Umm, surprise, I guess?
There were a myriad of reasons I went off for this long, some good, some bad, and I won"t bore you with them. It"s probably not the last time this happens. BUT I"ll always come back. I"m like the Terminator…pfff. That was a terrible comparison.
Anyways, here"s the last part of Chapter 2.
~^.^~
According to their father"s instructions, the dishes were lined up on top of the three long, low tables that had been stuck together.
Dishes that displayed their father"s skill crowded the table along with the various pieces of tableware such as the small cups and gla.s.ses, the individual plates and the small plates that were also spread out on the table. With the arrangement having been put to order their father and mother, as well as Tachibana, sat down. Their parents sat adjoining each other, and Tachibana"s customary position was in the seat next to their uncle.
Finally, Takahito and Kizuki too sat down side-by-side at the foot of the table.
Estimating that everyone had arrived at their seats, their grandfather picked up the Bizen ware [type of pottery] sake cup.
When he and Kizuki had been children, they had called this grandfather "grandpa", but now they called him "Tsukiysan". Their grandfather"s physical appearance was quite different from the image society generally a.s.sociated with grandfathers, if they called him as such, they would certainly be doubted.
Porcelain white skin with not one blemish or wrinkle, a pair of eyes like those of a Buddha statue [1] with their corners raised up, and lips so red as though crimson lipstick had been applied to them. Because of his bewitching appearance, his age could not be guessed at.
[1] The word used is 杏仁形 which Weblio a j.a.panese dictionary tells me refers to the shape of eye found in Buddha statues in Asuka period (550-710 CE) and was apparently considered attractive or something.
Commenting on their grandfather, uncle had often said: "That person is an apparition", but, indeed, even within their family that was an a.s.sembly of not entirely human traits, their grandfather"s existence stood out as "special".
Takahito had been told he resembled his grandfather, but he himself thought their levels were completely different. At present he was no match for his grandfather at all.
Naturally, grandfather was not the only special one.
Their uncle who grandfather had pa.s.sed down the seat of leaders.h.i.+p of the Oogami Group to many years ago also emitted a special though in a different way aura. This uncle too was the owner of a face so beautiful everyone would look back at him when he walked the street, but this beauty was of a different sort than their grandfather"s. In uncle"s case, it was an utmost masculine beauty.
To this natural ability recently had been added the solemnity of being the head of the organization and Takahito felt that his uncle"s presence had grown all the more tangible than before. The members of the Oogami Group had admired grandfather, therefore it had been said the takeover would be difficult, but presently, years after the inauguration of the new leader, their uncle had seized the hearts of the members with his naturally charismatic personality, completely placing them under his control.
Uncle poured sake in grandfather"s cup from a bottle, and grandfather did the same in return. Uncle also poured sake for grand uncle. The other members too, one by one drank sake together.
"Has the sake spread through? Then, Takao, lead the toasting."
Grandfather urged their uncle. Until several years ago leading the toasting had also been taken up by their grandfather, but now it had become uncle"s duty.
Holding the sake cup in one hand, with his pair of jet black eyes that shone intensively, their uncle surveyed everyone turning in a circle.
"Though we"re having our New Year"s party close to the end of January, I think with joy of meeting like this in the same place, with no one missing from amongst family and friends this year as well. Like always brother-in-law has displayed his skills. Enjoy the delicious food and sake to your heart"s content."
Cutting off his words with that, uncle turned his gaze towards the twins.
"Since your birthday is in April, there"s still a little more than 3 years till the lifting the alcohol ban [2]."
[2] The drinking age in j.a.pan is 20.
As the twins bowed their heads at the same time, he gave a warning: "Until then it"s healthy oolong tea."
"To another good year. Kanpai."
"Kanpai."
Everyone raised their sake cups and gla.s.ses, and said in a chorus.
The dinner party had begun. The adults put their chopsticks to the appetisers, and begin animatedly talk of each other"s recent affairs.
A short while after the alcohol had been poured the place gradually settled into an easy-going atmosphere, and Takahito and Kizuki had also relaxed and had begun to shovel food into their mouths.
"Soft roe savoury egg custard, so tasty~ Deep-fried stuffed lotus root is also tasty!"
"The fried red king crab is delicious!"
"This marbled beef, it melts inside the mouth!"
One by one they praised in admiring voices, and jumped into the fray of their father"s numerous signature dishes.
Unlike the adults since they could not drink alcohol, and because of their hearty growing children"s appet.i.te, in the blink of an eye the bowls and plates in front of them became empty. Their mum and Tachibana who had noticed that handed down their own shares.
"Mum, the crab is good, eat."
"If you want you can eat mine as well."
"Ah? But, that"s bad."
Next to the refusing Takahito, Kizuki exclaimed: "Lucky! Thanks for the crab!" He s.n.a.t.c.hed the plate and put it in front of himself.
"Hey, you should hesitate at least a little bit."
Kizuki responded to Takahito who was chiding him quite indifferently.
"Everyone made this, wouldn"t it be more wasteful to leave it?"
"That"s true, but you should decline at least once. It"s the bare minimum of manners."
"If I get it in the end it"s the same. That sort of thing is a waste of time."
Declaring nonchalantly, Kizuki was already biting into the crab. Takahito sighed.
"You two, as usual your personalities are the complete opposite!"
The one who had spoken was Mizukawa. Holding a sake cup in one hand, he was laughing with amus.e.m.e.nt.
"Despite being twins why is there such a difference?"
Jinguuji family"s physician Mizukawa was present at their birth; he had delivered them as they had heard.
After that he had also frequently performed their fixed-term health check-ups, and their health management.
For them who could not go to an ordinary hospital because of their atypical physiology, doctor Mizukawa"s existence was important. It was also thanks to him they had gotten by without any sicknesses up till now.
"However, in reality you both have taken the best parts of everyone according to your names."
Mizukawa murmured with a deeply moving expression.
As for the twin"s names, Takahito [峻仁] had received "峻" and "仁" from his uncle and grand uncle respectively, and Kizuki [希月] had received "希" and "月" from Yuuki-mama and grandfather respectively.
They were likely names their dad and mum had put their hopes of them inheriting the good parts of everyone into.
"Is that so?"
Takahito himself did not really know if that was true. Honestly, there were times he thought he was failing to live up to his name.
"It"s because they are still developing. But you"ve grown up rapidly without any major sicknesses, so you could also argue Kiji has grown up too fast."
"I want to get taller. I"m not at all the hugest amongst the basketball players."
Kizuki who had made short work of 3 people"s portions of crabs a.s.serted. However, Mizukawa who was inebriated with sake ignored his a.s.sertion and dropped his voice that was filled with an inexpressible feeling.
"You"ve become so big…like this is already fine, just fine."
"What is it? You"re awfully gloomy today."
Tsuzuki interjected from his seat next to them.
"It"s because these boys are like my own children."
"Tsuzuki-san is probably the same?" Mizukawa asked in return.
"Well…pretty much so."
Tsuzuki confirmed at length without changing his expression.
Because, whether it was Mizukawa or the poker-faced Tsuzuki, they did not often speak of how they thought of them, Takahito was a little surprised.
It wasn"t just the four people they had received their names from and their parents. They had also grown up receiving a lot of influence from these two from the three subordinate families.
Thanks to being preciously protected by all the people here, they had come to being here today.
Once again impressed by that, Takahito surveyed his surroundings.
His uncle was intimately speaking to his partner Tachibana about something. Only in front of Tachibana his uncle who habitually carried a heavy responsibility showed a truly relaxed expression.
His grandfather and grand uncle as well, though their conversation was not worth mentioning, their trust in each other could be surmised from afar.
Their parents were picking up food with smiles on their faces. You would not think 17 years had gone by since they had married as they were as close as newlyweds. As their kids it was to the degree it was a bit embarra.s.sing to the twins.
Then next to him was the partner he had been together with since birth.
He had both parents, not only was he not bothered by daily necessities, he could receive full education, he had a close friend, and he was loved by his family and people close to them.
Immediately after he had reflected upon how blessed he was, Takahito released a sigh without letting anybody notice it.
(Despite being this fortunate…)
There was a tight feeling somewhere in his heart.
As such he could not help embracing a feeling of guilt.
~^.^~
hahaha…I know what he needs…a good d.i.c.king, right?
So, I think I shouldn"t set any schedule on this, all I do is keep to it for a while and then go off the rails suddenly. But it shouldn"t take as long as this, since translating this book is part of my self-imposed daily j.a.panese studying program. See how long that lasts before I get distracted…blame my artsy soul, I need someone with a whip standing behind me to make me stick to something.
Till next time~
BTW, I"ll go approve all the comments I missed while I was not checking the blog after this.
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