Chapter 1 Let Me Die in Spring, Under the Cherry Blossoms

“Aoi, would you like to work here?”

It’s been three weeks since Kiyotaka “Holmes” Yagashira, a mysterious young man at the antique store Kura in Kyoto’s Teramachi-Sanjo district, invited me to work part-time at his place. It is now early April, on a Saturday, to be precise.

“I’m leaving now!”

After meticulously arranging my hair, I noisily ran down the stairs towards the front door.

“Hey, don’t run down the stairs, Aoi!” my mother shouted as she came out from the living room. I said simply, “Okay!” in response and slipped my sneakers on.

“Do you have work today?”

“Yep.”

My mother looked at the clock and asked, “Isn’t it still early?”

“I’m going to bike around a bit first. Anyway, bye.”

I sprang out the door and got on the bicycle waiting for me outside. The moment I pushed down on the pedal, a gentle breeze caressed my cheeks. The air was warm, carrying the spring scent of fresh leaves. This is nice, I thought. Summer is too blisteringly hot for me, so this is my favorite time of year.

I biked along at a quick pace, heading south down Shimogamo Main Street. When you pass Imadegawa Street, which goes east-west, Shimogamo Main Street turns into Kawaramachi Street. In order to get to Teramachi-Sanjo, where my workplace is, all I have to do is keep going south down Kawaramachi. Normally I just go straight down the whole way, but today I decided to turn left at Imadegawa, heading east towards the Kamo River.

Imadegawa Street overlooks the junction where the Takano River joins with the north part of the Kamo River, which is named after the ancient Kamo clan. The resulting river is also called the Kamo River, but the kanji changes to one that means “wild duck.” And apparently, there’s a so-called energy vortex at this junction.

Now, the reason why I chose to take a detour before work…was not because I wanted to see this mystical river junction. What I wanted to see were the rows of cherry blossom trees in full bloom along the riverside.

“Wow, they’re so pretty!” I exclaimed as I pedaled my bike.

It was peak cherry blossom season in Kyoto, and bright sun rays shone upon the sparkling Kamo River and the countless petals drifting in the air. It was truly a sight to behold. I’m sure many people travel here from afar to see this scenery, and perhaps I’m very fortunate to be able to bike here on a whim.

I descended to the riverside and headed south, the cherry blossoms over my head as I gazed sideways at the Kamo River. It was amazing, and it would’ve been even better if it weren’t for the couples flirting on the riverbank. Seeing them made me remember my ex, and I felt a throbbing pain in my chest. The pain got worse when I imagined him getting closer to my best friend.

This isn’t going to work. The painful thoughts are looping in my head. The breakup, finding out he was going out with my friend, and questioning “Why?” just kept going round and round in my mind.

Then again, I only found out they were dating through someone else. It could’ve been a false rumor. Maybe there was a misunderstanding. I really wanted to go to Saitama and find out.

But thinking about it now won’t change anything. I need to stop.

I shook my head and looked back up in front of me. Cherry blossom petals fluttered in the gentle breeze. Their beauty was soothing to my torn heart. For now, I needed to focus on earning money at work. I’ll think about the next step when the time comes.

I gripped the handlebars tighter and pedaled on. After around fifteen minutes, I saw that I’d reached Oike Street, and climbed back up the riverbank to the street. A little further west was Kyoto City Hall, which is, perhaps surprisingly, a Western-style building made of stone. It was supposedly built during the onset of the Showa era, but had a lovely old-fashioned aesthetic and imposing presence that were reminiscent of the Meiji and Taisho periods. When I first saw this city hall, I was so surprised, thinking, “Kyoto really is full of wonders.”

I parked my bicycle in a designated area on Oike Street and continued towards the Sanjo shopping district on foot. It was 10:50 a.m., and my shift was at 11:00 a.m. It looked like I wasn’t going to be late.