Volume 4 Chapter 6 (1/2)
”We're thinking of going to Yamanashi+”
Everything started when my parents said that
”Yamanashi+?”
My brother, Yuuki, and I of course responded, as their children, ”When?” ”Why?” -etc Placing a slight feeling of surprise into those questions
Because that ”We're thinking of going to Yaht when the countdown finally ended on the year's end TV show, after ot froht as the year turned its page, and then we all said ”Happy New Years!” That's when he said it
So, of course ere filled with question marks, because it was such a contextually out-of-place stateifts
”Grandmother's alone, apparently, this New Year's”
Mother said, sighing -Well, when they mentioned Yamanashi+ it was obvious it was related to my aunt
”But, aunt Taeko?”
Yarandmother was my mother's mother, and she turned down offers to live with her children after grandfather died, stubbornly choosing to live alone Luckily, mother's sister, aunt Taeko, lived about 500 meters away, so she went to check on her a lot, and they spent Christether, so they were able to breath easy
”She won a trip to Hawaii through the year's end lottery”
”A trip to Hawaii?”
The children sat up on the sofa What? What? This is the first ti this
”Right An invitation for a faht? So they were supposed to take grando, and went home alone”
”From where?”
”Narita”
”… What a waste”
I one outside the country But Yuuki, sitting next to me, poked my head
”Idiot Think about grandmother's welfare, first”
”Ow Mother and father are going to Yaht?”
”Well, true”
Yuuki keptAs kind as ever
The considerateness that I forgot in mother's stomach had been secured by my brother when he was born Not just his share, but as supposed to be my share, too So, sometimes he covers forto deliver lost goods froh he was a preht andto have to admit it
But I'irls' school, I'd always be coe, it would be horrible
”And so aunt Taeko called us about grando the first three days of January, but she wanted us to check in on grando soon”
Of course, in this case, father was not the grandfather that had passed away, but rather ht at the start of the new year
”Because the elderly are worrisome”
He was deftly re the peanuts from the pile of kakipi on his paper plate Father was fond of mother's mother Because his parents died relatively early
When he wanted to have filial piety, he had no parents
You can't put a blanket over a tombstone
That's father's saying It made sense, but it was hard to appreciate, because both parents were quite lively
”Then go”
Yuuki said, as he put all of the kaki seeds father had left onto his own plate Even if they had different tastes, they still behaved similarly As such, at the fukuzawa household, kakipi was eradicated without any remnants
”So, when're you going?”
”Today… well, the first day is busy, so probably the h, so we'll stay one night and come back on the 3rd”
”How about you two?”
”Oh, I'll pass I' over at a friend's house the second”
Yuuki said, without any hesitation ”Eh-!?”
”What do you ht to coo”
”What”
”Nee-chan, you can just forget about o”
”… Right”
But going to a place like Yaetting tired She would have preferred to stay ho out, it was a different story altogether It was too scary to be left alone in this gigantic, three-story house
”How about Yumi-chan?”
”Ugh-”
They were probably going by car, so it wouldn't bother the And she didn't see any other option And it's a bit irandmother's health
(But…)
She was perplexed when she thought about the possibility of the Roses inviting her while she was gone Could there be an invitation? Of course, it was just a personal wish, but if that ”maybe” became real, and she wasn't around for it, she would definitely regret it
”Can you wait on that?”
She pleaded her mother
”Sure? But tell us by evening today, because we have to pack”
”Okay”
”Oh, Yumi-chan has plans, too?”
Father looked a bit lonely, ”I guess once you beco out with,” so instead of answering ”I don't know,” Yuled, ”Eheheh” and poured him more beer
Father happily chugged the cheer his daughter poured, reached into the pockets of his cardigan and handed a small pouch to Yuuki and I
”Good luck, this year”
We said, ”Okay,” with our brightest, liveliest voices of the year, and accepted the pouches
When I dashed to the kitchen, as if I was helping mother, and checked the contents, I noticed the New Year's gift sum had risen a bit from last year
I was up until one on New Year's Day, but I was still awakened at seven o'clock by my mother
But, this was customary in the fukuzawa household on New Year's Day, so I had to get up, rubbing my eyes
Well no, actually, stu my eyes wasn't allowed First I had to brush e out ofather in the only japanese-style room in the house
After all, we have to prepare ourselves for the upco year on New Year's Day
When we becaassen was lifted, so ever since then it becas deep in the night Even so, we stilland once again exchanging greetings before eating our ojuu Then we received a sip of otoso, and opened our ojuu
”Alright, I'll be taking mochi orders”
When everyone placed their chopsticks on the ojuu food, Yuuki stood up and began taking note of how much mochi everyone wanted At the same time, father stood up and walked to the kitchen In our household, it was custo soba was done by the men, so mother and I didn't move That said, it wasn't like ere supposed to happily eat while waiting In the meantime, we'd prepare the ozouni for the mochi, and set up oshouyu and nori
”But his unusual obstinacy is such a bother”
Whispered mother Usually you could just toast rilled on an iron, my father said, and so we did it the old way As a result, the one ashed the irons with carbonized mochi was his assistant Poor Yuuki, he was destined to become the victim of father's obstinacy on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day
The living room had a television, like it was fros like the first sunrise of the year, a shouchikubai, or an announcer wearing a ki newspaper that was placed in the sideboard after father had finished reading it was thicker than usual, being the New Year's edition And from those small differences from the normal day, you could feel that New Year's Day was a relatively special occasion, I think
And while we dug ourselves into the horigotatsu while eatingtea, the New Year's Cards would be distributed Usually the post around in a bike at this ti New Year's, the job is instead taking by university part-time workers So even if a stack of postcards were placed in the , and you'd only realize it later
It was the job of children to retrieve the New Year's Cards -Or rather, azine you aiting eagerly for It was a pain to write the them was a joyful occasion Who sent me a post card? I wanna see! And so Yuuki and I alternated peeking out of the house and checked the mailbox every ten minutes
After a number of whiffs, I coincidentally opened the door and saw the onii-san placing the stacks in our mailbox Well, I say onii-san, but he didn't look like he was that much older than me
”Thank you for your troubles”
We greeted each other, and he handed me to postcards directly There were two stacks The part-ti on to the next house, stopped by the mailbox a few steps down, and placed a stack into my father's office's
Me first, we probably looked like, as we scra the cards
To father, to mother, to me, to Yuuki, and then to father's office, they were all ether Oh, and a few that had been accidentally mixed in, that were supposed to be sent elsewhere As a result, the postcards were split into six mountains, and piled up before each respective person
”Yumi, read your cards later”
Yuuki cautioned, not stopping But even so, when you saw the name of rote you the card, wasn't it normal to want to flip to the back?
”Father, father, Yuuki, me, father, mother, father, father”
When she resu, to catch up, this time she arned, ”Quiet”
”Think it in your head, it's distracting”
”Yuuki's like a mother-in-law”
”Anyone would complain like this if their son had a wife like Yumi”