EXTRACT: Dinner at the Night Library

They went through the second automatic glass door, finally entering the library.

Otaha gulped and looked upward.

At the entrance the ceiling rose up to the second floor, with bookshelves reaching to the ceiling, crammed full of books.

“This is amazing! It’s so beautiful.”

And it was a magnificent sight, books rising all the way to the vaulted ceiling. Yet on the outside, the library was an unassuming neat gray structure, so the contrast was indeed striking.

“It is rather nice, isn’t it.” Sasai was cool and collected, unlike the excited Otoha.

“It’s amazing – almost the very library I’ve been dreaming of forever,” Otaha said.

“Glad to hear it.”

One again Sasai strode off inside.

She wanted to take a closer look at the books lined up there, but still found herself trotting off to keep up with him.

Past the room with the vaulted ceilings, they entered a spacious area. At the entrance was another reception desk, behind which were seated a man and woman who seemed to be library staff. Both were in casual clothes with a black apron. When they saw Sasai and Otoha they rose to their feet. The woman was about the same height as Otoha, the man quite tall, about five foot nine, and solidly built.

“This is Ms. Otoha Higuchi, who’s come here today to work with us,” Sasai explained.

“I’m Naoto Tokai,” the man said.

“And my name’s Minami Enokida,” said the woman.

Unlike Sasai and Mai, these two were smiling. At long last Otoha felt reassured. She’d been asking herself what she should do if the entire staff turned out to be like them, attractive, yet cool and detached. She was happy, too, that, though a little older, they were of her same generation.

“Otoha Higuchi – almost the same characters as the author Ichiyo Higuchi’s name, right? Is there some connection?” Minami asked, smiling broadly. Otoha had been asked this so many times she was tired of it, yet now the familiar question brought only a sigh of relief.

“Yes, my mother is a big fan of Ichiyo Higuchi, and when she married and her last name changed to Higuchi she decided she wanted to name her daughter using the character yo, or ha meaning leaf.”

“Got it. So – do you read a lot of Ichiyo Higuchi’s work?”

“I have read it, yes. My favourite is ‘The Thirteenth Night.’”

“That’s a very short one, but heartrending, isn’t it. The woman in the story –”

Totally ignoring their conversation, Sasai interrupted. “For the time being,” he said, “we’ll be having Ms. Higuchi processing books.”

“I see.” Tokai nodded. “It’s tough work, so good luck.”

“We’ll stop by later to give you a hand,” Minami said.

The two of them seemed to feel for her. Tokai smiled wanly, while Minami looked sympathetic.

“Is the work that difficult?” Otoha was a bit worried.

The two of them looked at each other, and Otoha noticed something: they almost looked like twins. Not their faces so much as their gestures and expressions, the whole vibe that surrounded them.

“It’s not so hard, but kind of repetitive, so you can get tired of it,” Tokai said.

“I don’t particularly mind it. And it’s something all new staff need to learn,” Minami added.

“Sorry about that, but we’ll help you out,” they both piped in. Despite these warnings, the two of them seemed upbeat, and the tension drained out of Otoha a bit.

“Late on, let’s eat the staff dinner together. Tonight’s menu is shirobanba, as I recall.”

Shirobanba? What could that be? Otoha wondered, but Sasai had once again strode off and she had to hurry to catch up. She glanced around and saw the two of them, Tokai and Minami, right hands both raised, waving farewell. Instinctively, she waved back.

“Come this way,” Sasai said and walked off quickly, noiselessly.

The next room – and the next one after that – all had identical bookshelves along the walls, each packed full of books, and within the larger rooms, bookshelves in the middle as well.

After passing through most of the library, they arrived at the last room, one with no visible exit.

Meaning they had arrived at the very end of the first floor.

Yet Sasai walked to the very back of the room…toward the bookshelves, in other words, and came to a halt in front of them.

“It’s behind this. Where your first job is,” he explained.

“Huh? But you can’t go any farther,” Otoha exclaimed.

“Not true. It’s behind here.”

When she didn’t seem to get it, Sasai made a wide gesture with his arms.

“Open up, door!” he intoned.

What the heck is he up to? A grown man acting like a child! …She looked back and forth between him and the bookshelf, thoroughly perplexed.

And sure enough the bookshelves began to clatter open, left and right.

And there really was a room behind them.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Otoha murmured.

The only time she’d ever seen anything like this was in foreign dramas where rich people had safe rooms.

“…You were just thinking how childish I am, weren’t you,” Sasai said.

Otoha no longer had the strength to deny it. She nodded weakly.

“At least I didn’t say Open sesame. You should give me that much.”

He smiled broadly for the very first time.