The Night the Fireworks Vanished

Tonight was the town's fireworks festival. The riverbank was packed, and Yui had saved a spot with her family. BOOM!… but wait. The firework climbed the sky and died into plain smoke — no light, no bloom. The next one too. And the next. "Are the fireworks… broken?" The whole town began to murmur. The night sky stayed black.

That night, in Grandma's storehouse, the old scroll was rattling all by itself. They unrolled it — the great river-opening festival of Edo. But in the painted sky, there were no fireworks either. "This is the work of Nejiru the Time Peddler," said Grandma. "He has stolen the BEGINNING of fireworks out of history, to sell it high. Take it back before this night ends — or fireworks vanish from our world for good."

Yui dove into the scroll — and landed at Edo's Ryōgoku Bridge. Pleasure boats lined the river, and the bridge sagged with people, all waiting for Japan's first great fireworks. But the fireworks-master's hut was in an uproar: "The secret book is GONE! Without it, nothing flies tonight!" History was breaking — right here, right now.

"Looking for THIS, are we?" Yui spun around — a man in a bowler hat was waving a wrapped bundle. Nejiru the Time Peddler. "'The beginning of fireworks'… now that's rare goods. A collector far away will pay a fortune." He grinned, slid into the crowd, and melted from sight. "Think you can find me, little miss?"

Somewhere in this crowd, Nejiru hides in disguise. But a hasty disguise always leaks — a hat peeking here, a stripe showing there. And that wrapped secret book must be stashed nearby too. Hunt them down with your own eyes — and when you spot one, tap-tap!

"FOUND you!" Yui tap-tapped, and the disguise fluttered to the ground. "H-how did you know?!" "Your hat and your stripes were showing." Heads turned; the fireworks-master came running. Nejiru dropped the secret book, popped a smoke ball — PON! — and vanished, leaving only a voice behind: "You win tonight. But the next 'time' will be MINE!"

"Ta-ma-ya—!" That night, over Edo, Japan's very first great flower of fire bloomed, and the crowd's cheer shook the river. The scroll flashed gold — and Yui was back on the riverbank, right beside her family. BOOM! A huge, glorious firework filled the modern sky. "Isn't it beautiful," said Mom. And only Yui knew its secret.