Next day, Saturday. Although the weather wasn't exactly a pleasant one for an autumn day, the forecast said that there would be no chance of rain. They announced that the fireworks festival would proceed as planned today on their social media. Based on the reactions, it seemed a lot of people would be going to the venue.
Since it was a holiday, I got out of bed a little later than usual. When I headed to the living room, I could scent the smell of coffee wafting through the air.
In the kitchen, Umi was humming a tune joyfully as she poured some coffee into two cups. Somehow, this had become a regular scene in this house.
"Good morning, Maki. You woke up late today, hm? Well, since it's a holiday, it doesn't matter, but keep in mind that if you do this too often, you'll get insomnia."
"Good morning, Umi. I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the coffee."
"Don't mention it. Anyway, let's leave the lecture about your sleeping habit after our breakfast. Come here~"
We went to the couch and proceeded with our morning routine. She stroked my head and fixed my hair with the comb and the hair wax that she brought. Since we would be going outside with everyone today, she put in more effort than usual.
I still had the aversion of getting my hair touched by others, but Umi was an exception among exceptions. Her gentle touches and the soft texture of her hands always felt so comfortable. If I were to let my guard down, I could fall asleep right there and then.
"Hehe, if you're still sleepy, you can go back to sleep. We promised to meet in the evening anyway, I can just wait until you're awake."
"Nah, if I go back to bed now, it'll just ruin my hair again. Besides… Um… You need to get ready, right? You know, with clothes and stuff…"
"Well, yeah, I mean, this kind of festival only happens once a year. Since you'll be there too, I'd need to put more effort into dressing up."
As was the case last Christmas, Umi was the kind of person who'd put an effort into dressing herself up in an event like this. There was no way she wouldn't be doing the same this time.
I've seen her in a yukata during the summer vacation, but this would be the first time I'm seeing her wearing one in a festival. As her boyfriend, I was really looking forward to that.
"Ah, right, we have an old yukata at home. It's my brother's, he used to wear it back when he was still in middle school, but it should fit you. Too bad we don't really have men's yukata at our place. Anyway, you should wear it."
"Huh? I'm wearing a yukata too?"
"Of course! What, are you telling me you want to wear a normal shirt, jeans and a pair of sneakers for the festival? Even though I'll be putting a lot of effort into dressing up?"
"…Can't I?"
"Gee, I don't know~ Can you~?"
"…Fine."
I understood her desire to walk around the once-in-a-year fireworks festival while wearing a yukata together with me. Especially when it was doubtful that we would be able to go to another festival next year.
…But, still… I've only been wearing shirts, jeans (sometimes) and sandals whenever I went outside. Could I really pull off a yukata?
"You don't need to worry, I'll dress you up so you'll look good in it! I'll give you a clean haircut, beautiful eyelids, straight nose, sharp jawline and smooth skin without any blemish! What do you think?"
"Aside from the hair, you'd need to do a plastic surgery on me for all that."
"Hehe, I know, I was kidding, but you really don't need to worry about anything, Maki. You're a lot more toned compared to last year."
So she said, but she was the one who said that a middle schooler yukata would fit me. I really wanted to grow taller and bigger.
…At least until Umi could entrust herself to me with a peaceful mind.
"In any case, you'll be wearing a yukata today and that's final. Also, don't tell anyone about this! Let's give them a surprise!"
"You're speaking as if me wearing a yukata would be a big deal… Well, whatever, I'll leave that matter to you."
"Hehe~ I'll be seeing you in a yukata for the first time~ I'm excited to see how you'll look~ Ah, wait, I have to call my mom first."
It seemed like I would be at the mercy of the Asanagis today too. Well, when I saw how giddy Umi looked, I decided to just accept my fate. After all, it had been a while since I've seen her this excited.
The upcoming festival was something that I was personally looking forward to, but that wasn't as important as her smile.
After we've eaten our breakfast, it was decided that we'd move over to Umi's place so I could get dressed. I felt bad for intruding, but Sora-san welcomed me with open arms.
"Welcome, Maki-kun~ Hehehe, this yukata has been sitting on the drawer for years now, finally there's someone who's willing to wear it. I bought it for Riku, but he was too shy to wear it."
"I see…"
…I'd say she was too welcoming. When I got there, Sora-san was holding Riku-san's old yukata with a smile that looked so similar to Umi.
Whenever I saw this kind of thing, it reminded me of how those two were truly related. They probably never realized it, but the expression they made as they pushed that yukata onto my face was a hundred percent similar.
They took me to the guest room on the first floor. It seemed like they wanted to finish my affairs first before getting Umi to dress up.
"Hmm… Maki-kun's hair is getting longer again, Umi. Why don't we cut the front part and the back part a little? That'll give him a cleaner look."
"True. It's still noon anyway, so we can get that done. Maki, leave that yukata behind. Let's go outside and cut your hair."
I thought I only needed to take care of my clothes, but it seemed like we'd be doing much more than that.
…This made me wonder what everyone else was doing.
Thanks to that thought, I became a little worried. I haven't heard anything from Amami-san and the others, who knows, maybe they had decided that they'd go a little later than us.
"Before you start cutting my hair, can I use my phone for a while, Umi? I want to check up on everyone."
"Sure. You know, I should just do the same."
While Sora-san went to prepare the scissors and clips for cutting my hair, I opened up the group chat that our group of five usually used to communicate.
When I typed in a message, everyone immediately answered.
[Maehara: Hello, everyone.]
[Seki: Yo.]
[Seki: Never change with that greeting, eh, Maki?]
[Maehara: What do you mean? Isn't this how you'd normally greet other people?]
[Nina: I know right? Never change, Rep. Anyway, heya~]
[Amami: Hehe, hello~ Is Umi with you, Maki-kun? Or is she at least in the same room as you?]
[Asanagi: Hello, everyone.]
[Maehara: Why are you imitating me?]
[Asanagi: Hehe~]
[Seki: Get a room.]
[Nina: Get a room.]
[Amami: You two, get a room! Hehe, kidding~]
[Maehara: Sorry.]
[Maehara: By, the way, will you guys make it to the festival? There's no problem like you'll come in late or feel sick, right?]
[Nina: No problem for me, what about you, Yuuchin?]
[Amami: Me too. What about everyone else?]
[Seki: Me three.]
[Asanagi: No problem here too.]
[Maehara: Since I'm the same, then we can follow the planned schedule I guess.]
For now there didn't seem to be any problems. That meant we could meet up at the planned time.
As planned, we'd be meeting up here at Umi's house since it was the closest place to the bus station. While I was pondering that Umi sent a new message to the group chat.
[Asanagi: Alright, we'll meet at the bus station at five as planned. If any of you are going to be late, just contact either me or Maki. Especially you girls. Yuu, Nina, you two got your yukatas ready, didn't you?]
[Amami: Yes, of course! My mom insisted that I wear it!]
[Nina: I mean, I'd be looking so out of place if I'm the only one not wearing one.]
"Huh?"
Based on what we were doing yesterday, we'd be going to the shrine that Umi and I went to. After we got there, we'd go to that secret spot and watch the fireworks from there.
I decided to stop texting for the time being and turned my gaze towards Umi.
"Uh, Umi?"
"Well, um… I had a second thought. I guess it would be better for everyone to watch the fireworks from the actual venue. Sorry, I shoulda notified you earlier, but honestly, I only came to a decision this morning."
"I see. Well, I've already prepared myself to deal with the crowds in the first place, so this is fine, but… Were you having a second thought because of what I had said last night?"
"…"
After hearing my words, a red tinge appeared on Umi's cheeks as she nodded.
"I gave it a lot of thought last night. I know I've said all those things last night, but… In the end, I decided that it would be better if we were to monopolize that place. I feel a little guilty, but, you know… What you said last night… Made me really happy…"
Last night, I thought I really was being selfish, but it seemed like Umi felt the same way as me.
We only stayed at that place for half an hour last night, but we didn't spend all that time stargazing.
Remembering what we did made me feel embarrassed. Basically, because of the atmosphere around us, we ended up flirting a little harder than usual… To summarize, what happened was…
'Maki, which one is prettier? Me or the night sky?'
'…There's no one around us, Maki. You can be a liiiittle more proactive.'
And so on. Maybe it was because we hadn't gone on a date for a while, but we ended up going overboard.
That was why, honestly, if we were to bring everyone to that place, I'd be too busy thinking about those memories instead of watching the fireworks.
"But, are you sure this is okay? I've never gone to one, but don't fireworks festivals usually have a huge crowd? I'm more or less already getting used to the crowds, but there's still a chance that unsavory things might happen…"
"Don't worry about that, I have a plan for that… We have to bring more people with us because of that though…"
"Bring more people? Others will come with us too? Like Nitori-san and Hojo-san?"
"No. They're adults. Well, you already knew them."
"I already knew them? Could it be…?"
When it came to my acquaintances that were adults and were free enough to lead five high schoolers in a fireworks festival, not many people came to my mind. As I was pondering about this, I heard the sound of the front door being opened.
"I'm home. Seriously, I haven't had a day off for two months and a half and I have to spend it babysitting?"
"Jeez, Rikkun, I know you're looking forward to seeing Sora-obaa-san and Umi-chan."
"I'm not—"
"Huh, that voice…"
If Umi was talking about those two, then they were indeed the people I knew.
"Yo, Maki. It's been a while."
"Hello. I heard there'll be a fireworks festival here, so I thought it'd be nice to see it with Rikkun. Of course, we brought Reiji with us too. C'mon, say hello."
"Hello, Big Brother!"
"Riku-san, Shizuku-san and even Reiji-kun is here?"
Umi would probably tell me the details on how things came to be like this later. In any case, it seemed like the festival would be rowdier than I previously thought.