K - Four Seasons of K short story 12

March story seems to be the final story of the 4 seasons of K set, at least for now. The original Japanese text is kindly provided by .

Lining up Futons by Miyazawa Tatsuki

“I wanna celebrate.”

What started it all was the utterance during breakfast.

Kuroh’s chopsticks froze.

“Do you get what she means by that?” he asked.
“Dunno?” Shiro tilted his head, wearing an ambiguous expression. He was rather used to Neko’s sudden nonsensical statements, but this time her utterance made even less sense than usual to him.

It’s worth mentioning that on the dining table there were white rice (it was no-brand rice but high quality and pesticide-free that Shiro specially chose himself), miso (Kuro’s specialty), pickles (that Kuroh stirred every day), dried horse mackerel (that Kuroh himself caught off the shore of the School island, processed and dried) - a lineup of exemplary healthy and traditionally Japanese breakfast.

After a while spent exchanging looks with Shiro, Kuroh nodded, seemingly resigning himself, and Shiro, as their representative, then tentatively asked, “Umm, so, Neko. What exactly did you mean?”

Grains of rice on her cheeks, Neko was busy gulping down the contents of her rice bowl. “I always looked forward to it! Y'know, to dressing prettily and putting up decorations and stuff every year!”
“You mean Christmas?” Shiro ventured.
“And drinking and eating yummy stuff!”
“New Year’s Eve, perhaps?” Kuroh voiced another guess.
“Y'know, when they sing ‘Let’s light up the paper lambs’[*].”
“Ahh, you mean Hinamatsuri,” Shiro and Kuroh realized at the same time.
“And by the way, it’s not 'lambs’, it’s 'lamps’, okay? Referring to Japanese lighting equipment,” Shiro explained, his smile lopsided.

Neko gave an energetic nod. “Yes, that one!”

“And why are you suddenly bringing up Girls’ Day?” Kuroh started but already realized the reason as he spoke. “Ah, I see. It’s March already. And you… are certainly female.”
“When I was wandering all by myself, I’d see girls getting congratulated by their moms and dads, and I always thought I’d like to experience that too some day,” Neko said, radiantly smiling all the while.

Her tone was light and cloudless, but both Shiro and Kuroh knew that she had lived a lonely life, spending most of her childhood in the form of a “cat”. That is not to say that the two’s lives weren’t full of all kinds of dramatic twists and turns either, but they still were lucky to have their family or people that meant to them as much by their side at every important point. But Neko wasn’t. Until she met Shiro and Kuroh by chance, she was always alone. Shiro and Kuroh both valued their clan, but gravity of Neko’s feelings for the two was, perhaps, on another level.

“…” Kuroh regarded Neko with a flash of pain in his eyes.
Shiro, on the other hand, smiled and proclaimed, “Alright! Let’s do it! Let’s celebrate Hinamatsuri!”
Kuroh could only approve. “Indeed. Although celebration for girls is outside of my area of expertise, I can research some food for it.”
“Really?” Neko flashed a satisfied smile. “Thank you! Dad! Mom!” First she jumped Shiro, then hugged Kuroh.

“Haha. Let’s make it a fun celebration,” Shiro replied.
“Who are you calling Mom?!” Kuroh shouted.

Unexpectedly, the preparations didn’t take too long.

Kuroh was thoroughly absorbed in making chirashi-sushi, broth out of fresh clams, amazake and other traditional foods, while Shiro set up in the room and decorated a five tier stand with gorgeous hina dolls he managed to procure from who knows where.

When Kuroh asked where he got it from, Shiro explained, “Once before I happened to help a swooning old lady who was sick on the roadside. It turned out that she’s from a really old family, and when I consulted with her about this matter, she lent me the set of her hina dolls that were in her cellar.”

The explanation left Kuroh in a state of amazement. “That’s sure quite a wide circle of acquaintances you’ve got.”

Neko was beyond herself with delight. “Shiro! Kurosuke! Thank you so much! I’m so so very happy!” she quite literally hopped with joy on top of the bed until she tripped.

Shiro, flustered, rushed to hold her up. “Hey, don’t be skipping around so much. Uh, Neko? Don’t tell me you already drank some amazake?”

Neko’s cheeks were red and her eyes were drowsy and unfocused. That’s when Shiro felt it.

“Wait, you’re burning up!”
“No, hold your horses. You look feverish, too, Shiro.”
“And so do you, Kurosuke!”

That’s where it dawned on the three.

“Wait…” Shiro started, filling the role of the representative and voicing the realization. “…Could it be that we all have a cold?”

They were so caught up in the preparation to Hinamatsuri that they didn’t even realized they were sick.

In the end, three pillows were laid out next to each other as the three had to stay in bed.

Once they realized something was wrong with their condition, they collapsed all at once. Coughing fits, runny noses and uncontrollable shivering made themselves known immediately. All three bundled up warmly.

“…Are you alive there, Shiro, Neko?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. You?”
“I feel ashamed. I fancied myself tougher than that.”
“Can’t be helped. Anyone can catch a cold, it happens. That aside, Neko, are you holding up fine? It’s such a shame about Hinamatsuri.”

Neko giggled. “It’s kinda fun.” Her voice was nasal but still cheerful. “Staying in bed together is kinda fun - if it’s with you, Shiro, and you, Kurosuke.”

Neko wanted to celebrate Hinamatsuri, no doubt. But there was something that was even more important to her: it was to do it together with Shiro and Kuroh.

Shiro and Kuroh let the intimate silence last for a while.

“…Well, we can celebrate Hinamatsuri next year.”
“Yeah, all together. As many times as you want.”

Those were cool words from the two, although they were somewhat ruined by their simultaneous sneeze that resounded immediately after the they had uttered them. Neko burst out laughing just as loudly.

The conclusion arrived in the shape of Kukuri and Inaba who dropped by to visit and instead stayed to nurse the three back to health soon after.

T/N: [*] 'Ureshii Hinamatsuri’ ('Happy Dolls Festival’) is a traditional song you typically hear during Hinamatsuri (aka Dolls Festival or Girls’ Day). See full lyrics if interested.

Chapter end