Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [48]
“Sure is hot in Tokyo,” Uncle Lou said, wiping his face with his hand. “Muggy too. That’s the difference between the heat down here in the city and the heat out on the beach. I would’ve given up on shopping if I were trying to do it alone. Sure glad you’re here to help.”
It was almost four o’clock in the afternoon on Friday. Wataru had come home from school two hours before to wait impatiently, fully prepared with a brand-new white shirt on for the occasion. The thing that had been weighing on his mind for the past two days—his fight with Katchan—had been resolved. The following day in school he had gone up to his friend to apologize, and Katchan had looked at him with his big round eyes and said, “What for?” and the matter had been settled. He was ready to go.
“I don’t imagine the rainy season is over yet, but at least today, you’re in luck,” his mother said, moving to the window and looking up at the sky. It had been overcast all morning, but since noon the sun had been shining with a weak light through the hazy clouds.
“At least we won’t have to haul umbrellas around,” Uncle Lou said, beaming as he turned to Wataru. “Ready to go?”
“You bet! Later, Mom.”
“Be good now. Watch after him, Satoru.”
“Aww, he’s always a good kid, aren’t you, Wataru? I’d have to try pretty hard to be half as good as you are.” Uncle Lou cackled as he led the way out. Kuniko saw them off at the door, and apologized for not having been a better hostess. She hadn’t even offered him a cup of coffee, unusual for someone who prided herself on propriety. Now that Wataru thought about it, her expression had been a bit stiff and forced that afternoon. Maybe there were more prank calls.
Uncle Lou had new intelligence about the boy he was going to visit in the hospital. First off, he had learned that he loved anime about robots. Unlike Wataru, he almost never played computer games, as his mother forbade them. The thing he had wanted most was a portable MD player, but someone had already given him that for good grades on his last report card.
Wataru suggested that they go to the Jinbocho district.
“The place with all the bookstores?”
“Yeah, there’s a shop there called Konno Books that specializes in anime stuff. They’ll have something on robot anime for sure.”
“Good thinking. How do you know about the place? You into that stuff too?”
“Not so much, but a friend of mine from cram school is really into it. If you ever need to know anything about anime, just ask him.”
Wataru led the way to the train while listening to his uncle talk about news from Chiba. Apparently, the humidity was up, along with his grandmother’s complaining. That was okay though, because her gripes were always good for a laugh. There was a new arcade near the beach (which Wataru would have to check out during his visit), and a big debate was going on about whether a man fishing on the pier had really seen a sea monster. Finally, the owner of Wataru’s favorite ramen joint had gotten into a fistfight and ended up with ten stitches.
They got off at the station and made their way toward the bookstores, only to discover that the district was so big and there were so many stores that Wataru wasn’t sure if they would ever find the one he had heard about. He didn’t know the exact address.
“We’ll figure it out. Follow me.”
Uncle Lou went into a large bookstore facing the main intersection and began talking to a young employee at the register. She was very helpful, handing him a map of the shopping district and pointing the way to Konno Books for him. The encounter put Uncle Lou in a good mood. “You know,” he said, “if you listen to the news, you’d think the whole world was going to pot. But there’s still plenty of kind folks around, that’s clear.”
This was Wataru’s first time in the booksellers’ district, and it made his head spin. He couldn’t believe that there were so many books in the world. Who could possibly read them all?
“If I spent the rest of my life