Chapter 9

Book 5 The Devotion of “The Surgery Room” A college student arrived at the small local library, fidgeting nervously. With his glasses and soft, curly hair, plus skin that looked as if it had never seen a tan, he seemed like some sort of young literary enthusiast from the Taisho period at the turn of the twentieth century. Anxiously checking his surroundings, he headed down the aisle between the bookshelves. He passed by the history section and slinked stealthily past the folklore studies books. This was his usual route. Once a week, at three o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesdays, he stood there in front of one particular shelf. He headed to the modern Japanese literature section without fail, where the masterpieces of the Meiji and Showa periods lined the shelves. There he eyed one particular book with affection and bashfulness, gently pulled it off the shelf with his pale fingers, and smiled slightly as if meeting an old friend. On this day, however, when signs of the coming autumn had begun to fill the air, the book he loved was not in its usual place. His habit was to borrow the book and take it home, return it one week later on the next Tuesday, then borrow the same book again the following week. It was a pattern he had kept to for an entire year. Today was the day he was supposed to borrow the book. But the book in question was not where it belonged! All the books in the modern literature section were old and heavy hardcover volumes, so they were hardly ever checked out. There was a copy of the book he was looking for in the paperback section, too, and that one was more popular. The book was likely still somewhere in the building. But what if it had been lent out? If he was unlucky, he wouldn’t be able to see it for two weeks. Such a hardship would be too much to bear. He stood there staring at the place where his beloved book had been, eyes clouded with despair— “Um, are you looking for this book by any chance?” “Eeeek!” When I spoke to him, the college student shrieked like a little girl in surprise and peered back timidly through his glasses. I held up the book so that he could see the cover. Once he noticed the bulky hardcover in my hands, the young man’s eyes widened. “Ah!” Nodding his head rapidly, he made another noise and blushed bright red before my eyes. The book in my hands seemed to have noticed his skittish reaction. She whispered shyly: “Sir Mejirogawa…I am so pleased to see you.” I’m in high school—my name is Musubu Enoki, and I can hear the voices of books and speak with them. I’m a regular at all the libraries that dot the area around my school and home, and most of the books there recognize my face. When I pass them by, they make sure to greet me. “Musubu, haven’t seen you in a while!” “Good afternoon, Musubu.” When no one else is around, I greet them back with a “Hey” or an “It’s been a while,” and when there are other people, I try to wave a little and smile with my eyes. One day after the start of the second semester, I casually made a stop at one of my regular libraries after school. When I got there, I heard a number of voices rising from the area where ancient, middle, and modern Japanese literature was shelved. “We were waiting for you, Musubu!” “Musubu, would you listen to her problem for us?” “Consider this a request from the rest of us, too. We want you to lend her a hand, Musubu.” As usual, there were hardly any people in that section, so I lowered my voice and asked, “What happened? I’ll help if there’s anything I can do.” They told me they wanted me to advise a certain tome in matters of romance. Furthermore, her partner was a young man, a university student. University student? So you’re telling me this book fell in love with a human? “Musubu, we thought you of all people would understand the love between a human and a book, right? I mean, you do have experience.” Sure enough, it was just as they said. I had fallen hard for a book with an indigo cover and became her boyfriend. The young princess had a jealous streak and accused me of cheating if I even touched another book, before grousing about how my conduct was “unacceptable.” So on this day, she was staying at home. “You’re going to see…some other book, aren’t you…? You heartbreaker…” When I told her I was going, she sulked and dismissed me with such contempt that it made my chest constrict. “…If you touch another book, you can die for all I care.” Well, I took that as proof that she loves me, in her own way. Anyway—that’s enough about me. I decided to first speak with the book that was in love with the college student. The title embossed into the thick spine read The Surgery Room. It was written by Kyōka Izumi, a literary master who gifted the world with a number of fantastical stories from the end of the Meiji period into the Showa period. “The Surgery Room” is a short story that tells the tale of a beautiful countess who is concealing an affair between herself and the doctor who is going to be operating on her. To be more precise, the book who needed my help was an anthology of Kyōka’s works. In addition to “The Surgery Room,” she included a number of other titles, like “The Holy Man of Mount Koya,” “The Righteous and the Chivalrous,” Demon Lake, “Grass Labyrinth,” and Terihakyougen. All of them were masterpieces. But when I spoke with her, the personality—er, character—of the book seemed strongly influenced by the title story, “The Surgery Room,” so I decided to call her Miss Surgery—Surge for short. “It was exactly one year ago this fall when I first met the student with gentle hands, Michihisa Mejirogawa.” In a graceful, refined voice just like the one belonging to the countess in “The Surgery Room,” Surge told me all about this Mejirogawa. “He stopped and stood before this shelf and gazed at every title, as if searching for something. “When he got to me, his eyes came to a stop, and he blushed just slightly, like he had found what he was looking for. He stared at me passionately for a while. “The student touched me gently, as if I were a precious object that mustn’t be dirtied. He reached out timidly with both hands, then brought me close to his chest. I could almost feel his profound happiness.” Surge told me that on that day, the student had borrowed her from the library, then taken her home to his single-room apartment where he lived alone. They had spent a lovely night together. As soon as he got home, he had pulled Surge out of his bag and hugged her tightly to his chest again. Then he opened her cover more gently than anyone ever had before and read her word by word with bleary, delirious eyes, which he sometime let drift closed as he let out a sweet sigh. After he was finished reading “The Surgery Room,” he had embraced the book once more. That night, Surge had slept in his single bed, feeling the warmth of his body. Somehow, their relationship was sweet from the very beginning. Surge fell for him completely. She had been on the library shelf for quite a long time and been read by all sorts, but there had never been anyone who had touched her so gently, sighed so sweetly while reading her, or held her so tenderly. Their wonderful affair continued night and day for two weeks, right up to the last second of the lending period, so she thought it must be true love. Even under normal circumstances, books were extremely earnest and genuine creatures. After that, university student Michihisa Mejirogawa visited the library regularly to borrow Surge. Since he showed up on Tuesdays at three PM like clockwork, he must not have had any work or lectures at that time. Because it wasn’t possible to keep borrowing a single book continuously, he would return her after a week, then check her out again a week later. Perhaps he was embarrassed to borrow the exact same book every time, because when he took her up to the counter, he would sometimes bring one or two other books with him. Surge told me he never even read the extra books. What’s more, the young man had only leafed through the other stories in the volume once and then never read them again. Instead, he remained entirely focused on reading “The Surgery Room” over and over. That treatment probably resulted in Surge developing the kind of personality she had now. Her current state was the result of her desire to please the person she loved. Books are very admirable things in that way. The other books probably couldn’t help but be moved by Surge’s innocent affection. That’s why they had sought out my cooperation. “As far as I can tell, Mejirogawa and Surge seem to be in love with each other. If not, I doubt he would have kept borrowing the same book for a year.” If he just wanted to read “The Surgery Room,” he could have bought a copy in a bookstore or online. Assuming he was working a part-time job as a university student, he should have been able to afford a single book. The fact that he instead borrowed Surge and only Surge suggested that there was some reason why a different copy would not do. Mejirogawa was always taking Surge home to his apartment to embrace her, sigh sweetly over her, and sleep with her in his bed, so it was fair to assume he liked her a lot. It was certainly possible he was even in love. I knew that because I was also in love with a book, one named Princess Yonaga. There was one important difference, though: I could hear Princess Yonaga’s voice, while Mejirogawa probably couldn’t hear Surge. But he was nevertheless unmistakably obsessed with her. “But Sir Mejirogawa has been acting strange lately. His sighs that used to be sweet now sound sorrowful, and he looks away from me while biting his lip as if distressed. Then he grabs his head and rolls around on the floor wailing about something.” The last time she had stayed with him, he had embraced her and sobbed, spilling big, heavy tears. He hadn’t been eating much, barely slept at night, and was so haggard that she found it painful to look at him. “In this book’s body, I can’t do anything but watch, even if he is suffering. It’s intolerable. I can’t stand it. I was wondering if you might speak with Sir Mejirogawa, Sir Musubu, and dispel his troubles.” The other books repeated her request. “Please, Musubu, I’m asking you, too.” “Me too. If things stay like this, she’ll go to pieces worrying over him.” It sounded like if I could resolve Mejirogawa’s problem, then Surge could go back to sweetly whiling away the hours with him every other week. “Sure, I understand. I am a voice for books, after all. I’ll start by talking to Mejirogawa. Tomorrow happens to be Tuesday, too.” —Taking up the task with my usual enthusiasm, I feigned sick the next day in my sixth period class so I could leave early and get to the library by three. There I waited on standby with Surge in hand. Taken aback when an unfamiliar high school student with glasses came out of nowhere to strike up a conversation, Mejirogawa asked, “H-how did you know I was looking for that book?” “Because I’ve seen you borrowing it all the time. I’m a regular at this library, you see. Whenever we’re both here, I think, ‘Oh, there he goes borrowing “The Surgery Room” again.’” At these words, Mejirogawa flushed deep red. “I-is it that obvious?” “No, that’s not what I meant. See, I also like this book a lot. I’m a big fan of Kyōka Izumi, and ‘The Surgery Room’ is my favorite. So I thought maybe I’d try speaking with you, since you’re a Kyōka fan, too.” Good, that doesn’t sound too unnatural, as far as excuses go. Plus, it’s true that I’m a regular here and that I’m a Kyōka fan. My favorite is actually “Grass Labyrinth,” though. “Oh, is that it?” His expression brightened a little but then suddenly shifted again. “!” He opened his eyes wide, as if he had spotted something behind me, then turned beet red and started fidgeting nervously. Huh? Wait? What’s going on? He looks like he’s in love— What? With me?! Is he reading too much into this because we both wear glasses and like Kyōka Izumi or something? Aaahhh! As I started to panic, a clear voice called out from behind me. “Enoki, you’re here quite early today, aren’t you?” A lovely and modest-looking young woman wearing an apron smiled gently. Her name was Fumina Suzue, and she was one of the librarians here. “Good afternoon. There was a book I wanted to borrow, so I rushed over.” “Oh, that book?” Ms. Suzue looked down at my hands. Her eyes went wide. “Yes, I’ll—I’ll take this one.” I turned to look for Mejirogawa, but he had already backed off about two meters and was still creeping away. Maybe he was embarrassed to be seen blushing so brightly, because he slunk off with his head hung low, his shoulders hunched, and his eyes on the ground. Hang on, wait— What’s this? What’s going on? He disappeared behind a faraway bookcase before I had a chance to call out and stop him. I caught a glimpse of his profile, and he was red all the way out to his ears. “Enoki, was the young man just now an acquaintance of yours?” the librarian asked. “Huh? Um, I just met him a minute ago, but—” “I see. He always borrows The Surgery Room, so I think he probably wanted it,” she answered in an amused tone, looking down at the book in my hands. Though Mejirogawa had been borrowing other books to disguise his checkout history, it sounded as though the librarians had nevertheless pegged him as the “the ‘Surgery Room’ guy.” More importantly, that blushing young maiden act he put on was something else… “Whenever Lady Suzue is at the counter, Sir Mejirogawa gets extremely bashful.” Surge cheerlessly informed me of this in my arms. Huh? So that means he always reacts like that in front of her? His face goes bright red, he chokes up, and he can’t make eye contact the whole time he’s checking out? Waaait a sec, that definitely sounds like he’s in love with Ms. Suzue! But he’s doing his best to keep it together in front of Surge. She must have realized it, too… Hmm, this just got a lot more complicated. Furthermore, I could see something sparkling brightly on the edge of my vision. On the ring finger of Ms. Suzue’s slender hand was what appeared to be a glittering diamond band. She was unmarried, as far as I could recall. I had never seen her wearing it before. “That ring! Ms. Suzue, are you getting married?” I asked. She broke into a bashful smile. “Yes. The ceremony isn’t until next year, but we decided to go ahead and add me to his family register. We’re moving into our new home next month, so we’ll take care of the formalities then.” “Congratulations! You’re so pretty, I bet a lot of the library regulars are really going to be upset, huh?” I asked jokingly. “Actually, I’m kind of upset myself.” She laughed it off quickly. “Oh my, thank you! But you’re the only one who’s said anything.” Hmm—either Ms. Suzue isn’t aware of Mejirogawa’s feelings for her or she’s realized how he feels but is choosing to ignore it. Nevertheless, I had ascertained that Mejirogawa was crying alone in his apartment because the librarian he was in love with was getting married. In my hands, Surge, who had requested that I clear up whatever was troubling Mejirogawa, murmured weepily, “Sir Mejirogawa…you poor thing…” A love triangle? No, a love…square? What can I do to help here? The following day after school, I visited a café one station before the library where Ms. Suzue worked. The place sold pancakes and waffles prettily plated and Instagram-worthy latte art, so it seemed to be popular with girls. “Welcome. Ah! You’re—!” Wearing a shirt and pants that could be mistaken for street clothes, but with a black apron tied around his waist marking him as a waiter, was a man with curly, fluffy hair and glasses— Mejirogawa widened his eyes. I played dumb. “Oh? You work here?” “Yeah. Enoki…right? What a coincidence.” A coincidence, right. I smiled as I took my seat and put in an order for the “Angel’s Breath Fluffy Pancake Set.” Of course, this was no coincidence. Surge had told me that Mejirogawa was working part-time at this café. The day before, I had borrowed Surge and taken her home with me. I had wanted to have another proper conversation with her, in a setting where we could speak freely. Princess Yonaga was waiting in my bedroom, so normally I would have headed straight for my older sister’s room—she was in medical school in Hokkaido. But that day, I decided to talk in my room instead. “I’m home, Princess Yonaga.” The moment I greeted her, she responded so frigidly that it sent shivers down my spine. “…I smell another woman.” Ah, perceptive as always. And she’s about to switch into “darkness mode.” The indigo paperback that I had left on top of a lace handkerchief spread out on the bed seemed to almost radiate cold air. “Yep, today I invited Miss Surge here to come home with me.” I pulled the heavy hardcover book from my bag, got down on my knee beside the bed, and held her cover to cover with Princess Yonaga. “Lovely to meet you. I am an anthology of the works of Ky oka Izumi, and normally I reside at the local library. Today I have an urgent need to consult with Sir Musubu regarding the man I love, so I’ve taken the liberty of intruding on your home.” “……” “I have heard that you are Sir Musubu’s beloved sweetheart, Princess. Some of the other books and I aspire to be like you. Despite being a book, you’ve fallen in love with your reader Sir Musubu, and the two of you live a happy life like this together.” “……” “Princess Yonaga, you are an inspiration to all texts who have fallen for our readers. I am simply delighted to have met you.” “……”