Wednesday, April 29th, 1885

The man at the post office bows slightly. I’m afraid I have become a more frequent visitor of late…
“There’s been delays… a lot of rain this week,” he offers by way of apology. “Not even those trains can move too fast in weather like that.” I nod in agreement, taking the letter from him.
For a moment I’m impatient and wish to rip right into the envelope, but I must demonstrate some sense of decorum. “Thank you,” I bow my head, slightly.
As the rain has arrived in Ito this afternoon, I open my umbrella after tucking the letter into my obi. Today has not been a pleasant one for the market but there are things to be done…
Makoto-chan comes home moments after me… was she waiting on me? “There’s a letter from your uncle,” I pull out the letter, still nice and dry. Opening the envelope, I find the one addressed to her, not reading any further than her name.
She smiles slightly, and runs upstairs. I sigh… we’ve not talked about what happened Monday and there’s still a strange air around this house… Standing by the stairs, I unfold the letter to me…
Ah yes finances… I’ll need to get my books in order tonight, it’ll be easier than tomorrow, without . Well, they are already in -perfect- order… but I can provide an overview of my situation. Money will help… next year as Makoto-chan is in school for a longer day the fees will go up.
I smile at the talk of travel… yes, responsibilities. I had thought of taking Makoto somewhere when school was out for that week… and then the Mochizukis had taken Makoto with them when they went to see her family out in the countryside a few times last year. She loved seeing farm life, and riding on the horse they kept.
The first time… that was -hard-… the first time I had ever been apart from her. Hiroku-san said that Makoto-chan had been just fine, they kept the girls too busy and distracted that she didn’t seem so homesick. She even brought me back tea… tea… tea ceremony… I grin slightly, thinking how I can keep his -interest-, but it falls as I think of another kind…
I’m interrupted from my thoughts when I hear little footsteps on the stairs. I look over to see Makoto-chan. “I… I can’t read all of this.” She looks away, there’s something in her eyes I can’t quite place in the dim light of the stairway. Frustration? She does hate to not know things…
“Ah…” I watch her carefully. “I can help you, he knows you’re so bright he probably forgot how much you’re still learning…”
She hands over the letter. “Will you read it with me?” I take her hand, and she doesn’t pull away, and lead her towards the kitchen table. “I would like tea… milk for you?” She nods. She’s not yet taken to tea… I wonder if she ever will. “And maybe a little something to get us through to dinner?”
I bring out a small package of wagashi that caught my eye… they were affordable, and the brightness of cheery spring colors seemed to brighten up this rainy April day. She’s not as fond of sweets as Isuzu-chan, but she rarely refuses, either.
Setting everything down, I settle next to her. I help her – it’s good how much she can get through on her own. I remember helping my brothers learn to read… how had they been at her age? I can’t recall exactly… how are Kioko-chan and Hiroshi-kun… no, I won’t dwell on that -now-.
Hospital bed? Is that in connection with those new scars and stitches on his shoulder? “You wrote your name in English?” I ask, surprised. “Will you show me?” Oh course… English is something they share that I don’t know, and for a moment I feel left out… but they must have a relationship on their own as well. My father and I of course had our private jokes that we never told Okaasan…
“You promised to be good?” I ask, after a moment. “You’ll be able to tell truthfully that you have been… you’ve not fought me on getting to bed or to bath, and you’ve picked up after yourself…”
“No… I said, by the river that day…” she looks at me, rather anxiously. “I’ve not been good -at all-.”
I pull her close, my hand smoothing her hair that I still need to trim. “Makoto-chan… we all say things sometimes… and I know that you don’t really think I’m stupid, right?”
“You aren’t!” she agrees, and she holds onto me tightly. “But they still are,” she mutters. As much as I might wish to agree, knowing some of their mothers… “we’ll talk about it… maybe even with your uncle…” Hajime should know of his daughter’s daily worries, even at her age. Now that he’s in our lives… I smile down at the girl still wrapped around me. “Go ahead and eat the wagashi… and yes, I have enough for you to take Isuzu-chan tomorrow…”
“Can we write him back?” she asks, taking some of the sweets.
“Not enough time… he told me that he would be here Friday.” Friday… not too long now.