Page 12 of The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop
I hope that you are okay. If there’s anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to ask. We all miss you, and we can’t wait to get started on the next chapter. Also, the editorial team at the publisher got in touch again to offer their condolences. Our previous editor, Tachibana, gave us a call about that issue, too. She asked me to pass on the message that you have nothing to worry about.
‘Thank you,’ Mio muttered to herself. Then sent the same two words in reply.
That’s right. I need to hold my head high,she reminded herself.
Maybe it was all just a dream. But even so, it didn’t matter to Mio. If she closed her eyes, she could hear her mother’s voice in her ears, and feel the warmth of her touch on her back. That was more than enough.
Before she knew it, dusk was settling in. Behind the cherry trees, the evening sky adorned with the brightest stars spread across the horizon. Could her mother be living in one of those stars? If so, then she would be laughing. Mio dearly hoped that this was the case.
‘I hope from the bottom of my heart that you will live your life with your head held high.’
It felt as though her mother was telling her once again, but this time, her voice had come from the stars.
She’s really gone, isn’t she?
Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, but she didn’t wipe them away. She didn’t want to. For a while, Mio stood still, her shoulders quietly shaking under the cascading petals of pale pink. The tears had come, at last.
INTERLUDE
THE NEXT CUSTOMER
The coffee brewed,its billows of steam swaying to the triplet-infused rhythm in three-four time.
As though guided by the beat of the music, the girl spun around floatily withThe Little Princeclutched in her hands and turned away from the cat sitting on the table.
‘Hey, Kobako?—’
Now standing in front of the bookcase, the girl began to speak as she slid the book back into its original spot. She handled it with the utmost care, apparently determined to keep its corners unscathed.
‘You know, every time I read this book, I always wonder – did I tame you, or did you tame me?’
The cat, sitting in a loaf pose, didn’t bother to respond, not even offering a yawn.
‘Not that it matters.’
Having replaced the book, the girl pointed her index finger towards the spines of the books, again taking care not to touch them. But just as she was about to run her finger across, the cat gave a cry. This time, it was a long, protesting meow.
‘What?’
Putting one hand on her hip, the girl twisted around. Then, stepping closer to the table, she leaned forward, bringing her face near the cat. In response, the cat raised its nose.
‘Huh? You want me to move the table first?’
The cat gave a short, approving meow as if to say:Exactly.
‘Are you saying that we need to make space in the middle of the shop? That’s going to take some effort, you know.’
Letting out a half-sigh, the girl set to work on the task that the cat had assigned her. As she shuffled the chairs aside and moved the tables, the cherry-blossom branches decorating the shop swayed in their vases.
Soon, an empty space the size of a small stage emerged in front of the kitchen counter. Petals were scattered across the now spacious floor.
‘Must be nice to be you,’ the girl grumbled as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. ‘All you ever do is give out instructions.’
By now, the cat had tucked its head back into its body, forming a perfectly shaped loaf. Its eyes were firmly closed.
‘I guess I’m the one who’s been tamed.’
The girl made this remark, which was neither a complaint nor self-mockery, before finally going back to her book-picking ritual.
