4
-
When returning to Lamp Hall, Yoshimi giggled at her own ‘misunderstanding’.
– That’s right; Tooru isn’t just a girl’s name. Actually, it’s more common as a boy’s.
It would make sense for him to be Taki Shinichirou’s grandson. Taki Tooru, his interest caught after reading the letter from my grandmother that I sent, probably idly came to this town to see the shop once before it closed.
– If he had just contacted me, I would’ve guided him there.
Yoshimi’s thoughts were a bit reproachful as she briskly walked down the road, which had fewer students than usual this Sunday.
That actor exorcist should have been exorcising Lamp Hall. What did the boy do when he encountered him there? And how did Natori Shuuichi respond when he saw the boy?
She was full of curiosity.
On one hand, she also thought that it would be unfair for the boy Taki Tooru to get to see the exorcism when she herself had not been allowed to. On the other hand, she also had the hope that if it was Natori Shuuichi, it might be possible to solve the mystery of the letter.
When she reached the corner she had met the boy at, Yoshimi suddenly felt guilty. Natori Shuuichi had been particular about doing the exorcism on his own. If she went back just because she felt like it and interrupted the ceremony, he might get angry.
Yoshimi was hesitant, so she started walking more slowly, but in the end, her curiosity won out. She turned the corner at the river and headed north. She arrived. When she stood in front of Lamp Hall’s door, she took a peek in through the bay window.
The window was covered by old books and wooden boxes, so she could only look between the gaps, but it did not feel like anyone was inside.
She took the doorknob into her hand and tried to turn it gently, but it was locked.
– Is it already done?
Yoshimi worried that she had just missed Natori.
If the exorcism was finished, then Natori might have already returned to the station. She was not sure about the boy.
No matter how much earlier Natori’s exorcism had finished, he should still have been in the shop when the boy went. Did Natori show him inside Lamp Hall? What did he think when he saw the location of the person who had sent his grandfather such mysterious letters?
For a while, Yoshimi stood in front of the door, but there was no point in standing there forever. She was deciding whether to return home when she spotted a round pig-like creature walking nonchalantly towards her along the road lined with willows.
– That’s.
It did not take much time for Yoshimi to realise that that was the pet that the boy Taki Tooru had brought along. With a two-coloured pattern on its forehead, peculiar eyes, the bell around its neck and, more than anything else, that form, it took only one look to leave a strong impression.
The cat came up casually to Lamp Hall and looked up at Yoshimi, as if saying, 'What’s this guy doing?’
– It is a cat… right?
When she looked more carefully, it had an exquisitely interesting face. The reversed crescent eyes even made her feel charmed. Yoshimi timidly put out her hand.
'There, there. Good kitty. Where did your owner go?’
For a moment, the cat growled in protest, but when Yoshimi scratched underneath its chin, it suddenly stopped resisting and meowed, purring happily.
– What’s with this guy – he’s unexpectedly cute.
While Yoshimi was thinking about things like that, she heard the sound of footsteps. When she stood up and looked –
'Ah…’
The two people she was looking for were standing there.
'Eh? Why?’
Natori Shuuichi looked at Yoshimi dubiously.
When Yoshimi said the boy’s name, he responded to it, so she questioned him confidently.
'Could you be…’
'Yes?’
'Taki… You’re Taki Tooru, right?’
For some reason, the boy looked dumbfounded.
-
A few minutes afterwards, Yoshimi, Natori and the boy Taki Tooru sat with their knees opposite each other in the tatami room at the back of Lamp Hall.
According to Natori’s introduction, Taki-kun was his assistant. If it was not just a joke, then it was an incredible coincidence. Yoshimi had to think once more about the mystery of chance meetings in this world.
After Natori introduced the boy, he suggested that they talk inside the shop’s tatami room since it would be better than speaking outside. Yoshimi was relieved that she had not been chased away.
'What you have to say might be useful.’
That was the explanation Natori gave her.
Before opening the shop door, Taki Tooru-kun protested about something to Natori quietly, and Natori appeared to reply, but Yoshimi could not hear what was said.
When they opened the door to go inside, for a moment, rattling went throughout the shop. It was the poltergeist.
'Kyaa!’
'Quiet!’
Natori gave the command in a sharp voice. Yoshimi thought he was talking to her so she shut her mouth without thinking. When she looked around the shop, the poltergeist had settled to, just as if it had heard Natori’s words. When she looked more carefully, the shop had tops, go stones and other things scattered about – it was clearly more disorderly than when she had first come here today with Natori.
'We came back to talk.’
'To… talk? You came back to talk with Natori-san, Tooru-kun?’
'Heh, well, it’s something like that. Before that…’
Natori-san looked around the shop.
'Which is the oldest out of these antiques?’
'Eh? Hm, I don’t know…’
Yoshimi was perplexed. Natori went back and forth on the shop’s narrow path, and picked up the daruma wall scroll.
'I see, it’s this daruma-san. Then you’ll be the representative.’
'By representative, what…’
'It’s fine, so head to the back. Let’s see.’
Without answering Yoshimi’s question, Natori urged her towards the back of the shop. The boy’s pet cat led the way to the room furthest back, just like he was saying he was the most distinguished being here.
-
The back of the shop held her grandmother’s living quarters, but it was empty now that everything had been packed. It seemed that the items here had been obedient, unlike the antiques in the shop.
'Tooru-kun, put it up there. Sasago and Urahime, watch the shop.’
Natori handed over the wall scroll he had picked up earlier and handed it over to his assistant, asking him to put it on the wall. Then, Natori shut the sliding screen between the shop and the room as he gave another order to somebody, but Yoshimi did not understand what he meant.
In the tatami room that did not even had cushions to sit on, Yoshimi and Natori sat opposite each other. Taki Tooru sat idly beside Natori. The ugly cat enshrined in the very back of the room, who had been told, 'Just be quiet for a while, Nyanko-sensei,’ had started eating the mizu youkan the boy had bought for him from the sweet shop on the other side of the river.
Yoshimi had never seen a cat eat mizu youkan so skilfully before.
'Um, Tooru-kun is really Natori-san’s assistant, right?’
'Yes. He’s excellent. He has helped me many times before.’
'Natori-san.’
'So Tooru-kun came today because of you, Natori-san?’
'No, that’s incorrect. It was a complete coincidence that he came today, and I was surprised as well. That was why I halted the exorcism temporarily to hear his circumstances.’
Then, Natori added:
'He and I are very connected.’
'Then, why are you here, Tooru-kun?’
'I… I wanted to see this shop once.’
'You could have contacted me.’
'I’m sorry.’
'Ah, I’m not angry. I’m grateful for your interest in my grandmother’s letter. But if you contacted me, I could have gone to pick you up and shown you inside.’
'I just wanted to take a look from outside… but I should have done the proper thing and contacted you, Yoshimi-san.’
'He’s still a child, so please forgive him.’
Natori sounded amused as he said that and pat the boy on the head, though the boy looked like he really did not like it.
'Well, shall we start talking? The first thing I would like to ask is the reason for the fuss the antiques are making.’
Natori suddenly began to talk, which bewildered Yoshimi.
'Eh, but, what should I say…’
While Yoshimi was at a loss for what to say, the boy Taki abruptly interrupted.
'More than half are to be tossed out?’
'Ah, yes. But how did you know? I don’t think I wrote that in the letter.’
'I spoke to him about it before returning here. You always remember things so suddenly.’
Natori looked amazed as he stared at the boy.
The boy looked ashamed and said, 'Sorry.’
'Yoshimi-san, could you explain once more to him? Over half of these antiques will be disposed of, correct?’
'Yes. Some trustworthy people who also handle antiques appraised the items for us and took the ones of value off our hands, but that wasn’t even half. There’s nowhere to store the remaining items, so my uncles said there was nothing to be done but toss them out.’
'If that happens, they…’ The boy Taki was asking Natori something.
After the boy heard Natori’s reply, he thought for a while before murmuring sadly.
'I see… Then everyone will be separated.’
'That’s why I said that living together in my pot would have been the best for them.’
Natori and Taki Tooru were having a conversation that Yoshimi did not understand.
'U-um, do you think that the antiques are making a racket because they don’t want to be thrown out, Natori-san?’
'It appears that is the case… However, it does not appear to be the only reason.’
For a moment, it looked like Natori met the eyes of the daruma on the wall scroll.
'What do you mean?’
'It seems that they want to stay here altogether in the shop for a while longer.’
'Here?’
This time, the boy Taki replied to her.
'It appears that this was a very pleasant place.’
'That’s right; it was. I liked coming here when I was a child. I think you both saw as well, but the lampshades reflecting the light from the window are enchanting…’
After saying all that, Yoshimi realised something and asked another question.
'When you said pleasant, did you mean for the antiques?’
'Ah, yes.’
The people here were an exorcist and his assistant. They were discussing on the premise that souls rested in old things. Yoshimi felt embarrassed about her misunderstanding and thought hard before replying.
'I don’t know whether these things have souls. Even if they do, I don’t know what they thought about this shop. However, my grandmother loved each and every item with no discrimination.’
'I see. I can tell that the antiques miss the old lady dearly.’
Natori nodded once. Then:
'But that old lady has passed away. She won’t return here again.’
After a moment, he added this:
'Then there’s no reason to stay here anymore.’
The silence continued for a while. It truly felt to Yoshimi that Natori and Taki Tooru were talking in a different world and had left her behind. Then, the boy Taki suddenly murmured again.
'You can’t leave until there’s an end to the game…’
'End to the game?’ repeated Yoshimi.
'That’s my excellent assistant for you. You want to say that the antiques are waiting for some sort of conclusion and won’t leave until it happens. A magnificent deduction.’
'Eh? Ah, no…’
The assistant looked downward, seeming embarrassed.
'That certainly might be a good method. Yes, let’s have the conclusion to some sort of competition. Yoshimi-san, did your grandmother have anything to play or bet on in this shop?’
What a sudden change of topic, Yoshimi thought. Could it be that her grandmother had played some game here by herself that had never ended, so the antiques did not want to leave? However, her grandmother hated gambling, and when her grandchildren gathered, she played cards with them, but Yoshimi had never seen her play any other games. She could not imagine her grandmother playing something by herself.
'Things to play or bet on… No, I can’t think of anything in particular. Whenever I came here, my grandmother was always reading an old book or listening to the radio…’
'How about cards, or shogi or chess?’
'There is an old shogi board and Go board in the shop, but my grandmother said that all she knew was how to move the pieces, start the game and end the game.’
'Is that so…’
'Ah, but.’
Yoshimi suddenly thought of something and turned towards the boy Taki.
'Maybe that letter.’
'Ah, that.’
It appeared that the boy had noticed as well.
'The letter that brought my assistant here?’
'Natori-san, you’ve also heard about the mysterious letters that my grandmother and Taki-kun’s grandfather exchanged?’
'I heard about them earlier, though I haven’t actually seen them.’
After saying that, Natori turned to his assistant and gave him an order.
'Show it to me, assistant-kun.’
Taki Tooru looked at the unfolded letter, and Yoshimi unintentionally let out an 'Ah’. The wavy illegible letters had disappeared and letters with a short phrase had shown up instead.
'Why…’
'You must be surprised that the letters have disappeared. Well, there was just a little trick to them.’
When Yoshimi looked more closely, the traces of the wavy letters that had left had become dark stains.
– Maybe the letters were written in ink that would disappear in bright light, like invisible ink.
That was how Yoshimi understood Natori’s words.
'But in the end, I couldn’t understand what these words meant…’ said the boy.
'Hm. 14 – 9? The next words are stained too so I can’t read them. We won’t understand anything just with this. Does this have some relation to the end to that game?’
Natori said that just like he was asking somebody. Then, after a while, he muttered, ’… Hm, so that’s how it’s going to be,’ as if he had heard a reply.
'Somehow or other, it appears that the reason for the rattling in this shop is related to this letter,’ he said.
-
4
-
When returning to Lamp Hall, Yoshimi giggled at her own ‘misunderstanding’.
– That’s right; Tooru isn’t just a girl’s name. Actually, it’s more common as a boy’s.
It would make sense for him to be Taki Shinichirou’s grandson. Taki Tooru, his interest caught after reading the letter from my grandmother that I sent, probably idly came to this town to see the shop once before it closed.
– If he had just contacted me, I would’ve guided him there.
Yoshimi’s thoughts were a bit reproachful as she briskly walked down the road, which had fewer students than usual this Sunday.
That actor exorcist should have been exorcising Lamp Hall. What did the boy do when he encountered him there? And how did Natori Shuuichi respond when he saw the boy?
She was full of curiosity.
On one hand, she also thought that it would be unfair for the boy Taki Tooru to get to see the exorcism when she herself had not been allowed to. On the other hand, she also had the hope that if it was Natori Shuuichi, it might be possible to solve the mystery of the letter.
When she reached the corner she had met the boy at, Yoshimi suddenly felt guilty. Natori Shuuichi had been particular about doing the exorcism on his own. If she went back just because she felt like it and interrupted the ceremony, he might get angry.
Yoshimi was hesitant, so she started walking more slowly, but in the end, her curiosity won out. She turned the corner at the river and headed north. She arrived. When she stood in front of Lamp Hall’s door, she took a peek in through the bay window.
The window was covered by old books and wooden boxes, so she could only look between the gaps, but it did not feel like anyone was inside.
She took the doorknob into her hand and tried to turn it gently, but it was locked.
– Is it already done?
Yoshimi worried that she had just missed Natori.
If the exorcism was finished, then Natori might have already returned to the station. She was not sure about the boy.
No matter how much earlier Natori’s exorcism had finished, he should still have been in the shop when the boy went. Did Natori show him inside Lamp Hall? What did he think when he saw the location of the person who had sent his grandfather such mysterious letters?
For a while, Yoshimi stood in front of the door, but there was no point in standing there forever. She was deciding whether to return home when she spotted a round pig-like creature walking nonchalantly towards her along the road lined with willows.
– That’s.
It did not take much time for Yoshimi to realise that that was the pet that the boy Taki Tooru had brought along. With a two-coloured pattern on its forehead, peculiar eyes, the bell around its neck and, more than anything else, that form, it took only one look to leave a strong impression.
The cat came up casually to Lamp Hall and looked up at Yoshimi, as if saying, 'What’s this guy doing?’
– It is a cat… right?
When she looked more carefully, it had an exquisitely interesting face. The reversed crescent eyes even made her feel charmed. Yoshimi timidly put out her hand.
'There, there. Good kitty. Where did your owner go?’
For a moment, the cat growled in protest, but when Yoshimi scratched underneath its chin, it suddenly stopped resisting and meowed, purring happily.
– What’s with this guy – he’s unexpectedly cute.
While Yoshimi was thinking about things like that, she heard the sound of footsteps. When she stood up and looked –
'Ah…’
The two people she was looking for were standing there.
'Eh? Why?’
Natori Shuuichi looked at Yoshimi dubiously.
When Yoshimi said the boy’s name, he responded to it, so she questioned him confidently.
'Could you be…’
'Yes?’
'Taki… You’re Taki Tooru, right?’
For some reason, the boy looked dumbfounded.
-
A few minutes afterwards, Yoshimi, Natori and the boy Taki Tooru sat with their knees opposite each other in the tatami room at the back of Lamp Hall.
According to Natori’s introduction, Taki-kun was his assistant. If it was not just a joke, then it was an incredible coincidence. Yoshimi had to think once more about the mystery of chance meetings in this world.
After Natori introduced the boy, he suggested that they talk inside the shop’s tatami room since it would be better than speaking outside. Yoshimi was relieved that she had not been chased away.
'What you have to say might be useful.’
That was the explanation Natori gave her.
Before opening the shop door, Taki Tooru-kun protested about something to Natori quietly, and Natori appeared to reply, but Yoshimi could not hear what was said.
When they opened the door to go inside, for a moment, rattling went throughout the shop. It was the poltergeist.
'Kyaa!’
'Quiet!’
Natori gave the command in a sharp voice. Yoshimi thought he was talking to her so she shut her mouth without thinking. When she looked around the shop, the poltergeist had settled to, just as if it had heard Natori’s words. When she looked more carefully, the shop had tops, go stones and other things scattered about – it was clearly more disorderly than when she had first come here today with Natori.
'We came back to talk.’
'To… talk? You came back to talk with Natori-san, Tooru-kun?’
'Heh, well, it’s something like that. Before that…’
Natori-san looked around the shop.
'Which is the oldest out of these antiques?’
'Eh? Hm, I don’t know…’
Yoshimi was perplexed. Natori went back and forth on the shop’s narrow path, and picked up the daruma wall scroll.
'I see, it’s this daruma-san. Then you’ll be the representative.’
'By representative, what…’
'It’s fine, so head to the back. Let’s see.’
Without answering Yoshimi’s question, Natori urged her towards the back of the shop. The boy’s pet cat led the way to the room furthest back, just like he was saying he was the most distinguished being here.
-
The back of the shop held her grandmother’s living quarters, but it was empty now that everything had been packed. It seemed that the items here had been obedient, unlike the antiques in the shop.
'Tooru-kun, put it up there. Sasago and Urahime, watch the shop.’
Natori handed over the wall scroll he had picked up earlier and handed it over to his assistant, asking him to put it on the wall. Then, Natori shut the sliding screen between the shop and the room as he gave another order to somebody, but Yoshimi did not understand what he meant.
In the tatami room that did not even had cushions to sit on, Yoshimi and Natori sat opposite each other. Taki Tooru sat idly beside Natori. The ugly cat enshrined in the very back of the room, who had been told, 'Just be quiet for a while, Nyanko-sensei,’ had started eating the mizu youkan the boy had bought for him from the sweet shop on the other side of the river.
Yoshimi had never seen a cat eat mizu youkan so skilfully before.
'Um, Tooru-kun is really Natori-san’s assistant, right?’
'Yes. He’s excellent. He has helped me many times before.’
'Natori-san.’
'So Tooru-kun came today because of you, Natori-san?’
'No, that’s incorrect. It was a complete coincidence that he came today, and I was surprised as well. That was why I halted the exorcism temporarily to hear his circumstances.’
Then, Natori added:
'He and I are very connected.’
'Then, why are you here, Tooru-kun?’
'I… I wanted to see this shop once.’
'You could have contacted me.’
'I’m sorry.’
'Ah, I’m not angry. I’m grateful for your interest in my grandmother’s letter. But if you contacted me, I could have gone to pick you up and shown you inside.’
'I just wanted to take a look from outside… but I should have done the proper thing and contacted you, Yoshimi-san.’
'He’s still a child, so please forgive him.’
Natori sounded amused as he said that and pat the boy on the head, though the boy looked like he really did not like it.
'Well, shall we start talking? The first thing I would like to ask is the reason for the fuss the antiques are making.’
Natori suddenly began to talk, which bewildered Yoshimi.
'Eh, but, what should I say…’
While Yoshimi was at a loss for what to say, the boy Taki abruptly interrupted.
'More than half are to be tossed out?’
'Ah, yes. But how did you know? I don’t think I wrote that in the letter.’
'I spoke to him about it before returning here. You always remember things so suddenly.’
Natori looked amazed as he stared at the boy.
The boy looked ashamed and said, 'Sorry.’
'Yoshimi-san, could you explain once more to him? Over half of these antiques will be disposed of, correct?’
'Yes. Some trustworthy people who also handle antiques appraised the items for us and took the ones of value off our hands, but that wasn’t even half. There’s nowhere to store the remaining items, so my uncles said there was nothing to be done but toss them out.’
'If that happens, they…’ The boy Taki was asking Natori something.
After the boy heard Natori’s reply, he thought for a while before murmuring sadly.
'I see… Then everyone will be separated.’
'That’s why I said that living together in my pot would have been the best for them.’
Natori and Taki Tooru were having a conversation that Yoshimi did not understand.
'U-um, do you think that the antiques are making a racket because they don’t want to be thrown out, Natori-san?’
'It appears that is the case… However, it does not appear to be the only reason.’
For a moment, it looked like Natori met the eyes of the daruma on the wall scroll.
'What do you mean?’
'It seems that they want to stay here altogether in the shop for a while longer.’
'Here?’
This time, the boy Taki replied to her.
'It appears that this was a very pleasant place.’
'That’s right; it was. I liked coming here when I was a child. I think you both saw as well, but the lampshades reflecting the light from the window are enchanting…’
After saying all that, Yoshimi realised something and asked another question.
'When you said pleasant, did you mean for the antiques?’
'Ah, yes.’
The people here were an exorcist and his assistant. They were discussing on the premise that souls rested in old things. Yoshimi felt embarrassed about her misunderstanding and thought hard before replying.
'I don’t know whether these things have souls. Even if they do, I don’t know what they thought about this shop. However, my grandmother loved each and every item with no discrimination.’
'I see. I can tell that the antiques miss the old lady dearly.’
Natori nodded once. Then:
'But that old lady has passed away. She won’t return here again.’
After a moment, he added this:
'Then there’s no reason to stay here anymore.’
The silence continued for a while. It truly felt to Yoshimi that Natori and Taki Tooru were talking in a different world and had left her behind. Then, the boy Taki suddenly murmured again.
'You can’t leave until there’s an end to the game…’
'End to the game?’ repeated Yoshimi.
'That’s my excellent assistant for you. You want to say that the antiques are waiting for some sort of conclusion and won’t leave until it happens. A magnificent deduction.’
'Eh? Ah, no…’
The assistant looked downward, seeming embarrassed.
'That certainly might be a good method. Yes, let’s have the conclusion to some sort of competition. Yoshimi-san, did your grandmother have anything to play or bet on in this shop?’
What a sudden change of topic, Yoshimi thought. Could it be that her grandmother had played some game here by herself that had never ended, so the antiques did not want to leave? However, her grandmother hated gambling, and when her grandchildren gathered, she played cards with them, but Yoshimi had never seen her play any other games. She could not imagine her grandmother playing something by herself.
'Things to play or bet on… No, I can’t think of anything in particular. Whenever I came here, my grandmother was always reading an old book or listening to the radio…’
'How about cards, or shogi or chess?’
'There is an old shogi board and Go board in the shop, but my grandmother said that all she knew was how to move the pieces, start the game and end the game.’
'Is that so…’
'Ah, but.’
Yoshimi suddenly thought of something and turned towards the boy Taki.
'Maybe that letter.’
'Ah, that.’
It appeared that the boy had noticed as well.
'The letter that brought my assistant here?’
'Natori-san, you’ve also heard about the mysterious letters that my grandmother and Taki-kun’s grandfather exchanged?’
'I heard about them earlier, though I haven’t actually seen them.’
After saying that, Natori turned to his assistant and gave him an order.
'Show it to me, assistant-kun.’
Taki Tooru looked at the unfolded letter, and Yoshimi unintentionally let out an 'Ah’. The wavy illegible letters had disappeared and letters with a short phrase had shown up instead.
'Why…’
'You must be surprised that the letters have disappeared. Well, there was just a little trick to them.’
When Yoshimi looked more closely, the traces of the wavy letters that had left had become dark stains.
– Maybe the letters were written in ink that would disappear in bright light, like invisible ink.
That was how Yoshimi understood Natori’s words.
'But in the end, I couldn’t understand what these words meant…’ said the boy.
'Hm. 14 – 9? The next words are stained too so I can’t read them. We won’t understand anything just with this. Does this have some relation to the end to that game?’
Natori said that just like he was asking somebody. Then, after a while, he muttered, ’… Hm, so that’s how it’s going to be,’ as if he had heard a reply.
'Somehow or other, it appears that the reason for the rattling in this shop is related to this letter,’ he said.
-
