Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume4 Chapter6 1

The first of January. Part 1.

"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 Yamanashi" proposal was given right when the countdown finally ended on the year's end TV show, after my father pasted this amulet on the wall, one we got from some temple somewhere and were told we had to hang it up right as the year turned its page, and then we all said "Happy New Years!" That's when he said it.

So, of course we were filled with question marks, because it was such a contextually out-of-place statement. We hadn't even received our New Year's gifts.

"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?"

Yamanashi's grandmother 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 Christmas and New Year's, among other holidays, together, 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 time we're hearing this.

"Right. An invitation for a family of four. And aunt Taeko's is a family of three, right? So they were supposed to take grandmother along, but she suddenly refused to go, and went home alone."

"From where?"

"Narita."

"… What a waste."

I mumbled. After all, I'd never gone 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 Yamanashi because she got home safely, right?"

"Well, true."

Yuuki kept muttering. As 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 what was supposed to be my share, too. So, sometimes he covers for me to the point of irritation. Like he's still trying to deliver lost goods from fifteen years ago. Even though he was a premature baby, his height and maturity was far past mine, and it was vexing to have to admit it.

But I'm glad Yuuki is a guy. If we both had to go to a girls' school, I'd always be compared to him. And since we're both the same age, it would be horrible.

"And so aunt Taeko called us about grandmother from the airport. We don't have to go the first three days of January, but she wanted us to check in on grandmother at some point. But father says we should go soon."

Of course, in this case, father was not the grandfather that had passed away, but rather my father, who was drinking beer right at the start of the new year.

"Because the elderly are worrisome."

He was deftly removing the peanuts from the pile of kakipi[1] 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 morning of the 2nd. The U-turn rush is brutal, though, so we'll stay one night and come back on the 3rd."

"How about you two?"

"Oh, I'll pass. I'm staying over at a friend's house the second."

Yuuki said, without any hesitation. "Eh-!?"

"What do you mean, eh-. Yumi has no right to complain. Father and mother consented long ago."

"What."

"Nee-chan, you can just forget about me and go."

"… Right."

But going to a place like Yamanashi for one night was just going for the sake of getting tired. She would have preferred to stay home with Yuuki, but since he was going 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 them if she came along. And she didn't see any other option. And it's a bit impolite to say it so, but she could also check on grandmother'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 become a high-schooler you find friends to hang out with," so instead of answering "I don't know," Yumi simply giggled, "Eheheh" and poured him more beer.

Father happily chugged the cheer his daughter poured, reached into the pockets of his cardigan and handed and 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.

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