Page 30 of The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop
Kaho and Shiho exchanged glances. Shiho’s mouth was agape, forming an ‘O’ shape.
‘And if that is the case, the easiest thing to do is for you to go and take things into your own hands. Oh, for the record, things like this don’t happen every day. But it’s also true that unexpected thingsdohappen, as experienced by the author of this book.
‘He was inspired to create the story of a boy who never grows up after meeting five brothers at his local park. When he turned it into a play, it became a huge success. Then, when the parents of those five boys tragically passed away, he ended up becoming their guardian, one by one. There are more miracles in this world than we tend to believe, you know. The fact that you two were born twins is one of them.’
Then, tilting her head, the girl said, ‘Seeing is believing,’ before turning to the cat. ‘Over to you, Kobako.’
At last, both of the calico cat’s eyes were wide open. Rising to her feet atop the table, she gave a long, lingering meow.
‘Oh, I almost forgot. You’ll feel a little bit dizzy at first, but please don’t worry, it’s nothing serious.’
The girl’s voice began to distort midway through. At the same time, Kaho felt a deep discomfort take hold inside her, as though her heart alone was being gripped forcefully.What’s so ‘little’ about this?she wanted to say. Butbefore she could protest, she was hit by a sensation that felt like she was being hurled away somewhere.
The next thing she knew, Kaho was standing in a corridor. Judging from the smell, she was inside a hospital.What’s happening?she thought, and turned to her sister. But what she saw was truly unexpected. Her sister was a child; she didn’t even look old enough to be in the upper years of elementary school. And the fact that she wasn’t wearing glasses yet was proof of this. Her hands clasped behind her, the young girl stood with her head down and her eyes fixed on the linoleum floor.
Outside the nearest hospital room, four names had been written by hand. One of them was ‘Shoma Hiiragi’. Kaho noticed someone holding her hand. It was her mother. She was wearing a navy-coloured skirt, a white blouse and a green cardigan. Kaho had almost never seen her dress so modestly.
‘We’re here. I know you haven’t seen Shoma-kun in a long time, but don’t get too carried away, okay? Don’t forget that we’re in a hospital. And you too, Kaho-chan, don’t go wandering around on your own.’
Kaho was perplexed. Her mother had turned to her sister when she called Kaho’s name. Could it be that Tae-chan couldn’t actually tell them apart? For a moment, she thought that this might be the case, but that seemed impossible. Kaho took a closer look at the young girl in front of her – the girl she thought was Shiho. It was then that she realised. That she remembered. What the girl was wearing was the outfit that Kaho herself had worn that day.
So … I’m inside Shiho’s body on that day. But is that even possible?Unable to make sense of it, her gaze wavered until it met the eyes of the other girl – the one who seemed to be herself. It was at this moment that she realised where Shiho was. She must be inthatplace. Kaho was almost sure of it.
But it didn’t seem like her present self – the one who had just graduated from high school – was controlling the young Shiho’s body. In fact, contrary to Kaho’s intentions, the young Shiho suddenly tugged at her mother’s sleeve and said:
‘I want to go and talk with Shoma-kun for a bit. Is it okay if you and Kaho wait for me here? Actually, can you go to the waiting room and see what drinks they have?’
Rather than answering straightaway, for a moment her mother dropped her gaze and silently stared at her. Then, she directed her attention to the young Kaho and asked, ‘What about you, Kaho-chan? Is that okay with you?’
‘Me? I’m totally fine with that.’
Then her mother took the young Kaho’s hand and began to walk away from the room. The young Shiho was now alone. All that Kaho could do now was ‘watch’ how things unfolded from inside Shiho’s body. The one thing she had sensed, albeit vaguely, was that the young Shiho was acting with a firm sense of purpose.
‘Hey, Shiho-chan.’
Shoma smiled weakly as she approached his bed.
‘How are you feeling? You seem like you’re quite unwell.’
‘Uh… Neither good nor bad, I guess. The dizziness is getting better, though.’
‘That’s good.’
From the way the conversation was going, Kaho gathered that Shoma must have told Shiho more about his illness than she’d imagined. As this thought occurred to Kaho, Shoma averted his eyes slightly and said:
‘So I’ve been thinking about it, about what the doctor said. I … don’t think I’ll be able to live much longer.’
‘Stop it. We don’t know that, right? I’m sure you’ll get better.’
‘Yeah… The thing is, I want to tell Kaho-chan that I like her. Before it’s too late. But I wonder if that would put a burden on her. What do you think, Shiho-chan?’
Kaho felt Shiho’s chest tighten painfully as his words tore through her heart.What’s happening?she wondered, but the answer came to her immediately. That was how deeply her sister had loved him. But since when? Could it be that she already had feelings for him when she played Wendy? As such questions ran through Kaho’s mind, she heard the voice of young Shiho.
‘Okay, then. I’ll help you. Let’s make sure you don’t have any regrets, shall we? In fact, this is exactly the reason I asked Mum to bring along Kaho today. So let’s do this – you tell her how you feel.’
When she finished speaking, Shiho laid her hand over his.
Shiho then went out to get her mother and young Kaho. Pushing only Kaho into the room, she took her mother’s hand and guided her away.So this is why I ended up alone with Shoma-kun in that room– as Kaho recalled this, the young Shiho, who had led her mother to the vending machines at the end of the corridor, stopped walking. Then, telling her mother to wait there, she turned on her heel.
