Aoi was humming a quiet tune as she and Kasuga hung up furiganashi around Moonflower.

"Aoi-san, what are you humming?" Kasuga asked while she stepped down from the step stool she was on.

Aoi, who was by the entrance, looked over at Kasuga. With a smile, she answered, "This song?" Kasuga nodded. Without waiting for an answer, Kasuga continued to hang up the decorations.

Aoi resumed her work, a fond look forming on her face. Before her eyes, she could see her neighbors putting up furinagashi and making senbatsuru. The trees lining the street would be filled with tanzaku from the residents. In the midst of this scene, an uplifting and folk-like singing brightened the scene. "It is a song I would hear people sing while getting ready for Tanabata. It is quite popular with the elderly folks."

Kasuga looked over at Aoi. There was a tone of fond remembrance in Aoi's voice. Whether it was because of this or other thoughts, her expression turned gloomy for a moment, before a forced smile appeared.

"Do you miss it?"

"Huh?" Aoi was pulled out of her daze.

"The Apparent Realm," Kasuga explained as she watched Aoi. "Do you miss it?"

Her question was unexpected, but it was one that Aoi was all too familiar with asking herself. Although she had kept her feelings of homesickness hidden when she had first arrived and learned to accept Tenjin'ya as her new home, from time to time she would feel a longing to go back and see the home she shared with her grandfather.

"From time to time I do," Aoi admitted. She met Kasuga's gaze and shot her a genuine smile full of teeth. "However, this is my home now." She finished hanging up the rest of the streamers then gestured for Kasuga to come inside with her. Kasuga obediently followed.

Aoi went into the kitchen to pull something out of the icebox. "Of course, I wouldn't leave anyways, no matter how homesick I felt."

The conviction in her words did not surprise Kasuga; after all, having been in the Hidden Realm for over 2 years now, Aoi could no longer be compared to the naive and hot-headed woman she was when she first arrived.

Kasuga quickly put away the stool and went to join Aoi. After taking a seat, Kasuga relaxed and watched Aoi as she began preparations for the celebration later tonight. Her fingers twitched every once in a while, as if she really wanted to help out, but Aoi had told her earlier that she wanted to handle all of the food preparations herself. Thus, all she could do was bitterly watch and converse with the overly stubborn human.

By late afternoon, all the preparations were finished. Kasuga had long left; Tenjin'ya was also busy preparing for their Tanabata festivities, thus she had been whisked away by O-Ryo to help out. Even Ginji had been called over early in the morning to take up his position as the Young Master. That said, Ōdanna was nowhere to be seen, constantly caught up in his own responsibilities.

Thinking about this, Aoi made an unpleasant face. In fact, her earlier excitement had waned as her thoughts turned to the Master Innkeeper she developed affections for.

"I know he's busy, but he'd always come over regardless of how busy he is." She complained as she put away the trays of cut vegetables and noodles. Her actions were on autopilot as she continued to vent.

"He promised that he would come see me before he left for the Apparent Realm. I know he must be busy, and he just came back yesterday night, but he would always come to see me. Could it be that he forgot?" Secretly, she had anticipated his visit all day, especially since he had been gone for over a week to do business in the Apparent Realm. Fortunately, they communicated daily using the correspondence system he had given her. Despite the contact, Aoi was unable to feel assured. While she wanted to deny that she missed him, her true feelings constantly reminded her that she could not lie to herself. Thus here she was, longing to see her oni lover. However, it was already this late in the afternoon and there was no sign of the tall Ogre God.

Since learning of his past and overcoming the numerous obstacles and ayakashi against them, Aoi and Ōdanna's relationship had improved greatly, to the point that she had agreed to his request to court her; this came as a shock to many of the employees at Tenjin'ya, especially since they knew the young lady's temperament. Of course, his feelings had not changed for her in all this time, and he lovingly referred to her as "his bride", just as he always had.

"It's Tanabata today." She pouted, a flush appearing on her cheeks as the words she refused to say floated through her head. 'It's a day for lovers, yet why hasn't he come to see me, his . . .' She stopped her thoughts there, unable to bring her to continue. The longer she thought about the fact that she had still not seen him, the more disheartened she felt.

A few minutes passed by before Aoi slapped her cheeks. She shook her head, as if to get rid of her melancholy. "Yosh, stop thinking about these things, Aoi. You still have things to do!" She chided herself. After the quick pep talk, Aoi finished cleaning up the kitchen. The last of the pudding she had made were still on the counter and needed to be put into the icebox to set. Aoi carefully lifted the tray, The pudding jiggled ever so slightly, creating a cute and satisfying sight that made Aoi giggle. It had taken her a few tries to master the dish, since the custard of the other batches always came out too soft or too hard for her liking. With slow movements, she turned around and made her way towards the back of the kitchen.

Just as she was about to crouch down and open the icebox, the door was roughly opened, slamming against the wooden frame with a loud crack! The abrupt noise frightened Aoi. In her fright, she slipped on some water that had spilled while she was washing vegetables earlier and she landed harshly on her bum. Not only that, but two or three of the puddings fell onto her apron and clothes.

"Ah!" She rubbed her sore but with a grimace. Before she could even notice the pudding or get angry over it, a familiar voice called out to her.

"Aoi-san, where are you?!" A familiar voice called out from the entrance, followed by the thunks of frantic sandals running across the wooden floor to the kitchen counter. Peering down from the other side was none other than Ginji. Based on the concern on his face, he must have heard her fall.

Aoi was surprised at seeing her close companion. 'Why is Ginji-san here? Also, why is my hand sticky?' Aoi looked away to inspect her hand. As her eyes fell onto the tray she was holding with her hands, she discovered that there was soft custard all over her apron. She realized what she had done and her face was marred by an ugly frown as her glare aimed at the ayakashi.

"Ginji-san, you scared me!" Her chiding voice was crisp and sharp. She remained sitting on the ground, her legs haphazardly sprawled out beneath her. She had custard dripping down her apron and onto the floor and wore a displeased expression. Ginji noticed this as well, and his eyes flew open.

"Aoi-san," Ginji wore an apologetic expression; his ears were pressed down and he stood before her like a guilty child. He knew better than anyone how much effort Aoi had put into perfecting tonight's dessert. For her to have ruined some of them, and get injured, because of him was weighing down on him. He walked forward, intending to help her get up, but she gave him a look that clearly showed her refusal for help.

With a huff, she managed to get off the ground with the tray still in her hands. Aoi looked away and hastily placed the tray into the icebox, not wanting to ruin any more desserts, before turning around to face her "guest".

"Ginji-san," Aoi said coolly.

Before she could get another word in, Ginji butted in with a frantic apology. "I'm really sorry Aoi-san! I didn't mean for any of this to happen!" He gave her a deep bow and remained in that position.

Aoi refused to be moved and opened her mouth once more. "Regardless of whether or not your actions were intentional, things would have ended up just as they have." She let out another angry huff. "Also, more than that, you should be careful about the door, Ginji-san! We already replaced it twice - the first time was after Matsuba-sama crashed into it a few months ago when he came for Moonflower's anniversary, and the second time was because Ai convinced you and Ōdanna-sama to teach her how to do tricks with your flames and accidentally set the front entrance on fire."

She rubbed her head, an impending headache forming when she remember the scolding they had gotten from Byakuya once he found out. Ginji straightened up from his bow, thinking that Aoi was done. However, he was so very wrong. Before he could even get a word in, Aoi continued with her rant, and Ginji had to endure with his scolding.

After 15 minutes of endless tirade, Aoi was out of breathe, and Ginji looked thoroughly beaten with a face that clearly showed regret. Once she stopped talking, the two kept quiet for a while. Neither of them felt like disturbing the unsettling stillness between them.

Ginji was the one that spoke first. "Sorry, Aoi-san."

Aoi was unimpressed by his apology and crossed her arms, refusing to look at him with puffed cheeks, looking much like a pouting child. Seeing this, Gini using his last resort. There a poof of smoke and a scuttling of light footsteps.

Ginji walked up to Aoi and pleaded with a tearful tone, "Please don't be mad at me Aoi-san. I won't do it again, I promise! Please believe me."

Hearing the pitiful sound of Ginji's high-pitched voice, Aoi unpuffed her cheeks. Knowing her weakness, she refused to meet his gaze. 'As long as I don't look at his face, I'll be fine.' She thought while preparing herself. Unfortunately, Ginji was well-versed on how to make people submit, and he moved his face into her line of vision. He then looked up at her with sparkling eyes full of tears and sadness and an innocent face.

Aoi gritted her teeth and lamented as she felt her resolve wane. 'He's not playing fair!' She stared him down, hoping that his puppy expression will crack. However, after a few minutes, it was she that was unable to remain mad and sighed with a resigned tone. Her arms relaxed and her angry face melted away.

"Forget it," Aoi waved her hands at the ayakashi. "I can never stay mad when you're in this form."

Ginji just gave her a cheeky smile. With a poof of smoke, he transformed back into his adult form.

"Why'd you come here in such a hurry?" Aoi asked, cutting to the chase. She left the kitchen to sit on a stool next to the counter.

In the time that she had gotten angry and had forgiven the fox ayakashi that crashed into her restaurant, Aoi had forgotten about her soiled clothes. Ginji followed and stood next to her with a contemplative expression, taking his time to answer. He glanced down at her clothing, not lingering for too long. He looked unwilling to point it out at this time.

"We need some help in the main building," he finally admitted. He did not hide the worry from his face, and it made Aoi anxious.

"What's wrong?"

"We're running low on time." Ginji explained with a tired sigh, "Our order of decorations just arrived. We got a message from the supplier this morning that their ship had malfunctioned and so we had to send Tenjin-maru to retrieve the stuff. It finally arrived, but Byakuya is unsure if we can get everything up in time."

He gave Aoi a helpless smile. "On top of that, several VIP guests have begun to arrive. We don't have enough workers right now. I ran over here to see if you would not mind helping to cover-"

"Of course I can help, I don't mind!" Aoi shot up from her seat.

Ginji had a wide-eyed expression. Trying again to explain, Ginji said, "Wait, Aoi-san. Let me explain. We were asked if you could help to serve a-" He was cut off again by Aoi, who showed him a bright smile. "It's alright, Ginji-san. I'll help you, so don't worry."

'If I go over there now, I might get to see Ōdanna-sama,'. Having been anticipating his arrival all day, her patience was drawing thin and any opportunity she can get to see him, she'd take it!

With a defeated sigh, Ginji dropped whatever he was going to say. Glancing at the young lady who was heading towards the door, he pointed out, "Aoi-san, I'll take you to the baths first so you can clean up." Aoi paused. She had forgotten about the custard on her clothes. Remembering, she flushed. "Uhh," she groaned with a nod. She did her best to take off her apron, without getting the custard anywhere else, then quickly finished cleaning up the kitchen. Once it was pristine, she went over to Ginji, who waited patiently by the door with a face full of amusement. She sighed and ignored him, following him out and towards Tenjin'ya.


Glossary:

-furinagashi = colorful streamers hung up as decoration during Tanabata

-senbatsuru = paper cranes

-tanzaku = colorful pieces of paper that people use to write down wishes; often hung on trees


A/N:

I am back.

To all of you who have been waiting patiently for an update to this story, I am sincerely sorry for the wait! To explain briefly, my schedule was crammed during the late winter and early spring because I began taking a class on top of working. Also, in addition to the time crunch, I experienced a period of writer's block and lack of motivation and couldn't figure out where to start again with this collection.

However, I never forgot about this fanfic collection, and it was mainly due to your guys' comments for updates that led me back here! So thank you so much, those who have been waiting, and those who have been reading my work during this period of hiatus. You will never understand how much your words meant to me during this time. I will try to get around to replying to you all ASAP!

Personally, I did not want to update the story with a hiatus notice, because I didn't want to give those following this story false expectations - thinking that there was a new chapter. I'm unsure of how often I'll be able to update going forward, thus, all I can say is that I will do my utmost best to update the story, however frequently I am able to.

Thank you all for your support, and I will see you in the next update!

-oni-pineapple