Momo no Sekku : Ayase Terada

Peach Blossom Festival

March the Third

Ayase yawned; stretching, she glanced out of the hole in the wall that cheapskate Kunihiko called a "window". That stupid kid was a year younger than she was; yet, he always seemed to rip her off and get away with it. Ah, well. Today was a new day.

Today. New - but regular, ordinary, old-fashioned.

Hopefully, Akira won't get sick today...

He was only seven, and already so weak. She was just fourteen - worse yet, she was expected to take care of all of his worldly needs. Who else is gonna do it, hm, Aya-chan? sneered a voice in her head. Nobody else gives a damn.

Aw, shut up, she told it menacingly. Even you can't ruin my day today. Today is average, today is usual. Today doesn't matter on the grand, cosmic scale. So there.

Akira is fine. Akira was never not fine. We don't have financial difficulties. I'm not selling myself to barely scoot by every month -

She stopped herself there.

"Oi, Ayase!" called a voice from outside. "You here?"

Her entire demeanor at once brightened. Akiko was here. She could always cheer her up. Getting up, she rushed to the front door, swung it open and -

"Whoa! Where'd you get that?" asked Ayase in hushed awe, staring in wonder at her friend. Instead of wearing her old jeans and a shirt, Akiko had donned an exquisitely beautiful sky blue kimono, complete with floating peach blossoms that matched her obi perfectly and cream-colored birds, chirping forever. The fabric was shabby and worn, though cleanly. Ayase felt suddenly out of place and informal. She was thankful that Akiko had kept her ever-present bandanna glued to her head. That was at least a bit of normalcy.

"W-what's going on?"

Akiko grinned at her. "Today is the day of the Peach Blossom festival!"

"The peach trees aren't even in bloom right now. Why is it called that?"

Akiko thought for a moment, then glared at her. "Aw, shut up Ayase! C'mon with me."

"OW! Don't hold my arm that tight!"

"Then stop struggling!"

"Don't be such a jerk!"

They argued their way over to Akiko's house, where her mother (a whopping four foot five) greeted her with a warm hug.

"Ayase-chan! It's so good to see you," cooed Akina gently. "Come in! We've made you something."

"W-what?" When she finally feasted her eyes upon, they lit up like lamps. "Ooh," she gasped. "Oh my..."

It was a beautiful yukata, a pink-red confection of cotton with a pattern of bunnies with blue eyes and cherry blossoms on it. She saw the obi draped over the chair – it was pure white.

"Well, Ayase-chan, since you don't have parents to celebrate with, I decided to make you join in our party today," said Akiko with an embarrassed face. She studied her feet intently while her mother laughed. "You know, she saved up all her pocket money since last year, when she saw you alone on the day of the Peach Blossom Festival. When I heard about it, I just had to help as well! So we saved up any extra money we could, and here we are!" Akino smiled at her. "I still have a set of dolls my mother owned. Would you like to see?"

Ayase couldn't speak for a moment, before bursting out. "Oh, yes please!" She seemed such like a younger child that Akino laughed. "Excellent! Come with us. And don't you worry about Akira, he's having a Boy's Day Out with my husband and Akeno, okay? Now, these dolls have been passed down in our family from generation to generation..."

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What irony, thought Ayase Terada, water surrounding her, That I should remember the happiest day of my life on the day of my death...

Momo no Sekku is more commonly known as Hina Matsuri, Doll Festival. Also called Girl Day or Princess Day. A girl collects dolls and displays them. This holiday celebrates a hopefully long and successful life for the girl being celebrated.

Next time: Elian celebrates... Boy's Festial on May... something. Eh, tune in next chapter.