite?
“There’s no need to hold back,” Hinako said reassuringly. “You’d be doing me a favor, Rimi-rin. If I eat half, and you eat half, then we can each try twice as many flavors, right?”
Something froze in the back of Rimi’s brain. Twice as many. Double. The impossible dream of trying every possible taiyaki—or at least the ones that could be found at this particular festival ground—now felt ever so slightly more attainable. Didn’t Rimi owe it to herself to try? She might never get another chance like this, with such an accommodating partner both allowing her to eat taiyaki on an empty stomach, and also helping her finish what she could never hope to eat alone…
Rimi’s mouth opened slightly, as her hand reached outward towards Hinako’s. She grabbed the jam taiyaki by the tail, sliding easily from Hinako’s fingers. Much harder was returning the favor, giving up the rest of her delicious chocolate taiyaki. But it was only fair, an eye for an eye, a fish for a fish, everything had to stay in balance.
“Thanks, Rimi-rin~”
Both girls secured their grip on their treats, holding the tails with both hands, leaning down to take a bite together. Rimi could almost taste the jam on her tongue already.
“…Though, when you think of it, isn’t this sort of like an indirect kiss?”
Rimi froze, teeth already sinking into the soft, golden exterior, mouth filled with the sweet taste of plum. Plum and Hinako, whose lips had been right here so very recently.
“Ah, nevermind,” Hinako shrugged, taking a big bite out of the taiyaki Rimi had given her. The taiyaki that Rimi had eaten the top half of. Why did she have to say something so weird all of a sudden?
Pulling away timidly, Rimi finished chewing. No matter what other circumstances might be at play, spitting out a baked good someone worked hard on would be a complete insult. She had to finish that much, at least. She was probably just imagining it tasted any different, it wasn’t like Rimi knew what Hinako’s lips would taste—
Rimi shut that thought down, before it could gain any traction. Hinako clearly wasn’t bothered by any of this, humming to herself as she finished off the rest of the taiyaki tail a bite at a time. Leaving only a trace of chocolate and crumbs on her fingers. She could’ve licked them off. Rimi could lick it off…
“Something the matter, Rimi-rin?” Hinako asked, tilting her head to one side. “Don’t you like the plum filling?”
“Wah, no!” Rimi protested, taking a small step back away from Hinako. “I-I wasn’t thinking about licking anyone’s fingers!”
It turned out, that wasn’t the question Hinako asked her anyway. Rimi had been sort of distracted, and it didn’t help matters any when Hinako looked down at her hands, then lifted a single finger up to her lips and sucked on it. Staring at Rimi the whole time, never breaking eye contact.
“I guess you always did like chocolate best, didn’t you?” Hinako asked, pausing a moment to run her tongue against her lips, cleaning them of any lingering chocolate stains. “I didn’t leave you much, but if you want—”
“I’m fine with plum!” Rimi said quickly, before Hinako could even start to offer the fingers of her other hand out towards Rimi. She took a bite, and then another, hardly tasting like Hinako at all. Not nearly as much as having Hinako’s finger in her mouth, not that Rimi would have any idea what that would taste like anyway.
Within a matter of seconds, Rimi was down to her final few bites, slowing her pace as much to savor what remained as to put off having to talk to Hinako another moment longer. Then at last, they were back down to zero taiyaki between them, a terrible place to be in Rimi’s opinion.
“Hehe, I knew you couldn’t resist, Rimi-rin,” Hinako said, putting her hand back down. “The faster we can finish, the faster we can get onto round two, right? Which stall do you want to try next?”
All the trepidation Rimi felt was washed away in an instant, as the promise of more taiyaki rang out far louder than any possible concerns. And not just another recipe, not just another flavor—if they pulled the same trick again, both girls could try two more taiyaki for the price of one. And if part of that price was the embarrassment of trying not to think the words ‘indirect kiss’ while sharing them, then Rimi could handle that much.
Hinako grabbed her by the hand, her fingers still sticky with chocolate and something else that Rimi told herself wasn’t Hinako’s saliva. But Rimi had little time to lie to herself like that, before Hinako raced off with great urgency, dragging Rimi behind her to find some other stall serving taiyaki. Not that there would be any shortage of those at a festival like Tanabata.
“Which flavor would you like, miss?”
It wasn’t the first time Rimi had been asked that question today, but it filled her with nervous energy all the same. Her eyes flicked away from the high school aged boy standing on the other side of the opening, looking over the colorful decorations of the stall one final time.
Rather than any formal menu, each possible variety of syrup Rimi could add to her shaved ice was instead depicted as a little colorful fruit, dancing around with stick arms and legs. A thick bunch of purple grapes, an entire pineapple, a watermelon with a quarter sliced out of it, and a dozen of their most delicious looking friends. How was Rimi supposed to choose? A moment ago, she had thought she had decided, but now here at the front of the line, she felt foolish believing it could be so simple.
Strawberry? Lemon? Or perhaps lime would be even better…
Though the sun had dipped below the horizon, the heat of the day had yet to die off, cooking Rimi’s brain with her relief so close in hand. There was no way she could be just one flavor… But about two?
“Cherry and peach!” Rimi said quickly, before she lost her conviction. She immediately regretted it. Peach? Why had she gone with peach? But it was too late. Her fate was sealed, the boy already turning away with barely a grunt of confirmation.
It wasn’t a disaster. There was nothing wrong with peach necessarily. Rimi just wasn’t really sure it would work well with shaved ice. Wouldn’t it be a little too plain, next to cherry of all flavors? Of course, with the power of modern science, perhaps even peach flavored syrup could be engineered to rival cherry.
Rimi’s mouth watered at the thought. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“Here you go, cherry and peach,” a hand stuck out over the counter, holding a paper cup with a thin wooden spoon sticking out of a small mound of fluffy snow, dyed red and pink, split right down the middle. “And what about you, miss?”
Hinako smiled beside her, as Rimi grabbed hold of the bottom of the cup with one hand, while her other hand secured the spoon to make sure it wouldn’t fall out.
“Give me all the flavors!” Hinako ordered. “Choosing is for the weak!”
Both Rimi and the unsuspecting employee stared at her a moment, though most likely for different reasons. Rimi would never have dared act so brazenly. Every flavor at once? Was such a thing even possible? Forget modern science, this was a brand new discovery in the field of frozen desserts!
Hinako’s orders were clear though, and so the boy let out a sigh, mentally preparing for what would doubtlessly be his most difficult task of the night. Rimi watched in awe as he cycled from bottle to bottle, staining the pure white surface of the icy dome with a full assortment of colors. And then when there was no spot left untouched, those colors began to bleed together, coming together into… a sort of dark brown-ish tone?
Rimi peered over the counter, looking somewhat dubiously at Hinako’s shaved ice. But what mattered most was the taste, right? Rimi didn’t know how well her tongue would be able to process that many flavors at once, but she was curious to try. Indeed, she stood transfixed, not taking a single bite of her own shaved ice until the boy finally returned. Though, that was in part because they hadn’t paid yet, and Rimi was never quite sure if she was allowed to start eating before that.
“Alright, here it is, every flavor.”
The boy’s gaze drifted past Rimi and Hinako, shooting a silent warning to the family behind them in line, daring either of the parents to let their children try the same thing. Hinako shrugged this off, taking her shaved ice and putting down a few yen bills on the counter. A few too many. An apology?
“Come on, Rimi-rin, let’s get going~”
No, Hinako was just paying for both of them, it turned out.
“I-I could’ve paid for my own, Hina-chan,” Rimi said, though she let Hinako take her by the hand to get them out of the way of the family behind them. “I still have a bit of money left.”
“You have to learn to pace yourself, Rimi-rin!” Hinako said. “If you aren’t aware of your limits, you’ll crash and burn when you least expect it.”
“But trying every flavor of syrup isn’t exceeding your limits?” Rimi said, subtly asking if Hinako was going to try it already.
Rimi’s fingertips began to chill slightly, gripping onto the side of her cup. But she didn’t want to take a bite before Hinako, she couldn’t get the other shaved ice out of her mind for even a second.
“Hina-chan is an expert, got it?” Hinako said, coming to a stop in an empty corner between two other stalls, letting go of Rimi’s hand. “Now, observe.”
Rimi nodded obediently, as Hinako held her shaved ice out in front of her, taking the wooden spoon in one hand. There weren’t a lot of brown fruits, at least not on the inside. That only made it harder for Rimi to imagine what it would taste like, as Hinako scooped out a generous portion, bringing it up to her lips.
Rimi’s breath caught. The spoon slid inside. Hinako’s face screwed up in a pained expression, bending over slightly, but not giving in. She took in a shaky breath through her nose, sucking the spoon clean before releasing it with a gasp.
“Gah, I thought I was going to die, Rimi-rin!” Hinako cried out, shutting her eyes closed tight. “It was way too cold, and way too sweet!”
The spell on her broken, Rimi took a much more cautious bite of her own shaved ice, scraping out a section along the top right where both colors met. Still very cold, still very sweet, but Rimi could handle this much.
“Let me have some of yours, Rimi-rin,” Hinako begged. “I ordered the wrong thing, I was careless!”
Without an ounce of shame, Hinako leaned over in front of Rimi’s shaved ice, opening her mouth wide. Waiting patiently for Rimi’s response.
“Hina-chan…” Rimi sighed. “Can’t you just take smaller bites? You were the one who said we needed to pace ourselves.”
“Hmph,” Hinako crossed her arms over her chest, a rather impressive maneuver while still holding both her spoon and shaved ice. “Well I guess Rimi-rin didn’t want to try mine after all then. In fact, if you’re so stingy, I’m not even going to tell you what it tastes like!”
Evil. Rimi stood stunned, staring at the face of pure evil. Rimi had only wanted to say Hinako was overreacting—which she had been—but such a response was too cruel in retribution.
“W-What? No,” Rimi pleaded, trying to get Hinako to see reason. “We can trade, we can trade! A bite for a bite.”
Hinako’s facade melted far easier than their shaved ice, scooping out a generous portion for Rimi and holding it out towards her. A very generous portion, a towering pyramid of tiny icy bricks sitting on top of Hinako’s spoon.
“…Didn’t I just tell you to take it easy there, Hina-chan?” Rimi said, staring dubiously at the spoon. “That’s way too much.”
“Ah, sorry, sorry,” Hinako said lackadaisically, turning the spoon back around, before leaning her head down at an odd angle to take a bite straight from the top. “There, is that better?”
When Hinako lifted her head back up—pausing quite briefly to swallow—Rimi saw she hadn’t actually taken a full bite. A good half still remained sitting at the bottom of the spoon. The spoon now held out to Rimi once more.
Rimi couldn’t resist, her mouth closing around the entire bowl of the spoon. Immediately, a dozen flavors assaulted her tongue. No, the stand had offered closer to two dozen flavors, and as far as Rimi could tell from taste alone, they didn’t skimp on the preparation there. Whether it was grape originally, or strawberry, or macha, all the different syrups blended together in ways Rimi couldn’t hope to separate back out again. A simple wall of sugar that she ran headfirst into, the more nuanced notes tugging in too many directions to do anything more than cancel each other out.
Reluctantly, Rimi pulled away, lips sliding back over the spoon to ensure not a melted drop escaped. Rimi still wasn’t sure what to make of it all, and didn’t think she would be inclined to make the same order as Hinako had. A handful of flavors was the most that could really be practical.
“Was it good, Rimi-rin?”
Shaking her head vacantly, Rimi looked back up at Hinako, unable to complain even just to state the obvious. Hinako had already admitted it was a mistake, but that just meant Rimi had no reason to point it out a second time.
“But it must have been, if you licked the spoon clean so well. You hardly left anything for me at all~” Hinako teased. “Unless there was some other reason you wanted to lick it?”
With that, Hinako brought her spoon up in front of her face, sticking out her tongue to take a long lick against the rough surface of the wood. She licked it several more times, before sticking it in her mouth and sucking on it. Rimi’s face grew bright red, the longer Hinako moaned to herself in appreciation.
“Hina-chan…” Rimi said, not even slightly sure how to object.
“Something the matter, Rimi-rin?” Hinako asked, popping the spoon out of her mouth. “The best part of sharing your spoon is that you can still taste another girl on it afterwards, right?”
Stupid Hinako. Always so shamelessly flirtatious. Making all these jokes, even when there was no one but Rimi around to hear it.
“But enough of that,” Hinako said, putting down her spoon and bowl alike. “It’s time to pay up, Rimi-rin!”
For a moment, Rimi struggled to figure out what Hinako meant, thinking back to how Hinako had bought both of their shaved ices. Did Hinako think Rimi owed her somehow now? Why was she leaning so close…?
Hinako shut her eyes, opening her mouth wide once more to clear up any confusion. Hinako’s motives were obvious, Rimi had even said it herself. A bite for a bite.
Rimi had too much integrity to back out now. And it had to be a good bite too, with both cherry and peach together. Otherwise Rimi would only be giving half of what she promised. Reluctantly, she scraped a deeper groove across the middle of her shaved ice, flakes of red and pink curling up eagerly onto her spoon. If Rimi listened closely, she could just barely make out the delicious syrups crying out for Rimi to taste them, but it wasn’t to be. Rimi had already promised them to another, and there was nothing she could do about it now…
“Come on, Rimi-rin, it’s going to melt!” Hinako whined, grabbing Rimi by the arm to try to hurry her along. That was the last push Rimi needed, reminded that the greatest tragedy would be for no one to get to taste it at all. She lifted up the spoon, and Hinako happily took it into her mouth.
“Mmm…” Hinako hummed mindlessly, all her urgency vanishing just as suddenly. She kept Rimi’s spoon trapped between her lips, holding Rimi’s arm steady, daring her to try to pull away. The shaved ice was already gone, this was just… something else.
Hinako was doing that thing with her tongue again. Licking the spoon well past clean. Rimi knew from experience that some of the syrup could seep into the wood itself, but she had only taken a single bite and there wasn’t nearly enough time for that to happen. Not to explain why Hinako lingered so long.
“Ahh,” Hinako sighed, finally pulling back and releasing Rimi’s arm. “Thanks Rimi-rin. It really tasted just like I imagined~”
On the surface, this sounded like a very normal thing to say. Which perhaps when it came to Hinako should be taken as the first warning sign. Except for all the other warning signs that preceded it, anyway.
“You mean the shaved ice, right?” Rimi asked, against her better judgment. “It’s not as sweet as yours, but the flavors for mine are more distinct.”
At that, Rimi decided she had already delayed too long, returning to her shaved ice and taking a bite in earnest. Though carefully holding back enough to not repeat Hinako’s earlier mistake. Brainfreeze was no laughing matter.
“Ufufu, what else could I be talking about, Rimi-rin?” Hinako asked. “Is there something else here I could be imagining the taste of?”
Hinako leaned in, needing to say nothing more than that. Rimi filled in the rest in her head, blushing at her own description when the context was shifted just a little. Tasting sweet, of cherries and peaches… It sounded like a line out of a shoujo manga. Except that Rimi had said it, and definitely hadn’t meant it like that.
This was the hardest part of dealing with Hinako. She just didn’t have an off switch, lacking the shame that might’ve given another girl pause. Instead, she could tease Rimi mercilessly, and Rimi had no choice but to put up with it.
“Anyway, let’s hurry up, Rimi-rin,” Hinako said, dropping the question just as easily. “We still need to get some cotton candy after this!”
After all, there would be no greater tragedy than running out of money at a festival, when there were still so many delicious treats Rimi had yet to taste.
“Come on Rimi-rin, just a little more now…”
Rimi sat on Hinako’s lap, eyes closed and utterly lost to the world. She hadn’t known how different it would be, doing this with another girl. Rimi could have just as easily done it herself, but there was an unpredictable, exciting quality when she gave up that control to Hinako instead.
“Don’t be afraid to work your tongue into the mix,” Hinako reminded her. “I can try using my fingers, just to give that last little push, but—”
Hinako didn’t have to explain, already opening her mouth wider, trying to stick her tongue out a little further. The tip touched something soft, and just a little sticky. Dripping with the faint sweetness Rimi craved so deeply, even after all this.
It was too far out of reach. Rimi craned her neck forward, trying to close the distance, but Hinako so cruelly pulled away. Again. Rimi let out a small, pathetic whimper.
“Poor Rimi-rin,” Hinako giggled. “So close to finishing, but you just can’t quite get there. If only you didn’t look so cute like this~”
Mixed up feelings filled Rimi’s chest, listening to Hinako’s laughter. It was mean spirited, but Rimi couldn’t find it in herself to blame the older girl. If it weren’t for Hinako, Rimi wouldn’t have gotten even so much as a taste to begin with. In a real sense, Hinako had paid for the very privilege to tease Rimi like this.
Hinako pulled the stick of dango free from Rimi’s lips. As expected, Rimi opened her eyes to find that last, pesky dumpling innocently dangling over her head, taunting her by its continued efforts to escape her.
“Please, Hina-chan,” Rimi begged, because she wasn’t above begging in such desperate circumstances. “Just let me eat it already!”
The situation was truly dire. Somewhere between the stall with those oversized candied apples and their untimely discovery of an ice cream stand right after going back for seconds on shaved ice, the last of Rimi’s funds had mysteriously vanished. Leaving Rimi utterly at the mercy of Hinako’s whims, helpless but to rely on the older girl’s goodwill to avoid starvation. Or at least sugar withdrawal symptoms, which Rimi knew could be a serious problem. Just a very different sort of problem than the one Hinako now posed.
For the first three balls of dango, everything had seemed fine, aside from a touch of strange commentary as Rimi ate. But before Rimi could finish off the remaining two, the other shoe finally dropped, and Rimi realized how trapped she really was. Stuck together on this bench with Hinako, sitting in her lap as Rimi tried desperately to earn what was rightfully hers—even if admittedly, Hinako was the one that paid for it.
If she made it out of this, Rimi resolved to bring twice as much money to the next festival, even if it meant demanding her allowance a month in advance. Or failing that, she could try taking out a loan. Anything to avoid falling into this same trap once more.
“Do you really want it that badly, Rimi-rin?” Hinako asked, wiggling the stick around, fully aware of all the things she was doing to Rimi. “With all your heart? More than anything else in the world?”
Rimi stared up at the last remaining dango, the poor thing speared straight through. Translucent syrup dripped down like blood, suffering all on its lonesome. No one could help it but Rimi, and yet her heart weighed heavy with hesitation. Hinako’s other hand subtly pressed down over her own, gathered together on Rimi’s lap, but not hard enough to stop her from acting. It simply felt wrong to grab the dango with her hands, when it belonged in her mouth. And taking it by force would only be perpetuating the terrible violence inherent in not letting Rimi eat such a delicious treat.
“Ah!”
The stick carelessly slipped from Hinako’s fingers, as the girl let out a small gasp. Rimi had no time to worry about what caused her to drop it though, now was a time for action. She easily pushed past Hinako’s other hand, just barely managing to catch the dango stick on its perilous descent. The burst of effort left Rimi bent over, gripping the stick just a bit too tightly.
“Safe…” Rimi murmured, looking down at that last little dango, that had already gone through so much today. Now it could finally rest.
“Tanzaku, Rimi-rin! We forgot about our tanzaku,” Hinako shouted, shaking Rimi by the shoulders. “Now’s no time to be sitting around, we have to get going or else our wishes won’t come true!”
Rimi stared down at her dango. A wish sounded nice, but she had dango right here already. That was worth something, right? Wouldn’t it be rude to ask for more than that? If she wished for, say, a second stick of dango, that could be seen as an insult to the first.
…No, Rimi had to trust that dango was more understanding than that. She could eat the last dango, and then still have another wish granted after that. It didn’t have to be dango either, it could be anything at all. Also, Hinako was shaking her pretty rigorous, and Rimi felt it was easiest to just go along with her at times like this.
“Here, quick,” Hinako said, taking the remaining dango between two fingers, sliding it off of the stick. She shoved it straight into Rimi’s mouth, fingers and all, catching Rimi off guard. But Rimi was never entirely unprepared for delicious food, and started chewing the moment Hinako pulled her fingers back out again. The slightly salty taste of her skin still lingered, mixing in with the sweeter syrup found within the nature habitat of dango. Namely, inside Rimi’s mouth.
Standing up from the bench, Hinako grabbed Rimi by one hand, pulling her to her feet. Rimi tried to chew carefully, not wanting to waste what could be her very last dango of the night, but Hinako’s pace was too frantic. Tugging at Rimi, dragging them together into a sprint down the sidewalk. Rimi would ask if Hinako even knew where to go, but again, her mouth was filled with delicious dango, and so she could only try to follow after her.
Once Hinako realized she had no idea where they were or where they were going, their pace gradually slowed. Going from nearly a run to finally walking side by side, Rimi no longer fighting to keep up. She still held Hinako’s hand as she caught her breath, the both of them looking for any slips of paper hung up around them.
There was a particular shop Rimi always visited with her sister each year, which would put out a pair of bamboo plants and a table to write on. She was pretty sure Hinako had even hung her own tanzaku up there once or twice with them, in years past. But Yuri was always the one leading the way, and the streets looked unfamiliar, lit up now primarily by decorative lights. Even if Rimi could read one of the street signs, she wasn’t sure how much it would help.
“Something on your mind, Rimi-rin?” Hinako asked. “Still figuring out what you’re going to wish for?”
It took Rimi a moment to register the idle chatter, turning her head towards Hinako. It was well into the evening now, but on summer days like this it hardly mattered. Still warm enough to walk around without any extra layers, not even a hint of the chill that night was meant to bring. To Rimi, it felt like they had wandered somewhere they weren’t supposed to, the lingering summer heat and bright festival lights carving out a little patch of day, even after the sun had given in.
“…I don’t know,” Rimi admitted. “I usually just write down the first thing I think of when I get there. I’m not really the sort for big, serious wishes. My life isn’t quite so exciting.”
Hinako hummed to herself, betraying no signs of what she thought of Rimi’s response. But the question hadn’t mattered that much in the first place, Rimi supposed. The important thing was just being here, walking, talking, taking in the surreal transformation which took over the shopping district on Tanabata. Rimi had expected her first festival spent without her family to be different somehow, but Hinako had slipped right into the same role Yuri took on. Maybe she wasn’t too far off from family, if Rimi was being honest.
If Yuri were here, things would make a bit more sense. A pair of high school girls dragging a little sister around. An obligation, even if they all enjoyed themselves. But it was just Hinako and Rimi, the two of them had spent nearly the entire evening together now, without a single complaint from the older girl. Hadn’t she wanted to see Yuri? Or her other friends from high school? Hinako had to be a lot more popular than Rimi, she wouldn’t struggle to find other girls to share taiyaki or shaved ice with.
Another block or two onward, and the stalls began to grow more familiar. Passing by everywhere they had stopped at, and all the games they had skipped over. Hinako would’ve probably had a lot of fun with some of those, if she had been able to spend any time with someone other than Rimi…
“Hey, Hina-chan,” Rimi said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them, tugging gently at Hinako’s hand to get her to stop and listen. “I just… Thanks.”
Hinako peered curiously at Rimi, but didn’t interrupt so quickly. Giving Rimi time to explain herself, though finding the words was a bit of a struggle. Rimi probably should have thought that through before she started, but it was too late now.
“You didn’t have to—” Rimi started, but then shook her head, feeling that wasn’t quite the right thing to say. “I’m glad you were here with me tonight. I know I’m not as fun as Onee-chan, but it was… nice. Like spending the day with a friend. Or, if not a friend…”
Rimi trailed off. The thought wasn’t fully formed, and Rimi probably shouldn’t have tried to explain it to begin with. Hinako had done something special today, just for Rimi, and so Rimi should thank her. There was no need to try to complicate it any more than that.
“Aww… Rimi-rin~” Hinako said, tugging back on Rimi’s arm to spin her fully towards her, pulling Rimi into a hug. “You’re so adorable, you know. Of course I didn’t have to spend the past few hours trying all the delicious food here—But I had a lot of fun with you too. Doesn’t that make us friends? Or was Rimi-rin thinking of something a little more than friends~”
There was no way to escape, as Hinako’s fingers raked against Rimi’s sides, tickling her mercilessly. Rimi tried to protest, but only a pained giggle came out. She hadn’t meant it like that at all! Not when she had first said it, the thought only occurring to Rimi after she had already started speaking.
Hinako let up rather easily, turning Rimi around by the shoulders into a backwards hug. For the first time, Rimi spotted a familiar folding table, with large shoots of bamboo sticking up on either side of it. Even from here, nearly half a block away, Rimi could see the leaves weighed down by over a dozen paper slips, hanging there each with its own small handwritten prayer.
“I think I know my wish already, Rimi-rin,” Hinako told her, nearly whispering in Rimi’s ear, except at a more Hinako-appropriate volume. Her voice was gentler than usual though, as if she was simply letting her thoughts leak out. “I had the same wish last year, and the year before that…”
There wasn’t so much as a light breeze twisting by right now. The air was still and warm, but goose bumps spread across Rimi’s skin all the same. Hinako’s fingertips brushed against her arms, as she hung lazily against Rimi’s back. The warmth of her touch was more distracting than helpful, but Rimi could sense Hinako was taking things a little more seriously. A wish? Hinako always seemed quite content with herself, as far as Rimi knew.
“I want a cute younger girl like Rimi-rin to be my girlfriend!” Hinako declared, squeezing Rimi in a tight hug. Rimi squawked at the sudden outburst, but Hinako proved far stronger than her. “Doesn’t that sound like the best? Getting to kiss a cute girl whenever I wanted, taking the lead and teaching her all sorts of things…”
Whether from the way Hinako held her, or the implications of her words alone, Rimi couldn’t manage to fight back a blush. She never exactly forgot Hinako was gay, but she could say these things so out of nowhere that they still managed to take Rimi by surprise. It was the lack of shame, probably. But while Hinako flirted a fair bit, Rimi didn’t remember her ever having a girlfriend before. Hinako probably wouldn’t have spent so many wishes from years past on it, in that case.
“I think if Hina-chan really wanted something like that, it wouldn’t be that hard,” Rimi said, giving up on trying to escape. “You’re pretty. Popular. V-Very affectionate and open with your feelings.”
“You think so, Rimi-rin?” Hinako asked, turning Rimi around to face her, but the two of them still stayed nearly as close. “If I want a super cute girlfriend, all I have to do is lean in, and—”
In the back of Rimi’s head, half a dozen fireworks went off all at once. No, that wasn’t quite right… Behind Rimi’s head, fireworks were going off. DIstant cheers and murmurs spread up and down the block, as everyone around them turned to face the sky.
Also Hinako was kissing her. Maybe Rimi should’ve noticed that first, but the timing was rather bizarre. Had Hinako known when the fireworks would start? Well, sure, the show always happened at the same time each year, but that still meant Hinako had to remember that and know exactly what time it was right now. A coincidence started to sound much more believable, compared to that.
“Is it too cliche to confess over fireworks, Rimi-rin?” Hinako said as she pulled back. Because that was what this was. A confession. Hinako didn’t want a girlfriend like Rimi, she wanted the real thing. “I’d really like to watch them with you, if you’ll indulge me a little.”
Rimi stared at Hinako, utterly bewildered, but relented as she fell back against Hinako’s chest. Wrapped up in her arms once more, as the two of them looked up to the evening sky. Set alight by brilliant greens and blues and other more fiery colors. Fireworks hissing and cracking and sizzling overhead, until the bright sparks faded into nothing but smoke.
“I love you, Rimi-rin,” Hinako whispered in Rimi’s ear, taking full advantage of the privileged position that Rimi allowed her. “Sometimes in manga, fireworks are used as an excuse for the other side not to hear a confession. Too loud and distracting. But that just means I need to be louder and more distracting-er~”
With that, Hinako took Rimi’s earlobe into her mouth, sending shivers down the younger girl’s body, no matter how warm it still was outside.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” Hinako sang, planting uneven kisses down one side of Rimi’s face. “Please be my girlfriend. Pretty please?”
True to Hinako’s promise, even the fireworks couldn’t manage to drown out everything she said. Rimi heard plenty regardless, and even if she hadn’t, all the kisses were fairly telling in their own right. Hinako was kissing her. A whole lot. Hinako was asking Rimi to be her girlfriend. Also a whole lot.
“I had a lot of fun today, Rimi-rin,” Hinako told her, voice rising to nearly a shout as another firework went off. “I want to go out with you again—waiting until the next festival is way too far away. If Rimi-rin were my girlfriend, I could spoil her all I wanted. Shaved ice, dango, anything at all. But indirect kisses just aren’t enough for me… I need a cute little girlfriend to kiss so badly~”
Okay, so maybe some of it sounded a bit more pathetic than endearing, but Rimi had never been confessed to before. Maybe confessions were supposed to be a little pathetic, if only to properly convey all the desperation they entailed.
Hinako kissed her again on the cheek, before turning back to the fireworks. Rimi had to admit it was nice. Standing here in Hinako’s arms, watching the colors showering down from high above the rooftops of the buildings lining the street. As much as Hinako wanted a younger girlfriend specifically, Rimi felt there were advantages to having an older girlfriend. Her head fit so snug against Hinako’s chest, and Rimi would never have to pay for shaved ice ever again. She wouldn’t even have to hold it herself, letting Hinako feed her bite by bite…
She didn’t have to answer right away. For anyone but Hinako, trying to talk over a fireworks display was a losing battle. And Rimi needed a moment to gather her thoughts.
Overhead, the tempo spiked, filling the air with light and sound. Fireworks going off one after another, sparks mixing together into a larger singular mass, never fading entirely. Rimi’s heart rate rose to meet the growing excitement, letting any thoughts of the girl holding her briefly slip away. But much like the festival itself, the fireworks couldn’t last forever, and a hushed silence fell over the sky, and the crowd below it. Leaving Rimi still standing there, wondering what she was supposed to do.
“Well, Rimi-rin?” a voice whispered in her ear, as a smattering of cheers echoed up and down the street.
There was a lot Rimi was still unsure about, but she had definitely liked kissing Hinako. In her admittedly unrelated experience, that usually meant it was worth trying another helping.
Rimi turned around, craning her neck a little in her attempt to reach Hinako’s lips again. A moment of shock overtook the taller girl, perhaps expecting Rimi to have said something first. But no romantic words came to mind for Rimi, and this would do nicely to stall for time. Maybe Rimi could say something like—
“Hina, what the hell are you doing with my sister?”
Hinako’s lips froze against Rimi’s. That wasn’t what Rimi had meant to say in the slightest. Also it would have been hard to say anything at all with Hinako’s tongue in her mouth, which Rimi was pretty sure had happened too. It was a very confusing situation all around.
“Y-Yuri-rin, when did you get here?” Hinako said with a bit of a nervous laugh, turning to find Rimi’s sister standing right behind her, arms crossed.
“Not soon enough, it looks like,” Yuri said, almost grumbling to herself rather than speaking to either of them. Yuri also found it tough dealing with Hinako sometimes.
“That’s right, you’re too late!” Hinako cried triumphantly, confidence swelling back in an instant. She hooked her elbow back behind Rimi’s neck, pulling them in close together standing side by side. “Rimi-rin and I are lovers now, there’s nothing you can do to treat us apart!”
“H-Hey there, Onee-chan,” Rimi said, a little dizzy from the sudden motion. She hung awkwardly by Hinako’s side, embarrassed by the way she had phrased things, if not exactly disagreeing with the general meaning.
It sounded intense, ‘lovers’. Hinako had already said she loved Rimi a bunch of times, but she said that a lot even before today. To lots of other girls besides Rimi. So maybe this was how intense Hinako needed to act, just to show she was actually serious. Even if it seemed rather ridiculous on its face, that was hardly unexpected where Hinako was concerned.
Yuri must have come to much the same conclusion, letting out a sigh as she leaned her face against her palm. “Why do you have to be like this, Hina?”
“…Tch, it seems we’re past the point of words then,” Hinako said out of nowhere, leaving both Ushigome sisters at a loss. Hinako turned to Rimi, patting her on the shoulder. “I think I figured out what your wish should be though, Rimi-rin.”
Rimi stared up at Hinako, spending not even a second before giving up on trying to follow the other girl’s train of thought. “I thought I was supposed to figure that out for myself?”
Trying to question everything she didn’t get would take way too long, so Rimi just blurted out the first objection that came to mind. It wasn’t like Rimi cared about her wish that much. If anything, she was curious what Hinako would come up with—though the timing seemed strange, given that Yuri had started to glare in their direction again.
“There’s no time for that, Rimi-rin. Now listen carefully,” Hinako said in a hushed but urgent tone. Still loud enough for Yuri to hear though. Volume control has never been Hinako’s strong suit. “When I say the word, you have to start running, okay? Then when Yuri-rin kills me, you can wish to bring me back to life. Like they do with the Dragon Balls!”
“I don’t think tanzaku work like that, Hina-chan…” Rimi said, wondering why her expectations had been for anything more than this. “Also, Onee-chan isn’t going to—”
Hinako leapt forward, throwing her body directly between Rimi and her sister. “Go, Rimi-rin! I’ll hold her off, just run!”
Rimi stood there for a second, glancing between the two older girls. It was hard to remember Hinako was the same age as Yuri sometimes, when the gap between them seemed so large.
“Er, should I get us a spot in line?” Rimi said, turning to Yuri while looking straight past Hinako as best she could manage. “It might get a bit busy now that the fireworks are over…”
By a quick glance over her shoulder, Rimi could only find a handful of people leaning over the table, writing their own wishes. But it could get busier without warning. And also Rimi got the sense it might be better for her to suddenly disappear for a little while.
“Thanks, Rimi. That would be a big help,” Yuri smiled at her, holding that warm expression for a moment longer, before turning to Hinako. “Now Hina, why don’t you and I have a quick little chat, just the two of us?”
“Never forget me, Rimi-rin!” Hinako cried mournfully, Rimi taking that as an excuse to leave when translated into normal speech. As if there was any danger of Rimi ever forgetting Hinako of all girls.
Perhaps predictably, the night ended not with gruesome murder, but rather three new tanzaku hanging down from the bamboo leaves. Rimi didn’t ask what Hinako or Yuri had written for themselves, and had been too embarrassed to even hint at her own wish. It wasn’t a bad wish though. In fact, Rimi couldn’t think of a better wish from any year before it.
Lofty, aspirational, perhaps ultimately impossible. Everything a wish should be. If it was something Rimi thought she could do for herself, there wouldn’t be any need for a wish. But it would still be nice, and so Rimi wrote down the only wish that came to mind.
I wish I could understand my girlfriend a little better.