The Cat Who Saved Books(25)

But now things were different.

She could tell herself that it was because she was the class rep, or that she lived near him and needed to deliver his homework, but she knew that wasn’t the real reason. The old image of Rintaro—that quiet boy with no presence and his nose perpetually in a book—floated into her mind. But now in the image he was accompanied by a ginger tabby cat.

“Hey, is Natsuki absent again?”

Sayo turned to see who had spoken. Just outside the door was a tall boy from the year above. Ryota Akiba, captain of the basketball team and brainiest student in the senior year, smiled at her. He was excessively cheery, attracting the ardent gaze of many of the female students.

“What do you want, Akiba?”

Sayo regarded him coldly.

Being on the student council together, the two were used to being in regular contact with each other, but today Sayo had no patience for his cockiness. She was never one for diplomacy when feelings were concerned; she was being pointedly unfriendly, but Akiba seemed amused.

“Seems Natsuki hasn’t been coming to school. That’s a problem.”

“That doesn’t sound very convincing coming from the senior who went AWOL along with him.”

“Hey, I’m offended! All I did was pay a visit to a poor boy in need of some cheering up. He lost his grandpa, you know.”

Akiba winked at a passing girl. His tactlessness made Sayo roll her eyes.

“Okay, well, if you’re so into cheering him up, perhaps you’d like to pay that poor boy another visit and deliver his homework? I have yesterday’s handouts here, too,” said Sayo.

“What? You’re not going to take them?” Akiba asked.

“I don’t know how to cheer up a boy who’s grieving over his grandpa. Maybe this is a situation best left to another boy.”

“I hate to say it, but Natsuki and me—we have nothing in common—brains, athleticism, personality—nothing. We don’t understand each other at all.”

The smile didn’t leave Akiba’s face.

“That’s just how it is,” he concluded. “If you bought that book from his bookshop, then shouldn’t you be the one to go?”

His eye was on the large volume that Sayo was holding.

“And by the way,” he added, “I had no idea that the esteemed vice captain of the wind ensemble club was a connoisseur of vintage books.”

“When I saw my classmate holed up in his bookshop reading, I thought I’d try reading something, too. But every time I open it up, my shoulders get horribly stiff. There’s so many words. And so many pages!”

“Jane Austen was a good choice, though.” Akiba’s tone changed slightly. “It’s a great introduction to literature, and it’s aimed at women. Good for Natsuki.”

A soft light gleamed in Akiba’s eyes.

Damn it, thought Sayo, sighing to herself. When book lovers talked about books, their faces seemed to light up.

A tad bewildered, she gripped her copy of Pride and Prejudice a little tighter.

*

“Okay, I’ll leave the rest to you, Rin-chan.”

The sound of the engine almost drowned out his aunt’s perky voice, as her white Fiat 500 pulled away.

It was dusk and the sun was slipping away, the clear blue winter sky turning a deep shade of pink.

Rintaro watched the little car disappear into the distance, cheerfully waving so as not to cause her any concern. The moment he saw it turn the corner and disappear he let out a huge sigh.

“Please don’t call me Rin-chan, Auntie . . .” he muttered.

His aunt’s voice still rang in his ears.

“Rin-chan, you really need to get all your stuff packed and ready to move, okay?”

Since his grandfather died his aunt had been visiting him every day. Now she’d decided his moving day. Rintaro had grown to like his optimistic aunt more than he’d expected to. She was charmingly plump with a short stature, and as she crammed herself into her tiny white Fiat, she reminded Rintaro of a friendly dwarf in one of his old picture books. She was an extremely efficient worker, and the clearing of his grandfather’s rooms was already well on its way.

“You know, if you live your life shut away in your room this way, it’s like giving up completely,” she’d told him—words that Rintaro knew were meant out of love. He knew she was right; he couldn’t just hang around the bookshop forever, but he found himself frozen in inaction.

He’d just seen his aunt off when he spotted the class rep on the other side of the street. It felt as if he’d been rescued.

“What a rare sight: a hikikomori spotted in the outdoors.”

She came over, her customary spring in her step.

“On your way home from school?”

“Not exactly. Absent again, weren’t you? What the hell, Natsuki?”

Even though Sayo’s gaze was cold, Rintaro found he didn’t mind being on its receiving end. He quickly changed the subject.

“That was my aunt,” he said, looking up the road. “She came to tell me to get ready for the move. The moving company’s coming the day after tomorrow.”

“Wow. That’s soon!”

Sayo looked genuinely surprised.

“It’s been almost a week since Grandpa died. I guess a poor little high school student like me can’t be left alone forever.”