3Summary:
The origin of Sakurako's complex relationship with pudding sheds light on the Oomuro-ke's complex relationship with Sakurako and each other.
Sakurako was too innocent to notice. Mostly.
Whenever anyone said anything nice about her, her father scowled and her mother waved it away. The dead opposite of their behavior with Nadeshiko.
No one else not her parents, not her sister, cared that Sakurako was the best at sports in her grade school. Himako idolized her for it, and it was only Sakurako that could get her to brave any physical activity. No one cared that Sakurako was the friendliest, kindest, most helpful girl in the neighborhood.
What they did notice was that she wasn't a top student. Not even a top five student. Top ten, often, but what is that? She was clearly a disappointment compared to her sister. That sister wanted Sakurako as far from her as possible and would never volunteer that she wasn't an only child. People only somewhat familiar with the Oomuro family would be excused for thinking she was. The Oomuros never thought about the fact that they'd given Sakurako no help, praise, rewards or attention. They didn't value sports, especially for girls. When Sakurako brought home artwork they ignored it and Fumiko would take it from the table she had tossed it on and throw it in the trash when she cleaned up on Saturday.
As it sunk in that she could get no love from her family, Sakurako began to be less motivated. She stopped being outgoing with anyone but Himawari. She stopped giving her all in sports and games. She didn't see the point in bothering. She felt so bad all the time that it was hard to make an effort to be nice to others. When she tried to sleep at night, her stomach ached. It ached a lot at school, too. She didn't have any pain-free days anymore.
The one almost bright spot in her young life occurred when her mother remembered to buy two puddings at the store instead of just one and giving that to Nadeshiko. Sakurako's little sister had been born, but was too young for pudding. Her mother may have been feeling sentimental. That small gesture made Sakurako's stomach stop hurting, and for once, she was able to go sleep right away.
After that, she made a point of nagging her mother for pudding. "That child is such a useless nag," Fumiko thought. Her husband predicted Sakurako would get fat "as lazy as she is." In fact, Sakurako had been in much better shape than Nadeshiko, but that changed. She got, if not fat, a bit chubby. Noticing that, her mother gave her a "no more pudding" verdict. Sakurako was very fortunate that Himawari's mother overheard. Without overdoing it, every couple of weeks she would buy both Himawari and Sakurako pudding. The Oomuros didn't much care where Sakurako went, or what she did. When they considered it, at least, according to Nadeshiko, Himawari was a top five student. For whatever reason, Sakurako had slipped to the middle of the pack where, Nadeshiko believed, she belonged. Fortunately, they thought they saw signs in little Hanako that she wouldn't be a disappointment like her older sister. All they told Sakurako was that she had "better not drag Himako down to her level."
Nadeshiko had vague hopes that Himawari might drag her sister up to the point where she wouldn't be a disgrace. She'd even accept Sakurako being a top ten student again, although that seemed a vain hope. Of course, she was uninterested in Sakurako's sports nonsense. The only good thing about it was it probably kept her from being a little fattie. Anyway, in her period of hope, she found a marriage form that Himawari had gotten ahold of. She and Sakurako had filled in their names as "wife and wife" It was, she had to admit, cute, and might be a good sign. She showed it to her mother, who kept it in her desk. It was the first (and last) thing Sakurako had done that she preserved.
Mama Furutani, whose first name turned out to be "Ai," decided to take advantage of the situation. She coaxed Sakurako into doing sports again "to help Himako," which always worked with her. She gave the girls treats that weren't fattening, and encouraged them to exercise a lot. Within a couple of months, Sakurako was in good shape again and had lost most of her extra weight. As she tended to be skinny, she actually looked very healthy. Some of her friends her age were sick of Nadeshiko's belittling of their friend, and when little sisters of people in Nadeshiko's year repeated them, they told them off.
Certainly, Sakurako never came near her old, cheerful personality, but at least the stomach aches stopped. She went back to being above the middle in school, and reasonable at sports, though nothing like her performance before. She started being a little more honest, standing up for herself a little. She told her fellow students that her parents hated sports and didn't care about her one little bit, and never had. The only people that had ever been nice to her, she said, were her grandmother and her neighbor, Himawari's mother. Nadeshiko heard about that and spread the word that Sakurako was a lazy, useless liar. She actually lost two friendly acquaintances, though, when they pointed out that her behavior pretty much confirmed what Sakurako had said.
Meanwhile, the pudding ban continued for another two years. Nadeshiko rubbed her privilege in Sakurako's face, and when that girl got angry, her parents said she was out of control with her anger, in addition to her many other faults. Hanako was groomed by Nadeshiko to look down on Sakurako, too. This hurt particularly because Sakurako had been diligent in tending Hanako when her mother was too busy. Nadeshiko had usually been busy herself, and when she did tend her, she wasn't as skilled at calming her and keeping her happy as Sakurako was. Sakurako had hoped the next sister and her would continue their bond. Her parents were virulently opposed to that, they reasoned that she would contaminate her with laziness, irresponsibility and stupidity.
The Furutanis had a new child, now, too, and Ai was always happy to have Himawari and Sakurako care for little Kaede. Every year, her distaste for the Oomuros grew, but she was unfailingly polite, because she figured any unpleasantness would fall on Sakurako's head. Himawari and Sakurako loved each other as much as ever, and all three of them considered her more of a Furutani than an Oomuro.
Once the pudding ban lifted, after two and a half years of Sakurako not gaining weight, Fumiko still forgot to buy pudding for Sakurako more often than not. She also bought treats for Hanako for being a top student (tutored by Nadeshiko). So Sakurako acquired what would be a lifelong habit — she stole.
Nadeshiko took to labeling her pudding with "Hanako" because she knew Sakurako wouldn't steal from her. When Sakurako realized what was up, she always stole one pudding if two Hanakos were there. Later, as Nadeshiko got cleverer about it (and ate her pudding early), if there was one pudding for everyone in the family, she'd steal one of the non-Hanako puddings. If her mother or father had to do without, what was that to her?
Later at Nanamori junior high, people wondered why Himawari put up with Sakurako pudding-stealing (when Kyouko did it, it drove Ayano up the wall). But she knew why.
