Fifty Words for Rain(32)

“If you be quiet. But I need to talk to you for a minute, Nori.”

She frowned slightly.

“What is it?”

“I start school tomorrow.”

Nori felt her stomach drop into her socks. She pulled one of her curls forward and began to chew on it, a new habit that she had developed. Akira found it disgusting and always swatted her hand when he caught her doing it. Her face must have looked as pitiful as she felt because Akira just clucked his tongue at her.

“We talked about this. I’ll be gone most of the day, and when I get home, I’ll have homework. So I won’t have much time for you. You understand?”

Nori bunched up fistfuls of her dress in her hands and looked down at her lap. “I understand.”

“Practice your music.”

“Hai.”

“If you behave, I may consider taking you to the festival next Sunday afternoon.”

Nori looked up, scarcely believing her ears. “Eh? Hontou ni?”

He gave a curt nod, color rising to his cheeks. He slid his gaze away from her.

“Yes, really. I have to go into the city to run some errands anyway—don’t make that face, Nori, gosh.”

She immediately corrected her face, though she was not quite sure how it had managed to offend him.

“We should go back inside. It’s going to rain. Violins and water don’t mix.”

She shrugged. “I like rain.”

He laughed scornfully. “That’s ridiculous. Nobody likes rain. Nobody ever says, ‘I wish it weren’t so sunny today.’”

She lowered her eyes. “You can’t hear sunshine from the attic,” she said quietly. “And it’s always so quiet. In the summers, especially, with no lessons, and when Akiko-san doesn’t come, it’s . . . it’s empty. Like there’s nobody else but you in the whole world. But when it rained, I could always hear it on the roof, and then I remembered that I wasn’t, you know . . .”

Alone.

Akira blinked. His face softened and he reached out to tuck a stray curl behind her ear.

“It rains a lot on this island,” he told her. “So you’ll be quite happy.”

Nori smiled. “I know, Oniichan. I know about the rainy season, tsuyu, and I know what the poets say.”

Akira frowned. “Poets? What are you on about?”

Nori looked away from the scrutiny in his gaze. “They say there’s fifty words for rain. One for each and every kind you can imagine.”

“Do they?” Akira asked, and he sounded almost amused. “Well . . . perhaps technically. But leave it to the poets to make a fuss over nothing. Rain is just rain.”

She looked up to meet his eyes. “I don’t think so, Oniichan.”

Akira raised a dark eyebrow and considered her for a brief moment. “Well . . . who knows. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m just too cynical to appreciate it.”

Nori dared to contradict him once more. “I don’t think that either, Oniichan.”

He chucked her under the chin. “You give me too much credit. You always do. Now, off to bed.”

“But . . .”

“Go, Nori.”

Though she knew that he was growing irritated with her as it was, she could not help herself. Looking at him, sitting there bathed casually in the moonlight, was entirely too much for her heart to bear. She threw her arms around her brother’s neck, burying her nose in his dark hair. He smelled like soap and lemons. And the wasabi he’d had for lunch. He always smelled like wasabi.

“Arigatou,” she whispered, not sure if he could even hear her. “Thank you.”



* * *





She had dark dreams that night and woke before the dawn, clutching at Agnes. Akiko came up a little while later with a glass of water and a small cookie.

The maid seemed unusually subdued. “Your grandmother is coming to see you in a moment. Hurry and eat.”

Nori hopped out of the bed. “Naze?”

“I don’t know why. Come here, let me dress you.”

When her grandmother walked in, Nori started to bow but was waved aside.

“Don’t worry,” the older woman said absently, crossing her arms over her chest. “This will only take a moment.”

She was wearing a dark blue kimono, with a white obi and sleeves down to the floor. Her hair was done up in a bun and dotted with white and blue nosegays. Her lips were painted red, and her gray eyes were lined with the faintest hint of charcoal.

For an older woman, she was still quite pretty.

“There are some people coming to see you today, Noriko,” she said, in a surprisingly pleasant tone of voice. “Very important people. I’ve told them of your talents and they are eager to meet you.”

Nori blinked in response. It was all she could do really. She thought, somewhere about now, that hell must be freezing over.

Her grandmother cracked a tiny smile at Nori’s obvious confusion.

“I have had new kimonos made for you, as well as new dresses in the modern style. I have also commissioned some fans, shoes, and pieces of jewelry. I’ve also had some other things made for you that should accommodate your future growth nicely. Akiko-san will be up shortly to prepare you. And I shall see you in the parlor soon. I have every confidence that you will represent our family well.”