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Sharpie scratches against colored paper, streaks of black combining to form character after character. Hana stares at her red paper slip, scanning over her words again and again. Oh gods, she absolutely needs this wish to come true today. A yellow-gloved hand snatches the slip out of Hana’s hands before she can start to spiral, ignoring the indignant yelp she lets out in response.
“You’re finally done with your tanzaku?” Yuriko asks, combing her free hand through her wind-swept hair, her leather motorcycle jacket still draped across her shoulders. She must have headed for Hana’s room the moment she got back home from the hardware store. Yuriko sighs, equal parts amused and concerned, as she reads through Hana’s Tanabata wish. “You know you have nothing to worry about, right?”
“That doesn’t mean I can't worry!” Hana groans. She moves to stand in front of her floor mirror, scrutinizing her outfit and her makeup. Her outfit for today's festival consists of a pale pink yukata decorated with red and black cherry blossoms paired with a bright red obi and a decorative golden obi-jime. A simple gold bracelet is clasped around her wrist, a years-old gift from Sakura to celebrate the opening of her, Hiromi’s, and Tamaki's private detective agency. She's opted for a bit more glitter around the eyes today to complement her usual red lip, a look reminiscent of how she used to do her makeup when she first met Sakura back in university.
Through the mirror, she can see her older sister looking through the hairclips and ornaments neatly laid out on the vanity table. After much deliberation, she picks out a pale pink flower hairclip, clipping it into Hana’s neatly curled hair, right above her right ear.
“You look amazing,” Yuriko says, smiling down at her. “Sakura's going to be blown away.”
“I hope so,” Hana frets, readjusting her bangs for the third time in the past twenty minutes. “What if she-”
“She won't,” Yuriko reassures her. She glances at the clock, her oxblood lips pulling downwards into a frown. “Shouldn't you be heading out, though?”
Hana curses, checking the time on her phone— oh shit. She’s going to be at least ten minutes late! Unlocking her phone, she opens the group chat specifically made for their top-secret mission today. She quickly sends a message with an update on her ETA, before scrolling up to check on all the other messages she missed while getting ready.
Kagerou:
> took one for the team and convinced sakura to get her nails done with me
> ur welcome
Daiji:
> dont lie you liked the manipedi didnt u
Kagerou:
> stfu dumbass
Daiji:
> anyway i pulled some strings and got part of that boardwalk area roped off
> idk how long we can stop people from barging in once the fireworks start though
Tamaki:
> florist order confirmed!!! oh its gonna be so prettyyyy
> the order should be done in 20 ill go back and pick it up once we’re closer to sunset
Ikki:
> we’re leaving the house! see you there :)
Hana:
> im heading out now!!! will be a bit late pls keep sakura distracted
Sliding open her vanity cupboard, Hana pulls out a small box, lined with red velvet. Cracking open the box, she eyes the ring nestled within, a simple thin gold band decorated with golden roses and red sapphires. It had taken a full month of searching to finally find a ring worthy of Sakura, and many months more of saving up to afford it. She can only hope that tonight will be the night she finally gets to see it shine on Sakura’s ring finger.
Hana places the ring box in her red drawstring bag alongside her phone, wallet, and keys before rushing out of her room and towards the front door. Yuriko follows behind her, hanging her tanzaku up on the bamboo plant in the living room while she slips into her red and white geta sandals.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Hana asks. “You can keep Ikki company as a fellow eldest sibling.”
“No, too many strangers,” Yuriko says, shaking her head. “I’ve already discussed it with Ikki— He’ll put me on video call when the time comes.”
“Alright, I’ll see you later then!” Hana replies, waving her sister goodbye. She reaches into her bag one last time as the door closes behind her. Once she confirms that the ring box is where it should be, she sets off, her geta sandals click clack-ing at lightning speed as they hit the pavement.
There’s only two hours left in the day before sunset.
There’s only two hours left until Hana asks Igarashi Sakura to marry her.
* * *
It’s Tamaki who spots her in the crowd first, the dark purple cotton of his yukata bunching at the elbow as he waves her over to one of the shooting gallery stands. Hana wades over to find Sakura with a popgun in her hands, too focused on trying to shoot cork bullets at the moving targets in front of her to register the arrival of her girlfriend. Daiji, Ikki, and Kagerou crowd around her, engrossed in the spectacle of it all. While she misses the first few times, she gets into the rhythm of it enough where she manages to knock over one moving target after another with her last two bullets. Her brothers cheer her on with every successful shot. Hana only taps her on the shoulder once the game is over.
“Hana, you made it!” Sakura exclaims, grinning in excitement. She holds up two matching bunny keychains, one with a pleading expression on its face and another with a smug expression. She grabs at Hana’s bag and clips the latter to one of the drawstrings— Hana almost dies of a heart attack before she realizes what Sakura is trying to do. The ring, thankfully, goes undiscovered. “I just won these. I’ve clipped it to your bag so we can match!”
Hana looks down at the bunny keychain before pouting at Sakura. “Are you saying I look like this smug rabbit?”
Sakura reaches out to pinch her cheek, cooing at the indignant squawk Hana lets out in response. “Yep! You’re my smug little bunny.”
Heat floods her cheeks, and she sputters at Sakura’s words for the next few seconds. Twenty-eight years old and still being compared to a cute bunny by her girlfriend… it’s as embarrassing as it is endearing. She wonders if she’ll still be Sakura’s smug little bunny even when they hit their forties and their fifties, if at sixty Sakura will still be there to pinch her cheek and fluster her like she has been for the past seven years of their relationship. She hopes so— She can’t imagine life being any other way.
As Sakura clips her pleading bunny keychain to her own bag, Hana finally gets a good look at her. Clad in a navy blue yukata decorated with blue and yellow cherry blossoms and maroon red butterflies, her pale yellow obi fastened around her waist with a red obi-jime thread and three red, white, and black flower accessories, Sakura looks absolutely stunning. Her midnight blue nails are indeed freshly manicured, the crescent arch of the cat eye design shimmering as she fiddles with the keychain clasp.
Kagerou catches her attention from behind Sakura. You’re welcome, he mouths, cheekily waving his black ombre nails at her. She rolls her eyes at him, as she’s wont to do, but she secretly is really thankful for his help with getting Sakura ready for today. Not that she would ever admit it out loud, of course, but the sly slant of his answering smirk tells her that he knows this anyway.
Keychain now firmly attached to the blue drawstrings of her bag, Sakura turns, moving closer and wrapping her arms around Hana’s. Hana briefly leans over to rest her head on Sakura’s shoulder in their usual silent greeting, their private way of saying hello and I missed you and I love you so much all at once. Sakura rests her head atop Hana’s, sighing happily at the contact.
The six of them continue strolling through the festival grounds, idly chatting as they look for the next stall to grab their attention. “You’re really good with the popgun! I’ve tried it before but it’s a lot harder than it looks,” Tamaki remarks.
“There’s nothing like going through med school to give you a steady hand,” Sakura replies. “One of my old friends from high school was a total pro at those kinds of games. Super methodical, the kind that got banned from certain stalls because he kept hitting the targets. I picked up some neat aiming tricks from him too!”
Daiji makes a comment about how his work gets him access to a shooting range and Kagerou interjects with an insult. The conversation devolves into their usual bickering, with Ikki as the long-suffering mediator and Tamaki the long-suffering innocent bystander turned collateral damage when the two inevitably start smacking each other with whatever they have on hand. They move from stall to stall after the twins are done with their mandatory daily fight, snacking on whatever tasty food that catches their eye and spending more money than they should failing at children’s games.
As sunset nears, one by one the other members of their summer festival party disappear. Tamaki leaves first, slipping away to the florist as quietly as he can while the rest are preoccupied with ordering from a busy takoyaki stall. Daiji is the next to leave, a paper boat of steaming hot takoyaki in hand, no doubt to go check on the boardwalk location. Kagerou trails after him in guise of wanting to steal Daiji’s food.
By the time 6pm comes around, it’s only her, Sakura and Ikki left. Ikki, the dependable man that he always is, expertly herds them in the direction of the boardwalk with Sakura none the wiser. True to Daiji’s words, a section of the boardwalk is miraculously clear, and Hana can spot the tops of Daiji and Kagerou’s heads a few meters away from their destination, hidden amongst the nearby crowd. They walk onto the empty boardwalk, Hana surreptitiously texting Tamaki to let him know that all of them were in position.
Tamaki:
> omw
> canr rly typw witf bigbrflowee ill bebther in 5 mns
Hana shares a look with Ikki while Sakura is busy admiring the ocean view, nodding at him. He nods back before pulling out his phone, fingers flying across the screen as he sends out a text. Within minutes, a familiar voice rings from the phone’s speaker, her sister’s face popping up on screen. Ikki turns to Sakura, working in tandem with Yuriko to distract her, making up excuses about the older woman wanting to see the upcoming firework display without having to be in an overwhelming sea of strangers.
As Sakura chats with Yuriko about the fireworks, Hana reaches into her bag for the ring box. She palms the box, quickly slipping it into the sleeve of her yukata. Tamaki emerges from behind her, panting heavily. He passes the precious cargo in his arms over to her, a large bouquet of exactly 108 red roses adorned with baby’s breath, cradled within pale pink and cream colored wrapping paper with a black satin ribbon tied around the base. Daiji and Kagerou have already made their way over to them, their phones at the ready for videos and photos.
“Sakura,” Hana’s voice rings out as clear as a bell. “Do you recognize this place?”
A hush falls around them, the passers-by in the nearby crowds quietening down once they realize what Hana is about to do. Ikki and Tamaki make themselves scarce, speedily striding away from them to stand next to Daiji and Kagerou, Yuriko still watching through the video call on Ikki’s phone. Sakura spins around, a questioning look on her face. She looks left and right, eyes widening as she notices the scene around her before locking onto the giant rose bouquet in Hana’s hands.
“What- Hana? What's going on?” Sakura asks, her voice starting to shake. “What is this?”
“This is where we went on our first date, back when we were still university students,” Hana continues to speak. She steps forward, holding out the bouquet. Sakura, still in shock, accepts the bouquet without question, her hands instinctively reaching out to take it. She clutches the roses to her chest, her mouth agape in disbelief.
“Even after all these years together, I can still remember every detail of that first date. I remember riding the teacups, sharing ice cream, walking down this very boardwalk with our hands entwined. I remember when you leaned down to kiss me for the first time— My heart was pounding right out of my chest.” Hana says. Her voice starts to waver, her eyes feeling hot, but still she continues. “You take my breath away every single time, and I can’t imagine a world in which you aren’t standing there next to me, both as my best friend and the love of my life.”
“I know that this is only a symbolic gesture, that in the eyes of the law we cannot be anything more than girlfriends. But I want to call you my wife anyway. I want to see you walk down the aisle with your father by your side. I want the wedding photos and matching rings and the vows of ‘till death do us part’. I want to wake up next to you every single day for the rest of my life.” Hana reaches into her sleeve, pulling out the ring box. She gets down on one knee, opening the satin box to reveal the engagement ring within, glimmering softly in the light of the setting sun.
“Igarashi Sakura, I’ve spent the past seven years falling in love over and over again, each and every time always with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and you alone.” She lifts the box upwards towards Sakura. “Will you marry me?”
Sakura gasps, a hand flying to her mouth. She nods enthusiastically, tears starting to stream down her face as she steps forward to help Hana up. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”
It takes Hana longer than she’d like to slip the engagement ring onto Sakura’s ring finger, given her shaking hands and blurry eyesight, but the sight of Sakura’s gleaming smile is worth the struggle. Sakura leans in to kiss her, her free hand clutching at her yukata. Beside them, Hana hears the sound of clapping and cheering (and in Tamaki’s case: loud wailing). When she finally pulls back, she dabs at the tears staining Sakura’s cheeks with her sleeve, drying them as best as she can. Sakura does the same for her, giggling all the while.
“Oh my god,” Sakura says, still in a bit of a daze. “I can’t believe you beat me to it.”
“What?” Hana asks.
“I put the order in for a ring last week,” Sakura replies, shooting her a watery grin. “I was going to propose once I collected it.”
Hana turns to look at the rest of the Igarashi siblings, narrowing her eyes at them. All three of them look at anything but her, suddenly very skilled at minding their own business. “Did you know about this?”
Their silence says enough. Tamaki, on the other hand, looks incredibly confused, so Hana deems him spared from her wrath for now.
“Then it’ll be your turn to propose if we ever get to legally marry,” Hana decrees. Sakura makes a noise of approval, no doubt already brainstorming potential proposal ideas in her head.
They spend the next few minutes taking photos, posing into the camera together with the addition of Sakura’s new ring and her gigantic bouquet, glowing under the golden hues of the sunset behind them. It’s only a matter of time before night falls and the streetlamps flicker on, and before long streaks of dazzling light paint their faces as the Tanabata fireworks shoot into the air. She rests her head on Sakura’s shoulder, settling into her fiancée’s embrace as they watch the rest of the firework show together.
Wedding venues, guest lists, dress shopping and cake tastings, worrying about things like that can wait until tomorrow. For now, she’s content to bask in the afterglow of a successful wedding proposal, resting in the arms of her beloved while surrounded by friends and family alike.
* * *
From the comfort of her living room, Natsuki Yuriko flicks through photo after photo of her younger sister’s proposal, the sound of fireworks crackling through the tinny speakers of her phone. Walking over to the bamboo plant with her phone still in hand, she reads over the tanzaku wish she had hung up earlier that day for Hana. She snaps a photo of it, sending it to Hana with a quick message attached.
I hope she says yes.
Yuriko:
> told you there was nothing to worry about