Chapter 180
Happy New Year . I gained an urna .
Well, strictly speaking it’s just a straight white hair on the right edge of my hairline, so maybe it’s not an urna but just a lucky hair?
I realised it after the New Year’s holiday, just as everyone was returning to their jobs and school .
I was tying up my hair as always to dab medicine onto my eyebrows when I discovered on my forehead what seemed to be a shining clear thread .
What a shock . Apparently I was the reincarnation of a bodhisattva .
Late last year was just packed with so much trouble that I even lost hair .
That’s why on New Year’s I very thoroughly purified myself .
I even used my own money for very generous donations .
Maybe that’s why a few hairs on my eyebrows were starting to grow back .
You’ve been working hard, my hair roots! Still kind of sparse though .
But still, I bet this was because my biggest cause of stress was gone now .
As for this urna, or lucky hair or whatever, didn’t this mean I was bound to be lucky this year!? Both in money and love .
Ah, but as a young girl I couldn’t exactly just leave some random hair growing on my forehead…
Maybe it would be fine if I covered it with my fringe?
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It was nice seeing all the familiar faces again after the break . I think every school was like this .
“Happy New Year,” I said as I stepped into my group .
“Happy New Year, Reika-sama!” they replied .
We began to chat about winter break .
“I’m fat from all the food I had on New Year’s day . ”
“Don’t say that, Kikuno-san . I’ve gotten fatter too~”
“Me too, me too . ”
It was the same conversation that every girl had after New Year’s .
Why did New Year’s food make you so fat?
Maybe it was all the rice cakes .
A Japanese soup containing mochi rice cakes . Considered the most auspicious of the dishes eaten on New Year’s Day .
Ozouni .
Sweet red bean ‘soup’, often with mochi rice cakes for New Year’s .
Oshiruko .
Mochi coated with a mixture of soy sauce and sugar, and wrapped with nori seaweed . Also eaten on New Year’s .
Isobeyaki had rice cakes too .
Every New Year’s you ended up with this weird sense of duty to finish the rice cakes off . Thanks to that you just ended up eating, didn’t you .
I wasn’t that fond of ozouni, but isobeyaki was delicious .
“Goodness! What a precious watch you have, Reika-sama!”
“Oh, this was my parents’ Christmas to me,” I explained .
“My!”
“How did you spend your Christmas?” somebody asked .
“Nothing special,” I said . “I just spent it with a small gathering of friends . And you all?”
“I went out to eat with my family, and then they got me the bag I wanted,” said one girl .
“I was invited to a party,” answered another .
“I was abroad the entire winter break,” explained a third .
How nice . I wish I could have spent Christmas and New Year’s overseas .
When I was little my family went to Hawaii for Christmas .
The mood was great, with costumed merrymakers all across town .
I could still remember being stunned by my first encounter with a real drag queen . Oniisama had gotten a kiss on the cheek…
Lately Oniisama was too busy to travel though . Without someone to have fun with, vacations hadn’t been as fun recently .
What was fun about swimming in a pool by yourself .
It’d be nice if I had a sister my age, or maybe a friend to go vacationing with .
While I was daydreaming the hallway grew noisy .
“It’s Kaburagi-sama and Enjou-sama!”
The girl’s voice heralded their first appearance of the year .
Every girl began to vacate their classrooms to watch .
“Let’s go too, Reika-sama!”
“Ehh…”
I couldn’t be bothered, but if everyone else was going… Up we go…
Did the pair seem more tan before? Maybe it was my imagination . Then again, maybe they went somewhere .
The girls around them sent their New Year’s greetings . While Enjou responded with a smile, Kaburagi’s responses were uninterested .
“So cool~”
“I greeted them!”
“Don’t they seem even more masculine than before the break?”
The girls in my group were watching with their hands clapsed together, entranced .
“Has it also been since before the break for you, Reika-sama?”
“Yes . ”
“That’s a shame, isn’t it . ”
Um, not really…
Anyhow, since today was just the ceremony, we were out of school before noon .
The Pivoine had its own greetings, so we all gathered at the salon .
When I arrived, my first greetings were for the new President of the Pivoine for this year . Not that the Presidents of the Pivoine really did anything .
Very Kaburagi of him, I supposed .
After that we relaxed, and greeted each other with some tea .
I was just doing so when Enjou and Kaburagi came along, so I said hello again .
“Happy New Year, Enjou-sama, Kaburagi-sama . ”
“Happy New Year, Kisshouin-san . ”
“Happy New Year . ”
They really did seem kind of tanned, now that I was looking from up close…
I said as much, and they responded that they’d gone skiing in Canada .
Hmm~ Skiing gracefully in Canada, huh .
Quite different from how they spent their last winter, I had to say .
Ah, but I suppose the cold was the same .
“Oh, this is your souvenir, Kisshouin-san . Maple syrup . ”
“It was the tastiest one,” Kaburagi added .
“Why thank you!”
Quite unlike the unlucky souvenir of last year .
I wanted to cook up some pancakes already .
Incidentally by that ‘tastiest one’ comment, Kaburagi, don’t tell me you went and compared them all?
Anyway, if the two of them were on holiday then I wonder what Yukino-kun was doing .
He wasn’t well, so I couldn’t imagine he could have gone skiing .
“Was Yukino-kun alone at home?” I asked .
“He went with my parents to Okinawa,” Enjou replied . “I think he’s looking a little better after relaxing somewhere warmer . ”
“That sounds wonderful!”
I was finding it hard to mesh Yukino-kun and the tropics, but still, Okinawa was a nice place!
“But can Yukino-kun swim?”
“Technically . He’s been doing it to help his endurance . ”
“I had no idea . ”
“Apparently he was swimming in Okinawa too . I’ve seen some photos of my him and my parents at the beach or in the pool . ”
“My, that sounds like fun . I hope to see these photos too . ”
“We should visit the Pivoine again sometime . ”
“Indeed . ”
But I have to wonder if Yukino-kun hadn’t wanted to go with his oniichan .
Damned Kaburagi, how could you separate the two .
By instinct I sent him a look of blame .
He looked back at me and said,
“Miruku . ”
Ha? Miruku?
“Ah, nothing . Sorry, I was thinking about Okinawa when I saw your face and that word just came to mind . ”
“I see…”
“Don’t worry about it, Kisshouin-san,” agreed Enjou .
“I see…”
Wondering what on earth was going on, when I got home I looked the word up .
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Miruku, Okinawan god of fertility
Kaburagiiiiiiiiii!
My face brought Miruku to mind!? Are you saying I look like him!? This ridiculous face!?
You’re slandering a bodhisattva like me!?
Unforgivable!
I ended up venting to Hoya-chan the hoya kerii .
After all, people said that talking to plants would make them grow faster!
I spoke to Hoya-chan every day .
Later on I had some pancakes made, and then I ate them with the Canadian maple syrup .
What the hell!?
So delicious!
…In light of this wonderful maple syrup, I’ll forgive you just this once, Kaburagi .
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