Saint-Juste-sama...
Saint-Juste-sama, who was taken from us all too soon...
If she were still here with us now...
I'm sure that she would be laughing with joy. I'm sure of it.
I'm writing to tell you about something new and wonderful that has happened.
It happened on the final day of the week-long Port Festival...
Held each year to celebrate summer's end, it is the largest religious festival in these parts.
That day was the first time that I have gone with both my mother and my father.
Ah! Papa, look! Over there!
Eh?
There, over by the second stone lantern.
Ah...
Allow me to introduce you. This is Orihara Kaoru-san.
She will be coming with me to Germany.
We're getting married.
Congratulations, Takehiko-san.
Thank you.
39. A Lingering Fragrance
Finally, we're done with that horrid assignment!
Really, making us write a report on our impressions of Hemingway's works in English!
They can't do that to us, can they?! Sheesh...
Well, we managed somehow!
Yeah, we managed. I couldn't have done it without your help, though.
It was no trouble, really.
Well, this is the right area, but where's this new place of Mariko's?
She said that there's supposed to be a kids' playground nearby.
Hmm...
Ah! That's it right there!
Hey, that's a pretty nice-looking place, isn't it?
Welcome!
Ah! Welcome!
This place is really small compared to our old house, isn't it?
Mama and I share a bedroom, even.
And the veranda... look at this, will you?
But it's OK, really.
This is our castle.
A castle for just the two of us, for Mama and me!
Come on, Mama! Bring out some of that Darjeeling tea!
Yes, yes, and some of the creme brulee cake, too, right?
Tea and cake are our only luxuries now.
Wow, you can hear the steam whistles from here!
Yes. I don't know whether that's a good thing or not...
You know, I heard that Papa said that he'd like to see me each month.
I'm going to have to think on it a while.
After all, when it comes down to it, Papa was the one who betrayed us.
My Papa had a son whom he didn't see for thirteen years...
And then that son decided to get married...
Papa saw then that his son had truly grown up.
He looked happy.
Papa didn't say a word to us then, but he looked so very happy...
But still... you know what I thought?
As happy as Papa looked to be at the time...
...I'm sure that he was still feeling the sorrow and pain over all the time together that they never had.
Nanako-san...
I... I've just been a bit out of it recently...
Nanako...
I know I'll never see Saint-Juste-sama again...
I've just felt kind of strange ever since then...
I've been concerning myself with other people's issues and ignoring my own.
None of that, now. I think the girl still hasn't gotten her emotions sorted out.
No... no, I don't think that's it.
I think that Nanako-san has simply grown up.
What?
You seem so much more mature that us now.
You think so...?
We're the same age, you know...
Well, I'm not going to grow up.
I'm never going to understand other people's feelings!
Thinking of others just doesn't sit well with me.
So you really aren't going to go see your father?
I said I'd think about it, didn't I?!
Now, now, Mariko-san!
What, like you're really the model of maturity yourself?!
Who, me? Heck, I could even be a mother by now, you know.
Oh, come on!
What?! What's with you two?!
No, like I said, don't worry about that.
You should just be concentrating on getting ready for your studies in Germany.
As for the reception hall, just leave it to me.
I may not look the social type, but I do know some people; we can get something set up for you.
Anyway, have you made the arrangements for her for while you're over there? Doctors, a school...?
Ah, OK.
Yeah... OK...
You called for me, Takashi-sama?
Yes. I'm sorry to trouble you, but could you prepare dinner a bit early tonight?
I have some things that I need to get back to work on this evening.
The preparations for the wedding ceremony?
Yes, among other things.
You truly are a good friend to Henmi-sama.
He's heading off to Germany.
I want to show him a good time while he's still here in Japan.
He must have found someone truly wonderful...
The very best.
Even better than Fukiko-sama...?
Igarashi...!
I'm sorry sir, that was very rude of me.
I am truly sorry.
Well then... I shall start the dinner preparations at once.
Fukiko... where is she right now?
She left a while ago to go riding at the club, sir.
Ah, OK.
In one summer, in one week...
...the love of a lifetime was forged...
Rei... Rei...!
In the end, you never did fall in love with a man...
If... if you had found someone to love...
...what would your love have been like, I wonder?
Unlike me, you were truly free.
You would be willing to devote yourself to someone, to give in to all your passions...
You would give your very life for it, I'm sure...
Painful though it may be, love is a truly wonderful thing.
Rei...
I really did want to see you fall in love.
I wanted to see you even more radiant than ever before...
I only regret that I never saw it...
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate...
Fukiko-sama?
Fukiko-sama...
Is that your love?
Is that all that there is to your love?
One summer, one week, and then nothing more?
Yes.
That wasn't love.
It was love!
That was my one love in this life.
You are like I was...
You have not yet known true love.
I did!
A toast to you - may you find love anew!
It is not possible.
I could never...
A new love...? Never!
That was it, that was the real thing!
My one and only love...
I shall never love another.
I swore, upon my very life...
Fukiko!
It was getting so late, I was worried that you might have fallen or something...
Fukiko...!
I see...
Were you thinking about Rei again?
No... No, that wasn't it at all...
Rei... is this what you wanted?
The new semester is finally here, isn't it.
Yes.
You've been through some pretty difficult ordeals this summer, but...
...you've managed to sort out your feelings over it all, right?
Yes.
And how about physically?
Are you ready?
Sure! Everything's OK!
Well, then... what's on your mind? You were the one who invited me out this morning.
The new semester is starting, and you invited me out here, as though you wanted to ask me something again.
So... what is it?
Hmm...
I can't help but be a bit anxious, wondering what sort of question you'll spring on me this time.
Oh goodness, Papa...
How am I supposed to ask you something when you're already jumping ahead like that...
It's something you feel nervous about asking, I take it?
Yeah...
Now I really am getting nervous...
Don't worry. Whatever it is, I'll give you a straight answer.
OK.
I've been wanting to ask you, Papa. I wanted to ask you first, before asking Mama.
For a while now... for quite a while, really...
OK.
I'm not your real daughter, Papa...
I want to know about my real father. I want to know everything!
Now, you love me, Papa...
...and I love you, too.
I want you to understand how important that is to me.
Really, I think that we could still be just as happy even if we never discussed this...
...but I would hate to think that something truly important to me might one day be lost forever.
Please, Papa! Tell me anything that you know!
Who is my father? Where is he now? What kind of person is he?
Your Mama never did marry him.
Apparently, she did live with him for a long time...
...but once you were conceived, and before you were born, she left him.
That's all I know... No, it is all speculation, really...
I have never once asked your Mam about any of that.
You understand why, don't you?
Even if I were to ask her, she is not the sort of person who would ever want to talk about it.
For my sake, or for yours... perhaps for both of us, really...
...I think that Mama has chosen to keep those things locked away forever.
Even so, I love her dearly.
She is beautiful in my eyes.
There's nothing wrong with that, is there?
For your Papa here, things are fine as they are.
But I am who I am; you are your own person, Nanako.
If the time comes someday when you feel that you truly must know...
...then don't hesitate on my account.
Go ahead and ask Mama if she will unlock those secrets within her heart.
But... that's why I came to you, Papa...
Because even you know that Mama is not the sort who would ever tell.
I understand.
Even you, Nanako, must have one or two secrets that you will keep locked away forever.
Even knowing that, you can still love and believe in someone, right?
Well anyway... we're going to be late for breakfast.
Everything's OK?
Sure! It's OK!
And so began the new term.
Good morning, Nanako-san!
Mariko-san's suspension was reduced, too, so she was able to start the new semester with us.
Misaki-san, Sonobe-san, Furuta-san...
...all of those who had been Sorority members before it was abolished...
...and of course, Miya-sama as well...
Those bright summer days were coming to an end.
So many things had happend that summer; but it was over now.
Each of us had overcome something.
You could see it in our faces... cheerful, confident, perhaps a bit more mature.
Only one person was with us no more. Like the wind, she bade us farewell, and left forever.
She will forever shine brightly in our hearts, one page in the story of our youth.
And so, the seasons changed...
My dear brother...
I watched Kaoru-no-Kimi's game.
It was the final match of the area league championships.
It was the final game for Seiran Academy's ace, Kaoru-no-Kimi.
Kaoru-no-Kimi wore the number "16" in that game.
That number once belonged to her - to Saint-Juste-sama.
No doubt, Kaoru-no-Kimi fought that final match with that person at her side.
Clearly the other students from Seiran Academy noticed it as well.
Everyone was applauding and cheering just as loudly as they could as they watched the game.
And then, my brother...
Then came the most important day of all, for both you and Kaoru-no-Kimi.
It was raining that day, too...
Henmi Takehiko...
...do you promise to love this woman, Orihara Kaoru, as your wife...
...through times of sickness, through times of health, for all time, until death do you part?
I do.
Orihara Kaoru...
...do you promise to love this man, Henmi Takehiko, as your husband...
...through times of sickness, through times of health, for all time, until death do you part?
I do.
For so long as I shall live...
My dear brother...
...that eighteen-year-old bride shone more brightly that day than anything in the world.
Her lips, painted a delicate rose, and her cheeks, touched with blush...
She was truly full of life that day, living for the sake of love, shining for all to see.
"For so long as I shall live..."
Those words filled her heart as she spoke them for the one she loved.
Someday, I, too, will be able to say such a thing...
That's what I was thinking that day.
I will one day be able to say such words as those.
I hope to someday find such a love, that I can say such words as those...
I wish it with all my heart...
This is wonderful, isn't it, Kaoru-no-Kimi?
All the romantic country roads, and then there's the Rhine river...
Oh, oh, and the sausage there is supposed to be really good, too!
Yeah.
If we get the chance, we're going to tour some of the old castles, too.
That's so wonderful!
Splendid... just splendid...
Just... splendid...
Mariko-san...
Be happy, Kaoru-no-Kimi...
Really, I mean it...
Come on, Henmi. It's about time.
Oh, yeah...
I'm going now, Father.
Be well... Mother...
Thank you, Takehiko-san. You take care, too.
Later!
My brother...
I'll write to you!
Take care of Kaoru-no-Kimi!
For just a moment...
For just a moment, as I stood there beside my brother...
...I caught the nostalgic scent of that one person who will never again return.
That scent, Saint-Juste-sama's fragrance...
That subtle, masculine air...
Perhaps it was the scent of tobacco that so often surrounded her.
The plane carried away not only my brother and Kaoru-no-Kimi, but also that nostalgic lingering fragrance...
Nanako!
Nanako-san!
Since then, the cherry blossoms have bloomed twice.
I'm a senior at Seiran Academy now.
I just received the wonderful news from Germany...
My dear brother, I have something wonderful to tell you, myself.
Recently, I have met someone whom I've taken a bit of a liking to.
He's a second-year student at the University...
...although... he doesn't have dark-brown eyes...