Volume 28 Chapter 14 (1/2)
A fairy inhabits the old greenhouse.
It's a secret tale that everyone knows about it, but no-one talks about.
* * *
This all started in May, not long after advancing into high-school.
”You've been coming here since kindergarten, but you've never noticed that greenhouse until today?”
Satsuki's cla.s.smate, Yoriko-san, looked at her with the same kind of expression one might make upon encountering a giant salamander in the middle of the city.
It was recess. They were in the middle of an idle conversation, sitting down and facing each other with a desk between them.
”Saying that I've never noticed it is not quite right.”
But if someone asked what was in that general area, nothing would come to mind. It must have registered on her retina every time she went there. But it wasn't something that she was consciously aware of.
”See, take the air as an example. Normally, you don't feel the air when you breathe, right? That's what it's like.”
”So, then, you felt the unexpected sensation of air this morning, Satsuki-san? While you were strolling around the grounds after arriving at school early.”
”The air was just an example.”
Satsuki corrected her. As for the unexpected sensation, the truth felt a little bit different, but she couldn't quite articulate the difference and so remained silent. In reality, it felt like something had been calling to her, inviting her in.
”Pardon me. Anyway, you noticed the greenhouse. The old greenhouse. So then what happened?”
Yoriko-san emphasized the 'old' part because their school also had another, 'new,' greenhouse. All of the educational facilities had been moved over to the new greenhouse.
”Driven by curiosity, I peeked inside. I was surprised by how neat it was. It was astonis.h.i.+ng.”
Everything was arranged precisely, and the plants were all healthy.
”Oh, you thought it was a dilapidated old building?”
”Well, yeah.”
Satsuki nodded her head. After all, the exterior was quite old and the gla.s.s was cracking in places. There was no doubt in her mind that the building had stood for many long years beyond its useful lifespan.
Despite that, the moment she entered into the greenhouse a dreamy world full of variously colored blooming roses had unfolded in front of her. As though they had existed without disturbance.
”Since it was my first time there, I was fooled by that juxtaposition.”
Yoriko-san let out a sigh that was part amazement and part admiration.
”Still, it is an undeniably pretty spot.”
She must have been there numerous times to be so unmoved by it. After all, it was a school facility. It seemed to mean about the same to Yoriko-san as the music room or the clubhouse.
”Say, you don't happen to know who looks after those roses, do you?”
Satsuki-san asked, leaning forwards. Yoriko-san responded with, ”Mmmm,” which could be interpreted as either, ”I know,” or, ”I don't know.”
”I've never met her directly. I don't know her name either.”
”Ahh, so it's a student from the gardening club, or the environmental care committee?”
”We don't have a gardening club at our school.”
”Ah, right.”
”Still, the environmental care committee isn't a bad theory.”
”Not bad - how?”
”The environmental care committee has a sum of money set aside in its budget for maintenance of the greenhouse.”
Yoriko-san was incredibly well informed on this matter because she was currently a member of the environmental care committee.
”So &h.e.l.lip; wait, huh?”
In that case it seemed strange that Yoriko-san would never have met the girl, if they were both members of the environmental care committee.
”Honestly, when we're doing our environmental care committee work we never do any maintenance on that greenhouse.”
”The environmental care committee doesn't take care of it?”
”Despite its name, the environmental care committee doesn't take care of the martial arts building, or the staff room, or places like that either.”
”Ahh, I see.”
The martial arts building was maintained by the students from the kendo club, the judo club and the other clubs that used it. The staff room was controlled by the teachers, and the students weren't allowed to touch it.
”It's like those.”
So there was someone who was akin to the owner of the old greenhouse, and everything was entrusted to them.
The bell for the start of cla.s.s rang and Yoriko-san was turning her chair around to face the front when she quietly said:
”A fairy inhabits the old greenhouse.”
A fairy inhabits the old greenhouse.
After hearing that, Satsuki became completely obsessed with the idea.
What was surprising was how large a portion of the school knew the legend, or rumor, of the fairy inhabiting the greenhouse.
”About the fairy? I've heard of it. And?”
Mami-san, a recent addition to the newspaper club, responded in an uninterested tone as she swept. Satsuki used the dustpan to collect the cla.s.sroom's dust.
”Have you seen it, Mami-san?”
”The fairy? Yeah, right.”
”And the 'Lillian Kawaraban' isn't going to investigate it?”
Satsuki was wondering why she was asking all these questions while they were cleaning, but still couldn't stop herself from asking.
”Nope.”
Mami-san responded immediately, then took the dustpan from Satsuki's hand and walked over to the rubbish bin with it.
”I see the question, ”Why?” written all over your face. That's not my personal opinion, it's the consensus of the newspaper club. Of course, finding out who the fairy was would be a major scoop. But we still wouldn't make a newspaper article out of it.”
”Why not?”
Satsuki asked, as she followed Mami-san. Mami-san responded, seeming somewhat exasperated, with:
”The newspaper club exists solely because of our readers. We won't publish something that the majority of our readers, the students at this school, wouldn't support.”
”Huh?”
”Don't you get it? The student body wants to believe in the fairy. They don't want us to expose it, and ruin the myth.”
Since it's such a special endangered creature, why not arrange a peaceful environment for it? That's almost what her cla.s.smate seemed to be saying.
”Teacher. There's something I don't understand.”
When Satsuki went to the staff room to return the cleaning journal, Yamamura-sensei hadn't yet left to supervise her club so Satsuki went over to her and pet.i.tioned her.
”Was it around when you were here? The legend of the fairy in the old greenhouse.”
”Well, we didn't call it the 'old' greenhouse. But there was a story about a fairy living there, yes.”
”I wonder why I keep thinking about it so much. It's not like I want to expose the secret.”
”Hmmm, I think I understand.”
Yamamura-sensei, having completed the prep work for her club, arose from her chair said:
”You're a true believer. So you'd like to get your hands on some proof, no?”
Maybe that was true. Listening to her teacher's theory, Satsuki found herself agreeing with it, somewhat.
Like a child that believes in Santa Claus. A child that earnestly wants to meet him, not considering that it might be their father playing Santa Claus.
But by pulling on the Santa Claus thread it all unravels, and the Santa Claus within them is destroyed. That's probably why no-one was willing to touch the legend of the fairy. That was, in some sense, right. A perceptive adult's way of thinking. But knowing that just made Satsuki want to meet the fairy even more. After all, that old greenhouse was a paradise. If it had been the fairy that had made it that way, then she wanted to meet it, even if it was only one time.
After that, she went to check out the greenhouse a couple of times. Right, a couple of times. It wasn't really all that many.
She may have been able to increase her chances by going there every day during lunchtime or after school, but it seemed like that would be disrespectful to the fairy, so she didn't.
It was also possible that the fairy wouldn't appear when humans were watching. In that case, the plants would be neglected and, consequently, wither and die. Which would be a tragic outcome.
Over time, she became less concerned about meeting the fairy that took care of the flowers. The greenhouse was a comforting place to be. It was probably just her imagination, but sometimes it felt like the plants greeted Satsuki with a warm welcome and an invitation to chat when she came to visit.
One morning she arrived at school a bit early because of a quick bus transfer. She entered into the greenhouse for the first time in about three days when suddenly a voice rang out.
”Water, please.”
”Huh?”
Satsuki looked around, but couldn't see anyone else. In fact, she'd never seen anyone else there.
Still.
”You &h.e.l.lip; want water?”
Satsuki inquired of the potted plant beside her, feeling foolish as she did so. This time she didn't actually hear anything, but she still got the impression that it said, ”Yes, yes.”
”Alright. Just wait.”
Satsuki rushed towards the greenhouse exit. Whereupon.
”Where are you going? There's a tap in here, you know.”
A girl, standing by the exit, called out to her. She was wearing the same uniform as Satsuki. Probably a senior. Satsuki didn't recognize her, but she was obviously a student of Lillian's high school.
She said, ”Over here,” and guided Satsuki to the tap, then set down a watering can and turned on the faucet.
The morning sun streaming through the outer gla.s.s walls brilliantly illuminated the line from her shoulder to the middle of her back. It was so dazzling that the sunlight seemed to form an optical illusion. Satsuki thought she saw a translucent pair of wings there, like those of a mayfly.
After gathering some water, the girl offered the watering can to Satsuki, saying, ”Here you go.”
While they were still huddled together, without saying another word, the girl suddenly smiled.
”It's okay, I understand. The water isn't for you to drink.”
”Huh?”
”You made a promise, right? Therefore you should be the one to do it.”
”But, who was asking for water?”
Maybe that voice from before hadn't been hers.
”I didn't say anything.”
”Oh? Then &h.e.l.lip; ”
The girl walked over to where Satsuki had come from and gently lowered her face towards the exact same plant that Satsuki had been standing beside.
”You still don't understand? Even though she clearly asked you to bring her some water.”
That was Satsuki's first encounter with s.h.i.+.
One day, during the summer holidays, Satsuki was in the old greenhouse.
”Rosa chinensis. Rosa luciae. Rosa hirtula.”
She read out the names as she compared the budding flower to the color photocopies she'd made of a library reference book. She'd lost track of time, immersing herself in her task. The flower was just one of many, but she wanted to know its species.
”You don't have to force yourself to learn their names. The names are just a convenient designation for humans. They don't mean anything to the flowers.”
”s.h.i.+!”
s.h.i.+ was standing there, holding a plastic bottle filled with tea, and had been there for who knows how long.
”Don't tell me you come here every day?”
”Nope. Every four days or so. Why do you ask?”
”Because every time I come here, it seems like you're here, May.”
”So you come every four days or so too &h.e.l.lip; Should we stagger our visits?”
If they only came to water the plants, then one person would surely suffice. If they alternated visits, then they'd only have to come half as often.
”Don't worry about it. It's like I've always told you, coming here isn't some kind of obligation.”
”We merely come here whenever we feel like it and water the flowers. This greenhouse and the plants here don't belong to anybody.”
”Right.”
”But what if neither of us came here?”
”Then we wouldn't come.”
”&h.e.l.lip; Okay.”
”Things would be fine. When neither you nor I are able to come here, someone else will.”
”Really?”
”Really. The roses will call to them. They called to you, didn't they May?”
”I suppose.”
”They did.”
s.h.i.+ smiled.
”This time around, the roses probably called out to both of us. Because they wanted to listen to us chat.”
”Is that so?”
”It is. So let's honor their request.”
s.h.i.+ had started calling Satsuki by the name ”May” some time after she'd started regularly visiting the greenhouse. Satsuki couldn't remember when exactly, but it was probably when she'd told s.h.i.+ her name. Satsuki literally meant the fifth month[1]. Which was May.
Conversely, Satsuki had no idea why s.h.i.+ was called ”s.h.i.+” - it could be ”C,” ”Sea,” ”She,” ”See,” or something else entirely. It was also possible that it was simply a shortening of her name, but without asking there was no way to find out.
As far as they were concerned, the nicknames were the only things they needed to know about each other. They never met outside the greenhouse. The s.h.i.+ in the greenhouse was the only s.h.i.+ that May knew.