Just as she wondered that, Junka passed her a flyer, adding, “If you’re interested,” with a smile. Emiko pulled her reading glasses out to look and saw the words “Looking for Shelf Owners.”
“Shelf owners, like at a shared bookstore?” Emiko asked.
“Oh my, you know of them?”
“My granddaughter told me about them just yesterday, and so I looked them up.”
The night before, Emiko had done a search on the computer and read a few news stories. They wrote that not only was there the sort of store that Mizuki visited that was made up completely of rented shelves, but that the model was spreading in other ways too.
There were independent bookstores renting out a portion of their shelves, and also other cases where cafes and general stores would put up some shelves. The format worked well with small businesses, and because the rent from the shelves was a constant income, they were linked to supporting regional stores.
She had thought that since they were mostly spreading in big cities that she would never run into one, but to think that there was a store so close by where you could become a shelf owner.
Emiko pulled out the book she’d carried with her as a companion on her walk. “My granddaughter actually got this book here from an author at a shared bookstore in Tokyo.”
When she passed it over to Junka, the other woman touched the cover, flipped it over, and looked at the spine. “Wonderful. This is handmade. But your granddaughter must be quite passionate if she visited a shared bookstore during a school trip. She must be enjoying books in a number of different ways.”
“She might even want to become a shelf owner here.”
Mizuki had been so happy when she talked about how she was invited to become one if she came to Tokyo, after all.
“Really? I’m planning on opening the store tomorrow the same way as I did today, so if you’d like to visit together, feel free.”
Emiko decided she’d tell Mizuki when she got home from school that day. There had been several boxes full of books Mizuki had finished reading in the storage under the stairs that she’d looked in the night before, so she shouldn’t have any problem with stock. It would be tough for her to pay the monthly fee with the allowance she got every month, so Emiko could pay for her, and they could run it together.
“I’m planning on having Sumika Bookstore stock books that fit the needs of the people in the area, but aside from that, I’m thinking of paying for my own shelf to become a shelf owner too. There are some things I’d like to put there that can’t be expressed with anything other than books.”
Junka said that there were a lot of people interested when she mentioned it, and more than half of the shelves were already taken.
Emiko felt confident that this store would be wonderful. She’d heard about the concept of shelf owners from Mizuki the night before and brought a book she’d gotten from a shared bookstore on her stroll down another route that she never usually walked, only to find this bookstore. It was almost like fate.
After buying a paperback, she left the store. Once she got to the supermarket, she headed to the rest area before she did any shopping. Sipping a coffee from the self-serve café, she read part of the book she’d just bought.
She’d thought that maybe she’d spent too much time on her detour, but she was shocked when she looked at the clock on the wall. It was still only around the same time she’d usually be getting ready to leave her house. The day hadn’t ended yet, but she felt accomplished, as if she’d gone on a day trip.
After she finished her shopping, Emiko took her usual route home. She’d been out for a long time, but for some strange reason, she wasn’t tired at all.
Once she got home, she started getting supper ready, still feeling a bit giddy. She’d bought bread and quail eggs, planning on making the medama curry she’d read about in Sayaka’s book. Mayumi would probably say she wanted rice, but Mizuki might try eating it with bread out of amusement.
Just as she’d put the curry in the pressure cooker and was almost finished with her preparations, she heard a “I’m home!” from the entranceway. Mizuki ran into the living room, still carrying her bag.
“I’m tired. Totally pooped. Sooo exhausted.”
She sat down on the couch, going limp with her head against the back of it. She’d had a day off school after getting back from the trip, but she’d gone in for the afternoon for club activities.
“We’re having curry today, Grandma?”
“Yep. Would you like bread or rice? I’m going to have bread and make that medama curry.”
“That’s from that book, right? I’ll have bread too. You liked the story that much? Our taste in books are completely different,” Mizuki said with a laugh.
When Emiko started toasting the bread, Mizuki jumped off of the couch and moved to her grandmother’s side. That was odd of her. She usually didn’t move until the food was all ready.
“Hey, Grandma? When I was at that shared bookstore on the trip, I bought a cookbook.”
“A cookbook?” Emiko repeated without realizing. Had she started thinking about how she would live alone this early after going to Tokyo?