July 31
By the time I had finished reading the advertisements of the moving services, printing press and the gynaecology services, the train had already arrived at Shininaba station.
The moment the train door opened, I flew outside and rushed down the stairs. I ran through all the security checks, ignored the sign post and paid the train fare…… I didn’t bother looking at the scenery, ran through yet more security checks and out the southern door of the station. I was gradually picking up speed, like the wind was on my back and by the time I had walked out the southern door, I was already running for Honda Bookshop.
I burst through automatic door and the familiar bell rang.
No one was at the counter, only a sign that read “Business All Good”, which proves that Occhan is buying rubbish again. This shop was pretty much doomed since it started, since Occhan has no brains for business.
“Welcome, Harumi-kun.”
Honda Fumio, the person I usually called Occhan, came out from behind the shop. His face was friendly and one would feel relaxed at the sight of him, besides he suited the pink colour of his usual clothing. He heard the bell, but he was still way too slow coming out.
“This isn’t good, Occhan, you should be coming out immediately upon hearing the bell. If you continue to be like this, you’ll attract thieves sooner or later.”
Occhan stuck out his bottom lip and confidently replied.
“Don’t worry, no one here is bad.”
How could you say that? These days, people are just getting wilder. Never mind that, what would you do if it actually happened? I wouldn’t be able to buy books then, remember that.
“These are the only books today, what do you think of them?”
Occhan took out a couple of books, a selection of novels, manga and magazines, all of them published earlier today. Seeing the bright covers almost made me drool in delight. Yes, yes, that were good, that’s why this shop is the best. As expected of Occhan, he knows me too well.
“I want all of them.”
I had just gotten my paycheck and therefore, I had plenty of money to spare.
Occhan replied “yes” before opening the counter. While he was at it, I took another look around the bookshop. I was browsing through some of the titles when my sharp, hunter’s eyes darted towards something, perhaps my prey.
……Oh, this book wasn’t bad. The title, ‘Hell Zousui’, suggests a story that not many people would like to buy, but I was a little curious, so I decided to buy it.
“Occhan, add this book.”
I held out a copy of ‘Hell Zousui’ to Occhan, only to realise that he was holding the same book.
“Sorry, I forgot this book. It’s written by a new author but it’s pretty interesting, I bet you’ll enjoy it.”
Occhan must be gloating over the fact that he was a step ahead of me, for he was smiling sweetly and innocently at me. Oh well, it’s good that he knows what his customers prefer to read.
“You can have this one for free. Have a read of it.”
As expected of Occhan, he really has no brain for business.
Who would give a book, which they spent some money buying, away for free? But I accepted it anyway, because I bet he will be criticised by his wife again. His wife is truly scary when she is angry and she resembles Amazon warriors when she is. She once knifed through a thick stack of magazines, which is something not many normal people can do.
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Going straight home didn’t seem such a good idea, so I headed towards the park to wash my shoes.
How should I put it? I felt pretty sorry for myself.
I finally cleaned it up, most of the smell was gone but there were still some faint brown stains. Was rinsing not enough to clean it? I don’t know if there’s still any soap left.
Oh well, who cares about my shoes, the most important thing is to read now.
I must read all ten books I bought today. More books will be published tomorrow, today’s books must be read tomorrow, I must absolutely not delay the reading or else I will violate the seven deadly sins.
I have to go home as soon as possible and concentrate on my reading.
I picked up my book and took off into a sprint, pretending that this was just my reading warm-up.
Hmm, there seemed to be something else in 102’s letterbox.
It was a postcard, from Madoka.
Flipping it over, it was a photo of her eating dried Udon noodles in front of Kurashiki Station. Madoka had also written ‘Kazu-nii, Okayama is a cool place!’
What does that mean? A plot to trick me into going to Okayama? Impossible Madoka, Kazu-nii will never go to Okayama because the books there come out a day later than the ones in Tokyo.
No no no, it’s definitely a no.
How could I possibly delay my reading? Even if it’s just a day later, it would seriously disrupt my plans. If you could get the new books there to release faster, I might come, but that’s something impossible for you to do. Wait until you get older before deciding what to do.
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August 10
I finally arrived at Bright Sun Cafe.
I was breathless, but my spirit was stronger than my body as I did not feel tired at all.
I guess this is the greatest excitement a reader can feel?
Bright Sun Cafe was obscure like usual, keeping a low profile in its area. It had a barely visible entry and its interiors were also very plain. The outside was tattered and the inside was shabby, it wasn’t a pretty sight.
In addition to the checkout counter, there were six tables, six tablecloths, twelve chairs and several cracks on the windows. A big fan hung from the ceiling and there were some things stuck on the walls, for example, English newspaper.
The old man looking after the shop aimed a quizzical look in my direction, but he was usually so wry-looking that it was hard to believe that he was just a businessman. “Sadou Genji” said his badge, which was worn with age.
The menu on the table, apart from "coffee" and "tomato spaghetti", also had some unusual ones, such as "winding orange juice", "happy yellow coffee", "Italy's march of pasta" etc.
I just said "coffee" and went to my usual spot. There was obviously dirt everywhere and the place felt somewhat dodgy, as if someone sinister would enter sooner or later.
But, that's better.
The restaurant was old and the owner couldn’t care less about it, but these little details weren’t that important to me– the only thing that’s important is the atmosphere. I just need somewhere quiet to read, even if it’s in a corner of hell or that the earth is on fire, I won’t react unless I finish the book. My surroundings aren’t important, the book is everything.
A couple of minutes later, a cup of coffee was delivered to my table…damn, it’s disgusting like usual.
It’s not that I’m picky; it’s just that it tastes like mud sludge and it does nothing else but give me energy. Even though I don’t know much about coffee, even I can tell that it’s disgusting. Why do so many people drink coffee despite the disgusting taste? Actually, it’s one of the Shininaba Seven Mysteries.
Never mind, the main point is reading, food and water should only quench hunger and thirst.
Before reading, I prepared myself. I rolled my head a couple of times, if you don’t do this, you won’t be as relaxed while reading as you should be. It’s a bit exaggerating to say that your body affects your reading, but, it’s true that people can read due to having their bodies.
While I was reading, I couldn’t help checking out my surroundings.
It was still early, but there were already a couple of customers. There was a man wearing glasses who was typing on a laptop, a long-haired girl who seemed to be writing a report, a frowning middle-aged man drinking coffee… why bother drinking it when it’s so disgusting.
Okay, preparation complete, time to read. Now I will melt into the sea of words.
Boy in the middle of reading.
“Not bad, though it’s much different to what I’d imagined.”
I took a short rest from my continuous reading.
Akiyama Shinobu’s latest novel, The White Butler and the Arab King, was in reality, completely different to what I’d expected. But.
“It’s BL…….”
I ended up having more questions that I’d expected, but that was a given since I hadn’t read the blurb. Akiyama Shinobu had never written some like this one, just what was going on? Entered a new world maybe?
But anyway, this book was really interesting and that is the undeniable reality. Akiyama Shinobu’s stories never disappoint me. No matter what genre or style the stories are written in, all of them are masterpieces.
I had already forgotten who I was as the relationship between the butler and the king was really emotional. I could feel my body “reacting” to the story.
Ah, had I just entered a new world?
There are lots of unknown things in the world, but of all the things, she chose Arab. Thank you Arabs, for your expertise.
I casually paid the old man at the till and walked out of Bright Sun Cafe.
Akiyama Shinobu’s stories are indeed interesting, even such an unknown topic intrigues me. I learn so much about life and about different people.
Though, I really hadn’t imagined it would be BL……
[The following names, terms, expressions explained by author]
[Bright Sun Cafe] When it first opened, it was popular but now there are only a few regular customers. The main, advertised dish of their menu is tomato spaghetti and their disgusting, undrinkable coffee.
[Sadou Genji] Owner of Bright Sun Cafe, born in Kanagawa Area-Y. Wife, Mari, died thirteen years ago and since then, he has been living alone. His hobbies are coffee and watching TV, he specialises in cuisine. He is very quiet and can be mistaken for a butler, but usually not (due to his ugly face). He writes in his diary every night to remember all his customers and what their orders were.
[Shininaba Seven Mysteries] Seven hot topics spread as rumours among Shininaba students. These include ‘the pet shop owner’s afro expands everyday’, ‘the invincible cafe’, ‘high rise buildings that never cool down’ etc. etc. All of them lack solid evidence.
[BL] All of these stories describe male x male relationships. These books have always been targeted at female readers, but this seems to have changed.
[The White Butler and the Arab King] Written by Akiyama Shinobu. This story is about a butler who finds out that the enemy country’s king, the Arab King, had fainted in the desert. Therefore, he decides to help but the King had already lost his memories. From thereon begins the story of seduction.
Two hours later.
“……sigh.”
I was back at Bright Sun Cafe and I had already finished two books.
I had returned to Honda Bookshop, where I bought a stack of BL novels.
Occhan was shocked. His face was even more twisted with shame than when I first bought an erotica novel.
Then I came back to Bright Sun Cafe to continue reading these BL novels. To be honest, they were surprisingly interesting. If you could get past shameful parts, it was actually a refreshing experience.
After a while, I looked out the window, the sun was setting soon.
I read many good books today and I will definitely have a good dream tonight, so I’ll just read five books before going to sleep. It’s healthier to balance my reading out.
It was about time to go, I reached into my pocket. Wasn’t there. I groped for my wallet, but I couldn’t feel it, my pocket was empty.
I broke into cold sweat.
“Eh ——!”
Can’t find it! Had I dropped my wallet somewhere?
“Losing my wallet” was an unexpected nasty surprise.
Fortunately I had bought many BL novels this morning, my wallet hadn’t much money……no, the money is not the most important thing in it. It also had my keys, student ID and the Honda Bookshop points card!
I don’t care about my keys as I have a spare and losing my student ID isn’t that important either. However, the points card cannot be replaced. I got it from buying so many books from Honda Bookshop, they were a complete record of my daily reading life in Shininaba, and I just cannot lose that thing.
Find it! If not, go to the police station and ask there!
My student ID has my address on it, so if a kind-hearted person picks it up, they will send it to me. Even if a bad person picks it up, I would be very pleased just to get the points card back. I believe bad people have no need for a points card.
Okay, now that my plan is intact, calm down and continue reading.
Therefore, I began reading again.
Another hour passed.
“……sigh.”
Sure enough, it was very exciting……wait!
Why did the hell did I start reading again! Suddenly I felt amazing, that I was an extraordinary person, that I could stay so calm in a situation like this. Wallet, I must find my wallet soon!
Can’t help it, good books are good no matter how many times you read them.
The decorations were tatty and the menus on the table were dirty. Out of the corner of my eye, a man tugged at an old man, who stood rooted on the spot, eyes wide open. There was nothing unusual and the world was without incident, full of peace.
No no no, wait wait wait.
What with that ‘nothing unusual’, everything’s abnormal here!
Trembling, I took another look at the tatty decorations and the dirty menus. I heard voices around me. “Cut the crap, bring it out!” “Eh! What do you want?” “Hurry!” said the man with the shotgun threateningly, holding onto the confused old man.
What’s with this?
I blurted out, using a Kansai accent I rarely use.
That man seemed menacing, his eyes were dangerous but the more I looked on, the more I felt he was no ordinary person. His bloodshot eyes were as red as ripe tomato……why was that all I could think about?
Must not get too absorbed in this book.
Suddenly someone stared into my eyes.
“HEY!!”
A hoarse voice froze the cafe. You don’t need to yell, I can hear you and having said that, who are you? A youkai who has decided to pay a visit to this world? A robber perhaps?
“What the hell are you looking at!”
Then why the hell are you saying that!
However, I was not brave enough to say this humorous response for there was a huge lump in my throat and it felt inappropriate. This was my first time seeing a robber and I couldn’t get my mind around that.
“You, get up!!”
The robber scratched his head impatiently and a lot of dandruff fell down from his crew cut. Please, don’t come near me.
Eh? Did he just say ‘you’ as in ‘more than one’?
I felt that the atmosphere behind me was not quite right so I turned to look.
There was a girl in black.
I can’t take this anymore!!
What’s going on, heart throb.
Looking forward to the nothingness, my heart stopped beating.
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