Takiyo was procrastinating. Not his homework; he finished it ages ago. He was procrastinating talking to Michi and inviting her to the summer festival. He kept having thoughts, like "Why would she go with me when she could go with Ishida?" or "What if she isn't going in the first place?" or the worst-case scenario, a flat-out rejection.

His mother and father had already made up their mind that Takiyo was going to go with his friends to the summer festival. They decided to sit and home and watch some romance movies together, because coincidentally it was on the same day as their anniversary. Takiyo hated those movies, so his parents hardly ever got to enjoy them.

Takiyo hadn't spoken to Yuko since he left her in the green room. He called Ren once, and he said that Yuko was perfectly normal and fine. He even said that he could hand her the phone if he wanted, but she was asleep at the time. Apart from that, he saw no real reason to talk to her. He didn't have anything to say.

Meanwhile, Arisu seemed to think of his house of her own. She dropped by almost everyday, one day even thrice. Once she came to his house and yelled, "I'm home!" but it turned out that she had mistaken his house for hers. Another time she came over to introduce her older brother, who resembled Arisu strikingly, only he had more of a 'adult' feel, and no airhead feel.

"This is Shinobu-kun." Arisu said. "He's married, but his wife, Kana-san, travels a lot because of her work. Therefore, Shinobu-kun is very lonely. Shinobu-kun, if you're ever lonely, you can come to Takin's house, no problem!"

"Please do!" Mrs. Hamasaki said.

"This isn't your goddamn house!" Takiyo had yelled.

Today, luckily, she seemed to have something to do, and Takiyo was finally able to relax. Or so he thought.

The moment he had collapsed onto bed, a voice started pestering him, "Invite Michi to the fireworks festival. You need to do it. Hurry up. Otherwise she might get booked. You have to. Get up, you lazy bum."

He sat up, deciding. He would invite Michi to the festival today, or else!

Takiyo rolled over and picked up his phone. He scrolled through his contacts, though the list was very short. His mother, father, Yuko, Ren, Arisu and one that was untouched for ages, Michi. He stared at the parfait that was her profile picture.

Will a text do? He was thinking. He felt very self-conscious. He started typing:

Hey, Michi.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard. He was thinking how to start. He pushed his face into his pillow, he ruffled his hair, he rolled around a lot. Nearly an hour later, he had tried out fourteen ways to start, but rejected them all. Only those two words remained, the cursor blinking tauntingly. Had Yuko struggled this much to invite Saburo out?

He finally threw down his phone and groaned.

After some time, he was staring at the house phone. He stared with such intensity, that when his father passed by in front of him, he shuddered. He looked at Takiyo, got creeped out, and then quickly walked away.

Lots of time later, he picked up the phone. He dialed her house number, but he couldn't bring himself to press the call button. His finger hovered over it for ages. Finally, his mother accidentally bumped into his elbow, and made him press it. Takiyo jumped, then nervously held it up to his ear.

It was ringing...ringing...ringing...

"He–?"

Takiyo slammed the phone back down onto it's receiver, heart beating fast. His father looked at him in an alarmed way. Realising what he had done, Takiyo pressed his hands to his face and groaned, rolling around on the couch.

He parents exchanged looks of concern. Takiyo buried his head under one of the cushions and decided to try again later.

'Later' came in the form of walking in circles around the garden. He kept telling himself, Let her walk out, then say it. But every time there was any movement, even a fluttering leaf, he hid behind the hedge. He could kind of see why people called him a stalker. Until now, Michi hadn't come out once.

When he straightened up once more, he saw Shinobu startle. They stared at each other for some time, and then Shinobu asked, "...what are you doing?"

"... tending to the garden." Takiyo replied.

Silence. More suspicious staring.

"You aren't holding any gardening equipment." Shinobu remarked.

This Kaneshiro family! Takiyo gave a quick reply, "Can't a guy just walk out and enjoy his garden? Anyway, what about you? Are you sure you have a home?"

"Yes, I do have a home. Now, I know you were hiding behind the hedge. Why?"

"Nothing for you to know." Takiyo said, turning away from him. The front door finally opened, and Michi walked out, carrying a bundle of newspapers. Takiyo immediately turned back to Shinobu. "So, how was your day?" he asked.

"What's with the sudden mood change?"

"You do not answer a question with another question." Takiyo muttered.

"Hey, greet your neighbour. Hello!" Shinobu called, waving at Michi. She looked up and waved back. Then she said, "Hi, Takiyo-kun!"

"Hello..." Takiyo said, yelling internally. How was he supposed to get around this now? "What's with the newspaper?" He decided to start with small talk.

"I'm taking it for recycling." Michi replied.

"I can help–" Shinobu began, but then Takiyo cut across him. "No, I can help if you want."

"Oh, really? Sure!" Michi said, walking out if her gate. Takiyo shot Shinobu the stink eye, but Shinobu looked like he was calculating something. Then he grinned and gave Takiyo a knowing look.

Takiyo ignored him and went after Michi. Shinobu chuckled to himself and then sighed, "Ah, young love." Then he continued to walk towards the Kaneshiro house.

Takiyo had taken majority of the newspapers. The walked side-by-side, elbows occasionally brushing against each other. Michi did some small talk, and Takiyo mostly replied with monosyllabic answers. His brain kept repeating, Ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask... It had repeated enough to last a lifetime.

They were walking back home now, and Takiyo still hadn't said anything. He kept thinking he would ask then, but then he would back down. Did Yuko seriously struggle this much when she was asking Saburo? Maybe she was scared to, but she still did. He would seem cocky if she had done all that and he hadn't managed to ask Michi a simple question.

"Well, see you around, then." Michi said, and Takiyo hadn't realised that they had arrived back home. Michi's hand was on the gate of her house. She was about to push it open, and Takiyo would lose his chance.

"Michi!"

She turned. Takiyo was sweating bullets. His mouth had acted of its own accord. This was becoming a bad habit of it. Takiyo clenched his fist. It's now or never. At least try.

"Would you..." Takiyo began. "Would you like...to go the fireworks festival with me?"

Michi blinked. Then slowly, she smiled. Takiyo became hopeful for a moment, just a moment, and that was all it took to make the hit harder.

She shook her head. "Sorry, Takiyo-kun. I'm going with Yo-kun."

Everything seemed to shatter. He stared at her. She said it so brightly and so cheerfully, and she even giggled. He had tried, he had struggled all day, but it was for nothing. He should have known. Yoichi would have already decided that before the vacations even started. Now he felt stupid for asking.

"Ah, but Takiyo-kun," Michi began. "Would like to go shopping for yukatas? Suzuki and Maru cancelled..."

Takiyo didn't hear a word of what she said. He just said, "Later," and left while she was still talking. It took a while for her to realise that Takiyo was already walking away.

"Maru told me she already– wait, Takiyo-kun?" Michi turned to see Takiyo opening the gate to his house, and closing it. He started walking to his front door. "Hey, Takiyo-kun–" The front door slammed shut. Michi just stared cluelessly.

"Takiyo-kun...?"

***

Yuko was reading a text while dangling upsidedown. She was frowning.

"What's up?" Ren asked, while Aya played with him.

"Nothing." Yuko said, sitting up straight. Ren picked Aya up and hauled her over his shoulder, while she kicked and laughed, trying to break free. For an eleven-year-old, Aya was extremely childish, you'd think she was still four.

Ren came around the sofa and read the text. Reading it, he snatched the phone out of Yuko's hand.

Takiyo-kun:
I'm not going to the festival.

Ren stared at the phone in a grumpy way. Then he looked at Yuko in disapproval.

"What?" she asked.

Ren texted something, then handed back her phone. Yuko stared after Ren, who had exited the room. He was very displeased. She looked back at her phone. There were two words:

Shut up.

She smiled sadly.