Izumi Hasegawa -

Riku ran to it, expecting to find it broken. But it wasn’t. A leaf was stuck to its wing, making it look even more like a real dragon resting in the forest.

Riku sighed. “What if I run and the wind isn’t right? What if the string breaks? What if it just crashes into the ground?” izumi hasegawa

Riku picked up the kite. For the first time, he noticed how the sunlight made the red paint shimmer. He noticed the way the bamboo frame flexed, strong and springy. He had been so afraid of it failing, he had never actually seen it live . Riku ran to it, expecting to find it broken

“Did you see that loop?” she called out. “Magnificent! And that crash landing? The dragon was tired!” Riku sighed

“Why so glum, little sparrow?” Oba-chan asked, settling beside him.

One autumn afternoon, Riku’s grandmother, Oba-chan, found him sitting under the persimmon tree, staring at a beautiful, unflown kite he had spent weeks building. The kite was perfect, painted like a crimson dragon.