The word Kanbaru uses for "the age of sixteen," 破瓜 haka, has several meanings, one of which refers to the loss of a girl's virginity. Again, elided somewhat in the translation for the sake of preserving the conversational flow.
Hey, Araragi-senpai! Happy new year!That reminds me... it's been a while since the coming-of-age ceremonies ended, but I'm guessing your family finished by cutting the New Year's rice cake. Right, Araragi-senpai?The First of the YearWhat do you think?FinIt all makes me sit there staring at my kagami-mochi, wondering about who came up with this and thinking that we Japanese really do care about the strangest things.Well, the original superstition says that you aren't supposed to use cutlery, but instead just break it apart using your hands or a wooden hammer. We had packed rice cakes, though, so we just went ahead and finished them off by cutting them up and tossing them into the New Year's zouni.Mmhmm.By the way, I also thought about something while gazing at my kagami-mochi. I hope you'll hear me out.I was thinking that, even though it's something to celebrate, the words
age of sixteen
really do invite some unfortunate puns.The year's just started, so why are you already running in that direction?Ah, Kanbaru, happy new year.That's just like you, Araragi-senpai. Your erudition amazes me, just like always.
