“Sakurai-san, I’ll bring you tons of souvenirs,” Rintarou said, gripping Haruka’s hand.
“I don’t need any souvenirs. Oh yeah, just before, I went to the promenade with Keiichi. The ginkgo tree’s leaves just started falling. They’re pretty, so you should go see them. Ginkgo trees are special, since their leaves all fall off at once. It seriously happens in an instant when the wind picks up, so if you want to see them, I’d suggest going there first.”
“I’d like to see them,” Satoko said, lifting her hand a little.
“Then let’s go to the promenade first.”
Rintarou put on his coat, and Haruka saw the two of them out. As he watched them walk away, he felt like the feelings he’d had at some point were rewarded, like he was getting a share of their happiness.
Haruka went back inside the empty store. His beloved cat was by the window with Chiyo, sunbathing.
“Now. Let’s get things going like usual here.”
As he stretched his arms toward the ceiling, two women who had been chatting in front of the store were lured in by the store kitties.
After finishing work and heading home, Haruka took Sumi out of her carrier.
“Good job today. You did great.”
He took off her collar as she rubbed up against him, before picking her up and heading to his room. After he got changed into some lounge clothes and lay down on the bed, she snuggled up in the space between his arm and his body. She knew it was warmer there.
If he hadn’t touched Alstroemeria in Yurinoki, then he wouldn’t have adopted Sumi, or even thought about bringing her into his store. After all, he’d thought of cats as animals that stayed in the house.
Maybe the ideas that came to you suddenly were from things you had experienced somewhere before. Maybe you only formed new thoughts from the things that floated up from where they’d hidden in your subconscious.
“The people I meet doing the job I do now will be connected to whatever I go to do next. I’m sure the things that don’t come true stay around forever. I feel like I’ve been unconsciously chasing after everything since becoming an adult.”
Reminded of something, Haruka sat up.
Back when he had stopped going to Yurinoki, Keiichi had kept on popping in every once in a while out of a sense of obligation. He’d given Haruka a letter from Kotono a little before Yurinoki had closed. At the time, he hadn’t thought that he’d be able to sympathize with her if he read it, so he’d stashed it away.
He opened his drawer, grabbing the case where he kept his letters. There was just one that was in a different partition than the others. It was a light-pink envelope with “To Haruka-kun” written on it.
Going back to his bed, he cut the seal with a paper knife. It was a long letter, three pages long. It was a notice that Yurinoki was closing and that after he’d started coming there to hang out, she’d looked forward to delivering coffee with him and that the time had been precious to her.
She must have heard from Keiichi that he was planning on opening a business after university, and that he would be working on deepening his knowledge on investments and management, because at the end, she’d written, “Someday, open a bookstore for me and Keiichi-kun that won’t close.” Just as he went to put the letter back into the envelope, he noticed that there was a ginkgo leaf inside. It might have been the same one she used as a bookmark.
Haruka flopped back onto his bed. He couldn’t reply to this letter now.
“It’s pretty late, but coincidentally enough, I opened a bookstore. Did Keiichi become a shelf owner knowing that Kotono-san was thinking like that?”
He’d left all of the shelves in Undecimber Garden to Keiichi, so he could have sold books there. But he didn’t.
“Here I’d thought I was doing whatever I wanted, but have I been carrying lots of people’s hopes without even realizing it?”
Inside this city that was always being reborn, he wanted to do a job that would save someone’s precious memories. And maybe it was because he knew how difficult that was that he could do it.
“Guess I’ve gotta keep this going now, huh?”
The reason the words “a bookstore that won’t close” had sunk right into his heart was because they were the exact words he’d needed right then. Maybe he was actually supposed to read that letter from Kotono now, rather than earlier.
“Anyway, I’ll take Shirane-san’s suggestion and become a shelf owner. Oh yeah, Ono-san mentioned that she was renting a shelf for herself in her own store.”
Why did she become a shelf owner? He wanted to ask how she differentiated the books she sold in the store proper from the ones on her shelf. She’d contacted him because they had a bond, so why not do something with Junka’s store?
“A traveling bookshelf, maybe? It might be interesting if for a limited time, we have shelves from our stores switch places, if the owners are interested. Ono-san seems like the type to like that sort of thing.”
Once he got thinking, the ideas just kept on bubbling up one after another, and Haruka got up. He sat at his desk, opening up his work laptop.
If Triple Sec went to Sumika Bookstore, would Mizuki buy out all the books again? Or would someone else support them this time? If Ke no Hi, a shelf themed around Sayaka’s book, came to Frère, he’d want to line it up beside Sayokyoku. What would Sayaka think of that?
Every time he had an idea, it would always float up along with someone’s face.
“Why am I here wishing that I’ll meet someone nice? I’ve already been blessed with more wonderful meetings than I deserve.”
As Haruka turned around, Sumi walked over to him as if she’d been waiting for him to call for her. He picked her up and put her on his lap. In the sunbeam-like warmth, happy memories from days past softly came back to life, and disappeared.