[Ten Views Of Shonan -Hill-] - Shimbashi Route Short Story
Thank you @/phampiremagic on Twitter for helping proofread!
Shimbashi: “I require your services.”
ʚɞ
That was all the message Shimbashi-san left at the detective agency said.
With haste, I hurried to meet him at the appointed location.
It was a Friday in the midst of August.
The mountaintop rest area was bustling with tourists.
It had been a while since I’d seen Shimbashi-san.
His hair had grown longer and was tied behind his neck.
His clothes were disheveled as if he’d just rolled out of bed.
Shimbashi: “Greetings.”
Oosaki: “Good afternoon, Shimbashi-san.”
Shimbashi: “My apologies for calling you here on such short notice. I hope this compensation fee will suffice.”
Oosaki: “It’s fine.”
Shimbashi: “You do realize I’m hiring you for a job?”
Oosaki: “There wasn’t much work at the agency today, so I took off early.”
Shimbashi: “...What a disgusting amount of free time. Just accept it already. You peon. Pauper. Peasant.”
Oosaki: “You won’t change my mind by calling me names. Please give it up.”
Shimbashi: “What am I to do if your family thinks me an unreasonable man?”
Oosaki: “I suppose you’ll have to act reasonably.”
Shimbashi: “Which is why I’m paying you a reasonable amount.”
And with that, he forced the money upon me.
We were sitting in a corner by the windows.
Outside, the town of Oiso and its beach stretched out beneath us.
This area was formerly known by the rather elevated name, “Senjoujiki”.
However, after officially becoming a scenic park, it was renamed to Shonan Daira. [1]
Neither of us holds a connection to this place.
When I was summoned here, I had thought to myself—
“This must be important”— However…
Oosaki: “What’s the situation?”
Shimbashi-san brought out a single handkerchief.
Then, with trembling fingers, he carefully, reverently placed it on the table.
Although it was folded into quarters, I could tell it was a rather large piece of white cloth.
Shimbashi: “After our last performance, I found this handkerchief in one of the audience seats. My request for you is to find its owner.”
Mirroring his caution, I gently touched the handkerchief.
Printed along its edge was the name of this rest area.
Without a doubt, the owner had a connection to this place.
Still, it would be a difficult search.
Shimbashi: “I understand that I am grasping at straws. However, I thought that perhaps someone from Hiratsuka, such as yourself, would be able to discern more…” [2]
Oosaki: “While it’s true that Hiratsuka and Oiso are neighboring cities, Oiso’s tourism industry is much more developed. Even this rest area has been open since spring.”
Shimbashi: “Which is to say the handkerchief’s owner could’ve been a visiting tourist rather than a local…”
Oosaki: “Exactly. It would appear this place sells similar items over there.”
I pointed to the store by the register.
An array of souvenirs, including handkerchiefs, pens, and coffee beans, were on display.
The store was completely packed.
With no other place to escape the scorching heat of the sun, everyone on the mountaintop gravitated here in search of a cool respite.
Tropical music. [3]
Children’s laughter.
Clattering silverware. In the midst of this bright place—
Shimbashi-san was like a gloomy shadow as he sipped on his acrid, black coffee.
Shimbashi: “The handkerchief owner was sitting in the front row in the very last seat on the right. She was a woman with short hair.”
Oosaki: “You remember that much?”
Shimbashi: “She’s been a patron for some time.”
Despite being an author who could fill a thousand-seat theater, he still remembered a single guest hidden in its wings.
Oosaki: “If that’s so, then we could sketch a portrait and ask the waiters.”
Shimbashi: “Such was my initial plan. However, they haven’t even the time to take your order.”
Several waiters were flitting about, but they all seemed busy.
With no other choice, I swiped Shimbashi-san’s iced coffee and took a sip.
Shimbashi: “Ah—”
Oosaki: “In that case, there’s another way to return the handkerchief. If the owner is a regular guest, then at the showing of your new play tomorrow—”
Shimbashi: “I fear she won’t come.”
With that, Shimbashi-san pressed his lips together and fell silent.
His eye watered like he was about to cry.
I was startled.
For the first time, I noticed his agitation.
Shimbashi: “Perhaps, the owner of this handkerchief didn’t forget it at the theater.
Perhaps, they meant it as a gift for me.
Take a close look at the hand-stitched embroidery.
This streetlamp was the motif of last year’s play.
This magnifying glass was a previous motif as well.
And this, is the insignia of the Pluto Theater Company.”
Suddenly, the handkerchief felt warmer and weightier in my hand.
Shimbashi: “Consider this:
If the handkerchief was indeed intended for me, why would the owner choose to bequeath a handkerchief specifically?
Gifts come in all manner of shapes and sizes, such as watches, fountain pens, letters, and so on.
But to give a handkerchief…”
Oosaki: “What does it mean?”
Shimbashi: “To give a handkerchief as a gift, is to signify an eternal parting.”
He turned to face the window.
His eye welled with the color of the sea.
He was fighting back tears, pretending like his wavering gaze was nothing more than the reflection of the waves.
Shimbashi: “It’s said that the deceased leave handkerchiefs behind so the living may wipe their tears.”
Oosaki: “The deceased?”
Shimbashi: “When I saw the ocean today, I felt certain of it.
That guest will never again come to the theater.
That guest, she's already gone—”
Oosaki: “...”
Shimbashi: “You can tell the kind of person she was from the stitching—
—A delicate, sensitive soul.
The boundless ocean. The no-swimming flag.
Oh, it could only end in tragedy.”
Oosaki: “...”
Shimbashi: “All I wish is to return this handkerchief to her family.
However, I’m powerless to achieve even that…”
Oosaki: “Have you slept lately?”
Shimbashi: “I haven’t slept well for an entire week.”
Oosaki: “That would explain all the nonsense.”
Shimbashi: “You mock me—!?”
His vivid imagination was causing him to jump to the wrong conclusions.
As a detective, I had to intervene.
Firstly, I spread the handkerchief out on the table.
A street lamp, a magnifying glass, a red ribbon and heel.
The embroidered images seemed to trace Pluto’s artistic journey.
Putting my face to the table, I sniffed the fabric.
Shimbashi: “Disgusting…”
Oosaki: “The smell could provide us with a clue.”
Shimbashi: “Even so, it’s an unsightly act…”
Oosaki: “We’ll absolutely find her.”
Regardless of whether the owner left or forgot her handkerchief, there was a case to be solved.
Then—
Oosaki: “I smell coffee. It’s faint, but it’s there on the edge of the handkerchief.”
Shimbashi: “Coffee? Are you sure that’s not my drink?”
I thrust my nose into his coffee.
Shimbashi: “Ee—!!!”
Oosaki: “Just as I thought… It’s the same scent.”
A waiter approached us.
Employee: “My apologies for the wait. What would you like to order?”
Oosaki: “An iced coffee pl—”
Employee: “Ah!!!”
The waitress’s scream drew everyone’s attention.
However, she didn’t notice whatsoever.
Her focus was solely on the handkerchief lying on the table.
Employee: “That’s my handkerchief!”
Oosaki: “Huh?”
Shimbashi-san stiffened.
All around us, people returned to their previous activities.
Only I continued to look at her.
Oosaki: “Are you certain this is yours?”
Employee: “It has to be.
I stitched everything myself.
The street lamp, the magnifying glass, the red ribbon and heel—
—Pluto’s pawprint insignia.
Wherever did you find it?”
Oosaki: “It was on one of the seats at the theater.”
Employee: “I must’ve left it there.”
Shimbashi-san clutched his head and planted his face on the table.
Oosaki: “I figured that was the situation, so I came to return it.”
The waitress held onto the handkerchief tightly as her eyes welled with tears.
Employee: “Are you a fan of Pluto too, sir?”
Oosaki: “I am.”
Employee: “For how long?”
Oosaki: “It’s been about three, no, four years now.”
Employee: “What drew you to him?”
Oosaki: “His consideration for the audience.”
Employee: “He does seem like a very kind person.”
Oosaki: “The type to clean the theater himself despite being the playwright.”
Any other person would’ve deemed the handkerchief rubbish and thrown it away.
However, Shimbashi-san was part of the stage himself.
His thespian soul compelled him to pick up the handkerchief—
—For anything could be a valuable prop.
Shimbashi-san suddenly took off.
Bewildered, I chased after him.
The waitress quickly waved her handkerchief to see us off.
As we stepped outside, the droning of cicadas immediately filled our ears.
The midsummer sun made everything hazy, except for the shadows, which stood out in stark contrast.
Shimbashi-san partially turned around to face me.
He was sulking with a pouty expression.
However, a single wet droplet slid down his cheek.
It was a tear of relief.
Shimbashi: “I apologize for my unseemly behavior.
It appears I’ve worked myself up over nothing.
I hadn’t even considered that the owner could be an employee.
Had I realized sooner, I could’ve settled everything with a phone call.”
Oosaki: “I wouldn’t say it was all for nothing.”
Shimbashi: “...”
Oosaki: “You saved her.” [4]
Shimbashi-san was never wrong about people.
The waitress’s tears must’ve come from deep within her heart.
In the end, I was glad we came.
ʚɞ
The two of us boarded a bus back to town.
As if his strings were cut, Shimbashi-san began to doze off despite the coffee he’d drunk earlier.
Before I realized, his head fell against my sturdy shoulders as if that’s where it belonged.
The weight of his body was comforting.
Today.
He was a client and I was a detective.
Tomorrow.
He’ll be Pluto and I’ll be his audience.
The day after, Sunday.
A day when there are no roles assigned.
We’ll play as lovers.
[Ten Views of Shonan -Hill-] 1959.Shimbashi Route
Translation Notes
[1] "Senjoujiki" literally means "thousand mat room" but can signify an expansive rocky plateau. "Shonan Daira" translates simply to "Shonan Plateau" which is significantly more straightforward.
[2] "Grasping clouds" in the original which is cuter than grasping at straws, a very Shimbashi phrase.
[3] Just a fun fact, but the restaurant Oosaki and Shimbashi are in is apparently Hawaiian themed. Shout-out to Luc, the editor, for this discovery.
[4] The one (1) word used in the original leaves the meaning of this line slightly vague. In one interpretation, Oosaki could be saying Shimbashi was able to "save" the woman by returning something that was clearly precious to her. In another interpretation, Oosaki might've meant that Shimbashi could've literally saved the woman's life had she truly been planning to jump into the sea. I think the latter is more empathetic towards Shimbashi since it encourages him to embrace his anxious nature on the off-chance that he's right.
