The scorching sumr heat made people not want to step outside, greedily enjoying the cool comfort of air conditioning indoors instead.
Today, Shido was standing in the kitchen preparing lunch. Lately, cooking was Mikoto's job, but she had called early in the morning saying she had important business to take care of.
[Well, doing this once in a while again isn't bad.] Shido thought as he mixed the ground at.
Lunch was Hamburg steak, everyone's favorite. Behind him, Kaguya and Yuzuru were playing a fighting ga, Kotori was reading a fashion magazine, Reine was drinking coffee, and Yoshino and Tohka were watching TV.
[It would be nice if Senpai was here too.]
Looking at everyone getting along so happily, Shido couldn't help but think that.
Ding-Dong!
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Huh?"
[Who would be visiting at this hour? A newspaper salesman?]
Shido walked to the entrance and opened the door.
"H-Help out, Shido."
What he saw was a young girl holding a mountain of cardboard boxes, swaying unsteadily just trying to stand.
"Yakumo-senpai? What is all this?"
Shido rushed forward and took so of the boxes to lighten her load. The mont he grabbed them, a delicious sll hit his nose. It seed to be food.
"Ooh, that slls so good! What is it? Hey, hey, Shido, Mikoto, what is that?"
Slling the food, Tohka ca running over with rapid steps. Her sparkling eyes made her look exactly like a puppy staring at a bone.
"Umm, let see... Takoyaki, chocolate bananas, candy apples, and okonomiyaki... They're all festival snacks."
Shido opened a box and found it packed with all kinds of street food.
"Kukuku, after a long and grueling battle, has the tribute to restore our stamina finally arrived?"
Kaguya, who had just finished a round of her ga, stood up.
"Translation: We got hungry right as the ga ended, ow."
"I didn't say 'ow'!"
Yuzuru followed Kaguya to the table, and the two each grabbed a skewer of grilled squid.
"Kukuku, let this ancient evil god beco nourishnt for my body."
"Amazent. This is truly delicious grilled food."
"Wait, if you guys eat that many snacks now, you won't be able to eat lunch," Shido smiled wryly, watching everyone dig in.
"It's fine, Shido! No matter how many snacks I eat, Hamburg steaks go into my Hamburg-steak specific stomach!" Tohka declared proudly after quickly polishing off an entire box of takoyaki.
"Ahaha..."
Faced with Tohka's logic, Shido could only scratch his cheek, giving up on trying to argue.
"Umm... Umm?"
On the other side of the room, Yoshinon was holding a chocolate banana and feeding it to Yoshino. Noticing Shido watching them, the puppet suddenly pushed harder, stuffing the chocolate banana deeper into the girl's mouth. As a result, Yoshino let out a slightly pained moan. Seeing that highly suggestive image, Shido quickly turned his head away, his face bright red.
"Well, it's fine, isn't it? We can just have the Hamburg steaks for dinner. But what's the deal with all this street food?"
Kotori walked over, picking up a candy apple.
"Ahaha... I went to the shopping district today to discuss the Sumr Festival, and before I knew it, I was handed all this food." Mikoto smiled wryly.
She had only intended to discuss the placent of the food stalls for the festival, but the enthusiastic shop owners packed up all kinds of freshly made food and gave it to her.
"Sumr Festival? At your shrine, Yakumo-senpai?" Shido asked. Sumr festivals were a special sumr event for shrines.
"Yeah. With other shrines holding their sumr festivals, we can't afford to fall behind."
Mikoto smiled energetically. Since she had taken over the shrine from Tamako obaa-chan, she needed to run it properly. For that, festivals were incredibly important.
"Sumr... Festival? Is a Sumr Festival delicious?" Tohka's eyes sparkled.
"I wouldn't say it's delicious, but there is a lot of delicious food there. It's similar to the fireworks festival at Tengu River we went to before," Shido explained.
"Mhm. We're going to have a fireworks show this ti too. And all the snacks Tohka likes" Mikoto nodded with a smile. Although it was a sumr festival, they couldn't make it too massive. Aside from food stalls and Kagura dances, the main event was the fireworks show.
"Ooh! Lots of snacks plus a fireworks show! Isn't that the strongest combination ever!?" Tohka said excitedly.
"Fireworks... I love them," Yoshino added happily in a soft voice.
"Oh, by the way, instead of just visiting the festival, do you guys want to try running a food stall this ti?" Mikoto suggested.
Since they were the organizers, instead of just walking around, she could use her position to let Tohka and the others enjoy the festival from a completely different perspective.
"That sounds like a great idea. I approve." Kotori's eyes lit up.
Running a stall would help the Spirits understand human society and comrce better. That was sothing Ratatoskr was very happy to see.
"But won't that be a bit too much for Yoshino?" Shido asked.
Among all the Spirits, Yoshino's ntal state was the most fragile. During the last fireworks festival, just losing Yoshinon caused her Spirit energy to flow backward. He didn't want to ruin the mood, but having Yoshino run a food stall seed far too difficult for her.
"It's fine, it's fine! Yoshinon will help Yoshino!" Yoshinon waved its hands and declared.
"In that case, I will join her. Having two people is much easier than one, right?" Reine said.
Leaving Yoshino to run a stall by herself was indeed worrying, but with Reine there, it wouldn't be a problem.
"So, what kind of stall would Yoshino like to run?" Reine asked.
"I like... shaved ice..." Yoshino timidly raised her hand, showing great interest in both the festival and shaved ice.
"Alright, understood. That leaves... Kotori, why don't you join them as well?" After confirming Yoshino's choice, Reine turned to Kotori.
"Eh? ? I have to participate too?" Kotori was taken aback.
"I think it's a wonderful idea. As the Commander of Ratatoskr, Kotori is busy every day, right? Taking a break once in a while is important." Mikoto nodded, then continued:
"So, everyone will run a stall, and Shido... you can just be a custor!"
"Eh? ?"
"Mhm! Is there a more perfect custor than Shido?"
"Ugh..."
Faced with Mikoto's beaming smile, Shido had no way to argue and simply nodded.
"Onii-chan is a custor, huh..."
Looking at the slightly flustered Shido, Kotori seed to have made a decision in her heart.
And so, it was decided: the Spirits would run the stalls, and Shido would attend the Sumr Festival as their custor.
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