Seven Stars ignored me, continuing to walk with her head turned over her shoulder. “You didn’t even name a genre. You need to be more specific.”
“I just know it when I see it. Now, can you please walk properly?”
She giggled and let me catch up with her. We entered the bookshop side by side. A young man with an olive green apron welcomed us. I nodded at him and looked around, Seven Stars trailing behind me. When I spotted the fiction shelves, I went straight to the new arrivals and scanned the covers.
“Ishida, is that you?” a familiar voice greeted me.
I looked up and saw Izumi, my building manager. She wore an olive-green apron, and her hair was tied in a high ponytail. She looked sharper than the first time I’d seen her in her casual clothes.
How odd that we’d run into each other—second coincidence of the day, I supposed. Or maybe the town really was that small. I was too used to Tokyo, where the probability of meeting even one acquaintance in the course of daily events was slim.
“So you work here,” I said. “The uniform suits you.”
Izumi smiled and blushed. It was the first time I’d seen her do that.
“Stop teasing,” she said. “Is it your first time here?”
“I’ve come in a couple of times now.”
“I bet that was on the weekend. I don’t usually work on Saturdays and Sundays, but I’m covering for a sick colleague today. Is there a book you’re looking for?”
“Nothing in particular. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Enough to make you go bankrupt. I’ve worked here close to four years already.” Izumi looked over at Seven Stars, who stood next to me. “Hey, Ishida, you brought a cute girl with you. Why don’t you introduce us?”
“It’s not what you think,” I said. “She’s my student, and we happened to bump into each other.”
“How disappointing. I thought you’d gotten yourself a local girlfriend.”
“Mr. Ishida,” Seven Stars said, “I’m leaving now. It looks like I’m getting in the way of you and your friend.”
“I didn’t say that,” I said, but she had already walked off. “See you on Monday,” I called after her.
It wasn’t clear if she’d heard me, because she walked off without turning back. Teenagers were so rude these days.
“Are you going to let her go?” Izumi whispered.
I looked at her.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? That student of yours has a crush on you,” she said. “What are you going to do? Will you chase after her? She’s quite a pretty girl, don’t you think?”
“What are you talking about?” I brushed her off. “That girl is only seventeen. She’s practically a child, and my student.”
She shrugged. “If you insist.”
“Even if what you said was true, it would be better not to go after her. I don’t want to give her false hope.”
“True,” she murmured. “But if it’s love, isn’t it already too late? Or are you one of those people who don’t take teenage love seriously?”
I said nothing.
“So, you’re a teacher,” she said.
I nodded. “I teach English at a cram school.”
“That makes sense. I was wondering what kind of work you did. You leave the apartment around noon, and return pretty late. I thought you were in retail, like me.”
“That would have made sense, too.”
“Hey, Izumi.” The young man who greeted me earlier approached us. “Sorry to cut in, but your shift is over.”
“Already?” She checked her watch. Her wrist was slim and bony. “You’re right. Thanks for letting me know.”
“No problem,” the young man said before leaving us.
Izumi took down her ponytail and combed through her hair with her fingers. “What are you doing this afternoon, Ishida?”
“Not sure yet, I don’t really have any plans.”
“In that case, could you help me run some errands?”
“What do you need to do?”
“I’ll let you know in a second. Wait here, I’ll be right back,” she said over her shoulder as she walked off.
Left alone, I grabbed a few novels and turned them around to read the summaries. None caught my interest, but I felt I should buy something, since I’d come all the way here.
“I’m done,” Izumi said. She had taken off her apron and was carrying a canvas tote bag. “Found anything you like?”
“Not yet.”
“Maybe you’re not meant to buy anything today.” She dragged me out of the store. “Let’s go. We’ve got plenty to do.”
“Wait, you haven’t told me what’s happening.”
“Don’t be impatient, you’ll find out soon enough. Let’s get out of here.”
Of course, her words only fueled my curiosity.
25
Strange
Fruits
After leaving the bookstore, we walked to the main road, following the pedestrian walkway. Izumi was humming. Seeing her so cheerful, I relented, deciding to play along with whatever scheme she had in mind.
Soon, she led me into a flower shop. Unlike the one I’d gone to, the shop had a building of its own and offered a wide selection, but it was unattended. I felt overwhelmed by the sea of colorful flowers. There were roses, lilies, tulips, and many more I couldn’t recognize. And then, I saw a bunch of baby’s breath inside one of the buckets.
“You like that flower?” Izumi asked. “A little plain, isn’t it?”
“It has a beautiful meaning,” I said.
“Really?”
“It symbolizes everlasting love.”
“How romantic. That settles it, then.” She called loudly, “Excuse me, can anyone help us?”
A lady emerged from the back of the shop. “My apologies, I didn’t notice you come in. May I help you with anything?”
“Yes.” Izumi pointed to the baby’s breath. “Can you make these flowers into a bouquet? Or will that be too white?”
“If it’s too white, how about mixing them with blue hydrangea?” The lady walked to the other side of the shop and returned with a bunch of fresh flowers. She held them against the baby’s breath. “What do you think?”
“Looks good,” Izumi answered.
She paid for the flowers and we left the shop. Outside, she passed the bouquet to me.
“Who is this for?” I asked.
She gave me a playful smile. “You’ll find out soon.”
We boarded a bus and chose seats in the middle. I’d never taken this particular line, so I had no idea where we were headed. Izumi seemed to enjoy being the only one aware of what was going on.
When the bus took off, she turned to me and asked, “Are you sure this is okay? We’re sitting together and you’re holding flowers. Anyone who sees us will think we’re going out.”
“Are you scared your boyfriend will catch us red-handed?”
She shook her head. “I don’t have a boyfriend. How about you?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend either,” I joked.
“Be serious.”
“I am being serious,” I said. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Izumi sighed. “Fine. What about a girlfriend?”
“We won’t bump into her. She’s in Tokyo.”
I hadn’t thought of Nae in a while, or our argument. Had she wondered why I hadn’t called? Maybe she thought we were over. I didn’t want our relationship to end like this, but why couldn’t I muster the resolve to talk to her? How long would I avoid her? Our problems weren’t going to solve themselves.
“Ishida,” Izumi whispered. “Since your girlfriend is all the way in Tokyo, how about being my boyfriend for two hours?”
I leaned away from her. “What are you planning?”
“I’m pl
anning to be in your debt.” She pressed the button on the pole near her seat. “Get ready, we’re off at the next stop.”
We got down in front of a park. It was the one I’d been to with Seven Stars in the rain.
“It’s another twenty-minute walk from here,” Izumi said. “You can manage, right?”
“That’s fine, but I’d still appreciate if you told me your plan.”
She pretended not to hear me. We cut across the park, passed a bridge, and entered a quiet residential area. The houses in this neighborhood were almost as large as those in Segayaki, but they looked more run-down, their gardens filled with overgrown shrubs.
Izumi walked in front of me without slowing down. She knew exactly where to go, as if she’d taken the route a thousand times. Finally, we arrived in front of an old folks’ home.
“Who are we visiting?” I asked.
“My grandmother,” she said. “She’s been living here for six years. I always visit her on my day off.”
We entered the compound and walked into the lobby. The receptionist nodded at Izumi, who nodded back. Izumi led me down a long hallway to Room 108 and knocked.
“Who is it?” called a soft voice from inside.
“It’s me, Grandma,” Izumi said, opening the door.
She gestured for me to follow her. I came in and saw a frail woman sitting on the bed. Her hair was completely white.
“Who’s this handsome young man?” Izumi’s grandmother asked.
“I told you I was going to bring my boyfriend, didn’t I? This is Ishida. He’s a teacher.” Izumi pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “Look, he brought you a lovely bouquet. He wants to be in your good graces.”
The woman smiled.
“Good afternoon, I’m Ren Ishida,” I said. Seeing an empty vase on her bedside table, I asked, “Shall I put the bouquet here?”
“Yes, please,” she said. “Ishida, you don’t need to trouble yourself by bringing me gifts. I know any man my granddaughter chooses must be someone worthy of her affection. She’s the pickiest girl I have ever known.”
“Stop that, you’re embarrassing me,” Izumi protested.
I kept quiet while arranging the flowers.
“How are you feeling, Grandma? Did the doctor visit you this week?”
The elderly woman nodded. “He said everything is good.”
“Have you taken your medicine?”
“Yes, stop fussing over me.”
Izumi turned to me and saw the fruit basket next to the vase. “Did Uncle come?”
“About an hour ago.”
Izumi stood and inspected the basket’s contents. “Look, Grandma, it’s your favorite, cantaloupe.”
She opened the drawer and took out a fruit knife. I stood at the corner of the room, watching her work the knife. Underneath the pale green skin, the flesh of the cantaloupe was orange. Fruit juice dripped onto her fingers. She had painted her nails with clear polish. They glistened, reflecting the sunlight that came through the thin white curtains.
Izumi cut a small section and took a bite. “Yum,” she said, before cutting two bigger sections and passing them to her grandmother and me.
I sunk my teeth into the fruit. The flesh was hard but succulent, bursting with sweet flavor.
“Trust Uncle to pick up such a fancy fruit,” she said.
As the three of us ate cantaloupe together in Room 108, the curtains flapped around as the wind blew. Thin white curtains now reminded me of Mrs. Katou. I wondered how she was doing right now—better, I hoped.
Izumi continued to chat with her grandmother. A tiny dimple appeared on her left cheek whenever she smiled.
After a while, their voices started to fade. They were smiling and laughing. Little by little, I felt as if I were leaving the scene, watching them from afar. It was like I was sitting in front of the television, with the happy granddaughter and grandmother onscreen, part of a different reality.
I crossed my arms and rested my head against the wall. Before long, I fell away into the past.
I had been sitting on the sofa in the living room with my sister. We were watching a man in a black tuxedo on television. He was playing a jazz piece on a Yamaha grand piano in front of a large audience.
“He’s doing an improvisation of ‘Strange Fruit,’” my sister said, reading the subtitle.
“Is he good?” I asked.
“I think so, or they wouldn’t be showing his performance on TV.”
My eyes were glued to him. He played well, producing beautiful music. But what piqued my interest were his fingers. They were long and slender, with wide nail beds in a healthy pinkish color. They moved gracefully on top of the monochrome keys like a group of synchronized dancers.
The pianist sent his audience into raptures and received a standing ovation. He bowed to the audience amidst thundering applause. Wearing a confident smile, he waved with his beautiful fingers.
“Ishida, did you hear me?” Izumi startled me.
We were walking back to the bus stop.
“Sorry,” I said. “Can you repeat that?”
“I said, I appreciated your help. It meant a lot to me,” she said with a smile. “Grandma is the most important person in my life. I lived with her from a young age until I was seventeen.”
“What about your parents? Why didn’t you live with them?”
“They passed away when I was two,” Izumi said. “It was a car accident. My father was speeding. I don’t have any siblings, so I was left alone.”
“You must have missed your parents a lot.”
She shook her head. “How can you miss someone you barely remember? I know their faces from the photographs, but I have no personal recollections of them. To me, they’re just two names written on my family register.”
I was quiet.
“Do you think I’m a cold person, Ishida?”
I didn’t answer. It sounded to me like more of a statement than a question.
“Even though Grandma always had health issues, she was the only one who offered to take me in,” she continued. “But as Grandma got older, her condition became much worse. She had a couple of mild heart attacks, but I couldn’t watch her all the time since I had to go to school. The family decided it was better for her to live in a nice old folks’ home where she would get professional help around the clock.”
We were silent for a moment before I said, “It must be hard on you.”
“Nah, I’m all right,” Izumi said. “Thankfully, I have a rich uncle who takes care of my Grandma financially. He also paid my expenses until I graduated from high school. I’m slowly paying him back. I don’t earn a lot at the bookstore, but I should be able to return the full sum by sometime next year. I’m also saving up for university.”
I mumbled in agreement. No wonder she was so adamant on keeping her rent low.
“By the way, what did Grandma tell you when I went to the restroom?” Izumi asked. “Did she ask you to propose to me or something?”
I grinned. “Nothing so specific. She told me to take good care of you.”
“And what did you say?”
“What else? Anyone in that situation would have to say yes. I couldn’t just tell her, ‘No, madam. I’m only a temporary boyfriend. My contract expires in two hours,’ especially since she’s such a nice old lady.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened. “You’ll take good care of me from now on, Ishida?”
“I was playing the part of a perfect boyfriend. You can’t hold me accountable for that.”
“I was joking, don’t be so serious.” She put her hand on the crook of my elbow. “It would be nice to have a boyfriend.”
“Why don’t you have one?”
“A boyfriend?”
I nodded.
“Not now, I don’t want to get involved with anyone yet
.”
I kept quiet. Her grip was getting tighter. Her palm was warm, and its heat flowed into me.
We strolled side by side through the park by the river. Izumi hadn’t let go of my arm. A group of children passed us. They laughed and chased after one another. Behind them, two young mothers pushed their baby strollers. Six middle-aged men were exercising by the river.
“Do you know how the name Akakawa came about?” Izumi asked.
“No,” I said. “Why don’t you tell me?”
“I know two versions of the story,” she said. “The first, I heard from Grandma. She said this place used to be a farming village. A group of farmers arrived in autumn and set up a colony around this river. At that time, countless Japanese maple trees lined both sides of the river. The red leaves fell into the water, painting the river red, so the farmers named the town Akakawa. It’s ‘aka’ from red, and ‘kawa’ from river.”
“What about the second version?”
“Two groups of farmers were fighting over the land. In a moment of rage, they attacked each other with their farming tools. One of the groups was completely wiped out. The other farmers threw the corpses into the river, and the blood turned the water red.”
How gory. “So, which one do you believe?”
Shrugging, she said, “I have the feeling both are true.”
We passed a few joggers with towels around their necks. After a while, I realized we had done a large circuit, but I pretended not to notice.
“We’ve walked enough for today,” Izumi said. “Shall we go back now?”
I nodded. “How much longer are you going to hold my arm?”
She looked at her watch. “Twelve more minutes, until our contract ends.”
“We’re sticking to it that closely?”
Izumi smiled and patted my arm. “Since you’re well-behaved, I’ll give you an early release.”
She pulled her hand away and walked in front of me. The sunlight shone on her hair, revealing a reddish tint I hadn’t noticed before. She looked radiant in the afternoon sun.
Whenever I saw a girl’s long hair glinting in the sun, I remembered my sister. She had naturally dark brown hair, unlike the rest of the Ishida family. I’d always liked the color of her hair.
Rainbirds Page 19
