Afterword

Next summer, I want cream cakes, and chocolate cakes, and strawberry cakes, and .......

Hello there, it's Konno.

As I had planned, I baked another cake. This time, it was of the Rosa Foetida family.

Even though there are three colors of Rosas, for some reason, Rosa Foetida's color left a lasting effect. - - But even then, Red (Me: Chinesis) and White (Me: Gigantea) have pretty strong ones too. Without saying which one is the better one, I like both Rosa Gigantea and Rosa Chinesis (Just as I had said before).

By the way, for some reason, nowadays a trend has started of long Afterwords, but for this novel I didn't really want one, so I was honestly stuck without knowing what I should do.

The chief said:

``Well, at first keep it to seven pages. But if you have a lot to write and you want to go overboard, write something like nine or eleven pages.''

She had left that reply on my answering machine.

``If that's too much, then keep it short.''

said my real Onee-sama (laugh). ``Should I do that?'' I thought to myself, when I thought I would put ``Afterword'' in the table of contents but would in fact write in a short story. There were a lot of people who went into Afterword Mania, so I thought whether I should do as I always do and not write much, or whether I should write a lot. So.

Ah, there we go. How would an alphabetical composition (is there a better name?) be? Is that the way to go?

I don't know whether this is a very praiseworthy format or not, but I gave it my best attempt.

(Me: The format of the majority of the afterword is in a Kana-order chart, kinda like the Japanese equivalent to alphabetically themed lines in English. I'll post the preceding Kana, the Japanese word, and the English translation with hyphens in between and use a final hyphen to set off the actual bit she wrote. If you have any better ideas for the formatting of this piece, just give me a holler.)

I - Intaneetto - Internet - It's nice to meet you internet. But writing that is like saying ``It's nice to meet you, cold China''. (Me: I'm not quite sure what this means, maybe closed Communist China will not give a response to her greeting, like the internet?)

Ro - Roan - Roan was Shinran (Me: the creator of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism) who changed everything with one strike.

Ha - Hana - Flower - Many flowers came out from the middle of a novel, it is often said.

Ni - Nikujaga - Beef and Potato Stew - The cooking eaten by people going to school in this book.

Ho - Bokou - Alma Mater - Last year, I went to my alma mater cultural festival. Seeing the beautiful new school building, I shouted ``I want to go back agaaain!''. I'm jealous of the people who go there now.

(Me: ``Bo'' is ``Ho'' with added diacratic marks, which means that it is the same sound pronounced lower in the throat, which is why they are included in the same heading. Try pronouncing them both for yourself.)

He - Heianjidai - The Heian Period - If I would have been born in the Heian period, I would surely have been called the unmatchable woman of the world (only in looks). But, who knows how many times I wouldn't be able to take a bath as a student, so if I had a time machine, I would not relocate myself.

To - Toukou - Toukou - A girl who will enter Maria-sama ga Miteru. She has a very strong personality.

Chi - Chokoretto - Chocolate - I love pastries more.

(Me: All half-vowels in Japanese are formed by postfixing the consonant sound (in this case ``chi'') with a small version of the consonants in the ``ya'' section (``ya'', ``yo'', and ``yu'' are the three) so ``cho'' is written ``chi'' small-``yo'' which is why ``cho'' fits in the ``chi'' section.)

Ri - Ririan Jogakuen - Lilian Girls' School - It seems like it's on top of a hill.

Nu - Nurunuru - Slimy - The chief hates slimy food.

Ru - Ruri - Lapis Lazuli - Whether it's used as the name of an island, the name of a rock, or the name of a color, it's still beautiful.

Wo - Wo - Wo - When you were little, didn't you worry about balance when writing ``wo'' ?

Wa - Wanchan - Wanchan - My favorite type of dog. It isn't very small, has short hair, and is black.

Ka - Katakori - Stiff Shoulders - For some reason, my left shoulder is [a stiff shoulder].

Yo - Youchien no Sensei - Kindergarten Teacher - This is what I wanted to be when I was little.

Ta - Tabemono - Food - For some reason, I wanted to put food on this list .......

Re - Retaa - Letter - Thank you for your continuous stream of letters. I read them with pleasure.

So - Soba - Soba - In winter, I love to have it.

Tsu - Tsumami - Snacks accompanying alcohol - I have a lot of snacks that are supposed to accompany alcohol, even though I really don't like alcohol much.

Ne - Neko - Cat - Because the number of dogs in our area has grown smaller, I see a lot of cats.

Na - Natsu no Otogi - Summer service - Even now there are people who remember ``Summer Service''. It was a short film.

Ra - Rajio - Radio - I listen to late night radio recordings. I'm a heavy listener.

Mu - Musashino - Musashino district - I have a feeling that it was a large place.

U - Undou - Exercise - I truly hate it. But, I can swim and I can run.

Wi - Wi - Wi - Whenever I use this kana, I think of a senpai I had whose name was Rumiko-chan. She wrote Kanji as if she wrote on the yen. They were very beautiful. If I see ``wi'', I remember her.

(Me: For those of you unfamiliar with modern Japanese linguistic history, ``wi'' was one of the Kana removed from the Kana list during the '70s Japanese Ministry of Education language reforms. While you may think Japanese is a convoluted language to learn now, the complexity today is nothing compared to the Japanese of pre-reform days. Words like Otoko (meaning ``man'') were instead called Wotoko (with the ``wo'' pronounced slightly more breathily than ``o'' or just the same, just as today). In fact for years, some people legally didn't have names because their names used Kanji that were axed during the reforms. (Eventually, a set of old Kanji were kept just for naming purposes, which forms the name-Kanji of today.) Nowadays, most Japanese students recognize ``wi'' and its cut-off friend-in-crime ``we'' as bygones of a past age, but don't really know much about it.)

No - Nori - Dried Seaweed - I love it. I eat it all the time.

O - Oyuki - Oyuki - When I was named, my parents were thinking ``What name rhymes with sushi?''. Just like Chiyo rhymes with Kiku (Me: Chrysanthemum).

Ku - Kushami - Sneeze - Menthol is the name of a candy for the throat. It's very useful if you are sneezing.

Ya - Yamagata - Yamagata - My parents' birth town.

Ma - Maria-sama ga Miteru - The Virgin Mary is Watching You - On the internet page for Maria-sama ga Miteru, I recieved a comment ``Even though it's soft, Maria-sama ga Miteru is perfect Yuri.'' and I laughed after reading it. That's about the most praiseworthy anyone's words can get for me. Thank you.

Ke - Ke - Kekkan - Blood Vessel - The nurse made me cry a little. But she drew my blood with such skill, she must be praised.

(Me: My dictionary says the word used for nurse here assumes a female gender, which is why I used ``she''.)

Fu - Futagoza - Gemini - It seems like two personalities piled in one. How does that work?

(Me: Futagoza's kanji translate to ``two sitting children'')

Ko - Konno - Konno - The Kon character in Konno makes me laugh.

E - E - Picture - It interests me.

Te - Tenisu - Tennis - In Junior college, my classmate asked me with a serious look ``Why aren't you joining tennis or soccer?''.

A - Ami mono - Knitting - Before, I used to zealously love it. But I haven't touched it in a while.

Sa - Sachiko - Sachiko - Her name isn't Shouko, it's Sachiko.

(Me: Often name Kanji in Japanese have different common readings. One common reading of the kanji used in Sachiko's name is Shouko.)

Ki - Kirai mono - Things one hates - Sachiko has many things she hates. I haven't heard of many things she likes.

Yu - Yume no Miya - Temple of Dreams - Because I'm under ``Yu'' heading, I chose this to write about.

Me - Megane - Glasses - I only use them when I'm watching television at home.

Mi - Mi - Snake (from Chinese Zodaic) - Mi and Mi and Mi and Mi, each use different characters. The Mi used in Yumi's name is the Mi from Year of the Snake.

(Me: In the beginning, each of the ``Mi''s used a different Kanji. The Mi used in Yumi's name is the Mi used in Midoshi, or Year of the Snake.''

Shi - Shinchou - Height - I'm shorter than you think I am. Yes, I am short.

We - We no Ji - The character We - I think of a kettle in the fire.

(Me: As I said above, ``we'' was another one of the Kana removed by the Japanese language reforms.)

Hi - Hinemosu - All day long - For some reason, I think of some round living thing falling asleep on a verando.

Mo - Moo Baagaa - Moo Burger - It's delicious, and I don't wait when eating one.

Se - Senkou - Incense - I like my room to have it. Aroma Therapy.

Su - Surippishu - Slippy Shoe - I'm sorry, wait for a little bit.

N - n (Me: In English) - n - Whenever I see either (Me: Japanese) n or (Me: English) n, I think they're both incredible.

......Well.

Somehow I've managed to fill nine pages, quite a large amount.

Next time, I'll make another bad cake. First Red, then yellow, next white.

Speaking of which, Rosa Gigantea is very popular ....... I'm having a lot of fun writing the story.

``Now it shall be revealed, Rosa Gigantea's past!!'' (Excitement, excitement)

If Minako would have written it, I wonder if she would have called it that (laugh).

Well, whatever you think, I hope you feel happy.

Then, I'll see you again in spring.

(End.)