Chapter 15: Reiko Shows the Sketchbooks to Haruka

The train left Shiokaze at six forty-seven in the morning, before the heat had fully committed to the day.

Natsuko had the window seat. She watched the coastline pull away — the torii visible for perhaps thirty seconds above the rooftops before the track curved inland and the shrine disappeared behind a stand of cryptomeria that needed trimming. She made a note of this in her log. Not because the trees were relevant. Because her hand needed something to do.

Reiko sat beside her with the sketchbooks in a cloth bag on her lap, the kind of bag usually used for groceries, pale blue with a faded persimmon print along the bottom edge. She had wrapped each book individually in paper towel, which Natsuko had not commented on. There were eight of them. The bag sat upright between Reiko's knees and she kept one hand on the top of it, loosely, the way you keep a hand on something you are afraid might slide away.