Chapter 7.3

"Ehh, the final memorial service? For Grandmother?"

Nao said, earning a nod from Yasumori Junko. The Maruyasu lumberyard was broad. The forklifts and trucks were at rest in the dead of the night, and on the plaza piled with lumber in every direction remained nothing of them but their track marks. Mixed in with those were the narrow tracks of children's bicycles.

The sawmill's lumberyard was seen as a playground by children. Summer vacation's radio exercises were scheduled at the Maruyasu sawmill lumberyard for the children in this area, and the wife of the family, Junko, had the duty of overseeing that. While it was early in the morning, it'd be a lie to say it wasn't still hot out then, but, Nao at least came with her which did make it enjoyable in a way.

The gathered children would play after their exercises were finished until the lumber yard's business hours. If nothing else, all of the lumber piled about made it so that it couldn't be said to be a place free of any dangers, so when the children were there, somebody had to be with them. With how often they came, she had all the deeper a bond with the children, and on days off they'd easily come to "borrow" her. They were attached to Junko as well as Nao, and they'd been drug out from the house countless times but, being so loved could foster love in the loved, so it wasn't all that bad.

"It's shaping up to be such a big service."

"Oh, that sounds like a lot of work," Nao said, overlooking the child who was playing around at her feet with scraps of wood. "Susumu-chan, that's a no-no."

Nao took the sharpened wood scrap from her son's hand.

Last year, Junko had married into this Maruyasu Sawmill family from outside of the village. Nao was another wife who had come from outside the village. Nao had married into Yasumori Construction--commonly called the Contractors---which was a branch family of the Sawmill's family, Nao's husband being the far younger cousin of Junko's father-in-law. Their husbands were the same age, so they were more like brothers. Not only did the two husbands get along well, they were a head and branch family, so there was all kinds of involvement between them. On Bon or New Years or anything of that nature, all of the neighborhood relatives would get together at the Maruyasus.

Nao gathered up a collection of wood scraps that seemed safe, stacking them before her child.

"If it's her final memorial service, we'll be involved, too. We'll have to come help."

"I'm sorry, especially when it's so hot."

"We're both out in the country, we need to count on each other. But it really will be a hassle for Jun-chan, won't it? If you're saying that it's at the end of August, then Obon would have barely passed. You'll be doing this all over again, won't you?"

That's right, said Junko with a forced smile, turning back to look at the lit up house. From the tatami room where the extended family gathered flowed the noisy clamor of their drinking.

"At my house we didn't really have any relatives nearby, so this many people gathering for Obon was a complete shock. I'd never even seen a Buddhist memorial service before."

"Oh? Here, they're very strict about memorial services and divine works, aren't they? My mother-in-law, every morning, she goes to a religious service at the temple. I remember how shocked I was when I'd first heard that."

"As for me, I'd thought you only went to temples for funerals."

"Right?" Junko laughed. "Remembering all of the little customs can be a hassle but once you get used to it, you start to think it's nice in its own way, too."

"That's right."

Junko smiled. She had married from nearby but Junko was born in a more urban area, where relatives were far away, and she didn't meet with them. There wasn't even a family altar in the home then, and they didn't really even do most yearly holiday functions or events. That was all the more reason these fastidious, precise rituals were interesting and fun. Even the fuss of the family gathering together, while tiring on the one hand, made for a good sort of busy. Especially when looking at her husband and Nao's husband, she thought the way that those of the same generation were like brothers was a fine thing.

"If it's her final memorial ceremony, the people from the neighborhood will help too, so it shouldn't be such a hassle on the day itself. Now, there are the days before and after! It's a hassle when the family gets together but, well, that's how it goes," Nao said, turning her eyes to the main house with a laugh. Junko smiled.

"Then, we'll make it somehow. My Mother-in-law said to make it a grand affair, so I''ve been put on the spot."

"It'll be all right. Jun-chan is the reliable one!'

"Not hardly!"

"Oh? You're a fine wife. My father-in-law said so himself!"

"Really?"

"Really. I mean, it's a lot of work you do! Jun-chan, your house manages the sawmill's affairs! There are live-in workers, aren't there? And on top of that, there's Grandfather."

Ah, Junko murmured. Her husband's grandfather had been bedridden for six years now. There was helping with the business and tending to the old man's care, so with three generations living in the household, with her grandfather and grandmother in laws, there was a lot to worry over. "It's really not so bad. It's my mother-in-law who sees to the people of the sawmill. Grandfather may be bedridden and require some help, but he is't particularly demanding, and he doesn't get angry very often."

"Being able to look at it that way is part of what makes you great."

"Nao-san's the same, aren't you? With the young contractors living with you."

"We have a hostel. It's not as if they're really live-ins."

"Is that so?"

Caught up in trying to out-praise the other, Junko and Nao looked at each other and laughed.

There was a lot to stress over, but their family lives were going well. Having Nao so nearby was reassuring. At the marriage interview, she had agreed to live with the family when they had wed, and each couple had their own living room and kitchen, so there was nothing to be dissatisfied about in their living arrangements with the extended family. But---thought Junko, turning to look behind her.

The night sky was black, the western mountain ridge stretched out beneath it. It, or anything else for that matter, couldn't be seen up there in the night's pitch darkness, but that was where the new Kanemasa house was.

(A house like that...)

"I'd like to try living in a western style mansion like that just once too, though."

Thinking Nao had read her mind, Junko turned to look back at her, seeing Nao herself looking up at the scene behind them.

"---I just mean, it'd be nice to have a house you could do up the way you like, too."

Junko gave a firm nod. "It's not that I'm particularly unsatisfied with anything. But, even if I think I might like to set this up like this, I can't just adjust the house however I want."

"That's right. ...It must really be nice, that house even has an attic. I've always wanted an attic, you know."

Me too, Junko laughed. Nao gave Junko an impish look.

"A western mansion with an attic, why, it's like something out of a movie, isn't it? Marrying into a household like that would be like being swept up and away! Wouldn't it be picturesque, the ideal new married life?"

"I'm sure there'd be a mother-n-law like Rottenmeier-san."

"Oh, that's true," Nao said, her voice rising with a laugh. "---They have moved in, right, for sure now?"

"Looks like it. I don't know what kind of people they are, though."

"They never come out, they say. As expected for someone moving out into the countryside like this, they're strange."

They are, murmured Junko looking up at the black mountains. As she did, Nao nudged her elbow.

"---Hn?"

"Oh, wow. Speak of the devil, they say!"

Looking towards where Nao was pointing, rather nearby, was a figure at the edge of the lumberyard. Just beneath the streetlight at the entrance, a couple, man and woman, stood. With a look at their clothing it was clear at once they weren't of the village. Overall, the atmosphere they gave off was completely different. What left an impression on Junko, to say nothing of their clothing, was the way the two casually linked their arms. Anyone who would do that was surely not one of the married couples of this village. They must have noticed Junko and the others, giving an easy greeting.

"Good evening," was said in a deep baritone.

"Oh... Good evening," Nao answered, gathering her child into her arms as Junko followed up.

"Are you the good people of Kanemasa?"

The man spoke, the woman looking up at him with a smile. "Takemura-san had said something about that. That we are called Kanemasa, here."

"That's right," Nao smiled. "We have the habit of calling the territory around your house Kanemasa."

Ah, the man nodded. He was about in his mid forties. The woman with him looked to be somewhere around thirty. Junko's thoughts were flustered. How to describe them; polished? There was something artificial to them---their demeanor lacked a certain worldliness. She felt a rush of embarrassment at the sudden outburst drunken voices that could be heard in the background.

"We are the Kirishikis. It is such a pleasure," the woman said, her eyes going to the one in Nao's arms. Her head tilted, peeking at the child's face. "My, how cute. Is he your son?"

"Yes. He's Susumu. I am, uhm, Yasumori. And this here is--no, she is one of the family members of theMaruyasu lumber yard."

"Are the two of you sisters?"

"No. Jun-chan is---I'm a relative of hers. From the nearby Yasumori Construction."

As Nao spoke, there was another burst of laughter from the background. The man turned his eyes towards the main house.

"It's Obon. Our family is having a get together."

"Ah, yes. It is homecoming season, isn't it," the man said, looking to his wife. "Everyone gathers together like this, then!"

"That's right. If you don't have anywhere to return to, you're left out. To tell the truth, I had wondered where all of those people were disappearing too, it was mysterious!"

"I thought so, too."

Junko watched the smiling couple with a suffocating feeling. It was like watching a young couple, which was to say embarrassing. There were no married couples so openly affectionate in the village. Once you were married, you were quickly engulfed in family life, and affection gave way to comfortable familiarity.

"Do the two of you have children?"

"We do have a daughter. She's already thirteen!"

"You don't look at all like you'd have a child that old."

"Thank you very much," the woman said with a bewitching smile. Junko had the feeling that she was like a whole other life form. She wasn't like a young girl, nor like a middle aged woman, she was not like any married woman she had seen before. The man was the same. He was still a man amongst men, far from any men past fourty that Junko could imagine. Outside of TV dramas.

"Uhm... If you would be interested," Nao said timidly. "Would you like to come in? As you can see, it's the middle of the party, so it's a bunch of drunks, but."

Nao nudged her lightly with her elbow, leading Junko to hastily jump in.

"Oh, yeah, please! I think our family would enjoy it, too."

The man looked to his wife as if asking her.

"Oh, but we couldn't. You're in the middle of a family gathering!"

"Oh, no, don't mind at all."

The man turned to Junko. "If we could accept your hospitality at a later date...."

"Then, please, come to our home, too," Nao said excitedly. "If you say the Contractor's place, anyone will be able to give directions. With your daughter!"

The man smiled abruptly. For a moment, Junko was startled. That smile, something about it looked terrifying. For no placeable reason, she had the feeling that something had been said that couldn't be taken back.

"Thank you so very much."

The man said, looking over Junko and Nao as if making a pledge.

"We will be coming to give our regards. ....Quite soon."

[Note: "I'm sure there'd be a mother-n-law like Rottenmeier-san." - A reference to Johanna Spyri's work, Heidi. Miss Rottenmeier is strict and decidedly not fun nanny figure within the story.

Heidi was made into a very successful, popular anime series in the 70s and is very well known amongst Japanese adults (or at least, people who were adults in the 90s such as in Shiki; people currently in their 20s, perhaps not so much).