After I finished work, Shiori Yomiuri dragged me into the cramped women’s changing room. I was a little worried if this was okay—her shift had already started.
But then she opened up her locker, pulled out her bag, and handed me a white envelope.
“Here,” she said.
“Huh?” I accepted it with some trepidation, wondering what it was.
“It’s your birthday present.”
What kind of present could fit in such a thin envelope? Could it be a gift certificate or a coupon of some sort?
She gestured for me to open it, so I did. There was a piece of paper inside.
It was a ticket to a movie. I didn’t recognize the title. The screening started at…ten minutes to nine, which was quite late. I was surprised when I saw the date.
“What?! Is this for today?”
“Yep. Go see the movie with Yuuta.”
“With Asamura?”
Sure enough, I found a second ticket beneath the first one.
“It should start around the time you finish your dinner.”
“…Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
She’d already asked me about today, and I’d told her it was my birthday and that I was having dinner with Asamura.
He’d only shared his rough plan for the evening, but we were supposed to leave the bookstore at six and have dinner right after. If he’d made a reservation, it was probably for six thirty. Even if we took our time eating, we should be able to leave the restaurant by half past eight.
Still, all we’d let Yomiuri know was when we were leaving work, and yet she’d already figured out our whole schedule. It wouldn’t be easy to keep secrets from Yomiuri.
I’d never considered movie tickets as a potential birthday gift… Was it really all right to accept them?
“Uh… Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it. If you got some useless knickknack from a coworker, it’d just get in the way, right? I figured this wouldn’t weigh you down too much.”
“‘In the way’…? I wouldn’t—”
Would I really feel like that?
“Sure you would. It rarely happens all the time.”
“Wait, so is it rare or not?”
“Just take the envelope, okay? Movie tickets are only good on that one day. They’re the most ephemeral gift out there. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. But you know…” A wicked grin appeared on her face. “I happened to know that Asamura really wants to see that movie.”
I was blindsided.
“I’ve already done the research,” she declared. “I’m sure he’d be overjoyed to see it.”
“Urk…”
He’d be overjoyed…? Really?
There was something I’d been mulling over for the last few days. I’d given Asamura a present on his birthday, but I hadn’t surprised him. In the past, I hadn’t thought such things were necessary. But this year, I’d started to regret missing my chance.
Now, though, I could surprise him with these movie tickets.
“Ee-hee-hee. You’ve decided to go, haven’t you? Haven’t you?”
“W-well…yeah. I don’t want to waste the tickets.”
I wondered if Yomiuri was aware of my relationship with Asamura and was trying to help.
“Um! Wh-why are you doing this for me…?”
I started to lose momentum at the end of my question. Wasn’t it a little too self-centered to assume she was trying to help me out?
Yomiuri was a girl with both beauty and brains. She had long black hair that flowed down her back and a clean, trim figure. Asamura always said she was hiding a dirty old man inside, but if you asked me, I could never compete with her. If she was after the same guy as me, I wasn’t sure what I’d do.
“Why? Well, isn’t it obvious?! I can’t tell you what happens until you guys go and see it, and I’m dying to discuss it. It’s pretty deep, and there’s a lot to think about and argue over.”
“Oh, is the story difficult?”
“No, no! …I don’t think so anyway. But back to the point, that’s why I want you guys to go and see it right away. I’ll be checking it out very soon myself.”
Yomiuri’s gaze was serious, and I didn’t think she was teasing me. Then again, she was a pro at teasing, so I couldn’t be sure. Still, I felt confident she meant what she was saying.
It would be a shame not to go after she’d given me these tickets, so I made up my mind to see the film.
“Okay, thank you. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”
With that, I accepted Yomiuri’s birthday gift.
Now that we were off work, Asamura and I headed to a commercial building near the station. Its sixth floor was full of restaurants, and Asamura took me to one serving Western-style food.
The interior looked comfortable, and I was excited to go in, but something about the choice struck me as odd. Would Asamura usually choose a place like this? I didn’t think so. But then why?
When I asked him, he said, “I heard they served great beef stew.”
I was stunned. Beef stew was my favorite dish.
He said Mom had told him and that he’d wanted to surprise me since I already knew what my present would be.
Sure enough, I was thrilled.
But I was also frustrated. I hadn’t been able to surprise him on his birthday, and now here he was, doing all this for me.
He passed me the menu.
The omelet rice and the curry looked delicious. There was a picture of flan topped with cream like a little hat and submerged in an ocean of caramel sauce, too. I was sure it would taste amazing, but it wasn’t time for dessert.
“Wow. Everything looks good. Oh… Can I order this?”
But since we’d come all the way here, I wanted to try their beef stew. I looked at the prices for various combos and chose the one I liked best.
When the waiter brought out the stew, it surpassed all my expectations. Why did dishes like this always taste better at restaurants than when you made them at home?
“Maybe there’s something different about the meat,” Asamura suggested.
“Aha. That could be it. Hmm… I’d like to try re-creating it.”
Or perhaps it was the cooking method. As I thought about it, I felt a prick in my chest as memories flooded back into my mind.
There’d been a little mom-and-pop restaurant near my house when I was a kid. I’d never forgotten the taste of their beef stew. When I first tried it, I couldn’t believe a food could be so delicious.
That was the truth, no doubt about it. But maybe the reason was something other than just the flavor of the food.
Eventually, my mom got remarried. Her new husband, Asamura’s dad, was very kind, and Mom seemed really happy…
Back around Halloween, my mom came home one day saying she didn’t need to go to work.
“I have Taichi now, so I can afford to take some time off.”
Hearing that…I felt relieved. Mom could finally let herself relax. Before, it hadn’t been like that.
After divorcing my birth father, my mother raised me by herself, never relying on her relatives. She cooked for me every day, despite her busy schedule.