It was after the Christmas break and we were finally back in school. It was February, meaning the day of love would soon be arriving. It's a joke honestly, but some people enjoy that holiday. Girls would give chocolate to the guys they like and on White Day, boys will return the favor if they like the girl. Obviously the guy can deny it if they want. It didn't matter much to me, I was never given anything except from my siblings. Fuyumi gave us all chocolate on the day.
"Hey! Hey! Y/N!"
I heard the overexcited periwinkle girl say. She has been using my first name because of the amount of times we hung out together outside of school. I would help her with school work and she would help me as well. I could say the two of us were close and became best friends over Christmas break. We gave each other permission to use our first names.. more like I gave her permission.
I look over towards her, she was sitting across from me, next to Amajiki. She seemed to be bouncing as she had her phone in her hands.
"The Tokyo Lanter Festival is tomorrow! We should all go!"
She says energetically. The boys agree and I looked at them. Sighing a bit and agreeing to go. I missed out on their Christmas get together, and I told them the next event I would attend with them. This seems to be the next event. Hado was excited to be wearing a kimono. And the boys were more or less excited about seeing the beautiful lanterns.
It was already Friday, meaning we would meet up tomorrow. It was a festival that lasted into the nighttime so I imagine Nejire would want to hang out a bit while we waited for the festival to start.
"Should we meet up at your house, Nejire?"
I questioned. The boys looked a bit shocked that I was actually going and I just roll my eyes at their response. The periwinkle girl eagerly nodded her head.
"Tomorrow, at noon. We can get some lunch and then we can get dressed at my place, or shop around for some if you need any."
She says with a bright smile on her face. Then the bell rang for classes to begin, and we each went out separate ways.
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"Fuyumi."
I said as I entered the doorway of our home. I took my shoes off and heard her respond in the kitchen. She was doing the dishes, and I look at her, I stood in the door way as she turns around to look at me.
"I Um..."
I cleared my throat, and she looks concerned. She turns off the running water and walks over to me with a wash cloth to dry her hands. She tilts her head, letting me know to continue.
"For the lantern festival, I'm going with some friends. I wanted to see if that was okay with you?"
I could see the concern look wash off her face as quickly as she washed the dishes. She smiles brightly and ruffles my hair.
"Of course! Im glad you're getting out of your shell, Imōto."
She then grabs my hand and leads me to my room. She sits me down on the bed and goes into a certain part of my closet.
"We should look for a good Kimono for you to wear.. You don't wear them often, but hopefully we can find you a good one."
She said while searching for a kimono. She brought out a few choices to help me decide. My older sister had me try some on as well, and brought out matching wooden sandals for me to try on. When I put one of the last few on she started to tear up a bit. She then waves her hand and exits the room.
<<choices that you might wear>>
When coming back she brought in a hair clip she believed would look good with the outfit. She sits me down and puts it in my hair. As she was doing this I looked into the mirror. I started to tear up a bit at a memory I thought of.
It was the cherry blossom festival. One of the first ones I would go to. Mother had sat me down in my chair and had me look into the mirror. She had a smile on her face as she did my hair. She left the room and put a special clip in my hair..
"Y/n?"
Fuyumi turns me in the chair and wipes away any tears that I had forming. She doesn't see me vulnerable this often and was confused as to why I was crying.
"I miss mother.. but also wish she never poured that boiling water on me and Shoto.."
I said softly. She pats my head and pulls me into a hug.
"It's okay.. I miss her too."
We stay in this position for a few minutes before heading off to bed.
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It was almost noon by the time I woke up. I got dressed in some casual clothing and packed up the kimono I would wear with the sandals and clips that I would bring along with. I had also packed overnight clothes in case I stayed the night at Nejire's. I begin to head over there, and once I got there I knocked on the door softly.
I was instantly greeted with a smiling and happy girl. I soften my eyes at her as she pulls me in. I told Nejire I brought a kimono, and she leads me to her room to hang it up so it didn't get wrinkled before we head out for the evening.
"I'm so excited! The boys are too! I love seeing the lanterns at night, and the fireworks! Ooo! I'm so excited."
She said hopping around a bit. And I just chuckle softly at her antics. I then suggested we go to a Korean Barbecue Place. She agrees as they didn't go there often and they didn't have me often either. She had messaged the boys on where we would be and we began walking to the Korean Barbecue Place luckily it wasn't too busy as most were getting ready for the festival. The festival would start soon, but it goes late into the night time so we wouldn't have to worry about missing any events.
As we got there I could see the tall blonde with a very shy blue hair boy next to him. Nejire smiles and waves at the boys and they both wave back. Once we entered, we were quickly escorted into a booth. I sat next to Togata, as Nejire sat next to Amajiki. They decided that they would split the check between the four of us, but I wouldn't allow that. Not that they know.
We began eating the food, and once we were satisfied we headed our separate ways to get ready. The boys would go to Togata's house to get ready, while Nejire and I would be getting ready at hers. Once we got to Nejire's we were both quick to put on our kimonos. As I put mine on, I was struggling a bit with putting my (h/l) hair up.
"Nejire.. I need help."
I said quietly. She turns around and smiles at me. She then pulls me over to her vanity and sits me down. She was also going to put some light makeup on my face to match my kimono. The lipstick she put on me was a very faint red, but made my lips pop either way. She then puts my hair into a bun, she pulls out some strays to frame my face. Once she was happy with how the bun looked she had put the clip in my hair. She stood behind me in the mirror and took out a Polaroid camera and snapped a photo of us both. She then took out her phone and started to take pictures of the two of us as well.
"I'll text the boys to meet us here so we can make our way to the festival. I bet they have a lot of foods and games to play while we walk around!"
Nejire said excitedly, I just nodded my head while looking at myself in the mirror, I looked different, I am not sure what it was. I could see a difference in my eyes and it was concerning me.
Soon the boys came around and I saw Togata looking at me, he smiles softly at me as we began our way towards the center of town.
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Soon nightfall was coming ahead. It was getting dark and we headed towards the water with the lanterns we had picked up at a local shop. Ours had a little light within them and we were able to turn it on as soon as the sun had set.
We waited for the sun to completely set before we saw others begin to let go of their lanterns and it flys across the night sky. I could see my friends smile on excitement as we watch the beautiful lanterns fly across.
We all stood near each other as the lanterns float in the sky, we could also see the beautiful fireworks go off. I stood next to Togata watching the fireworks light up the night sky. I could feel his eyes on me, so I turned to look at him.
There he was, staring at my facial features as the night sky exploded into bright lights. His eyes were soft and I could see his face turning red. I could feel this strange emotion that made my heart and stomach flutter. Naturally I reach up to his face. His face was burning hot, I had used a little bit of my ice quirk to cool him off.
"Are you okay?"
I shouted-whispered towards him. It was very loud as people were cheering about the fireworks, and the loud explosions made it hard to hear. I hoped he could hear me, to which he did. He smiles brightly,
"I am now."