6 Rikugien Garden

The next morning, Natsuko checked her outfit at Shibuya Station as usual. She took out her usual black-rimmed glasses from her bag and put them on, and she looked like a plain office lady as usual. As she started to walk, Natsuko remembered that she had received a message from Miyamoto, so she took out her cell phone from her bag. Holding the black phone, Natsuko gave a bitter smile.
"This is Emma's cell phone."
If she went back to Emma's house, she would definitely be late for work. She gave up on going back and called her cell phone, which connected to Emma. She listened to the phone ringing as she climbed the stairs at Shibuya Station during the morning rush hour. The phone didn't answer for a while. As soon as she arrived at the train platform, the train arrived, and passengers poured out of the open doors. Natsuko tried to hang up the phone. At that moment,
"Natsuko! Did you make a mistake?"
Ema's voice sounded more serious than she had expected, so Natsuko hurriedly said, becoming serious.
"That's right. I'm sorry. What should we do?"
"When can we meet again?"
"Probably after 1am the day after tomorrow."
The music for the train's departure rang out from the overhead speakers, and Natsuko nearly collapsed from the noise, but she naturally answered loudly so that Emma could hear her.
"That's right. It's the day I don't have any immediate work. Shall I deliver it to your company?"
"I'm glad, but I might not be able to get out on time."
The train doors closed in front of her, the train sped off, and the line became deserted. The flow of passengers on the platform squirmed left and right.
"I have some free time tomorrow afternoon, so I'll stop by my usual gallery in Ginza and wait for you at a coffee shop or something near your company."
"Thank you. I'm sorry. If I get a call on my cell phone by then, let's send each other a message."
"Okay."
"Okay."
Natsuko hung up the phone and got on the crowded train that had just arrived. She opened the photo folder on Emma's cell phone. Natsuko thought that Emma must be looking at the photos on my phone right now. In my folder, there were only photos of Emma, ​​the bridge, the sky, and the day of the portable shrine. Emma's bitter smile came to mind. Most of the photos Emma took were of cats, flowers, and the sky. Sometimes Natsuko was there. There was also a photo of Natsuko asleep just three hours ago. The bare minimum was hidden, but it was a photo of her naked body from face to toe. Natsuko thought that she had come across the number one photo she wanted to delete in her life. Natsuko unconsciously pressed the trash can icon. While she was pressing ``Yes'' under the ``Do you want to delete?'' display, she arrived at the transfer station.
``This was Emma's phone.''
Muttering this, Natsuko put her phone in her bag without pressing ``Yes.''
When she arrived at the office, Emma's phone received an email. It seemed to be from the office.
``Do you think you can come to work today?''
How should she respond to this message? I decided to ask Emma by message. "I got a message from Emma's workplace asking if I can come in, how should I reply?" A few minutes later, Emma replied.
"Just reply yes."
Natsuko immediately replied to Emma.
"Understood."
And then Natsuko replied "Yes" to the person who seemed to be Emma's boss at work.
10:30 a.m. Many of the members were in various meetings, and the Software Development Department office was deserted. There was a message from Emma on my cell phone.
It was a forwarded message from Miyamoto.
"Autumn leaves falling on the mountain, my younger sister looks around, her petals scattered in a mess."
When I searched, it was a poem from the Manyoshu. Miyamoto was looking in the direction of Kayabacho from somewhere. And there were beautiful autumn leaves right in front of him. Where on earth was Miyamoto? I also decided to look for a poem from the Manyoshu to reply to. I searched for a poem from the Manyoshu on my company's PC. After staring at each other for a few minutes, she decided to send this song back.
"A deer walks through the autumn fields in the morning without a trace, will I meet you tonight, whom I long for?" (I wonder if I will be able to meet you tonight, even though I don't know where you are all the time.)
After sending this song to Miyamoto, Emma sent a message to Natsuko saying,
"What era are you guys from? www."
Natsuko had received numerous calls from Emma's workplace on her mobile phone. As instructed by Emma, ​​Natsuko did not answer the phone. However, she wrote down the number on a piece of paper and put it away in her desk drawer.
"(^^) www. Thank you. See you later. Everyone's back from the meeting (･･;)"
Natsuko hurriedly put her mobile phone away in her bag and got up to prepare for the next meeting.
This day, she left work a little earlier than usual and headed to Kiyosumi Shirakawa Station. As usual, she changed her clothes in the station toilet, fixed her hair, and went out onto the street. As she walked down the street, she looked for Miyamoto's car, which should have been parked somewhere in the alleyway they crossed.
Feeling like she had passed where the car usually was, Natsuko started to go back the way she came. Then, beyond the cosmos flowerbed, she saw the tip of the car. Natsuko crouched down to hide in the flowers in the flowerbed and approached the car, then suddenly stood up when she was around the right corner of the car. The driver's eyes widened as Natsuko suddenly appeared on the right side of the windshield. Behind her was Miyamoto's smiling face. His voice didn't leak out, but it seemed like he was laughing out loud. The door was slightly open, so Natsuko opened it and got in the car.
"Hello. Today, I could only see the nose of the car, so I crossed this alley and looked for the next one. We're running out of time."
Miyamoto shifted his hips a little further back, making more room for Natsuko to sit, and said.
"Hey. You look fine."
"Thanks to you, Miyamoto."
Miyamoto's smile didn't change. But for just a moment, Natsuko thought she felt the driver's strange gaze in the rearview mirror. The car started off in the direction of Kanda.
"Miyamoto-san, actually, this morning I went to work and mixed up my cell phone with that of my painter friend who I was talking to earlier."
"Really? So that song was by him?"
"Yes. My friend sent it, but I was the one who picked it. People said to me, what era are you from? In my student days, I was so bad at classical poetry that I wished it didn't exist. But as I communicated with Miyamoto-san, classical waka poetry began to seem like emoticons that could convey even the most subtle feelings. It would be great if I could compose waka poetry with this. "
"Yeah, maybe. But when I think someone saw me, I suddenly get all flustered."
"I'm sorry. I feel embarrassed about a lot of things too, or maybe I just can't help but smile wryly. When I was looking at the photos my friend took, I started to get all flustered."
"What kind of photos?"
"It's that one. Of the drawings on my body. Most of them were taken with a digital camera while I was awake, but I'm usually asleep when they're drawing. My friend had a few photos of me asleep on his phone. They were probably taken right after he'd finished drawing. "I think that's what it is."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Let me see."
"Here you go. The picture is small and a little hard to see, though."
"What's going on?"
"I think it was probably taken from above while the spider was sleeping on its side. Probably from the shoulders to the waist."
"I see. The curve of the waist makes the way the spider's legs bend look three-dimensional."
"Yes. I also have a photo of me sitting on the floor in another location, and the spider looked alert with its legs curled up. If the skin was pulled or loosened, the picture would look completely different. It changes. It's very interesting."
"Oh, really. But this one is pretty risky. Next is a flower? I want this photo."
"Haha, please stop. It's hard to see from the angle, but it's a peony."
"It's a distorted vase."
"This one looks distorted, but if you look at it from a different angle, it's a beautiful, large, Chinese vase. I actually had some photos prepared on my phone this morning to show you today, but I ended up showing you only the weird photos my friend took."
Natsuko thought that it wasn't supposed to be like this. She wanted him to see the underwater picture and the Ferris wheel picture too.
"The picture is good, but on the other hand, it's good. Give me this."
Does Miyamoto really need a photo of such a poor body? Natsuko wondered, because the person who looked after Miyamoto seemed very glamorous.
"This is the number one photo I want to erase in my life."
"I think it's good."
Natsuko felt something cold and heavy in Miyamoto's smile. Something was different from usual. "Look, look, we've arrived at Rikugien Garden."
Natsuko distracted Miyamoto.
"It's fine, give it to me. I won't show it to anyone. This is all I need."
Miyamoto seemed surprisingly serious.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll look at it when I'm feeling down."
Miyamoto was smiling, but his eyes weren't smiling. Something must have happened. No matter what she asked Miyamoto about, he never spoke. Natsuko desperately tried to think of ways to cheer him up.
"Miyamoto-san, do you ever feel down?"
"Yes, I do. But it's okay. You never know when you might be unable to move. When I can no longer walk, I'll look at this every day and remember it to cheer me up."
"There must be a lot more good photos out there. I don't want mine because I'm disappointed."
"It's fine. I'll show you the times we fought here, or held hands. I've never seen a woman get so anxious walking while holding hands. No one has ever tried to push me into a pond. It was always fun."
"Miyamoto-san, what's wrong? Is something wrong?"
"A little bit. He's going to be hospitalized soon."
"I see."
Natsuko thought about Miyamoto's "a little bit." It wasn't just "a little bit," she felt it was surprisingly serious. And she also thought that goodbye was near.
"I can't visit you, so here's a risqué photo. I don't know if it will cheer you up, but if you look at it every day, maybe it will get better! Do your best!"
She knew it would be impossible to heal him, but it was the greatest encouragement Natsuko could give.
"Hahaha. Okay. Thank you. Let's go then."
Miyamoto laughed out loud as he got out of the car and held out his hand to Natsuko.
"Okay."
Natsuko shook Miyamoto's hand. At Rikugien Garden, which was nearing autumn closing time, the beautiful sunset sky was reflected on the water's surface, and the trees in the garden, the sky, and the ground beneath her feet all created a beautiful world. There was not much need for words that day. There was no need for arguments. She could recall stories about Togetsukyo Bridge, Seyama, the lanterns, the weeping cherry trees that had not yet bloomed, and the sound of the water. Every time they passed by these places, they looked at each other and smiled. Their hands were warm as they held hands. That was to be the last time she saw Miyamoto.