"look at you! all pretty and dressed up!" kanae squeals as she turns shinobu around to look at her yukata.

"be blessed you have a tiny waist!" kanae pinches her in envy.

"now go go! show him how much prettier you can get!" kanae pushes her as she exits her home.

"w-what?! who?!"

"you KNOW who! don't try to act innocent! i know you took care of him when he was sick, god knows what happened when you did!" kanae giggles as she speaks, winking at her after the sentence.

"kanao told me~"

shinobu's face got redder and redder and just left with a pout.

shinobu searches the crowd with her eyes.

messy hair...messy hair...messy...bingo!

giyuu was wearing a grey yukata and was paying for a candy apple. he somehow stood up like a sorethumb as he stands there eating it in the middle of the crowd.

"BA!" shinobu jumps behind him and hugs him tightly.

giyuu flinched as he looks down to see two tiny arms around his waist.

"wow that was scary." he turned around and see her smiling at him , widely.

"you got scared there~" shinobu teased as he looks away, not wanting to admit he flinched there.

"oh? you're not tying your hair up today?" shinobu looks in awe at his new look, it was pretty.

"my hairband broke.." he speaks while he continues to chew.

as shinobu was giggling, giyuu saw a familiar figure.

tch.

douma was looking for something. he was furiously turning his head and squeezing through the crowd trying to look for something.

or someone.

but shinobu was tiny and short, so he had a hard time looking for her.

giyuu furrowed his eyebrow.

he pushes his candy apple to the giggling shinobu.

"...it has your saliva already-!" shinobu protest as she holds the glossy candy apple that has two big bites on it, but was ineterrupted when she was yanked into a warm embrace.

"t-tomioka-san, w-what are you doing?" shinobu tries to break away from his hold, but he continues to push down her head back on his chest and pulls her even closer.

shinobu was a blushing mess. he smells like flowers. a gentle sad flower. she looks up to him and take a peek.

oddly, he wasn't looking at her. he was looking at something, angrily.

"shinobu-chan? shinobu-chan~?"

douma!

this time, shinobu held onto to his yukata and buried herself deeper into his chest, wanting to hide herself from douma.

giyuu slowly let's go.

"he's gone." he looks down at her as she nods, not paying attention to her pink cheeks.

"then..let's go see that accessory booth!" she pulls him by his arm and ran through the crowd, unaware of her surroundings as she bumps into people and giyuu apologizing after her.

"wah~! these are so pretty!" shinobu squeals excitedly as she looks around the booth.

a single hairpin caught her eye.

she picked up the hairpin that was carved like a wisteria flower.

he smelt like wisteria flowers..

"oh! beautiful lady! if you like the hairpin, i have a a special edition sakura one here too!" the old lady smiles as she recommends her more items.

"i'm sure your husband here would let you get them!" the old lady smiles and winks at shinobu as she says so.

giyuu stayed silent and simply looked away, pretending to be focusing on something else.

"a-ah! we're...we're not a couple..! we're..." shinobu panics as she explains.

what...what are we?

"oh? ah even better! you'll be a beautiful couple by new year! a beautiful lady and a handsome young man! can you find a better couple?" old lady smiles widely at both of them say she notices his red ears and her red cheeks.

"a-anyways, i would like this hairpin!" shinobu shows the old lady the wisteria flower hairpin and was searching for her purse.

"there." before shinobu could find her purse, she notices in the corner of her eye that a big rough hand was holding out money.

"i can pay myself! it's ok!" shinobu waves her hand in panic as the old lady smiles cheekily at her and takes in the money.

she then gave him the hairpin and he says thank you.

he then turned her around slightly by the shoulder to face him.

"don't move." he says as he slowly puts in the hairpin in her hair carefully. she stares at his chest while he does so, not moving.

"there. pretty."

shinobu blushes slightly at his comment and use her fingers to slightly touch the hairpin, attempting feel where the hairpin is and try to picture herself wearing it.

"where's your candy apple?" shinobu tries to change the topic as they continue their walk towards the shrine.

"i finished it while you were dragging me to the accessory booth." he says quietly, not looking at her.

"so...does that mean you can share takoyaki with me?" shinobu stops him as she looks at him with sparkling hopeful eyes. giyuu looks behind her to see a big 'TAKOYAKI' sign hung up on the booth. he sighs longingly.

"i'll pay this time!" she says excitedly.

he paid.

"i tolf yew i cun pey!" shinobu protests as she chews.

giyuu just stares at her, chewing a takoyaki in his mouth too. he smiles softly as she chews. she tilts her head in confusion as his smile didn't fade. he began to pinch her cheeks as he swallows his food.

"chipmunk." he says while he pinches her cheeks.

flustered, she hits his hand away and walks faster ahead of him. giyuu caught up to her tiny steps in just 5 steps.

"the fireworks are starting!"

"the fireworks!"

the crowd started to grow louder as they both stop in front of the shrine, waiting for the fireworks.

phew!

the fireworks started.

it was like colorful flowers were blooming across the dark sky, lighting up the whole world. it painted colours over the sky as giyuu watches in awe.

but shinobu wasn't paying attention. she eyes were fixed on giyuu, whose mouth was agape from the view. she stares at his side profile.

all this time she was running away from it. from the thumping of her chest, from her heating red cheeks , from the feelings she has for the man beside her.

the fireworks continue to bloom as the crowd started to get louder. shinobu looked around and her eyes fell on a certain couple.

it was mitsuri and obanai.

they arms were intertwining on each other as mitsuri rests her head on obanai's shoulder. they were laughing and talking under the fireworks. shinobu was watching in the distance, so she couldn't hear anything, but she was sure that they were happy.

her eyes fell on giyuu again. but this time he was smiling softly at her. some of his hair fell beside his ears, hiding a side of his face. strands of his messy fringe hovers over his blue eyes.

somehow, he looked more handsome than the day they met.

she gulps.

g

"i...i love you."

as she says those words, a pink firework bloomed as the crowd cheered.

his eyes widen.

if he wasn't sitting right beside her right now, he would have punched himself that he thought shinobu said that to him.

except she really did.

they both look straight into each other's eyes.

the colorful fireworks were reflecting inside shinobu's eye as she looks at him. he could see the fireworks clearly in her glossy eyes. her cheeks were pastel pink and the side of her face brighten up time to time by the light the fireworks constantly emitted.

if he could, he would kiss her right now.

if he could.

if he could even know which shinobu he was talking to right now.

those three words. it was the words he wanted to say to her upon their first meeting. he wanted to be worthy of a man himself to utter the three words to her someday. but he never thought that shinobu, both of them, would someday love a fool like him.

they still didn't break the eye contact as the fireworks bloom in front of them. the moment was out of a painting, a shojo manga and a fairytale.

but if only things were as easy as it seems.

i'm sorry, shinobu. but i have to say those words to you, not me.

s

shinobu stares as giyuu got closer towards her face. their faces were only an inch apart.

he then moved to the side of her ear.

"i...."

shinobu swallows hard.

the fireworks made her vision blur.

but despite the loudness of the fireworks, her ears remained sharp as she waits for him to continue his sentence.

"....couldn't hear you, what did you say?"

her mouth dropped slightly and goosebumps were all over her body as she hears him, crystal clear.

shinobu looks down at his hands, but she couldn't see them, as they were resting on the other side of him.

A/N : honestly not my best chapter but i wanted to finish this by today!