Just in case, I gave her a little extra money from my wallet, and again she accepted it politely with both hands and went to put it in her pocket.
“It’ll fall out,” I told her.
“But I don’t have anything to put it in.” She pouted like a child.
I asked her for her phone, peeled its cover half off and said, “You could put the notes in here.”
Her eyes widened, and she murmured, “You’re a genius.”
The girl in the photo had always been super efficient and responsible. The woman in front of me was a completely different person, I reminded myself, but absurdly I wanted to believe that some kind of miracle was happening.
“What are you going to do after this?” I asked.
“Might look for somewhere to charge my phone.”
“You have a charger on you?”
“Oh yeah, good point. Anyway, there must be an electronics store round here.”
“What kind of phone is it, Ryoko?”
I’d never met someone so unreliable. I ushered her into a hamburger joint, ordered coffee, found seats by a power outlet, and lent her my charger.
“I’m so sorry. Didn’t you have somewhere to be?” She glanced apologetically at my paper bag.
“No, that’s fine. I was on my way home.”
Inside the bag were the persimmons I’d been given as a parting gift, along with a warm, motherly smile—I felt a pang in my chest. They had always been such a welcoming family; every time I visited I’d be sent off with fruit or sweets. It had been a while since I’d last visited but their hospitality hadn’t changed one bit, which made what had happened seem all the more dream-like.
“Ryoko, what brings you here?”
“Mmm, there’s someone I want to meet, I guess.”
“Someone you want to meet?”
“Uh-huh. They turned up in my dream, so I rushed here, half asleep.”
“Must be someone special.”
“Yeah. Someone I love,” she said matter-of-factly.
Deep in my chest there was an urgent throb. With the same face as the girl in the photo—who was she meeting up with?
“How about I go with you?” I blurted out.
I was still wondering how to explain myself when she said easily, “Okay.”
“Do you really mean that?” I demanded.
She smiled. “Weren’t you the one who suggested it?”
“Yes, but still. We only just met.”
“On that note, you did lend me some money.”
“True, but…”
