Page 28 of The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop
‘Oh, yeah, I thought I’d give this back to you.’
Shiho pulled out a book from her bag. It wasPeter Pan and Wendy.
Then she added, ‘I found it while clearing out my room. And I thought, “Kaho used to like this book.”’
‘Oh? But wasn’t ityouwho liked it, Shiho? That’s why we kept it in your room, I think.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Well, I vaguely remember talking about it. I think we said that it didn’t really matter which room it was in.’
‘Come to think of it, we were sharing a room back then.’
‘Yeah. We were excited to get the book, but then we were dismayed when we found out how long it was.’
‘Dismayed? Look at you, pulling out the fancy vocabulary.’
‘Hey, don’t be mean.’
Placing both hands on the bench, Kaho arched her body and tilted her head back. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom.
‘But anyway…’ Kaho continued, ‘I guess we’re all grown up now – at least, mature enough to say things like “dismayed”.’
‘Well, yeah. Compared to when we were just starting pre-school or elementary school.’
The sun had climbed much higher than when they left the house that morning. Its rays reflected off the flowers, each of the white petals looking like a sparkling light.
‘What were your lines again, Shiho?’
‘Huh?’
‘Don’t you remember your lines in the school play?’
‘Oh,that. Of course I don’t remember.’
Kaho openedPeter Pan and Wendy, not choosing any particular part of the book. As her eyes wandered over to the text in the middle of the page, she thought:Now would be the time to bring up Shoma-kun. Shiho drew her face closer and peered into the book.
‘“The rock was very small now; soon it would be submerged. Pale rays of light tiptoed across the waters…”’
Which scene was this again?As Kaho pondered, Shiho tugged on her sleeve.
‘Did you just hear that? I think it’s a cat.’
Huh?Kaho strained her ears as she looked up. Although she could not hear anything, it seemed that the scenery had shifted in some way. As she gazed at the path she knew so well, something about it felt slightly off. Apparently feeling the same way, Shiho stood up and restlessly scanned her surroundings.
‘Hey, look – over by the crossing. Has that building always been there?’
Turning her eyes in the direction Shiho was looking, Kaho saw a traffic light. Right beside it stood an unusually tall weeping cherry tree. Only the tree seemed to stand out from the rest of the scenery.
‘Wait, isn’t that tree kind of weird? I’ve never seen flowers in so many different colours on a single tree – not even on TV.’
Shiho was right. At that moment, Kaho finally heard it, too. A cat had cried. It was an earnest voice, like it was pleading for something or calling out to them. The next thing Kaho knew, Shiho had taken her hand and was leading her towards the two-storey wooden building that she hadn’t once seen in the six years she’d walked this path.
As they drew closer, it became apparent that the building was some kind of shop. Written in red and white chalk, the sign read, ‘Sakura’. The sisters exchanged words with just their eyes:We don’t know this shop. No, this was definitely not here before.
‘What should we do?’
‘It feels scary to go in, doesn’t it?’
