Again, thanks for all the reviews! I'm so happy, looking at all the reviews I get in my email ^^ You all make me soooo happy 3 So keep up the reviews! And now...Festival time!

I spent a majority of the weekend perched in front of my closet where my yukata hung, waiting eagerly for Sunday night to fall. At three thirty, I couldn't take the wait any longer and pulled it off the hanger and danced around in my socks with glee.

Mom fussed over me for about half an hour before I grew fed up and told her I could dress myself. After ten more minutes of struggling and anguish, I cracked my bedroom door open and begged for her help. By six o'clock, I was finally grinning ear to ear over my pearly pink yukata and dancing in front of my reflection in the ornate mirror over my dresser.

I just pulled my hair back like normal, despite Mom's best protests. "Flaunt it!" She kept saying. "But be demure. And saucy! But innocent. And flirty!"

"But not too rambunctious, I know Mom." I huffed, pinning my bangs to the side of my head. Satisfied, I spun around to face her expectant face. "How do I look?"

She frowned slowly, making me nervous as the seconds ticked by. "It's still missing something…" she finally mumbled, her fingers absently running over the curve of her chin. She then snapped her fingers after a terse minute and ran out of the room in a flurry with no explanation.

I could hear a great deal of thumping and crashing sounding from her bedroom next door before she reemerged in my doorway, a large fake pink blossom cupped in her hands. She slipped it into my hair, the sateen stem tickling my ear. "There," she said with finality as she brushed an imaginary hair behind my ear lovingly. "Perfect!" She squeaked and kissed my cheek. Mom frowned again, her nose twitching slightly and I felt my face warm.

"…Haru?" She asked lightly.

"Yes Mom?" I answered dutifully, expecting the worst.

"…When did you borrow my perfume?"

My heart stopped as a knock on the door came at exactly at 6:45 later that night. I froze, mid sweep for invisible fuzzes on my spotless outfit. I swept up my cloth bag from my bed and ran down the stairs, my geta tacking against the wooden steps like ticking. "No!" I screamed desperately on the next to last step before my mom's hand could touch the knob.

She jumped, retracting her arm as I finally landed on the last step. I leapt in front of her and slammed myself against the doorframe. I took in several shaky, gasping breaths before I could manage to speak again. "It's…It's just the girls," I lied as my hand fiddled with the lock on the door, wiggling it open. I clenched my cloth bag close to my chest as I slowly twisted the knob open as quietly as I could. "I promised them I'd be ready…so we're just gonna go ahead and go, I'll see you later, love you, have a good night, bye!" I sputtered in one breath, wrenching the door open and zooming through before my mom could interject further. I closed it just as quickly before I slumped against the wood, embarrassed and exhausted from the effort.

A low, smooth chuckle wafted into my ears. "Your little exit there wasn't exactly ladylike y'know," The cool voice said teasingly. I could hear the smirk in the deep voice, egging my annoyance.

I rolled my head to growl at the voice. "Look, I don't really appreciate you showing up and scaring me and my mom to dea—" The anger froze in my throat as I looked over my shoulder and saw Gokudera for the first time in the lamplight.

He was casually dressed—well, as casual as Gokudera could possibly be—in neat black pants with his normal white studded silver belts but instead of a sloppy t-shirt depicting some sort of weird band or something related to a legendary monster, it was a clean and simple shirt that hugged his torso in an attractive way. With the light from the streetlamp illuminating his silvery hair slicked back against his head, he was almost ethereal in a black suit jacket with his hands casually thrown into his pockets.

He grinned pearly white teeth with my obvious comb over his outfit and ran a hand though his hair. "What do you think?" He practically purred in his smooth tenor. "I clean up good, huh?"

I nodded, words escaping me for a crazy minute. I pushed myself off the door and spent a quick minute readjusting myself back to the perfect self I had seen in the mirror before. I let out a breathy sigh before turning around to face Gokudera.

Gokudera's grin dropped and he staggered back, his mouth hung open.

I frowned and stepped forward, nervous. "What? D-Do I not look good or something?" I stammered, growing incredibly self-conscious in a matter of moments. My heart fluttered anxiously at the thought.

He shook his head vigorously, his hand covering his mouth. "N-no, it's not that, it's just…" He dropped his hand after a few seconds' silence and smiled warmly. He shrugged and pointed to my outfit, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "…You look amazing." He flushed as he spoke, nervously looking away as usual.

My heart melted at the compliment and my cheeks burned at the sentiment. I shifted nervously and picked at a loose thread off my sleeve. "Thanks…" I mumbled sheepishly. "…You…look good too…"

He coughed and tensed his shoulders before removing his hands from his jacket and crossing them protectively in front of his chest, typical behavior of when he's nervous. "So uh…" he stuttered. "I uh…figured you wouldn't wanna ride the bike today because, you know… you don't wanna mess up your hair or…something…"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's a…good thought…"

"…So…" Gokudera grinned instead, dropping his shoulders. He stuck out his arm and offered it to me like a gentleman. "Shall we?"

I giggled and wrapped my arms around his elbow. "Yes."

A quick stop to Kyoko's that lasted fifteen more minutes than planned and our large group was on its way to the festival. Kyoko easily stood out amongst the group in her pale orange yukata with large sunbeams covering her torso and a large orange and red blossom barrette decorating her hair. Tsuna walked Kyoko down the street lovingly, unable to tear his eyes off her and kissed her cheek once at the crosswalk when it seemed her couldn't help himself anymore.

Hana stood out next to her in her pale canary yellow yukata with bright red tsubakis adorning her sleeves and her dark locks. Ryohei kept one arm around her middle, chattering excitedly about how extremely enthused he was about the foods he couldn't wait to eat. Though, I saw when no one else seemed to be paying attention the boisterous senior steal a quick, sensual kiss that left Hana breathless and taken aback.

Chrome was glued to my side for the beginning part of the night, holding the sleeve of her powder blue and blackbird to her nose habitually and my black lacquer chopsticks firmly paced in a knot in the cowlick of her hair. At one point, Yamamoto took the sleeve covering her nose and clasped her pale hand firmly in his own, piercing her with a calm and loving gaze. And he refused to let her go for the rest of the night, keeping Chrome calmer than I had ever seen her be in our entire friendship.

And Gokudera grinned down at me from his place right at my other side, reminding me that I had a date for the first time in my life.

For the most part, the festival was just like all the other ones I had been to. The walkways were alight with colored lanterns and string lights that illuminated the clear sky that was already beginning to darken. People passed us by back and forth, and it made me dizzy to take in all the festival had to offer at once. The sights and smells seemed to be different nonetheless and I breathed it all in deeply, because for the first time I felt proud to be part of a group when in previous years I would spend alone or with my father. I would almost forget that I even came with a date and would accidentally look back and see Gokudera lagging behind us group of girls with the other boys. The memory would come back with a flash and I'd get hot and embarrassed all over again.

We ate cotton candy, drew lots, and played various carnival games until we were panting and heaving with excitement. The boys hung back behind us most of the night, holding anything us girls bought or occasionally joining us for a game or two (Yamamoto cleared out the throwing stall and gave Chrome a large stuffed puppy before giving everything else back to the crying manager while Ryohei screeched out the other competitors for the karaoke tournament before the manager handed him the first prize to get him to leave).

After a while, Tsuna looked up at the sky and announced "It's getting pretty late. They're probably gonna start the fireworks in a while."

Gokudera nodded, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Miura and I can go find a spot boss."

"Thanks Gokudera," Tsuna said cheerily, turning back to Kyoko. "Shall we get some ramune for everyone?"

"Oh and Takoyaki!" I added eagerly, making Gokudera chuckle lowly in response.

Everyone dispersed, Ryohei and Hana to check out some more of the games and Yamamoto and Chrome to scope out the taiyaki stand. I watched Kyoko and Tsuna leave, that same funny feeling curling in my stomach as I watched Tsuna place a kiss on her palm before entwining their fingers.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and turned around. In the glowing lamplight, I could see the white teeth glinting in Gokudera's understanding smile. "C'mon," He urged softly, taking my hand and leading me down the way to riverbank.

The conversations that had overtaken the group before dissipated as Gokudera and I walked past the rows of stalls. People still milled about, playing the last rounds of several; games and picking away at the remains of snack carts while still others made their languid way back to their homes.

I snuck a look up at Gokudera, growing impatient with the minutes with nothing to do or say passing between us. His face was devoid of the soft emotions from earlier, his normal façade reappearing with people surrounding him with a sleazy hawkish eye. His hand was still loosely looped around mine that deterred many predators, though I grew obsessively nervous about whether it was from the fear of pinching my fingers too hard or from lack of interest.

My thoughts briefly touched the subject of his last girlfriend that he had offhandedly mentioned to me the week before, remembering that the relationship only lasted a few days before he grew tired of her attitude towards him.

My heart pounded at the thought. Was he already tired of me? Was he already dissatisfied by our lack of a relationship peppered with constant fights and yelling? Or maybe it was…just me?

My mind trailed back to kindergarten when a big, older boy had questioned if I was a robot or not. I had been trailing a stick though the ground, unemotionally drawing scribbled images from a television show I had watched earlier that morning. Every day that had been what I would do at recess, being the strange new girl who had moved into the neighborhood only some time before. I had had no friends and no one would talk to me unless forced, so I spent my days drawing figures in the sand.

At first, I was happy someone was actually talking to me. But after he had snatched away my stick and broke it over his knee, I began to cry from anger and hurt.

"No, you ain't a robot!" the boy had continued to sneer. "Robots are way more fun than you'll ever be!"
He left me standing in the dirt, crying from confusion and self-hate. I had vowed then and there that I would never be boring and unwanted again. I would be different, and stand out. And one day, I would find someone who knew about all that and would love who I was no matter what.

Now, however, I felt just as upset like I had been all those years ago. Maybe I had slipped up and let Gokudera realize I was normal. Did he hate what he saw now that he had seen more of the real me than the one he had come to expect? Did he think me just like any other stuck up teenage girl who only cared about fine clothes and fishing for good-looking members of the opposite sex?

I bit my lip, debating what I should do next. For many years to come, I would regret what I did next.

I wrenched my hand away. "Would you say something already?" I snapped, not bothering to keep my voice down.

My sudden outburst had Gokudera whirl on me in shock and surprise. "What?" He demanded, not bothering to hide his annoyance. "What the hell did I do?"

"Well, if you don't say anything to me for most of the night and expect me to stay in a good mood, you're wrong there buster!"

"'Buster'?" Gokudera replied, wrinkling his nose in surprise.

I went on, "I seriously don't know what your problem is! You say you like me and then don't do or say anything that makes me think you do!"

"Who says buster?" He grumbled in response, sounding confused than offended.

The reasons why I was saying these things flew from my mind as I searched for anything to say to spur the argument on and get him angry. Suddenly, the perfect words floated to my mind that I knew would make him spit fire in rage. "And I swear! You would absolutely love it if girls flocked to you! Except they're too busy being threatened by your psycho stalker!"

Gokudera frowned and became dangerously angry. I gulped, only seeing him this furious on a small number of occasions. "Now wait a minute," he growled menacingly. "Number one, you haven't said much to me the whole night either. Number two, I do and say plenty that should be obvious to anyone with enough common sense to know how I feel and you do not get the right to comment on my past relationships when yours have been nonexistent." He huffed and crossed his arms mockingly. "And maybe now I see why." He joked smugly.

I'll admit, the last part stung, making my lip jut out to keep from breaking down into tears. But I had gotten what I wanted. I had gotten him angry enough to spark a fight. Whether it would end our relationship or not still remained uncertain.

Our argument had obviously caused a scene, drawing a crowd of a few too obviously hopeful girls and snickering boys looking on in amusement. Gokudera seemed to immediate qualm the steam coming out of his ears and instead glared at me with a warning in his eyes.

"...Why are you always trying to stir me up?" he grumbled low enough for me to hear before stomping off in a huff, disappearing into the maze of stalls and leaving me behind.

Yes, I had gotten what I wanted. I tested him...and he had failed. Just like I had assumed he would do in the end.

I lamely began walking around the various stands, thinking over the conversations competing in my head and wondering if they were really as necessary as I thought. I mean, I had already come to terms with the fact that I was obviously developing feelings for Gokudera. Why did I feel the need to test every relationship for strength? Apparently it was important to me.

My dad had always taught me to let the boy chase me and let him work for my affections. When he left to chase after some woman half his age, I decided his wisdom no longer applied to me in any case if he couldn't even follow his own advice. When no man came my way, I chased after the first boy who seemed decent enough for me to trust that would not run away from my flamboyant antics.

And then…I scared him away.

Men always seem flaky to me, even the nice ones.

Before I had known it, my feet had led me to the goldfish scooping stand. The poor stand had gotten so few customers that I could actually see trash piling up along the walkway to the entrance. My heart went out to the desolate atmosphere surrounding the place, the smell of desperation and disappointment hung thickly around the establishment. Off to the side, I could see one obese boy struggling with his cracked and broken poi, huffing and grumbling to himself whenever a fish slipped away from his grasp.

Finally, he threw down the toy and stomped away, sweeping up his cluster of balloons and snack boxes. The owner in a brightly colored pinstripe suit and straw hat slouched further in his chair and huffed sadly. "Well that's it…" He sputtered pathetically. "That was our last customer tonight and even he ran away without paying. We'll never make the quota at this rate."

I edged forward, taking pity on their endeavors and the memory of Mom's story fresh in my mind. Maybe I was hopeful? "Um…do you mind if I try?" I squeaked, uncharacteristically shy for a moment.

The owner brightened for the slightest moment before nodding. "We have plenty of fish for you to catch Miss," he assured me. "And I guarantee they aren't going to go anywhere soon."

I giggled and followed him to the back. I gasped at the great amount of goldfish swimming around in circles in the large tubs and giggled as several swam up to meet my finger as it grazed the water. It made ripples, sending the fish across their ocean in different directions before slowly moving back into their open spaces.

The owner gave the signal to start and I dug the poi into the water, scattering more fish away. I swatted at the fish, scaring them more than actually scooping any into my bowl. I grew more and more frustrated until my poi broke completely in the water. I slumped back onto my feet in a huff, dejected.

"Don't give up yet Stupid Woman."

The normally condescending term had me sit up straighter and whirl around. The joking voice did in fact belong to Gokudera. He smiled his trademark grin that I grew to expect from him before it disappeared from guilt and shame. He asked for another poi and placed one in my hands. He grabbed my hands from behind and when the signal to start came, he guided my hand and dipped the poi into the water.

He kept it deathly still, waiting until one daring fish swam up to its side. Before it could get away, Gokudera twitched my wrist and effectively captured the surprised goldfish. As I cheered in happiness, he plopped the fish into our bowl and continued dipping the poi into the water. After catching four more, our poi snapped in half and fell to the bottom of the tank.

I laughed excitedly as the owner eagerly tied up the four small goldfish into a plastic bag. Gokudera took it and paid for the game. I saw out of the corner of my eye that a 1000 yen note happened to slip out of his wallet onto the ground in a flutter. The owner thanked him profusely before Gokudera turned back to me.

He held out the bag to me and I took it. We were silent for a long moment before he spoke again. "…I've been thinking…" He mumbled. "I've been thinking…that I have no idea just how I offended you. I would've blamed you in the past, but…but I know that's not how it goes. So…please, just tell me what I did wrong."

"I.."

"If you just tell me then I will go to great lengths not to let it happen again." Gokudera shrugged dramatically, taking my hand in his own. "I know I'm not perfect. Anyone who knows me will tell you that. But I've been living this way for a while so I think I know best and don't know when exactly I do screw up. So tell me if I do something wrong so that I can learn from it—"

"It's not you, alright?" I interrupted before he could go any further. The familiar knot was back but instead I felt guilty, not jealous. I hated this feeling more.

"…Then…what is it?" He asked slowly.

I looked up into Gokudera's eyes, ready to give some spiel that would effectively silence him for the rest of the night. And instead, I saw genuine interest. The look in his eyes took my breath away like I never thought he could. I felt my knees buckle slightly and I clutched my bag of fish tighter until my knuckles turned white. I looked down to the swirling fish, anything that would keep me away from his gaze.

But sure enough, I quickly saw his green eyes reflecting in their fluorescent scales. My eyes nervously rose up to meet his once more. My breath hitched when I realized he was nearly inches away from my nose.

His hand rose and I closed my eyes, expecting it to graze my hair. Instead, when I continued to feel nothing but air on my scalp, I opened them again. He had stepped away, widening the distance between us and holding out his hand to me.

"I get it now..." He murmured. "You tried to test me, and I almost fell for it." He smiled another rare but slightly sad grin. "But you can't get rid of me that easily Miura. I told you that once already. I'll just duct tape my mouth so I can't stick my foot in it all the time."

Everyone had chosen their spot for the fireworks already. Gokudera wove me around the various crowded members positioned along the west side of the riverbank before leading me to the familiar red and white checkered blanket spread out along the dirt. He had picked a great view, spreading it large enough for our little crowd against the grass, though none of them were present as I sat down.

"Where's everyone?" I asked as Gokudera plopped himself down next to me.

"Hell if I know," He answered shaking his head in annoyance. "Baseball Freak is probably off with Dokuro still. And Turf Head went off with Kurokawa in tow when they saw there was a sumo tournament." He sighed. "And I think Boss took Sasagawa home. She didn't look so good after Boss got into a fight with some drunks."

My ears perked up at the mention of a fight. "…Did Tsuna get hurt?"

"A little. Just a punch to the mouth is all. But it did look a little purple at one point. She probably got nervous then."

I turned back to the darkened sky, nervously watching it along with the rest of the crowd for some awkward minutes. "I understand that," I replied, thinking over all my memories of middle school. "I was definitely scared when you got hurt…"

"Me?" Gokudera laughed, sounding almost hopeful.

I giggled. "I meant you as in the boys in general but if you want to think that way, fine." My smile wilted slowly as I went on. "…I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

"Me too." He turned back to the sky, hiding his embarrassment as usual. "I said some things that were uncalled for and I apologize. I thought I had had a better hand on my temper as of late, but I guess not. I still have a long way to go."

"Not too far if you ask me." I answered encouragingly. "I pushed you pretty hard." My mind drifted back with shame. "…I do see the sincerity in your actions, but I don't appreciate them as well as I should…can you forgive me?" I murmured, not even expecting him to hear.

Instead, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I thought we had gotten the apologies out of the way already." He murmured, placing his chin on the top of my head. I relaxed and reclined against his chest.

It was then that I felt something move around on my scalp. It was hard but smooth and it slid to a stop right by my ear alongside my sateen rosette. I frowned and ran my fingers through my hair, searching as I spoke. "What's that?"

"A comb." He answered smugly, twirling one of my curls around his finger.

"What?" I whirled around in his lap, my fingers grazing the smooth wood gently. "Why?"

He chuckled. "Because you're worth it," he answered as if it were the simplest question in the world. "It cost me some money but…" He grinned and ran his hand over my cheek lovingly, unconsciously drawing me I closer to his form. "…You're worth every sen."

I blinked and my hand dropped. Slowly, my good mood returned with the simple compliment and I settled back against his shoulder. How we could go from tearing into each other to lovey dovey again was a shock to me, and I settled for entwining my fingers with his much larger ones. My head tiled back against his collarbone and I examined his fingernails absently.

"Thank you…Hayato." I murmured, so softly I was afraid he actually wouldn't hear me.

I felt him stiffen against me, and I thought for another minute I had offended him. But the next moment he turned to face me, his face pleasantly surprised. "Really?" He chuckled, grinning in spite of himself. "I thought you didn't want to go to that level yet. Remember? Sex in the closet?"

"I deleted that story, thank you very much," I snapped back playfully. I sat up again and turned around to face him. "And…I realize that stuff isn't important. You…you're what's important after all."

He chuckled, swiping a bang away from my face. "Finally…" he murmured lowly, making me suspicious. "You figured it out…" He began leaning down in closer to my lips.

I was frozen until I could feel the orangey tingle of nicotine of his breath hitting my face. The familiar feeling woke me up from my temporary brain dead moment. I then snapped back to my senses and I managed to sputter out before his lips touched mine "Are…are we going to kiss now?"

He suppressed a low chuckle. "Yes...Is that a problem?" He held his position just above my lips as he awaited my answer, tempting me like crazy.

I sucked in a breath as I answered confidently "…No."

One last grin was the last thing I saw before those tempting lips edged closer to mine. My eyes automatically slipped shut and then, I felt something warm caress my mouth.

My first kiss started with a bang. Literally. Apparently, as our lips met the fireworks started off and the shouts of surprise were covered up by the cries of joy at the show. But I didn't hear anything, not even the booming or thundering of the pyrotechnics. My ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, or that the world had its mute button pressed

Gokudera's lips tingled against my own, like his lightning quick remarks. It electrified my mouth, sending shivers running along my skin like shockwaves. They were soft and plump and moved against mine tenderly, like I always imagined my perfect man would do. It sucked up the breath from lungs and I felt weightless. My body responded instantly, wrapping my arms around his shoulders as his hands wound around my back.

It was a long moment as we slowly pulled away, panting and dazed. I watched the fireworks as they were reflected in his pale eyes, letting my breath even out. After a while, he smiled again, haughty. "…I've been told I'm an excellent kisser." He bragged, bumping my nose. "How was that?"

I giggled and pretended to consider. "I think I may need another one to know for sure." I whispered back, my voice drowned out by the thundering booms.

He kissed me again before sighing in resignation. "As much as I do love kissing you," He growled. "I should probably go gather the idiots before they lose their way in the crowd for good."

I groaned as well. "Do you gotta?"

He grinned. "I'll come right back," He promised. He kissed my temple and stood. "And then I'll show you how great a kisser I am."

I giggled again. "I bet." Our hands swung in midair for a moment before our fingers loosened enough to let them fall away. My smile slowly wilted as I watched him disappear into the crowd, feeling that familiar feeling I got whenever I watched him go away somewhere. I settled into the blanket, still tasting his kiss on my lips.

My lips stretched into another smile, tasting the sweet feel of orange and the spice of nicotine as my tongue ran over my bottom lip. I sucked in another breath, the afterglow of such a milestone burning in my memory. I could see the image of him moving forward and capturing his lips with my own on a reel, replaying over and over in my mind until it almost infuriated me.

I remembered my mom telling me something important about the first kiss with a man.

"Having fun Miura?"

I froze, my eyes flying open at the sound of the familiar, chilling voice. I slowly turned around, seeing a few shadowy figures bent over my form. Another firework shot up into the sky and Aiko Yamada's furious face was illuminated by the sparkling colors, her teeth ground in distaste. Beside her seemed to be the forms of two, very burly looking men looking down on me with something indescribable burning in their beady eyes.

"Well then," I could hear Yamada sneer viciously. "I sure do hope that kiss was worth it." I could see her form bend over and another firework shot up in the sky. Her face was alighted again, merely inches away from mine. The burly figures were gone. "Because I don't think you'll get another one again." Her smile was twisted around canines, like she was some sort of human/animal that I had seen in cartoons.

When I felt the blow to the back of my head, I remembered how the shadowy figures beside her had disappeared. When I felt two sets of strong arms grab me around the middle hard enough to bruise, I remembered feeling a warm gush at the crown of my head. When I heard Yamada's shrill gleeful laugh float over my stopped up ears, I remembered that my mom told me that everything a girl needed to know about a guy was in his kiss.

I remembered thinking, One day, I could really end up falling for Gokudera as my vision went blurry and finally went black.