Antique Shop?BEAR? - Chapter 25
Chapter 25 – Forget-me-not Vase
Late at night, Kamata awakened upon feeling a chill in the air. He had apparently fallen asleep propped up on the table. Hearing the sound of rain and thunder from the window, he approached the window to confirm that rain had swept in and was coming down in torrents. The rain seemed to have started while he was asleep. In a haste, he pulled the shutters shut, locked the window, and closed the sliding door.
“Oh, man, it’s freezing.”
Kamata shivered and switched off the fan. Looking at the temperature in the room, he noticed that it was 25°C.
“Have I caught a cold?”
Next to the living room was a Buddhist altar, where the futon was stored in a chest of drawers, and after turning off the light, he closed the fusuma and lay down. It was bizarrely frigid. He considered measuring his temperature, but couldn’t be bothered to get a thermometer, so he covered himself with the futon and shut his eyes.
“Hmm…?”
With a sense of discomfort, he opened his eyes only to be faced with the sliding door, which should have been closed but was now slightly opened.
“No way.”
Kamata reached for the sliding door as he was lying down.
“Hm?”
For a split second, he felt as if someone was observing him. Kamata got up and flipped on the light, feeling as though a pair of eyeballs had appeared in the darkness beyond the fusuma. Opening the fusuma, he verified the presence but found no hint of human beings.
“… It’s just my imagination.”
He turned off the light and lay down. On the shoji, a shadow in the form of a person distinctly emerged.
“Yikes!”
He swiftly opened the shoji to view outside, but the shutters were closed, so there was no way any shadow could be seen.
“It’s just my imagination!”
Kamata made a note to himself and pulled the futon over him before closing his eyes.
August 6th
Since the morning, the cicadas had been chirping. The temperature was already exceeding 30°C, giving off scorching heat outside.
The sales office will be closed for the Bon festival from tomorrow, so all the employees were occupied in the office today, writing business reports and tidying up their desks. Every year, after the break, the office becomes increasingly busy, which is why employees try to take more time off. Organizing and cleaning belongings in the summer is extremely challenging; it is the worst time of the year for the 3Ks: stinky, filthy, and harsh, and in addition, summer is hot. Not only the smell of decomposing things but also the smell of body odor lingers at the scene of suicide or lonely death. Furthermore, the heat can lead to heat stroke. Recently, Kamata had stayed away from the crime scene, but he was careful to look after everyone.
Kamata sneaked into the reference room while the employees were tapping on their computers. Nowadays, data management is conducted via computer, but most of the data from over ten years ago has been printed out and saved in files.
“Toda Mitsue (d. 87)”
It was Hitoe’s grandmother’s file. It was carefully filed by her, with photos and text. Going through the photos, he spotted an old-fashioned large Buddhist altar with a vase of flowers purchased yesterday from Kuma.
“This is…”
The Buddhist altar was purchased by a supplier in Kamata company after a memorial service was held for the deceased, and was already sold. Currently, a very small Buddhist altar has been purchased and placed in the house.
As for the vase, the purchase record indicated no mention of it. Kamata headed for Kuma’s place.
“Kuma.”
“Thank you for your hard work, boss.”
He was wearing his usual familiar gray work uniform and typing on his computer.
“That vase, it’s not listed in the purchase record.”
“Ah, that vase was handed down to me by Hitoe.”
Kamata looked at the document and saw a small note that read, “Vase handed down to Kuma Kouki”.
“It’s true.”
“Is there something wrong with the vase?”
“No, I was simply puzzling over it.”
“I see.”
“Will you be opening your store during the break?”
“Two days or so, I think.”
“Overworking is not good for the health. You have to rest.”
“Right.”
When Kamata returned to his office, he ordered lunch delivery for everyone. By noon, a large amount of coke and pizza had arrived and was distributed to the employees in a grand manner.
“Thank you for your hard work. I’ll see you after the vacation.”
That day, the employees left work ahead of the standard working hours.
After Kamata exited the office for the final time and locked the door, he got into his car and checked the rearview mirror, when he caught a glimpse of what looked like a black shadow in the passenger seat.
“What the hell?”
In the passenger seat, the only thing visible was a bag.
Kamata didn’t bother and started the car.
T/N:
3K – stinky, filthy, and harsh, in Japanese, the words started with K alphabet