Masamichi supposed that was another order from his master.
With resignation, he obediently replied, “Yes, sir,” and sat on the cushion facing the man. “Thank you for preparing this meal,” he said politely, but the man had begun his own meal without a word.
After all, the man was also an impatient eater.
He was not taking large mouthfuls or raking his food in, but his chopsticks were moving unusually fast. He expertly used his chopsticks to break up the salmon and removed the bones with great precision and elegance.
Impressed, Masamichi broke a piece off his own salmon slice and put it on rice.
He took a bite and exclaimed innocently like a child, “Delicious!”
The salmon was grilled just right. The skin, meat, and surface were nice and crispy, with the perfect amount of salt and fat.
The greens were a vegetable Masamichi didn’t recognize. The stems and leaves were flat and pale green in color. It was surprisingly tender and tasty and was soaked in a light broth.
The miso soup contained grilled eggplant peeled and cut into large pieces, and its simplicity was elegant. The fragrant aroma of the grilled eggplant seemed to enhance the sweetness of the white miso.
Masamichi’s appreciation of the meal wasn’t only because he hadn’t eaten in a while. It was also the quality of the ingredients and the skill with which the dishes had been prepared.
Realizing he had been wolfing down the food, Masamichi put down his chopsticks and drank the hojicha—roasted green tea—the man had brewed to calm his nerves.
With the painstaking care the man had taken to make the tea, Masamichi had expected it to taste great. But he took one sip and let a “Huh?” escape him.
“What’s the matter?”
The man looked at Masamichi suspiciously and methodically ate his meal.
“Oh…um, uh…,” Masamichi stammered, thinking that telling him what he thought of the tea would be rude.
Then the man said, “It is inexcusable to conceal something from your master. From now on, tell me anything and everything. Do not hide anything from me.”
“B-but…but—but—but…some things are rude to say, and you might get mad.”
“I’ll decide whether I get mad. Now, what is this about the tea?”
This man had saved his life, so Masamichi had to answer honestly. He said slowly:
“The tea seems to taste different from the hojicha that I know. It tastes… Well, I’m sorry, but it smells…burnt.”
Masamichi shrugged, expecting a reprimand.
But the man agreed nonchalantly.
“I guess it does.”
“Huh?!”
“This is Kyo-bancha, Kyoto-style green tea.”
“K-Kyoto style?”
“It’s a coarse green tea the locals have been drinking for ages, also called iri-bancha. This is the result when the tea leaves are dried and roasted without rubbing.”
“Wow!”
Masamichi was dazzled to learn the name of a tea he hadn’t known and its production method. The man’s lips curved slightly upward in a faint smile.
“The first time I tried it, I thought it was stupid to drink something that smelled like fallen leaves, but once you get used to it, it’s delicious. The previous owner and his wife loved to drink it.”
Masamichi was slightly surprised by the warmth in the man’s soft expression and words.
“The previous owner and his wife? Oh, was this place a store?”
The man took a sip of his tea before answering in a whisper, “Bougyoudou.”
“…Sorry, what was that?”
“Bougyoudou was the name of the shop. It means forgetting the dawn. The previous owner named it that when he opened his business as an expression of his desire to forget the deepening of the night and speak with customers like friends. People are strange, wanting to talk when they become close.”
“That’s a wonderful name for a store.”
Masamichi meant that from the bottom of his heart. As someone who wasn’t good at socializing and had never conversed with anyone in such a carefree manner, the previous owner’s desire seemed very dazzling.
Nevertheless, the mystery of the man’s backstory deepened yet again, and Masamichi had no idea what to start asking.
“So, uh, this Bougyoudou. What kind of store was it? Did they sell the junk…I mean, the items you have over there?”
“Did you say junk?”
“Oh, no! Never!”
The mild look in the man’s eyes became razor-sharp like a sword again. Panicked, Masamichi shook his head vigorously.
“Watch what you say. Every item you see here has a soul. Be rude, and you will be duly punished.”
“Those items have souls? You mean like ‘There’s a god in every grain of rice’? Granny—I mean, my grandmother often said that when she told me to finish all my rice.”
Resigned, the man shook his head.
“Most gods are the product of the human mind. If you say there is a god in every grain of rice, humans must have placed them there.”
Masamichi couldn’t understand much of what the man had said, and unable to respond, he just closed his mouth and looked troubled.
Paying him no mind, the man picked up his chopsticks again.
“The previous owner was an antique dealer who operated a used-goods store. Now that I’ve taken over the establishment, I guess it means I’m engaged in a similar business.”
“So you’re an antique dealer? I see. Um, so…”
Masamichi had a rough idea of the man’s occupation, so he straightened and boldly broached a fundamental topic.
“I know it’s a little late now when we’ve already established that you’re the master and I’m your servant, but my name is Masamichi Adachi.”
The man neatly finished his rice and said in a bored tone, “I know who you are. You told me your name when we agreed to our contract.”
“Oh, that’s right, I did! But I don’t know your name.”
“Now that you mention it, I guess you don’t. Names and such don’t have much meaning to me, but…it’s Shino.”
Masamichi tilted his head in surprise. It sounded like a woman’s name.
“Is that your first name? Oh, perhaps it’s your last name.”
“Tatsumi is my surname. My master named me Shino. Tatsumi was also my master’s name, which I use for convenience.”
“…Wait a minute, please.”
Masamichi—unable to bear this new, big mystery when he was just beginning to learn more about Shino’s identity—held up his right palm toward his master.
Shino saw that as a rude gesture, and a frown appeared on his elegant face.
“What do you mean, ‘Wait a minute,’ when I have gone to the trouble of answering your question?”
“I’m truly sorry. But I’m super confused.”
“What is there to be confused about?”
“Mr. Tatsumi, you—”
“Call me Shino. As I said, Tatsumi was my master’s surname, which I’m only borrowing.”
“That’s what I mean! So, Mr. Shino—”
“I said Shino is fine.”
Annoyed, Masamichi protested:
“Are you kidding?! I’m younger than you, and you’re…my master, right? I would think I’d need to address you with an honorific.”
Shino wasn’t backing down, either. He quickly retorted with a miffed look on his face. “No need for honorifics, and don’t sound so formal. That requires too many words, and it annoys me.”
“No way I can do that…”
“What do you mean, ‘no way’? I don’t like people beating around the bush. Speak your thoughts honestly in short sentences. I talked to my master like I’m talking to you now.”
“That’s what I wanted to ask!”
“…Huh?”
“Your master!”
Masamichi was so stunned that his master previously had a master that the young man forgot that he was introverted and bad at communicating with people. Leaning forward slightly, he asked:
“The person who owned this place before… Wasn’t he your master?”
“No. Haven’t you been listening to me? It appears I’ve gotten myself a fool of a servant. The previous owner was just a human being who owned this store. My master took control of me in the past. He’s a nasty man who has been long dead but continues to bind me with his curse.”
“…A curse?”
“A curse, a spell. Voodoo. You humans call it things like that, but they all have the same roots.”
“A curse… Mr. Shino, someone put a curse on you?”
Shino glared at Masamichi, and the young man corrected himself with a hesitant mumble.
“I—I mean Shino…”
Masamichi had never even spoken casually with people his age. Here he was with his master, though he still didn’t fully understand what that meant. Regardless, he couldn’t chat so informally with his master, a man who was older than him.
Shino seemed satisfied with that and nodded.
“Yeah, someone put a curse on me. I wouldn’t be here playing antique dealer if he hadn’t. He was abominable. I thought I would be freed when his death broke the spell, but I was wrong.”
“Um, hold on a sec… Wait.”
Masamichi pushed his fingers against his temples, desperately trying to sort through the information he had just been given.
“So you’re my master and had a master yourself.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Your master is dead, but he continues to curse you, even after death. And that’s inconveniencing you… Is that what you’re saying?”
“Exactly. I’m glad you understand.”
“I know what you’re saying, but my brain can’t digest it. But before we get into that…” Masamichi removed his fingers from his head and set them on his thighs. Pushing back the fear and uncertainty forming vaguely in his mind, he softly asked, “Shino…who are you?”
“You’re asking me who I am?” Shino responded as Masamichi pointed at him. “I thought you had figured it out by now. You said it yourself.”
“Huh? Did I…say something?”
After drinking his miso soup and finishing his breakfast, Shino quoted him matter-of-factly, “‘No way could a human being fix it like this.’ That’s what you said.”
“Oh!”
Masamichi gulped.
I did say that! I couldn’t believe any human being could “fix” my body when it was battered and I was dying. But…
“Come to think of it, you said something like that, too: ‘How could a mere human do something like that?’ But… No, it couldn’t be. No matter how I look at you, you’re a regular person.”
“If that’s supposed to be a compliment, you must be punished.”
“Huh?!”
Seeing the grumpy look on Shino’s face and hearing his frightening words, Masamichi put a hand on the tatami mat and tried to back away.
Shino sat in the same calm manner as when he had spoken about tea and said:
“I am a specter.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“A spirit, a monster, a demon… People complicate the matter with too many words to describe us, but put simply, there are beings that are beyond this world, and I’m one of them—though I am certainly the cream of the crop.”
“A spirit… A monster.”
“Yeah.”
“You aren’t human?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Masamichi fell speechless.