The Zhang Family

A small accident occurred in the latter half of the fireworks display.

Erika was going to buy yakisoba, so she volunteered and ran out, saying, "I'll be right back."

She ran out and hasn't come back for fifteen minutes.

Summer and Asuka sat on the mat, watching the people around them eat fried noodles and takoyaki, smelling the aroma of sauce wafting over, each one hungrier than the last.

"I'm going to find her." Xia Mo stood up.

"I'll go too," Asuka said, standing up as well.

The two walked along the riverbank, searching among the densely packed stalls for the pink yukata with a peony pattern.

The frying noodle stall was sizzling on the griddle, the takoyaki stall was tumbling in the golden pan, and the goldfish scooping stall was surrounded by chattering children, each holding a paper net and their faces showing determination that they would definitely catch some this time.

Then they found Erika at a goldfish scooping stall.

She squatted in front of the stall, her sleeves rolled up high, holding a paper net in one hand and a transparent plastic bag full of water in the other—three goldfish were already swimming inside.

Her yukata hem was lifted up and tied in a knot, her wooden clogs were kicked aside, and she was barefoot on the rough plastic sheet, her whole body tense, like a wind-up doll.

"Erika-senpai," Natsume called out from behind her.

Erika didn't turn around; she was intently watching the little red goldfish on the water's surface, her hand slowly, very slowly reaching out—

The paper net has a hole in it.

The goldfish swam away leisurely.

"Ah!!!" Erika let out a wail, took the torn paper net out of the water, looked at the hole for two seconds, and then silently took out two hundred yen from her pocket and handed it to the stall owner in exchange for a new one.

Xia Mo sighed, walked over and squatted down next to her, looking at her with a very complicated expression.

"You said you were going to buy fried noodles."

"I saw a goldfish stand on my way there, and I couldn't resist," Erika said without looking up, her new paper net already in the water. "And I've already caught three! Look!"

She picked up the plastic bag and waved it in front of the three of them. Three small orange goldfish swam around in a panic, their tail fins splashing water everywhere.

"Asuka-chan, you want to try your luck too!" Erika made way for her, "It's so much fun!"

Asuka looked at the little goldfish swimming around in the bucket, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly squatted down. She took out some change from her pocket and handed it to the stall owner, took the paper net, and, imitating the posture of drawing pear blossoms, put her hand into the water.

Her movements were very gentle, as if she were afraid of startling the fish in the water; the paper net slowly approached the little goldfish with a white spot on its tail—

Lift it up.

Water leaked through the gaps in the paper net. The goldfish splashed around on the net for a couple of moments, then the net tore, and the goldfish fell back into the water with a splash.

Feiniao stared at the paper net with a large hole in it, remaining crouched and silent for two seconds.

"Ah," Erika said sympathetically from the side, "I had the same problem the first time, it's okay—try again."

Asuka took out another two hundred yen. This time she was even more careful, slowly scooping the paper net under the goldfish, using the corner of her eye to gauge the distance between her hand and the water's surface, and then—

Lift it up.

The little goldfish splashed around in the paper net, water gushing out. The net began to deform under its weight, and holes were quietly widening along the edges. The bird stared at the fish, its heart pounding.

"Quickly put it in the bag!" Erika shouted from the side.

The bird frantically stretched the net toward the plastic bag, and the goldfish made a desperate leap at the last moment—the opening of the bag was too small, and the fish hit the edge of the plastic bag, bounced back, and fell onto the plastic sheet, slapping its tail with a pattering sound.

Fei Niao cried out in surprise and quickly reached out to grab it. The fish slipped from her fingers, rolled twice in the corner of the stall, and was finally scooped up by Xia Mo with quick eyes and hands and stuffed into her bag.

The stall owner reluctantly withdrew his hand.

KUSO! That kid's quick, another one's gone!

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

As Fei Niao looked at the little goldfish with white spots on its tail that had appeared in the plastic bag, her expression shifted between "I'm so awesome" and "I'm so panicked" several times before she finally smiled.

"I caught it," she whispered.

"You're amazing!" Erika exclaimed, praising her loudly. "I only managed to catch it on my fifth try the first time!"

Xia Mo squatted down beside him without saying a word. He looked at the bag of goldfish that Fei Niao was carrying. Four small, orange-red fish swam around in the transparent bag, their tails swaying in the water like thin gauze.

Asuka's yukata was slightly damp at the hem, and a few drops of water clung to her fingers, glistening under the light.

"Here you go." Asuka suddenly held out the plastic bag to Xia Mo.

Xia Mo paused for a moment.

"what?"

"Here's one for you," Asuka said, as if it were something very ordinary. "I have three now."

"When did you get three of them?" Xia Mo asked, looking at her.

"The third one was given to me by Erii-senpai, and the fourth one I just got," Asuka said seriously. "So I have four."

Xia Mo looked at the little goldfish with white spots on its tail, then at Fei Niao's face. Her expression was serious; she wasn't joking.

"...Where should we keep it?"

"You can keep it wherever you live."

"My family has never kept fish."

"Then find a jar to keep it in."

"...Can you keep goldfish in a jar?"

"Why not?" Asuka tilted her head and looked at him, her amber eyes full of self-righteousness.

Xia Mo opened her mouth as if to say, "These goldfish are very difficult to keep alive," but looking at Fei Niao's expression, she swallowed her words.

He reached out and took the bag of goldfish. The plastic bag was warm, the temperature of the water in the fish tank, and holding it in his hand gave him an indescribable, sticky sense of security.

"Thank you," he said.

At the end of summer, I asked the vendor for another plastic bag, poured the goldfish with white spots on its tail into it, and returned the first three to Fei Niao.

Erika squatted down beside them, looked at the end of summer, then at the birds, pursed her lips, and put on her wooden clogs.

A loud roar came from the opposite bank of the river, breaking the silence of the three people.

They looked up and saw a huge firework rising into the night sky, so large that it almost covered the entire field of vision.

Golden light spread outwards from the center, like a giant sun slowly burning in the night, then turning into countless tiny points of light that fell like rain.

That was the last one at the fireworks festival.

The entire venue was silent for a fraction of a second, then erupted in thunderous applause and cheers.

The fireworks ended. The night sky returned to its original color, a thick, unfathomable inky blue. Ripples on the river's surface still rippled gently, as if kissed by the light that had just fallen from the sky, still carrying its warmth.

The applause and exclamations rose and fell like waves, then gradually subsided.

The crowd began to move slowly, retreating along the riverbank towards the station, like a river slowly receding.

At the end of summer, I picked up the picnic mat that was spread on the grass, folded it twice in a haphazard way, and stuffed it into the wide-open opening of my flowery bag.

Feiniao raised the bag of goldfish in her hand a little higher and looked at it closely. Three small orange-red goldfish swam around in the transparent bag, their tail fins swaying in the water like thin gauze, casting a small, shimmering patch of light under the warm yellow glow of the streetlight.

"They're fighting," she suddenly said, tilting her head as if announcing a news report.

Erika burst out laughing.

Xia Mo couldn't help but laugh too.

The three of them walked back with the crowd. A night breeze blew by, carrying the coolness of the river and the lingering aroma of sauce from a distant fried noodle stall, while the banners fluttered gently overhead.

Erika walked at the front, chattering away about things like, "That purple one was the prettiest," "No, no, the gold one was the best," and "Ah, but the blue one is pretty too."

Asuka walked beside her, occasionally chiming in and laughing along. Summer's End walked at the very back, watching the two figures in yukatas ahead of her—

One left in a whirlwind, the other in a quiet one—listening intermittently to the scattered laughter carried on the night breeze.

When I got to the intersection in front of the station, the crowd split up.

Some people are waiting for the red light, some are turning left, and some are turning right, each heading in a different direction, like fireworks that bloom briefly in the sky and then disappear silently.

Following the flow of people, Xia Mo and his companions arrived at the plaza in front of Shibamata Station.

Feiniao and Huahua's mother were already waiting there. The two ladies seemed to get along very well, standing together chatting happily and exchanging their experiences in raising children.

Two guardian figures still stood on either side of them. It seemed that Fei Niao's eldest and second eldest brothers hadn't managed to find any friends to watch the fireworks display with, so the two brothers were playing on their phones with a hint of impatience, waiting for their mother to finish the topic that had no interest to them whatsoever.

Feiniao stood at the intersection and glanced back at Xia Mo. The streetlight shone on her face, illuminating her amber eyes, and the goldfish bag in her hand swayed gently beside her.

"At the end of summer, will you be in Japan or going back to your home country for summer vacation?"

Questions I'd never asked before drifted down in the summer evening breeze, like tiny, soft paper airplanes.

Xia Mo looked into her eyes and slowly nodded in the night breeze.

"I'm not going back this year. My dad is very busy, so he'll probably stay here."

"...See you in summer vacation?" Asuka hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Yeah, see you during summer vacation."

"Okay, okay, I'll join too!" Erika said happily.

"..."

"..."