Prologue: Holmes and the Zen Priest Hakuin

“Do you have any antiques hidden away at home? We buy and appraise.”

If you walk down the bustling shopping arcade of Kyoto’s Teramachi-Sanjo district, you’ll find a small antique store nestled within the rows of buildings. The sign outside displays a single word, seemingly the store’s name: Kura, meaning “storehouse.”

My first impression of this place was, huh, antique stores are usually called ‘Such and Such Gallery,’ or ‘House of Antiques,’ or ‘Vintage Treasures,’ or something. A one-word name like ‘Kura’ is pretty minimalistic. And inside, it seemed more like an old-fashioned cafe than an antique store. The architecture was a blend of Japanese and Western concepts, reminiscent of the Meiji and Taisho eras. There was a small cafe area next to the entrance, and the items for sale were lined up further inside. I also saw an elderly man and woman having coffee and chatting away merrily. Really, if it weren’t for the sign, I would’ve assumed it was a cafe.

As I was stealthily peeking inside the store, I realized that passersby were giving me curious glances.

After a pause, I hurried to straighten my posture and look unassuming. People might find it weird that a high school girl would be loitering in front of an antique store. They might think, “That girl wants to go in, but she can’t.” And, well…they’d be right. Indeed, at that moment, I am a pitiful high school girl who wants to enter this antique store, but instead is awkwardly standing outside. I mean, if it were a more casual shop or a European-style general store, then it might be fine; but I couldn’t just waltz into a “real” antique store like this.

“We buy and appraise.”

Those were the words that originally caught my eye. I’d considered going inside many times already, but in the end, I always continued past.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Kyoto is Japan’s number one tourist destination. Visitors flock here from all around the world at all times of year. But, for us high school students who live here, there isn’t really anything to do. Sure, the shrines and temples are fascinating, but you wouldn’t hang out at those with your friends. If you want to have fun, your options amount to karaoke, malls, the movie theater in Sanjo, and wandering around the rest of the shopping street.

By the way, the Sanjo shopping district has a pretty cute mascot called the Sanjo Birdie. I like it a lot, to the point where I’ll be like, “Oh, this store has a Sanjo Birdie poster on the door! Ahhh, it’s so cute!” Anyway, whenever I came to Sanjo, I’d glance at Kura out of the corner of my eye and pass right on by.

Well, I can’t exactly loiter around outside forever. I tightly gripped the handle of my paper bag. Here I go!

Right as I’d made up my mind, a middle-aged man wearing a suit slipped past me and opened the door with a clatter. “You in, Holmes?” he asked as he entered the store.

Holmes? I was skeptical, but nonetheless I found myself following the man inside. The first thing I saw upon entering was an antique sofa—the kind you might expect to find in an old-fashioned Western house. There was a middle-aged woman enjoying her coffee. A small chandelier dangling from the rather low ceiling. A hefty pendulum clock hanging on the wall. And an assortment of antiques and miscellany lining the many shelves that took up the back of the store.

The store looked rather small from the doorway, but it seemed to extend quite far inside. Next to the reception area with the sofa was a counter, where a young man—most certainly a university student—was sitting. The student-looking man smiled at us and said, “Welcome.” He was pale skinned with a slender build, slightly long bangs, and a fairly…no, very attractive face. Handsome, even. Was he a part-time worker here?

“Hey, Holmes, could you take a look at this for me?” The man in the suit took a seat and placed a wrapped object on the counter.

“Ueda, could you please stop calling me ‘Holmes’ already?”

“It suits you.”

The handsome young man referred to as “Holmes” shrugged his shoulders at “Ueda’s” brazenness, put on a pair of white gloves, and carefully unwrapped the cloth around the object. Inside was an extravagant-looking rectangular wooden box, and opening that box revealed a thick roll of gold mounting. It seemed to be some sort of hanging scroll, and it radiated an expensive aura.

“A gold brocade mounting…” Holmes murmured his surprise and looked back up at the man. “It’s very dressy.”

“Right? I thought so too.”

I tilted my head at their conversation. Dressy?

At the same time, the woman who was drinking her coffee stood up and said, “Oh my, a dress?” She leaned over to look. “Ah, you said ‘dressy,’ but it’s a scroll, not a dress. Looks exquisite, though.”

Holmes smiled at the outspoken woman and replied, “By ‘dressy,’ I did mean ‘overly exquisite,’ Mieko.”

They seemed acquainted with each other, so the customers were probably regulars here.

“Is there a problem with being overly exquisite?”

“Yes. Just like how a liar smoothly strings his words together, counterfeits usually have overly exquisite mounting and packaging. We call those ‘too dressy’ or ‘inconsistent.’”

I nodded as I listened in on his calm explanation.

“Ahh, I see. It’s like a bluff. Would you say that’s a fake, then?” Mieko asked, looking down at the scroll.

Holmes shook his head and said, “That’s what I’ll be determining now. It’s important to not let preconceptions cloud your judgment.” He gently picked up the scroll and unraveled it, revealing a painting of Mount Fuji mounted on the gold brocade. In the foreground was a cherry blossom tree, beyond which towered the solemn mountain. Peeking over at the scroll, I felt as though it was drawing me in. Wow. I felt overwhelmed by the Mount Fuji it so imposingly depicted.

“Oh, this is something all right,” Holmes uttered, seemingly impressed.

“It’s great, yeah?” Ueda’s eyes gleamed as he leaned in.

“Taikan Yokoyama’s Fuji and Sakura. A lovely work of art.”

“Uh huh. It’s in good condition too, so it’s gotta be up there, right?”

“My, if it’s Taikan Yokoyama, it must be expensive,” Mieko chimed in.

“A real Taikan piece is in the millions,” said Ueda. “Maybe this one could even be ten?!”

“Ten million?! Congratulations, Ueda!”

“I’m rich!”

Holmes frowned, looking somewhat apologetically towards the excited pair.

“Indeed, it’s a beautiful piece, and it’s in great condition…but unfortunately, this is a reproduction.”

Ueda froze in place and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Really? Wouldn’t a Taikan reproduction have the word ‘reproduction’ stamped on it somewhere? I don’t see it anywhere, so it’s gotta be real!”

Holmes replied curtly, “No, this is most certainly a reproduction.”

Ueda’s shoulders suddenly slumped. I didn’t really know what they meant by “reproduction,” but at any rate, the scroll seemed to be a fake. Oh well. Just like Ueda, I found myself disappointed. It was such an intense painting, after all.

I must be pretty sad if I can be moved by a fake hanging scroll. Then again, it must’ve been a huge shock for the man who brought it in thinking it was real. I’m sure he can’t accept that appraisal, especially from such a young shopkeeper, I thought. He won’t say it out loud, but he must be thinking to himself, “He’s probably still inexperienced, right?”

Ueda recovered from the shock surprisingly quickly, and said, “Oh well. I was just thinking I maybe struck gold. Well, if you say it’s fake, it’s fake.” He sighed and rested his chin in his hands.

Huh, he backed down pretty quickly. It felt anticlimactic. Still, he must trust that young shopkeeper quite a bit if he accepted his appraisal so readily. Even though the guy just looks like an attractive university student to me.

“Hey, Holmes, what price would you put on this?”

“Hmm… It’s in good condition, so a hundred thousand yen, perhaps? Would you like to sell it to us?”

“Nah, I’ll take it to a more gullible shop,” Ueda answered without hesitating. He then proceeded to wrap the hanging scroll back in the cloth.

A hundred thousand yen. That’s a lot in itself. Personally, I’d be more than happy to receive such a sum.

It would’ve been awkward to continue staring from a distance, so I wandered farther inside the store. I couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of the pottery and tea bowls neatly adorning the rows of shelves. On the opposite side were Western-style items like candle stands and tea sets. Everything was arranged beautifully—though the items varied from expensive pieces to low-price sundries that even I could afford, it didn’t seem disorderly at all. It looked like everything was being treated with extreme care.

They really do have all kinds of things. There were vases, dressers, and tea ceremony utensils that looked like they came from a Chinese palace, as well as a beautiful antique Western doll with porcelain skin, big blue eyes, and silky blonde hair. Staring at the doll made a chill run down my spine for some reason. It was beautiful, but also kind of creepy. I hurriedly averted my gaze and looked at the other items.

Oh, there’s some nice ornaments over here. There were even rare packages of tea. I was starting to have fun looking at all of the different things, and I stopped in front of a tea bowl in a glass case. It was white with a reddish-brown pattern on it, and at first glance, it looked warped out of shape. Its appearance was unsophisticated, but for some reason, I found myself attracted to it. As I stood there, staring at it…

“Do you like it?”

I turned in surprise at the sudden voice, and saw Holmes standing behind me, smiling gently. I shakily replied, “Ah, um, I don’t know. I just thought it was, um, nice.” Th-This guy is even more handsome up close. Silky hair, tall stature, long legs. Above all, he seemed really refined. As my eyes darted around, another gentle smile rose to his lips.

“I see. Feel free to take your time looking around.”

He began walking away, and I called out to him on the spur of the moment, “E-Excuse me!”

He turned around. “Yes?”

I wanted to hold out my paper bag and say, “I’d like you to appraise this,” but the words weren’t coming out.

“Umm… Why are you called Holmes?”

He blinked in surprise at my sudden reckless question.

“I-Is it because you figure out things like Sherlock Holmes?” My embarrassment compelled me to continue.

Holmes grinned, his eyes narrowing into slits. “Let’s see… You’re a student at Oki High, but you were originally from Kanto, not Kansai. You moved to Kyoto around half a year ago. You came to this shop to have something appraised, but it doesn’t belong to you. That’s what I can tell so far.”

“W-Wow.” My jaw dropped at the accuracy of his deduction.

“Anyone could figure out as much. You’re wearing the Oki school uniform and you have a Kanto accent.”

I immediately looked down at myself and saw the navy blazer and checkered skirt. Indeed, I was wearing my school uniform. How silly of me.

“Wait, but, how did you know I moved half a year ago?”

“That was just my intuition. You don’t seem like you just moved here, but you don’t seem too accustomed to being here either. So, I guessed that you moved here during summer vacation.”

He was spot-on. I transferred to this high school at the end of summer vacation. It’s March now, so it’s been half a year.

“Then, how did you know that I want to appraise something that doesn’t belong to me?”

“A high school student wouldn’t own the kind of thing that you’d get appraised here. So, it’s natural to assume that it probably belongs to a grandparent. On top of that, you seem hesitant to get it appraised—because it’s not yours. Am I mistaken?”

I was at a loss for words. He said that anyone could figure out this much, but was that really true? No, a normal person wouldn’t think that way. That’s probably why he’s called Holmes.

“However, you’re currently in desperate need of money. That’s why you brought that here without permission, right?”

My pulse skyrocketed.

“H-How…”

…did you know? My voice gave out in the middle of the sentence.

“If you had permission, then you wouldn’t be hesitating.”

I couldn’t breathe. It was as though a knife had been thrust at my throat.

“The fact that you’re displaying hesitation suggests that you’re not the kind of girl who would sell off her family’s things. But the reality is that you’re here. So, you must be truly pressed for money. You’re being cornered by something. Am I correct?”

I was too shocked to remember to blink or close my gaping mouth. As I stood there, utterly defenseless, Ueda sighed and said, “Hey, Kiyotaka, you’re scaring the poor thing. I keep telling you to stop that. This is why you’ll always be ‘Holmes.’” Judging from that, Holmes’s real name was Kiyotaka.

The young shopkeeper smiled wryly and said, “Oh, sorry. I got carried away.” He looked apologetic, and I shook my head, telling him not to worry about it. But my heart was still beating a mile a minute.

“By the way, I’m not called Holmes because of Sherlock. It’s just a nickname.”

“B-Because you can figure out anything, right?”

“No, because my surname is Yagashira, written with the characters for ‘home’ and ‘head.’ So, it’s more like they’re calling me ‘Homes.’” He pointed at the nametag on his chest, and I paused to look. He was right.

“Oh, I get it.” I suddenly didn’t care anymore.

Mieko leaned over and proclaimed proudly, “That’s not all. Dear Kiyotaka’s so smart, he’ll be attending graduate school at Kyoto University this spring.”

Grad school at Kyoto University? He really is a student, then…at Kyoto University, no less.

“Th-That’s incredible,” I murmured, honestly impressed.

Kiyotaka, a.k.a. Holmes, smiled in amusement and said, “That’s not what’s incredible about me.”

“Huh?”

“My father and grandfather both went to Kyoto University, so I always wanted to go there too.”

“Okay…”

“However, I didn’t pass the entrance exams, because I was always playing with my grandfather.”

Wait, what? Did he just say he was playing with his grandfather? No, I must’ve heard wrong. How could you play that much with your grandfather? Anyway, does that mean Holmes failed the entrance exams but kept trying so that he could get in the next year? That really is incredible. If it were me, I’d be satisfied with just going to whatever university I could get into. I nodded, and Holmes continued, holding up his index finger, “So, I decided to go to Kyoto Prefectural University.”

“What? Kyoto Prefectural University?”

“Yes. However, this spring, I’ll be attending Kyoto University’s graduate school. When I’m finished there, what do you think my final academic record will be?”

“U-Um, a Kyoto University graduate?”

“Exactly. It’s pretty easy to get into Kyoto University as a grad student, and the prefectural university has a program that lets you skip the line. Isn’t it a brilliant strategy?”

My face twitched as I listened to his enthusiastic boasting. Th-That’s kind of underhanded.

“Just now, were you thinking I was underhanded?”

“N-No.”

What the heck?! This guy really is Holmes! I felt like I was going to break out in a cold sweat again.

“What’s your name?”

“Aoi Mashiro.”

“That’s a lovely name. Was it given to you by your grandparents?”

“Yes, it was.”

“I see. So, your family moved into your grandparents’ house?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Do they live in Sakyo-ku?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Close to Shimogamo Shrine?”

“Y-Yes. How do you know that?”