Page 34 of The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop
Their mother considered this for some time. Then, she eventually said, ‘Oh, I see. I’ll be on my own on the way back, won’t I?’ Nodding triumphantly, Shiho proceeded to make the most outrageous remark.
‘Also, Kaho is going to make you a grandmother soon, so you might want to start preparing yourself. Your outfits are a bit much, to be honest.’
‘Huh? Shiho, what the?—’
‘Ohh?Kaho-chan, do you have a special man in your life, then? You don’t tell me anything.’
Their mother puffed out her cheeks and puckered her lips sulkily.
I guess that Tae-chan …Mumwill probably never change,Kaho thought silently.And she gets to be the way she is because Dad takes care of her so wholeheartedly. I wonder if a day would come when my heart would fill with this kind of overwhelming, almost painful warmth for someone.
Kaho looked at her sister out of the corner of her eye. Her sister, who had passed through such emotions much too young, long before Kaho realised it. All of a sudden, she felt a deep affection for her. The intense emotion that welled up from within her strangely carried a trace of nostalgia.
Catching Kaho’s gaze, her sister raised her eyebrows (‘What?’), to which Kaho responded with just her head (‘Nothing.’).
Then, putting on the cutest voice she could muster, she said, ‘What’s for lunch, Tae-chan? I’m so hungry.’
‘Omelette rice topped with hamburger steak. I went all out today.’
It was then that Kaho noticed her mother was wearing disposable gloves. The sisters made their way to the bathroom to wash their hands. Next to the bathtub, the white lily dress they’d seen that morning had been left to soak in the washbasin. It appeared to be an attempt to remove a stain – there was a ketchup mark on the chest of the dress.
Peering over her shoulder, Shiho said, ‘She’s quite organised when it comes to these things, isn’t she? She does it straightaway.’
‘She’s just obsessed with her clothes,’ Kaho snorted.
‘But maybe it’s a quality worth emulating.’
‘I’d rather learn to cook from her. But wait?—’
‘What?’
‘Did she get changed with her gloves on?’
‘I guess so. She must have forgotten to take them off.’
‘See? That is not a quality I wish to emulate. That outfit is brand new, right? She must have bits of raw mince stuck to it.’
‘Maybe it’s okay-ish because the pink will camouflage it? Kind of?’
After that, the three of them had lunch together. The demi-glace sauce poured over the omelette rice was a little on the rich side, just how her sister liked it. Their mother, who was sitting opposite them, eventually asked, ‘What would you like for dinner, Shiho-chan?’ For a moment, Kaho wondered why she was being left out, but soon realised that her sister wouldn’t be eating their mother’s cooking for much longer.Mum must be conscious of how many more times she’d have the chance to cook for her,Kaho thought.
* * *
That afternoon, Kaho spent some time alone in her room.
‘It is only the gay and innocent and heartless who can fly.’
Just as she lay down on her bed, the girl’s voice resonated through her.
I wonder if we can still fly.
If so, is that a good thing?
As her thoughts wandered, Kaho dozed off for a little while. It was a dreamless sleep.
After dinner, Kaho knocked on her sister’s door again. When it opened, the room looked even barer than the night before, but it somehow felt a little warmer.
‘I think you should keep this, Shiho.’
