Apparently the Gal who Bullies me Likes me

Chapter 15 (Part 1)

Summer Festival ~Fireworks~

The day of the summer festival finally arrived.

It is now after school, on the last day of school before summer vacation, and I'm waiting for Tachibana in front of the local station.

It's now in late July but the nights are still hot and humid.

But I really like it because it feels like summer.

It's also really hot today.

And even though it's already nighttime, I can still faintly hear the sounds of the cicadas.

This time, I invited Tachibana.

I wonder if I will be able to entertain Tachibana.

I thought about preparing something to talk about, but I decided to be spontaneous.

The time right now is 19:00 and the fireworks display will start at 20:00.

Since it was a big festival there are a lot people coming out from the station.

There were families, couples, and groups of friends.

I also noticed that were also a few people wearing yukata.

Tachibana said she was going to wear a yukata, so I decided to wear one as well.

I'm wearing a dark navy-colored yukata, a beige obi* and a sandals.

This is the yukata my father used to wear, I just pulled it out from the back of the closet and I told my parents that I was going to the festival with my friends.

I wondered what kind of yukata Tachibana is wearing? I'm sure it will be very beautiful.

Everyone who passes by in front of me seems that they are having so much fun. I hope that this is also becomes an unforgettable memory for us.

"Heeey!"

I heard a familiar voice when I turned to face where the voice was coming from.

"Sorry! Did you wait for too long?"

I saw a really different Tachibana than usual, as she is dressed in a yukata.

She was wearing a black, flower-patterned yukata with a purple ribbon-shaped obi sash on the back.

The floral designs scattered throughout the yukata suited Tachibana's slender figure.

She was wearing geta*, and her beautiful long black hair, which Tachibana had let down, highlight the beauty of the yukata.

She's so beautiful.

"What's wrong?"

I couldn't help but to admire her beauty.

"Ah, I'm sorry, no I didn't wait that long as I've only just got here a few minutes agao."

"I'm glad to hear that!"

"Well then, let's go."

Tachiba and I started walking towards the street where the food stalls are located.

Every time Tachibana took a step I could her the sound that her geta is making.

"Does this yukata suits me?"

Tachibana asks me worriedly.

"Yes, it looks really good on you."

I believe words aren't enough enough to describe how good it looks on her.

"I'm really glad that you like it, your yukata looks good too."

We were both wearing a yukata, I'm really glad that I wore a yukata.

People around us sometimes looked at Tachibana and followed her with their eyes.

That's how beautiful she is.

Probably she is one of the most beautiful girls among those who came to the festival today.

Perhaps people around us probably thought that we are a couple.

But maybe I don't look good enough to walk besides her but just for today, I wanted to have Tachibana all to myself.

Come to think of it I haven't seen any girls yet besides Tachibana wearing a yukata.*

After a while we arrived at the street where the food stalls are located.

"It's amazing! There are so many food stalls here!"

The area is a pedestrian zone, crowded with people, and the food stalls are lined up on both sides of the street.

There are red and white lanterns hanging on top of the street strung together with strings.

And the voices of the people at the stalls calling out for customers and the sound of drums in the distance is added to create a perfect atmosphere for the summer festival.

Tachibana and I continue to walk down the path of the stalls.

Various kinds of colorful stalls are lined up like the Yo-yo fishing*, candy apples, cotton candy, yakisoba, fried chicken, and potato butter.

The food smells really delicious.

"Ah! There's a goldfish scooping game there!"*

Tachibana then runs towards where the goldfish scooping game is located.

While she is running a the clanking sounds of her geta echoes.

There are many different kinds of fish that are swimming gracefully in the cool water like the black moor* and the gold and red goldfish.

I watch as Tachibana as she scoops the goldfish in the pool.

Around her there are a lot of children also playing the scooping game.

Tachibana then quietly puts the paper scoop into the water behind the goldfish and approaches it but the goldfish notices her and it runs away.

"Ahhh! It got away!"

She looks frustrated.

"Ah! That one is so cute!"

Tachibana points out to a small goldfish swimming in the water.

"Can I borrow it?"

Tachibana then handed to me her paper scoop.

I then aim at the goldfish swimming near the surface then I thrust the paper scoop at an angle and quickly lift it up.

The goldfish is now bouncing in the paper scoop.

"Wow! You're really great!"

Tachibana is clapping her hands in delight.

I'm glad as it seems that I was able to show her one of my good points.

The goldfish that Tachibana said was cute was put in a bag by the goldfish scooping man.

"Look, look! Ehehehe."

Tachibana is happily showing me her goldfish.

I'm really glad that she's happy.

"From now on he's part of my family."

Tachibana is walking around with a bag of goldfish dangling from her hands.

The food around us smells so good and everything that the people are eating looks so delicious.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes! I'm already hungry. Let's eat something."

The delicious smells of the food stalls makes me even hungrier.

"That's right, what do you want to eat?"

"I want some takoyaki!"

"Hmmm I wonder where the takoyaki stall is located?"

The two of us are searching for the takoyaki stall.

"Ah! There it is!"

We found the takoyaki stall at the end of the street.

"Hey! Hurry up!"

Tachibana then grabs my arm as we slip through the crowd.

She's so innocent.

She looks so beautiful on the outside but inside she's like an elementary schoolgirl.



Notes: 1. an obi is a sash that is worn around the waist of a Japanese Kimono.

2. a geta is a Japanese wooden shoes.

3. This line isn't a translation error, my guess is what he meant is that young girls like Tachibana because he already saw people wearing yukata when he was at the station.

4. I don't know what it's called in English but all the translator that I used called it yoyo fishing, well according to a dictionary it's a kind of a Japanese festival game where you will fish balloons with loops attached to them while they are floating in in water with a hook.
4.1 I'm sure if you are watching an anime you will recognize it when you see the image of it so search this word in google image "ヨーヨー釣り".

5. goldfish scooping is a festival game in which participants try to catch goldfish in a shallow paper ladle
5.1 search this in google image "金魚すくいあるよ"

6. A Blackmoor is a black colored variant of a telescope goldfish that has a characteristic pair of protruding eyes.

7. Just a rant, this is the only series that I'm working on that has some of the longest chapter. This chapter alone has 215 lines. And that's why I split it into two as the website editor is lagging when there's too much content.