黄金週間　Golden Week

Tsukurimashou ------ Let's make something
Tsukurimashou ------ Let's make something
Sate, sate nani ga --- Well, well what is it
Dekiru ka na… ------ I can make I wonder?…

Mihama Chiyo was in particularly high spirits this Saturday morning as she whipped up the lemon custard for the tart she was making with Sakaki-san. Today was the first day that all of her friends had been able to get together since Osaka had left to attend a school back in her old hometown.

Chiyo remembered how she and Osaka had been unable to keep from crying. In fact, by the time Osaka's train pulled out of the station they were wailing almost uncontrollably and waving sadly to each other though their arms wiggled like jelly. Everyone had been pretty upset. Kagura cried a little herself, and although Yomi and Sakaki might not have known how to show it, Chiyo knew that they were just as sad to see their friend leave as she was. Even Tomo, who tried to lighten the mood by boasting that thanks to Osaka's departure she was once again the undisputed Manzai comedy champion, was rather subdued and could only smile weakly at her own joke.

Chiyo knew it was only a short-lived visit and in just a few months she would be leaving for good herself to attend a university in the United States, but with her indomitably positive attitude, that just made Chiyo even more determined to make the most of this precious time together.

Actually, even though the others had all chosen schools in the city they had all been so busy that she had seen little more of them than she had seen of Osaka, so looking forward to the ohanami they had all planned to go out for today, she had worn the same smile, as wide as it was unbearably cute, all morning long.

"I'm really glad that today we can be together with all of our friends again, aren't you, Sakaki-san?" she asked brightly, looking up at the tall girl beside her, who seemed, as usual, to be lost in a daydream as she absentmindedly stemmed a basket of strawberries. Sakaki, in her usual warm, if reserved, way simply looked down at her friend, smiled, and gave a nod of agreement.

They had just begun making the next dish Chiyo had planned for their elaborate little feast when she heard the doorbell. "Ah! That must be Yomi and Tomo!" said Chiyo excitedly, jumping up from the table and rushing to greet them with Sakaki following behind. "Good morning!" she sparkled, opening the door and beaming even more cutely than usual.

"Ah, good morning Chiyo-chan! Morning, Sakaki-san," said Yomi, who stood on the doorstep providing an apparently necessary support for Tomo, as her friend, draped awkwardly over her shoulders, seemed to be still half-asleep.

"Mooorniiiiing… Zzzzzzzzzzzz…" snored Tomo while, with Sakaki's help, Yomi dragged her inside.

Tomo's hair was a mess and although she had on a T-shirt and sneakers she was still wearing her pajama bottoms, the bright yellow ones covered in little cartoons of the Magical Land mascot. Chiyo gave Yomi a questioning glance. Yomi understood her look and explained, chuckling, "Oh, that's right… She was so tired she wouldn't even get dressed this morning, but I didn't want to be late and leave all the work to you and Sakaki. Don't worry; I have a pair of pants for her in my knapsack."

Chiyo looked down disapprovingly at Tomo and shaking her head scolded, "That's no good, Tomo-chan…"

Yomi and Sakaki laid her down next to Mr. Tadakichi and Maya, who had been curled up on the floor rug together since Sakaki had brought Maya over that morning. The cat looked up skeptically for a moment at her new napping companion (it was the annoying one she saw), but eventually she grew accustomed to the girl and closed her eyes again allowing Tomo to nestled up to them both.

Sakaki was overwhelmed for a moment to see Tomo in her cartoon pajamas sleeping with Mr. Tadakichi and Maya like they were a pair of adorable stuffed animals. She pulled herself away, however, when she realized that while she was distracted Yomi and Chiyo had already made their way back to the kitchen to continue fixing the food. As Sakaki slipped into the kitchen herself and went back to rolling pickled plums into several rice balls, Chiyo was asking Yomi what it was like to be in college now.

Yomi responded that it was new and mostly interesting and exciting and she enjoyed being so independent and getting a chance to try so many new things now that she wasn't so consumed with entrance exams.

"Like with your tennis club?" threw in Sakaki.

"Yeah…" sighed Yomi with a wistful look in her eye. Then, as though suddenly reminded of something, she said somewhat apologetically, "I'm sorry that Kagura and I won't be here when Osaka goes back home at the end of the week, but the trip did sound like a lot of fun… We're staying in a minshuku near Mt. Fuji. And, anyway, we didn't want to be the only first-years to not go,"

"It's okay," smiled Chiyo, "I'm glad that everyone is having so much fun in school. It feels a little strange being at home now, but I've been spending a lot of time studying English and even though sometimes it still feels like a long way away, but then sometimes it feels like I'll be leaving very soon."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," mused Yomi and Sakaki agreed as well.

Yomi felt the mood needed to be lightened, so rather enthusiastically she asked, "Well, have you decided which school you want to go to, at least?"

Chiyo had applied to eight of the very best schools in the US and five of them had accepted her. Two of them had even offered to give her a full scholarship!

"Yep!" Chiyo pipped. "But I want to wait until we meet Osaka and Kagura at the park to tell everyone…"

新幹線　Bullet Train

Kagura had only been waiting at the station a few minutes when she saw Osaka coming off the escalator, pulling a rolling suitcase along behind her. "Hey, Osaka!" she shouted merrily.

"Ah! Kagura, Kagura!" shouted her strange friend, looking around the crowded station for a few seconds before actually spotting Kagura and raising one hand in greeting. "I couldn't recognize you…" said Osaka.

"Couldn't recognize me?" started Kagura, confused and a little hurt. At first she thought that perhaps Osaka had begun to forget what she looked like in a mere matter of weeks, but then realizing what Osaka meant she smiled. "…Ahhh, because I'm really tan again, right?"

…

"Oh… you are, huh?" replied Osaka, in a tone that from anyone else would have left Kagura wondering whether that had actually been the reason after all, but that in Osaka's case simply signaled that her mind had suddenly taken an impromptu detour. As if to prove the point, before they hopped a local connecting train to Osaka's house where they would drop off her things and then go to meet the others at the park, Osaka said she needed to get something at the station kiosk. "I forgot to take some gum with me on the shinkansen, so my ears are all stuffed up."

"Really?" said Kagura. "I thought that only happened on airplanes because of the change in altitude."

"Ah!" gasped Osaka. "I think you're right… I guess my ears aren't stuffed up then…" she said, smiling happily at her deduction and putting the gum that she had just selected back on the shelf.

As the two girls took the stairs down to the Yamanote platforms they naturally began to talk about their first few weeks in college. Osaka had passed her second round of exams, but her options had been fairly limited and also, like most of them, finances played a certain roll in her decision. In the end, she went with a two-year program at an all-girls school that her mother had attended when she was Osaka's age and that was near enough to her uncle's home that she could live with him and his family and commute easily. Osaka had liked the idea of being a teacher, as Chiyo had suggested, but her family was fairly traditional and felt that it would be best if she was first prepared to work as an OL or a shop manager. Still, nothing was set in stone and her mother had told her that if she still wanted to, in two years she could apply for a transfer.

Osaka gave no indication that she was unhappy with her arrangement, but Kagura wondered if Osaka could really be satisfied with such a plan. As their train pulled into the station, crowded even more than usual with holiday commuters, Osaka, as if reading her friend's thoughts, concluded, "I really miss you and Chiyo and everyone, but there are things I really like about being back in my hometown too, and it makes my parents happy that I'm going to school there…"

Kagura was surprised to hear Osaka speak so earnestly, but even more surprised when she realized that, as different as she was from her unusual friend, it seemed they had one thing, at least, very much in common. As they found a place within the press of the train, however, she grinned mischievously and asked what was really the most important question of all. "That's great, Osaka… but do you think you can cope with going to an all-girls school for two whole years?"

"Wellllll…" reflected Osaka, "Some of my new friends complain about it all the time, but I didn't really mind not having any boys around the last three years, so I figured another two years wouldn't make much of a difference."

Kagura blinked twice.

…

"Say, Osaka."

"Mmm?"

"You know, there were boys in every one of our classes, right?"

"Eh! No way!" Osaka cried, mouth agape. She was shocked.

…

The rhythm of the train's clack-clacking filled the silence and Osaka muttered softly to herself, "What do you know?..."

Finally, Osaka turned to Kagura and asked, "Hey, hey, Kagura… You know what I realized while I was riding the shinkansen back into the city?" Kagura shook her head. "The shinkansen was built in 1964…"

"Uh… Yeah?" she prodded, wondering what this could possibly have to do with boys – then, immediately, doubting that there was, actually, any connection.

"But the character for 'shin' means new… How old do you think it has to be before they change the name? Do you think they'll call it kokansen or maybe toshi ga aru kansen?"

Kagura was glad to have Osaka back, even if only for a few days…

親切な智　The Kind-Hearted Tomo

It was a perfect day at the park.

Chiyo looked up at the sun which shone brightly amongst a few wisps of puffy white clouds that drifted lazily through the pure blue sky, pushed by the same cool breeze that now and again gusted through the trees and scattered a few handfuls of colorful blossoms on the happy picnickers below. Though it had been a late cherry blossom season, a rare few could be found here and there amongst the dogwood, lilac, and azalea. For Chiyo, however, the people were the primary attraction. Mothers and fathers with small children, young couples in love, and salary men toasting to each other and to the future – everyone seemed to be invigorated by the newness of spring, thought Chiyo. Everyone and everything looked simply beautiful.

"Whoa! Flowers! There are flowers!" yelled an excited Tomo, now thoroughly rested, as she ran through the park leaping up and down and trying to catch as many flowers as she could whenever any of them wafted nearby, carried by the wind. The other girls selected a spot up a slight slope from a small pond away from the main entrance and began to lay out their things.

Their place had been set, the girls were just starting to relax, and Chiyo was pouring them all some tea when Tomo caught up with them and tossed a handful of her flowers into the air yelling, "Banzai!" Most of the flowers, probably according to Tomo's intention, rained down on Yomi's head, who had just sat down to take the cup Chiyo was offering. Before she could even open her mouth, however, a twinkling laugh from someone much too young to be Tomo was heard.

All four of the girls turned towards the sound which came from Sakaki's direction and noticed a small boy, maybe five years old, who crouched, knees close to his chest, with the mischievous curiosity of early childhood. "Hey kid!" called out Tomo.

He looked up with wide eyes as Tomo picked one of the prettier flowers off the ground and held it out to him. The child offered her what would have been a very toothy grin had he not been missing a couple. He ran up to snatch the blossom from her hand and ran just as quickly away, back to a woman, most likely his mother, who reclined on a blanket a few spots away and who smiled over at the girls when her son returned to flop down beside her.

Though Tomo sat down and stuffed a piece of cake in her mouth as though nothing had happened, Sakaki voiced everyone's surprise. "Wow, Tomo-chan… that was really nice of you. You're really good with kids."

"Yeah…" agreed Yomi, even more surprised than Sakaki.

Chiyo, on the other hand, said nothing. She could see that Tomo was embarrassed to have everyone making such a big deal out of her small gesture, as if everyone didn't already know that deep down Tomo was as gentle and kind-hearted as any one of them. Instead, when Tomo finished her piece of cake and strained her arm over the spread to reach for another Chiyo lifted up the plate for her and, catching her eye, smiled. Tomo gratefully smiled back.

The girls shared a few more moments of silence, staring out over the pond at the trees, at the sky, and at the several groups of strangers they shared it all with, as colorful in their way as the flowers blooming throughout the park. Finally, Chiyo got a call from Osaka and Kagura who had made it to the park's entrance and wanted to know where they could find everyone.

お花見の発表　Announcement at the Ohanami

Chiyo was so happy to see Osaka that, even though she knew how silly it was, she cried a little again and was on the verge of breaking down as badly as she had when Osaka left, but Tomo quickly split the two of them up. "Not so fast, Chiyo-chan!" she shouted. "I know that everyone thinks that I will relinquish my title of Manzai comedy champion just because Osaka has returned…"

"No one is thinking that," snapped Yomi angrily, trying to cut her off, but of course Tomo ignored her.

"But I refuse to let you take my title without a challenge! I am still the champion, and I will not lose!"

So, immediately, Osaka and Tomo began trading jokes and riddles and just like that they were all back together for an afternoon as if nothing had changed and as if they had not drifted apart at all. It was just what Chiyo had hoped for.

Finally, it looked as if the contest was coming to an end as Tomo, with a tone of desperation, asked a final riddle that had the rest of them stumped. "What can go up a chimney down, but not down a chimney up?"

Osaka, however, as the others expected, answered the same as she had with all the others that Tomo had put to her, almost as a reflex that came without thinking. "An umbrella."

"Ahhh… Just as one would expect from the former champion," sighed a dejected Tomo. Still, she consoled herself by noting, "Of course, it's not really a fair contest since you've been training for weeks in Osaka…"

"Speaking of riddles," interrupted Yomi, "I've got a riddle for Chiyo that I've been wanting to know the answer to." Everyone turned a curious ear to hear what it could be as she continued, "You said you'd tell us when everyone was here, so I want to know where it is we'll be sending you when you leave for America."

"Ah! So, you finally decided where you want to go?" asked Kagura.

Chiyo nodded.

"So?..." prodded an impatient Yomi, "I bet you're going to an Ivy League school, right?"

"I.V.?" interrupted Tomo. "What does that stand for?"

"Isn't it another way of saying 'four?'" asked Osaka.

"What does that mean? What happened to one, two, and three league?" countered Tomo.

"If they're schools that Chiyo applied to, then I.V. must stand for something like… Uh, intelligent very… Or incredible version!" concluded Kagura.

"Ah! …That might be right!" exclaimed Tomo.

"Be quiet!" shouted Yomi, "It doesn't matter what 'I.V.' is!" And she ground her knuckles into the top of her friend's head.

Chiyo gave a little depreciating laugh. "Actually," she began, "I decided not to go to an Ivy League university. They're really good, and I bet I'd learn a lot at any of them, but I decided that they were all too far away. I know it's going to be really hard to be away from home for so long no matter where I go, but I think that it'll be easier if I go to a school in the western part of the country so that I can come back to visit more easily."

"Eh? The West? Incredible! You're going to be a cowboy!" exclaimed Tomo.

Sakaki had a sudden vision of Chiyo in jeans and flannel, boots with spurs, and a ten galloon hat so big that when she tried to put it on she fell over.

Chiyo giggled. "No, I'm going to school in California. I don't think they have any cowboys in California now. At least… probably not in college."

Everyone toasted Chiyo and wished her the best of the luck in her future as child prodigy in California. Suddenly, Osaka remembered that she had brought some food for the picnic from her house when they had stopped by on the way over. She reached into the knapsack she had brought with her and pulled out half a dozen styrofoam containers and handed the first one to Chiyo with her congratulations. Though Chiyo protested that it was unnecessary for Osaka to have brought anything, she thanked her for her thoughtfulness. She cracked open the package, however, and felt entirely different about the matter when the powerfully rotten stench assaulted her senses. "Wha-what is this!" she coughed.

"Natto," said Osaka gleefully, already slurping up a few slimy wads. Kagura who had been with Osaka when she had picked the awful stuff up had discretely hidden her helping away the moment Osaka had handed it out. Sakaki had done the same when Chiyo discovered the contents. Tomo took a perverse enjoyment from playing with it and dangling it in the faces of the others. Only Yomi actually ate any of it. She defended Osaka saying, "Thanks, Osaka. These guys don't know what they're missing, right?"

"That's right," mumbled Osaka between bites. Then, holding her chopsticks up and assuming a learnéd air, as if quoting from some strange proverb added, "There is value even in bugs that eat knotweed."

Chiyo thought, looking down at the horrible stuff Osaka had handed to her, given a choice she might just prefer to eat knotweed herself…

作家から　From the Author

I really apologize for taking so long to post this chapter. I actually had it written a little while ago, but I've been extraordinarily busy. I knew it was coming, but what can you do. Now though, finals are over and I've applied for work at a dozen locations around town so for the most part I've got a few days at least that are just for playing the waiting game. Plus, I'm starting to set a routine that should hold even when I find work so there should be a little more regularity to the postings… not two in three days and then three weeks to see the third. Hope there are people out there that are enjoying this because I enjoy it plenty myself. I have to say though that it is in a lot of ways harder than I ever imagined. Most of all I have difficulty knowing how much I should incorporate what I know about Japanese. I'd like to hear back mostly on this chapter as to whether all of the esoteric lingual jokes Osaka makes in my stories are enjoyable to people who might not know Japanese that well. I really enjoyed Osaka's puns from the show more than just about anything else, but I don't even have the benefit of the visual to help my audience understand what I'm talking about and I don't want to lose anyone. Also, I'd encourage people to write in about what they think because I really do tweak things here and there based on feedback. Two comments I received made me adjust things I would perhaps not have thought to include, so if you think that this story needs more action or comedy or more cowbell or whatever please really drop me a line and make a good argument and I might do my best to weave things into the story. Lastly… nobody cares about my interactive challenge from the last chapter? I've gotten no replies. Come on guys. I really want this to be a story from the community; that's the great opportunity that a site like this gives us – so the challenge from Chapter 2 still stands and I'm waiting for takers. Was it just too hard?

説明　Explanations

1. In the very first episode when Osaka (then Ayumu Kasuga) is introduced Tomo says she's probably "equipped with incredible tsukkomi." This refers to Manzai comedy, a kind of Japanese stand-up in which the tsukkomi the 'straight-man' corrects a buffoon called a boke, usually by beating him. Although I don't think that Tomo ever actually refers to the boke, since she herself plays both parts over the course of the show I decided to have her refer to herself as a champion of "Manzai comedy." Manzai comedy relies heavily on a rapid pace and complex word play and is associated with the Kansai region and Osaka. By the way, is a fantastic resource for all of this stuff if you're ever curious about a Japanese term you don't know.

2. "Ohanami" literally means flower viewing. The most popular time for flower viewing is in early April around the time that school begins in Japan. Although cherry blossoms are only in full bloom for a little more than a week I think there might still be a few here and there even a few weeks later when Golden Week (a series of Japanese holidays) begins. Anybody know whether that's plausible or not?

3. A "minshuku" is a budget boarding house with Japanese-styled rooms (tatami mat floors, and screen walls) and communal baths and usually meal service for large groups.

4. The Yamanote Line is a well known train line that circumnavigates Tokyo.

5. "OL" is a Japanese word derived from the term "office lady." Basically, OL's are secretaries, file clerks, or other menial task managers who typically only work to support themselves until they can find a husband.

6. Osaka's joke here is that the Japanese bullet train, or shinkansen, has been around longer than most people think. It was "the wave of the future" in the 1960's (and in some ways still is) and the literal translation of characters, something like "new main line" was very apt. Someday though perhaps it will come to be called "old main line" which would be kokansen, or perhaps, if one did not wish to be so blunt (like when one refers to elderly people), toshi ga aru kansen, or literally "main line that has years."

7. Natto is fermented (aka, rotten) soybeans. It is slimy and smelly and disgusting, and although I've seen people eat it and try to convince me that it's good and that many Japanese really do like it, I refuse to believe it.

8. Osaka mixes up two Japanese proverbs here; one goes, "There is value in leftovers" and another, "There are even bugs that eat knotweed." The basic idea behind both of these sayings is that there is no accounting for taste or that what may be disgusting to one man is a delicacy to another.

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