Hina Matsuri is said to be a festival where people wish for girls to grow up beautifully and healthily, hoping for their happiness in the future. It is celebrated on March 3rd, but unfortunately, we’re planning to leave the day before, so staying in the Hakgwiyaeng Autonomous District until the festival is going to be a bit difficult.
Yet, there’s no need to be overly disappointed because, essentially, this festival runs from mid-February to early March, so I’ve heard we can see a ton of things before we leave.
Naturally, the most significant attraction for Haruna was the festival food, but beyond that, the main purpose of this trip was to enjoy the sights of Hakgwiyaeng, a popular tourist spot.
Given that Haruna’s birthday falls during our trip, it’s only natural that gourmet exploration would be a primary focus, but we also can’t miss out on the sights and entertainment that Hakgwiyaeng offers.
Having discovered what her ‘ultimate gourmet’ was all about, Haruna still loves good food, but she definitely had enough leisure to indulge in these fun activities too.
For example, after enjoying some sweets, she happened upon a doll-making experience while strolling down the street.
These Hina dolls are traditionally decorated on a tiered red platform called Hinadan until the day of Hina Matsuri, but the real ones are said to be ridiculously expensive.
In fact, when I looked up the price of the most traditional seven-tiered one, it started at a minimum of 300,000 yen, and the pricier ones went into the hundreds.
It’s a life of luxury for me now, but still, having a middle-class sense of finances, I was momentarily shocked.
However, what we were going to make at the experience center wasn’t a Hina doll.
This center was primarily a place to experience an event called Nagashi Bina. The main significance of this event is to float paper dolls on a small straw boat called Sandawara, sending them down the river to wash away misfortune. So the three of us decided to participate lightly.
After paying a reasonable fee, we settled in, and the experience center provided us with a clay doll’s face and pre-prepared paper, brushes, various colored paints, and essentially a pre-shaped Sandawara.
“…So, basically, it’s standard for one person to put two dolls in this Sandawara and send them afloat?”
“That’s correct, Miss.”
“Heueng. Then, might I ask if there’s a slightly larger Sandawara than this?”
“There is, indeed.”
“Then, I’d appreciate it if you could give me that one along with some extra paper.”
“Um… I understand, Miss. Just a moment, please.”
It tickled me to speak formally like that after so long, but I held it in. Refusing to speak informally to an older fox person who addresses me formally with ‘Miss’ felt a bit weird.
“Mika-chan, what are you planning to do with that request?”
“Ahaha, well, I thought it’d be more meaningful to make dolls resembling the three of us since we’re at it, and send them all at once… Yeah, something like that, I guess?”
“I see. Tradition is important, but leaving behind enjoyable memories is even more precious. I’m all for it.”
“Yeah. So, how about we each make a doll that resembles the person next to us? What do you think?”
As I pointed to Noa, she gestured towards Haruna with her mouth, silently asking ‘Me?’ I nodded slightly, and Noa’s eyes curled up happily.
“Then, I’ll make a doll of Haruna-chan♪”
“Um, that’s a bit problematic… Mika-chan, I’m sorry to bring this up—”
“Shh. Haruna-chan, just because you can’t make one perfect doll doesn’t mean my beauty will fade away. So don’t worry and just make it comfortably☆”
“…Fufu. That’s true, I guess. Alright, then. Just don’t say anything mean about the finished product, okay?”
Even if she drew an alien instead of me, I wouldn’t say anything, but it seems Haruna is quite worried.
Glancing at Noa, she raised her fist in encouragement. It looked like she genuinely wanted to put effort into making Haruna’s doll, so I decided to do my best too.
After the experience center staff brought the additional materials, we all focused intensely and started shaping and painting our dolls.
The reason I requested extra paper was that it was obvious that white paint wouldn’t show well on the clay head, so I cut the paper as prettily as I could to match Noa’s image and attached it to the head. I also didn’t skip painting the futuristic hair accessories from Millennium on top with a brush.
After that, I carefully drew the design of Noa’s outfit onto the already shaped doll’s clothes. Since Noa remembers everything about herself, she didn’t need to look at anyone else’s outfit, but Haruna and I made efforts to peek at each other while trying to replicate the outfits as closely as possible.
Since we all wore our school uniforms on the first day, the outfits didn’t match at all when placed together.
In fact, if someone were to see us together, who would even think this group harmonizes?
After all, Trinity, Gehenna, and Millennium generally spend their school days without much connection. In that light, we are unique. Though, technically, I’m the troublemaker behind it all.
After drawing the outfits, it was time to paint the hardest part: the faces. I briefly considered drawing a crying Noa out of mischief, but since I had started, I decided to earnestly put my all into it.
“Hua… It’s perfectly complete~!”
The first to declare completion was Noa, the owner of memory cheats.
“Um… I finished too.”
Next was Haruna, but after seeing Noa, she couldn’t help but let out a stifled laugh, leading to Haruna repeatedly apologizing.
“Alright! Then, it’s my turn to declare☆ I finished at last!”
Finally, I declared my completion. After all of us placed our completed dolls on top of the Sandawara.
“…Um.”
Haruna closed her eyes silently. To ease her worries, I intertwined my fingers with hers, and only then did she look at me with a smile that seemed to say she had no choice.
“Wow… this is quite artistic. You ladies have excellent skills.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
As it seemed the owner of the experience center was an older Russian Blue person, she praised Noa, who smiled and thanked her back.
Objectively speaking, Noa’s creation was the highest quality. She captured Haruna’s hair, hat, and even her wings and tail, and being the first to finish declares just how extraordinary her memory is.
Next was, of course, my doll.
Having been corrected by Mika’s beautiful handwriting, I surprisingly had a talent for this as well. When Noa saw her finished doll, she blinked at me in surprise.
“Ahaha. So, what do you think? Do you like it? I hope you do!”
“Yes, I love it. The thought put into this one doll makes me feel so grateful, I want to remember it forever.”
“Oh, I see?”
Knowing that Noa would surely remember it regardless, hearing her say that really touched my heart.
Lastly, Haruna’s doll of me…
“Fufu. Ahaha… Ahahahaha!”
It was just incredibly, incredibly cute.
Not that I’m saying it was well-made. Objectively, it was a mess, lacking in various ways.
However, what I liked most was sensing the effort and care Haruna put into it. Even when the result isn’t what you’d expected, it’s only natural to feel a certain charm when someone pours their heart into it.
After bursting out laughing, I placed my hand on her shoulder before she could get any unnecessary thoughts. This fluttering feeling in my heart felt too precious to let go of.
“Haruna-chan!”
Possibly spurred by my laughter, Haruna, who had covered her face with her hands and tightly closed her eyes, turned to me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that my spontaneous laughter might have hurt her, making my heart twinge.
I gave Haruna a loving kiss. I rushed in, stamped it deeply, and pulled away twice as fast, leaving her stunned for a moment to realize what just happened.
“This doll is so pretty. It’d be a shame to just let it float away. Should we just keep them?”
“Mika-chan… no matter how you put it, that’s a bit risky…?”
“Huh? Not at all. The kindness behind this doll of Haruna is clear as day to me!”
“Heu… Is that so…?”
It probably couldn’t fit the saying “curing with a disease” any better; yet still, I believe being honest is my virtue.
Seeing Haruna’s confused reaction made Noa smile as well. Since Haruna, who generally had a weak guard, seemed to have taken this particularly hard, it was almost more than I could express with words how adorably dazed she looked.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about losing the doll just because you’re sending it off. Our experience center’s drones retrieve them before they float off too far. If you want, we can take them back after collecting them for you to keep.”
With the owner’s words, our whole group quickly agreed.
Before floating our dolls away, we asked the owner for one last photo. All of us lifted our dolls in front of us, capturing a precious memory in the story of our lives.
