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crimsonbloomShouwa 53 (1978)
“Hey sis, you gotta take a look at this!”
You hurry down the stone steps from the shrine on the hill, past the row of torii gates. Around you autumn is beginning to settle in, the leaves already turning red and yellow. You’re wearing the local high school’s uniform, though to the people viewing this memory it might seem a little strange that you’re wearing gloves with it.
At the foot of the hill your brother is waiting for you. He looks like some combination of a greaser and a biker, from the leather jacket and the boots and that silly pompadour of his and the…when did he get sunglasses, anyway? He’s leaning against a stylish red motorbike, brand new and shining in the sun.
“Oh, is this that ‘autobike’?” you say, walking over to oooh and ahhh over it a little. You figured your brother’s hard work deserved that much of a reaction from you; he’s been obsessed with getting one of these things for a good while now. It is probably the most money he’s stashed away to get in a very long time. Given the fashion sense he’s come to adopt, you have to admit it suits him too.
“Damn straight it is,” he says. “Kawasaki Z1000. 5 speed ‘transmission’, clocks in at around 90 horsepower, this baby goes fast. I’ve got no regrets getting this.” A lot of what he’s saying doesn’t really mean anything to you but he looks so proud, so you nod along. “I’m gonna take it out for a spin, you wanna come along?”
You perk up immediately and smile. “Of course~ This looks like it’d be fun. Can we go over to the sweets shop?”
“Sure, but who’s paying?” asks your brother, in a tone the sounds like this isn’t the first time the two of you have had this conversation where you pester him to go get sweets together for snacks.
So he really shouldn’t be surprised that you look at him expectantly.
“Oh come on, I just paid for the bike.”
“It’s only 100 yen~ We can get a lot with just that much, nii-chan~!”
“So why is it you never seem to be able to spare even that?”
“Because my brother is a kind, generous soul?”
You brother lowers his sunglasses just enough so that you can see him give you an exasperated look in response. You still kind of just shamelessly give him a refreshing smile, as if you weren’t admitting to mooching off him.
He sighs and adjusts the sunglasses back into place, before mounting onto the motorbike and starting the engine. “Hurry up and get on before I change my mind.” Well, he always says things like that, but you’ve never seen him actually make good on them when it comes to you. With a bounce in your step, you climb behind him onto the seat and put your arms around his waist.
From the shrine, the two of you drive along the road past terraced rice fields and houses. In the distance there are mountains. You can’t really enjoy the scenery because you’re going a little too fast and your hair whips around behind you, but it’s one you know very well. Eventually you arrive at a small sweets shop, where there’s already a gaggle of elementary school kids chatting and browsing through the sweets on display. A small group of them are gathered at the capsule machine, huddled together to see what the latest prize one of them was getting.
Your brother greets the auntie who owns the shop; as always she looks mildly surprised to see you both, looking up from whatever she’s doing each time, every meeting a first one. As always, the kids gawk and pester either of you, in the way kids do when some outsider comes into their ‘space’; they ask you questions and comment on your sweet choices while your brother makes smalltalk with the auntie and he tries to shake off a kid who was probably wondering what a leather jacket feels like. You walk away with a bag full of umaibou, konpeito and other assorted sweets and wave goodbye to the auntie.
Your brother and you bring the motorbike a little further up the road before taking a break. You pull out a small box of gumballs from the bag and shake it a little, then open it to take in the nice orange-y smell. “Where next?” your brother asks.
“Hmmm…why don’t we go and visit ◯◯◯?” You pop a gumball into your mouth and hold out the box for your brother to take some. “Since we’re going to ride this for the trip this year, right? The sooner he knows about it, the better.” Instead of…well, giving him the rude surprise of experiencing a motorbike when you’re all supposed to be on a road trip. Maybe he’ll even warm up to it enough that he won’t be too bothered by it.
Your brother groans loudly even as he takes a gumball, clearly not looking forward to this visit. “Do we really have to?” It’s rhetorical, he already knows the answer is ‘yes’. “That old man’s going to complain that it’s noisy and loud and dirty then mumble about why people aren’t sticking to horses anymore.”
“That old-fashioned attitude of his is one of his charm points~” You mean this sincerely and with complete fondness in your heart.
“You’re biased,” he snorts. “He likes his ‘peace and quiet’ so much, I bet he can hear us coming from a mile away when we go…” His voice trails off as some kind of realisation dawns upon him. His mood seemingly instantly improved, he pops the gumball he took earlier into his mouth. “Okay you know what, let’s go now. Better we get him used to it as soon as possible, right?”
Ah, they’re going to be themselves about this again. You’re pretty sure that’s how it’ll turn out. Still, your brother’s being agreeable now so you’ll take this small blessing. “Let’s go, let’s go, to the mountain~”
“Hey sis, you gotta take a look at this!”
You hurry down the stone steps from the shrine on the hill, past the row of torii gates. Around you autumn is beginning to settle in, the leaves already turning red and yellow. You’re wearing the local high school’s uniform, though to the people viewing this memory it might seem a little strange that you’re wearing gloves with it.
At the foot of the hill your brother is waiting for you. He looks like some combination of a greaser and a biker, from the leather jacket and the boots and that silly pompadour of his and the…when did he get sunglasses, anyway? He’s leaning against a stylish red motorbike, brand new and shining in the sun.
“Oh, is this that ‘autobike’?” you say, walking over to oooh and ahhh over it a little. You figured your brother’s hard work deserved that much of a reaction from you; he’s been obsessed with getting one of these things for a good while now. It is probably the most money he’s stashed away to get in a very long time. Given the fashion sense he’s come to adopt, you have to admit it suits him too.
“Damn straight it is,” he says. “Kawasaki Z1000. 5 speed ‘transmission’, clocks in at around 90 horsepower, this baby goes fast. I’ve got no regrets getting this.” A lot of what he’s saying doesn’t really mean anything to you but he looks so proud, so you nod along. “I’m gonna take it out for a spin, you wanna come along?”
You perk up immediately and smile. “Of course~ This looks like it’d be fun. Can we go over to the sweets shop?”
“Sure, but who’s paying?” asks your brother, in a tone the sounds like this isn’t the first time the two of you have had this conversation where you pester him to go get sweets together for snacks.
So he really shouldn’t be surprised that you look at him expectantly.
“Oh come on, I just paid for the bike.”
“It’s only 100 yen~ We can get a lot with just that much, nii-chan~!”
“So why is it you never seem to be able to spare even that?”
“Because my brother is a kind, generous soul?”
You brother lowers his sunglasses just enough so that you can see him give you an exasperated look in response. You still kind of just shamelessly give him a refreshing smile, as if you weren’t admitting to mooching off him.
He sighs and adjusts the sunglasses back into place, before mounting onto the motorbike and starting the engine. “Hurry up and get on before I change my mind.” Well, he always says things like that, but you’ve never seen him actually make good on them when it comes to you. With a bounce in your step, you climb behind him onto the seat and put your arms around his waist.
From the shrine, the two of you drive along the road past terraced rice fields and houses. In the distance there are mountains. You can’t really enjoy the scenery because you’re going a little too fast and your hair whips around behind you, but it’s one you know very well. Eventually you arrive at a small sweets shop, where there’s already a gaggle of elementary school kids chatting and browsing through the sweets on display. A small group of them are gathered at the capsule machine, huddled together to see what the latest prize one of them was getting.
Your brother greets the auntie who owns the shop; as always she looks mildly surprised to see you both, looking up from whatever she’s doing each time, every meeting a first one. As always, the kids gawk and pester either of you, in the way kids do when some outsider comes into their ‘space’; they ask you questions and comment on your sweet choices while your brother makes smalltalk with the auntie and he tries to shake off a kid who was probably wondering what a leather jacket feels like. You walk away with a bag full of umaibou, konpeito and other assorted sweets and wave goodbye to the auntie.
Your brother and you bring the motorbike a little further up the road before taking a break. You pull out a small box of gumballs from the bag and shake it a little, then open it to take in the nice orange-y smell. “Where next?” your brother asks.
“Hmmm…why don’t we go and visit ◯◯◯?” You pop a gumball into your mouth and hold out the box for your brother to take some. “Since we’re going to ride this for the trip this year, right? The sooner he knows about it, the better.” Instead of…well, giving him the rude surprise of experiencing a motorbike when you’re all supposed to be on a road trip. Maybe he’ll even warm up to it enough that he won’t be too bothered by it.
Your brother groans loudly even as he takes a gumball, clearly not looking forward to this visit. “Do we really have to?” It’s rhetorical, he already knows the answer is ‘yes’. “That old man’s going to complain that it’s noisy and loud and dirty then mumble about why people aren’t sticking to horses anymore.”
“That old-fashioned attitude of his is one of his charm points~” You mean this sincerely and with complete fondness in your heart.
“You’re biased,” he snorts. “He likes his ‘peace and quiet’ so much, I bet he can hear us coming from a mile away when we go…” His voice trails off as some kind of realisation dawns upon him. His mood seemingly instantly improved, he pops the gumball he took earlier into his mouth. “Okay you know what, let’s go now. Better we get him used to it as soon as possible, right?”
Ah, they’re going to be themselves about this again. You’re pretty sure that’s how it’ll turn out. Still, your brother’s being agreeable now so you’ll take this small blessing. “Let’s go, let’s go, to the mountain~”