Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions. If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ. Thank you for your consideration, guys!
This is my Christmas present to you, and I’d be really glad if you gifted me back with a review on novelupdates! Incidentally, Reika graduates from primary school soon, so let’s have one chapter every 15 minutes until she does.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of prerequisite knowledge for this chapter. A lot of it is probably learnt in school for Japanese.
The Man’yōshū is the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, compiled sometime after 759 AD during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan’s poetic compilations. i.e. an anthology of classic Japanese poems written when Nara was still the capital of ancient Japan.
Princess Nukata (額田王 Nukata no Ōkimi?, c. 630–690 CE) (also known as Princess Nukada) was a Japanese poet of the Asuka period. Nukata was one of the great female poets of her time; thirteen of her poems appear in the Man’yōshū. The below poem alludes to her illicit affair with her younger-brother-in-law, Emperor Tenmu, where ‘waving’ refers to beckoning or soliciting.
akane sasu The madder-shining murasaki no yuki Purple murasaki fields he goes around, shimeno yuki The staked fields around: nomori wa mizu ya Won’t the guardsman kimi ga sode furu See you wave your sleeve, my lord?
Hōryū-ji (法隆寺, lit. Temple of the Flourishing Law) is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is Hōryū Gakumonji (法隆学問寺), or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery.
Yumedono (夢殿, lit. Hall of Dreams), a hall in Hōryū-ji, associated with Prince Shōtoku.
Masaoka Shiki (正岡 子規?, October 14, 1867 – September 19, 1902), was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry.
Haiku on Nara by Shiki: “Persimmon and Temple Bell”
kaki kueba as I eat a persimmon kane ga narunari the bell starts booming houryuuji Hōryū-ji
“Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi” (Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun)
The name of a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Ryoko Yamagishi that tells a fictionalised account of Prince Shōtoku. Incidentally, the title is derived from a diplomatic letter to the Sui Emperor, allegedly written by Prince Shoutoku , that reads: 「日出處天子致書日沒處天子無恙云云」 「The Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun writes to the Emperor of the Land of the Setting Sun, and I hope you are well.」
A record of this remains in the Japanese Nihonshiki and Chinese Book of Sui.
[Story begins!]
Nara turned out to be mostly shrines and temple visits as well. Honestly speaking, justtt as I was kind of getting fed up with it, there was a girl reciting the manyoushuu. The girls around her were giving her looks of respect. A primary schooler chanting poems from the manyoushuu. So this is what refinement is!? This is true refinement!? I definitely want to follow her example!
Of the poems in the manyoushuu, the only one I remember is from my old life, Princess Nukata’s akanesasu. I’d play Princess Nukata with my friends and we’d wave our hands jokingly saying, “If you wave your hand so much, the guardsman will see you, you know~” It would be weird if I suddenly remembered Princess Nukata’s poem here when his place has nothing to do with it, and it’d be bad if I flared up her sense of rivalry, so I decided just to keep quiet and watch as they proceeded to display their refinement. Apparently lots of other girls had the same idea, because from here and there, I started hearing “kaki kueba” and “houryuuji”. Far from refined, they just seemed silly. Naturally I didn’t participate.
Only, when we visited the Yumedono, I accidentally muttered “the Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun”. The tour guide heard me and said I was wonderful, praising me, which in turn caused the girls around me to say “As expected of Reika-sama”. All I did was mutter the name of a shoujo manga though… But I decided against clearing the misunderstanding.
*imouto*
At Nara Park, an incident occurred. I was walking gracefully about the park with crackers for the deers in my hand, when I was suddenly surrounded by a herd of them. The girls with me immediately ran, but I alone was too late to!
Huge! Deers, huge! Scary! Horns, scary! Hurts! Being jabbed in the back! GYAHH! They took the crackers!
“Reika-sama, run!”
“KYAAA! A deer is, Reika-sama…!”
“Reika-sama, throw the crackers far away!”
I tried tossing the crackers far away, but they flapped in the air and landed right at my feet. GYAAHH! I was being kicked, and rammed, and only when they realised I had no more crackers in hand did they finally look for for another target, one by one.
“Reika-sama, are you all right!?”
“Aahh! Poor Reika-sama!”
“…I am fine, everybody. Thank you.”
What the heck was that. A gang? A deer gang? A deer mafia? Weren’t they too damn rough…? Even though I recall them being more heartwarming when I came here in my last life, what the heck happened to them?
The girls around me helped my dust the dirt off my clothing, and just as I had finally managed to get my clothing in order and started to calm down, I met eyes with the Kaburagi, who was looking my way with a grin.
That guy freaking laughed at me… So mortifying! I wanna throw deer crackers all around him!
But right now I have a more compelling problem. Nobody has noticed. The fact that I stepped on deer poop.
“It is about time to return. Reika-sama, that must have been truly rough on you.”
“Right? To think that deers were actually so scary. Even though the ones I gave my crackers to were all so cute.”
“Does it hurt anywhere? GEEZ! None of the boys even tried to help! You’re all pathetic!”
While walking happily with everybody, I sneakily slid my loafers to get the poop off with absolutely nobody the wiser. I made sure to hint that the reason I was walking like this was because I had hurt my leg when the deers kicked it.
*imouto*
After that, we went to Kasuga Grand Shrine, and I made sure to ask the gods to discipline those deers properly. The place had cute deer fortunes and up until yesterday I would have flown right over to buy one, but the scars in my heart still hadn’t healed from that deer assault, so I even looked at the cute deer carvings with dangerous eyes. But everyone was making a fuss about how cute they were, so when they went to buy some, I went as well. ‘blessing’ Again, not quite sure how to feel about this…
*imouto*
The one good thing about the Deer Assault Incident was that it felt a bit like I was closer to the girls around me now. It’d be nice if they slowly turned from followers to friends. I decided to begin by casually playing up our friendship.
“Really, thank you for earlier. Friends truly are the most important thing, aren’t they.”
Everybody smiled happily. Could it be that we’ve actually been friends for a long time now?
*imouto*
But after the Deer Assault Incident, every time I passed by Kaburagi, his shoulders would start to tremble. KIIIIIIIII!!! That’s it, I’m telling Yurie-sama on him. Laugh all you want. When we come back to Tokyo, the one crying will be youuu.
*imouto*
*imouto*
I had bought soaps from the inn, and some cute konpeitoh rock candies for Aoi-chan and Fukioka-san.
konpeitoh rock candyI had originally been choosing between the traditional oil-removing facial paper or yatsuhashi, when my stylishness sent a flash of inspiration through me.
Yatsuhashi is a Japanese confectionery made from glutinous rice flour, sugar and cinnamon.Apparently Fukioka-san told Akizawa-kun in advance to buy them a matching pair of romantic luck charms. Getting him to buy a pair of matching romance charms was apparently also part of the scheme to hold back the Suiran girls. As expected of you, Fukioka-san. Even though I bought Oniisama a safe driving charm, he refused to hang it on the car mirror, so I was a little dissatisfied. He muttered “This is a little…” but why?
*imouto*
Apparently Yurie-sama got mad at Kaburagi for not warning the girls around him not to cause trouble for others. Serrrvesss youuu righttttt. Ukyakyakyakyakya! And then the next day, through Aira-sama, I received a certain photo from Yurie-sama. It was a photo of me being beaten up by a herd of deers. Aira-sama ended up sympathising with me, and said “That must have been harsh. Yurie was shocked to see this too”.
UKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!! IMPOSSIBLE TO FORGIVE!!
Aburatorigami (あぶらとり紙) is a traditional Japanese facial oil blotting paper. The direct translation of the term is “oil removal paper”. As the term implies, aburatorigami absorbs excess oil, thereby eliminating shine from the face. Aburatorigami has traditionally been used by kabuki actors and geisha to keep makeup looking fresh throughout performances. In modern times it has been growing in popularity for everyday use amongst women for its various skincare and makeup benefits.
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