Work Text:
Every year was the same. The Tanabata festival occurred on July 7th. And every year, their teacher would remind them of why.
The Tanabata festival, also known as the Star Festival, celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi. Legend would have it, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are only allowed to meet once a year; on the seventh day of the seventh month. It was introduced to Japan in 755…
Izumi Kanai knew the legend well by now. She didn’t really mind hearing about it again though; honestly, she found it quite romantic. The idea of two star-crossed lovers finally being able to be together, if only for one day, was just the kind of thing she really soaked right up. Not for any specific reason or anything! It wasn’t like she could say she related to it in any way…
As their teacher kept going on about the myth behind the festival, Izumi found her gaze drifting towards the back of the classroom, as itoften did. Mitsuru Numai seemed to be barely paying attention to the lesson. Izumi couldn’t see his expression clearly due to how his head was turned towards the window. She could only assume he was more than ready for the Summer holidays to come around. Their holiday would start in mid July, only a couple of weeks after the festival. Most of her classmates were understandably more excited about that than the fesitval itself.
Most, but not all.
Yukie Utsumi was amongst those (or possibly the only one) more excited than usual about the Tanabata festival. The reason being that Shiroiwa was about to host their own for the very first time! Every previous year, they had to go into the city Takamatsu to enjoy the different food stands and games and lights. It was a big deal that their small town would try to arrange the festival for once.
And Yukie had convinced the school board that their high school could contribute to a few different stands. Luckily they didn’t have to run any of the stalls on the actual evening (Izumi would much rather enjoy the festival as a participant), but they would be helping out making the decorations beforehand and baking some sweet treats.
Izumi had been quick to avoid any baking responsibility. Noriko and Chisato would be much better at that. So Yukie had delegated her the task of making paper cranes instead. Izumi had started the task earlier that week and whilst it felt challenging at first, she quickly got the hold of it, thanks to a very detailed tutorial she found in a library book. She wasn’t entirely sure just how many they needed, but Yukie had told her to just “make as many as you can”. The idea was that they could decorate the stands and maybe even be hung up in some of the trees nearby.
Paper crane duty had a tendency to lean on the tedious side, but again, Izumi would do anything to avoid baking (it was for the safety of the community, really!) As she quickly found out, it took many, many paper cranes to sufficiently fill even a foot of space. In order to make enough cranes to cover the stands and trees, Izumi found she would need to fold more than any human in recorded history. She was practically folding in her sleep. If the legends that foretold a thousand paper cranes bringing good luck and a wish to their maker were true, Izumi was due for more wishes than she knew what to do with.
At home, she would put on the romance channel, and fold her cranes. Like an old lady with her knitting, it got to be a habit that she hardly noticed she was doing. After she finished another crane, she tossed it into the basket at her feet. At school, she continued to fold, but had to do so subtly, to avoid getting in trouble. Each finished crane was slid into her pencil case, to be shoved into her backpack later.
On a particularly beautiful day, the students whispered amongst themselves during classes, hardly paying attention to their lessons. The student seated beside Izumi passed her a note, asking her to pass it along to the student in front of her. She nodded, and without thinking, began to fold the note into another crane. When she realised what she’d done, her face turned red, and she gasped, garnering the attention of those around her. Instinctively, her eyes again fell upon Mitsuru who, instead of staring ahead in boredom, had already been glancing at her with a smirk on his face. She was so embarrassed she could’ve died on the spot.
He thinks I’m such a dork, I’m sure, she thought to herself. She apologized profusely as she passed the crane-folded note along to the next student, who snickered at her work. Her friends also giggled, and although she knew they didn’t mean anything by it, she felt her face redden further.
Izumi wondered if she could possibly be the only one slightly losing her mind with all these preparations. Yukie kept encouraging them with promises that it would look so amazing when it all came together and it was really, really important to the Shiroiwa reputation and legacy that the first ever Tanabata festival was a huge success.
No pressure, girls! she added with a bright smile.
"I've baked about a hundred cookie samples for the sweets stand," Noriko confessed in a whisper to Izumi later that day. "I don't even know if anyone will buy the pre-baked cookie bags but... I want them to be perfect.”
Izumi smiled sympathetically. She wasn't sure if Noriko was telling her this as a way to ease her nerves, or if Noriko was also feeling the pressure of the festival as it drew closer.
"At this rate, I think I will have a nervous breakdown before I can even go to the festival!" Izumi whispered back, sounding about as dramatic as she felt.
Noriko had laughed gently and given her arm a squeeze. "We will have fun!" she promised. "And, uhm, truth be told... I don't think anyone will pay that much attention to whatever we make. It only really matters to us, doesn't it?"
"I hope you're right," Izumi sighed. She imagined a scenario where several people walked into the park where the festival was being held, only to turn immediately on their heels and curse out the cranes. Who can enjoy the Tanabata festival with these kinds of hideous decorations? she could hear them say.
Perhaps she was a tad too dramatic about it.
Time passed, and soon enough, the Tanabata festival was mere days away. Izumi had filled two bins, and a laundry hamper, to the brim with her paper cranes. Even after she decided she had made more than enough, she found herself making more. Just in case. During the nicest evening without a breeze in the air, she sat on the veranda, and folded in silence. The final paper crane she folded was it; the perfect paper crane. The patterned origami paper she used lined up perfectly at each crisp fold, creating the most beautiful paper crane she’d ever seen in her life. After weeks of hard work, she could’ve wept at the sight. She couldn’t bear to part with it. She knew she had to reserve it for something, or somebody special. She cautiously flattened the crane and slid it into her pocket for safekeeping, and brought her creations inside.
When the morning of the festival arrived, Izumi found herself faced with a new problem– transporting her bins and hamper to the festival grounds. She felt awful enlisting her friends for help, knowing that they were swamped with their own preparations, so she called the two who could at least do it the fastest, Haruka and Yuka, since they both had bicycles with attachable wagons on the back. They arrived promptly, impressed by the haul.
“I knew you've been busy but damn!” exclaimed Yuka. “You’re going to live a thousand years after folding this many cranes!”
“Our wagons aren’t too big, so Yuka and I can probably only take a bin at a time,” explained Haruka. “We’ll both need to take two trips. One of us will come back for the hamper, and the other can take you.”
“I’ve already troubled you enough,” insisted Izumi. “You can each take one bin, and I’ll carry the hamper as I walk over. Nobody has to circle back around!”
“Are you sure? It’s a long walk with that much weight to carry.”
“Really, girls! It’s too hot to have you biking around all day!” said Izumi, waving them off with her hands. In actuality, she didn’t want them to stick around long enough for her to regret her decision. “Don’t worry about me! We don’t have time to play around today!”
Izumi immediately began the walk towards the local park. She needed to get there as soon as she could, both to give the people running the stands a good amount of time to set up, but also to make it back home in time to get ready for the evening. She wanted her hair and makeup to look perfect when she would be wearing her yukata, as she rarely had an occasion to wear it.
The hamper wasn't exactly heavy, but it was big and therefore awkward for her to carry. It had no real handles, and her arms barely fit around it.
A mere five minutes into her walk, she was already regretting dismissing Haruka and Yuka's offer to help her. Her hands and arms kept trembling from her awkward grip, and she kept stopping to readjust it.
But just as she passed the corner shop, she heard the bell above the door chime. And then a familiar voice.
"Need a hand, Kanai?"
Izumi froze, almost dropping the hamper right then and there.
She flipped around, and again, unable to see anything over the large hamper in her hands. “Who—” she whipped around again, “ —Where?”
The boy let out a short laugh as he relieved her hands of the awkward hamper. With her view opening up, Izumi was finally able to see that it was Mitsuru who had asked her. But she already knew that. She recognized his voice as clear as the bell chime of the corner store. She had simply responded awkwardly due to her nerves.
“N—Numai,” stuttered Izumi. “You don’t have to, uhm, if you don’t want to…”
Mitsuru shook his head. "I don't mind. It ain't heavy or anything," he said casually. The hamper didn't have any lid covering the top, and Mitsuru took a quick peek inside.
"Damn, Kanai. That's a lot of paper birds."
Izumi felt her face flush slightly. Did he think they were lame? There wasn't anything in his tone to suggest he did, but...
"I know," she sighed, as they began walking. Mitsuru didn't ask where they were going; he must have rightfully assumed they were heading to the festival grounds. "I've folded so many, I can hardly feel my hands anymore! I just hope everyone likes them -"
"They're cute," Mitsuru slipped out, before clearing his throat. "I mean, cool. People will like them."
Izumi blinked. Did he mean that? She really hoped he meant that. Her face softened with a more relaxed smile.
"Really?" she asked, quietly. "Thank you."
Then, feeling particularly bold after the compliment, she quickly added: "Are you going too? To... To the festival? I mean, you and your friends. Are you guys going?"
Mitsuru nodded in confirmation. "We're gonna check it out. Hiroshi's talked about all the food for weeks. We'll probably empty most of the food stalls."
Izumi laughed a little at this. Yuka had been worried something like this would happen, but she had mostly worried Keita IIjima would be the culprit behind it. Maybe Izumi had been wrong in reassuring her friend there would be plenty of treats for everyone?
"We have to make sure we get there before you, then," she replied, a small smile still on her lips.
"Ain't gonna be too hard. Zuki likes bein' fashionably late," replied Mitsuru.
The foot traffic even in the quietest neighbourhoods in town was higher than usual given the upcoming festival. Last minute preparations sent residents into a tizzy, girls and young women scurrying about with garment bags that no doubt contained freshly laundered yukatas. Izumi watched enviously as she thought of her own sitting at home. Thankfully she’d had the foresight to send it to the cleaners a week ahead of time.
Despite the kind gesture Mitsuru was performing for her, Izumi had trouble striking up a conversation with him during the latter half of their journey. She observed him through the corner of her eye, making a special effort not to face him. She recalled her embarrassing moment in class, folding a student’s note into a crane, and that smirk on Mitsuru’s face as he watched, not unlike the expression he had only moments ago while slipping up and referring to her cranes as ‘cute.’ It wasn’t a teasing or malicious expression, her embarrassment at the time had only made her think it was.
The festival grounds were bustling with energy when the two arrived. At the gate leading inside, Haruka and Yuka were standing beside their bikes and the bins.
“We thought you got lost!” expressed Yuka, relieved to see Izumi approaching.
"I was just about to go looking for you," added Haruka.
“I better take over now,” said Izumi, taking her hamper from Mitsuru.
“Sure, I guess I’ll see you around tonight,” replied Mitsuru.
She smiled shyly as he left, and only realised, as he turned the corner, that she had forgotten to thank him for his help. “Wait–” her voice cracked as she called out, much too late.
“You okay?” asked Haruka.
Izumi turned back to her friends and nodded. “Yes, sorry. The heat is making me a little absentminded.”
Haruka nodded, not looking convinced. She glanced in the direction Mitsuru had just went off to for a moment.
"Right - " she finally said, reaching her arms out to relief Izumi of the hamper. "Why don't you go back home, have some water, and change? Yuka and I can pass these around to the different stands."
"Shouldn't we help decorate?" Izumi asked, feeling a pang of guilt at avoiding the responsibility.
"Please, Izu, you've done more than enough," Yuka said as she waved her hand. "Me helping by taste testing ten of Noriko's cookie batches pales in comparison!"
"Besides, the vendors might have their own preference of how they decorate their stands," Haruka pointed out. "I think they can take care of that themselves."
"But," Izumi continued, worried her vision for her cranes would be destroyed. "I kind of wanted some in the trees as well. Uhm, flying next to the lanterns..."
"You think we're letting your clumsy butt up on a ladder?" Yuka joked. "Haruka can hang them! She's tall enough even without the boost!"
Haruka let out a snort-laugh. "You may be exaggerating my height there, Yuka."
Izumi looked at her friends, grateful. She still felt a little bad, but she could use the extra time. Yuka and Haruka would get back home quicker than she would after all, considering they arrived on their bikes.
"If you're sure," she nodded. "We will meet by the park entrance later?"
"At 6 o'clock sharp!" Yuka confirmed, digging her hand into the pile of cranes swimming around in the hamper. Izumi almost wanted to ask her to be a bit more gentle with them, but she bit her tongue. She appreciated the help, after all.
Instead she smiled. "I'll see you there."
At 6' o clock it was finally time for Izumi to go enjoy the festival. As she had gotten ready, she could feel her excitement grow. The expectations had been built up for this for so many weeks and she couldn't wait to actually experience it.
Even though she had helped make some of the decorations and set up a few stands, Izumi was still in awe of how it all looked in the golden hues of the summer evening. The park in Shiroiwa had never looked more beautiful. The paper lanterns were swaying gently in the breeze, their light flickering across yukata-clad festivalgoers. To her relief, she could see her colorful cranes amongst the lanterns, hung up on strings and amongst the trees. It looked just as perfect as she had hoped for.
The streets were more crowded than Izumi had never seen them and the sound of laughter ringing through the warm air made her feel almost nostalgic for something that wasn’t even over yet.
She was standing at the edge of the main path leading into the park, her friends close on each side of her. They were all wearing soft-colored yukatas (except Yuka’s, which was bright yellow with blue flowers). Izumi was currently nervously tugging at the sleeve of her own pale pink yukata. As her eyes scanned the food stalls lined down the narrow paths of the park and the colourful streamers fluttering above, she wasn’t quite sure were to start. Her group had arrived together, as they agreed, but it seemed like it would be difficult to navigate the narrow paths as such a big group now that the park was so crowded.
"Is everybody still present?" called Yukie from the head of the crowd. She asked the same question every few minutes.
“I think so! We nearly lost Satomi a couple booths ago!” replied Yuka. Even she was struggling to make light of the situation, while weaving through the tightly-packed crowd.
“I know everybody was excited for Shiroiwa to have a festival, but this is a way bigger turnout than I expected,” whispered Izumi to Chisato, who was currently crammed so tightly against her that they weren’t sure where one girl's yukata ended and the other began.
“I heard that a lot of Takamatsu residents decided they wanted to go to our festival instead, because the operators at their festival have been so mean in recent years…” replied Chisato. “You remember that mean admissions man that yelled at us for giggling too much?”
“Oh, he was so mean,” agreed Izumi. She didn’t like to gossip, but it wasn’t like it was untrue. He yelled obscenities at nearly every passing person for this-or-that silly reason. He even scared some of the younger kids into tears. It wasn't a pretty way to begin a festival. “I can’t say I blame them for jumping ship the first chance they get…”
“I think we need to split up,” said Haruka, raising her voice to be heard over the crowd. “Just until the first-entry madness dies down a little.”
“We’ll meet up in the garden in about an hour!” suggested Yukie. “Godspeed, girls!”
The garden was a scenic area that could be found only through an unmarked path at the far end of the park. Only locals would know about it which would free the girls from the grasp of the unruly city crowd. As much as Izumi liked the idea of re-grouping there later, she had no idea what to do with herself in the meantime. There were almost too many options.
She tried to stick close to Noriko and Chisato for a while, but the other girls quickly became distracted with a stand selling crochet animals. Izumi thought they looked cute too, particularly a pink frog with blushing cheeks. But the stand was immediately swarmed by younger children and their parents, and Izumi took a step back to allow them the space.
She kept walking on the path, more-so pulled along by the crowd as she scanned the different stands. Her nose led her to what she could only assume was the takoyaki stand. Once she finally got close enough to see it properly, she realized it was. She hadn't realized she was getting hungry before she heard her stomach let out a quiet growl.
Noticing an opening by the stand, Izumi quickly stepped off the main path and squeezed her way in.
She was about to try to get the vendor's attention when she realized she might be too late.
"'M gonna get at least ten more!" Hiroshi Kuronaga exclaimed through a mouthful of takoyaki. The batter and filling was flying everywhere as he spoke. "These are so fuckin' good!"
"Ya better share, asshole!" Ryuhei Sasagawa insisted, ripping one out of Hiroshi's hand. "Unless ya'll let me see if I can throw this in your mouth?"
Oh no, maybe Izumi hadn't been fast enough. She wondered if Hiroshi had been serious about finishing all the food?
But she didn't worry about it for long. Instead, she felt a familiar presence behind her. The butterflies in hear stomach acted up before he even spoke or before she had a chance to turn to look at him.
"Sorry. Guess they didn't want to wait around for Zuki," Mitsuru apologized with a short laugh. Izumi collected herself before turning around, prepared to tell him to of course not worry about it. It wasn't a big deal, and she would just go to a different stand anyway and -
Then she noticed he was reaching a hand out to her. In it was a takoyaki, neatly resting on a paper tissue.
"Saved you one, though," Mitsuru said, not quite meeting her eyes.
"If you want it."
“Thank you!” blurted Izumi, in a volume so loud that even she was shocked.
“It ain’t that much, really,” replied Mitsuru, with an eyebrow peaking up amusedly.
Izumi held the takoyaki ball in her hands, crinkling the tissue around it gently. “S–Sorry! I mean… Thank you. I realised that I forgot to say it earlier and this is the second kindness you’ve shown me today.”
“It really ain’t a thing,” insisted Mitsuru.
“Man, this shit is gayer than when Zuki takes us to drag night at the damn bar,” grumbled Ryuhei. “Speak of the devil, it’s about fuckin’ time, man!”
Coming up the pathway, Sho was arriving fashionably late, with a glitter eyeshadow so thick that his eyes looked like two disco balls. “Hello, my pets! Can we have a little commotion for how amazing my hair is looking this evening?”
“Like a big gay rockstar, man!” hollered Hiroshi, chunks of takoyaki flying out of his full mouth.
“Ya still smell like perm solution,” said Mitsuru, sniffing the air.
“And you smell like unwashed armpit, but you don’t see me making a deal of it— Oh, Kanai. Isn’t this a funny sight? Aren’t there usually about ten of your girls travelling in a pack?” asked Sho.
Although Sho was the least threatening of Kiriyama’s gang to a girl like Izumi, she felt just as nervous talking to him as she did with the others. “Uhm, yes, but I should be going to meet them at the garden…” It was still too early, but she would’ve used any excuse to leave.
“Well, good luck in the crowd. It’s full of savages,” said Sho as he sat with the others.
“I’ll walk ya over,” offered Mitsuru. “I need to stretch my legs, ‘nyway, instead of watchin’ these animals eat all night.”
Izumi wanted to protest; to tell him he really didn't have to do that!. But she kind of wanted him to. Was it wrong that she wanted him to?
"O-Okay," she said instead, immediately unsure how they would even get back on the path. But Mitsuru seemed more used to navigating through a crowd than she was. He used his arm to create an opening for them, waiting for her to step out in front of him as he followed.
She kept glancing back at him to make sure he was still there, until he saw an opening to join her by her side. She couldn't help but notice how good he looked tonight. Izumi obviously always thought he looked good, but she was used to seeing him in his school uniform. Although she had seen him outside school a handful of times, it still felt new to her. Unlike her he wasn't dressed up, but he was wearing dark jeans and a short-sleeved t-shirt. It showed off his arms in a way that made it impossible not to notice how toned they were...
What am I doing?! she thought, quickly looking away from him as she realized she was probably staring. She focused instead on her takoyaki, taking a small bite. It gave her an excuse to look at something else and also not have to think of anything to say. She wasn't sure how well her brain would be working right now.
"Is it good?" Mitsuru asked her as she took a bite of the takoyaki, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Izumi frowned a little. "Yes, but... Wait... Did you not get one?" she asked. She had just assumed he had eaten his own already.
Mitsuru shook his head. "Nah, they had to start a new tray after Hiro got his first round," he laughed.
Izumi quickly tore off a piece of the ball, avoiding the part she had already bit into. "Here," she offered, barely daring to look at him. She could feel her face flush, wondering if the gesture was too much. To her it felt oddly intimate. "Uhm, you should really try it. I-It was good!"
Mitsuru blinked down at her, seeming slightly hesitant. But eventually, he accepted it. Unlike her, he shoved the whole thing into his mouth.
Nodding approvingly, he chewed quickly. "'S good," he agreed.
Izumi let out an airy laugh, happy to see him enjoy it. "So good! Too good to enjoy alone!"
Oh no, I sound like an advertisement or something. So silly!
Before she could overthink her words too much, she spotted a group of younger kids running around near the swings. The playground area was still open for children to play in, spared the many stands spread around the park. She noticed they were holding something in their hands. As they walked closer, she realized they were un-lit sparklers.
The noisiest of the children was cursing at a lighter (in a manner beyond his years) for not igniting when he flicked his thumb across it. His friends gathered around in a circle, watching him intently, excited for the first signs of a flame.
“Sonnabitch! Pissashit!” the squeaky voice cussed, tossing the lighter into the sand when it refused to work. “I paid a hundred yen for that pissashit!”
The antics got a good laugh out of Mitsuru, who couldn’t help imagining himself at that same age, and how foolish he must’ve looked if this was what curse words sounded like coming out of the mouths of children. Izumi concealed her own smirk. Of course she didn’t condone children cursing, but she couldn’t deny that it was at least a little funny.
“Hey, kid, ya got ripped off,” said Mitsuru, his hands casually in his pockets. “Hundred yen lighters ain’t shit.”
“Whatd’ya know, old man?!” the boy huffed, puffing his chest out to look tough.
Still, Mitsuru was amused by the rowdy children. “Ya see this? It’s a zippo,” he said, showing off his own lighter. “Lemme see that sparkler.”
Enticed by the sight of such a fancy lighter, even the loud-mouthed boy watched with wide eyes as Mitsuru effortlessly lit the end of the sparkler and handed it back to the boy.
“Me too, mister! Do mine, too!” a little girl ran over, holding hers out.
“Me first!”
“And me!”
“Alright, alright. One at a time. An’ keep it away from your face, huh? Unless ya wanna burn your damn nose off,” said Mitsuru, appeasing the demanding children by lighting their sparklers one by one. The playground soon resembled a nestle of fireflies.
Despite the children cursing and being kind of... a lot, Izumi couldn't help but find the whole thing strangely adorable. She stayed close to Mitsuru as they both watched the children jump around, waving their sparklers in the air. It wasn't exactly as spectacular as a fireworks show, but it was still beautiful.
She found herself not wanting to go back to the path just yet. She wasn't sure if it was to make sure none of the kids hurt themselves with the sparklers, or if it was because she found it almost mesmerizing. Or... Because of how her and Mitsuru's shoulders were almost brushing as they stood there, watching the children and the lights. She worried the sooner they would get to the gardens, the sooner her time with him would be over.
"You're good with them," Izumi said after a moment of quiet, only the sound of the kids laughing and the distant chatter of the festivalgoers filling the air. "Uhm, I mean... I think they probably think you're really cool."
She hoped he knew she thought he was pretty cool too.
“Ryu’s kid brother hangs ‘round a lot, so I can handle those bad-mouthed kinda kids,” answered Mitsuru, shrugging his shoulder. “Sorry, I guess your friends must be waitin’ for you.”
“No, it’s fine,” Izumi quickly shook her head. “I actually still have a bit of time before I have to meet them. I just, uhm, got sort of claustrophobic in that crowd…”
“When do you have to meet ‘em?”
“Uhm…” She looked to the side, at the kids playing, blinking as she thought over her answer. She didn’t want him thinking that she was crazy for wanting to walk over so far in advance. “An… hour...”
“An hour? Damn. It ain’t safe for no girl to be waitin’ alone in that garden for an hour. Ya crazy? That’s pervert central. Nah, that ain’t cool. We can waste time for an hour. That’s ‘bout the time when Hiro is gonna crash from eatin’ so much shit, ‘nyway, so I need to waste time, too.”
Wait… Is he suggesting… we hang out?! Izumi’s face was so red that she forced herself to cough a few times just to excuse the shade.
"Ya good?" he asked.
"Y-Yes! I think maybe something just tickled my throat or s-something," she quickly lied, hoping it sounded at least halfway smooth. "I... I suppose we can waste time together. That sounds good."
Mitsuru watched as the last sparkles died down. "Is there anything you wanna check out first?" He asked her. The children were running off in every direction now, and Izumi side-stepped slightly to not get knocked over.
"Oh, I don't know. It's fun to just look around, right? It's different, seeing our town like this."
She tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, hoping she didn't sound too silly.
"Yeah, it is," Mitsuru replied, his eyes scanning the potential stands down the path. "How about goldfish scooping?"
"Goldfish scooping?" Izumi asked, trying to locate the stand he had spotted. Honestly, she was willing to try whatever he said just because he suggested it. Though she hadn't done goldfish scooping at a festival since she was a child.
"Are you hoping for new pets?" She asked him, unsure if she really wanted to bring the goldfish home after the game.
Mitsuru actually laughed at this. "Nah, although goldfish might be one thing I could keep alive," he joked. "No, it's just for fun. We can give them to a kid or something."
Izumi smiled. "Sure. Let's do that."
As usual, the goldfish scooping stand was fairly vacant once they arrived. Most of the children were running around with sparklers, and few adults played the simplistic game on their own. Izumi herself had been good at the game as a child, but it had been close to ten years since the last time she played.
Mitsuru held the bowl while Izumi was to take the first scoop. She mustered up her finest skills in order to properly impress him. The ability he had to make her nervous doing even the smallest of tasks was a marvel.
“Ya gotta go for the biggest bastard in there,” teased Mitsuru, only making it worse. She was planning to go for the runt. “Think ya can do it?”
Izumi furrowed her brows in concentration. She leaned closer, carefully adjusting the poi in her hand as she prepared to scoop the fish up.
"But the smaller ones are the cutest. Besides, they might be easier for the poi to handle, and that way we will get more...!" she explained. Not wanting to seem like a coward, she had opted to get the poi made from No. 7 poi paper; the weaker one of the options. For just 50 more yen she could have gotten a stronger one, but she wanted to impress him, didn't she? Buying her way out of this felt like cheating!
Even Izumi who would often over-complicate things in her head, understood that Mitsuru probably realistically didn't care either way about which poi she had chosen. Or how many fish she got.
But to her this felt like a personal challenge.
She gently began scooping, making sure not to hurt the fish in any way as she did so. Although she wasn't sure it was even possible to harm them with the thin poi paper.
Mitsuru was doing a good job at keeping the bowl steady, ready to catch all the fish Izumi placed into it. When her poi finally broke, she had managed to scoop seven fish into the bowl. She didn't think that was too bad at all.
Mitsuru seemed to agree, because he grinned at her. "Wow. You didn't tell me you were like a champion at this stuff."
Izumi blushed, shaking her head. "N-Not at all! I think it was all mainly luck," she insisted.
The stall vendor prepared the plastic bag for her goldfish. Izumi and Mitsuru waited, but she looked at him curiously.
"Well, isn't it your turn, Numai?" she asked him, almost playfully. "The big one is still there, after all..."
It was true, Izumi had avoided him, due to the fear of the weight breaking her poi too easily.
Mitsuru exhaled through his nose. "Yeah? Think I got a shot?"
"I think so. You might not get as many as me, but even if you just get the one big one, that is super impressive," Izumi teased.
His expression turned more amused as he studied her. "A challenge, Kanai? You know I can't turn that down."
Izumi accepted her bag with the goldfish as Mitsuru paid for his own turn. Placing her goldfish gently down by the edge of the stall, Izumi held out the bowl for him. Mitsuru's hands had been steady, but she could tell her own were trembling a little. She was close enough to really take in every detail of his face as he concentrated on the big fish.
He looks so cute like this, she couldn't help but think. Seeing him focus on something so trivial, and knowing this was all because they were having fun together... It made her heart beat hard enough that she worried he would hear her.
While watching him like this, a thought suddenly entered her head. It wasn't a really a rational thought, but it just felt so... right. If he catches the big fish, I will tell him how I feel tonight.
Mitsuru’s movements were swift, confident, all the traits that Izumi had come to expect from the delinquent. Even in the way he played a festival game, he seemed so sure of himself. It brought out a more outgoing side in herself. Even in her thoughts.
That’s right. He’ll catch that big fish, and I’ll confess. I can’t back out. I’ll hold myself to it!
The pounding of her heart beat in time with the splash of the water as Mitsuru triumphantly lifted the poi into the air, the big goldfish flip-flopping desperately for life. Gasping, Izumi scrambled to push the bowl forward, to catch the fish. At the same second, the poi screen split down the center, and the fish began to fall. During the descent, it bounced off of Izumi’s knuckles at the side of the bowl, and fell happily back into its watery home.
“Oh, no!” cried Izumi. “Oh, it’s all my fault! I’m sorry, Numai. I’m such a klutz.”
“Nah, it ain’t your fault. It’s these cheap tools. That’s how these bastards getcha,” replied Mitsuru, tossing the broken poi at the operator.
“Even so,” sighed Izumi. If only she had moved a second faster. She thought she’d feel relieved not having to confess but instead felt strangely… disappointed.
Mitsuru shook his head. He must have noticed her disappointment, because he was quick to give her a reassuring smile.
"Hey, there was nothing wrong with your... bowl holding skills? The fish was just too fat for the poi," he insisted.
Izumi bit her bottom lip but nodded slowly. Obviously Mitsuru didn't know just why this felt so disappointing to her. She couldn't explain why this had mattered so much!
If Izumi was being reasonable, she would tell herself she could confess even though he didn't catch the fish. If that was what she really wanted, if she was feeling brave enough today... What was stopping her?
But now she wasn't sure she really did feel that brave.
Mitsuru picked up her bag with the goldfish in it, carrying it without asking her if he should. The simple gesture was enough to make her smile as they kept walking down the main path.
"Do you want some more food or something? Uhm, there's an okonomiyaki stand over there," Izumi nodded in the direction of the stand. One half of a Takoyaki hadn't exactly filled her up (maybe Hiroshi was onto something, ordering them in stacks of five?), and she thought the same would be true for Mitsuru. "It... It could be my treat. I uhm, kind of owe you for the Takoyaki before," she said nervously.
“I couldn’t let a girl pay. Sorta a code of mine,” answered Mitsuru.
As much as Izumi wanted to argue that money wasn’t an issue, she didn’t want to offend by Mitsuru by wording herself badly and implying that he was poor. At the okonomiyakj stand she noticed a sign that said any participant that managed to toss a ring onto a pole at the top of the stand got their order for free.
“Why don’t we give it a try?” she asked, hoping she’d score a win and not have to feel so bad about being treated all night. “There’s nothing to lose, right?”
Amused, he smirked. “That’s pretty damn high up. Eh, what the hell? Why not? Oi, man, let us get some of those rings to toss.”
“One per customer, and you have to pick it up yourself, wherever it lands!” the stand runner said firmly as he handed each of them a ring.
“This is feeling more serious than I expected,” whispered Izumi.
"How hard can it be, right? You wanna go first?" Mitsuru asked her.
Izumi shook her head. "No, that is way too much pressure!" she blurted out. When her panicked tone caused Mitsuru to burst out laughing, she blushed and held onto the ring tighter. "F-Fine! But you're not allowed to laugh when I miss!... Please?"
Mitsuru grinned at her. "Yeah, a'ight, I promise," he said.
Izumi thought there was no way her aim could be that bad, right? Sure, she wasn't sporty at all, and her friends often encouraged her not to take a serve or anything if they were playing games during sport's day but... Through the power of sheer will, surely the ring could hit it's target!
Izumi took a deep breath, preparing herself by taking several steps back from the stand. She used all of her energy on visualising the ring on the pole; she could do it!
With a determined expression, very much unlike her usual one, she put all her strength onto her toss.
It did fly quite high. In fact, it hit the pole! But the pole knocked it down onto the thin paper roof of the stand, where it landed with a soft thud.
Izumi could have stomped her foot in frustration! And besides, there was a new problem...
"I... I don't think I can reach that!" she exclaimed.
“I think I got an idea,” said Mitsuru, holding his ring like a flying disc.
His goal was to hit Izumi’s ring and send it flying down for easier retrieval. Unfortunately, what happened instead was that his ring landed atop hers and got stuck in the same spot.
“Uhm, sir, I’m sorry but there’s no real way for us to retrieve those,” said Izumi.
“Rules is rules!” said the booth runner. He continued cooking without glancing at the two.
“Alright, fine. Ya want me to retrieve ‘em that bad?” asked Mitsuru at the moody man. He propped his foot on the edge of the stall and stood to reach the roof.
“Hey, you’ll bust it, ya brat!” the man yelled, suddenly paying attention. He gripped Mitsuru’s leg and shook it, but it didn’t deter the teen.
Tall enough to see the roof from his position, Mitsuru was able to see that the pole for the game was conveniently designed on a tilt, which didn’t necessarily cause Izumi’s toss to miss but was clearly designed to cause more misses.
“Ya dirty cheater! She’da won if this thing weren’t rigged!” said Mitsuru, hopping down with the rings in his hand.
“Not so damn loud!” the man yelled back. “That’s how these things work!”
“And here’s how this is gonna work. You’re gonna give her an order for free or else I’m gonna make you regret conning her!”
Izumi wanted to cut in and argue that nobody made her play the game in the first place, but she didn’t dare interrupt. She knew she wasn’t supposed to think so but that delinquent side of his was intriguing.
“Here! Just take it and go! Damn kids,” the man said, shoving an order into Izumi’s hands. “Move it!”
Izumi was quick to hurry away, not really used to being yelled at by anyone like this. Let alone adults!
"I can't believe he was cheating! That's so mean!" she said, probably rather naive. "I always thought these vendors were like... sweet old grandparents! Do you think some of the grumpy ones from Takamatsu are working here too?"
"The grumpy ones?" Mitsuru asked, breaking apart a set of chopsticks he had taken from the stand too. "The grumpy what?"
"Oh, the operators at the festival in Takamatsu were pretty mean last year! We got yelled at for just giggling last year. And then he yelled at someone else for wearing a hat that he thought was obscene and ruined the view. Or something!" Izumi quickly explained. She held up the pancake to give Mitsuru easier access with the chopsticks.
Mitsuru scoffed. "Crazy. This guy here was just pissed he got busted though. Conmen don't really like it when you figure out their shit," he said, before turning his attention to the food. "You should have the first bite, Kanai."
He wanted to pass her the chopsticks.
Izumi shook her head. "N-No, please, I insist! You have been helping me out way too much tonight. I'd like to be the nice one, this once!"
"Between us, you ain't the nice one?" Mitsuru almost snickered. The idea seemed to tickle him.
"No, you should actually know something about me..." Izumi said, in a faux grim tone, "the truth is... I'm actually quite evil."
Now, Mitsuru was laughing a full, proper laugh. She couldn't believe she could get such a reaction out of him.
"Hell, in that case, I'll letcha be the nice one this once," he said, cutting a section off and picking it up with the chopsticks. He managed to gulp it down without the chopsticks touching his lips, and passed them along to Izumi.
Although they hadn't exactly been near his mouth, there was still something strangely intimate about sharing a pair of chopsticks. The two continued handing them back and forth until the okonomiyaki was finished. Izumi discarded the dish and cutlery into the nearest bins and checked her reflection discreetly in her compact mirror before sliding it back into her handbag.
"We still got some time to kill," replied Mitsuru, checking his watch.
Izumi was surprised how quickly time had passed with him. Yet at the same time, it felt like they had gotten a lot done in one hour. She wondered if her friends had been quite as busy as her.
... Would she even tell her friends about what she had gotten up to this evening?
Izumi wondered if there was something else she would like to do before saying goodbye to Mitsuru. That’s when she remembered; the tanzaku. The wish they would write on a paper note and tie to a tree.
Whilst Izumi wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to write yet, she knew she wanted to wish for something. And looking over at Mitsuru in the golden evening light, she felt like she was becoming more certain in terms of what she was hoping for.
Before she could suggest they headed over to the tanzaku tree, Izumi realized something. After throwing away the paper plate from the okonomiyaki, both their hands were left empty. Something was missing.
"Oh, my fish!" Izumi gasped. "Oh no, we must have left them at the stand with that rude man!"
Considering they were going to give them away anyway, it might not have been a big deal. But Izumi felt awful about it. What kind of fish mom was she?!
"Crap. We better go get them before they start developing abandonment issues," replied Mitsuru, half joking. Really, he sympathized with the poor bastards, even if they were fish.
They weaved through the crowd, back to the okonomiyaki station where they had briefly put down the plastic bag containing the fish earlier. The man running the booth didn't look surprised in the least to see them returning. "You're lucky. I was just about to pour them out.”
"Thank you for keeping them safe," said Izumi, although she wasn't sure if she should've been thanking him.
"Yeah, thanks a bunch," huffed Mitsuru. After the two returned to the crowd, he said to Izumi, "I'm starting to think they're gettin' lashed behind the scenes or somethin'. Seriously, why the attitude over damn goldfish?"
She giggled. As much as she tried to empathize with how hard it was to work with the public, she couldn't disagree. The attitude was completely unnecessary. "Hopefully the person running tanzaku is in a better mood."
"Oh, that's what ya wanna do next?"
Blushing, Izumi hadn't meant to reveal her idea so casually. "It'll be crowded later, so I was thinking it would be best to head there next."
"Makes sense, yeah," nodded Mitsuru.
"Do you... have anything in your mind for your wish?" Izumi asked him as they headed towards the area. She didn't really expect him to give her a straight answer about it (and if you tell someone your wish, it doesn't come true, right?), but she figured she could attempt to make small talk.
Mitsuru looked like he was actually thinking about it, though.
"I have an idea," he said vaguely. "How about you too?"
Izumi didn't look at him but smiled a little. "I have an idea too," she admitted.
The bamboo branches where the filled out tanzaku were hanging from was already getting full of colorful paper strips. It looked quite beautiful. Izumi noticed a few of her paper cranes in the tree too; she found herself thinking they didn't look half bad, either.
"We won't look at each other’s, right?" Mitsuru asked suddenly, picking out a blue one for himself. Izumi chose a red one.
She wondered why he had asked her that out of nowhere. Was he embarrassed about whatever he was going to wish for, too? She certainly didn't want him to see hers, so this would work out for her.
"U-uhm! Sure! I mean, we won't. We don't have to," she agreed.
They found a flat surface to write on and got to work. Izumi pondered her word choice carefully. In the past, her friends liked to tease her when she took too long because she was writing small enough to include a 'please' and 'thank you' within her wish. On one hand, she had a pretty good track record for her tanzaku wishes coming true. On the other, she often made 'safe' wishes like passing the school year with decent grades, things that were bound to come true anyway.
She eyed Mitsuru, careful not to spy on his written wish. He didn't take long to figure out what he wanted to write, which added pressure to her. With a breath, Izumi decided to be more bold this year as she wrote a straightforward wish, “I wish we could have more time like this.”
Again, she eyed Mitsuru, but this time she accidentally caught a glimpse of his paper. It couldn't be helped, his dark handwriting stood out. On his slip was more of a demand than a wish, “Gimme a sign if she's into me.”
It couldn't possibly be about me, thought Izumi. Could it?
Izumi almost looked around to see if there was another girl nearby that could have inspired Mitsuru's wish. A couple of grandmas were walking past them, but she highly doubted it was them. The only other girls nearby at the moment were a group of giggling pre-teens, several years younger than them.
Bright red, Izumi cleared her throat. She had to act natural, like she hadn't seen anything at all!
"A-Alright, should we find a good spot for them?" she suggested, looking up at the bamboo branches. She tied her tanzaku wish next to one that read I hope Chichi won't kill me!. It wasn't the most romantic spot, but it was one Izumi could reach.
Mitsuru tied his own a bit higher up, a few feet away from her.
"Do these things ever work?" he asked her as he finished.
Izumi looked at him, almost curiously. "What? Yes but - Have you not done this before?"
The idea seemed impossible to her.
Mitsuru chuckled. "'Course I have. When I was a kid and stuff. But me and the guys ain't exactly been doing it the last few years."
Izumi hesitated for a moment. She wanted to give him an answer, but she didn't want it to sound too cheesy. Finally, she said: "I think they can definitely work. Some of the wishes are vague enough that they will work out anyway and others... I think are just meant to come true. Y-you know?"
He looked back at her, quiet for a moment, before replying. "... Yeah."
Without saying much else, they continued their walk towards the gardens. It was getting to the point where Izumi might actually end up late for reuniting with the others.
She wished she could keep walking with Mitsuru for just a while longer. Whilst she couldn't shake the feeling of being slightly nervous, it still felt like the good kind of nervous. Maybe except the part where her palms were getting all clammy...
She tried to subtly wipe her hands against her yukata, when a slight bump in her pocket reminded her of something. The perfect paper crane.
Izumi stopped walking without quite realizing it, carefully feeling her paper crane out of her deep pocket. It felt like it was still in perfect condition, thankfully.
She knew what she had to do.
Mitsuru hadn't noticed that she had stopped yet, so he was a little ahead of her now.
"Numai. Wait!" she called out, chewing on her bottom lip. He stopped and turned towards her.
"Sup?" he eyed her curiously.
Now that he was looking right at her, Izumi couldn't help but feel her nerves growing. Was she really going to do this? She wasn't a bold girl. But she was, for the first time, in a position where she might be able to control her fate. A fate she really, really wanted.
"You've been so kind to me today, even before the festival began. I'm very grateful. I know you say it's nothing, but it means a lot to me," said Izumi, with a smile. Despite her pounding heart, she spoke boldly. She didn't want to stutter a single word. If it was a sign he was looking for, it was a clear sign he was going to get. "It's not much but I hope you'll accept a token of my appreciation."
Slipping her hand into her yukata where the perfect crane had been safely secured, Izumi gently spread out the wings to pretty it up. "I hope this isn't too silly," she said, her tone much shyer now that she was presenting him with it.
"Woah," whistled Mitsuru, as he accepted the crane. "This is a helluva crane Kanai. They all look good an' all that but damn, this one is perfect. Ya sure ya wanna part with it?"
Izumi could feel her cheeks burn. She hoped it wasn't too noticeable in the golden evening sun.
"I'm sure! I think I've looked at enough paper cranes for one lifetime," she managed to joke. "And besides, I... I was wanting to give it to someone, anyway."
She had almost included that she wanted to give it to someone special but there was a limit to her boldness. Even this right now felt like she was about to choke and die on her own words! She hoped she would look at least somewhat dignified if she collapsed.
She also wanted to tell him that he didn't have to accept it if he thought it was lame, but something about the way he was carefully holding it, studying it with almost an almost soft smile... It made her believe he really didn't think it was too lame, either.
"An' ya chose me?" asked Mitsuru, almost laughing, though not in a cruel way.
Certain that her heart was set to explode, Izumi nodded, and answered with a simple, "Yes."
It may have only been a paper crane, but Mitsuru seemed touched. How was Izumi to know that a delinquent boy such as himself rarely received gifts, let alone something handmade? "Thanks, Kanai. This is a neat gift. I'll take good care of it."
Izumi smiled in relief. He really liked it. He wasn't just putting on an act to make her happy. Before she could speak again, the air began to fill with the beckoning her friends voices, calling her name out of worry that she had been stampeded by the crowd or gotten lost during their hour apart.
"Guess I better scram," said Mitsuru. "That Tanizawa's got a mean stare when she sees one of us around one of you."
Izumi held back a giggle. "Does she scare you?" she asked instead, teasingly.
"I'd be crazy not to be scared," Mitsuru confirmed, with a smirk. "Well, have fun the rest of the evening, Kanai."
Izumi nodded to him, giving an embarrassing little bow out of reflex. "You too! I hope you enjoy it."
She watched him as he turned around, heading back in the direction they had originally come from. She really hoped he found his friends again without any issues.
Once reunited with her own friends, Izumi was excited to spend some time with them and explore the festival grounds together too. However, she had a feeling that, as much as she loved her friends, the part of the evening that she would sit at home and think back to later had already passed.