Page 5 of The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop

The flat, which had been vacant for a month and a half, had grown damp and musty.

In the limited time she had, Mio would need to get it into a condition good enough to be handed back to the landlord.

Initially, she did think about asking for help, perhaps from Takahashi, or a male member of staff at the publisher.

But considering the small size of the flat and how little her mother had, she decided that it would not be necessary.

Besides, deep down, she knew this was something she needed to do on her own.

Right, she said silently before rolling up her sleeves and opening the window.

A pleasant spring breeze swept inside, and that alone made her feel a little bit lighter.

As she was expecting her cousin in the afternoon, Mio planned on finishing the cleaning before then.

She also hoped to at least get started on sorting out the general waste.

There were so few items in the flat, the cleaning was even easier than she’d expected.

And since there wasn’t much floor space, the vacuuming didn’t take long at all.

As for the vacuum cleaner itself, she planned on eventually disposing of it as bulk waste.

When she had made some progress, she glanced at the hands on the clock, which showed that she had a bit of time before her cousin would arrive.

She might as well start tackling the kitchen, since it was going to be the toughest to clean.

First, she cleared the refrigerator, separating the rubbish as she went.

She double-bagged the food waste, tightly tying it to prevent any odour from leaking.

Then, she opened the cabinet under the sink.

Just like the refrigerator, it was packed with various things – each item a reminder to Mio that her mother was here, that she had lived her everyday life in this flat.

There was a half-used bottle of vegetable oil, sugar, salt, and miso paste.

Her mother had stocked up on a few items, and Mio noticed that they were all from the same brand.

There was also a large polyester container filled with plum wine – probably homemade.

I’ll take this back to Tokyo and share it with Takahashi and the others, Mio thought to herself.

Everything else would have to be thrown out.

At the back of the cabinet, Mio discovered a small object wrapped up in newspaper.

When she opened it, she saw that it was a glass soy sauce dispenser, chipped and no longer usable.

It was the one they used when Mio was a child.

Why would she keep such a thing? Mio tilted her head in wonder.

Then, a wave of sadness washed over her as she realised she would never know the answer.

Perhaps life was just an accumulation of such strange and trivial mysteries, Mio thought.

Just then, her phone rang. It was her cousin telling her that he was almost there. Realising that she had completely lost track of time, Mio hurried downstairs to meet him. As she did so, she briefly thought to herself that she had missed lunch.

‘Is that you, Mio-chan? You look just like Hiroko-san.’

Oda told Mio that he had come by car, and that he had parked at the nearby supermarket.

As soon as he entered the flat, he sat down by the altar, facing her mother’s urn, as well as the photo of her that Mio had placed next to it.

Lighting an incense, he pressed his palms together, taking his time as he offered his respects.

Thoughtfully, he had also prepared condolence money.

Once he had finished, he turned around to face Mio.

‘So … Mio-chan, do you know anything about our family and Hiroko-san?’

Mio could sense a hint of hesitation in his voice. Shaking her head, she told him that she had not heard anything. Oda quietly scratched the back of his head.

‘Like I said on the phone, Toshiyuki-san is my father’s younger brother – that makes me your cousin.’

Toshiyuki was Mio’s father’s first name.

‘There was quite an age gap between my old man and Toshiyuki-san. Maybe because of that, my grandmother really doted on him – her youngest son. That might be why he was so na?ve about the world.’

It occurred to Mio that she should have offered him some tea, but the moment had passed.

Apologising, she explained that she didn’t know the way round her mother’s kitchen, and that she had thrown away the tea leaves earlier.

Her cousin waved his hand in response, saying that she didn’t need to worry.

Then, seemingly at a loss for words, the two of them fell silent.

Only the smoke from the incense wove through the air and slowly vanished.

‘The thing is, my grandmother and Hiroko-san were never on good terms, right from the outset,’ her cousin finally said, slightly lowering his eyes.

Then he continued, ‘First of all, my gran didn’t like that Hiroko-san was older than her son.

The fact that she held a degree, and that she worked as a teacher, was a source of great resentment for Gran, who saw her as self-important.

Hiroko-san became the recipient of her irrational hatred.

I heard that she even blamed her work for Uncle’s inability to hold a job.

I suppose it’s normal for mothers to want to look away from their children’s flaws, but Gran was extreme, or rather, a bit abnormal.

There was a time when, because of her, he and Hiroko-san lived apart.

They must have loved each other, though, as they eventually got back together.

Their temporary separation is the reason there’s such a big age gap between you and your brother. ’

Mio couldn’t even begin to fathom what he was saying. It felt as though she was listening to a fictional story where the characters just happened to have names that were familiar to her.

‘Then, just when we all thought that the drama was over, that incident happened.’

‘Incident?’

At first, Mio assumed that he was referring to her father’s suicide. But then, the word ‘incident’ didn’t seem quite right to describe something like that.

Her cousin lifted his head and gave an awkward nod.

‘Uncle got into debt – an enormous amount.’

Biting his lip nervously, he continued, ‘There’s no way of knowing the truth now, but apparently, one of his friends from high school or junior high asked him to act as their guarantor.

But because Uncle didn’t have a stable job, he didn’t qualify.

He turned to Hiroko-san, begging her to help.

Since teachers are public servants, it was probably easy for her to pass the approval process.

Although Hiroko-san was reluctant at first, Uncle was so persistent that she eventually relented.

After that, the so?called friend quickly disappeared. Typical, isn’t it?’

It was something Mio was hearing for the first time. If this were true, it would explain why Mum was always so angry with him. Mio silently waited for her cousin to continue. Her mind was in such a state of shock, she was at a loss for words.

‘Our family ended up lending your parents a lot of money. I heard that the house you lived in was gifted to Toshiyuki-san before it was mortgaged. Toshiyuki-san and Hiroko-san promised my grandparents that they’d work hard to pay them back together.

But then, Toshiyuki-san couldn’t cope and ended up doing what he did…

Grandma completely lost it after that. It was awful.

She had it in her head that Hiroko-san had driven him to suicide.

But of course, none of that would have happened if Uncle hadn’t been so daft in the first place.

If anything, Hiroko-san was a victim in the situation.

There was no way the relationship between Grandma and Hiroko-san could be repaired.

You and your brother were the children of her much beloved son, yet she announced that she’d cut ties with you.

“They carry that woman’s blood” was what she said. ’

Mio learned that even after that, her mother regularly visited Fumiaki’s father behind her mother-in-law’s back in order to repay him. He had told her that this was not necessary, and that she should save the money for her children, but Mio’s mother insisted on keeping her promise.

‘My old man used to say that your mother was a strong-minded woman.’

Something else Oda remembered was that her mother had asked his sister if she would give her the manga magazines that she’d finished reading.

‘One time, Father asked Hiroko-san what it was that kept her going. Apparently, she’d replied, “Well, a long time ago, my daughter scolded me. She told me I needed to pull myself together.” You know, when you started the job you do now, Hiroko-san was over the moon.

She told us all about it during one of her visits.

Every time she mentioned you and your brother, you could hear the pride in her voice.

She always said how proud she was of you two. ’

Unable to imagine her mother acting this way, Mio found herself staring into her cousin’s face. Looking somewhat uncomfortable, he exhaled through his nose.

‘A little while after your brother got married, Hiroko?san sold the house and finally paid off all the debts. Father had already passed away by then, so she gave the last instalment to me. There was something she said to me then that I think you should know. That’s the reason I’m here today.’

Putting his knees together, Oda straightened his posture before continuing.

‘She said, “Although I have no assets to leave to my children, at least they won’t be left with any burden now.” Then, she bowed deeply to me.’

Right. Maybe I never actually understood anything about my mother. Feeling as though she had fallen into a deep swamp of regret, Mio was once again lost for words.

‘I probably wouldn’t have remembered if it weren’t for an occasion like this. I wanted to make sure that you and your brother knew.