Volume 13 Chapter 5 (1/2)
As she was putting on her shoes in the entrance, shi+ towards her down the hallway and turned around
”Ah, father I' out now”
The faint smell of incense from his kimono The immaculately bald head that he shaved every day shi+mako loved the ”Buddhist monk” appearance of her father
”What's this? You're going out somewhere?”
”Yes”
”It doesn't look like you're going to school … ”
Today she was taking a break from the Lillian's Girls Academy uniform that he always saida refreshi+ng white dress with a deep blue floral pattern
”I've arranged to go to a Buddhist statue exhibition with Noriko”
”Hmm, with Nijou Noriko-chan, huh”
Her father folded his arly
”What a good junior she is, taking you to learn about Buddhist statues Students like that must be quite rare at Lillian's Girls Academy”
”But we'll be seeing a Maria Kanon statue today”
shi+mako informed him
”… Really?”
Her father ly dispirited
”Um - ”
shi+ that she , but her father seemed to recover and spoke cheerfully
”Right Are you, perhaps, going to meet shi+mura-san?”
”Takuya-kun? Yes”
shi+ed to allery and then they'd all go and see the Buddhist statues together
”What's up with calling hiht he was older than you”
Her father chided her He was completely correct in what he said, so shi+mako quietly reflected on this
”You're right I've heard Noriko call him that and I subconsciously picked up on it I'll be more careful in the future”
Then her father said so unusual
”You don't have to take it so seriously I was just teasing you, you know If that's what you want to call him, then I don't care if you call him ”Takuya-kun””
”No, I don't particularly want to call him that”
”… Really?”
Her father mumbled in his dispirited voice
”Well - ”
shi+ to ruin the ht about it, she couldn't figure out how her father had wanted her to take that statement
Since she couldn't figure it out, there was nothing she could do shi+mako put on the hat that she'd left on top of the shoe boxes and looked up at her father
”I' you wanted?”
”If you see him, could I trouble you to deliver a letter for me?”
Her dad said as he poked around in his kimono sleeves
”A letter?”
”Yesterday, a printout of his hoe arrived in theto put it in the post but if you'rehim you can hand it over directly If you don't see him, you can put it in one of the postboxes on your way home”
The envelope she was handed already had a sta it to its recipient a day earlier was better
”Alright”
shi+
”Well then, I' off”
”Take care”
”Okay”
She left the entrance after the rerun of the farewell
As she walked, shi+mako considered that she probably was the type of person that her dad would label as ”no fun”
Her father was an interesting person His claim to fame as a monk was that his serers with the telance be considered iyman, but it was allowable because of his personal virtue
She was struck by a thought as she opened the lattice door Was she really joined to him by blood?
(… I suppose we are joined though)
With eyes downcast she stepped out into the lane, turned around and closed the lattice door
”Oi”
The door suddenly called out to her
”Uwaah”
shi+mako surprised herself with how loudly she cried out
”Why are you so surprised? It's just me”
On closer inspection, her father was standing on the other side of the lattice
”You ”
”Ah, yeah”
Clutching her chest, sheher in this state, her father seeood”
”U you wanted?”
shi+ the lattice door she'd just recently closed Her father wouldn't have followed her here just to scare his daughter
”Listen carefully, shi+mako”
”Ah, yes”
shi+uard for whatever he was about to tell her
Her father looked grave as he informed her:
”Apparently the inbound JR line has stopped”
- That was certainly grave news
The phone rang as she was debating what clothes to wear
”hello”
She picked up the phone still holding the white and light-blue su at in the mirror
”Noriko?”
”Ah, onee-sa”
As she gave this greeting she sensed there was some kind of problem, since shi+mako-san had said, ”Noriko?” without any preface
”Noriko, you were coht? Did you know it's stopped?”