"Yuta, I want that."
On the other side of the Summer Festival street, Rika was hugging Yuta's arm and shaking it continuously.
"Alright, Rika, stop for a moment."
The constant soft touch against his arm made Yuta's face flush slightly.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Yuta."
Rika stepped back a little.
Then, with her hands behind her back and her body leaning slightly forward, she made a playful request.
"Okay, I'll go now."
Seeing Rika's adorable posture, Yuta immediately ran to the stall.
"So cute, Yuta."
Rika gently caressed her face as she watched Yuta, who was helping her fish for water balloons, with satisfaction.
The water balloon fishing game was one of the more common games at Summer Festivals and other events in Japan.
The owner would give you a small hook tied to a string, or some other decorative item with a hook.
The string was not long, usually only about 10 centimeters.
Then you had to put this hooked string into the water, just like in a fishing game.
And lift out a water balloon that was also tied with a string.
Generally speaking, the size and angle of the hook, as well as the weight of the water balloon, were all factors that made it difficult to fish one out.
'Which one would suit Rika better?'
Yuta's gaze moved across the water tank, finally settling on an orange-red water balloon.
Yuta thought that this orange-red water balloon would match Rika's red yukata today.
After choosing his target, Yuta accurately found the string of the orange-red water balloon among several others.
Then he lowered the hook in his hand.
The hook was very light and did not sink all the way to the bottom.
Instead, it stopped after sinking only a little into the water.
Yuta shook the string in his hand, carefully moving the hook closer to the target.
If he accidentally hooked another water balloon, the string would definitely not be able to bear the weight of two.
'Got it.'
Yuta smiled, then immediately pulled up the water balloon.
The next second, the string in his hand gave him a feeling of being overwhelmed.
Yuta's expression stiffened, then he took a deep breath.
The force application techniques and control he had honed during physical training class, from constantly being beaten by Maki and Toji, began to take effect.
Yuta gently swayed the string in his hand to the side.
The orange-red water balloon in the water immediately moved toward the more open space in the center of the tank.
Then Yuta applied precise force and pulled the water balloon out of the water.
"Success!"
Yuta cheered.
Just as he was about to stand up with the water balloon, a blue water balloon caught his eye.
'I remember Rika has a cup that's this color too. I wonder if she'd like it.'
After a moment of hesitation, Yuta silently adjusted his position and fished out that blue water balloon as well.
Then Yuta saw a pink water balloon.
'This water balloon looks like one of Rika's dolls.'
Yuta once again set his sights on the pink water balloon in the middle of the tank.
And so, under the heartbroken gaze of the stall owner and the admiring exclamations of the children around him, Yuta emptied the entire water tank of water balloons with a string that would have snapped with just a little more force.
Fortunately, the owner's merchandise was water balloons.
They were only small elastic balloons filled with water.
The cost was not high.
Otherwise, he would have died of heartbreak.
The shooting gallery owner on the next street expressed his understanding.
And so, disregarding the water balloons soaking his yukata, Yuta arrived in front of Rika holding dozens of water balloons.
"I accidentally got too many, Rika. Which one do you like?"
Yuta wanted to scratch his head to ease the awkwardness, but because his hands were full of water balloons, he could only smile foolishly.
"This one is fine."
Rika accurately picked out the first water balloon Yuta had fished out from the pile.
She had seen everything Yuta had done just now.
Naturally, she chose the water balloon that Yuta had first set his eyes on.
Rika smiled and tied the loop on the balloon's string more securely.
Then she slipped it onto her finger and gently bounced it up and down.
Yuta stood there holding the water balloons, watching the happy Rika.
"So cold."
Suddenly, Rika picked up a blue water balloon and pressed it against Yuta's face.
"This one is for you."
"Hmm, but what about the rest of these..."
Yuta looked at the dozens of water balloons in his arms with some distress.
"It's okay, watch me."
Rika, the frugal homemaker, then pulled Yuta over to the water tank.
Under the owner's wary gaze, she sold all the extra water balloons back to him at a low price.
The Summer Festival had only just begun, and the owner still needed enough water balloons to restock, so he did not refuse.
After all, who would have thought that a freak like Yuta would appear and clear out all the water balloons with a single string!
Most people usually needed several strings just to fish out one water balloon.
"Yuta, be careful not to catch a cold."
After the transaction, Rika took out a tissue from a hidden pocket in her yukata and carefully wiped the water droplets off Yuta.
She also tried to absorb as much water as possible from the wet yukata with the tissue.
"It's okay, Rika, I'm very strong."
After saying that, Yuta raised his arm and struck a pose to show off his muscles.
"Pfft, a strong bean sprout."
Rika suddenly covered her mouth and laughed.
"Ah, how can even you?"
A wave of grievance rose in Yuta's heart.
It was bad enough that Maki called him a strong bean sprout, but now even Rika?
"Alright, don't be angry, it's my fault."
"Here, take this."
Yuta looked down and saw a half-face fox mask.
The mask was fox-shaped, red on the left and white on the right, covering the upper half of the face.
As soon as Yuta took the mask, Rika took out another fox mask from behind her.
A fox mask identical to Yuta's.
However, Rika's mask was white on the left and red on the right.
Rika thought for a moment, then shook the mask in her hand before placing it on the side of her head.
The grievance in Yuta's heart instantly vanished, and he also placed his mask to one side.
Among the passersby, many people were wearing masks like this.
Some wore them directly on their faces, while others hung them from their waists.
"The fireworks display is about to start. Let's quickly find a good spot."
Rika took a few quick steps, then turned around and reached out her hand to Yuta.
"Okay."
Yuta nodded, then stepped forward and took Rika's hand.
The two began heading toward the observation deck near the mountainside.
That was the place nearby with the widest view.
If they got there early enough, they could get a good spot.
(To be continued.)