When I left Hobby House, the sun was right above us.
“Grrrr~”
Suddenly my stomach groaned, though I didn’t know if it was because I was too absorbed in Hobby House, or because I had just completed a job.
Yoshino-san heard that and said laughing:
“Hehe. If you work so hard, no wonder you get hungry. I’ve brought some rice balls. Shall we eat?”
“Oh, rice balls! Thank you.”
We walked to the river flowing near the shopping mall and sat down on the riverbed. When I opened the bundle wrapped in cloth that Yoshino-san had been carrying, a bamboo-woven lunch box appeared from inside.
“Taro-san, I didn’t know what you liked…”
Yoshino-san said, opening the lid of the lunch box. I saw a lot of rice balls lined up in it.
“I don’t have any likes or dislikes. Also, they say hunger is the best sauce. Thank you for making so many rice balls.”
“Well, I want you to work hard in the afternoon, too! This has pickled plum, this has bonito flakes, and this has kelp inside… Also, there are ones with cod roe and salmon, but which ones were they?”
Yoshino-san is thinking, tilting her head.
“All of them are my favorite ingredients. I’ll look forward to finding cod roe and salmon as I eat.”
“Really? Then, that’s good. Please eat!”
“Yes, I’m going to dig in now.”
The sauce of hunger and the pleasant sky above me made the rice balls exceptionally good.
Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve had a picnic like this last time… For the past few years, I’ve lived a life of work and live concerts, and I thought I was satisfied with that, but today, I feel like my heart is being cleansed.
“It’s nice to be in touch with nature…”
I didn’t even know I was muttering this.
“Yes. I like eating lunch outside, too. It’s as if the space goes on forever and I can really stretch out.”
Yoshino-san replied to my mutter that leaked from my heart and dug into the rice ball.
I was absorbed in eating the rice balls, and when I felt a sense of satisfaction, I noticed several children gathered on the riverbed were having fun playing.
“What is that thing they’re playing with?”
I asked Yoshino-san, who seemed to be full and was beginning to doze off in the nice sunny weather.
“Eh, ah… that’s a beigoma, isn’t it?”
“Beigoma!?”
Beigoma shouldn’t have existed in the Edo period, right? No, it’s 2023 now. And it’s not the Edo era, but it’s just another world. Yes, yes, there should be beigoma.
I was curious about what “beigoma” is like in this era, so I came near the children to see it.
“What, isn’t it a normal beigoma?”
When I looked at it, I found it was the so-called “beigoma” made of cast iron that was played in the Taisho and Showa eras.
One of the children who were playing turned to me.
“What is it, mister? What’s wrong with “normal”? Don’t complain about what we’re playing with.”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to do that…”
Maybe, “normal” is an offensive word in any era or world. It’s funny, because I always make an effort to be seen as “normal”…
When I was thinking about that, in the back of my mind, I pictured the scenery where my relatives’ children were playing.
“Not to apologize, but how about a little more exciting beigoma play?”
When I talked to the child from earlier, the other children also looked at me.
I used the grains of rice stuck inside the lunch box as glue and attached pebbles to the beigoma. When I started working on it, the children’s eyes got glued to my hands more and more.
“This is how you customize your beigoma. Think about which direction your beigoma will turn in, so that it will be stronger when it collides with others.”
The attitude of the child I was talking to earlier changed completely and he spoke to me as if he respected me:
“Thank you. That way, playing with a beigoma might become more exciting. Hey, everyone, let’s go home to get some glue and gather here again.”
When the child said so, each one left for home.
“Hah, that’s amazing. You have even reformed children’s play, haven’t you?”
Yoshino-san said as she saw off the children who were leaving.
“No, I just remembered my relatives’ children were playing with a top with some kind of decoration.”
“Hmm, is there such a top? I didn’t know. There are still many things I don’t know about in the world. It’s a constant learning process.”
Somehow, Yoshino-san was excited.
“Hey, mister, over there.”
Suddenly, a woman’s voice called out from behind.
When I turned around, I saw a beautiful woman, no, a good woman… no, an adult woman, anyway, standing there.
“What is it?”
I remembered that I hadn’t spoken to such an adult woman for so many years outside of work that I can’t even remember how long it was… so, I was nervous.
“Well, just a while ago, I saw you teaching the children something interesting.”
“Ah, you were watching me… No, did you see me? Oh, it’s so embarrassing.”
I was caught between the conflicting feelings of wanting to leave this place as soon as possible and wanting to talk a little more, but not knowing why I was spoken to after all, I scratched my head.
“Can I help you?”
Perhaps amazed at my suspicious behavior, Yoshino-san interrupted from the side.
“No, I just thought I had a top similar to the one you were making ingeniously.”
Saying this, she took a small package from her cleavage and handed it to me.
Where did this come from now? It’s a little warm…
Shaking off evil thoughts, I received the package, opened it, and, to my surprise, that was a Beyblade I had pictured in my mind.
“Hey, this! This is it, Yoshino-san. The one I was talking about earlier… The top my relatives’ children were playing with…
I was surprised and showed the actual thing to Yoshino-san.
Wow, I never thought this world has Beyblade…
“Oh, this is the one? It’s the first time I’ve seen it. It’s definitely more colorful than the ones made from cast iron.”
Yoshino-san is looking at the Beyblade with a curious look.
We are in the shogun’s domain. But, neither the general manager of the shopping mall nor the children here don’t know about it. That means…
I asked the woman wonderingly.
“Excuse me, miss, but where can I get this? I came from quite a distance… I don’t think I can get it around here.”
“Mister, I’m Kanzaki. Well, I can’t tell you where I got it, because it’s a trade secret. Sorry.”
The woman who called herself Kanzaki said so, while winking and putting her forefinger to her lips.
… Attractive. No, I shouldn’t feel like this!
But, she’s attractive, anyway.
“Is that so? You’re someone who does that kind of business. Sorry. Ah, my name is Kira Taro.”
“Taro-chan. I see. Come visit the place I work to hang out, if you’d like. Ah, I’ll give you that top as a souvenir.”
Having said that, she put something like a business card in my sleeve and left.
The place she works…does she mean “that” kind of place? Then, isn’t it unrelated to Beyblades? Well, I decided not to look at the business card with unknown information in front of Yoshino-san.
Thinking about Kanzaki absent-mindedly, I felt a pain in my side.
“Come on, you’re so lovestruck!”
It didn’t take long for me to realize that the cause of the pain was the elbow Yoshino-san pushed to me.
“This Beyblade she gave me… if we can get it somewhere, it would be nice if we could get Hobby House to carry it.”
I pretended to be “normal” as best I could and gave Yoshino-san a fake smile.
(To be continued)
written by SASAKI HANAKO
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