Dancers in Hanetos danced along the roads with bright grins, eagerly asking to join them with loud shouts.

The band full of flutes, drums, musicians of all different kinds fill the streets of Aomori with beautiful music.

And everyone in their group dances and chants along, all with bright smiles on their lips, all of their worries washed away with the floats that descend down Aomori.

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𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟐

    Opening night for the Nebuta Matsuri Festival had everyone dragging their feet back to the hotel room, all of them with sore throats and sore feet smelling like ten tons of sweat.

When Rika opens her eyes, her muscles are aching in places she never thought were possible. And–vaguely–she can still smell the smoke that wafted through the streets from the night before. Throwing the comforter off her form, she quickly gets to her feet and gets ready for the day, only stopping to check in on the boys in the other room connected to her own.

Upon peering through the open door, she chuckles at the state the boys are in.

Shin had somehow fallen out of his shared futon with Benkei and Wakasa and had his limbs sprawling awkwardly in all directions. Benkei's body is slumped on top of Wakasa's who's snoring like a hundred pound bear. Then, with her eyes sweeping over to the couple–throuple?-- Rika cooes at the sight of them all cuddling up to each other with Mikey being sandwiched in between both Keisuke and Takemichi.

After getting dressed and ready for the day, Rika grabs her purse and leaves the hotel room with one objective in her mind:

Hanetos.

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    By the time Rika comes back from buying their group Hanetos, everyone is up and in different states of getting ready.

Keisuke and Takemichi are trying to drag Mikey out from under the covers, Shinichiro and Waksa are fighting over who used who's toothbrush, and Benkei is tossing a shirt over his head that reads God of Nebutas.

"Morning boys!" Rika greets cheerfully with a bag full of clothes raised high in the air. "Guess who got us all Hanetos?!"

Keisuke and Takemichi gasp with stars in their eyes–with Mikey grudgingly opening an eye at the information–while the ex-delinquents smile warmly at her, appreciation flowing off of them in comforting waves.

"Haneto! Haneto! Haneto!" Keisuke chants happily as he jumps off the futon and begins skipping towards Rika. "And we get to wear these tonight?!"

Rika scoffs and opens up the bag, allowing her feral son to sneak a peek inside. "Duh! Otherwise I wouldn't have bought them~!"

She then hands Keisuke the bag of clothes and makes her way towards the only other adults in their group. The guys are staring at Rika with something akin to guilt if their wavering smiles are anything to go by.

Rika fights to keep down her scowl at the looks they're giving her and immediately holds a hand up when Shinichiro opens his mouth to–without a doubt–apologize for not being able to pay for his own Haneto. "No, I don't want your money. No, I won't let you pay me back. And No, there's nothing you can do to make it up to me for the Hanetos," Rika declares, internally smirking at the way each guy deflates.

"Oh cmon, Rika! There's gotta be something we can do! Afterall, I doubt those Hanetos were cheap..." Wakasa grumbles, his eyes shifting from Rika to past her shoulder, probably landing on the bag of newly bought clothes Keisuke is scavenging through.

Benkei and Shinichiro nod along with Wakasa, a look of determination forming on their annoying faces. "Yeah! In fact, We'll handle buying breakfast and lunch today–" Benkei is unable to finish his sentence, for a large wad of white clothes is shucked across the room, hitting Benkei square in the face.

"YOU GET A HANETO!!!" Keisuke screams, his arms rolling up another Haneto before throwing it directly at Shinichiro who actually manages to catch it. "YOU GET A HANETO!!!" Keisuke then throws a bundle of clothes at Wakasa who catches it without looking. "YOU GET A HANETO!!!" Two bundles of white clothing lands on top of Takemichi and Mikey, earning annoyed groans from the two boys. "EVERYONE GETS A HANETO!!!" Keisuke finished while shucking the last Haneto at Rika who clumsily grabs onto it before it hits the ground.

Rika can't stop herself from glaring at her son from afar, her teeth grinding together in frustration.

Why the hell does her kid have to cause so much chaos in the morning?! And why can't he seem to pick up that the adults are having a very serious conversation?!

"Keisuke Baji."

Her son's body jolts to attention at the seriousness of her tone. "...Yeah?"

"No sweets until after dinner."

Keisuke shrieks in protest, but he's drowned out by the sound of Takemichi and Mikey laughing at him.

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    While Rika was out shopping for Hanetos, she had taken the courtesy of asking the locals about the best places to visit while in Aomori.

"Oh–dear you must visit the Oirase Gorge in Towado!" an old lady had insisted from behind the counter of the store Rika bought the Hanetos from. 'The forest and scenery is just so beautiful and welcoming–"

"Aghhh, don't listen to this old hag!" the lady's husband interrupted with a scowl. "Ye got kids with ya, right? Oirase gorge will bore em' to death! Hell, the Juniko Twelve Lakes is a better option! Them blue waters will fascinate the little rascals–"

"No way!" a younger voice interrupted, her features awfully similar to the old couple. "Didn't you hear what happened last time a group of small kids went to Juniko?! They fell in and nearly drowned!"

"Yeah, cause they didn't have a damn guardian around to watch em'!"

In the midst of the squabble between the young man and the old man, a smaller lady materialized beside Rika, scaring the shit out of her. "The Hasshoku Center in Hachinoche City might be enjoyable for your kids," The lady said, her voice quiet–barely above a whisper. "There are many food stands to take samples from as well as a farmers market that holds even the rarest of items."

Not knowing what else to do, Rika settles on the last option and promptly buys the group train tickets to Hachinoche City.

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    Taking the group to the Hasshoku Center was a mistake.

It took very little time for Keisuke, Mikey, and Takemichi to be separated from the group, leaving the adults to scramble around the area screaming their names, unable to truly enjoy the tasteful samples each food vendor was offering.

"THAT LITTLE BASTARD!!! I KNEW HE WAS PLANNING SOMETHING!!!" Rika seethes, her brown eyes sweeping over the clearing, hoping to catch sight of her scheming son and boyfriends, only to end up finding nothing but curious tourists and workers.

"Eh? Which one?" Shinichiro asks from beside her, his tall figure towering over Rika as he also attempts to scout out the three boys.

"Who do you think?!"

"...Keisuke?"

"Bingo."

Shinichiro sighs and places a hand on Rika's shoulder, stopping her from moving away from him to try and check one of the dark alleys. "Hey! You gotta stop giving Keisuke so much grief, Rika!" Shin exclaims, shocking Rika enough to make her freeze up.

"Excuse me? I have to give him grief! I'm his mother!" Rika shouts, her eyes narrowing up at Shinichiro and–very suddenly–Rika is reminded of their height difference.

Why the hell was Shinichiro gifted with such long legs?!

"Yeah, I understand that, but–compared to how he usually is–he's been awfully good on this trip!" Shinichiro points out with an exhausted look. "Aside from what happened this morning, Keisuke's been well-behaved! Besides, if you keep scowling at him all the time, then he's gonna think you hate him!"

Guilt slams into Rika like a cartoon hammer from looney tunes.

Does Keisuke actually think that? Does he suspect Rika of hating him? But—no, he must know that she's scolding him for a good reason! If she doesn't scold him and lets him get away with half the shithe's doing, then he'll end up even more troublesome than he is now! He knows that, doesn't he?

Rika whips her head away from Shinichiro, refusing to meet his eyes as she scowls.

"Let me handle Keisuke my own way, Shinichiro," She says in what she hopes is a reprimanding tone under all the unwavering guilt and doubt.

The black haired man doesn't say anything else. He goes back to helping Rika look for the three boys with his hands cupped around his lips, shouting their names as loud as he can.

However, unexpectedly, it's Benkei who manages to find the little gremlins.

After about thirty minutes of doing nothing but looking for their kids, Benkei appears with Takemichi on his shoulders, Keisuke grappling in one of his arms, and Mikey hanging from the collar of his shirt with Benkei's other hand.

"Found these little Yokais' stealing food from the food vendors," Benkei explains with a smug smile.

"We weren't stealing! The fish was offered to us!" Mikey interrupts as he swings from Benkei's grasp.

"Y-yeah! We would never do something like that!" Takemichi stutters out, his gaze carefully pinned to the sky rather than meeting the frustrated adults eyes.

"Shut up Michi! You'll give us away!" Keisuek shouts as he tries to wrangle himself free.

As expected, he fails–miserably, might Rika add.

From the corner of Rika's eye, he sees Wakasa sweeping a hand across his face, frustration clearly evident in his body language as he glares at Takemichi.

"God damnit boys! Yall are gonna be the reason ima start growing gray hairs!!!" Wakasa shouts, flipping off the boys with the middle finger and–while Rika would never allow her kid to be given the bird–she laments that this time she'll allow it.

Keisuke, ever the instigator, sticks his tongue out and flips Wakasa off as well. "Not like it'll make much of a difference to your old man hair!" Keisuke laughs out, an evil smile reaching from ear to ear.

"...Ms.Baji..."

Rika sighs, immediately knowing where this is going.

"...Yes, Wakasa?"

"Do I have permission to give this kid the wedgie of his life?"

Rika exchanges a look with her son, her troublesome, feral child–whos repeatedly shaking his head no–and looks back at Wakasa.

She nods.

"Go ahead, wakasa."

"WAIT WHAT?!" Keisuke screams, his face full of horror as he watches Wakasa approach him with a victorious smirk. "ABUSE, ABUSE, SOMEONE HELP, HE'S ABOUT TO–"

Keisuke cuts himself off with a scream and–well–the rest is history.

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    The Hanetos were a lot harder to put on than the Kimonos, that's for sure.

Even Rika was having trouble with the many layers and ropes the outfit came with, her mind awfully blank as she tried to figure out how to put on such an abomination.

Thankfully, after many tries, Rika managed to get everything situated.

The mother began helping the rest of the boys with their Hanetos; Wakasa in particular was hard to teach due to his large pride and smart remarks that had Rika pulling at the roots of her hair.

However, once everyone had their Hanetos on, Rika quickly scrambled for her camera and took group photos to the boys' disbelief (Minus Takemichi–he's such a sweetheart...).

Then, once they stepped out of the Hotel room, the festivities had begun.

Rika made sure to keep a close eye on the three smaller boys when they ran off in the direction of the dancers, frantically asking to join them, and Rika watched with a smile as they took the three boys in with open arms, cheerful laughs escaping past their red and blue marked lips.

While Rika kept her eyes on her son and his boyfriends, Shinichiro and his two friends went to an open stand and bought them enough alcohol to get them wasted before the night ended.

Rika, of course, had her reservations upon doing such a thing...

"Someone has to be the sober one of the group..." She protests, eyeing the cans of beer in their hands with jealousy.

Shinichiro scoffs at Rika's attemptsto back out and practically shoves a beer into her hand, earning absurprised yelp from the olde rlady.

"Nonsense, Ms.Baji! You've been stressed out all day and this-'' he says while waving his beer around in the air, "--will help knock you down a few pegs!"

"But what about the boys–"

"They'll be fine!" Wakasa interrupts, already chugging down his beer in one go. With his mind occupied with the drink in his mouth, Benkei steps up and slings an arm over Rikas shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze that sends Rika's heart out of orbit.

"Yeah! And–if it makes you feel better–we got connections in this city thanks to our past legendary titles in the Black Dragons. I already called a few of them to watch the boys while we get plastered, so lossen up and drink with us, Ms.Baji!" Benkei insists, beckoning the beer in her hand closer to her chest.

Rika thinks about it for a few seconds, staring the beer down with a serious amount of concentration.

When was the last time she drank with friends?

When was the last time she allowed herself to let loose a little?

When was the last time she threw caution to the wind and did something...risky?

Rika doesn't bother answering any of those questions.

Instead, she pops the beers open and chugs it down like a boss, proceeding to get absolutely wasted.

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𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟑

The headache Shinichiro wakes up to is nothing to scoff at.

    It pounds wildly inside Shinichiro's head, begging to escape, a painful beat pulsing against each side that's enough to make him throw his pillow over his head to hopefully block out the pain. Flashes of light appear before his eyes, increasing the ache that slams full force from behind his eyelids. His teeth grind together frustratedly. His entire body is sore and in agony.

    And, to make matters worse–when he opens his eyes–he finds himself sleeping next to someone who isn't Wakasa or Benkei.

    Shinichiro's breath stutters, his heart beat picks up, and he all but throws the covers off his body and stares at the person sleeping next  to him, clad in only an oversized shirt and basketball shorts.

    It's Ms.Baji.

    Baji Rika.

    Keisuke's mom.

    Holy shit.

    Did–did they–?

    Shinichiro immediately looks down at himself and sighs in relief that he still has his clothes on. Then, just to make sure, he very carefully looks over Ms.Baji's exposed body, and ends up finding zero traces of any kind of sign that might suggest that the two of them had–

    "I thought you said you wouldn't act weird if I let you sleep with me."

    Shinichiro's heart nearly flies out of his throat.

    Bringing his eyes back up to Ms.Baji's face, he finds her staring at him with an unimpressed look.

    Shinichiro launches himself off the bed, ignoring the bruising pain in his head, and bows apologetically–beads of sweat rolling down his head in waves.

    "I-I'm so sorry Ms.Baji! I have no idea why i was in your bed and i have no idea what's going on right now and i have no idea why my head feels like it got hit with a metal pipe–"

    "Ugh, can you keep your voice down?" Ms. Baji scolds, her body slowly rising from the futon. She brings a hand up to her head and narrows her eyes, glaring at Shinichiro. "You're not gonna get any answers if you keep squealing like a teenage virgin..."

    Ah, but he is a virgin–

    "And to answer your many questions, Wakasa and Benkei kicked you out of their room after you threw up on their futon," She says with disgust. "--So i invited you to sleep in here with me as long as you kept your eyes and hands to yourself," She adds with a scowl. "And we all got wasted at the festival last night," Ms.Baji finishes.

    Shinichiro rises from his bow and scratches the back of his nape, clueless and embarrassed over how much of a mess he was last night. "Im...deeply sorry for inconveniencing you, Ms.Baji..." Shinichiro apologizes again, his eyes staring at his bare feet as the words leave his lips. "I dont–I can usually handle my liquor–"

    "Shin–it's fine," She reassures softly, making Shinichiro lift his gaze to eye her cautiously. When he raises his head, he's met with the sight of Rika smirking at him in a teasing manner which–despite everything–reminds Shinichiro of Katsumi–

    "And don't worry, we didn't have sex."

    Shinichiro reels back, face set aflame.

    He gawks openly at the cheeky adult before him and wonders how in the hell she can say something so nonchalantly in the first place.

    "I–I didn't–you see–It wasn't–"

    Before Shinichiro can even conjure up a good enough sentence to defend himself, Rika throws her head back and laughs loudly, making both of them wince in pain.

    "I'm just teasing you, Shin," She says in between giggles. "I know your saving yourself for a certain somebody~"

    And, in the span of just a second, Shinichiro's heart drops to his stomach.

    She knows.

    She knows about his feelings for Katsumi.

    Katsumi, who should be with them at this festival getting wasted and teasing Shinichiro for freaking out over something so small.

    And...

    Shinichiro gives Ms.Baji a sheepish smile, hoping it's more than enough to hide the sorrow in his gut.

    "Hah, yeah, I guess I am."

    Shinichiro doesn't give Ms.Baji a chance to respond.

    He smiles down at her and makes a  beeline towards the boys room, then–right as he's about to leave the room–Shincihiro throws Ms.Baji one last look.

    "I'll go grab us all Breakfast. You in the mood for anything?"

    Rika tilts her head, allowing some of her hair to sway in front of her face, and she puckers her lips as if in thought.

    "Hm...A crepe sounds good right now."

    "Then I'll be back with a bunch of Crepes and Medicine for our hangovers!"

    Right as Shinichiro is about to leave the doorway, Rika's voice calls out to him.

    "Oi–Shin!"

    "Hm? Yeah?"

    Rika then smiles, but it's anything but joyful.

    It's sorrowful and sad.

    "You're not the only one who misses Katsumi, Shin, so–if you ever wanna talk about it–I'm right here."

    Shinchiro's heart feels a little bit lighter at her words and he finds himself smiling