~Welcome to the Summer Matsuri.~

Following him to the shack she looks at all the fireworks in awe."Wow..so many..if they were to blow all together.." Finding a place she puts down the items in her hands,having to jump in a few places to get out."There's more??How many are you planning?"

Shiro grins, "um...... well... there's about... 600 here..... and um.... I thinks 600 there? um.... a lot?" he looks kinda perplexed but real happy about it.

Her eyes widen."That many??Where did you even manage to get that much?" Laughing,she shakes her head."You look really happy..fireworks are your thing,huh?"

Shiro laughs, "Ha ha ha! My thing? absolutely!" he smiles and looks around. "Heck... I made these by request for the festival!" he smiles and eagarly hurries up the road.

Hurrying on to keep up with Shiro she's amazed at the amount of work he put in."You made them all,so many?That's..amazing..Where did you learn that skill?"

"um.... secret?" he smiles.

"A secret,huh?Ok then.." Deciding not to pry she flick back a lock of stray hair."I'm looking forward to the fireworks display..they'll be amazing."

He grins, "you'll like the finally." ^^ he smiles and reaches another building, he open the door and grabs two big red and blue dragon shaped fireworks. as well as a bunch of other fire works. "ok... grab what ever and then we'll store 'em in the shack near the temple." he hurries off with the huge arm full of fireworks.

"I'll look forward to it." Picking up as much as possible she stacks the fireworks so they go a little over her head.Making her way back carefully she navigates by instinct and peeking over the side."Um..why are you moving them?"

Finally done eating some food. shin grabbed the boxes and went to where he's supposed to deliver the goodies. arriving the place with no one else.., shin wonders..

(in thought)
"Now now, where is everyone else??"


(there are people, but shin can't find anyone he knows..)

"Let's do it." Loki picks up one end of the statue,taking shuffling steps towards the stage in a crab walk.

Mikiru helps loki lift the statue, palling at how heavy it is even with help. "woo.... so... where.. do ..... we.... put it?"

Focusing on the stage ahead Loki nods at it."Over there at the back left corner by the fake cherry tree.Watch out for the stairs!"

~
Reaching the shack once again she manages to put the fireworks down in a free spot without incident."Whew,shouldn't have taken so many,barely made it.." Glancing at the darkening sky and bright red of the sun on its way down she gets concerned about time,quickly riffling through her pockets.Locating the soul phone she flips it open,looking at the time with dismay."Drat it,the festival is supposed to start soon,it's close to six.Sorry Shiro but I must go,I still have left over things to be done in the temple and I need to change clothes too..but,"glancing back she looks over the temple grounds and already set up booths,pausing on a bench between a cherry tree and a booth that will be selling masks,"..but why don't we meet up all together and enjoy the festival once it starts?Over there,by that bench,it's easy to find.I'll tell others if I see them and you do same.Oh and.." Smiling she leans close,murmuring,"I'm truly looking forward to your fireworks,Shiri-kun." With a wave Altria hurries away toward the temple,muttering,"I'm late,I'm late,I'm late.."

Done delivering the foods, shin more wonders and confuse for the time that had passed waiting for the others and noticing the festival would start soon, shin somehow felt really negatively paranoid and kind of guilty...

"Oh man..tsk...could they have left and planned to meet in a place to enjoy the festival...without me? because I secretly ate ALLLL those dangos..?? oops!"

shin quickly covers his mouth and turns to see if anyone heard him. Fortunately none. Now acting to be calm, shin deeply thinks about what he did..

"But wait, it doesn't really makes sense that they would know since I'm pretty sure I was not caught......oooor maybe...they saw me (*worried face)...oh maan...I'm so gonna get in trouble.."

shin quickly runs to look for them...

Shiro blushes when Altria calls him 'Shiri-kun'. He smiles and turns to look at the ground. "y-yeah! sure.... i'll meet you over there..." (in thought: 'oi.... yeah the fireworks... heh..... well good news, i'm going to fire some tonight to signal the opening of the fest! hee hee!') He smiles to himself happily.

On her way towards the temple she comes across Shin."Oh!Good thing I've run into you Shin.We're planning to meet together once the festival starts near that bench over there,"she gestures at it with one hand,"to enjoy the festivities together.Make sure you come.Oh,and tell others if you see them cause the only other person that knows so far is Shiro and I'm not sure who else is around besides Loki and Mikiru.See you there." She makes way to the temple,disappearing inside.

crossing to altria and hearing those words. shin was relieved he wasn't left out..

"Okay!!..whew...I'm safe. Gotta find loki-kun now."

They get to the stage without problem and Loki carefully puts down the heavy statue right where he was told to."Whew,done.Thanks a lot for the help Mikiru-san.Thing must weight a ton." Stretching to ease a cramped muscle he's startled seeing the darkening evening sky with stars beginning to become visible and a full moon shedding its light."Sprockets,it's already this late?Time run by quickly.Wonder what the hour is,festival starts at six." Loki looks over all the booths set up and open,a small crowd of people beginning to gather with more arriving."Must be almost time.I should go change,shihakusho's not something ya wear to a festival.For full enjoyment it must be a yukata." Looking at Mikiru Loki scratches his head. "Ach..have you got one?Cause you can borrow one from the shop."

Mikiru smiles at Loki, "no.. It was no problem really." he looks up and notices it's gotten dark, "oh... is it starting? hm..." he turns to loki and has them shy look, "oh no no.. I bought one just in case." he smiles awkwardly.

finally found loki with mikiru

"Loki-kun, finally saw you. Altria told me to inform you about the meeting place on a bench near to where you guys were earlier. And you..(turning to mikiru) I remember seeing you at the cafe before. Shin is the name, nice to meet ya."

~Inside the temple~
Done with the last of the preparations she sighs in relief at being able to finish in time.Sitting down for a small rest she notices the scratches form the earlier falling adventure and concentrating tugs out a small ribbon of her spirit energy,just enough to heal them."There you are!I've been looking for you." Jumping in surprise Altria quickly turns around in worry,relieved to see it's only the head miko."Kaede,you scared me." The regal looking woman,with long black hair and same colored eyes,dressed in red and white of miko robes walks towards her in a graceful glide."Apologies.Are you done with the preparations?" Quickly running over the list in her head to make sure nothing was forgotten she nods."Good,thank you.The festival is about to start.Are you going like this?In black?" Kaede sweeps out her arm with a rustle of fabric to indicate her shinigami robes."Um..well..you see..I wasn't planning on staying.But it turned out some of my nakama are here too and..I thought we'd all enjoy the festival together,we rarely get to just relax like that..but it completely slipped my mind that I didn't bring a change of clothes." Squirming in her seat Altria stares at the floor embarrassed,feeling like a silly child,looking up in surprise when Kaede laughs. "Is that all?That's not a problem at all.I'll lend you some of mine,from my younger days.Come on,let's go dress you up,"pulling her up by the hand Kaede drags her away,a strange sparkle in her eye making Altria worried.'Uh oh..I have a baad feeling about this..'

"Coming prepared,smart move." Loki sees Shin,raising a hand in greeting.Listening of his message about planned meeting he grins,excited by the prospect of soon having a fun time with everyone."Awesome! I'm off to get my yukata then,it's almost time.Thank you for the help again,Mikiru-san. I'll treat ya to whatever when the festival starts.Oh yeah,if it's needed you can change at the temple.See you two at the meeting place." Loki bolts for the shop,all fired up and hyped about the festival.

After changing into his yukata, Shiro heads off a little ways from the festival to a small clearing in the forest. "perfect... no one should bug me as I light these.. and everyone should be able to see them." He sticks a rocket shaped like a dragon into the ground and another rocket shaped like a phoenix next to it and lights them both. They shoot into the air about 50 feet and explode into a shower of blue, green, and red sparks. there's a pause and then two more huge explosions leave a blue dragon facing a silver phoenix blazing brightly in the sky before fading. Shiro smiles, "Heh! perfect opening! I wonder if Altria saw that?"

Walking hurriedly down the temple hallway towards the exit Altria periodically glances behind herself nervously,half expecting Kaede to come running for her because she found something even better to wear.'Kami,I never knew someone could have that many summer kimono and yukata.Why does she need all that?She's a priestess..when does she even wear them?If I knew she was going to play dress up with me as a doll I'd have run away screaming,'with a sigh she tugs at one white sleeve,'too late now.Hopefully I'll come across a mirror,it's worrisome that she wouldn't let me see..' Seeing the exit she picks up her step,stopping at a branching hallways upon catching sight of a mirror."Yes!Thank Kami,I can see what I look like before we meet up." Rushing to the mirror she freezes in front of it,staring at her reflection in wonder.The decorated miko's robe Kaede deemed the best suited for her though close fitting,it practically hugged her form,looked well and felt soft on her skin.The red hakama tied tightly with red obi and light red pattern of petal flowers printed on the haori matched well with her one red eye and the elaborate red hair ornament piece tucked a little above her left ear.Having talked Kaede into leaving her hair alone it fell freely down her shoulders,all the way to her ankles,the only decoration the red hair ornament.With a fight Kaede managed to steal away her usual earrings and choker,replacing them with long garnet earrings shaped like many falling petals and an intricate silver choker that looked as fragile as a spiderweb,decorated with many tiny garnets that sparkled in the suns ray. "..Talk about deja vu..have I ever worn miko robes before?..No..don't think so..but..it feels like.." she shakes her head to clear it,pushing the strange feeling of familiarity away and glancing over her look once more,"..I'll have to thank her is some way..but.." frowning,she lightly touches her lips,fingers coming away red."When did she manage this?I thought I got away before she pulled out the blasted make up.." Shaking her head she decides to leave it as is,hurrying towards the exit once again. Breathing in evening air Altria comes down the temple steps,whirling to look at the sky at the sound of fireworks going off.Watching the sparks erupting and then turning into a beautiful dragon and phoenix she marvels at Shiro's creativity and talent with them,watching the images until they fade away completely.The already gathered crowd let's out a cheer.'He's really amazing with fireworks..hee,that phoenix kinda reminded me of Fen.' Smiling she quickly makes way towards their meeting place at the bench,relieved to see she's the first one there."Good,coming early is nice and I hate being late." Taking a seat on the bench she studies the cart booth parked to the left of it,selling different masks,and periodically glances at the crowd to see if anyone's coming.

~OOC:Here's a picture of what she's wearing.

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