“Hey, Taiyou-kun.” With her cheeks a slight shade of pink, Tsukiko twirled around slowly with her arms open, showing every side of the dark purple yukata she wore. “How do I look?”

Before the boy realized it, his face reddened. “You look beautiful,” Taiyou managed to mumble. Though he was too embarrassed to look at the girl, at the same time, he couldn’t take his eyes from her.

Though he was aware, after his friends met Tsukiko and said he was lucky to have a girl that cute as the girl-next-door, Taiyou couldn’t stop thinking how pretty she was whenever she was too close. After that, it became hard to hang around with her the way they had during the school break, especially in her bedroom.

Now he had grown accustomed to the feeling and managed to keep his face from blushing. But from time to time, Tsukiko managed to caught him off guard and surprise him, looking more and more beautiful. Right now, with the yukata and her short hair tied with a red comb, he could feel his face burning.

“Really? Thanks!” She showed a smile that made him blush even more. “What about you? Where’s your yukata?”

“His old one’s too small now,” his aunt said, coming from the bathroom wearing a yukata too. “And he doesn’t want to rent one.”

Tsukiko turned to him and booed in a cute way. “Why not? I want to see you wearing one.” She came closer and held both his hands, looking him in the eyes. “Please?”

So close, he thought, her expression and touch making his heart beat faster. He avoided her eyes and pulled his hands, too embarrassed to find words. Tsukiko kept staring him, waiting for an answer. To his luck, his mom came from her bedroom at the time.

“You look lovely, Tsukiko-chan,” Shigure said with a smile.

“Thanks!” The girl finally took her eyes from him and Taiyou sighed in relief.

“Since everyone’s here, let’s go already. I’m pretty sure Sawako’s there drinking already,” Rin-nee said, taking Aika-chan by the hand.

“Wait a moment, Rin.” His mom walked to her sister and adjusted the obi from the yukata. “I can’t believe you still don’t know this.”

“Sis…” Rin-nee blushed as everyone stared her. “Stop treating me like when we were kids.”

“That’s impossible, little sis. Because no matter how old we are, you’ll always be my little sis,” she said with her smile and everyone but Rin-nee laughed.

Looking for Sawako-sensei in the park through the crowd wasn’t an easy task. Even though it was barely past lunch, many people were already drunk. They drank, ate, sang, dance and talk with the cherry blossom petals falling around. When Taiyou looked up and saw Tsukiko smiling, he couldn’t help but smile too.

Now that I think about it, I’ve used to go to the flower viewing days with friends, but this is the first time with a girl… The thought made him flush and he averted his eyes. A moment later, Taiyou felt a hand grabbing his and looked up.

“So we don’t get separated,” she said. Her smile made his heart beat faster, but he didn’t let go of the girl.

“I’ve being waiting for you.” They found Sawako-sensei sitting in a dignifying manner on a blanket under a tree. With her red yukata and hair up, Taiyou had never seen the math teacher so elegant. It’s weird, the thought crossed his head. The feeling grew when she placed both hands on the floor and lowered her head, showing them a serene smile. “I humbly thank you all for gracing me with your presence.”

None of them said anything as they looked at each other. The first one to break the silence was Rin-nee. “Sawako! You promised you’d wait for us to start drinking,” she complained, sitting across the woman with Aika-chan in her arms.

“This one has not broken the promise. At least you should believe in this one.” Sawako-sensei bowed to Rin-nee and brought a food box and a bag from behind her. With delicate moves, she unwrapped the box and took a porcelain bottle from the bag. Still with the serene smile, she got the bottle with the right hand, placed the left one on the bottom, brought it to her mouth and turned it over, drinking the sake in one gulp. “Now the hanami can begin!”

Rin-nee turned Aika-chan around and brought a hand to her face, pretending to clean the tears. “You shouldn’t see this, Aika-chan.”

The kid smiled and patted her on the back. “It’s okay. Mama drinks a lot.”

“Rin!” Sawako-sensei dropped the sake bottle and pulled Aika-chan, hugging her. “Don’t go trying to make look bad before my daughter’s eyes!”

“I’m sorry, Sawako.” Rin-nee stopped pretending to cry and seemed surprised. Then she became serious. “I don’t have the power to change reality.”

Tsukiko, Taiyou-kun and even his mother laughed. The math teacher bit her lips, her cheeks red. “Oh yeah? I could’ve sworn you’d have that power.” The teacher showed a triumphant smile. “I mean, you’ve been trying to erase a few things from your past. Like when you peed yourself during a lightning storm when you were a kid.”

Rin-nee reddened for an instant, but managed to keep her feelings down. After a moment, she closed her eyes, put a hand on her cheek and sighed. “Only you would spread a terrifying memory like that out of revenge.”

“Mama can’t say that!” Aika-chan escaped her mother’s arms. The little girl pouted to Sawako-sensei and then hugged Rin-nee.

“Thank you, Aika-chan. I hope you don’t grow up to be like your mama.”

“I won’t,” the girl said with an angelical smile.

“Even you, my daughter?” Sawako-sensei gritted her teeth opened. With a deep breath, she opened her purse and pulled another sake bottle. “You know what? I won’t let the two of you ruin this beautiful day,” she said and drank the entire bottle.

Rin-nee couldn’t keep holding anymore and laughed. After she stopped, she sighed and shook her head. “What unseemly sight… What if your students saw this?” she said, then pulled her phone from the silk round bag and took a photo.

Sawako-sensei tried to get the cellphone, but not only she coughed with the sake, her legs didn’t move like she wanted after sitting on them for so long. She could do nothing as Rin-nee handed the phone to Aika-chan, who ran away from her mother’s reach.

Laughing from the scene, Tsukiko, Taiyou and his mother sat down on the blanket with them.

“Ara, ara. I can’t believe you’re doing this, Rin.” Shigure covered half her face with the sleeve of her yukata, but they all knew the woman had her impish smile behind the fabric. “Didn’t you do something far worse at your friend’s wedding? At Sawako-chan took care of you all night after I couldn’t take your drunken whining anymore.”

“Ha! That’s right! I’d forgot that!” With her cheeks red from the embarrassment and the alcohol, the math teacher pointed her finger at Rin-nee. “Thank you for reminding me, Shigure-nee!”

Taiyou, Tsukiko, Aika-chan laughed and Shigure chuckled while Rin-nee flushed. This time the doctor couldn’t keep her cheeks from reddening.

“Sis! Why did you have to remember that?” Rin-nee stared her sister, but couldn’t say anything else. According to his grandmother, ever since they were kids, no matter how much she tried, Rin-nee couldn’t best his mother on this area.

“You’re picking on Sawako-chan too much for something you did yourself.” Shigure shook her head slowly. When Sawako-sensei hugged her, she patted the woman on the head.

“Thanks, Shigure-nee! I knew I could count on you.”

“Whenever my little sister gives you a hard time, come to me,” she said smiling. “There are so many embarrassing memories from Rin’s past I can tell…”

Even with everyone laughing, Rin-nee managed to withstand, but the final blow was when Aika-chan patted her on the back with sympathetic eyes. The woman couldn’t take anymore and covered her face with both hands. “I can’t believe my own sister is against me.”

“There’s no way I could be on your side if you keep picking on Sawako-chan.”

“Yeah! Tell me all her embarrassing secrets.” Sawako-sensei’ face was still red, but her eyes were eager and full of curiosity.

“No, Sis! No one besides Sawako wants to hear that, right?” Rin-nee turned to Aika-chan, Tsukiko and Taiyou.

“I wanna hear it too,” Tsukiko said, laughing.

“Me too!” Aika-chan said.

“Even you two?” Rin-nee pressed her lips and her ended on Taiyou. When the boy saw his aunt’s eyes widening, he knew what was coming. “I thought you’d prefer hearing about my nephew’s secret, Tsukiko-chan…”

The girl looked him with her eyes shining just like Sawako-sensei’, her opened mouth turning into a smile. “Yes, please! Tell me! Tell me!”

“Wait! Why are you bringing me into this?” Taiyou averted his eyes, feeling hot under the girl’s eyes. His aunt looked at him with an ‘it was you or me’ expression. There was no regret on her face.

“Oh, come on. Let me hear some of your secrets,” Tsukiko, poking him on the cheek with a finger. “Just one, no, two. Wait, seven. Yes, seven. I wanna know the seven mysteries of Taiyou-kun.”

“How did you get from one to seven?” Damn… why does she look so cute today? Taiyou looked around, trying to find anything to change the subject. When he found nothing, he turned back to Tsukiko and a triumphant smile crossed his lips. “Fine. If you tell seven secrets about yourself.”

“Geh… you’re all about equivalent exchange these days… I shouldn’t have had shown you that anime,” Tsukiko mumbled, averting her eyes. When she realized the attention had shifted to her, she reddened. “So Taiyou-kun wants to know a lady’s secret. I’m not sure I couldn’t look you in the eyes if you knew.”

Damn it! She got me, he thought, but for some reason, he had an urge to smile despite everything.

“Ara, ara, my son has changed so much,” his mom said, placing a hand on her cheek and shaking her head, a worried look on her face. “He’s used to be so kind.”

“I know what you mean, sis,” Rin-nee said, nodding. “Remember when his friend puked on the school trip and he took the blame so no one would tease that girl?”

His mother smiled dreamily as Taiyou’s face burned. “Yes. I remember that. You were such a gentleman… And now you’re blackmailing a lady to tell her secrets.”

“How do you know about the field trip?” he managed to ask in a low voice, but there was no way he could look any of them in the eyes. However, even without seeing, Taiyou could feel Tsukiko beaming next to him.

“Your teacher told me. She was so proud to have a gentleman in her class,” Shigure said.

“But he wasn’t always so cool and popular with the girls,” Rin-nee added, her smile sly. “I remember how he cried after he scored his first goal.”

“What? For real!” Tsukiko hugged him. “It must’ve been so cute. I wished I was there to see it,” she lamented.

“Yep. The winning goal and in the end of the game. When the ball hit the net, he just stared at it with a dumb face, and then cried when his friends jumped on him… I have photos, if you want.”

“Yes, please!”

Taiyou’s face was an alarming shade of red as he opened his mouth, but since he had nothing to say, he stared the floor with the laughs around him. When he felt a hand patting him on the back, he looked up and saw Sawako-sensei looking at him with a sympathetic expression.

“I know the feeling… Those Fuyuzora sisters are hard to handle. Don’t ever end up like them, please!” She shook her head and then she pulled Taiyou into her arms. “I had no idea what I was getting into… I’m sure the gods will reward me for this.”

The next instant, Aika-chan came and patted him on the back with her pure smile. “It’s okay.” The boy couldn’t help but laugh and his embarrassment vanished a bit.

“Ara, ara. You say that, but you love my little sister, Sawako-chan,” his mother said with a gentle smile that hid her true intentions.

Sawako-sensei blushed and averted her eyes. Rin-nee crawled across the blanket, pulled Taiyou from the teacher and hugged the hugged her.

“I love you too, Sawako!”

“Shut up,” she mumbled as she tried to get rid of the woman.

“Come, on. Give me a kiss”

“Stop that… It’s embarrassing…” Her face was a wild shade of red as she pushed Rin-nee away. “I thought I was the one drunk here!”

As everybody laughed, Tsukiko rested her head on Taiyou’s shoulder. “This is so nice,” she said, so low only he could hear.

“My secrets or my crazy family?” Despite his words, there was a smile forcing itself on his lips when the girl chuckled.

“Both. You have no idea how much I love seeing you looking embarrassed… But just hanging with your family is fun…” She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him with a huge smile. “Thanks for inviting me.”

Taiyou couldn’t look at that smile without blushing, but at the same time, he didn’t want to take his eyes from Tsukiko. When she hugged him, his mind became a haze and he hugged her too, but his aunt’s voice brought him back.

“Sis, where’s the food?” Rin-nee had stopped trying to kiss Sawako-sensei and had settled on hugging Aika-chan. “I’m starving!”

Shigure unwrapped the food boxes they had prepared earlier. Together with the food Sawako-sensei brought, they had the most varied type of food, snacks and drinks so they could enjoy the flower viewing day. “But we can’t eat yet,” she said, grabbing Rin-nee’ hand midday to the snacks.

“Huh? Why not?”

“We’re waiting for someone.” Shigure lifted her wrist, checked the watch and then looked around. “He should be getting here soon… ah, there he is.”

Everyone looked in the same direction, but in the crowd, no one stood out… until a man wearing a suit waved towards them. Against the sun, they couldn’t see his face, but as he got closer, Tsukiko widened her eyes and smile.