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《 CHAPTER 7: Tanabata 》
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Yashiro couldn't sleep.
She couldn't stop thinking about what happened when she was in that boundary with that rat. How they tried to tie her to a chair and do god knows what, and how Hanako looked when he was talking with the shadow. The two seemed to know each other a lot more than Yashiro knew.
'So why don't you tell her everything? How you killed me and father?'
'I'll tell her when I want to.'
Yashiro wrapped her thoughts around the two words that Hanako and the rat shared, snuggling and curling up inside her blankets. She concluded the two to be twins brothers. It was impossible that they weren't with how similar they resemble each other, and with what the rat told him.
Her mind drifted to what could possibly be haunting Hanako so much. He was so scared when he came into that boundary they were in. And his eyes, his eyes were filled with so much fear when Yashiro saw them. It made her shiver just by imagining them.
Just what happened to Hanako when he was human? Who was he?
Yashiro still didn't know.
• • •
"Kou-kun, would you like to go to the Tanabata Festival with me next week?"
Hanako and Kou stared at the daikon girl in shock. Kou turned into a blushing, stuttering mess and dropped the mop he was holding to cover his face with his hands. He didn't expect Nene to suddenly ask him to go with her. He always thought that it would be Aoi who she was going to ask.
"I felt really guilty for making you worry about me when you heard about the news that I was taken by the person we saw in the Hell of Mirrors, so I wanted to make up for it," Yashiro explained.
A pang of jealousy hit Hanako's heart. He was the one who saved her, who spent so much energy trying to break the black cage around the boundary she was trapped in, so why was Kou the one who was asked? Even if he was an earthbound spirit who couldn't leave the school, couldn't she have asked him first?
"S-Sure, I'll go with you," Kou muttered, flustered. Hanako panicked, no way was he letting Kou and Nene go alone. He was not going to let Kou get the upper hand.
"Wait just a minute," Hanako interrupted the two, an innocent smile on his face, "You two aren't just going to a festival by yourselves, are you guys?"
Nene raised a brow, "I mean, if Kou-kun wants it to only be the two of us, then yes."
'No way,' The thought rushed to apparition's head almost immediately.
Hanako wrapped his arms around Yashiro protectively, glaring at the exorcist who couldn't help but stare at him weirdly.
He narrowed his eyes at the kid, who was still a bit red, "But I don't trust what Kou might do to you! You're both gonna be wearing yukatas and holding hands in the crowd, and god knows what might be going through that kid's head right now?"
"Pervert, pervert!" The mokke inside the bathroom accused Kou, who looked at the mokke angrily.
"Who're you calling pervert, eh?" He pointed his lightning spear at them, creating a small spark of lightning to scare the small rabbit-like creatures. Yashiro furrowed her brows at Hanako.
"What are you thinking? Kou isn't going to do anything to me or thinking about me in a perverted way. We're just going to a festival together," Nene defended, "If you're so uncomfortable with only the two of us, then I'll tell Aoi-chan and Akane-kun to come with us, maybe even Kou's friends!"
She turned her back towards Hanako, "And besides, if anything, the perverted one here is you!"
It wasn't like Hanako didn't trust Kou, despite knowing his true feelings for Nene. He just wanted to spend more time with her before his time with her runs out. After all, Kou was human, and he could easily spend as much time with Nene as he wants while Hanako couldn't. In the end, Kou had the advantage and Hanako didn't.
But that last comment really took a blow on Hanako.
"That really hurt..." Hanako couldn't help but sit in the corner, depressed. Nene sighed, walking to the corner Hanako sulked in and knelt.
"Hanako-kun, I can bring you a souvenir if that makes you feel better. I'll also invite other people so you wouldn't feel sad," She told him. That's when Hanako remembered something Yako told him, and his mood boosted almost immediately.
"Then how about this," Hanako stood up and faced the two humans with a large grin, "Why don't you guys go to a festival held here instead so that the three of us can all go?"
The two looked at him confused, "On the seventh of July, let's all meet at the Misaki Stairs!"
Nene thought for a moment. Surely, going to a festival with Hanako wouldn't be so bad?
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Hanako, Kou, Nene, Yako, and Tsuchigomori all stood in front of an entrance to a boundary. Nene and Kou were in a civilian outfit, while the rest retained their usual outfits. Kou and Hanako couldn't help but stare at Tsuchigomori, who had a small scowl on his face as he watched the two.
"What?"
"Tsuchigomori, finally going on a date with number two?" The two supernaturals couldn't help but blush.
"W-What the hell? And why do you think so? I just wanted to see if there were any bekko candy..." Tsuchigomori asked the ghost, a bit flustered. Hanako just smiled at him, knowing.
"Oh nothing, nevermind." Yako sighed, a tint of pink still on her face.
"W-Well, us girls have some things to prepare, so you boys go on ahead and wait for us," Yako told them, before ushering her and Nene to another area. The three males all entered the boundary.
Kou's jaw dropped at the sight he saw. There were so many spirits around, lights filled the streets and the festival was all lively and pretty. Hanako swung on a tree branch while Tsuchigomori leaned back on the tree trunk, puffing out smoke from his pipe.
"Wow, that's amazing," He couldn't help but say, "But I thought there were only domains for the Seven School Wonders."
"There are countless other boundaries that don't have an owner watching over them, so it's a bit unorganized," Hanako told the young boy, "This is the Spirit Tanabata Festival!"
"Oh, before I forget, you should wear this," Hanako gave Kou two heaven's crowns. He looked at them uneasily.
"Aren't those--"
"Yep," Hanako told him, a smile on his face, "Since this is an all-spirit world, you guys have to pretend to be spirits around here, otherwise it'll cause chaos."
"Hanako-kun, Kou-kun, sorry to keep you waiting!" They heard Nene's voice from a distance away and turned their heads towards her. Kou's jaw dropped and Hanako's eyes widened as they saw the girl in a pretty, flower-patterned yukata. Yako, in her fox form, stood pridefully behind the girl. Tsuchigomori couldn't help but watch Hanako, a bit surprised and happy to see him acting so differently.
"The yukata, doesn't suit me, does it?" The girl asked them, to which Kou immediately responded.
"It looks great on you, senpai," He immediately told her, a blush creeping on his face. He hit Hanako with his elbow, "Right Hanako? You tell her!"
Hanako looked away from her to think of a compliment he can tell her, "Well, um..."
Nene waited for his response, her heart beating with anticipation. This was the first time she dressed differently in front of Hanako, so what did he think?
"I guess even radishes can dress up really pretty?" Hanako immediately laughed after.
Nene headbutted Hanako and walked to Kou, who gave her heaven's crown. Hanako was left on the floor, his forehead aching in pain. Sitting up, he touched his forehead, feeling the sting that lingered. His heart was beating fast, and his face.
Why? He didn't know either.
Yako walked to Tsuchigomori, still in her fox form. Tsuchigomori had his eyes closed, as he puffed smoke out from his pipe once more.
"You know, it's a bit disappointing," The spider told the fox, who felt a bit offended by his words.
"What? How I dressed the girl up to make Honorable Number Seven happy?" Yako scoffed, "Like an emo spider can have any good taste in fashion at all—"
"Stupid fox, that's not what I meant," He told her, now looking at the fox in the eye, "I meant you, in your fox form. Couldn't you have dressed up too, in your human form?"
A blush crept through the fox's face, before she turned away from the spider, "W-What are you even saying? Stupid spider..."
She switched to her human form, now wearing a red yukata with a white flower pattern and white highlights. Her hair also had pretty ornaments that matched her yukata perfectly, and her makeup was done beautifully. Tsuchugomori smiled in satisfaction, patting her head. The spider's actions deepened the blush that was on the fox's face. Yako immediately walked away from Tsuchigomori, red as a beet, making the fifth wonder chuckle at her cuteness.
"Let's hurry up and go to the festival already," Yako told the trio, "Why does the air smell so sour?" She couldn't help but mutter.
"Now that we're complete, let's go to the festival!" Hanako told everyone, a happy and excited expression on his face.
Nene was excited to see what a festival in the spirit world was like.
But what she was more excited about spending time with Hanako.
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So um, this is prolly gonna be like the last chapter where I ranted out my excitement so buckle up...
Does anyone have any good anime recommendations?
I'm trying to formulate a watchlist so that I can start looking for more inspiration in writing. Fanfictions are my forte when it comes to writing, and I truly wanted to write more during this time, since we are all stuck at home bored with our minds. Besides jshk, are there any other animes that you really like right now?
Don't worry! This fanfiction will definitely still be active even after watching a 💩 ton of anime. In fact, the whole story has already been planned even before it was published, so that we wouldn't go astray with our ideas and mess up the whole plot.
So, if you have any anime recommendations that you'd like to share, and maybe see a fanfiction about, please let me know!
For now, I'll continue to watch Kaguya-sama: Love is War while I wait for you suggestions!
Ja ne.
Moirae x