Page 8 of The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop

As if on cue, a cat leapt onto Mio’s table.

It must have been resting by the girl’s feet.

Stepping gracefully between the coaster and napkin, the cat stopped in front of Mio and sat upright with its front paws neatly aligned.

There was no doubt that it was a calico cat, but its hair was much longer than typical Japanese cats.

The snow-white fur on its chest lent the cat an air of elegance.

It must have been this cat that she had heard earlier.

But to Mio’s disappointment, it didn’t offer a meow in greeting, so she could not be certain.

‘Her name is Kobako. It’s actually supposed to be ‘‘Kōbako’’ with an elongated “kō”. You know, as in incense box. But I call her Kobako because it’s easier.’

As the girl explained, Kobako crouched down and folded its paws away.

The cat probably had no intention of doing so, but it was almost as though she was introducing herself.

Just like her name, she had settled into a kobako-zuwari – catloaf pose.

Then, with a single sigh, the calico cat quietly closed her eyes.

‘We’ve known each other for quite a while now, so these days, I’ve gotten into the habit of dropping the “ko” at the end. Looks like that theory about cats’ names getting shorter over time is true, after all. They don’t seem to mind – isn’t that right, Koba?’

But the calico cat didn’t even open her eyes. Mio couldn’t tell if this was a sign of disapproval, or if it was simply asleep.

‘Oh, you don’t like it? Have I gone too far?’

Again, the cat ignored her. The girl crossed her arms in response. It was her turn to sigh.

‘I guess cats will always be cats,’ the girl said to Mio.

‘Anyway, to get back to what I was saying, the fact that you’re here right now, well, it’s not something that happens all the time, but it’s also not entirely out of the ordinary.

I’m not sure if this makes sense to you in any way, but this place is sort of like a temporary sanctuary, and those in need of a little miracle are invited. ’

The cat opened one eye slightly then closed it again.

‘Also, this place isn’t directly connected to your world. I suppose the closest way to describe it is that it’s firmly attached to the other side of it.’

Bringing her fist to her mouth, the girl pretended to clear her throat with an ahem . Her movements reminded Mio of a scene she once drew in a manga.

Raising her index finger, the girl continued, ‘Now, in order for the two worlds to connect, several conditions need to be met. First, it needs to be in cherry-blossom season. This is because that tree in the front garden plays a vital role in opening the passage. But to be honest, I’m not exactly sure how it all works.

What I do know is that there have always been things that have secretly taken on this role, like the back of a wardrobe, a desk drawer, or even a taxidermy of a reindeer head.

The cherry tree is just one of those things. ’

The girl now held up two fingers.

‘The second condition is that I need to be reading a passage from a book to Kobako, and you must be reading that same passage at the exact same moment as me. That’s when the door connects to your world.

But, to let you in on another secret, the fact that I was reading that passage wasn’t purely coincidental.

Kobako told me to do so. After all, time doesn’t really exist in this world, not in the true sense.

Instead, we adjust our timing to match yours. ’

Meow. Kobako finally let out a single cry, as if in agreement.

Mio couldn’t be sure if it was the same voice she had heard on the bench, but it did sound familiar.

She alternated her gaze between the girl and the cat, but of course, the answer was nowhere to be found.

That same smile returned to the girl’s face, and the cat, now wide-eyed, wore a look of such supreme confidence, it reminded Mio of the famous phrase – Above the heavens and below the heavens, I am the only one who is worthy .

Letting out yet another ahem , the girl continued, ‘Anyway, The Little Prince , originally planned as a Christmas title, was first published during the Second World War in April 1943. Since Saint-Exupéry was based in America at the time, the English and French editions were published there almost simultaneously. At the time of its publication, P. L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins , wrote a praise-filled review of the book. She wrote that it “certainly has the three essentials required by children’s books.” These essentials, according to Travers, were “true in the most inward sense, it offers no explanations, and it has a moral.”’

‘I’m sorry,’ Mio cut in. She felt like she had no choice but to interrupt her. ‘This is all very interesting, but I’m actually in the middle of dealing with something. I need to find my bag as well. I should really get going…’

The girl and the cat looked at each other. Keeping one eye closed, the cat turned its head while the girl nodded in response. Watching their peculiar exchange, Mio couldn’t help but wonder: Which one is the real owner?

‘Right… Kobako is saying that books have always been referred to as “a door to another, unknown world”, and that this expression captures a fundamental truth. She is saying that at times, such frequently repeated phrases can pinpoint the essence of things in surprising ways. What you’re experiencing is one such example. ’

‘How should I put it? We may not realise it, but miracles happen all the time, much more frequently than we think. But the ways in which these miracles occur, and to whom, are decided randomly. I say “decide”, but really, the source responsible for them is rather unpredictable. To tell you the truth, we are almost like victims of this source’s capricious nature.

Lately, though, I’ve come to think that whether we consider this fortunate or not is up to ourselves.

But, setting aside the question of whether time flows here or not, it’s taken me a really long time to be able to reach this way of thinking. ’

Although her lips were pursed, the girl maintained a cheerful tone.

‘What I’m trying to say is … it’s like winning a lottery with a ticket you never bought. Just think of it that way.’

‘I don’t think you can win a lottery without buying a ticket,’ Mio retorted.

‘But you can – that’s why it’s a miracle .’

Gently exhaling through her nose, the girl’s expression softened. A different kind of smile rose to her lips, one that was tender and compassionate.

‘It wasn’t me who invited you here, you know,’ the girl said. ‘You’re probably here for the same reason I am. Maybe that “reason” is Kobako, but that’s something even I don’t know. Anyway, Kobako and I were thinking of fulfilling the wish you had while reading this book earlier.’

‘What wish?’

‘You said that you wanted to hear your mother’s voice, didn’t you? That there were things you wanted to ask her. Things you wanted to talk to her about.’

Mio did think about those things, but she never said them out loud.

‘On a fundamental level, it doesn’t matter so much if you had said them out loud or not. After all, words are already there before you say them out loud. Just because they haven’t taken form yet, it doesn’t mean they’re not there.’

‘What exactly are you two?’

‘What are we… Well, I suppose I am the owner of an unusual bookshop, and I guess you could say that Kobako is my cat. Although, we’re kind of inseparable, so it’s almost like we’re one being. In fact, you can just combine Kobako and me, as well as the shop together. Think of us as, well – “us”.’

Then, the girl stretched her arm out and petted the calico cat on the head.

As the cat lifted its chin, Mio caught a glimpse of the name written on the tag of its collar.

Kobako purred, closing her eyes contentedly.

The girl broke into the brightest smile.

It was as though nothing had ever made her so happy.

Finally, the girl said, ‘What is about to happen to you will give you the strength you need to move forward. That is why Kobako invited you here.’

With that, the girl turned around and faced the cat. The cat let out another meow, as if to say she was ready. For a moment, the air in the shop seemed to stiffen. Soon, Mio found herself in the middle of what felt like a house, as images of the girl and the cat started to warp all around her.

‘Oh, you might feel a little bit dizzy, but there’s no need to worry. You will be fine.’

Although it was cracked and distorted, she could tell that the voice echoing through the room was coming from the girl.

What do you mean, ‘a little’? This is a lot more than a little!

Mio silently objected inside her dizzying head.

She would have liked to protest, but by then, she had lost control of her voice and her limbs.

It was as though she had been disconnected from her own body.

The next moment, Mio found herself peering into the pages of The Little Prince . At first, she thought that she had returned to the bench, but then she heard a voice, neither hers nor that of the girl, reading a passage from the book, and understood that this was not the case.

‘“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”’

Her mother’s voice. She was sure of it. Mio could see a tiny finger diligently following the text on the page as her mother read out loud. It took her a moment to realise that the finger belonged to none other than herself.

‘Fox.’

The voice ringing in her ears belonged to herself, her younger self.

What was happening? Although Mio wasn’t entirely sure, she somehow understood that she was now inside her past self and was reliving an experience from her childhood.

This was probably why the text and the layout of the pages appeared larger than before.