With a taiyaki in her mouth and a juice box in her hand, Feitao felt utterly content. "I'm really sorry, all my money is gone, so I had to let you foot the bill."
"It's nothing. Last time Feitao treated me to noodles, too." Itchigo didn't mind at all. Ever since that day, he made sure to carry enough money whenever he went out, perhaps harboring a subconscious hope of running into Feitao again, and hoping to treat her to something just like this.
Feitao sighed and looked away with an embarrassed expression. If he hadn't brought that up, she almost would have forgotten that she still owed Kakashi money. Besides, kid, you can't really call that my treat—that was barely half a bowl of noodles, and the important part was that Kakashi paid for it.
The Tanabata festival streets were truly lively. Most people out and about were young couples on dates. Lanterns of various colors hung along both sides of the road, pretty floating water lanterns drifted down the river, and a little flower-selling girl called out with a bright smile.
Feitao knew very well that the Yamanaka flower shop was doing an incredible trade today, with roses practically falling short of demand. Fortunately, Aunt Yamanaka thought Feitao was adorable and sold them to her at the regular price; otherwise, she probably would have had to sell a kidney.
"Feitao, what are they doing?" Itchigo looked curiously at the two people locked in an embrace ahead of them. What were they doing? Fighting?
Feitao followed his gaze and nearly choked on her taiyaki. She hurriedly grabbed Itchigo's hand and pulled him off to the side. "Don't look, don't look. You know that's not suitable for children, right?"
"What does not suitable for children mean?"
"It means things that kids like you aren't allowed to see."
"Feitao is a kid herself, though."
"I'm different from you."
"Why are you different?"
"Why do you talk so much?"
"Sorry."
"......"
Before long, Feitao finished everything she was eating, still marveling at how open-minded the people in this place were. To embrace so intensely in broad daylight under the bright sky—weren't they worried about corrupting the youth? That said, although this KAMISAMA she was praying to was a male god, he wasn't her type at all. To be honest, Feitao's ideal boyfriend was actually the type like his old man—someone exceptionally gentle and warm, like a little sun.
"Feitao, this is a sky lantern, right?" Itchigo looked at the glowing lights filling the sky, then turned to look at Feitao.
Feitao nodded. "Yeah, they sell them over there. Let's go, go, go." She took Itchigo's hand and ran over to a small shop to buy two sky lanterns, then the two of them headed down to the riverbank. After puttering around for a long time, they finally got the sky lanterns ready. Everything was prepared, and they were just waiting for the eastern wind.
"KAMISAMA, hand over the lighter." Holding her sky lantern, Feitao asked offhandedly. She figured she probably ought to write some words on it, but she didn't bring a pen either. Oh well, never mind—she could just write something next time.
"A lighter? I don't have one."
"You don't? What about matches?"
"Don't have those either."
Itchigo could only shake his head. He had never released a sky lantern before and had no idea what was needed. Yet, he felt as though he had done something wrong again; Feitao still looked rather helpless.
Feitao stood up and handed her sky lantern to Itchigo. "Wait here, I'll go borrow a lighter from that uncle's place around the corner." The kid seemed to have no practical life skills and his head was probably buzzing—though of course, she wasn't doing much better herself.
"Okay."
Feitao turned and ran. Right by the stone steps, she ran smack into someone, and running far too fast, she was knocked straight to the ground.
"Ouch... it hurts!"
"Sorry, Momoko?"
Only then did Feitao open her eyes to look at the person before her, and she hurriedly scrambled up. "Hatake-san?" Unbelievable, how could she run into him here? This guy wasn't here to make trouble, was he? She still didn't know where Brother Tu had gone, and if Kakashi went to stir up trouble right now, that would be bad. Though the probability was low, that didn't mean it was impossible.
Kakashi was still wearing black clothes, the armor on his hands gleaming with a silvery light, his dark eyes fixed straight on her. Wasn't this girl supposed to be helping Obito with his date? Did Obito succeed? Why wasn't she following along to watch the show?
"Good evening, Hatake-san. What are you still doing outside so late?" Feitao laughed foolishly. Well, she didn't know why she was panicking like this; was this what they called a guilty conscience? She and Obito really had been plotting something behind the scenes.
"Momoko, I heard everything you and Obito were planning the other day," Kakashi said softly. Even if he hadn't heard something so obvious, he could have guessed what those two were planning. If Obito didn't seize such a great opportunity on Tanabata, he really would be a fool.
Feitao frowned. "Oh? So you're really okay with letting Brother Tu go off with Rin-neesan? Don't you like Rin-neesan? She's so gentle and considerate. Come to think of it, if I were a boy and grew up, I'd definitely marry a girl like Rin-neesan."
Who wouldn't like Rin? There couldn't possibly be anyone who didn't like Rin. She was so gentle, kind, and caring, treating everyone equally without tipping the scales. To both Obito and Kakashi, Rin was always the same; she never favored either of them over the other.
Kakashi let out a soft snort. "Who knows about such things?" Love simply wasn't that simple, and besides, it wasn't important to him. Perhaps they were just comrades; he had understood long ago that his own heart was cold, and things like comrades probably didn't matter either. Teamwork? In the face of a mission, as long as it could be completed, wasn't that enough?
He knew that during Teacher Minato's test, he hadn't believed those two could become his new teammates, nor did he believe they could bring him any help. Yet he could read the meaning behind Teacher Minato's words—teamwork. As long as he used a simple formation to secure victory, he had no reason not to cooperate, and Teacher Minato was so naive that he hadn't even noticed his little scheming thoughts.
"Don't regret it later. At least you still have a chance right now." Feitao wondered if she was egging Kakashi on to go cause trouble; love triangles were really quite exciting. "Since you say so, just make sure you never fight Brother Tu for Rin-neesan in the future."
That said, she didn't really think Kakashi liked Rin—or rather, she didn't think Kakashi would ever fall in love with anyone. This person was exceptionally rational, or perhaps a trace cold.
Following Kakashi's looks, Feitao had a new question: what kind of person would this boy ever fall in love with?
Kakashi had very little desire to entertain this brat. Right now, he just wanted to hurry home and sleep, sparing his ears from her endless clatter.