The early morning sun shone upon the slanted roofs of the three connected cottages. The earth was as dry as always. A faint snoring sound leaked through the wooden walls.
Hiroku opened his eyes and got up, casually awakening with his circadian rhythm. He doffed his white pajamas that had purple elephant patterns all over them. Then, he deftly donned his iconic clothes of a white pullover plus a purple crop top.
His entire outfit, including the trousers, was the one reused from the first day they arrived at Cho-san. No one expected the kids to stay for two extra days; not even the spare set was enough.
Hiroku tied his double ponytails and properly straightened the quilt and mattress. He flew to the stream outside Yotan's estate by island-hopping between his lavender spheres. Sitting on his shanks before the flowing water, Hiroku waited there a few seconds for the fresh smell of trees and the breeze blowing through his ears.
After washing his face, he flew back and knocked on Loter's door. Of course, no response was heard even after the third sequence of knocking. The only sound coming out was Loter's light snoring.
With patience, Hiroku leaned against the handrail, managing to knock for the fourth time later. Then, he found something off. He looked around and realized what was missing when the door slid open.
"Hi," Loter said, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
"Never thought you would wake up so early."
"Yeah, me too. I think it's because of my dream. It's very weird today."
"Nightmare?"
"I don't think it's a nightmare. It's complicated. I will just tell you the whole thing." Loter cleared his throat and began, "At first, I was just lying on a hill with a lot of flowers around me. Then, I heard a sequence of very loud sounds. They were like the kind of noise you make when you punch a wooden plank."
Hiroku nodded.
"After that, I heard Tori's voice. She was telling me that I need to meet her parents today, so I have to wake up."
Hiroku let out an amused snort. He looked away as a set of inappropriately intimate imagination came to his head.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing. I just think it is funny that you two have not even met for a week."
"You don't need to worry about that. You are still my best friend, along with Key, Ram, and Glacia." Loter put on a wide grin after he finished the sentence.
Hiroku gave another short titter and walked to the stoop. "Get yourself ready. I will be waiting here."
After Loter changed into his usual white hoodie, they went on their way to meet Yotan for his blessings. Of course, this practice was one of the traditions that Hiroku found meaningless. However, Loter thought otherwise.
"It can be a great opportunity to practice my dining etiquette. You can tell me what I should be doing, and I will practice it while we are at Yotan's place."
Surprised, Hiroku replied a second later than normal, "Sure." He thought of asking Loter about his sudden prudence yet decided not to.
In summary, the key to politeness was to stop fidgeting or daydreaming while others were talking. To really go above and beyond, Loter just had to wait for Hiroku to tell him how to eat different dishes. Others could not tell if Hiroku was really translating, anyway.
What was actually hard was not the basic courtesy but the ability to maintain those tedious small talks about trivial things. Although Hiroku already said he would handle that part, Loter insisted on doing it by himself.
"The weather is, uh." Loter frantically paused his sentence as Yotan gazed at him with overly intense anticipation and curiousness. Loter turned his head, trying to find a window, yet met no success. He gathered all his brain power to recall his memory from this morning and said, "The weather is very cozy. It is not too hot or too cold, and it feels refreshing when a wind blows by."
Hiroku nodded in affirmation. He translated the sentence into Habanese and embellished it with Kayama flavor.
Yotan guffawed and threw his head back.
After they finished breakfast, Loter walked out of Yotan's dining room with a confident smile. Hiroku was left behind, farewelling Yotan. He quickly caught up with Loter and said, "You—"
"I'm a weather master."
"Hm?"
"I was so smooth with my opinion on the weather. It's like the words just flew out of my mouth."
Speechless, Hiroku opened his mouth and closed it. He took a deep breath and said, "We can still practice on that."
"Sure, bring it all on."
"What do you think about the yard?" Hiroku pointed at one of the courtyards that were forbidden from entering.
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"Uhhh." Loter's smile of confidence quickly became a pondering frown as he extended the "uh" sound. He stared at the yard, tapping a finger on his chin. Eventually, he said, "The grass is very flat, and the bushes are round. Uh. The water looks like a river, but it is not moving. Uh—"
"You can stop now."
Loter sighed in relief and asked, "How's my performance?"
"It is acceptable. I will revise it in my translation, but you need to be more fluent. People will notice it if you start 'uh'ing in the middle of a sentence."
"Yeah, I will work on that."
"You are seeing Tori's parents in about two hours. You do not have time to work on your fluency."
"Yeah, you're right… What is the plan, then?"
"You quit trying to make a comment and just focus on describing what you see or remember. I will add the details in my translation. You should be able to avoid stuttering that way."
"Oh, It's a really great plan. You're a genius!"
After returning to their cottages, Hiroku proceeded to read those old books, and Loter scrolled through his phone silently beside him. As the time of the meeting approached, Loter began to panic. He asked if he should wear a kimono. He paced and rolled around the room. He jumped up high and hugged his knees on the ground.
Hiroku reluctantly patted him on the back in an effort to calm him down. They kept repeating this until it was time to head toward Tori's parents' estate. While they were walking on the pebble trail, Loter inhaled deeply every few steps until he stopped doing it.
Slightly curious, Hiroku turned back and saw Loter's tranquil visage.
"I suppose you are ready?"
"Yeah."
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The estate of Tori's parents was similar to Yotan's except for the huge house in the center. It was a three-story building with thick wooden walls and black tiles on the gable roof.
The lunch meeting was set in the meeting room on the first floor. The layout of the room was similar to Yotan's dining room.
Two long floor tables with cushions were put by the two ends of the rectangular room, leaving a huge distance between them. One of the tables had two rolls of folding screens placed beside it. The decorations on the paper screens ranged from daily animals like rabbits to mythical creatures like wyrms and phoenixes.
Of course, Loter Spawman and Hiroku Kayama sat by the table without folding screens. Shortly after the servants led them into the room, Tori's parents arrived. Both of them were wearing a jordy blue kimono. The father was a bald man with a wide chin and a wider physique. The mother had her hair tied into a bun with golden flower kanzashi(hairpin).
They comfortably sat on their shanks while Loter was slightly fidgeting due to the discomfort of this way of sitting.
"Please make yourself comfortable, Mr. Spawman and Nephew Hiroku Kayama. The least we want is for you not to enjoy this meal. As the old saying goes, 'A good meal is the start of an excellent bond.' We are not people who love to fixate on formality," the father said in Habanese with a friendly smile on his face.
Hiroku translated, "He said you don't need to sit on your shanks, but don't move yet. He is just being nice. He also said he wants you to enjoy the meeting, so you need to act amused."
"Then, tell him I'm enjoying it because, uh, because the decoration is good." Loter squeezed a command out of his mouth to Hiroku while looking calmly at Tori's father the whole time.
Hiroku said in Habanese, "Thank you profoundly for your kindness, but it is okay. I am getting used to this way of sitting. A slight new experience on my legs can not hinder my amusement, especially when the folding screens are so beautiful. We don't have this kind of decorations in MU."
Then, the father went on and on about the meaning and story behind each animal presented. Frequently, he would pause to ask Loter's opinion, and Hiroku would need to paraphrase the entire story for context. On multiple occasions, Loter would misunderstand a concept, and Hiroku would have to come up with his own response.
Hiroku's brain ached as sweats of intelligence slid off his forehead.
His suffering finally ended when the food was served. He literally sighed with a volume audible to Loter when the servants came in with various dishes in their hands. Topics about protein and starch on plates were way easier for Hiroku to translate than old stories that require deep cultural context to understand.
Another thing was that Loter actually had a lot to say when it came to food. Even Hiroku was surprised when Loter could precisely tell the difference between rice textures and the hidden savor in sauces.
The relaxed atmosphere provided Hiroku a mental relief right until Loter decided to ask, "What is Tori's favorite food?"
The father's open-mouth smile turned into a close-mouth grin. The mother's upward-curling lips went back to a flat, straight line.
The father said, "Our daughter, Tori Kayama's favorite food is miso broth. Her eyes used to glow like crystals when she saw it. She also likes to walk around in the garden. I remember every little detail about her." His eyes shifted lower and lower as if he was not talking to others but himself.
Hiroku translated the entire sentence word by word to convey the emotion carried in the father's speech.
Loter nodded as he listened to the translation. He replied, "She is a very good girl. I will take the best care of her. She will be able to drink the, uh, the soup in MU, and there is a very beautiful garden in HueCam Academy."
Hiroku repeated in Habanese without that slight stutter, and the father nodded. He said, "Tori is our only daughter. We want her to live a comfortable life. It is great to hear that there are already answers to some of our daughter's needs. We feel genuinely relieved about this topic. There is no doubt that Tori will be treated with love and care, and a person as powerful as you must be able to protect her. However, we do want to add an extra condition. We hope you don't find this request offensive, but you have to allow Tori to write a letter to us every four months."
Loter reflexively asked, "What?" after hearing the translation.
"They are asking your permission to allow their daughter to write letters back home. They are not assuming you will let their daughter do that," Hiroku explained while Tori's parents were watching their conversation nervously.
"Why would they think I can do that?"
"It's their culture."
"Okay. Tell them I agree."
Hiroku turned to Tori's parents and said, "Mr. Spawman completely accepts the condition without any objection."
Finally, a wide smile emerged on the father's face, and the mother put a hand before her grin.
The rest of the conversation flew by easily. There were still occasions when Loter got confused by the cultural differences, yet he did not get lost in his train of thought a single time, and the atmosphere remained pleasant.
Tori's parents even mentioned that they could seek help from Kayama's representative office in HueCam State. Hiroku knew the office was too far away from Coral Cobble to be a practical option for them, but he chose not to bring it up.