意外なつながり
An Unexpected Connection
In the short distance from the parking lot to the entry hall, I had become a perfectly wet mouse.
Hostess: Welcome back, Hatou-san. That must have been rough.
Kei: Ah, Okami-san. That rain is incredible.
Hostess: It'll pass over soon, though, I'm sure. But before that, we'd better have you change clothes.
Like writing brushes with too much ink, the ends of my pigtails are dripping with water. *pota, pota, pota* continue my tracks to the entrance.
Gripping them from the roots and slipping my fingers to the ends, I manage to make a small water puddle on the tataki. (TN: A type of hardened clay-like mixture used to make genkan - entrance hallways where you put your shoes - found in more traditional buildings.)
Kei: Uuu, no wonder my head was so heavy......
My puff sleeves, too, are gone to waste, sticking fast to my skin. No matter how hard I try to peel them back off, they return to their stuck position. *pechari*
Kei: Hah......
Sakuya: It's because you were standin' there like a doofus for a while after it started. Sheesh.
Hostess: Oh, and who is this?
Kei: Ah, she's a friend of mine--
Flashing an elegant smile, Sakuya-san pulls out and offers a business card, as if from thin air.
Sakuya: My name is Asama Sakuya.
Hostess: Well, well...... so you are a reportage writer and a photographer?
Sakuya: Yes. My primary field of writing is politics and economics. My photography centers on wild animals and other natural subjects.
From her formal speech, I can't detect a hint of her typical ostentatious bravado. I guess you can't underestimate a member of society.
Sakuya: I've been an acquaintance of the Hatou family since this one's grandmother, and met her coincidentally in town a short while ago.
Hostess: My, my, so that's it.
Sakuya: Yes. My apologies for the intrusion, but would you possibly have an available room?
Hostess: Absolutely. We still have vacancies, and customers are always a pleasure.
Sakuya: In that case, I'll be bothering you for a short while. (TN: A keigo expression. It is the nature of keigo to constantly apologize about how much of a bother you are.)
Hostess: No, no, please bear with us.
Hostess: It must be nice, Hatou-san. Having such a reliable onee-san with you. (TN: Onee-san isn't just "sister." It also means a friend who is an older girl.)
Kei: Hah...... an onee-san, huh......
Well, she does look young, and I don't know her real age......
Hostess: Well, Asama-san, I suppose you came here to report on this town?
Sakuya: Would that be, from yesterday, about the mirror being stolen from Kyoudoshi Museum?
Hostess: Oh my, now that you mention it, there was that too... how dreadful. To think there are thieves, even this far into the country.
The okami-san seemed to have completely forgotten, too, but that was covered in the news this morning, I think...?
Hostess: I've already told Hatou-san, but we'll be having a festival in town very soon, you know.
Hostess: And I thought for sure you had come to report on that.
Sakuya: Yes, I know of it. However, I was aware that it had been abolished for nearly ten years......
Kei: Ah, but Uzuki-san came this year, so maybe it'll be more lively.
Sakuya: Uzuki...... you wouldn't mean Senba Uzuki?
Kei: Huh? Sakuya-san, you know her?
Sakuya: ......Kind of... you could say I have an old history with that family. It almost seems like fate......
If she had a history with my grandmother, that means Sakuya-san's been in and out of Hemidzuka before.
And if she has a history with Uzuki-san's Senba family, the ones in charge of the festival preparations, then it's no question that she's come through here, I guess.
Kei: I see.
Judging from Sakuya-san's current expression, I can't think that it's an amiable relationship, but I'm rather convinced that she and Uzuki-san are acquaintances.
Kei: Uzuki-san's staying here, too, you know.
Sakuya: Geh......
Now that was an unpleasant voice.