I’d be even prettier if I got the surgery, though…
She continued to simply daydream about the procedure. She knew she needed to do more than that, but the idea got wedged in the back of her mind along with her dreams of plastic surgery and marriage.
Nonetheless, Kozue wanted to devote herself to someone she loved, and that desire grew stronger each year. Perhaps she should’ve never dreamed so big and instead made the same decision that Midori had:
“I’ll never get married. I live for my job.”
However, Kozue lacked any real goals or passions. All she had was the hope of one day getting married.
Midori, meanwhile, graduated from high school, then attended a vocational school for dressmaking and even studied in Tokyo. By the time she returned home two years later, she’d become much more stylish and beautiful. She started working in the high fashion industry at a department store in Osaka and polished her skills further. Kozue was convinced that Midori would maintain her vow to never marry, but then all of a sudden, Midori turned her back on her own principle and announced her engagement.
Their mother had been in the bath and not at the table with them.
“Did you tell Mom?” Kozue asked.
“Yeah. I mean, why not?”
Midori’s skin was supple and lightly tanned. Being in her line of business meant she was always watching her figure, so she was extremely fit. Her hair was styled in a perfectly straight bob, and her eyes were glistening.
“You don’t want people calling us the Spinster Sisters, right? So I figured at least one of us should get married.”
“Yeah, makes sense. What’s this guy like?”
“Just your average white-collar worker. He’s a friend of a friend. We went mountain climbing together.”
Now that she mentioned it, Midori did enjoy mountain climbing and often went whenever she had a day off. Kozue, on the other hand, hated walking in general.
“You sure love climbing mountains…”
And she never even toyed with the idea of doing the same.
Kozue liked to cook, so she often packed Midori a lunch before she went to work. Whenever Midori would say, “I’m going to take the first train to work today,” Kozue would reply, “Awesome,” and get up at four in the morning to cheerfully put some food together. She never felt that cooking for her sister was a burden. If anything, devoting herself to someone else was Kozue’s hobby. That was how much she liked helping people. Ever since their mother started working, Kozue had taken over a lot of the household chores. She used the plates and small bowls she got from her monthly subscription, which she paid for herself, to try out various different recipes because she believed it would come in handy whenever she married.
I’m gonna use this one day in my new home, she thought while cooking and arranging dishes as if this were some sort of rehearsal. Kozue tended to live in her own fantasy world, which was why she never felt any urgency to get hitched.
One day when Midori came home late after going out for some drinks, Kozue decided to make her some ochazuke. The next moment, she was struck with an idea. She warmed up some rice in the microwave, gently scooped it into a bowl, salted it, and gave it a dash of powdered green tea. Now it was green tea ochazuke. She then placed a few lightly salted cucumbers on top. There was nothing like having this year’s high-quality green tea from Uji over tender rice mixed with shiso. And when you added a cup of fragrant hojicha to the mix…
“Kozue, this is seriously delicious. You always make the best food, and I’m not saying that just to be nice,” Midori had told her with the biggest smile. That alone was enough to make Kozue happy. It didn’t take much for her to be content in life: a face powder that left her skin feeling smooth, wearing new shoes outside on a sunny day, or getting complimented on her green tea ochazuke.
“I’m kinda worried, since I can’t cook like you.”
“Don’t let it bother you. You’re busy with work. Let me handle things around the house.”
That was when Midori said, “Kozue, I’m getting married.”
“Whoa, really? I had no idea.”
The phrase getting married caused Kozue’s heart to begin violently racing, even though she wasn’t the bride-to-be. It was hard to believe that this was happening to someone close to her.
“Yeah, I was hesitant, to be honest. And I felt kind of guilty getting married before you. But he said he was fine with me still working after we got hitched.”
“Who’s ‘he’?”
“My partner.”
Midori apparently referred to her fiancé as her “partner,” which was a little ambiguous at times but had a friendly ring to it. Hearing the word partner was the final blow, stunning Kozue into complete silence.
Kozue didn’t quite feel jealous or inferior—she was just shocked. Marriage, something she dreamed about every day, suddenly struck her like lightning. And it wasn’t just anyone’s marriage. This was her sister.
“Are you mad?” Midori asked while gripping the knees of her cotton pants.
“Why would I be? This is wonderful news.”
“I’ll bring my partner over next time. He’s a good guy.”
Kozue wanted to know where she found this “good guy.” She and her sister were relatively close, but they didn’t spend as much time together as they used to before Midori left for Tokyo. Midori was very mature for her age, almost as if she were the older sister. Just like Kozue hid the fact that she fantasized about marriage every day, Midori didn’t go into detail about her private life, either. They’d created some distance between them, which was probably why they didn’t fight anymore despite living together. Midori knew her sister was a dreamer and found it somewhat uncomfortable, which Kozue was well aware of. Whether she knew it or not, Kozue depended on Midori.
Twenty-six-year-old Midori was much more sophisticated than her older sister. But when it came to personal taste, Kozue had to have it her way. She loved frilly fabrics and poufy dresses. Midori’s professional side would take over and she’d be on the verge of critiquing her sister’s outfit. It was times like this when Kozue chose not to heed an expert’s opinion.
“No, this is perfect,” Kozue would claim, taking a firm stand in her fluffy blouse and pleated skirt, ready to go out on the town. She wanted tons of pretty, whimsical clothes, regardless of how cheap they were. Midori, on the other hand, had just a few high-quality articles of clothing. Kozue only needed to see something once to fall in love and immediately buy it and put it on, even if it was way too tight. It bothered Midori so much that she would undo the stitches and sew the piece back together without Kozue’s permission.
Midori designed clothes that sold for five to six thousand yen each (three thousand for the cheapest stuff). One day, she made an offhanded comment about Kozue’s dress.
“Geez, that fabric is paper-thin,” she said with a laugh. She didn’t mean to be rude, though. She was just a bit shocked that there was actually someone out there who would buy such a whimsical dress. That was her way of showing interest in what her sister was wearing. Nevertheless, Kozue was devastated.
“This dress is fine. There’s nothing wrong with it,” Kozue insisted, annoyed. After that, she refused to let anyone insult the things she liked anymore. She felt like she was being mocked. Maybe part of the reason was that Midori had career goals she was steadily achieving, which gave Kozue an inferiority complex.
This may not look stylish to a pro, but I like it, Kozue insisted. Just because she’s my little sister doesn’t mean we have to like all the same things.
She was probably being defensive in an unconscious effort to maintain her dignity—the dignity of someone who was extremely sensitive.