“What are you talking about?”
Sayo didn’t look convinced.
“If you find a book easy to read, that means it’s all stuff that you already know,” he went on. “That’s why it’s easy. If you find it difficult, then that’s proof it’s something brand new.”
As Rintaro laughed, Sayo observed him as if he were some kind of exotic animal.
“You really are a weirdo, aren’t you?”
“That’s a bit mean.”
“But it’s not a bad thing.”
Sayo rested her forehead in her hand and stared at Rintaro.
“Actually, it’s pretty cool,” she said.
Rintaro’s hand suddenly stopped moving. He glanced in Sayo’s direction and saw her grinning at him.
“Your ears have gone all red,” she said.
“I’m an innocent. Unlike some.”
“What do you mean, ‘innocent’？ You’re always reading novels like Lolita and Madame Bovary. I think you’re really a secret pervert.”
“If you’re gonna be like that I’m not selling you any more books.”
“I’m just kidding,” said Sayo cheerfully, getting to her feet. However, she didn’t make for the front door, wandering instead over to the back of the shop.
“It really does just stop here, doesn’t it?”
“If it didn’t, we’d really have a problem.”
“It would be a problem, but it’s still kind of a pity. It just feels like it was all a dream now.”
Sometimes Rintaro thought it must have been a dream. But even if it had been, there was one thing that was perfectly clear to him now. He was not alone.
*
“I’ve decided I’d like to stay at the bookshop.”
It was Christmas Eve, one hour before the moving van was about to arrive when Rintaro had finally said those words. He’d thought it was a really outrageous thing to say, but his aunt hadn’t been particularly surprised. She’d simply folded her arms and returned her nephew’s gaze. The awkward silence that followed felt long, but it quite possibly lasted only a few moments.
“Something happened, didn’t it, Rin-chan?” she said quite calmly.
The question came as a surprise to Rintaro. The aunt smiled at the boy’s confusion.
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t suppose you’re about to explain the whole thing to a middle-aged aunt you barely know.”
Of course, Rintaro couldn’t tell her about his bizarre adventures with a talking cat. More than that he hadn’t really come to terms at that point with how the experience had changed him. But whatever it was, he had decided it was time to strike out on his own. There was no such thing as having no choice. Rintaro knew that now. There were many roads to choose from. What was important was not to let yourself roll along aimlessly, but to pick a road.
How can I move on if I don’t believe in myself? Deep in that labyrinth, Rintaro had asked himself that question. His words turned into strength and he felt able to keep going alone.
His aunt saw that he was not about to speak, so she had continued.
“Living on your own isn’t going to be too much for you?”
“Too much?”
“I mean, is it because you hate the thought of living with a distant relative? You’re not just making this up on the spot to get out of it?”
“No, that’s not it.”