Negi, sitting at one of the outside tables of his tea house, took a long drag from his kiseru and read over the recently arrived letter one last time before balling it up and deftly tossing it into the waste bin.
"What an absolute pain" he muttered out loud to himself.
He began wondering if there was a way to skip this year's feast as well as the last two since he'd been forced to the mainland. Realizing that he was all out of excuses this time, he wondered if maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he expected it to be.
He knew Sigoru would be there. She's nice enough but he finds it a bit unnerving, the way she stares after him sometimes.