In the morning, I walked through the university gates with light steps as I headed for the lecture hall.

During that time, Ryoko-chan, who I had run into by chance in the corridors, pointed something out.

 

「Oto-chan, you’re going on a date today aren’t you?」

「How did you know?」

「Your clothes are more fashionable than usual and your face looks slack.」

「I-Is that so? My clothes aside, I’ll have to pay attention to my face as well.」

 

Because it’s our first date in 3 months.

Recently, Mukai-san has been busy dealing with the arrangements of the film adaptation and has been traveling between Tokyo and Nagasaki.

The Evening Rain was still open on rainy days, but standing in for Mukai-san at the shop was his patissier friend Haruka Aoki-san. He seemed to have left his job at the shop he had been working at recently and has been serving as the substitute owner for the Evening Rain.

Aoki-san is also someone with a strong personality…… He would say no more than a word or two.

Setting that aside, it had been a long time since I had been able to meet with him, so I had unconsciously become more cheerful.

 

「Are you going out over the weekend?」

「Yes, we’re going to the mid autumn festival in Chinatown.」

「Hah? What is that?」

「Oh, have you never been, Ryoko-chan?」

「It’s the first time I’ve heard about it.」

「Is that so~.」

 

The mid-autumn festival, also known as the “Dan En-Bushi” was one of the three great festivals in China. It was a very lively festival during the most beautiful moon of the year.

In Japan, it was as popular as moon viewing on the 15th night of the 8th month in the lunar calendar.

 

「Every year in Chinatown, 1,000 moon lanterns would be lit to imitate the moon.」

「That, it’s a rough choice to go on a date.」

「Really?」

 

Where do young people go out for dates then?

Personally, when I heard about the mid autumn festival in Chinatown from Mukai-san, I was very excited.

 

「Well, I wonder if that’s surprising or not.」

「What’s surprising?」

「You don’t have to understand. I just mean you two look good together.」

「Is that so? That’s good then.」

 

I finished my lecture in a good mood and hurried to the bus stop near the university where we were meeting.

 

Mukai-san–was over there!

All always, he seemed to have arrived a while ago.

 

「It’s been a long time.」

 

Mukai-sanj responded to my greeting by raising his hand lightly.

This, was this the composure of an adult……!?

 

But unusually, he immediately held my hands.

It was unusual for that to happen without me pulling on Mukai-san’s sleeves and asking him to hold hands.

 

But, the reason soon came to light.

 

Ryoko-chan didn’t know about the mid-autumn festival in Chinatown so she thought that it was a relatively leisurely event. But I was surprised when I arrived in Chinatown, that contrary to my expectations, it was quite crowded.

 

「Uwa, this is amazing.」

「Not as much as the lantern festival.」

「Hou, hou.」

 

The lantern festival is a festival held in Chinatown for about two weeks to celebrate Chinese New Year.

About 15,000 signs with the 12 Chinese zodiac animals, dragons and lanterns were decorated everywhere.

Mukai-san told me that one of the highlights was the portable shrine with the Emperor and Empress of the Qing dynasty, called the Emperor Parade.

 

「It must be fantastical.」

「Because there are so many people who will want to see it, you’ll have to be prepared when you go over.」

「I-I see!」

 

We walked around the area while talking about such things.

When I looked around, there seemed to be round yellow lanterns like the moon everywhere.

Since it was still before 6pm, none of the lanterns were lit.

Speaking of why we had come so early, there was something I had wanted to do while it was still bright.

It was the stamp rally at the altars that were placed at the north, south, east and west gates to Chinatown.

We got a stamp card at the information desk and took on the challenge right away.

 

First, we went to the north gate.

There was a pig’s head in front of the altar, which surprised me a bit.

It seemed to be a mid autumn festival offering.

 

Enshrined at the north gate was a deity named Emperor Guan.

 

「To be exact, his full title is 『Holy Emperor Guan, the Great God Who Subdues Demons in the Three Worlds and Whose Awe Spreads Far and Moves Heaven』. The god of business.」

「Oh, his name sounds like a tongue twister! I’ll pray for the prosperity of the Evening Rain cafe.」

 

Putting coins into the offering box, I gave a prayer.

 

「At any rate, he has a magnificent beard.」

 

Emperor Guan, who was enshrined in the altar, had a long beard.

Here, a surprising fact was found.

 

「That’s Guan Yu.」

「Oh, now that you mention it!」

 

Guan Yu was a military commander famously known from the Records of the Three Kingdoms. He was also called Lord of the Magnificent Beard.

No way, he was worshipped as a god of business.

 

「Guan Yu’s home town was famous for its salt production and merchants seemed to worship him as a guardian deity.」

 

Apparently he was deified for his loyal personality.

 

I’ve learned a lot.

I didn’t forget to get the stamp at the end of it.

 

Next was the east gate.

Here, Fude Zhengshen was enshrined, the god of prosperity.

He was a god that protected the land.

I prayed here again and didn’t forget to get a stamp before leaving.

 

Next was the west gate.

Here, it was the god of matchmaking, Tsukuyomi no Mikoto.

I prayed firmly that my relationship with Mukai-san would continue.

Of course, I also got the stamp.

 

Finally, last was the south gate.

The deity here was the only female one, the goddess of the moon, Tai Ying Niang Niang.

She was also the incarnation of beauty, so I prayed carefully here as well.

 

By the time we had finished collecting everything, the area was completely dark.

When the full moon lanterns were lit, they shone beautifully like the full moon.

 

The prize for completing the stamp rally was a moon cake.

I was very grateful.

 

As its name suggests, the moon cake was a cake that looked like the moon and was once used as an offering during the mid autumn festival in China. In modern times, it was a popular gift during the mid autumn festival.

The contents of the bean paste varied from region to region and there were some that contained nuts, or those that had salted egg yolks.

 

Mukai-san told me to be careful of eating too much because it was very high in calories.

 

I enjoyed watching the dragon dance and Chinese lion dance in the square.

 

I enjoyed eating and walking.

The thing that surprised me the most was the fresh moon cake!

But because of the calorie discussion that I had earlier, I decided to give half to Mukai-san.

The bean paste was filled with chestnuts and there was nothing bad I could say about the moist cake. This was a new Chinese confection to me and it was very delicious.

 

We went home before it got too late.

Indeed, it was a wholesome date.

 

We left the area by tram.

Mukai-san sent me back home from the station, so we walked to my apartment side by side.

 

On the quiet night road, we told each other about our recent situations.

 

「Are you getting along well with Aoki?」

「Yes, he has been very kind to me.」

 

Aoki-san was Mukai-san’s highschool classmate and was 187cm tall, a former wrestling club member and very big. He seemed to go to the gym on his days off. Although he doesn’t look like a patissier because of his appearance, he was a very soft and gentle person.

 

「I was surprised when he introduced himself as a patissier.」

「If you call Aoki ‘him’, he’ll get mad.」

「……Is that so.」

 

In other words, Aoki-san was such a person.

His……no, her sweets were very good and she was a great pastry chef.

 

I enjoyed my work because I had a lot of food tasting.

 

Mukai-san seemed to be as busy as ever.

He said that he had just finished a new book that was due for publication next month and that final proofreading had just finished.

 

「It will be a little calmer next year.」

「I’m also looking forward to working in the Evening Rain together again like before.」

 

When I said that, he patted my head.

It was a pity that I couldn’t see his expression because it was dark.

 

We quickly arrived at my apartment.

 

When I tried to say goodbye, Mukai-san gave me something.

When I opened my hand, there was a fish–a bright red goldfish netsuke.

 

「Uwa~, it’s so pretty!」

 

Apparently he secretly bought it for me.

He told me that goldfish were very auspicious in China and a symbol of happiness.

 

「Thank you very much. I’m very happy.」

 

When I thanked him, Mukai-san gave a pleasant smile.

This time, thanks to the streetlight, I could see it well.

 

Filled with happiness, I hurried back to my apartment.

 

「Um, today was fun. I’ll be cheering for your work.」

「Ah.」

「And–」

「Don’t worry about it, go back now. Otherwise–」

「Hii!」

 

Mukai-san suddenly kissed me on my cheek.

I was surprised and moved my mouth like a goldfish in water.

 

「I’ll do something like this.」

「I-I understand!」

 

I became embarrassed and turned around before heading to the entrance of my apartment.

 

Finally, I turned around at the very end and gave a bow.

Looking up, Mukai-san had a complex expression.

When I saw that, I laughed a little.

 

In this way, our first date in a long time finished.

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