It was early afternoon on the last weekend of our summer vacation. Hiromasa and I had just gotten off at the station nearest Miyasoto's place and were making our way down the neighborhood sidewalk towards her apartment. The plan was to pick up the girls there and then continue the rest of the way to the festival. Hiromasa seemed kind of anxious, but excited at the same time.

"Listen," I said while we walked. "At the end of the festival, when we're watching the fireworks, you should hold Miyasoto's hand."

"Wh-what?" he stammered. "Where is this coming from?"

I sighed. "Just do it."

He rubbed the back of his head and looked at the ground. "What if she doesn't want me to?"

"Of course she does. Don't overthink it. Just reach over and take her hand. Where did all this nervousness come from again, anyway? You were getting really assertive with Saki. Maybe you just need some whisky?" I smirked.

He shook his head, continuing to look down. "When she turned me down, it sort of knocked my confidence down a few pegs, you know?" He looked up at me and chuckled. "No, I guess you wouldn't."

"I can't say I've felt exactly what you're feeling, but I can understand," I said. "I don't think you should be worried, though. Miyasoto doesn't strike me as someone who would agree to date anyone on a whim. She thought it through. Trust me. She wants to hold your hand."

He stared at me for a moment before smiling and nodded firmly. "Alright. I'll do it. Thanks, Kaito."

I shook my head. "Don't mention it."

When we got to her apartment a few minutes later, Hiromasa started to knock, but his hand froze inches from the door.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"What if one of her parents answers it?" he asked, casting a nervous gaze at the door.

"Then you introduce yourself." I shrugged.

"How can you be so calm?" he asked. "I did not mentally prepare for this."

"That's alright. You're better like this. No time to get nervous." I knocked on the door.

Hiromasa squeaked. "What did you do that for?"

I just grinned in response.

He let out a sigh of relief when Miyasoto answered the door a few moments later. She was wearing a black yukata decorated generously with deep pink and purple flowers of varying sizes. Her obi was a lighter pink and embossed with flowers as well. She'd lightly curled her short hair and placed a purple bow on the side. Hiromasa stared at her wide eyed.

"So pretty." His voice was barely audible.

"What?" She tilted her head to the side.

I jabbed him in the side with my elbow and he jumped.

"Ah." He waved his hands out in front of him. "That is...I mean...You look really pretty." He blushed and looked to the side.

She smiled and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, her face coloring a bit as well. "Thanks."

There is something really adorable about young, innocent love. I was really happy for them, but I couldn't help feeling just a little jealous. I quickly pushed the thoughts of self-pity from my mind. This was no time to be feeling sorry for myself. I got to spend the day with my friends, especially Saki. That was reason enough to be happy.

"Hey, Saki," Miyasoto called into the apartment. "Come on already."

Saki appeared behind Miyasoto with a lengthy sigh. Both girls stepped out into the hall and Miyasoto shut the door behind them.

Miyasoto had certainly done her job well. For Saki, she had chosen a white yukata adorned sparsely with blue and red butterflies. A red obi with a floral design was wrapped around her waist. Miyasoto had even taken it the extra mile and done Saki's hair by pinning most of it up in the back with several butterfly hairpins, leaving several strands free in the front to run down either side of her face.

Miyasoto was cute, no question, but Saki was something else- beautiful.

Saki glared at me when she caught my gaze. "What the hell are you staring at?"

"You, obviously." I shrugged, unashamed. "You look really nice. It suits you."

She clicked her tongue. "You can thank Kimiko. She did all the work."

"You're calling her by her first name?" Hiromasa asked, sounding crushed.

Saki shrugged. "She said I could."

Miyasoto giggled. "Well, it felt a little awkward calling you by your first name when you were using my last."

"Oh," Hiromasa said, looking down.

"You know..." Miyasoto fiddled with her own fingers. "You can call me Kimiko too, if you like. We are dating now, after all."

"Really?" Hiromasa's head jerked up.

She smiled and nodded.

He nodded. "Ok then, Kimiko."

"Thanks, Hiromasa," she said.

They both started blushing again.

Saki made a disgusted noise and rolled her eyes. "Can we just go before the two of you make me vomit?"

All of us continued our way to the festival together. Saki seemed slightly put off by the fact she was forced to walk slower due to the restraint of the yukata, but she didn't voice her complaints. I can't say I minded the pace. It gave me more time to stare. I probably shouldn't have. I was trying to behave, but there is only so much a man can do.

We finally arrived at the stone path lined with colorful booths and their large lettered signs. As expected, it was plenty busy.

"So, what do you guys want to do first, or do you just want to walk around?" I asked.

Saki pointed at a booth serving takoyaki. "That."

I sighed. "I should have known it would have been food with you."

Miyasoto shrugged. "Well, why not? Maybe it'll give us some energy to walk around."

Hiromasa nodded. "Food is always good with me."

We went to the booth and got a container of takoyaki each. I stuck my wooden toothpick into one and took a bite. It had been a while since I'd had any. I forgot just how good little bits of octopus combined with batter could be when fried.

Saki had already eaten three of them, when she looked over at Hiromasa and smiled. "I bet I can eat more than you can."

Hiromasa swallowed a mouthful and grinned. "You're on."

Saki and Hiromasa began wolfing down the takoyaki. Miyasoto stared at them, mouth slightly open.

"First time seeing them in action, huh?" I asked.

Miyasoto nodded, still staring. "Are they always like this?"

"I'm afraid so." I leaned towards her. "But if anyone asks, we aren't with them."

"Agreed." Miyasoto nodded firmly.

In the end, Saki beat Hiromasa's carton and three quarters by her two full containers. You would have thought that might have slowed her down a little, but it didn't. I still had to fulfill my end of the bargain as far as food went. She got everything she asked for and more. When Saki wasn't ingesting ungodly amounts of food, we spent the rest of our time walking around admiring the booths selling little trinkets and colorful masks. Occasionally, we'd stop to play one of the games.

Miyasoto surprised us all when she won at the gun shooting game, even if it was only a box of crackers. Hiromasa smiled the widest I'd even seen when he won Miyasoto a small panda figurine she'd pointed out at the ring toss game. It was really nice spending one last summer being a little bit childish before we embarked on that awkward journey into the world of real adulthood.

I was enjoying myself so much I didn't realize how much time had passed until it started to grow darker, and the booths, as well as the lanterns hanging above our heads, lit up one by one. We decided to visit one last booth before heading over to find a spot for the firework display. I still had one part of my deal to fulfill, goldfish catching. We each got a net and a small bowl to put our fish in.

I knelt next to the tank and filled my bowl with water. "Alright, Saki, which one do you want?"

She crouched next to me and examined the fish filled tank. "That one." She gestured to a fat orange and white one.

I chuckled. "You would pick the biggest one."

"Oh?" She said with a little taunt to her voice. "Afraid you can't do it?"

"Don't you worry." I did a few exaggerated shoulder rolls. "I swear on my honor as a man I will get you that fish."

She laughed and punched me playfully in the shoulder. "You're an idiot."

I don't know if you've ever tried to catch a fish with a wet piece of paper as a net, but it's not as easy as it sounds. It took me several tries, but eventually I did manage to nab the one she wanted. We got it put into a little plastic bag filled with water, then stepped away from the booth and back out into the crowd.

I stretched out, a little stuff from crouching next to that tank for so long. "You guys want find a spot for fireworks?"

Miyasoto nodded. "People do seem to be headed in that direction. It will probably start soon."

We started to shuffle with the crowd towards the riverbank. I felt a jerk on my shirt and turned around to see Saki grasping the back of it.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

She let go of my shirt. "Come with me for a little while."

"You don't want to watch the fireworks?" I searched her face for a hint to her behavior. I wished I could read her as easy as she could read me.

She shook her head. "I just want to be alone with you for a bit."

How could I ever turn that down?

"Hey, Hiromasa," I called with my hand cupped around my mouth.

He and Miyasoto backtracked towards us.

"What's up?" he asked.

"We'll meet you after," I said. "I've got something I need to do."

"Ok?" He said, sounding a little confused. "Later."

"Don't forget." I held up an open palm and pointed to it.

He swallowed hard and nodded. They headed off towards the fireworks. Saki led me in the opposite direction. I'd planned to split apart from Hiromasa and Miyasoto during the fireworks anyway to give them some space. This worked just as well.

Saki finally came to a stop, away from the booths and the groups of people, next to a slow moving spot in the river. Yellow lights from the buildings on the other side danced on the water's dark surface. It was the same river you could see the fireworks from, but people usually went a lot further down to sit on the slope for the best view.

"Not a big fan of fireworks?" I asked.

"I actually like them just fine, but there is something I wanted to do." She knelt next to the water and untied the knot on the plastic bag that held her fish.

"Planning on letting it go?" I asked. "I'm not sure how long it will live in there."

She set the plastic bag on its side and squeezed it out into the river along with the fish. "At least it will die free. I always wanted one, but I can't keep it at my house."

I felt a knot grow in my throat. Why had she suddenly gotten so sad? We were having so much fun before, weren't we?

The whistle of fireworks started. I could still make a few of them out, even if they were partially covered by low hanging trees. Not that it mattered. It wasn't them I was looking at.

"Kaito." She stood up and smiled. "Thanks for today. I had a really good time."

It made me tremble to stand there and watch her with that sad smile on her face, those brief bursts of colored lights blooming and then withering away just as quickly in the sky behind her. I clenched my fists and resisted my every muscle urging me forward to embrace her. Why couldn't I make her happy? Why couldn't I save her?

I would just have to try harder.

We all met up again after the fireworks and decided it was a good a time as any to head home. We'd seen all there was to see anyway. Saki had put her stone skin back on, and any hint of sadness was gone in an instant. My moods weren't so easily changed, so I was quiet most of the way back to Miyasoto's apartment. I told Saki we could wait until she changed and walk together, but she denied my offer. After an awkward goodbye between Hiromasa and Miyasoto, Hiromasa and I started our walk towards the train station.

"You alright?" Hiromasa asked, studying me with a concerned look. "Something happen?"

I shook my head and forced a smile. "Sorry. Just thinking. How about you?" I nudged him, grinning. "Something happen?"

He blushed and put his hands over his face. "I screwed it all up. I was getting so worked up thinking about it, so I finally just reached out and grabbed her hand so suddenly and my palms were so sweaty because I was nervous." His eyes peeked out from behind his fingers. "She's going to think I'm gross now, isn't she?"

I whistled. "Wow. Sweaty palms, huh?” I shrugged. "Yeah, "I'm not sure how you can recover from that. It's all over."

He stopped dead in his tracks. "Really?"

I couldn't do it anymore. That desperate look on his face made me crack up.

"It's fine." I laughed some more. "It's totally fine. Did she squeeze back?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

I shrugged. "Then you're golden."

"You are such an asshole," he said, separating his every word with a punch to my shoulder.

"Sorry." I put my hands up. "I couldn't resist teasing you a little."

He glared. "You're going to have to make it up to me by telling me where the heck to take her now."

I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and we started our walk again. "Don't worry, buddy. We'll think of something."

The second school term started, which meant Saki and I were done working for the time being. The manager told me he was sorry to see me go, and he even offered me a full time position after I graduated. I fully intended to take him up on that. I mean, what did I have to lose? It wasn't very likely I was going to find a job I enjoyed more than cooking anyway.

Soon after school started, my mother returned home without my father. She told me his job ran over and she wasn't sure when he'd be home. Honestly, I preferred it that way. I was going to have to talk to them about my plans for becoming a cook, and I would much rather talk to my mother one on one.

Still, that didn't mean the conversation was going to be easy. I hadn't really discussed my future with them at all. They nagged me about choosing a path and working hard, but that's as far as the conversation ever went. I hadn't even bothered to tell them I didn't plan on going to college. I just didn't feel the need to bother with it until I had to. It seemed like a lot of hassle with no benefit. It's not like they were going to convince me otherwise.

It's for that reason that I paced around outside the living room the day after she arrived, trying to put my words in order. I peered into the room for the hundredth time. She was sitting at the same spot on the couch, reading the same book she had been the last ninety nine times I'd checked. I took a deep breath and walked into the room.

"Mom," I said, stepping in front of her.

The words felt awkward on my tongue, sounded foreign to my ears. I would call her that occasionally on the phone, but when was the last time I had addressed her so casually in person?

She looked up from her book, clearly as thrown off as I was. "Yes?"

I sat down next to her. "Listen. I've been offered a cooking job after I graduate and I think I'm going to take it. I worked there over the summer and I really enjoyed it. I think it would be a really good fit for me, more than any other job."

I didn't realize I'd been rushing until I stopped talking and felt slightly out of breath. She smiled at me. It was an honest smile with real joy behind it. I didn't even know she knew how to do that.

"You're happy?" I asked.

"Well, I can't say I'm thrilled about your decision to not further your education." She shut her book and turned to face me. "But I am glad that you chose something that you think you'll enjoy. Most people work for money and don't really enjoy it at all. It's rare to actually want to get up every day and do your job. That's not something you should pass up."

I couldn't really believe she was taking it so well. I don't think I would have done anything different even if she had said otherwise, but it made me feel so much lighter knowing she didn't object, that she wasn't going to silently judge me while standing on the sidelines. I'd grown so accustomed to things working that way.

"What do you think father will say?" I picked at the couch.

"You can leave him to me," she said. "I'm sure he won't be happy, but I can probably calm him down a little."

I couldn't believe this was the same woman who had been my mother my entire life. We hadn't talked like this since I was a child. We had drifted so far apart she almost felt like a stranger to me, but this talk gave me a little bit of hope. It's not as though she would become a nurturing mother overnight. That ship had sailed long ago, but maybe the next time I talked to her about something it wouldn't be as difficult. It was definitely a step in the right direction.