CH 53

The Summer Festival Begins

The long-awaited day of the summer festival and fireworks display has arrived.

I’ve rarely been to a festival.

I’ve been to a few festivals with my parents and Alice before she stopped wanting to leave the house.

But that was when she was in kindergarten.

I don’t remember going to any festivals after I became an elementary school student.

Not only festivals but also the beach and mountains.

Although she didn’t want to go anywhere, she would swim in the plastic pool in the yard and wear yukata inside the house.

I wondered if she wanted to go to the beach, mountains, or festivals.

Should I have taken her out even if I had to?

Thinking about this, I fastened the obi of Alice’s yukata.

“Okay, it’s done.”

I tightened the sash firmly and shouted.

“Thank you, onee-chan.”

She spun around on the spot, looked at me, smiled, and thanked me.

She has her golden hair tied up, which she usually lets down, and is wearing a pink yukata with red goldfish on it.

“Alice, you look lovely.”

When I said that with a smile, Alice, who had dyed her cheeks slightly, looked up at me with a shy smile.

“Are you looking forward to the festival, Alice?”

“Yes!”

She was embarrassed, but she nodded with a big smile when I asked her.

“But I’m looking forward to the festival, but it’s only because onee-chan is with me.”

Alice, her cheeks dyed, looked up at me and raised her voice in a sweet voice.

Because I’m with you, huh?

“If onee-chan is with you, would you be happy to stay in the house all the time?”

When I asked that question, Alice turned puzzled.

And then――.

“Yes, it’s fun!”

She nodded her head with a big smile on her face.

It’s a relief to hear Alice say that.

I think she had a good time, even though she didn’t leave the house and wore her swimsuit and yukata inside the house.

But I guess I should have taken her out.

◆

I put on the yukata by myself and adjusted my hair properly with a hand comb.

“Oh my, onee-chan, you really are so proper with yourself!”

Alice ran her brush through my hair, pouting with anger.

“I-I’m sorry…”

I closed my eyes as the brush gently brushed my hair, apologizing.

“I’ve got a lot of stuff from Rin-chan, so let’s use it.”

“… Hmm.”

Feeling sleepy from the comfort, I nodded at the sound of Alice’s voice.

“Yes, it’s done.” I opened my eyes when she patted me on the shoulder in a doze.

A woman with her hair tied up, visible in front of her.

… What?

I was having my hair combed with a brush, but before I knew it, my hair was tied up. Furthermore, her bangs were parted horizontally and pinned up with a cute hairpin.

“Onee-chan, you look very pretty, don’t you?”

Alice, who had peeked out from behind my shoulder and was staring at my reflection in the mirror, smiled at me.

I suddenly thought that she might be a little bit cute, and my face heated up like it was on fire.

“You’re so cute when you’re shy, onee-chan.”

She whispered in a sweet voice and kissed me on the cheek.

“Oh, don’t make fun of your onee-chan.”

I said this while holding back my embarrassment and tapped Alice on the head.

“Ehehe.”

Alice smiled embarrassedly and stuck out her tongue.

I can’t believe I think I’m cute. If there’s a hole, I’d go in it.

◆

The festival is held with the main street of the city closed to vehicular traffic.

Literally, the main street is the main part of the festival, where many food stalls are lined up and portable shrines are paraded from around six o’clock in the evening.

Naturally, a lot of people gather here, and it is literally a festival.

There is a shrine a little further away, but it too is lined with many stalls and is a favorite spot for those in the know. Moreover, the shrine is located on the side of a small hill, so you can see the fireworks.

Even though it’s a hole in the wall, there seem to be quite a few people gathering there, but it’s much better than the main street.

Kiniwa-san told me.

The main street was crowded with people, so we decided to gather at a shrine in the middle of nowhere.

The time was past five in the evening.

The meeting time is six o’clock.

It would take us about 15 minutes to walk along the main street and about 10 minutes to get to the shrine.

We could make it in plenty of time.

Holding hands with me, Alice walks with her clogs clanking.

Her golden bangs swaying in the wind, her eyes as blue as the clear sky.

The orange of dusk gently illuminates her, and the people passing by on the street are all admiring her.

Alice naturally blends in with Takanashi-san’s group, but if it’s just the two of us, Alice will stand out too much.

I can see how much of an impact the Yurizono sisters have.

With this in mind, we walked towards the shrine for about thirty minutes, dodging the main street.

The flat road turned into a slope, and the trees became more conspicuous.

After another five minutes of walking, we came to a red torii gate.

This is the shrine where we were to meet.

A voice rang out.

I saw a silver-haired girl standing by the torii gate, jumping up and down. Next to her stood a silver-haired woman who was also waving at me.

There was still plenty of time before the meeting time, but it seemed that the Yurizono sisters had already arrived.

“Amane!”

I turned around at the sound of a voice behind me and saw a small girl in a yellow yukata running towards me with a hawk.

She was wearing a yukata and a hat with an appliqué of a stag beetle on it.

The yukata and the hat are a bit unbalanced, but since it’s Yanomiya-san, she’s always going to be adorable no matter what.

Behind her were Takanashi-san and Kiniwa-san.

Both of them were waving at me.

We were supposed to meet at six o’clock, but it seems that everyone has gathered earlier than planned.

I guess that’s how much everyone was looking forward to it.

And so the last event of the summer vacation, the summer festival, began.