Life Atop a Rail

Mm, they look good. Now to line the first batch in the steamer…

Ah, Yuki-nii, are you making shumai? I can help!

Thanks. The more help I get, the better.

You always make the best shumai. I remember when we used to make them together.

Me too. Those are precious memories that fill my life with color.

Ahaha, geez, you’re always exaggerating things like that. But still…your gyoza and shumai are so good. I wish our guests could taste them too.

……

(Hm? Is something going on? He doesn’t usually pull sad faces like that…)

…I actually have something I’d like to talk about with the Morning Team. Can we meet up after dinner?

O-Okay…!

You wanted to talk, Yukikaze-san? Are you gonna invite us to an ice show?

You usually don’t do this kinda thing… B-But if you’re looking for advice, I can try and help!

Are you sure you’d like to talk while Oguro’s still in the hospital?

I told Kafka on the phone earlier. I wanted everyone to take a look at this…

“Ward 2 First Tour Proposal”…?

Wait, you’re done with it already?!

Wow, athletes are fast at everything, I guess.

No… My dad made this.

Your…father?

Ah, I know him. He used to be a figure skater, but now he’s your coach, right?

…To tell you all the truth, everything I’ve done as mayor up until this point was my dad’s work. He’s always been the one to write up these documents, and I’ve just been using them as-is.

Since my dad’s generation, members of my family have only become mayors at the request of the JPN Skating Federation. Their goal is to improve the image of figure skating.

…I see. Their reasoning makes sense. I’ve heard rumors that doing well as mayor increases your chances of being chosen as a representative athlete¹ by the federation.

Right. They offer you a lot of support… But I’ve been working hard because I want to be chosen as a rep based on my own abilities.

I was watching your tournament records the other day… J-Just ‘cuz I was bored! I was kinda curious, so I watched all of them. I think you’re good enough to make it even if you don’t do anything as mayor.

Thanks, Renga. You’re very kind.

K-Ki…! No, like, I didn’t mean it like that…!

So I assume the reason why you’re bringing this up is because you want to change the policies that have been used up until this point?

…My dad thinks that I should devote my whole life to skating. He always told me that it didn’t matter if my mayoral work was poor as long as I did well at skating. I just went along with it.

But…when I see Kafka working harder than his body will allow him to and Renga doing whatever he can to help us with everything…

Huh, me?

Yeah. All of you put in a lot of work, and seeing that made me realize that I can’t just keep doing everything my dad tells me to do.

…W-Wait, hold on. You’re not quitting, are you…?

(*gasp* That could be it…! I feel like skating is more important to Yuki-nii than being mayor…)

No, I’m not. Moving forward, I’d like to come up with my own ideas for providing hospitality and do my work myself.

Oh, okay. That’s good…

Don’t scare us like that!

Haha, I’m sorry about that. You really do care about me, Renga.

W-W-Well, that’s…!

That’s because you’re…reliable…

I hate to agree with this idiot, but I also think you’re good to have around.

Huh?! Did you really need to say that first part?!

Same. I’d kinda miss eating your gyoza and shumai for dinner.

…To be honest, it doesn’t end there. Even during skating practice, I have to do everything my dad tells me to. I’ve been feeling restricted… I wish I had more freedom.

But he’s pretty stubborn. He’s the type to think that his methods are the only ones that’ll work. He has the final say on a lot of things within our family.

I… I know I’m in my 20s now, but I finally want to try being rebellious… I wanted to let all of you know that, so I don’t give up halfway.

Ooh, okay…

Yeah, my family’s been running their sushi restaurant for a really long time, so I kinda know what it feels like to be held back by them.

Family matters… It is true that they push a lot of obligations on you.

If that’s what you wanna do, I’ll support you, Yukikaze. I fought with my grandmother a lot too. Even though she was right most of the time…

But you said you wanna take things into your own hands… I know how that feels.

Mm. Thank you, my little brothers.

(If Kafka were here, he’d reply with “We’re not your little brothers,” but they’re all letting it pass today.)

(I had no idea that Yuki-nii was going through all of this with Uncle Sadayuki. But it makes sense. I know how strict he is…)

(Is there anything I can do to help…?)

I’m happy to hear that everyone wants to support you, Yuki-nii.

Yeah. I’m glad I got to talk about it.

…You’re planning on talking to Uncle Sadayuki about it, right? Will you be okay? He’s tough to talk to.

If I don’t confront him directly, he’ll probably just brush me off, and that’ll be the end of it.

So…

There’s something I want to try… Would you help me with it?