When I was a child,
I loved to play hide and seek.
But those times are gone
I assumed that Tanaka would teach me to read and write, just as he had taught me how to use the abacus.
I was wrong.
Never one to waste time, once the decision was made, he called over my head and I was astonished to see the young messenger he had sent for my chopsticks walk toward us briskly.
“Gen, you are excused from your duties for the rest of today. I wish Mi-san to be taught to read and write.” Tanaka wanted me to learn to read and write? I closed my lips firmly on my surprise. It didn’t matter how I achieved my ambition. The important thing was that I got what I wanted. “Your calligraphy is excellent. You will teach her to write—and read—as well as you can.
“You may both go up to the archive now. You will have quiet and privacy there. I will inform the clerks that the archive is closed today so nothing will distract you. Come back to me at home time and tell me what Mi-san has learned today.”
That was it; the thing was done. A clerk came over with a slip of paper and Tanaka bent his head to it at once. Realizing we had been dismissed, I got to my feet and followed Gen.
I had often wondered what happened on the mysterious second floor, but as Tanaka had never mentioned it, I did not ask. I was delighted by this unexpected turn of events. Not only was I going to learn to read and write, but my curiosity was about to be satisfied.
“This is the quietest place in the whole building, Mi-san,” Gen called cheerfully over his shoulder. “It’s part of my job to file everything here each day, so if I am here already, we will be left in peace.” He laughed, clearly finding his own comment amusing. I stared back stonily, suddenly feeling I had been cheated in some way.
I longed to be able to read and write. I found it difficult to explain even to myself, but I felt that the more knowledge I had, then the better it would be for me in whatever my future held. I guessed that Yuto could neither read nor write, and I used the thought to justify my own desire to learn. If I had to marry Yuto, surely he would be delighted to find that his bride could be useful in ways that he had never dreamed of. Or at least I hoped so.
But to be handed to a mere messenger boy for instruction! That had not been my plan at all. Somehow, it spoiled the moment for me. Made it second best.
I would not tolerate this.
I spoke curtly to his back. “You can read and write well, I suppose? I want to learn properly.”
“That I can.” Gen was wandering around the room, humming absently to himself. “If that was not so, would Tanaka-san have given me the honor of teaching you? Of course, I am his favorite out of all the messengers, but that has nothing to do with it.”
It was grossly rude of me, but I couldn’t help it. I laughed loudly. Gen was Tanaka’s favorite? Tanaka seemed to only ever speak to Gen to scold him.
“Really?” I asked. “It seems to me that Tanaka-san is angry with you all the time. I’ve never heard him speak to the other boys like he does you.”
I chose the word “boys” deliberately to show Gen his true position. He was, after all, nothing but a messenger. I was annoyed when he seemed not to notice.
“Quite right,” he said cordially. “But then again, how often have you heard him speak directly to any of the other messengers? He doesn’t waste his time on them. He expects their superiors to keep them in order. But he likes me, so he takes the time to ensure that I do things right. He knows I am going to be important one day, and that I will remember his instruction when I was nothing. I am honored by Tanaka-san’s faith in me. Especially in entrusting Kono-san’s daughter to me for instruction.”
I glared at him but could find no words that would slice through his absurd confidence. Gen seemed not to notice my annoyance. Even though he appeared to be passing the shelves that lined the huge room from ceiling to floor casually, I noticed that every now and then he paused and ran his fingers over the spine of one of the many leather-bound volumes.
Each book had kanji on the spine, embossed in gold. I stared at them hungrily, annoyed that whatever their secrets were, they were hidden from me. But not for long!
“What is this place?” I demanded. Gen turned to look at me, his expression amused. He glanced around and then turned back, his eyebrows raised as if to say, isn’t it obvious? I felt intensely stupid, and because of my embarrassment I snapped at him. “If this is where you work, it seems to me that you must have very little to do. A bit of dusting, perhaps? Keep everything tidy? Or does Tanaka-san send you up here to punish you when you’ve been particularly annoying?”
I looked around as I spoke and reluctantly began to wonder at what I saw. Each shelf was full of leather-bound volumes. At first sight, each seemed to be approximately the same size and thickness, but as I walked further into the room, I saw that the books in the furthest corner were much thinner and that the bindings were far less rich. Impulsively, I tugged one of those books out and allowed it to fall open in my hands.
The paper was very old, so old it was yellowing and the ink on the pages was brownish rather than black. I turned the pages gently, afraid they would come apart in my hands. Each page was full of kanji, some almost invisible with the passage of time.
Before I could really take in what I was looking at, Gen took the book from my hands—quite gently—and put it back on the shelf in its allotted space. I was annoyed at once. This was my father’s business. Who was Gen—a mere messenger boy—to prevent me from looking at whatever I wished?
“I am sorry, Mi-san.” He smiled pleasantly as he spoke, and my temper dropped a notch. “That particular ledger is very old indeed. In fact, it was part of the original business before your honorable father purchased it. It is very fragile and has to be handled carefully.”
My attention was caught at once. Father had bought this business from somebody else? I spoke impulsively, glancing at the slim volume Gen had taken from me.
“Father must have made the business far more prosperous than it was when he purchased it.” I had the pleasure of watching amazement make Gen’s eyes widen. “That old ledger is thin compared to the ones that look much newer, so the business must be far busier now than it was when Father took it over. That is so?”
Gen nodded. He breathed out before he spoke. “Mi-san, I have had the honor of working for your father since the year of the dog. In all that time, neither of your brothers has expressed any interest in this place.” He waved his hand around the room. “Nor have they ever asked anything about how the business works.”
I swelled with pleasure. “I am not my brothers, Gen-san. I want to know everything that is important to my father. Explain to me about this place, please. Tell me what each book contains, and why they are treasured.”