Holmes of kyoto volume 8, p.1
Holmes of Kyoto: Volume 8, page 1
Table of Contents
Cover
Characters
Prologue
Chapter 1: Once in a Lifetime
Chapter 2: Little Holmes
Chapter 3: Tears of the Holy Mother
Short Story: Kaori Miyashita’s Dilemma
Epilogue
Afterword
Bonus Translator’s Corner
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
Prologue
“The cherry blossoms are in bloom.”
This phrase contains several meanings beyond the literal one. It represents the end of the cold winter and the welcoming of spring. It represents the beauty of cherry blossoms and the state of mind where one rejoices in their blooming. In other words, blooming cherry blossoms evoke feelings of happiness and celebration—and that’s exactly the state I’m in right now. This spring, I became a student at my top pick, Kyoto Prefectural University.
“Aoi!”
A familiar voice called out from behind me as I passed through the university gate. I turned around and saw my best friend, Kaori Miyashita, waving at me with a big grin on her face.
“Hey, Kaori.”
Kaori had gotten into the same school as me. Well, she’d actually been aiming for KPU earlier than I had. Considering she had gone from a private middle school to a public high school out of concern for her family’s financial situation, it made sense that she would choose a public university as well.
She was wearing a cute, simple dress that gave off a very “female university student” vibe. It was refreshing to see her wearing something other than a school uniform on a school campus.
“Morning,” I said. “That’s a nice dress.”
“Thanks. I really had no idea what to wear, though. I’m already starting to think it was easier when we had uniforms.”
“I know. Don’t give up on the first day, though.”
“Yeah, you’re right. We’re finally university students now, huh?” she said enthusiastically, looking up at the school building.
I nodded. The entrance ceremony had been last Friday, and today was the first day of school.
I’m a university student now. The thought made my heart leap, but I couldn’t afford to be complacent. I was majoring in history in the Faculty of Letters, with the goal of obtaining a curator certification.
“We’re in different departments, but let’s both do our best,” said Kaori.
“Yeah.”
Kaori was majoring in European and American linguistic cultures. Since her family owned a kimono fabric store, she’d spent most of her life surrounded by Japanese culture. Because of that, she admired foreign cultures a lot. “Learning about foreign countries gives you a better understanding of your own country, and I’m thinking of studying overseas one day,” she’d said with a radiant smile. It had motivated me to work harder as well.
“Oh, are you joining any clubs?” she asked as we walked.
“I’m not sure. What about you?”
“I’m thinking of joining the club for Western-style flower arrangement.”
“Not ikebana?”
“Yeah. I’ve been learning ikebana for a long time, so I want to try arranging flowers with more freedom now.”
“That sounds perfect for you.”
Kaori liked arranging flowers, and she used to attend ikebana class with Saori. However, after her family’s expansion into Roppongi failed and money had become tight, she’d quit the lessons for their sake. Later, when Saori was selected as Saio-dai, their store gained a lot of publicity and was able to turn its financial situation around.
“Do you want to join it with me?” she asked.
“It sounds interesting, but I still have work.”
“Oh, I see. Kura can’t manage without you.”
She smiled teasingly and I blushed. I’d been working at the antique store in Teramachi-Sanjo for two years. But still...
“That’s not true. They don’t need me.” I shook my head, embarrassed. But then I remembered something. “Wait, I take that back.”
“Huh?”
“Apparently, they do need me right now. It’s only temporary, though. Kura’s dangerously understaffed.”
“Why? Didn’t Holmes finish grad school and take over the shop?” Kaori tilted her head.
Kiyotaka “Holmes” Yagashira had been working at Kura while completing his studies. This spring, he had finished grad school and was ready to formally inherit Kura and take over the store’s operations. I had been planning to study hard so that I could help him in the future, but...
“Holmes’s succession was postponed,” I murmured.
Kaori blinked in surprise. “What do you mean? Oh, was he missing credits?” She seemed to find it believable.
I chuckled and said, “No, Holmes did finish grad school.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. To be honest, I was concerned about his credits too, but you know how careful he is.”
Kaori nodded. “So what’s the issue?”
“Well...” I sighed.
Holmes had said that after finishing grad school, he wanted to turn Kura into an antique cafe. I had assumed he’d be carrying out that plan now and had intended on helping out in any way I could. I was so looking forward to building the new store with him...but life isn’t that easy.
***
It was the beginning of April, before university began. I was working at Kura that day, diligently cleaning the store. As usual, Holmes was doing the accounting at the counter. It was quiet aside from the sound of pen on paper and the soft background music. Most of the time, there was jazz music playing, but today it was classical. The playlist included Vivaldi’s “Spring” and Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song.” The small display window was decorated with cherry blossom-themed hanging scrolls and tea bowls, giving the store a very spring-like atmosphere.
Time passed uneventfully until the door chime suddenly rang. I immediately looked up and saw an elderly man wearing a stylish kimono and hat.
“Hey, Aoi, good work today.” He smiled at me.
“Hello, Owner.”
It was Seiji Yagashira, the owner of the store. He came inside, took a heap of papers out of his bag, and dropped it on the counter. “Ahh, that was too heavy for my old bones.” He rolled his neck.
Holmes looked down at the pile of papers and frowned. “What is this?”
“The places you’re going to,” the owner said nonchalantly, plopping himself down on the armchair.
“What?”
Holmes picked up the documents with a dubious look on his face. I craned my neck to peek at them. The topmost page said “UED Consulting” on it.
“UED Consulting?” I asked. I’ve never heard of them before.
“It’s a company that Ueda manages,” Holmes explained, not looking up from the documents. “He said it’s an abbreviation of United Export Dynamics, but it’s clearly just the ‘UED’ in ‘Ueda.’”
“That does sound like something he’d do.” From what I’d heard, Ueda ran many businesses, including a management consulting company in Osaka.
The rest of the page detailed the company’s location, a job description, and a term length of three months. The other pages were for other places, like museums, hotels, and Komatsu’s detective agency. One of them even said “Akihito Kajiwara.” The term lengths ranged from two weeks to three months.
“What exactly is this?” Holmes asked, shifting his gaze to the owner. His cold eyes made me shudder.
“As you can see, it’s training,” the owner said, taking a folding fan out of his pocket, opening it, and fanning himself.
“Training?”
“Yep. You were born and raised in Kyoto, and you followed me into this world at an early age. That’s why you know so much about antiques at your age, and I’ll give you credit for that.” He nodded and gave Holmes a sharp look. “But that’s all you have. You don’t know enough about the outside world. You’re a naive kid who’s never lived outside of Kyoto. I can’t let you take over the shop like that. You gotta get out there and learn. So, I asked everyone I knew if they could hire you for a short time, and this is what I ended up with. Good thing there were a lot of takers.” He rubbed his hands together and smiled proudly.
“If that was your plan, why didn’t you tell me in advance?” Holmes frowned at the suddenness of it all.
The owner stuck out his chest and said, “Couldn’t. I just came up with the idea the other day.”
Holmes stared at him, dumbfounded.
“When I realized you weren’t gonna be a student no more, I suddenly thought, ‘This is bad.’ Must’ve been my instinct kicking in.”
“Instinct?” Holmes muttered quietly. He stroked his chin and said, “I’m fine without your concern. I’ve been all around the world with you, after all.”
“That ain’t the same. Right now, you’re a sheltered son. As they say, ‘the frog in the well knows nothing of the ocean.’”
“After ‘the frog in the well knows nothing of the ocean’ comes, ‘but it knows of the blue sky.’ In this industry, don’t you think it makes sense to delve deep while still knowing that the sky is blue?” Holmes smiled.
The owner’s eyebrow twitched. “Don’t you have any ambition?”
“Of course I do. It might be inside that ‘well’ you speak of. If I have to learn something else, it’s going to be what I want to learn.”
The owner stood up without saying anything and glared at him. He didn ’t shout or raise his fist, but he gave off a terrifying aura that made me shiver.
“Enough with your antics,” he said in a low voice. “You’re going, Kiyotaka.”
Holmes sighed in resignation, perhaps realizing how serious the owner was. “Fine. Do I have to go to all of these companies?”
“That’d be for the best, but it ain’t possible. I marked the mandatory ones, and you can pick the rest yourself. You gotta go to at least ten.”
“Ten?”
“You don’t seem happy.”
“Of course I’m not.”
The owner grinned. “You’re ridiculously good at absorbing things, so going to ten companies will expand your horizons. Come back when you’ve grown up some more. Then I’ll feel comfortable handing over the shop.”
“But who’s going to take care of the store while I’m gone?”
“I guess I have no choice but to do it myself. It’s for your sake.”
Those words seemed to convince Holmes. He nodded with a serious look in his eyes.
“You’re starting on April 10th. Work hard.”
The owner turned on his heel and left the store. The chime rang. As soon as he was out of sight, Holmes flopped down onto the counter.
“Are you okay?!” I cried.
“No, I’m not. Working at ten companies means I’ll be running around for at least a year and a half.”
I gulped.
“Most of these places are outside of the city. Many of them are in the Kansai region, so I think I’ll be able to come back every now and then, but I won’t be able to see you as often as I do now. It’s going to be a long-distance relationship.”
A long-distance relationship... That’s such a shame. I was really looking forward to building the new Kura with Holmes now that I’m finally going to be a university student.
I could see where the owner was coming from, though. Holmes was incredibly knowledgeable and a man of action. He seemed perfect at first, but he was also surprisingly ignorant at times. He was born and raised in the unique city of Kyoto, and though he’d visited other places, he’d never lived in them. Now that he was no longer a student, the owner must have wanted him to experience more things in a broader society.
“It’s not your fault,” I said.
“Will you wait for me, Aoi?” he murmured without looking up.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
Holmes lifted his head, but his eyes were still downcast. “I’m worried, though.”
“About what?”
“You’re very attractive, you know? I was already worried about you going to university, and now I can’t even be near you.”
Here we go again. I forced a smile. “Holmes, can you please do something about that obsession of yours? It’s honestly laughable at this point.”
“That’s not a very nice way to put it. Can you at least call it an infatuation?”
“Wh-What?!” I squeaked, blushing. “Besides, I’ve never been popular before. I’m not the kind of girl you have to worry about.”
“That’s exactly why I’m worried.”
“Huh?”
“I may have said this before, but being oblivious is both a weapon and a sin.”
Have I heard something like this before? Anyway... “You say that, but I’m the one who’s worried about your popularity.”
“No, I’m not popular.”
“Really?” I looked at him doubtfully. Over the past two years, I’d run into several women who had admired or crushed on him. Then again, he had a strong wall around himself, so perhaps he wasn’t the typical definition of “popular.”
“Even if I were popular, I wouldn’t cheat on you, so there’s no need to worry.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I would never risk losing you for a bout of pleasure. I’m not stupid enough to make such a silly mistake,” he said with a serious face, making my heart race. I was speechless. He reached out and gently held my hand. “So you can’t go cheating on me either.” The touch of his long fingers made my heart pound even faster.
“I-I won’t.”
“Really?”
“Yes. To be honest, I’m going to be lonely. But I understand that the owner wants you to grow more, so please do your best.”
“Thank you.”
His sad smile made my chest feel tight. After a brief moment, I smiled, clapped my hands, and said, “Oh, I know! Let’s celebrate together when your training is over.”
“Celebrate?” His eyes widened.
“Yes, let’s.”
“Celebrate... That’s a good idea. Looking forward to celebrating with you will encourage me while I’m gone.”
“Yes, I think it’ll motivate me too.”
It was going to become a bit of a long-distance relationship. Since my previous one had failed, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried at all. But if we’re not going to be able to see each other much, I should at least work hard at school. This can be considered training for me as well. When Holmes comes back to Kura, I want to surprise him with how much I’ve grown. I clenched my fist with secret determination.
*
“So that’s how it is,” I said.
“Wow. It’s just like the owner to send him out for training instead of letting him take over right away. Come to think of it, my sis was also sent to a Kinosaki hot spring inn for training,” Kaori remarked.
“Oh right, she was.” I smiled, recalling the trip to Kinosaki with Holmes, Kaori, Akihito, and the manager.
“Wait, if the owner’s taking care of Kura, why is it dangerously understaffed?”
“In the end, he doesn’t come to the store much. The manager can’t handle it by himself, and Rikyu’s got entrance exams coming up. I have to help as much as I can.”
“So Kura really can’t manage without you!” she laughed.
“I’m not sure about that,” I said, tilting my head and laughing with her. “Anyway, we should go to class.”
“Yeah.”
As cherry blossom petals fluttered in the air, we cheerfully made our way to the entrance. It was a new spring day.
Chapter 1: Once in a Lifetime
1
At 8 a.m., I walk out into the beautiful garden and check to make sure that nothing is out of the ordinary. The area is the size of 1.5 Koshien Stadiums. The reason I don’t describe it in terms of the Tokyo Dome is because it’d become “approximately half a Tokyo Dome,” which sounds rather sad. Calling it 1.5 Koshien Stadiums gives it more prestige.
In the outer garden, which has around forty species of bamboo, there are three tearooms called Sho-in, Bai-in, and Chiku-in. There’s also a stone washbasin and the historic Ominaeshi Tomb. The flowers, bamboo, trees, and ponds are all beautifully arranged. To think that my job would be to check for issues while admiring all of this...
“Is this what it means to live in luxury?” Kiyotaka murmured as he strolled through the large garden.
“Kiyotaka!” came a man’s voice from behind him. He turned around and saw a bespectacled man in his late thirties running up to him with a good-natured smile on his face.
“Good morning, Igawa.”
“Morning, Kiyotaka. Oh, wait, I guess I should be calling you Yagashira. But saying that makes me think of your grandfather.” The man scratched his head. His name was Kyosuke Igawa, and he was one of the owner’s connections.
Kiyotaka smiled and said, “There aren’t any guests here right now, so I don’t mind being called Kiyotaka.”
“It’s hard to believe you’ve already graduated. The years go by so fast. When Mr. Yagashira said he was looking for a place to hire his grandson as a temp, I volunteered even without getting approval from the higher-ups.”
“Did they not scold you?”
“I got in a bit of trouble, but, well, Mr. Yagashira does help us out. The director seemed to want to make him owe us a favor, but I don’t think of it that way. I firmly believe that you’ll bring a breath of fresh air to Shokado Garden Art Museum. I have high hopes for you!” Igawa clenched his fist and put on a toothy grin.
“I’m glad you believe in me, but I’m not sure if I’ll be that much help.” Kiyotaka shrugged.
“No need to be humble.” Igawa patted him on the back. “People call you the Holmes of Kyoto, don’t they?”
“I don’t think that nickname has anything to do with Shokado Garden Art Museum.”
“You’re an art specialist who went to Kyoto University, and you have great looks. That’s more than enough to be helpful. By the way, Kiyotaka, you know what this is, right?”
