"You know, I don't want to be cynical and all, but don't you think it's been real quiet these few days?"
The two other brothers looked at Sena, the most perceptive of the three. There was a slight moment of silence, to which the eldest promptly went back to his console game.
"True, it's not like kazoku to be so... peaceful... especially considering it's the holidays. The twins should be running around somewhere and Kaasan should be breathing down our necks for playing games." The second eldest male of the family commented.
"That's exactly what I mean, for heaven's sakes, its winter break."
"Maybe... the twins are just doing their homework or something. Don't keep assuming your younger sisters would play all day during the winter break. And Kaasan is probably just busy with work or something. Don't worry yourselves about something like that. Why, enjoy the peace and quiet, I say!" Kazeoka went back to his game, leaving his younger brothers in deep thought.
There was a moment of blessed silence, abruptly interrupted by Kazeoka's victorious whoop as he cleared another stage of Stunt Driver.
"But Kaasan usually doesn't have work in winter break; I distinctly remember her bugging us around this time every year. And the twins would have finished their homework already; they always finish it early during winter break."
"That's right, I remember Kaasan following me around the house last year. And I know the twins have already finished, they told me they had to free up their time so that they could help Kaasan with the New Year..." A deathly pale set upon Sena's face as he finished his sentence and train of thought, "...preparations."
"Ano... shimatta. Totally forgot about it."
"Can't believe we all forgot about it."
The eldest lifted his head from a difficult stunt driver move to the sight of his two younger brothers with mochi-white faces. "What? What did you guys forget?"
"New year's day. We all forgot about new year's day."
"What? What about new year's day?"
Mitsurei looked at his older brother with a straight face, only slightly tinted with disbelief. "You know, new year's day and what it... entails."
"Ano... Rei-nii... forget about it, Dai-niki doesn't remember because he doesn't know. And, he doesn't know because he escaped from the tiger's cave last year..." Sena rested a hand on Kazeoka's shoulder. "Dai-aniki, you do know what tradition entails on New Year's Day, right?"
"Etto... a visit to the shrine?"
"Hai... and what do people wear to the shrine?"
"Etto... a suit?"
Mitsurei shakes his head and rests his hand on the unoccupied shoulder. "Yes, that's what males wear."
"Of course..."
"And what do females wear?"
"Etto... furisodes?"
Mitsurei flashed a disarming smile at the poor beleaguered Kazeoka. "Bingo."
Sena joined in the fun. "You do remember that Kaasan still thinks we're females, right?"
There was a long uncomfortable silence, after which the two younger brothers finally started laughing.
***
"NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Iya! Dai-niki! Not into my ear!"
"But... but... but.... AHHH!!!!! Get it off me! Get it off me!!" It was like the nightmare he had the night before. Wherever he looked, it was pink. It was pink everywhere. He instinctively scuttled away as his little sister moved towards him with a huge bundle of pink cloth. The inner kimono hung off him in disarray; it was pink too. The only thing protecting his modesty was the (thankfully white) kimono slip that was tied firmly onto him. Although it really didn't help that it had white lace trimmings.
"Ano..." Chiiyo glanced at her oldest brother, an imaginary sweatdrop forming on top of her head, and real sweatdrops forming at her brow. He had been running away from her the whole morning; thankfully the shoji was guarded by the other members of the family, so he only had the room to run in. Or stumble in, she corrected herself, realising that the firmly tied slip had prevented her eldest brother from his usual large stances. "Dai-niki... this could go on forever... in fact, if you don't get the furisode on you soon, I think Kaasan might come in... and I promise you she would be much harder on you than I am. Come on, I'm a wonderful kimono dresser. I wouldn't tie your obi too tightly..." she offered with a brilliant smile.
"Obi?" he managed out through his clenched teeth.
"Yes, obi! Kaasan and I helped you choose one out. It's really pretty, and it matches your furisode..." She fumbled through the pile in her hands and managed to extricate a long piece of pastel blue cloth. Kazeoka squinted at it. "Look! The pink kicho designs really go with the motifs on your furisode!" Her eldest brother seemed to shudder at the bright pink ancient screen motifs she pointed out on the obi and shirked even further into the wall, if that was possible.
She sighed. With a large heave she put down the whole pile of cloth on the floor, and after sorting through it, pulled out the pastel pink furisode that was to be her eldest brother's main clothing. Glancing at her trembling brother, she sighed again, and hung it up on the straight beam across the room. Bending down to the pile, she pulled out the aforementioned pastel blue obi and hung it up too. Sorting out the rest of the pile, she put the tabi socks to one side, followed systematically by all the strips of cloth that were to hold the clothing in place, and then the obi accessories. Holding up the socks and one of the strips of cloth, she slowly walked towards her brother.
"What... what are you doing, Chiiyo-chan?"
"Well, if you don't want to get dressed in pink yet, at least let me finish what I've started." She held up the items, showing that neither of them were pink. "At least let me finish the preparations, so I can go and dress myself in peace. Kaasan wants to get to the shrine by ten o'clock, and we only have an hour left. I haven't even begun on myself yet!" she muttered, pointing to her pyjamas. Kazeoka looked at her with only a little less fear in his eyes.
She sighed again. "Give me your legs. At least wear the tabi." She indicated the white cotton socks with five golden kohaze clasps, top quality. The Kannazuki family was of old lineage; they had the finances to afford the best of what they wanted. Most of the females in the family held kimono in high esteem, thus they had a new kimono fitted every year. Even the unwilling males were dutifully fitted with a new furisode every year, with the exception of the youngest male, whom the mother had finally gotten into her head, was a male. He had the privilege of being the only one in the family ever, to be fitted with new suit every year. Their mother would have wanted him to wear the traditional hakama, kimono and haori jacket outfit, but it was apparent that only the very old ojiisans wear that outfit nowadays, so it was the suit for Aoi.
So every winter break the two youngest daughters and the mother of the family would troop down to their favourite bolt seller, and select bolts of cloth to make the kimono from, the traditional way. Since none of the kids of the family were married, everyone but Aoi and their mother would get furisodes fitted, whilst their mother would have a very elegant iro-tomesode. Their mother had no qualms about getting so many kimono, she knew that they were great as heirlooms. So every year Chiiyo would get a purple bolt, Harumi a yellow bolt, Aki a green bolt and Yukihyou an orange bolt. The guys, Sena, Mitsurei and Kazeoka would get red, blue and pink bolts respectively. The younger males have all but accepted their fates by now, and so would have Kazeoka, if not for his aversion to pink. Psychoanalysts might point to Kazeoka's early traumatic childhood always decked out in pink as the reason. In her mind, Chiiyo agreed.
Realising that her eldest brother's eyes were affixed on the pastel pink furisode, she gingerly lifted his clean feet and slid on the white tabi, quickly doing up the kohaze when his eyes slowly moved to her, as if in a daze. The fact that the tabi had five clasps instead of the usual three would prevent her eldest brother from taking the tabi out easily. Next up, she stood up, and pulled her brother up to his feet. Seeing that he was still in a daze, staring at the furisode, she quickly adjusted the pink inner kimono and tied the strip of the cloth below where a person's bust would be. Seeing that the whole rigmarole was quite tight and hard to get out from, she gave a sigh and patted her brother's head.
"There! See, all done. You just sit here quietly, I'll go dress myself, and I'd be back soon."
The shoji slid slightly open and her twin sister popped her head through, her hair still undone and flowing down her yellow furisode, tied with an orange obi high on her waist. "Ah! Futago, still not done yet? You need me to help you with the obi?"
"Not anytime soon, I think. Dai-niki's still... objecting to the furisode. I doubt we'd be able to do his obi anytime soon. How about I go dress now, and you help me with my obi? I want to do a rose design this year."
"Eh? But I'm not sure how to do a rose design." Harumi plodded into the room, gazing at her eldest brother dazed and in a tight pink nagajuban. She giggled.
"Don't you worry, I bought a book. You just follow the directions; I think it's not that hard." Glancing at her brother, she tugged on her twin sister and walked towards the shoji. "I think we better leave him be for a while. I've tied his nagajuban quite tightly and his tabi have five kohaze on them, so he can't do much damage in the meantime."
Harumi's eyes grew big. "Five kohaze?"
Chiiyo nodded, walking towards her room. "Yup, Kaasan's orders." She suddenly stopped, and turned to her elder sister, guarding Kazeoka's room. "Ano, Aki-oneesan, make sure Dai-niki doesn't do anything do anything to himself. Or the furisode." She added after second thoughts. Seeing the grim light in her elder sister's eyes glow the shade of green her furisode was, Chiiyo felt some sort of relief, and some measure of worry for what Aki would do to their eldest brother if he chanced to give her the opportunity.
As they went into Chiiyo's room, Harumi gave her the updates. "Kaasan wants to get to the shrines by ten o'clock, you know right? Aki-oneesan and Yuki-oneesan have finished dressing, and so have I. Kaasan is dressing Sen-nii, and Yuki-oneesan is dressing Rei-nii. Kaasan is leaving all our hair till the last moment, that's why my hair's still not done yet."
Chiiyo nodded absentmindedly as she retreated behind a screen and took off her pyjamas, slipping into a cotton white kimono slip just like her brother had, and putting her own tabi on. She counted mentally as she tied the strings and walked to her wooden wardrobe. Harumi, Yukihyou and Aki dressed. That makes 3. With Kaasan, She suspected that Sena would be soon dressed too, but she had doubts of whether Yukihyou could control her twin brother, Mitsurei, all that well. At least she could count on Kaasan's help if Kazeoka was too troublesome. "What about Aoi-nii?"
"Aoi-nii is entertaining Ji-san in the main hall. He's dressed already, of course."
"Ji-san's here?" she referred to their rich uncle.
"Yes, he's coming along this year." Harumi kneeled patiently on a zanbuton as she watched her twin sister put on her nagajuban and tied the strings tightly. Chiiyo was one of the most enthusiastic about kimono in the household, and even had her own little collection of kimono books. Without much help, she could put on an entire ensemble in less than half an hour. She took off the white furisode from the straight beam and put it on, checking the collar and the hemline before tucking it nicely. This year she had forsaken her usual purple for a plain white bolt, but the dyed Yuuzen designs were of primary colours and set off her slightly dark skin quite well. Without much ado, she had tied the needed two strips of cloth around the furisode with practised hands, and then padded in her cotton tabi to the other end of the beam, where the bold red obi hung. It was the colour of her obi that made her decide to tie a rose bow this year.
Soon, with the help of the book, the twins made their way back to the room of their brother. Along the way they found that Kaasan had gone to help Yukihyou with her charge, but they grabbed the dressed Sena with them to help out. His yellow obi matched Harumi's yellow furisode, but his red furisode was of a different shade from Chiiyo's obi. Sena's half-murderous gaze had lit up with the prospect of torturing his big brother, and he did not object much, instead, seemed to be more enthusiastic than the twins. That, Aki was not very surprised to see, only muttering under her breath about how pretty her little brother was, before opening the shoji to let them in. Her long black hair reached to below her black and gold obi, which matched the design on her green furisode perfectly.
Inside the room, Kazeoka jumped in shock at the sudden entrance of three "ladies" in kimono, and unfortunately forgot that his feet were somewhat constricted by the tight inner kimono. Big sweatdrops hung over the three "ladies" in kimono as their big brother stumbled, lost his balance, dramatically gave a stunned "AH!" and slowly fell to the ground, his feet immobile as if tied firmly by rope. As they ran forward to help their brother out, Sena, who, also used to the relative freedom of pants, and forgetting the constricting nature of a furisode, took a slightly bigger step then needed and tripped. He gave a slightly louder "AH!" and fell to his face.
Peals of laughter assaulted the poor two on the floor. Aki had opened the shoji just as the two took their dramatic tumbles, and she joined her two younger sisters in giggling, and when their mirth could not be controlled, in laughing outright. Shoulders still shaking, Chiiyo bent slightly down and attempted to pull her big brother up, whilst Harumi giggled and pulled the lighter Sena up to his feet. Seeing that her twin sister was having trouble, Harumi hurried forward and helped to pull the oldest child of the Kannazuki family to his feet.
"There! Now to finish you off..." The stunned look on his face simply made her grin more; the pun was entirely intentional.
"Neh, neh, Dai-niki... it's not all that bad. I mean... I mean..." Glancing at her eldest brother's horrified face, and following the line of vision to the pink furisode still hanging guiltily at the beam, Harumi gave a little giggle.
Exasperated, Aki stepped forward to her eldest brother, and pulled out a silk handkerchief from her black obi. Fortunately the kerchief was white and had green trimmings; she tied it around the brother's head like a blindfold. "This way you won't see any pink at all." Aki directed at her brother. Looking at her little sister taking the furisode down, "I suggest you finish up here fast. Kaasan still wants to do our hair. I'd take my leave now if you don't mind, since I see you have Sena here too.". With that, she walked out of the room, muttering about androgynous younger brothers and stubborn pink-phobic elder brothers.
Glancing at her elder sister go off, and looking at Kazeoka with the blindfold on, Chiiyo had an urge to burst out in laughter. Her brother looked like a chicken with a cloth on its head, in other words: confused but very very scared. Biting her lip, she took the opportunity to slip the pink furisode onto her brother's arms and aligned the collars. Glancing up from her task, she saw Harumi again kneeling patiently on a zanbuton, whilst her other brother was leaning against the wall, looking as at home in his red kimono as if he was wearing his normal baggy pants, loose t-shirt and backwards cap.
"Hmm... which reminds me." She muttered aloud, as she swiftly took off the blue cap Kazeoka always wore; a safety blanket, if one might call it that. Only the rush of cold winter air over his head made the poor male realise that he had lost yet another link to his masculinity. Throwing the blue cap to Sena, who grabbed it gleefully, Chiiyo pushed down her brother's arms, which were outstretched towards Sena's direction, as if silently pleading for his cap back.
"There there... you know Kaasan won't let you wear your cap. Sen-nii would just... *gulp* keep it safe for you in the meantime." She grinned. Chiiyo knew Sena would grab any chance to tease his older brother. Working quickly, she adjusted the furisode for the hemline, and swiftly tied the strips of cloth around her big brother's slim torso. It was the androgynous look of her three elder brothers that had landed them the fate of appearing as "blushing, kimono-clad ladies" every New Year. Aoi had looked too much like the male than the three of them; that was perhaps, why he was the luckiest of all the males in the Kannazuki family. Giggling to herself, she glanced at Harumi and indicated the pastel blue obi on the rod. Sena, taking the hint, silently lifted the obi from the beam, and with a wicked grin, passed it to Harumi, who brought it to Chiiyo. With her twin sister's help, she wound the obi tightly around her brother's torso, ignoring the indignant cries from him.
"Chiiyo-chan! You said that you won't tie it too tightly!"
"Oh yes, I did, didn't I? Don't worry, this isn't too tight. Nope. Not at all." With an evil grin on her face, she tugged sharply on the free end of the obi, causing her brother to momentarily lose all the air in his lungs. "Now this is what I call tight..." A subdued "oof!" was all she heard from her brother. The rest of the dressing went without much ado. By the time Chiiyo was done with the plum sparrow bow on the obi, the rest of the family had gathered outside Kazeoka's room. Despite the laughter from his other family members and his own shock and horror when the blindfold came off, the eldest child of the Kannazuki family took it like a man, bravely accepting everything with huge gulps of air.
It was only when their mother announced that she was going to apply makeup now, that Kazeoka finally fainted.
Glossary . kazoku --- family, used here as a nickname for the entire Kannazuki family . Kaasan --- mother . ano --- a sign of hesitation, much like the english "umm" . shimatta --- a swear word :) . mochi --- japanese rice cake, typically white in colour . nii --- short form for oniisan, which means older brother . Dai-niki --- the younger siblings' nickname for Kazeoka, derived from dai (biggest) and aniki (older brother) . etto --- same meaning as "ano" . hai --- an affirmative answer . furisodes --- a type of kimono with bright designs and long sleeves that reach the ankles, the most formal kimono for single young females . iya --- an informal way of saying "no" . kimono --- a wraparound robe that is the officially recognised national costume of japan . shoji --- japanese sliding screens made from thin paper and a wooden grid . obi --- wide padded sash worn around the waist with a kimono . kicho --- ancient decorated screens used mostly in the Heian era . tabi --- split-toed socks, usually white . kohaze --- metal clasps at the opening of tabi socks . hakama --- wide pleated pants worn by men and female martial arts practitioners . haori --- a overcoat-like kimono . ojisans --- uncles . iro-tomesode --- tomesode is the most formal kimono for married women and is typically mostly black in colour, whereas an iro-tomesode is a coloured tomesode . futago --- twin . nagajuban --- inner kimono . oneesan --- older sister . Ji-san --- short form for ojisan . zanbuton --- cushion . Yuuzen --- a type of dyeing technique . neh --- an expression that indicates some form of prodding
chiiyo's comments :
My first attempt at light-hearted writing... I'm not all too sure about how funny this piece is though, except to those involved. The characters are based on a group of my friends. We call ourselves Kazoku, and we have brother-sister hierarchy and similar relationships. And yes, our Dai-niki is really pink-phobic, which sparked off the whole very amusing thought of making her (yes, she's a female... but she really doesn't look like a girl) wear a pink furisode... *grin* All in all, it was a very interesting write, although i did use a ton of kimono-related japanese terms... When I was writing this I even went to a kimono website and chose which furisode for which sibling, together with what obi... Too bad those furisodes were sold, and I didn't bother to save the pictures... And yes, I'm this huge kimono-geek. *grin*