This is the second bowl of yakisoba that I've downed today - come to think of it, my shirt is feeling slightly tighter. Oh well. Just avoid the bathroom scale tomorrow; problem solved.

Now, if only I could block out the sloppy sounds coming from the other side of the table...

"Hwoo~ Mmmph, mwore sash!"

Ritsu here is gorging herself on the remnants of a half-eaten okonomiyaki, while throwing not-so-subtle glances at my noodle bowl.

"No." To emphasize, I take a big mouthful of noodles. Ritsu's chopsticks retreated, but not without one last-ditch attempt to weaken my appetite.

"Your choice. You'd probably need a new pair of jeans by tommorow." Actually, I was planning to shop for new jeans... but she doesn't have to know that. Besides, these noodles are amazing. And free.

"I'm not the only one. How are you still hungry?"

Ritsu sticks her tongue out at me - her version of touché. Having made our points, we eat in amiable silence.

A cool breeze rustles through the paper lanterns; we feel the summer heat slowly evaporate. It doesn't take long before cries of "Kanpai!" surround us. Drunken men: a permanent fixture in festivals all over the world. A few women too.

"How about it, Mio. A drink? They don't ask for ID around here anyway." The question caught me off guard. Has she lost her mind?

"Absolutely not! Are you-"

Of course, she completely ignores me and waves the waiter over to our table.

"Hello. What can I get you?" I give Ritsu a swift kick under the table, harder than I intended to.

"Sake please." The waiter throws Ritsu an odd look as she rubs her knee and smiles painfully.

"I'm sorry, but we don't serve alcohol to minors."

"Oh. It's not for me. It's for my friend here."

I wait for him to start prattling about the consequences of underage drinking - instead, he glances at me and gestures for a flask to be brought to the table. Before I could refuse, another customer has already called his attention.

"Wow. He didn't even look twice." Someone should wipe that cheeky smirk off Ritsu's face.

"... I am not drinking that thing." And so are you. Please, please don't drink that thing. Nasty things happen to drunk people... at least accoring to the local news network. My brows twitch as I succinctly express my thoughts in a glare.

I watch in horror - and morbid curiosity - as she shrugs and pours herself some sake in a little glass saucer. The clear liquid drips down her chin; she swallows, hard. Then promptly coughs it all out.

"Augh! What the hell was that? My throat's on fire!"

"Serves you right." I try not to laugh. Her face is flushed, more from the choking than the alcohol.

Somebody coughs lightly behind me. Another budding alcoholic?

"Excuse me." Oh. It was the waiter from a while ago, and he did not look pleased with the mess Ritsu made. We quickly pay the bill.

After patronizing nearly every stall, we make our way to the riverbank. Though fairly crowded, we manage to find a comfortable patch of grass to watch the fireworks. I made Ritsu thump out the bugs first, though.

The first rocket explodes without warning; I instinctively cover my ears and shout a little. Ritsu shouts as well, though I'm sure she's screaming for an entirely different reason.

Flashes of yellow momentarily dash across the lightless sky, then fade as fast as they appear. Without the bang, it would be easy to miss - if you happened to look the wrong way, for instance. Does the transcience add to its beauty?

Ritsu points to the sky and says something. I can't hear a thing but she looks so very happy that I just nod and smile anyway.

She leans towards me - perhaps realizing that even a motormouth is no match for the roar of gunpowder. I cover one of my ears to block out the noise.

Somehow, her whisper turns into a kiss.

A strange, empty calm wells up in my chest as I feel Ritsu pull away from me, slowly.

This... has to be a joke. Yes. Definitely another ploy to put me in hysterics.

I close my eyes and give her all the time in the world to laugh and tell me that this is just a joke. Then, I can pummel some sense into her.

Three. Two. One.

Eventually, the explosions taper off; once again the stars glimmer in the absence of our short-lived fires. My ears ring, dazed by the sudden silence.

"I love you" she says. Her voice is dead serious. I stay mute, afraid of what might come out if I open my mouth.

Then Ritsu laughs - rolls over and laughs like the idiot she is.

"Oh god, Mio! You should have seen your face!"

I give her a sound whack to the head. Then another one for good measure. Again and again, until my arms wear themselves out. Ritsu pretends the bruises don't hurt, despite the fact that I hit her harder than usual. With a grin, she hands me a ticket.

"Let's go home."

For the most part, I spent the train ride home pretending to sleep. Difficult, without a shoulder to lean on.