What was troubling O-Tsuru was the group of people she had seen with Kin'emon a few days ago at the Fire Festival Night.
At first, she was actually a little happy when she saw Kin'emon and was just about to go over to greet him, when she saw Kin'emon with a deathly pale face, his arm around two courtesans, walking with an unsteady gait into the pleasure district.
At that time, O-Tsuru was furious, but after thinking it over, she didn't just leave immediately; instead, she waited at the entrance of the pleasure district. But her waiting lasted the entire night, and when Kin'emon emerged the next morning with dark circles under his eyes, supporting his waist, O-Tsuru still hadn't left, though by then her expression showed no emotional fluctuation.
Later, Kin'emon and Raizuo reluctantly left, each surrounded by a group of heavily made-up courtesans. The two of them even passed by each other, but Kin'emon was dead drunk and didn't see her at all. And O-Tsuru didn't say anything either, she just silently returned to her own tea house.
The tea house, which was usually quite popular, was closed for that day, but it was back to normal business the next day.
O-Tsuru acted as if nothing had happened at all.
"Huh—" O-Tsuru exhaled, trying to calm her emotions. She didn't even know what she was feeling anxious about inside, and this sense of anxiety wasn't very strong.
"Yuriko-dono, Matsuri-dono, please, take your time." After handing the food to Yuriko and Matsuri, O-Tsuru then served a portion to Saori and Saya.
"O-Tsuru-san, you should rest for a bit too." Yuriko invited her to sit with them. The excited Matsuri and Saya were running around everywhere, waiting for the fireworks festival to begin.
"Have another drink, Ren-dono." Yuriko, holding a sake pot, poured a small bowl of sake for Ren, and thensmoothly sat down next to Ren.
"It should be about time soon." Keiko lifted her eyes to look into the distance, but the wilderness was still pitch black.
But in the next moment, a streak of blue light suddenly rose up, blooming into the dark night.
"Bang!"
The spreading sparks were like brilliant fluorescence, like luminous cherry blossoms that bloomed and vanished in an instant.
The pitch-black river surface lit up, and the constantly rippling water made the already flickering light of the fireworks seem illusory.
"Saori, Saya, Matsuri, the fireworks festival has started." Yuriko called out to the three children. Matsuri and the other two had also heard the sound and had long since stopped their antics to stand and watch.
The brilliant fireworks illuminated their slightly youthful faces in an instant.
"It's starting, it's starting, let's go watch too!" Matsuri said anxiously, and hurried over to sit down next to Yuriko. She was much quieter now, taking small bites of her candied apple while looking up at the night sky with sparkling eyes.
That last firework was like just a starting signal, and remembering that, countless bright meteors shot into the sky with glowing tails, blooming in Matsuri's pupils.
"So beautiful..."
Not to mention Matsuri, even Yukiko and Yuriko were temporarily mesmerized for a moment. Fireworks blooming all over the sky at the same time, although they vanished in an instant, the constantly rising fireworks from the ground continuously took their place.
"The purple fireworks are so beautiful!"
The sound of the fireworks continuously echoed in the wilderness, and soon the air was filled with the strong smell of gunpowder.
Just as everyone's attention was on the fireworks, Ren suddenly felt a hand reaching towards him. He turned his head and saw that Saya had somehow sat down behind him, secretly reaching out a hand to grab him.
When Ren turned to look at her, she stuck her tongue out playfully and winked at him.
But with so many people around, and with an outsider like O-Tsuru here, even Saya didn't dare to make too much of a scene.
She slowly grabbed Ren's arm and pulled it towards her, and as her upper body leaned towards Ren, her gaze was fixed on the glittering lake surface:
"The lake breeze in summer is so cool, Ren-dono, do you want to go catch some fish in the river?"
But her mischievous intentions were completely useless in front of Ren; Ren knew Saya had come prepared for this.
When people from Wano Country wear kimonos, they do have the custom of leaving the inner layer open, but if they are going out, Ren would have them wear the inner layer properly as well.
But today's Saya was being very traditional.
"Summer does have many thunderstorms, which is indeed a good time to eat river delicacies. The fish and shrimp are very plump now."
"Saori loves to eat river clams the most, I'll have her help you when we get back." Ren said on purpose.
Saya: ...
"But, that would take too long." Saya blinked one eye, she was practically more like a fox than Yuriko, who had eaten the Arctic Fox Fruit. At the same time, shesmoothly dove right into Ren's lap, almost squeezing Yuriko, who was sitting on Ren's right, out of the way.
The other female attendants just gave her a strange look, but didn't notice anything amiss, only Yuriko noticed something was wrong, but instead of exposing Saya, she changed her sitting position, helping to block the view of the others.
"Ah, Saya, you're so cunning, actually sitting in Ren-dono's lap!" Matsuri cried out, "I want to sit too!"
Yuriko sighed helplessly, feeling a bit exasperated with her somewhat slow-witted daughter. If Matsuri had the same kind of cleverness as Saya, she might have already become a grandmother by now.
"Hmph—no way I'll let you, you went out to sea with Ren-dono last time!"
Saya's voice trembled.
In the time that followed, Saya learned what it truly meant to ask for trouble.
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