Miku: Happy New Year, everyone! I'm sorry we took so long but there's a good reason for our absence!

Kaito: Due to a deeply personal event that she doesn't want to discuss, Elise-sensei suffered from writer's block for some time.

Meiko: Luckily, she's back in the game with track 20! WOOT! (Yes we know it's probably winter for a lot of you and the story is still in summer, but please cut us some slack!)

Luka: Elise-sensei does not own Vocaloid; she just writes stories about us.

Rin and Len: Enjoy! ^^

"Um, Meiko? Are you sure this is okay?" I asked, glancing back and forth between two different yukatas.

"I keep telling you Miku, it's fine!" Meiko reassured, her hands on her hips. "Pick whichever one you want, it's all on me. Besides…" She then leaned in closer to me. "You wanna look nice for Kaito, don't you?"

That was all the motivation I needed. "I'll take the dark blue one!" I blurted out, resulting in a satisfied smile from the brunette.

What led up to this, you ask? Well, maybe a flashback would better explain it.

Flashback

The other day on the beach, Kaito and I had just come out of the water and were walking together. "We better reapply our sunscreen when we get back to the others," Kaito said.

"Eh? I thought the stuff we used was waterproof?" I asked, thinking there wasn't much to worry about.

"Regardless, you can't be too careful," the older man retorted. "I'd hate for you to get sunburned, so why don't we go ahead and put some more on?"

My cheeks flushed; why is he so nice?! At this rate, I'm gonna just randomly blurt out my confession! …But I can't do that; I want it to be special, I thought as I followed Kaito back to the beach umbrella.

As he rubbed more sunscreen on my back, my face was still red from the contact but I managed to relax after a few seconds. His hands felt so good against my back, almost like he was giving me a massage. Kaito then spoke up as his hands slowed their movement. "Hey, Miku-chan?"

"Y-Yes?" I asked, startled out of my reverie.

"On the way here, I overheard talk of a summer festival that's happening in a couple of days," he told me. "I was wondering if you would like to go."

My eyes widened. Was he asking me out on a date?! "Yes! I'd love to go!" I answered, looking back at him.

"Great! I'll be looking forward to it!" Kaito told me, flashing that smile of his. And was it my imagination or was he blushing slightly?

End flashback

"…And that's pretty much what happened," I told Kaiko over the phone after I got back to the inn. Meiko and I had managed to find a kimono shop near the inn we were staying at, and with the festival happening tonight, the older Vocaloid insisted on buying me a yukata. I had already started to get ready when Kaito's younger sister called me.

"And you're just now telling me this?" the blue-haired girl responded.

"Sorry, I was so excited I didn't think to call you!" I said sheepishly.

Kaiko just laughed. "Relax, I'm just messing with you. But seriously, this is a golden opportunity for you!"

"Pardon?"

"You know, to confess?" she specified. "Tell nii-chan how you feel at the festival!"

Needless to say, I was suddenly red up to my ears. "Ehhh?! You really think I should?!"

"Would I joke about something like that?" Kaiko replied. "Look, whether he's aware of it or not nii-chan is hinting at his feelings for you. You've known him for a few months now, so I'd say the festival is as good a time as any to confess."

Kaiko's words gave me a little more confidence, but then my mind flashed back to the unexpected reporters who swarmed Luka a few days ago. "This sounds like a good plan, but what about the paparazzi?"

"Don't even think about that, just focus on you and nii-chan," the girl quickly answered. "Besides, even the paparazzi aren't stupid enough to interrupt a date… I think."

"Don't say 'I think'!" I exclaimed in a slight panic. "That doesn't help!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Kaiko chuckled. "Look if it helps any, see if he'll wear his glasses. And if he's wearing a traditional outfit, he'll probably ditch the scarf for once."

"Uh, actually I've been meaning to ask about that," I interrupted. "Kaiko-chan, how come you and Kaito nii-chan almost always wear a scarf?"

There was silence on the other end for a moment, but then the blunette spoke up. "I think that's something nii-chan oughta tell you himself, if that's okay."

"Oh. Uh, sure," I replied, although I was somewhat confused. Was there a deep reason behind the scarf? Well, hopefully I'll find out during our date…

"Anyway, have a good time!" Kaiko said, suddenly sounding cheerful again. "And don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

This time my whole face was red. "K-Kaiko-chan, I'm nervous enough as it is!" All I heard after that was a giggling girl.

After the call was over, I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. Going with the dark blue yukata with a butterfly pattern turned out to be a good choice, and it really looked nice with my teal hair. I then decided to mix things up a bit by making my usual pigtails into buns instead. "Aaaand done!" I said, my smile growing as I was finally satisfied with my appearance.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Rushing over and nearly tripping on my yukata, I opened the door to see my date. Kaito was dressed in a light blue yukata with patterns like ripples on the water, and there was a little fish swimming near the hem. His scarf was oddly absent, but I wasn't complaining! His eyes widened when he looked at me. "Wow! You look fantastic, Miku-chan."

"I do?!" I replied instinctively, wondering just how many times I was gonna end up blushing by the end of the day. "Th-Thank you! You look very nice, too!"

"Thank you," he said with a smile. "Well, shall we go?"

"We shall! I've been looking forward to this!" I answered as we walked together. Some time during this date… I WILL confess to him!

…

By the time we got to the festival, it was already full of activity. Food and games stalls lined both sides of the walk and there were a ton of people walking around in either casual or traditional clothing.

"So what do you wanna do first?" Kaito asked.

"Let's go get some food, I'm kinda hungry," I answered automatically, already loving the smells coming from the takoyaki stand right next to us.

As we wondered around, we tried all kinds of food: takoyaki, candy bowls, meat on a stick, chocolate-covered bananas… you get the idea.

Anyway, we were munching on some taiyaki when Kaito spotted one particular booth. "Ah, goldfish scooping! Haven't done this since I was a kid," he said as we walked over.

"Were you good at this?" I wondered as he paid for a little paper net.

"I'll answer in a second," the blue-haired man replied before kneeling down and gently moving his net through the water, hoping to catch a fish. "Hmm… yep, I'd say I was pretty good," he said as he successfully netted one of the goldfish.

"Ooh, let me try!" I piped up, but when I tried with my own net I moved too fast and the fish broke through the net. "Aww! I thought I had it… Let's try again!" This time, the net stayed underwater too long and it evaporated. "Shoot! Okay, one more time…"

Chuckling a little, Kaito knelt back down and handed me a new net. "Here, you have to find a happy medium. You can't take too long, but you can't go too fast either." He then took my wrist in his hand (which resulted in instant blushing!) and guided my net through the water. "Like this," he finished as we caught a second fish.

Omigawd Kaito nii-chan, do you have any idea how fast my heart's going right now?! I thought just before he released my wrist and handed me my new fish in a bag of water.

"So, you gonna name him?" Kaito asked curiously.

It took me a second to respond. "…Eh? A name?" Looking at my fish swimming in fast little circles, it didn't take me long to decide on a name. "I'm gonna call him Mikuo."

"Ha ha, isn't that your brother's name?" Kaito chuckled, apparently amused by my choice.

"Yep! He's always in a rush to be somewhere, and this little guy is such a fast swimmer!" I explained. "What about you? Do you have a name for your fish?"

Nodding, Kaito answered, "I'm naming him Nigaito."

"Nigaito?" I asked, tilting my head.

"My older brother," he told me.

This was news to me. "I didn't know you had a brother!"

"Well actually, I have two brothers: Akaito-nii and Nigaito-nii," the blue-haired man said. "Akaito-nii's mannerisms are a bit rough, but he always looks after us. He wasn't too happy about me going into showbiz at first, but I think he's resigned to it at this point. Nigaito-nii…" His voice seemed to trail off for a minute as he stared at his own fish, and his smile faded.

"Is something wrong?" I wondered, feeling a bit concerned all of a sudden.

Looking back at me, Kaito shook his head. "No, it's nothing. But… Nigaito-nii has a weak immune system and he used to get sick a lot when we were kids. He spent a fair amount of time in and out of hospitals. He's gotten better lately, but as a family we all still worry about him."

"That's understandable," I said. "Family seems to be really important to you, it's only natural that you worry about your brother."

His smile came back as he spoke. "Yeah, they really are important to me. I'm happy that I can see Kaiko-chan more often, but… I really miss my brothers." He then gave a quick shake of his head. "Ah, what am I doing? We're supposed to be having fun. C'mon, let's go find another game."

"Okay!" I agreed, following his lead. While I was glad that I had learned more about Kaito's family and wanted to find out more, I was willing to wait until he was ready to say anything more on the subject.

Suddenly, someone bumped into me and nearly made me drop my fish. That someone was a little girl wearing a short red yukata dress and her black hair was in short pigtails. "Ow ow ow… I'm sorry, miss…" The girl looked up and her eyes lit up. "Hatsune-sama! Kaito-sama!"

"Yuki-chan?!" Kaito exclaimed in surprise before helping her up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Yuki answered as she brushed off her skirt. Then she looked up at me with her big brown eyes. "Uh, Hatsune-sama… do you remember me? You signed my notebook at a restaurant."

It took me a minute, but then I recognized her. "Yuki Kaai-chan, right? Yeah, I remember you!"

The girl gave a huge smile and twirled around. "YAY! She remembers me!"

Kaito shot an amused smile before catching Yuki's attention. "Yuki-chan, aren't your parents with you?"

"Nope, I came here with my uncle," she answered with a quick shake of her head. "He went to get some candy." Looking past Kaito, Yuki blurted out, "Ah, there he is! Uncle Kiyo, over here!"

The man approaching us was wearing a simple grey and black-striped yukata, but despite that I recognized the spectacled man anywhere. "H-Hiyama-sensei?!"

"Eh? Hatsune-san?!" the man replied, confirming my guess. But then his gaze turned from me to my date. "Kaito? Is that you?"

Kaito's eyes widened in surprise. "No way… Kiyoteru?" He then broke into a wide grin. "It's been a long time! How have you been?"

Flashing a similar smile, sensei replied, "I'm doing great, actually."

EEHHHH?! They know each other?! I mentally shouted as the two men engaged in conversation. Talk about a coincidence!

"What brings you out here?" sensei questioned.

"Summer break," the blunette answered. "Miku-chan and her friends wanted to go to the beach. How bout you? I didn't know you were related to Yuki-chan."

"Oh yeah, she's my niece," the other man explained. "I promised her mother I'd take her to the festival tonight. Oh, speaking of which…" Hiyama-sensei then seemed to remember the bowls of candy in his hands and held one out to Yuki. "Here you go, Yuki-chan."

"Thanks, uncle!" she said in delight. "But Uncle Kiyo, I didn't know you knew Kaito-sama and Hatsune-sama!"

"Well if I had told you, you would've been begging me to bring you to my class," he retorted, patting her head.

"So you're Hiyama-sensei now, eh?" Kaito asked, catching the spectacled man's attention.

"Yeah, I've been a math teacher for about a year now," sensei said.

"Wow, a teacher at 22? That's impressive!" the blue-haired man complimented. "Do the other teachers give you a hard time?"

"Occasionally, but it's nothing I can't handle…" As the two men carried on their conversation, I was trying to process all the new information. From the looks of things, Kaito was friends with my math teacher Kiyoteru Hiyama; really good friends since neither one addressed the other with an honorific. On top of that, Hiyama-sensei is the uncle of Yuki Kaai who is a huge fan of the Vocaloids.

"Hatsune-sama, did you know Kaito-sama knew my uncle?!" Yuki asked excitedly.

"I had no idea! I don't talk about sensei much, so I guess it didn't come up," I answered.

"… Anyway Kiyoteru, why don't we catch up later?" Kaito suggested to his friend. "I'm kind of in the middle of something…"

"Oh! Of course, sorry for interrupting," sensei said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He then handed Kaito a slip of paper with his cell phone number on it. "Here, maybe we can grab a drink soon. Have a good time, you two!"

"Thanks, sensei! Bye!" I said, waving to Hiyama-sensei and Yuki-chan as they walked away.

As Kaito watched his friend leave, he gave a small smile. "Man, I forgot how long it's been… Sorry about that, Miku-chan. It's just that I haven't seen him in a few years…"

"It's fine," I reassured him. We continued talking as we headed for a hillside a ways away from town, supposedly a good private place to watch the fireworks. "So, uh… how do you know Hiyama-sensei?"

"We met through Meiko back in elementary school," Kaito explained. "Kiyoteru is her childhood friend, but he moved away before his senior year in high school so we lost contact. Who'd have thought he was teaching at your school? Then again, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; for as long as I knew him, his dream was to become a teacher. I'm just glad he followed it."

"Do you think Kaiko-chan knows it's him?" I asked curiously.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "If she does recognize him, she hasn't said anything."

Soon we reached the hillside and sat down next to each other. The light coming from the town somehow didn't reach too far into the sky, and we were able to see the stars from where we were.

Kaito leaned on his arms and gazed up at the sky. "This is perfect… the stars are so beautiful."

"They sure are," I muttered, although I couldn't help looking at the blue-haired man next to me. A light breeze blew through his hair, and his eyes slipped closed as he let out a soft sigh. At that moment, he looked simply gorgeous.

Wait, what am I doing?! I still haven't confessed to him! I realized, my cheeks turning red as I glanced away from my date. C'mon Miku, you can do this. You can do this! I took a deep breath and turned to face Kaito again. "Um, Kaito nii-chan?"

"Hmm? What's up?"

"Er, I just, um…" I stumbled, trying to get the correct words out. But instead of confessing, I said something else completely. "I-I wanted to thank you for taking me. I had a good time!"

"No problem; I'm glad I could take you," he replied.

Wait, no! That wasn't what I wanted to say! I silently protested, trying my best not to groan at my slip-up.

Sighing, I decided I might as well give him a peck on the cheek; after that screw-up, that was all I had the courage to do at that point. Leaning toward Kaito, I didn't realize that he had turned his head to say something until our lips met in a light unexpected kiss! We stared at each other for a second, the older man's eyes wide and his cheeks tinted pink.

Pulling back as my face turned red up to my ears, I blurted out, "I-I'm sorry! That wasn't what I… I was just…!" Once again, I was at a loss for words; my first kiss with Kaito was an accident, and I hadn't even confessed my feelings for him! I was so embarrassed, I wanted to crawl under a rock!

But then something happened. Kaito's fingers reached out and brushed my cheek before turning my face toward his. "Miku-chan…" Closing his eyes, he drew closer and before I knew it our lips were meeting again, this time in a sweet tender kiss.

My mind went blank as his soft lips continued to brush mine. Was this a dream? No, it was real; Kaito and I were actually kissing! What could this mean?! Did he return my feelings? Did he know what I was going to say the whole time?

When he finally pulled away, Kaito's deep blue eyes were gazing into my own teal ones. "I'm sorry, Miku-chan… I know we haven't known each other for very long, but thinking back on these past months I would be lying if I said that I didn't truly enjoy your company." His hand cupped my cheek as he continued to speak. "In fact, I'm always so happy when you're with me, and now I can't imagine being without you. I've given it some serious thought lately, and I've realized something…"

"You mean…?" I whispered, my teary eyes filled with hope.

"Miku-chan… I love you," he whispered back as our lips connected.

Tears of joy fell from my cheeks as I returned the kiss. I heard the booming and crackling of fireworks going off, but I paid them no heed. Right there, at that moment, it was just me and Kaito, neither of us with a care in the world.

Next time…

Meiko: What the… Kiyo, is that you?!

Kiyoteru: Oh! Hey, Meiko. Man, how long has it been?

Meiko: Way too long! C'mon, I'll grab you a drink.

Kiyoteru: You've managed to achieve your dream, Meiko… but have I really achieved mine?

Next time: Track 21 – True Education