Antique Shop?BEAR? - Chapter 21
Chapter 21 – The Language of Black Rose
After finishing her work at the orphanage, Sudo Noriko arrived at Hosho Station.
“Ha, I am exhausted.”
Even though she was working part-time on the day shift, she was assigned to the night shift due to a shortage of manpower. All she could do was heave a sigh. Noriko trudged along the street in front of the station. When she passed by her favorite take-out coffee shop, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ah!”. The store had gone out of business and was replaced by another one.
“I haven’t been here for a while and the place has shut down! Such a shock?”
Wondering what kind of store had been opened, she made her way along the stone pavement and encountered a sign that read, “An antique shop BEAR”.
“What? It’s a general store now.”
Even though it was already past 11:00 p.m., the lights were still lit within the shop. Looking inside, Noriko was enticed by the otherworldly beauty of the store and was lured into the store.
“Welcome.”
The owner who was sitting at the register lifted his face. He was apparently polishing the lens of a camera and was holding a soft white cloth as he carefully put the camera away.
“Um, is the place still open?”
“The shop only opened a few minutes ago. Take your time.”
“That’s a relief.”
Noriko felt reassured and regarded the shop. On the shelves were glittering jewelry and miscellaneous goods, as if magic had been cast on them.
Such a beauty… Wow. You can only receive jewelry like this when you are young.
Not being given the opportunity to wear rings or necklaces, Noriko browsed the shelves one by one and noticed a set of 36 colored pencils. These were well-known foreign colored pencils that were quite expensive to acquire when they were new.
“Gosh, no way… Faber-Castell polychromos!”
These were the colored pencils that she had been longing to own.
“Shall I take it off the shelf?”
Noriko was startled to find that the owner had stood up and was speaking to her.
“These colored pencils… how much are them?”
“Let me check.” The owner was quite tall as he stood next to Noriko. “Only one of those colored pencils was used. It costs 3,000 yen. I will open it now.”
When she examined the inner part, she found that black was the only color that had been used. Only half of the black was used, while the rest was untouched.
“This… is less than half the price. Too cheap!” Noriko faced the owner with a radiant smile plastered across her face. “I’ll take this!”
The shopkeeper revealed a slightly astonished reaction to Noriko’s energy but soon offered a gentle smile.
“Thank you very much. Shall I wrap it up for you now?”
“You don’t have to wrap it. I want to draw it as soon as I get home.”
The owner gave a smile. “Understood.” He retrieved a paper bag from under the register and dutifully placed it in the bag. “Thank you for waiting.”
Noriko fished out 3,000 yen from her wallet and handed it to him.
“Just the right amount.”
“The coffee shop here went out of business and was replaced by a new one?”
“It was closed more than half a year ago.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
Noriko was flushed with joy when the owner opened the door for her.
“I wish I could teach my children the principle of ladies first too.”
When Noriko returned home, she called out to the children.
“I am back. Did you eat and bathe properly?”
Her daughter Kana, a college student, replied, “Already done that”, while her high school-aged son, Akira, said, “Don’t go in my room”. In the living room, her husband was having a beer and watching television. Next to him, she ate the curry that she had prepared in the morning.
“Aren’t you too occupied with work?” Her husband said with a slight sourness.
“We’re short-staffed.”
“If you have to be on the late shift that often, why don’t you find another job?”
“That’s not how I think. Tomorrow is my day off, so I will take care of the house.”
Although it was 3 times a week part-time, at the initial interview she was only scheduled for the early shift, but now she was assigned to the late shift approximately twice a month. Even without saying it in words, she was well aware of her husband’s dissatisfaction. Noriko tidied up, took a quick bath, then sat at her desk and unfolded her colored pencils. It sparkled as if she were opening a jewelry box. The beautiful colors contrasted against the shining colored pencils.
“Wow. As expected…. It was worth the purchase!”
That night, once Noriko grabbed the colored pencils, she kept on drawing as if she was possessed. By the time she realized it was morning, she had not slept a wink and carried on drawing until dawn.
“Whoa. I did it!”
Noriko was always fond of painting and once she started, she had a habit of drawing as if she was hooked on it. In the past, she used to paint in oils and watercolors, but due to the hassle of preparation and cleanup, she switched to pencil drawings and colored pencils. Although she longed to get a decent set of colored pencils, she gave up the idea of buying them at a time when her children would be spending a lot of money, but finally, she obtained them. When she looked back at her drawings, she saw that she had drawn black roses and a girl.
“Huh… did I draw this?”
Noriko was about to examine the drawing paper when the clock came into the corner of her vision.
“More importantly, now is breakfast time!”
Noriko rushed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast and pack lunches for three people. Once the three of them had headed out and finished the morning chores, she excitedly returned to her desk.
Reviewing the picture she had drawn yesterday, she found that she had drawn a girl amidst black roses.
“This child… is from the Garden…”
The orphanage Noriko worked at, Dandelion Garden, enrolled children between the ages of 6 to 18 and provided temporary care for children who were unable to live at home due to family circumstances. The child in the picture was Saito Mina, a second-year middle school student. Since last month, Mina has been in temporary care because of her father’s alleged abuse. Her father, suspected of abuse, has been living with her. Despite her father’s employment, he was suspected of mentally and physically abusing his daughter. On top of that, sexual abuse was also an allegation. The mother had already passed away, and the father’s grandparents were already separated, leaving her with no other alternative but to come to an orphanage. She was a fragile, petite girl who did not talk much. She was attending school and was doing well in her studies and club activities, but the school found bruises and other signs of abuse on her body and contacted her.
Noriko had only been on the job for six months. In the beginning, she thought she would be able to make use of her years of experience in raising children, but it turned out to be not such an easy job. She wanted to quit, but some of the younger children were so fond of her that she couldn’t simply announce her intention to quit. Grabbing her colored pencils, Noriko began to draw portraits of each of the children in her charge.
“Are you drawing again?”
She was shocked when Kana called out to her.
“It’s already 6:00.”
“No way! I’m sorry!”
In a rush, she took in the laundry and put it away, then proceeded to cook the dinner she had prepared. Kana descended into the living room with a piece of drawing paper.
“The child from the Garden?”
“… Oh, yeah. What do you think?”
“Well, it’s a good drawing, I suppose? I mean, there’s something different about this girl.…” Kana stared mysteriously at Saito Mina’s drawing. “A girl surrounded by black roses is too ominous.”
“I… I guess so. Since she can’t pass anywhere.”
After finishing dinner and taking a bath, her husband came home.
Once she served her husband’s meal, she went back to her room and tried to redraw Saito Mina’s picture again, but to her wonder, she realized that she had drawn black roses.
“S-Stop it…!”
Noriko put the colored pencils away in a drawer.