Matsuri
The early evening sky was tinged orange with sunset as Yuka stood outside Akira’s house with Seita and Tian, waiting for Akira to come outside. A warm breeze blew, and the trilling of cicadas filled the air.
“I like your yukata, Yuka!” Tian said, “It’s so cute!”
Yuka beamed and twirled around, showing off a light pink yukata with a rabbit print. “Thank you! Yours is cute too,” she said, commenting on Tian’s yellow yukata with dark pink flowers.
“What’s taking her so long?” Seita asked, irritated. He wiped the sweat from his brow and rubbed his wrist on his light blue striped yukata.
Tian laughed. “Don’t underestimate a woman’s efforts and determination to get ready for an event!”
“How long does it take to put on a yukata?” Seita retorted, “It’s been almost half an hour…” His voice faded as the front door finally opened and Akira appeared. She wore a deep purple yukata adorned with cherry blossoms, and her hair was tied up in an elaborate bun.
“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Akira said, smiling. “Grandma wouldn’t let me leave until everything was just right!”
Seita mumbled out an inarticulate reply, staring at Akira with wide eyes. His mouth was slightly open and his face reddened.
“Oh, wow!” Yuka said, running up to her. “You look great, Akira!”
Akira blushed. “Thanks.” She looked over at Seita, who was still staring at her. “Anyone in there?” she asked playfully.
“Uh…” Seita mumbled, “You… you look…”
Akira tilted her head and smiled questioningly.
“...Amazing.” Seita finally finished.
Akira smiled. “Thank you.”
“Come on,” Yuka said excitedly, “Let’s go!” She walked quickly, leading the way as the others followed. As they approached the neighborhood shrine, the Star Festival was in full swing.
It had been only a week since they had all returned to Japan from America, and summer vacation was almost over. Yuka had had a hard time dealing with the jet lag, and was still tired during the day, but she wasn’t about to miss out on Odaiba’s Star Festival.
The four of them wandered around, exploring the different booths, and Yuka skipped over to a booth selling delicious fried snacks.
“I’m hungry!” Yuka said, “Can we get some takoyaki? Please?” She gave Seita a pleading look.
Seita gave a mock-annoyed sigh, then smiled. “Okay.”
Yuka beamed. “Yay!”
They all bought snacks and drinks, and sat down on nearby benches.
“You know,” Akira said, “I actually had second thoughts about coming to this festival.” She munched on a crepe. “I mean, being trapped in an everlasting festival in the Digital World kind of put me off of them.”
“I can imagine,” Seita said, popping open a ramune bottle and taking a gulp.
“So what made you change your mind?” Tian asked, licking an ice cream cone.
“Because with you guys, it would be different,” Akira replied. “We’d have a good time, and this’ll probably be the last time we’d get to hang out together until school starts again.”
Yuka took a bite of her takoyaki and thought for a moment. “I wish Lopmon was here,” she said suddenly, “She’d love it!”
Akira sighed. “Yeah. I can imagine Kodamon and Gazimon enjoying themselves here, too. And Renamon.”
No one said anything for a moment.
“I wish…” Yuka said, “I wish there was a way to contact them. Talk to them and find out how they’re doing. Are they enjoying a festival in the Digital World too?” She grew teary-eyed.
“They probably are,” Seita spoke up, “I bet they’re eating snacks and having fun just like we are.” He put a hand on Yuka’s shoulder. “And they wouldn’t want you to be sad.”
Yuka looked up at her brother’s encouraging smile, and smiled back, wiping her eyes. “Yeah…” she said softly.
Tian got up suddenly. “Come on, Yuka, let’s go look at some of the games. Maybe you’ll win a prize!”
Yuka nodded. “Okay.”
“The fireworks will be starting soon,” Akira spoke up.
“Don’t worry,” Tian answered, walking away with Yuka, “We’ll meet you in front of the shrine before they start!”
The two of them walked on ahead toward the game booths, leaving Akira and Seita behind. Yuka looked up at Tian thoughtfully. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” she asked.
“The way they were looking at each other, I figured they wanted some time alone together!” Tian said.
They both smiled at each other and giggled.
They tried out several of the games, with Yuka doing terribly at the goldfish scoop, and good enough at yo-yo fishing to take home a pink speckled yo-yo. At the ring toss booth, Yuka spied a cute white rabbit plush among the prizes.
“Want to try getting it?” Tian asked.
Yuka nodded, her eyes sparkling.
They both tried their hand at the ring toss, with Yuka missing most of her throws. Tian managed to make enough throws to get a prize – a smaller version of the rabbit plush.
“Here you go!” Tian said, handing the rabbit to Yuka. “You can have it.”
“Really?” Yuka said, surprised.
Tian smiled. “Of course!”
Yuka took the rabbit and hugged it. “Thank you!”
Tian looked up at the now-darkened sky and the lanterns and lights that were gradually turning on throughout the festival site. “Let’s go back to the shrine,” she said, “The fireworks should be starting any minute!”
They made their way to the shrine as the first firework launched and lit up the sky. Akira and Seita were already there, staring up at the sky and holding hands.
“Looks like you’ve been busy!” Akira said, smiling at the prizes in Yuka’s hands. Yuka giggled.
They all fell silent as the fireworks bloomed against the dark night sky. Yuka stared at each one, thinking to herself that maybe now, at the same time, Lopmon was watching the same thing in the Digital World and thinking of her.
It had been a fun, quiet, wonderful evening, and one Yuka wouldn’t easily forget.
Notes:
Every summer anime seems to have a festival episode, so I went ahead and wrote one too! This particular festival is the Tanabata festival, which usually runs from July 7 to the end of August, so I had everyone catch the last one in the neighborhood before school started!