Chapter 34 The Promised Journey
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
To provide a brief respite from the rigors of university entrance exam study, and on the day before Manami’s birthday, August the third, we embarked on a journey. After more than four hours spent transferring between trains, we arrived at the station nearest the hot spring resort where my mother’s family home had been.
Stepping out of the ticket barrier, we were approached by an elderly man wearing a hanten¹ bearing the name of the hot spring inn where we were staying from today, “Guesthouse Kamitsukino Tsuki.” We boarded the car he drove, and arrived at the inn approximately ten minutes later.
Upon entering the foyer, a maid called out, “Welcome,” and a demure woman in a kimono approached.
”I am the proprietress, Tanaka Yoshimi. Hiro-chan, thank you so much for coming. Please relax and enjoy your stay. I shall come to your room in about thirty minutes, once I am free.”
This was, in effect, my first proper meeting with Tanaka-san. Apparently, we had met when I was a child, but I retained no memory of it. However, we had spoken on the phone several times, and somewhere along the way, she had begun calling me “Hiro-chan.” I had heard that she had called my mother “Kazu-chan” since they were children.
A maid who had been waiting behind Tanaka-san guided us to a detached room.
”The proprietress will join you later.”
The maid served tea and then withdrew.
Manami and I looked around the room and were left speechless by its sheer extravagance. There were three rooms, including the bedroom. A Japanese garden lay before the washitsu², and a terrace could be accessed from the Western-style room. Furthermore, it boasted an indoor bath made of hinoki cypress and an open-air hot spring bath. I had been told that since we were invited, we wouldn’t need to pay the accommodation fee, but I wondered if this truly was acceptable. We waited for Tanaka-san, unable to fully settle ourselves.
True to her word, Tanaka-san arrived a little over thirty minutes later, carrying something that resembled a kimono.
”Hiro-chan, I am sorry to have kept you waiting.”
”Please do not worry, you appeared to be busy,” I said.
”Since you are Kazu-chan’s son, I cannot simply ignore it. Firstly, thank you for coming all this way. I truly am delighted.”
”No, the pleasure is all ours. I only wish we could have come sooner; I apologize for the delay.”
”You are a high school student, so it cannot be helped. And this must be Manami-san. I have heard a great deal from Watanabe-sensei. Thank you for your support of Hiro-chan.”
”It is I who is supported by Hirokazu-san,” Manami replied.
”In that case, I have brought this yukata³, and I wonder if Manami-san might be willing to use it. It is a keepsake from the previous proprietress, Hiro-chan’s grandmother. Kazu-chan declined the memento, so I thought I would bring it for Manami-san to use.”
It was a color known as deep violet, or fukamurasaki. Cherry blossoms were artfully arranged upon the deep violet fabric. The color, deep violet, was my grandmother’s favorite color and the inn’s image color, and the cherry blossoms were her favorite flower. A grey obi⁴ was included alongside it.
”I will gladly use it,” Manami said.
”As I would not wish this yukata to become a burden in your luggage, I will send it to you later. Hiro-chan, please use this yukata.”
I had thought it was a plain, deep violet yukata, but upon closer inspection, it had grey stripes running through it. A grey obi was presented with it.
”Thank you very much for everything. Also, are we really allowed to use this room?” I asked.
”You may not remember, Hiro-chan, as you were very small, but this is the room you used when you came with Kazu-chan,” Tanaka-san said. “Although it has been renovated and the original appearance is gone, I had already decided on this room should you ever come.”
Apparently, my grandmother cherished the memory of playing with me here and had not renovated it, even as it grew old. However, just before her passing, she had left instructions for it to be renovated, and it was done once the period of mourning for my grandmother was over.
”I understand,” I said. “If that is the case, we shall gladly use it.”
Learning the history of the room finally allowed me to relax.
Tanaka-san said she would return later and then left.
”Hiro-kun, let us have a bath before dinner.”
Manami hugged the yukata closely and headed toward the bathing area.
I wasn’t well-versed in the healing properties of hot springs, but as I soaked in the thermal waters, I felt the fatigue accumulated from the journey ease from my body. The scent of hinoki cypress refreshed my spirits. Manami was overjoyed, saying her skin had become smooth.
As we washed each other’s bodies, much as we did when we were at home, I inevitably became aroused. But…
”Hiro-kun, there is not much time before dinner, so no,” she gently chastised me.
Manami, being involved in flower arrangement, was accustomed to traditional Japanese clothing, so she quickly put on her yukata. However, as I fumbled with my first time wearing a yukata, Manami helped me.
Manami looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror and her face broke into a radiant smile.
”Hiro-kun, what do you think? This yukata suits me, does it not? I feel like I have changed from a girl into a woman.”
”I have just learned that the expression ‘fine feathers make fine birds’⁵ must refer to this,” I said.
”I shall return that very phrase to you, Hiro-kun,” she replied.
I was captivated by Manami in her yukata. Rather than merely cute, she looked pure and graceful. Her movements were elegant, too.
I later heard that Tanaka-san had seen Manami enter the foyer and had chosen the yukata that would suit her best from among the keepsakes.
Manami took several pictures with the tokonoma⁶ and the Japanese garden in the background. She sent some of them to her mother and Miyama-san. Manami’s mother contacted me, asking, “Is it really alright for her to receive the yukata?” to which I replied, “Since it is a keepsake from my grandmother, it is best for Manami to wear it.”
Dinner was a kaiseki⁷ meal featuring local Wagyu beef shabu-shabu as the main dish. Everything was delicious, and Manami praised the food, saying, “The person who cooked this is a genius.”
That genius, along with Tanaka-san, came to our room as we were finishing our meal.
”This is our head chef,” Tanaka Yoshimi said.
I wondered why the head chef was greeting us, when she added, “Actually, this is my husband, Keisuke-san.”
”I apologize for the lateness of my intrusion,” Keisuke-san said. “I am delighted that the little boy who used to stand shyly behind Kazu has returned with such a wonderful young woman.”
”Keisuke-san was Kazu-chan’s childhood friend, you see,” Tanaka Yoshimi explained.
”Thank you for the delicious meal,” I said. “I do not understand much about cooking, but Manami says you are a culinary genius.”
”That is the highest compliment,” Keisuke-san replied. “Thank you.”
Afterward, the conversation flourished with old stories that I did not remember. Manami listened to them with obvious enjoyment.
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Summary:
Hirokazu and Manami arrive at the hot spring inn, “Guesthouse Kamitsukino Tsuki,” ahead of Manami’s birthday. They meet the proprietress, Tanaka Yoshimi, who gives Manami a deep violet yukata—a cherished keepsake from Hirokazu’s late grandmother. They are given a magnificent, luxurious detached room which Hirokazu learns was the same room he stayed in as a small child. After enjoying the therapeutic hot springs and a moment of innocent intimacy, they dress for dinner, where they meet Yoshimi’s husband, the head chef Keisuke-san, who was a childhood friend of Hirokazu’s mother.
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Character Insight:
It is clear that Manami is profoundly touched by the gift of the yukata, a physical connection to Hirokazu’s family history. Her joy and grace when wearing it are almost transformative, not only for herself but in how Hirokazu sees her, moving beyond mere ‘cuteness’ towards a sense of pure feminine elegance. This trip, intended as a brief break from study, is swiftly turning into something much more significant, weaving Manami into the fabric of Hirokazu’s family legacy in a deeply symbolic way.
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Behind the Scene:
The introduction of Tanaka-san and her husband is crucial for grounding Hirokazu’s present circumstances in his past, and they serve as warm, approving adult figures, a positive counterpoint to the usual romantic tensions. The detail about the room and the grandmother’s sentimentality about the space subtly reinforces the theme of connection and cherished memories, making the setting itself a silent character in their developing relationship.
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T/L:
¹ hanten > A short winter coat, worn over a kimono or ordinary clothes. ↩
² washitsu > A traditional Japanese-style room, typically with tatami mat flooring. ↩
³ yukata > A casual, light cotton kimono, often worn during summer or at hot springs. ↩
⁴ obi > A sash worn with a kimono or yukata. ↩
⁵ fine feathers make fine birds > A Japanese idiom (mago ni mo ishou) meaning that even an unrefined person looks attractive in elegant clothing. ↩
⁶ tokonoma > A recessed alcove in a washitsu used for displaying art or flowers. ↩
⁷ kaiseki > A traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. ↩
Notes:
• Yoshimi – Inn proprietress, wearing a kimono, demure woman. Hiro’s childhood friend’s mother.
• Watanabe – The protagonist’s guardian. He is a lawyer who is skilled at dealing with difficult people and has a history with Yabuta’s father.
• Keisuke – Inn’s head chef, Yoshimi’s husband, Kazu-chan’s childhood friend.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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