Maria-sama ga Miteru Volume 23 Chapter 2
She gave her room a spring clean, helped her mother out a little bit with the New Years cooking, checked the TV Guide for the New Years specials and in no time at all it was New Years Eve and her father was slurping soba noodles as he watched the annual Red and White New Years singing contest.
Even if she was carrying some unfinished business in her heart, at midnight that night it was as though the reset b.u.t.ton was pressed across all of j.a.pan and the new year arrived.
"Happy New Year!"
Her father spoke over the top of the countdown program announcer on the TV, saying, "Tape, tape. Bring me a piece of tape about 10cm long." The new year brought a new lucky direction that the protective talisman had to face, and to make sure it didnt fall down it was held in place from above with tape. It was bad luck to stick the talisman back up again after it had fallen down. Her father stood on a stool, holding the talisman up with his right hand as he reached down with his left.
"Coming right up."
Yuuki cut a piece of tape from his roll as he answered. Even though he could have just used the serrated edge attached to the tape holder, he always made a point of cutting it neatly with scissors. His reasoning was, "If this is going to be the sash that wreathes the talisman of an unimaginably powerful G.o.d, then its better to make the ends straight."
It was probably because of his methodical nature that their father made Yuuki his a.s.sistant. Incidentally, Yumi had been involved a bit earlier when shed played the role of the guide, standing back from the wall and looking from the talisman to the compa.s.s and giving directions like, "A bit to the left."
Despite these sort of involvements with the Shinto G.o.ds, the eldest son and the eldest daughter of the f.u.kuzawa family had attended a Buddhist and Christian school, respectively, since they were young.
Now then. With the talisman hanging safely, the whole family could finally say, "Happy New Year."
Aunt Taekos family werent going on a vacation to Hawaii this year, so there was no talk of both parents going to Yamanashi as their father handed out the New Years gifts.
"Lets make this year a good year too."
The amount inside the decorative envelope was the same as last year, but they werent too disappointed because theyd been informed of this ahead of time by their mother. Well, it wasnt as though the amount went up every year. It had gone up by a bit last year to emphasize their entrance into high school.
Tomorrow, or, rather, the morning a few hours from now, started for them at 7. So after saying goodnight to their parents, the two children headed towards their rooms on the second floor.
"I kinda feel wide awake."
Yuuki said, stopping in the middle of the stairway in front of her.
"Oh, you feel that way too, Yuuki?"
Shed felt a bit drowsy when some unknown singers had been performing enthusiastically during the New Years singing contest, but shed pushed past that and was now completely awake.
"Yeah. I guess Ill play a game or something until I get tired."
Her brother occasionally seemed like an old man, but when he had time to waste he liked to play video games like a normal high school boy.
"But you know, they say you should start the year the way you intend to spend the whole year. If you start off just playing games, how will you be if you get addicted and thats all you do for the whole year?"
In the past, Yumi used to spend New Years morning reading manga comics, but her now deceased grandfather had warned her that, "Youll be addicted to them for the whole year." Ever since then, shed paid particularly close attention to how she spent January 1st.
"Addicted to games? Thatd suck. In that case, watching TV downstairs is out too."
He could have just laughed off the superst.i.tion but her earnest younger brother gave it serious consideration, standing in the middle of the staircase. Although since she was stuck behind him, Yumi would have preferred that hed at least finished climbing the stairs first.
"Hey, Yuuki."
She was about to tell him to do his thinking in his room, but Yuuki raised his head.
"I know. Ill head out for a bit."
"Head out?"
"For a walk. Just around the neighborhood."
He begged her pardon and squeezed past her down the stairs. She obediently let him pa.s.s but then thought better of it and followed after him.
"So youre going to spend the whole year going for a walk?"
"Itll be good for my health, dont you think?"
Probably. There was no need to worry though, it was different to a game in that no-one ever became obsessed with going for a walk.
"Wait, Ill go too."
Yumi grabbed her brothers elbow. But Yuuki immediately rejected this.
"No way, youre a girl."
"No fair."
"Huh."
"Its fine for a boy, but not for a girl. Thats not fair."
The f.u.kuzawa family had a policy of gender equality. Yuuki was fully aware of this too.
"Let me tell you, its not s.e.xual discrimination."
"I know. Youre just worried about me."
"Thats right."
Yuuki shook free of his sisters hand.
"But it annoys me. I know its different, but it still really annoys me."
As she was saying this, Yumi vaguely realized that her annoyance wasnt just directed at not being able to go for a walk in the middle of the night.
Even though she realized it, she couldnt stop herself. It was troubling that she was bothered by such a small matter.
If she kept going on about how annoying it was, it would probably get her brother down too, so he agreed to let her come along with some conditions attached.
"&h.e.l.lip; You can come if you get permission from mom and dad."
So it looked like Yuuki would have gone out without saying a word if it was just him. If their mom and dad then found out about their thoroughly good sons excursion theyd probably just forgive him immediately. There were benefits to being a boy after all.
The lights in the living room were already off. When she reached her parents room, her father was in the middle of changing into his pajamas and her mother was rubbing hand cream into her fingers.
"Youll be with Yuuki?"
Their eyes met for a moment. Ooh, that was a good response. Since it was the sort of situation where they might just say, "No," without listening.
As shed expected, her father frowned as he spoke.
"Be back by one."
"Alright!"
Yumi thought that, in this case, they were relying on Yuuki. They believed that, if push came to shove, he would protect his older sister. Of course, it went without saying that this wasnt permission for them to go out at night any time, as long as they were together. Today was special because it was the first day of the new year.
"Back by one. Thats only 30 minutes."
Yuuki said, his face plainly showing that this was a hindrance. Apparently hed been somewhat expecting their parents to talk her out of it while hed been waiting at the entrance.
"Were just going around the neighborhood, right? Thirty minutes should be more than enough."
"But still."
Hed said it would be just around the neighborhood, but it looked like her brother had been planning on going further afield.
"Well, cant do much about that. Weve got thirty minutes, so well just go around the neighborhood."
They put on their coats and then set out carrying only their house key.
The night air was cold and stung her exposed flesh, but she could tell that it was clear air she was breathing in.
As they walked the residential streets she completely lost track of what time it was.
There were still quite a few houses with light leaking through the windows.
There werent a lot of people walking the streets, but there were more than shed expected.
"Theyre going to visit a shrine."
Yuuki said, pointing at the young couple walking in front of them.
"A shrine visit? How can you tell?"
"The guys carrying a ceremonial arrow."
Then, in that case, wouldnt they be returning from the shrine instead of going to it? Yumi asked this and Yuuki explained that each year people would take their old one as an offering when they bought a new one, so they carried them both ways. His reasoning was that there was a Shinto shrine not that far away in the direction they were going, whereas there wasnt one anywhere near as close in the opposite direction.
"A shrine visit, huh?"
"Ah, its no good. Wed never make it back by one if we followed them."
"I wasnt really going to suggest that."
Although she had briefly considered it. Itd be really bad if she was back late after pushing hard for permission to go on this late night outing. Nothing she could do about that. Shed have to make do with just a walk around the block after all.
As she was walking along, looking up at the sky, she saw a star speed past.
"Did you see that? Hey, did you see that?"
Yumi pointed up at the sky and her brother said, "What?"
"A shooting star, a shooting star. I guess you can still see them even in Tokyo."
She was so excited she slapped Yuukis arms.
"Its because the air in Tokyo clears up during the New Years break. Still, I guess its good that you saw it, Yumi."
"Its not good. I forgot to make a wish."
If you mentally recite your wish three times before the shooting star disappears, it will come true. Although, as youd expect, that was impossible. But it happened because of the difficulty, or so the theory went.
"Do you have a wish?"
Yuuki asked.
"Well."
She was a teenage girl. She had all sorts of wishes.
- And then.
"Are you fine with anywhere?"
"Huh? Anywhere?"
"For a shrine visit."
Her brother said, "Come with me," then after walking for about ten minutes something unbelievable was waiting for them at their destination.
"Oh oh oh."
She cried out, without thinking. In the winding alley between two houses, there was a small shrine.
"How did you know about this place?"
"I found it ages ago, when I was riding around aimlessly on my bike. So I guess you didnt know about it then, Yumi."
"Yeah. Even though its right in our neighborhood."
Pa.s.sing under the red torii gate, they came to a small altar about 30cm wide and tall.
"Ah, we should have brought some money to offer."
She couldnt see an offertory box, but there was a bit of a depression at the front of the altar where a couple of coins had been left. They could have been from an earlier visitor, or perhaps theyd been there since last year.
"We did."
"Huh. Dont tell me youre talking about our New Years money?"
Since theyd gone out before she made it back to her room, Yumi had her New Years money in her coat pocket. But she wasnt generous enough to leave a note as a money offering.
"No, you idiot."
Yuuki reached into his jeans pocket, pulled out a coin and offered it to Yumi, saying, "Here, five yen." Like the five yen of fate. No, in this situation, that was irrelevant.
With the coin still resting atop his palm, Yuuki said:
"Dont tell me that this is unfair too."
"I wont."
Shed only ever carried money in her purse, be it coins or notes, so carrying money in a pocket was a bit of a novelty to her. But now that she thought about it, her father often took coins out of his pockets too. It just confirmed that Yuuki was a boy.
"Thank-you. Ill pay you back when we get home."
"Im more than happy to just give you the five yen, but youd rather make the offering with your own money, right?"
"Yeah."
They both placed a five yen coin next to the other offerings, then clapped their hands together and prayed.
Yumi prayed for the health of everyone she loved, and for Touko-chan.
That she could reconcile with Touko-chan.
It was a lot to ask for a measly five yen.
"Oh right. I forgot to mention this before. If your wish comes true, youve got to bring an offering of fried tofu in thanks."
"Fried tofu &h.e.l.lip; "
"See, this is a shrine to the G.o.d Inari."
"It is too."
She looked closer and saw the foxes to the left and right, protecting the shrine.
"Hey, Yuuki. Can you draw me a map of how to get here for next time?"
"Huh? We just walked here and you still dont know?"
"But it was dark."
"Its less than ten minutes from home."
Yuuki muttered in astonishment. But hed have to tell her the way. Yumi didnt know what would happen with Touko-chan, but the health of her loved ones seemed an easy wish to grant. She thought shed definitely have to come back here with an offering of fried tofu in a years time.
The earnest f.u.kuzawa siblings returned home at one minute to one, as instructed.
The house felt a bit warm when they stepped inside, considering the heating would have been turned off half an hour ago.
There was a note from their mother on the hallway floor. It had been left in a place theyd walk over so there was no way they could miss it. For instance, even if they hadnt turned the lights on, theyd still notice it when they stepped on it or kicked it.
"Welcome home. You must be cold. Ive refilled the bath with hot water, so you can both take a turn."
"Ooh, thanks."
Yumi and Yuuki looked at each other, then they both took a deep breath and simultaneously called out, "Scissors, paper, rock."
Yumi went with rock, Yuuki with paper.
"You waited until I made my move and still lost."
Yuuki cackled, "You have much to learn, gra.s.shopper," and headed towards the bath. As she watched him go, Yumi softly muttered:
"Which one of us has much to learn?"
Since he hadnt noticed that she lost on purpose.
"Dad, dad, mom, Yuuki, dad, me, mom."
She was reading aloud as she moved her arm when Yuuki quietly said:
"&h.e.l.lip; It seems like every year I tell you to sort them silently."
"But it just comes out, no matter what I do."
"Im sure you wouldnt say it out loud if you thought itd cause a bomb to go off in the house."
Thats about what it would take. Exasperated, Yumi stopped for a bit then took a pocky stick from the cake dish and stuck it between her lips. Like it was a cigarette, although shed never smoked. This way was much better than thinking about something dangerous like a bomb. If she opened her mouth the chocolate would fall out, so she had to be careful.
That morning, shed been awoken by her mother calling out, "Wake up everyone," at 7am.
She got out of bed enthusiastically, even though shed only had five hours sleep, and not just to avoid the curse of, "Itll be like that the whole year."
The New Years cards were coming. Thinking this, she smartly declined her warm futons invitation to go back to sleep.
Of course. The f.u.kuzawa family a.s.sembled and greeted one another, then ate the traditional New Years zouni broth together. So the severe scolding shed receive if she lazed around in bed was another reason to get up.
Now then, on to the New Years cards.
The two children split the cards into four lots, with Yumis and Yuukis stacks looking a bit thicker than usual. Even though the number theyd sent hadnt really changed. What was going on?
"Whos this?"
Yumi mumbled. She couldnt recognize the senders name, even though it was addressed to her. And it wasnt just one or two. Plus they were New Years cards, so all that was written in a lot of them was "Happy New Year" or "Best Wishes for the Year Ahead" or "New Years Greetings," which made things hard because it didnt give any hints as to who the sender was or how they knew each other.
And yet they couldnt have been complete strangers, because they knew her home address. Lillians was particularly strict about how they handled that sort of information.
"Huh? This looks like a boys name &h.e.l.lip; ?"
She hadnt noticed immediately because the first couple of names had been gender neutral. But then she saw a couple that ended in X-rou or similar, which were more likely to be masculine names. On the subject of X-rou, shed also spotted the manly name Arisugawa Kintarou, but that card got put in the "known" pile because it was her friend "Alice" from Hanadera Academy.
"Me too."
Yuuki muttered beside her, checking his New Years cards.
"I got some from people I dont know too. Even from girls."
"Huh?"
Yumi reacted more to hearing about her brother getting cards from unknown women than from getting cards from unknown men. Was she a bro-con?
"Not Yoshino-san or Shimako-san?"
"No."
"&h.e.l.lip; I guess not."
Amongst the cards Yumi had checked were ones from Yoshino-san and Shimako-san, and it was as though theyd coordinated their messages, because theyd written, "Give my regards to Yuuki-kun," and, "Give my regards to Yuuki-san," respectively. There would have been no need to include that in their notes if theyd sent one to him themselves.
"Who is it?"
There werent really any privacy concerns since the recipient didnt know who the sender was. Yumi looked at the card in her brothers hand while Yuuki looked at his sisters "unknown" pile. And then:
"Ah!"
They both cried out almost simultaneously.
"From my cla.s.s!"
Then they heard each other and said, "Huh?" Yumi tapped on the senders name and said to Yuuki:
"This girls my cla.s.smate."
"Same here."
As she listened to her brother, Yumi flipped over her pile of cards. Next, next. It turned out that girl hadnt even sent one to her cla.s.smate Yumi.
"How did it get here?"
"Well, theyd get our home address from the cla.s.s network. And since were siblings, theyd know we live together."
"Not that. How did I get a card from your cla.s.smate?"
Yumi asked, but it was thrown straight back at her.
"What do you think? Why did I get a card from your cla.s.smate?"
"&h.e.l.lip; She must have seen you at the school festival."
And fallen for him. No, it didnt have to go that far, she may have just been interested in him.
"Dont you think it would be just the same for you?"
Neither of them knew how to react, but they both laughed and patted each other on the shoulder, saying, "Youre popular." After this brotherly/sisterly show of conceit, Yumi reflected and thought that it was either conceit, or a display of sisterly idiocy. There had been some gossip about Yuuki amongst her cla.s.smates immediately after Lillians school festival, so she thought that it might apply to him. But in her case, she thought it was a bit different.
"Anyway, lets write our replies."
"Yeah. I wonder if Ive got enough cards left."
Returning to her room she took out the cards shed set aside for this, but even that wasnt enough so she had to get some more from her mother and the last ones were just ordinary postcards that she wrote "Happy New Year" on.
There was no New Years card from Touko-chan in her stack.
Since Touko-chan probably would have started writing her New Years cards before the closing ceremony, she thought there was a chance one might arrive if it had been mailed before their harsh parting.
Because thats what Yumi had done.
Last year shed almost forgotten and mailed them out in a panic, so this year shed allowed plenty of time to write them. Although shed done this alongside knitting Sachiko-samas Christmas present, so shed been really busy.
Oh, thats right. The card that Sachiko-sama had requested from her on the day of the closing ceremony was the only one that shed sent out afterward. So Yumi was a bit worried about whether or not it would arrive on New Years day. Since she was going to Sachiko-samas house on the 2nd, it would be a bit funny if she arrived before her New Years card. In that case, she would have been better off bringing it with her.
Sachiko-sama had sent her a card, just like shed said. But Yumi didnt immediately recognize that it was from her. Because last years New Years card had made such an impression.
Indeed. Last years had been a delicate India ink painting with deep black calligraphy, that was so delicate it was hard to imagine it was done by a high school student.
But, still.
"I wonder what happened."
A change in her mental state? This years looked to be a colorful, computer generated, pop piece. On top of that.
"Mmm &h.e.l.lip; "
She thought that shed seen a New Years card very similar to this one at some point, but she couldnt remember.
It hadnt been exactly the same. But it had given off the same vibe. Theyd been similar, but Sachiko-samas had a better use of color and composition.
"Im sure Ive seen something like this before - "
But no matter how she tried, she couldnt retrieve it from its drawer in her memory.
There was nothing like it when she looked through the cards shed received this year. Yuuki even let her look through his but that was a miss too. She thought about it some more and realized it hadnt been from this year. Much earlier. Right, probably from one year ago.
Casting her mind back, she realized with an, "Ah."
"My New Years card from last year &h.e.l.lip; right."
Oh, geez, onee-sama. Muttering this, Yumi grinned on her own.