Chihiro Hanagaki

Chapter 13

The last time Chihiro visited the festival was when she was nine. Thinking back she realized that she had seen Kakucho one other time. That time was during the last festival she went to. Ironically, it was also during the festival hosted in August. She had worn a light blue yukata with a bunny print. The air was pretty humid that evening. Chihiro wanted to get away from the crowds of people which just made the humidity worse. Her parents were busy helping Takemichi and Takuya at one of the booths.

Hibiki ran off with her brother Renji to get Konpeito. So, she went to a stall not too far away from her parents. It had fewer people so it was surprisingly cooler. This booth had a ring toss game you could play to win prizes. She wasn't the only one at the booth though. A boy her brother's age stood at the booth tossing rings. The closer she got, the more she began to take in the boy's face.

She saw the familiar scar on the left side of his face. "Kaku?" she gasped. The boy tossing the rings turned and his eyes widened when he met her gaze. "Chi...." he muttered. They were staring at each other for a short time when the booth owner spoke up. "You gonna pick a prize kid?" the old woman asked. Kakucho glanced at the prizes and then Chihiro, "Pick one."

Chihiro frowned, "But you won." Kakucho shrugs saying, "I was just killing time. The toys are too girly anyway." Chihiro blinked a few times, before glancing over the prizes. Out of all the prizes, only one stood out to her. It was a bear with an eyepatch. "That one," she said, pointing at the bear. The old woman gave her the bear, smiling, "Here you go."

The old woman winked at Kakucho, "I can tell you're sweet on her." Kakucho blushed, "N-no I'm not!" His reaction only made the older woman laugh and Chihiro just looked confused. Kakucho grabbed her hand, running off further into the festival. "Why are we running?!" Chihiro asked. Kakucho ignored her and continued pulling her along. He brought them to another spot that had fewer people.

"What's gotten into you?" she questioned. Kakucho sighed, "It's nothing." Chihiro hadn't seen him for almost seven months. She already knew the reason but she had to pretend she didn't. Chihiro, concerned, asked, "Hey Kaku, why haven't we seen you at school?" Kakucho looked down at his feet and balled up his fists. The pain showed very clearly on his features.

He lost his parents not too long ago and was left with a nasty scar and damaged vision in one eye. He meets Izana during that time and the two become great friends. Kakucho still respected Takemichi and her, but she knew that Izana outranked them. He said he prioritized his devotion to Izana over his friendship with Takemichi. Chihiro touched his shoulder, he flinched but he didn't jerk away. "You can tell me," she assured him. "Kakucho!" They both follow the voice to see a young Izana standing there.

"Izana," Kakucho called. Chihiro was shocked when Izana pulled Kakucho away from her. "Stay away from my servant!" he hissed. Izana had so much hatred in those purple eyes of his. She could feel the possessiveness oozing off of him. She felt unable to move from her spot as Izana pulled Kakucho away. Chihiro had never felt intimidated by anyone before until now.

Izana had suffered a lot in his life before the main storyline. Yet despite understanding that she never felt afraid of Izana. After that night, Chihiro just never went to another festival. She still kept the bear Kakucho gifted to her at the festival. She didn't realize how long she had been staring at the bear sitting on her bed until her brother called her, "Chi." She looked over, "Yeah?" Takemichi gestured behind himself saying, "Mom wants you to go with her to pick out a fabric for your yukata."

Chihiro sighed, not looking forward to spending hours in a fabric store. She begrudgingly went out with her mother, "Mom the festival isn't that far away. Why not just buy a yukata?" Her mother balked, "Nonsense!" They looked around the fabric store for two hours before Chihiro finally picked a fabric. She picked out a light blue fabric with a sakura pattern on it. Sadly, Chihiro's torment was far from over. The rest of the day her mother made her stand in her bedroom as she measured her and made the yukata.