Nervously Shouko stood waiting at the entrance of the festival. She wore a light pink yukata with white outlines of cherry branches splashed all over the fabric and carried a small, matching drawstring purse. Her obi was a sea-green that matched her hair and she had on white, heeled sandals. She glanced around and nervously looked at the clock across the way.

I hope I'll be able to find Kaho-senpai and the others. I can't believe I left my cell phone at home! Why do I always seem to mess up something?

"There you are Fuyuumi-chan!" Kahoko walked quickly over to the girl with a bright smile. "I'm glad I found you so quickly. My cell phone battery is kind of low, so I was hoping to try and cut down on the number of calls I'd need to make tonight."

"O-Oh, it's fine Kaho-senpai. Actually, I forgot my cell phone, so it wouldn't have done any good to call me," Shouko replied in relief. For a few seconds she admired Kahoko's yukata. It was purple with red and white flowers on it. Around her waist she wore a shiny red obi and had a purple drawstring purse and red, heeled sandals. Shyly she complimented, "Your yukata is very nice, Kaho-senpai."

Kahoko smiled back happily, "Thanks! Yours is really cute too, Fuyuumi-chan. Pink is a good color for you."

"Th-Thank you…" she replied bashfully.

"Kaho-cha~n!" A voice cut through the air, drawing their attention to the presence of most of the other concours participants.

"We finally found you!" Kazuki grinned happily.

"You both look very nice," Azuma complimented. "Yukatas really suit you both."

"Ah! Th-Thank you, Yunoki-senpai…" Shouko blushed.

"Is Tsukimori…senpai…coming…?" Keiichi asked dreamily.

"Tch…I doubt that guy would show up," Ryoutaro snorted. "He probably can't afford to miss out on his precious practice to actually gain any life experiences."

"What exactly are you implying?" A cold voice cut through the air.

Ryoutaro turned to see Len's irritated visage. A small, patronizing smile formed on his face. "Oh, nothing, nothing at all…I just figured that you'd be so afraid of your performance level slipping due to missing a couple hours of your precious, desperately needed practice, that you wouldn't dare come."

The irritation on Len's face increased. Before he could open his mouth to retort, Kahoko quickly stepped between them.

"Now, now, since everyone's here, let's enjoy the festival, shall we?" she asked, attempting to pacify them.

"Yeah! I think they're doing a stage play. There's a ton of different booths for food right by it, so why don't we do that first?" Kazuki suggested enthusiastically.

Azuma nodded in agreement. "If there are no further objections, then shall we go?"

Everyone grabbed food from the various booths before sitting down in the folding chairs for the performance.

"Itadakimasu!" they called out before beginning to eat. Shouko just managed to finish her yakisoba before the play began.

All of them knew the story of "The Princess and the Cowherd," but the kids that were putting on the play were so adorable, you couldn't help but watch. They all let themselves get caught up in the story.

Considering that this is the 3rd chapter, I thought initially that a chapter title like "The Beginning" would be kind of weird, but in a way it fits. This is the beginning of the fateful night after all. I hope you like my presentation of the story of "The Princess and the Cow Herder" in the next chapter! It's what Tanabata is all about. (^_^)

Writing Len and Ryoutaro bickering is fun. I wish I had more opportunity to do so sometimes, but I don't think I'd be able to write lengthy arguements, so I'll take what I can get! *laughs*

Please review!