Wonderful Woman, Invincible Woman 16 ~2025 Year-End Party~

On December 31, 2025, I decided to meet up with Nacchan for the first time in seven months.
This was the longest we had gone without seeing each other since we reunited.
In addition to her usual work, Nacchan had been busy editing a book related to Nikko.

We met at the local family restaurant we always visit together. Since it's a bit of a rural area, it's one of the only places open around the end of the year. And even this restaurant was scheduled to close at 3:00 PM.

As I waited in front of the restaurant, Nacchan appeared wearing a vibrant orange long coat. The moment I saw her, the chill of the year-end season blew away.
After we sat down and she took off her coat, I noticed a colorful fish brooch pinned to the left chest of her fluffy black top.
What a lovely brooch! (I'll ask her about it later.)

Nacchan had prepared a souvenir from Nikko, a letter, and even a birthday present for me. When I opened the gift box, inside was a feather-shaped brooch decorated with embroidery and sparkling stones.
"It's from MY BOB. I'm thinking of collecting them little by little."
That's right. It was from the same brand as the lovely brooch on Nacchan's left chest.
"I'm so happy. I was just thinking that your brooch was lovely, Nacchan."

Just looking at MY BOB makes me feel excited, fun, and happy.
Nacchan must have chosen this while picturing my clothes and my face to see what would suit me. It includes yellow, which is my favorite color. Imagining Nacchan picking out this brooch for me made me truly happy.
At work, I had justreceived a disappointing gift, so I was deeply savoring the thought that this is what a gift is really supposed to be.

I immediately pinned the brooch to my cardigan.

On January 3, 2025, we held a New Year's party here and ate so much shabu-shabu all-you-can-eat that we couldn't move. And on December 31, 2025, we had shabu-shabu all-you-can-eat again.
2025 began with shabu-shabu all-you-can-eat and ended with shabu-shabu all-you-can-eat.

Once we finished ordering, Nacchan started talking with a serious look on her face.
"There's something I wanted to talk to you about when I saw you, Mukumi-chan. Actually, I met up with Saki-chan."
"What! You met Saki-chan!? How was it?"
I leaned forward, not caring that the steam from the shabu-shabu was hitting my face directly.

Saki-chan is Nacchan's childhood friend. Even though the two of them keep in touch frequently, for some reason they hadn't met in about 30 years. I don't know Saki-chan in detail, but I know her name and face.
I had always found it strange that the two of them didn't meet. And since I had been hoping they would meet soon, I was very excited to hear that they had.

But Nacchan said this with a look of disappointment.
"I was surprised because the worlds we live in are just too different."

During the long time they hadn't met, Saki-chan had become like a different person. She was far removed from the Saki-chan I knew and imagined, and I could feel Nacchan's disappointment painfully well.

About 10 years ago, I had something like that happen to me, too. It was when I met Nakagawa-kun, whom I had dated briefly a long time ago.
The conversation didn't flow. Our ways of thinking were different. The things we knew were different.
And the deciding factor was that my nose couldn't accept his scent at all. It was hard even to sit next to him.
I used to like him, so why are we so incompatible now?

Does the environment change people that much? Working or not working, getting married or not, having children or not, watching movies or not, reading books or not.
In a world so overflowing with information, do people's thoughts and personalities change depending on what they are exposed to and what kind of life they lead?
Perhaps the roots of a person remain the same. I had thought so, but maybe even those roots, if not firmly planted in the earth, will wobble and be blown away somewhere.

While you are apart, the memories and images of that person that remain unchanged in your own mind can sometimes come crashing down when you actually meet.
Sometimes, it might be better for people not to reunite.

I thought, "Saki-chan and Nakagawa-kun have changed." But perhaps it was Nacchan or I who had changed.
And I thought that the fact that Nacchan and I, who reunited after 36 years, get along so well might be a huge miracle.

It was a shame about Saki-chan, but after that, we got excited talking about work and each other's partners, stuffed ourselves with shabu-shabu, finished with soft-serve ice cream, and left the family restaurant at 15:00, closing time, to head to Hase-Sho (Hasegawa Bookstore).

Nen-san (the clerk at Hase-Sho) welcomed us with the same gentle smile as always, not changed in the slightest.

Even though Nacchan had given me such a wonderful gift, she said, "Mukumi-chan, I think you'll like this book," and gave me "At the Foot of the Volcano" by Jinsei Matsuie.

I know overwhelmingly fewer books than Nacchan. That's why I can never choose a wonderful book that would suit Nacchan, and I always feel sorry about it.

Nen-san tells us, "You two are gradually starting to look alike."
Incidentally, Nacchan and I don't look alike at all (laughs). What is it that's similar? I'm very happy when I'm told I look like Nacchan. But I feel a little sorry for Nacchan. Because Nacchan is more wonderful than I am.

We left Hase-sho and moved to Coffee Stand 1976, run by our classmate Toda-kun. The coffee stand was bustling on New Year's Eve.

Knowing we were coming, Toda-kun had brought our elementary school graduation album to the shop.
Nacchan and I squealed with embarrassment as we pored over the photos and the class anthology.
Nacchan would turn the page even though I had only read half of the anthology. Being a former editor, she reads text quickly. Or perhaps I'm just too slow. I can only read text at about the pace of reading aloud. That's why my writing is slow, too. I'm sure it takes me twice as long as other people to both write and read.

"It's fine if you're slow at reading."
Nacchan says that, but if I could read at twice the speed, the number of books I could read in a lifetime would double. It would only take half the time to read one book. Since that would double my time for reading specifically, I think it would be a definite advantage.

The sun began to set, and we were the only customers left.
When I realized it, it was long past the 17:00 closing time. I apologized to Toda-kun and left 1976.

From 1976's Instagram.

The souvenir Nacchan brought from Nikko was a castella cake with gold leaf. It's perfect for the New Year.
It was a very rich and delicious castella, packed with eggs.
The fortune slip that came with the castella was 'Daikichi' (Great Blessing). I'm sure 2026 will be a very good year. I have nothing but that feeling.

And inside the letter, there was also a 2026 calendar.
I was also entrusted with a letter for my mother, but the calendar for my mother had a completely different design from mine.
I can tell that Nacchan chose this calendar while thinking of both me and my mother.

When I think of Nacchan, my heart truly warms up. I don't think I've felt this way about a friend since I was in elementary or junior high school.
As I've grown older, I've ended up harboring negative feelings toward friends, holding onto some kind of grudge, or even without any negative elements, I haven't been able to feel this heartwarming.

Nacchan reminds me of the pure friendship I had as a child.
Thank you so much.

And I look forward to 2026 as well.