Day off in Shinkatsu

The next morning, Kanagawa has promised Wakumi to take her around the town, before they leave. Kumiko overheard the news and stopped them.

"Argh! I can't believe it!!" Kumiko cried, "You are going into town with that kind of bed hair?! Kanagawa-Neesama!"

Kanagawa replies, "Heh? It's not like I am going there for official business. I think it's fine."

"No, it is not! I won't allow it!" said Kumiko. "Come with me to fix it, now!"

Then she turns to Wakumi, "Anyway Wakumi-chan, I have made you a new kimono perfectly just for you, so come with me."

Without hesitation, Kumiko pulls Wakumi's arm and rushes to her room.

While changing into her new kimono, Wakumi is fascinated by the flowery patterns on it. The first experience in new clothes can't take many words to describe it, the kimono is very comfortable and just fits her size. When Kumiko is putting a new obi around Wakumi, she mentions fashion.

"To me, I won't forgive girls who don't care about their fashion sense," Kumiko said. "Fashion is the key to beauty for all girls."

While standing, Wakumi replies, "I am astonished by your skills, you do make a lot of kimonos with pretty patterns."

"You flatter me Wakumi-chan, I learned it since I was a kid under a master waiver so you could see I have a massive collection of my masterpieces."

After the obi is fixed, Kumiko pulls Wakumi in front of a big mirror. While looking at herself, Wakumi has never been as pretty as she expected.

"It is gorgeous," said Wakumi.

"Isn't it?" said Kumiko. "Now now, let's go to my little makeup desk and let me tidy up your hair."

At a water well in the backyard, Kanagawa is washing her face as she hears chuckles behind her. She turns around and there is Kongiku, grinning at the back with her kiseru in her hand.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that Onee-sama?" Kanagawa asked curiously.

Smiling in the back, Kongiku replied, "No reason! Today's weather is perfect for going out. Could it be that you invited Wakumi on a date?"

"Please don't put it in such a weird way," said Kanagawa. "It's all thanks to a CERTAIN SOMEONE that I am free all of a sudden. So, I decided to show her around town."

While teasing, Okaa-san comes from the corridor looking for Kongiku, "Kongiku? Kongiku-"

Heard from the call, Kongiku turns, "Yes, Okaa-san?"

"About tonight's reservation list," Okaa-san stated. "Chujo-sama just sends a message there are two more people coming, so I have notified the kitchen about it and let you know.

"Noted, I understand," said Konigku.

"Also about Kanagawa, the guests she requested can't come tonight so know in mind," said Okaa-san and she leaves.

"Well, it seems you are going to have a full day and night off today." Kongiku turned to Kanagawa and said, "Now go quickly to Wakumi and have fun."

Leaving from the front door, Wakumi and Kanagawa wear their getas as Kongiku and Uzuki see them off.

"We are heading out!" said Wakumi.

"Have a safe trip." said both Kongiku and Uzuki.

-^-^-^-

It is almost noon, the streets in Shinkatsu are getting crowded. Shops are full of customers and lots of handmade products showcase beside the road.

"Is it the first time in a town?" Kanagawa asked.

"To be honest it is, I have never seen a lively town like this beside my old village," replied Wakumi.

"Your village?" Kanagawa wants to know more.

"I don't know where or the name of the village is, but the environment there is very bad, Like a slum." Wakumi continues. "Besides, my childhood was a Jigoku (Hell)."

While walking down the streets, they stop by a souvenir shop full of fortune cats.

"Irasshaimase (Welcome, please come in)." The owner greets them.

"There are so many different faces," said Wakumi.

"The cats with right paw beckoning mean to invite fortune, and the left paw means to attract more customers." stated the owner.

Looking at a variety of those, Kanagawa said, "You like cats?"

"Yes!!" said Wakumi. "I would like to have one each of them, one for Onee-sama and Okaa-san."

Then Kanagawa says to the owner, "Please pack them up and we will take them as we come back."

After paying, the owner gives her thanks. "Thank you, please come again."

It is almost noon and lunchtime, touring around the town starts to make Wakumi's tummy rumbles. Heard from such a sound, Kanagawa chuckles.

"You want something to eat? I will take you to a shop that just opened yesterday," Kanagawa takes Wakumi's hand and they cross a huge moon bridge to the other side of the river.

Soon they arrived at the shop Kanagawa mentioned, to Wakumi's surprise it is run by foreigners from overseas. The shop is neither local nor in Japanese architecture, it's half Japanese and foreign. Looking up the shop sign, it has letters that Wakumi doesn't understand and the sign names "Jigoku Sakana", Fish from Hell.

The sign makes Wakumi shiver and grabs Kanagawa's sleeves tightly, Kanagawa notices and explains to her.

"Don't worry, we are not eating fishes from hell," she laughed. "We are going to try their deep-fried fish."

"Deep-fried fish?" Wakumi wonders what Kanagawa means. "Like some kind of tempura?"

Watching from sight, there is a huge crowd of visitors in a queue for ordering. Then Kanagawa gave Wakumi some coins and said to her, "Go to a nearby sweet shop and buy some for yourself, I will wait here."

Nodding her head, Wakumi sets off to a sweet shop and an old man greets her. Looking at the shelves, Wakumi asked him.

"Tenshu-san (Mr Shop owner), what kind of wagashi is this?" Wakumi asked as she points at a flowery shaped object.

"Oh, that's a Monaka, consisting of two crisp and airy wafers made from sticky rice that are sandwiched around sweetened red bean paste," the old man replied.

Then he takes something from his counter and puts it on a small plate.

The old man passes the plate to Wakumi and said, "Here you go little Ojio-chan (young lady), have a try on my freshly made Daifuku"

With a small bite on the Daifuku, Wakumi bursts into tears, she has never tasted such sweetness in her whole life. The old man smiles.

"Guess what, I am going to give you a small box of those for free," said the old man.

With those words, Wakumi comes back to senses and tries to refuse. "No no, I will pay for those."

"Don't worry," he said and packed up some Daifuku into a box with two other wagashi boxes wrapped in a blue cloth. "Please take these as a kindness from mine."

After receiving them, Wakumi bows with politeness and gives her thanks to the owner, then she is on her way back to meet Kanagawa. Halfway through, she heard a small "Kya" voice behind her. Turns around and sees a girl in black kimono on the ground, Wakumi rushes to her.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

The girl looked at her and said, "I am fine, just tripped from a stone."

The girl tries to stand up but her face seems to suffer from pain, she twisted her ankle.

"Let me hold you up," Wakumi insists and helps the girl up to a nearby bench.

While helping the girl, she notices the golden flower pin on Wakumi's obi, to her curiosity, she asks her.

"You are from Sanzu-no-Kawa, right?" the girl asked. "It seems we are neighbours to each other."

While fixing the girl's geta, Wakumi replied, "So you are from Machidaya, the house in front of us?"

The girl nodded, looking at Wakumi helping her, her heart suddenly races fast. What is happening to me? Why does my heart beat rapidly? The girl thought.

"This should do, your geta is fixed," said Wakumi. "Let me help you wear it on."

She kneels to the ground and puts the geta on the girl's left foot. The girl stands up and tries to walk around, she feels much better.

"I sincerely thank you for your kindness," the girl replies. "I shall take my leave."

The girl bows to Wakumi and walks away.

"Ah! May I ask for your..."

Before Wakumi can askes for the girl's name, she has already left. Looking from afar, she realizes she needs to meet up with Kanagawa, she hurries to the previous shop.

Back to the shop, Kanagawa has just taken the order as Wakumi comes back just in time.

"Wow, it seems you got some wagashi in that cloth," said Kanagawa.

"The old Tenshu-san was very kind, he gave me these for free even though he insisted me not to pay for them," said Wakumi.

Hearing these words, Kanagawa smiles and shows she a plate of fried fish and potato strips.

"This is called Fish and Chips from Igirisu (United Kingdom) from the far west, it is actually fried codfish and chopped potato strips," Kanagawa explains.

"It looks almost the same as tempura," said Wakumi. "I thought it is from the Nanban (Southern Barbarians, refer to European colonies in Southeast Asia)."

Both of them stare at the dish and look at each other, they laugh and walk to a nearby bench to settle down. What Wakumi doesn't know is that she is being watched from a far distance, it is the girl she met before.

The girl smiles with jealousy and says, "She is my type, I have found my chosen one... Fufufu."