Today is the Tanabata Star Festival and Shun decorates the dorm lounge with bamboo plants. He requests his friends to write wishes on strips of paper. Shun looks at them and asks to write again. When his friends ask why he is so serious, he explains someone introduced Tanabata before going to the Kido mansion. He will keep the strips until August 7.

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The weather is sunny all week.

This week begins the July chapter.

[July 7, Saturday - week 1]

"Okay, Shun, what's this about?" Seiya asks. He and the others are reunited at the sofa lounge at Shun's request.

"Today is a special day and I want us to celebrate."

"Is it someone's birthday?" Hyoga asks.

"Not quite. I want us to celebrate the Star Festival."

"Star Festival?" Seiya asks, confused.

"Yes! It's called the Tanabata Star Festival."

"Tana-what now?" Seiya sweat drops.

"Basically, it's an event to celebrate a pair of star-crossed lovers who are allowed to reunite on the seventh day of the seventh month."

His friends break out in laughter.

"Okay, Shun, why would we celebrate an event of two random people in love?" Seiya asks between chuckles. "Are we celebrating because you ship them or is it something else?"

Shun sadly sighs, seemingly offended.

"But why July 7 specifically?" Hyoga asks again.

"I think what Shun is saying has a point," Shiryu says. "I was wondering why today, and it's about those two lovers who only reunite once a year. I heard about it when I was in the Ancient Peaks."

"From your master?" Seiya asks.

"No, from the people in the village."

"What is the Star Festival all about?"

"It's about a pair of lovers known as Orihime and Hikoboshi who are separated by the Milky Way galaxy and allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month on a lunar calendar. The origins are Chinese, but the Japanese eventually made it their own."

"Ah! I get it now! July is the seventh month, AND today happens to be the seventh. Now it makes sense," Hyoga says. "But the part you mentioned about the Milky Way galaxy, are you implying those two are stars? It doesn't sound like a pair of human lovers to me."

"Yes, they are stars." Shiryu nods. "They go by the names of Vega and Altair."

Seiya folds his arms and looks up as if pensive.

"This rings bells somehow especially Altair."

"Do you know something?" Shiryu asks.

"No, just a feeling I have." He shrugs.

"That's good, but why would you know about this, Shun?" Hyoga asks. "How did you learn about it in the first place?"

"It happened before going to the Kido mansion."

"What? Ikki, do you know about this?" Seiya asks.

"The truth is, I didn't know."

"I was wondering why you were quiet. We assumed you already knew and expected you to explain, but you remained quiet instead."

"I've been with Shun the entire time before going to the mansion, but I didn't know about the Star Festival part."

"Shun, what's the meaning of this? If your brother was beside you the entire time, he should know. How come you know and he doesn't?"

Shun takes a deep breath.

"The truth was someone explained the Star Festival to me, and I was by myself then. They asked me to write a wish on a piece of paper so they could hang it on these leaves. I complied, of course, because the wish I wrote was for my brother and me to remain together forever."

"I was wondering about the bamboo-looking plant and why there's a piece of paper there. I didn't know today was a significant event for you. Sorry for making fun of it," Seiya apologizes.

Shun tends a bamboo plant with paper at the visitor's counter. The color of the piece of paper is pink with Shun's wish written on it.

"That's okay, Seiya. I accept your apology. After all, we know how the rest of the story goes. We went to the mansion, and Ikki went to Death Queen Island in my place. Even while on Andromeda Island, where bamboo plants don't grow, I made use of whatever resources I had. Be it fabric, rocks, or sticks. That time, I made two wishes: one to see my brother again and another to get the Andromeda cloth. Some made fun of me, but my wishes are granted and I'm here with all of you."

"You continued Tanabata on Andromeda Island?"

"Yes, I did. I counted the days until the seventh day of the seventh month appeared and even told my master to honor my request for a day off."

"Amazing! Your master must've been an understanding person to honor such a thing. The fact he honored a Japanese-only event while you were training in a foreign land was a big deal," Hyoga says.

"It was. I'm envious to be honest," Seiya adds.

"Now that you know let's have you write your wishes on paper."

Shun gives his friends strips of random-colored paper and some pens and pencils. His friends proceed to write their own wishes on paper.

"Shun, should we say our wishes as we write?"

"I don't think so. It wouldn't be a wish otherwise."

After writing their wishes, they hand him the strips, and Shun glances at how similar each wish is written. Rather than placing them, Shun calls out.

"These wishes you wrote... they're very similar. They all wish to drop out of school and return to the fighting." Shun huffs.

"Hey! I wrote to protect Athena," Seiya says.

"Seiya, that's not a wish. It's a given," Hyoga says.

"I'm not asking much, but let's rewrite something more reasonable. I mean, something about wishing for better school life."

"Shun takes this very seriously. We shouldn't ignore him," Ikki says.

"Okay, fine! Let's rewrite," Seiya says, shrugging.

"Considering that Saori-san is dangling the Gold Saint position in our faces so we can accept, we should rewrite our wishes," Shiryu says.

"Good! I'm glad you understand."

Shun hands new stripes of colored blank paper. This time, the colored pieces of paper are based on the colors of their cosmo. They notice this right away, but they write their wishes regardless and hand them to Shun when they're done. Shun reads the wishes and seems satisfied.

"Now that's much better!" Shun hangs the paper one by one on the bamboo branches. He steps back to see the results of his effort. "They're all about wishing for a better school life. That's what I wrote too."

"Will you keep them until tomorrow?" Seiya asks.

"I'll keep them for a month since some Japanese cities celebrate Tanabata on August 7 because of the lunar calendar. Besides, some people see this as a sign that summer's finally here. Ah! Speaking of which, we can have Saori-san write one when she comes tomorrow."

"And have it embedded with Athena's cosmo?"

"Seiya, it's just a wish." Shun sweat drops while keeping composure. "It's not meant to act as a shield or barrier to keep enemies from invading."

"I'm sure Saori-san would know about the Star Festival. She'll probably be thrilled."

"Of course! She's going to want to write one too."

To be continued...