episode_0089

As dusk settled, the town streets were packed with countless people, leaving no room to even set foot.

The joyful murmur of people dressed in colorful yukatas.

The fragrant scent of food wafting from the food stalls.

And like background music, the constantly resounding lively festival music, along with the small firecracker sounds adding to the merriment everywhere.

All of it combined to heat the rural town with the fervor of the festival.

“Wow.”

A gasp of admiration naturally escaped my lips as I gazed, mesmerized, at the hundreds of lanterns adorning the indigo sky like a dream.

Every scene unfolding before my eyes approached with the wonder and mystery one might find in a childhood fairy tale.

For a while, my mind had been so preoccupied with the heroines’ bodies that I had completely forgotten about this.

This new experience was also one of the good things that possession brought.

Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t looking forward to what would happen with the heroines at the festival.

“There are so many people! Look, Yuu! It’s goldfish scooping! Do you remember? We used to do it together in front of the neighborhood shrine when we were little.”

Akari, walking beside me, also glanced around, her eyes sparkling like a child’s today.

Her yukata, white with subtle morning glory patterns, exuded a charm different from the active clothes she usually favored.

Especially her hair, neatly tied up to reveal her neck, and the yukata’s uniquely elegant silhouette that softly embraced her body’s lines, were exquisite.

“Hmm, for a festival held in such a rural area, it’s quite serious. This isn’t bad.”

As I was sneaking glances at Akari’s graceful figure, Daiki, who had bought a cup of takoyaki and appeared out of nowhere, spoke.

His mouth was already a mess with teriyaki sauce.

“Isn’t it worth waiting a month for, Daiki?”

Akari asked with an “I told you so” expression, and Daiki snorted lightly.

“Worth? Hmph, this isn’t nearly enough. I’m going to enjoy tonight properly for having waited so long. Don’t even think about trying to stop me later with different excuses.”

“No one’s stopping you, so don’t worry. But before that, we need to drop Yuu off with Honoka Unnie first.”

As Akari said, our first destination was the stall Honoka had decided to open during the festival.

This was because I had finally agreed to the proposal I received from Honoka last time.

Akari, who had been uneasy about it at the time, didn’t try to stop me further once I said I would do it.

Though she did console me all day, promising to cheer me up from my sulky mood.

Anyway, that’s how it was, and we were walking, dodging through the crowd, to get to the stall location Honoka had informed us of beforehand.

“Oh my. Akari-yang?”

Turning my head at the familiar voice from behind, I saw Fumika standing there, also dressed in a yukata, like everyone else.

She was wearing a yukata with a dark black background delicately embroidered with gold floral patterns.

Her slender ankles revealed as the hem of her clothes swayed slightly with each step, and the voluptuous curve of her chest rising above the yukata.

A captivating sensuality, completely different from her usual neat and tidy miko attire, emanated from her.

“Fumika-ssi! Ah, no, Fumika Unnie! Hello! Come to think of it, you also said you’d be running a stall with Honoka Unnie, right?”

Akari, who had greeted Fumika as she slowly approached, then scanned her yukata attire up and down as if mesmerized.

“Akari-yang? Is something wrong?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Unnie. I… I usually only see you in your miko attire, so seeing you in a yukata looks very… different, and I couldn’t help myself.”

At those words, Fumika blinked a couple of times, and a beautiful smile formed on her lips.

“That’s what I thought, too, right? It’s a festival that only happens once a year, so I thought it wouldn’t be bad to create this kind of atmosphere once in a while. Though I say that, I kept agonizing over it until the night before. Hehe.”

The moment she finished speaking, Fumika’s deep gaze briefly turned towards me.

“But Akari-yang, you’re also dressed up beautifully, just as much as I am, aren’t you? That yukata really suits you.”

At Fumika’s compliment, Akari waved her hand shyly.

“Oh, me? I just picked the one I liked best from what was available at the rental shop. Compared to you, Unnie, this isn’t even that pretty.”

“In my opinion, Akari Noona is plenty pretty!”

“Ugh. Why are you like this too, really.”

When I spoke with sincerity, she feigned a scolding while.

Seeing the tips of her ears flushed red, she didn’t seem to dislike it.

“And, Fumika Noona too!”

At my sudden compliment, Fumika seemed surprised for a moment, then smiled shyly.

“Thank you. Yuugun, you also look well-dressed today, don’t you?”

“Yep!”

“He’s wearing the same clothes he always does, what do you mean ‘well-dressed’?”

The atmosphere was good, but as always, Daiki, that brat, threw a wet blanket on it.

“Um… is this Akari-yang’s boyfriend?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. This is my boyfriend, Daiki. Daiki, this is Kisaragi Fumika Unnie. She’s the one I told you about, who manages the shrine in this village all by herself.”

“Ah, um… Hello.”

That guy, who normally couldn’t resist a pretty girl, was strangely stiff around Fumika.

Perhaps he still held a bad misunderstanding about Fumika, like when I had just possessed this body.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kisaragi Fumika.”

Even with Daiki’s somewhat blunt greeting, Fumika responded by gracefully bowing her waist, in accordance with etiquette.

With that elegant movement, her ample cleavage swayed dizzily between the folds of her yukata.

Sure enough, I didn’t miss Daiki’s eyes lingering there before hastily shifting elsewhere.

Right. Of course, that’s you.

“Let’s not stand in the middle of the street like this; let’s talk while we walk. Honoka will be waiting.”

“Yes, Unnie.”

At Fumika’s suggestion, we resumed our halted steps.

Silence fell between us as we walked down the street for a moment.

“Akari-yang.”

Fumika, looking around, whispered something into Akari’s ear.

“You remember, don’t you? On the last night of the festival…”

“Yes, of course. You said to go to the shrine, right?”

Akari’s expression, as she quietly listened to Fumika’s words, was serious.

“Last night of the festival? Is there something fun happening then?”

At that moment, Daiki, whom I thought was just idly putting takoyaki into his mouth, abruptly cut into their conversation.

He was a master at failing to read the room.

Then, replacing the slightly startled Akari, Fumika smoothly made an excuse with a gentle smile.

“Yes, on the last night of the festival, there’s a magnificent and beautiful fireworks display. You’ll probably be very surprised if you see it in person. It’s truly a spectacular sight.”

“Oh, fireworks, huh. Since you say that, I can’t help but look forward to it, you know?”

The simple-minded guy quickly turned his attention to another topic.

As we walked, wading through the crowd and chatting about various trivial things, we soon arrived at the destination Honoka had told us about.

The area in front of the stall was already teeming with countless customers, leaving no room to even set foot, even before formal business had begun.

And at the center of that chaotic crowd, Honoka, looking bolder than anyone else today, was busily preparing for opening.

In a tight fit that fully revealed her body shape.

A striking red flame-patterned modified yukata with a deeply plunging neckline and a skirt length so precarious it provocatively exposed her luscious thighs.

Seeing that attire, it was instantly clear why male customers were flocking specifically to this stall.

“Hey~! You’ve finally arrived, my little workers!”

Honoka, who was busily making chocolate bananas and greeting customers, spotted our group and welcomed us with her characteristic lively voice.

“Honoka Unnie! It’s already a huge success even before you’ve started?”

“Hehehe. Isn’t this all thanks to my good behavior normally?”

Akari, stepping into the stall and looking around, spotted the chocolate bananas lined up on the display stand and spoke with a hint of disappointment.

“So, what you were making was chocolate bananas? Well, it’s like you, Unnie, to dislike anything complicated or troublesome.”

“What does it matter? If it sells well, that’s all that matters! And this, it takes more work than it looks, you know. I have to peel each banana, skewer it, coat it in chocolate, and then sprinkle toppings on it – how busy am I?!”

“Oh, it’s a joke, a joke. But it does look delicious. Can I try one first?”

“Can’t you see the long line here? If you want to buy, you should line up properly like the other customers, young lady.”

Honoka, lightly swatting Akari’s hand as if to say “no way,” finished her preparations.

Perhaps due to her busy movements, her firm thighs repeatedly appeared and disappeared tantalizingly beneath the short yukata hem.

Accordingly, the male customers gathered in front of the stall unconsciously let out gasps of admiration along with sounds of dry swallowing.

“Anyway, Honoka Unnie, no matter how much it’s the festival atmosphere… isn’t your outfit a bit too daring?”

“This is all~ Honoka Unnie’s very elaborate and high-level sales strategy, wouldn’t you say?”

At Akari’s worried remark, she defiantly pulled open the front of her yukata, fully exposing her ample G-cup cleavage.

“Ooh~~!”

Then, the gazes of the passing men collectively fixated on her chest like magnets.

“You have to appeal with this kind of ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ sexiness for the virgin customers to flock to this store, spellbound, with bundles of money.”

“Don’t say things like that so brazenly in front of customers…”

Akari mumbled as if dumbfounded, but Honoka didn’t care at all.

“What does it matter? Since I’ve gone so far as to open a stall, shouldn’t I definitely earn back more than my investment in one night?”

“Even so. It’s not just the front; the back is incredibly short too… The hem is practically hanging on your buttocks! Um, are you really wearing underwear underneath?”

At Akari’s cautious question, Honoka, with a mischievous face, subtly lifted the hem of her yukata.

“Hmm~? What do you think? Did this Unnie wear *that* right now, or not~? Want to guess? If you guess correctly, I might give you a free banana.”

“Ooh~~!!!”

“Ah, no! Absolutely don’t tell me anything like that! I’m not curious at all, and I don’t want to know even a speck of it!”

Akari, with a beet-red face, recoiled in horror and hurriedly backed away.

At her innocent and cute reaction, Honoka burst into hearty laughter, clutching her stomach.

Even the surrounding customers joined in, bursting into laughter at the sight.

“Akari, let’s go look around now. If we wait too long, there will be even more people.”

As they were happily chatting, Daiki, who was outside the stall as if he couldn’t wait any longer, called out to Akari.

“Ah, sorry, Daiki! I’ll be right there!”

At his words, Akari hurriedly left the stall.

“Well then, Honoka Unnie, Fumika Unnie, we’ll be heading off now! Yuu, you make sure to help out well here and don’t cause any trouble! Got it? I’ll come check on you later!”

She earnestly admonished me several times before scurrying off to Daiki.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to ‘work him hard,’ so. Hehe.”

Honoka watched Akari’s retreating figure with a meaningful smile.

****

The work at the stall was even more chaotic than I had expected.

As more time passed and the sun fully set, the streets became an absolute sea of people who had come out to fully enjoy the festival.

Whether it was the menu attracting attention, or thanks to Honoka’s daring outfit.

Whatever the reason, the chocolate bananas, along with the shrine charms and omikuji that Fumika was quietly selling on the side, sold like hotcakes.

And so, as the fervor of the festival that had adorned the night sky gradually subsided and the flow of customers thinned out, it was getting late.

“Um, excuse me…”

A small shadow that had been hovering in front of the store for a long time finally, as if gathering great courage, called out to us in a very small voice.

Turning around, I saw Kenta, whom I had met a few days ago, standing alone and hesitating, with an anxious expression of not knowing what to do.

Today, the other kids who used to follow him like shadows were nowhere to be seen.

“Oh? Isn’t that Kenta? What brings you here? Are you going to play another mischievous prank?”

When Honoka Noona asked, her hand on her hip, as if suspicious, Kenta shouted with a huff.

“Th-that’s not it?! Just give me one of those. A chocolate banana.”

All the previous arrogance in his voice was gone.

It seemed he was still thoroughly intimidated because of that shocking incident last time.

Poor thing.

“What? If that’s what it was, why didn’t you say so earlier instead of just standing there awkwardly? Wait, this Noona will specially pick out a really big and tasty one for you.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Honoka immediately began skillfully making a chocolate banana with practiced and dazzling movements.

As I sat on a chair, quietly watching her, she suddenly looked at me and spoke.

“Ah, Yuu. Could you bring me one more chocolate syrup bottle from the back? The one we’re using is almost out, so I need to replace it quickly.”

“Okay, got it! I’ll bring it right away!”

Just as I stood up from the chair and was about to head to the back of the stall to get the ingredients.

“Eek?!”

Kenta’s frightened, deer-like gaze met mine directly.

“Here, Kenta. Here… Huh? Kenta, where did he go? He was just here a moment ago.”

When Honoka proudly turned around, holding the carefully made chocolate banana, Kenta had vanished from the spot without a trace.

That kid, in the extremely brief moment it took me to go inside the store to get the ingredients, had bolted without even looking back.

“What? He just left after I went through all that trouble to make it. Ugh, what a waste.”

Honoka sighed and blankly looked down at the appetizing chocolate banana in her hand.

She seemed to ponder for a moment, then casually offered it to Fumika, who was idly resting beside her.

“Here, Fumika Unnie. Have this one. You haven’t eaten anything since earlier, only working. Your blood sugar must be dropping.”

But Fumika gently shook her head, declining.

“I’m fine. You’re the one who hasn’t been able to rest properly because you’re busy. You should eat that.”

“I ate too much trying samples yesterday, so I’m sick of it. Honestly, it’s hard for me to even smell chocolate now.”

“Or should I buy something else delicious? Is there anything else you want to eat?”

“Hmm… something I want to eat…”

Honoka, who had been contemplating deeply while stroking her chin, slowly let her gaze drift to my face.

“Right… Since I’m going to eat something, I’d rather have a more ‘special banana’ than something like this.”

She smiled provocatively and brought the chocolate banana in her hand to her lips so only I could see.

Then, she erotically licked the tip of the chocolate-covered banana with the tip of her tongue before slowly taking the whole thing into her mouth.

Slurp♥Suck♥Mmm♥Hehehe.

At that openly provocative temptation, I unconsciously felt my lower body throb and grow warm again.