Mentioned Characters: Hisami, Zanmu

Hisami Yomotsu lives in a world where summer lingers in the air. Dressed in a yukata, she was surrounded by two floating little boar spirits. Though they were spirits of wild animals, the little boar spirits seemed to have taken a liking to Hisami and often stayed close to her. When she cried, they sometimes even tried to comfort her.

Hisami went to the Sanzu River fireworks festival all by herself. The fireworks wouldn't start for another ten hours, yet Hisami was already at the venue. She'd come early to reserve a spot with an unobstructed view of the fireworks. It wasn't because she wanted the best seat for herself, though. Everything was for Lady Zanmu.

Having claimed her spot, Hisami waited for Lady Zanmu, imagining the moment they'd watch the fireworks together, and got herself all worked up over it. She was certain that she wouldn't look at the fireworks at all. Instead, she'd keep her eyes fixed on Lady Zanmu's profile the whole time. And what if, right at that moment... Lady Zanmu happened to glance away from the fireworks... and looked at her instead? The thought alone made her giggle. "Heh. Hehehehehehe." As it happens, the Sanzu River is huge, and the crowd watching the fireworks is sparse compared to its size. So even arriving just ten minutes before showtime gets you a perfectly good view from anywhere. There was no reason to stake out a spot ten hours early.

Seven hours had gone by since Hisami claimed her spot, and the venue was gradually filling up with people. Hisami had been fully prepared to chase off anyone who came near her. It never came to that, though, since she gave off such an ominous aura that no one wanted to get close. Ten hours passed, and the fireworks festival began. The only ones beside Hisami were the little boar spirits who'd taken a liking to her. Lady Zanmu was nowhere to be seen. And it was no wonder, because she had never actually promised Hisami they'd watch the fireworks together. Hisami had invited Lady Zanmu to the fireworks festival the day before, but Zanmu neither agreed nor declined. If anything, she might not have even heard Hisami.

But that wasn't how Hisami remembered it. Convinced that a promise had been made, she'd come to the fireworks festival believing Lady Zanmu would be there. The fireworks lit up the night sky one after another. But there was no sign of Lady Zanmu. Tears began rolling down Hisami's cheeks. The little boar spirits rushed over to comfort her, but it did no good. With every firework that went off, Hisami sank further into despair, feeling like she should have known Lady Zanmu never cared about her. Hisami was on the verge of slipping into the depths of self-loathing. Just then, a shadow fell across Hisami, dimming the fireworks' light. She looked up, and went completely silent. An especially large firework lit up the sky. But Hisami's eyes were no longer on the fireworks. There was only one thing the yomotsu-shikome could see now. Nothing else mattered.