Water Eggplant and a Kitchen Knife (1)

     Nagisa was wondering.

     Which ice cream should I have?

     Old-fashioned simple ice cream is good.  To have a large-sized simple vanilla ice cream cup is also good.  An ice cream bar with a lottery could bring me another bar.

     All seemed tempting.  Hard to choose.  Nagisa growled.

     As Nagisa was wavering in earnest, Koyoshi, the owner of the low-priced sweets shop, found her heart-warming and gave a faint smile.

     After wavering for a while, Nagisa made up her mind to buy a large-sized vanilla ice cream cup.

     “Ma’am, here you are.”

     Nagisa held out a 100-yen coin, and a heavily wrinkled hand took it.

     “It’s only you, Nagisa, that still visit here and buy sweets.”

     “My house is very near.”

     Actually, the shop was between Nagisa’s house and a convenience store.  The shop used to be a bakery and sold low-priced sweets for small children as a side business.  After Koyoshi’s husband, who baked bread, died, she only sold low-priced sweets.

     With fewer children in the society, or with the worn-out atmosphere of the shop, fewer people visited the shop.

     These days, more people go shopping at convenience stores, and Nagisa hardly finds other shoppers.  Of course, small children still hang out in and around the shop after school.  Nagisa kept away from visiting the shop in its peak hours, enjoyed the quiet atmosphere of the shop, and found it one of the few places to feel relaxed.

     “No doubt, I’ve grown older.  Nagisa, you’ve grown so big!”

     Koyoshi smiled softly.  Her soft smile, however, made Nagisa somewhat embarrassed.

     Koyoshi knew her from when she was still small, and knew a couple of past secrets.

     Koyoshi, however, isn’t the one who talks about those secrets casually.

     Knowing that, Nagisa casually visits the shop.