Mahiro and the Summer Festival

Mahiro and the Summer Festival (まひろと夏祭い, Mahiro To Natsu Matsuri) is Chapter 61 of Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister!. It was originally published on Pixiv on February 26, 2022.

Summary
To celebrate the end of summer, Mahiro and her friends go to a summer festival to see the fireworks.

Plot
Mahiro lies on the couch all gloomy over the fact that summer vacation is almost over. She notes to Mihari that being a college student must be nice, as she still has a whole month to go. Mihari notes that the second half is more "autumn" than "summer" though.

Mihari notes that she wishes that she could've done more summery things during the break. Mahiro complains a bit about the prospect of doing even more, pointing out that they even went to the beach. Mahiro starts to wonder what other kinds of summery things are still available. At that moment, she recieves a text from Momiji suggesting that they go watch the fireworks show together, and Mahiro is immediately intrigued.

At the site of the fireworks show, Mahiro is fitted for a woman's yukata. She reluctantly accepts that it had to turn out like this, while Mihari gushes over how cute Mahiro is. The two are met by Kaede and Momiji, the former of which thanks them for waiting.

Mahior sees that Momiji is wearing a men's yukata and laughs at it being exactly what she imagined, much to Momiji's confusion. Kaede is confused over Mihari not dressing up, which causes Mihari to blush and chuckle. Momiji tells Mahiro that she thinks that the others are around as well, and Mahiro becomes intrigued.

Mahiro and Momiji soon catch a glimpse of Asahi, who is dressed in an extremely adorable women's yukata with a fish pattern. Mahiro doesn't recognize her and asks who it is, after which Asahi clarifies that it's her. She explains that her mom made her wear it. Kaede gushes over how cute Asahi looks in it, saying that it is extremely adorable. Momiji says that its a fresh new look for her.

Miyo calls out to them from the crowd, noting to Mahiro, Momiji, and Asahi that they're all dressed up. Appearing with Nayuta, Miyo notes that she is glad that she decided to wear a yukata as well, as she was originally afraid that she would stand out if she was the only one. At that moment, Miyo notices that Mihari is the only one not wearing one, and gasps as she realized that she just caused Mihari to stand out in the same way that she just described. Miyo profusely apologizes, but Mihari tells her not to worry about it.

Mahiro says that since everyone is here it's time to hit the food stands, and everyone agrees with her. Asahi tries to take off sprinting like she normally does, but ends up tripping and falling on her face due to the constricting nature of the yukata. Mahiro and Momiji both express concern, with Momiji asking if she's okay. Asahi remarks that the yukata are so hard to walk in, while Momiji rubs her head to comfort her and says that she just needs to be a little more chill. Momiji says that they will take it slow with baby steps and offers out her hand to Asahi to help her. Asahi takes Momiji's hand and immediately smiles and chuckles.

Miyo sees this sight from afar and appears to die from arousal at the obvious yuri affection on display. Mahiro yells for Miyo's spirit to come back, while Nayuta is surprised to see Miyo's spirit floating above her body.

Reaching the food stands, Momiji says that they should first decide what they want to eat. Asahi is in the mood for yakisoba, while Mahiro desires takoyaki. Miyo decides that she's like a snow cone, and wonders which flavor she should get. Nayuta tells her that all shaved ice syrup is the same flavor, much to Miyo's confusion. Nayuta explains that they use color and fragrence to make you think that they taste different. Momiji is in disbelief about that, so Mahiro suggests that this calls for an experiment for which Asahi eagarly volunteers herself. Blindfolding Asahi, Momiji spoons a random flavor into her mouth while telling her that no sniffing is allowed and to hold her breath. As they do this, Mahiro notes that this feels criminal. Once Asahi has swollowed, Momiji asks her what flavor she thinks it is. Asahi remarks that it's tasty, and Miyo realizes that maybe they chose the wrong person to do the experiment on.

Momiji notes that festivals are nothing without lotteries. Rolling at one, Momiji hopes that she gets something good, but Mahiro tells her not to bother as she'll regret it. Momiji goes for it anyway, and ends up getting a yo-yo-ball with a spiked design that has a small mustached face on it, much to her disappointment. Mahiro notes that she told her so, while Asahi is amazed at it calling it extremely cool. Momiji tells Asahi that she can have it, which makes Asahi very excited.

Mahiro wonders what Mihari and Kaede are doing, with Nayuta explaining that they said that they were going to scope out a good spot for the fireworks show. Miyo becomes aroused at the prospect of those two going off alone, which leads to Mahiro telling Miyo not to get the wrong idea.

Mahiro and her friends soon begin to enjoy the festival in multiple ways. Mahiro enjoys a choclate-dipped banana, while Miyo enjoys a candy apple. Nayuta tries to play a ring toss game, only to toss the ring on the vendor's head much to Momiji's shock. Asahi and Miyo go bobbing for prizes. Momiji plays a shooting game and feels dashing due to closing one eye, much to Mahiro's amusement. Asahi soon wins a bunch of prizes and gets a ton of food, and ends up running out of money.

Eventually, Mahiro tells the others that the fireworks should be starting soon, and suggests that they meet up with Mihari. Kaede calls out to the group and unveils Mihari in a women's yukata with a flowery print, who says that they snagged a great spot. Miyo is amazed that Mihari has a yukata now, and Mihari admits that Kaede forced her to get one, with Kaede adding that she saw a rental shop nearby.

Mihari notices Mahiro staring at her, and asks how she looks. Mahiro is a bit surprised by the answer, but begins to tell Mihari that "maybe [she's] a little-". Before she can finish, the fireworks begin. The entire group is amazed by their appearance, with Miyo calling them amazing. Momiji calls them beautiful, and Mahiro agrees, revealing that she almost called Mihari beautiful.

Momiji suggests that they all come back and see it again next year, and Mahiro smiles noting that that would be nice. Asahi ends up calling "Tamaya" as the fireworks continue.

Mihari asks Mahiro what she thought about her yukata, as she couldn't hear her over the fireworks. Mahiro tries to play it cool and claims that she guess that anyone can look nice in the right outfit, which leads to Mihari telling her not to be mean. Kaede laughs, while Momiji thinks that Mahiro and Mihari sure do get along well.

It is revealed that Mihari felt embarrassed while getting fitted for her yukata, while Kaede just gushed over how cute Mihari looked in it.

Characters

 * Mahiro Oyama
 * Mihari Oyama
 * Kaede Hozuki
 * Momiji Hozuki
 * Asahi Ōka
 * Miyo Murosaki
 * Nayuta Tenkawa

Trivia

 * Mahiro references the beach trip that the gang took in "Mahiro's Beach Fun (Part 1)", "Mahiro's Beach Fun (Part 2)", and "Mahiro and the Squishy Thingie".
 * Mahiro references how Momiji dressed in a men's hakama for the new year in "Mahiro Rings in the New Year". This chapter is also refrenced by how Asahi runs out of money by getting food and prizes from the vendors.
 * Momiji feeling dashing when she closes one eye for the shooting game references when she wore an eyepatch and thought the same thing in "Mahiro and the Guidance of the Stars", and also when she took the eye exam in "Mahiro and the School Physical". It also references the first time she felt dashing in "Mahiro's Double Date".
 * As noted by the chapter, during the Edo period in Japan when fireworks shows became popular, competitions were regularly staged between two fireworks companies Tamaya and Kagiya. Viewers would call the name of the company they supported during the competitions. Even today, people call "Tamaya" at fireworks shows to cheer on the fireworks makers.

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