The next day, there was an article in the newspaper about the fire at Kominami.
It reported that a restaurant established in the Taisho Era had burned to the ground. That the restaurant had been closed at the time. That there were no witnesses or injuries. That the kitchen was not the source of the fire. That there were strong suspicions of arson.
By the time I came to school the next day, the news had already spread across campus. Everyone comforted me and expressed their sympathy, but Itsumi seemed particularly upset. She looked like something was bothering her.
“I shouldn’t have kept you so late yesterday.”
“Don’t be silly. I might’ve gotten hurt if I went home earlier.”
“But if I hadn’t made you stay, you probably could’ve seen something, and maybe the criminal would’ve seen you and fled…I feel like it’s all my fault.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong yesterday. Please, don’t worry about it.”
“Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”
“No, really…” I started to say, but then had an idea. “Well…”
“What is it?”
“Could I join the Literature Club?”
Itsumi smiled affectionately and took my hands in hers.
“Of course,” she said. “We’d love to have you.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The literary salon kitchen was as perfect as I had imagined.
I made all the desserts I could think of, one after the other, and Itsumi bought me the finest of any ingredients and utensils that I asked for. The other members might have thought of the salon as their castle, but my dream castle was right in the kitchen.
Although Itsumi and Sayuri apparently used to bake cakes and other treats when they were in the mood, after I joined the club, all baking responsibilities were turned over to me. For me, happiness is having someone to eat my desserts.
But that didn’t mean I spent all my time simply playing in the kitchen with wheat flour and eggs. I had decent grades in Japanese and diligently participated in the club activities.
Other members of this club taught me about the cooking in various works of literature, such as in Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Moby Dick by Herman Melville. There are also a plethora of delicious baked treats in Anne of Green Gables. When we read Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, I even recreated the corn and poppy seed pies, and everyone loved them!
I gradually started to find literature interesting in and of itself, even participating during the debates. I am grateful to Itsumi for using my love of cooking to open my eyes to the pleasures of literature.
✦ ✦ ✦
Three members joined the club after me. There was Sonoko Koga, an upperclassman one year my senior who wanted to be a doctor; Diana Decheva, the international student from Bulgaria; and Mirei Nitani, the new scholarship student. I had even more fun showing off my skills with three new mouths to feed. When book discussions ran late, I even made them small meals, like omelets with rice, club sandwiches, and pasta.
The plans for my future restaurant had burned down with the fire. My father was busy trying to rebuild the original Kominami and it was difficult to fund the new one. I was probably trying to use the salon’s kitchen to salvage whatever I could of my burnt-out dreams.
I enjoyed my time in the club. Everyone was friendly, and because we were so few, a strong sense of solidarity developed among us. When it came time to make pound cakes for the Easter & Pentecost festival—three hundred of them—we worked as a team to decide who would be in charge of ingredients, measuring, weighing, making the dough, and cleaning, and we spent three full days and nights baking them together.
Afterwards, I stared at the neat lines of pound cakes in the freezer, reveling in a deep sense of fulfillment. We put them in the freezer to preserve their freshness. Even if they were only for the school bazaar, we were still getting paid for the cakes, and I wanted them to be perfect. I am proud of my baking skills, and this kitchen filled me with that pride. Itsumi Shiraishi was the one who had made it all possible.
But we couldn’t have baked one hundred cakes a day without the detailed schedule that club vice president, Sayuri Sumikawa, had made for us, directing us to Take out the cooking utensils while the butter is melting, mix the batter while the oven preheats, sift the next ingredients into the bowl and mix them together while the cake is baking, then right after they come out of the oven, glaze the top of the cakes with rum and cover them in plastic wrap…Thanks to her precise directions, everything went smoothly. Even I would’ve panicked if I had to bake a hundred cakes a day, and I’m experienced at baking! Itsumi was a charismatic leader, but she wasn’t good with details and couldn’t make plans like Sayuri could. Itsumi did what she pleased because she knew that Sayuri would always have her back. They were the ultimate best friends—which is why everyone adored them. If I’m lucky enough to have my own bakery someday, I truly hope that Sayuri will help me set up shop.
✦ ✦ ✦
Sayuri always supported the club from behind the scenes.
Even after I joined the club, I sometimes still found Itsumi off-putting. When I expected Itsumi to present some bold and daring literary interpretation at discussion, for example, she’d come up instead with these ridiculously inconsistent theories that rubbed me the wrong way. She also instantly shut down any opinion that even slightly contradicted hers. That would be when Sayuri would gently chime in and remind Itsumi that it wouldn’t be fun if all of our interpretations were the same.
If Itsumi could be considered “dazzling” or “stunning,” then Sayuri was by contrast someone whose worldview was much more refined. She understood wabisabi. With her graceful, unassuming personality, Sayuri was also the type of person who knew what she wanted and never lost sight of herself. Sayuri smiled by Itsumi’s side, but skillfully took over the reins when Itsumi was about to lose control. Though Itsumi had so many admirers in the Literature Club and throughout school, I always secretly wished I could be more like Sayuri.