ACT I - The Antique Shop II

Cursed? What did he mean…?

"You see, during these two years, so many shops closed down, probably not making enough money to pay the rent and the fees and such, and as businesses shut down and down, rumors started to spread quick—which also caused many families to move away, fearing this 'curse' would affect their kids' health and success. Well," he stopped to laugh heartily.

"I'm still here and doing just fine. What do you think, is it really the doing of some unexplainable phenomenon that the shops couldn't find success, or was it simply a coincidence…?"

He stared directly into my eyes, and I couldn't look away; breaking the gaze was near impossible. He had such dark eyes, almost resembling a black hole. If my eyes were stars, they were definitely getting sucked in, until the shine was completely gone—

I felt scared. Terror caressed my spine with its cold hands.

"H-honestly, I don't believe in such things, but…" I finally managed to pull my eyes away from his. I glanced around, trying to hide my shivers and tried to lighten the mood. "This place feels so magical, I'd totally believe such things can actually happen in real life! Here… It just feels so different from the outside world."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and smiled proudly. "Must be thanks to all the items I carefully choose and take to display in my shop. I make sure they are all used lovingly by their previous owners and hold many dear memories inside them, thus the name of my shop."

"Ohh, yes I saw the sign outside. What a lovely name for an antique shop! I can really feel your love and appreciation for all these items, umm…"

I realized I didn't know his name yet. Thankfully, he understood the reason for my sudden halt.

"Ah! My apologies, I haven't introduced myself yet, sorry young gentleman. I'm Tsukumo, y'know, as in…" He pointed towards an old print behind him, depicting various household items with faces and limbs, as if they had come alive. Next to it, there was also a poster of a 9x9 multiplication table.

"...Tsukumogami, youkai who have come alive after years and years of usage. A most fitting name for me, don't you think?"

He snickered and I politely returned the smile. What an interesting man, I thought.

"Though," he nudged his shoulder towards the multiplication table, "if that's hard to remember, just call me by my nickname, 99-san."

I nodded. That made sense, as the word Tsukumo was occasionally written with the kanji for ninety nine, representing the objects of such old age. Even his nickname was so… Fascinating!

I bowed respectfully, finally remembering my manners and showing proper respect in front of such an elder. "I'm Seira. It's very nice to meet you, 99-san."

He returned my bow with a slight nod of acknowledgement, putting his hand under his chin and examining me carefully. I moved away my gaze, not wanting to get sucked into those black holes once again.

"Seira-kun, huh… A bright and young star, I see. Well, most pleasant to meet you too, young gentleman! Say, would you happen to own any interesting objects lying about in your home?"

I didn't have to think much to answer.

"Ah… Actually, I recently moved back here from Canada. If we had any antique items, we probably left them in my grandparents' home there…"

"Ooh, I see I see! Well, actually I do not only sell antiques. I'm interested as long as the object has been loved and used dearly during their stay with the original owner… Like that mini fridge over there."

He gestured towards something in a row behind me. I squinted really hard, and managed to at least pick up its general features: a mini fridge with many magnets decorating its small surface.

"The owner actually left for America recently and wanted it to find a dear new home. It's quite the cute little fella, is it not…?"

I stood and squinted a bit more, trying to understand the shape of the magnets, but it was all futile. All I could manage to grasp was a soup of vague colors in front of the dirty white canvas of the fridge.

“Seira-kun, could it be that you need glasses? How about trying…”

I turned my gaze back to him, finding him searching the drawers of his desk. When he found what he was looking for, he made a satisfied a-ha sound and presented the item to me proudly: it was a pair of round glasses.

"...these! I got my hands on these glasses recently, aren't they so cool, fresh and hip?"

Well, I wouldn't exactly call them hip—or fresh even, as they looked quite old—but I had to admit they were pretty cool looking. The frames were golden colored and they even had chains attached, like the kind I saw the elderly wear around their necks sometimes. The chains had three small stars on one side; I warmed up towards them immediately because of the star motif.

He blew his breath on them and then cleaned them gently, albeit a bit hurriedly, with the piece of cloth on his desk. "What's your prescription? If I recall correctly, these are for -1.5 nearsightedness. Would you like to try them on?"

I held out both of my hands in front of me to receive the glasses. Amazingly enough, my prescription of -1.75 was quite close. It wouldn't hurt to try, and in either case, I could have the lenses remade.

"Thank you, I'd like to try them on, please. My prescription is similar, it should be fine."

Once I had them in my hands, I observed them closely from all angles. The frames were incredibly elegant. I wasn't sure if they'd fit me, but I was incredibly curious to try them on.

"I do have a couple of mirrors around the shop, if you walk around a bit you should find one quickly. Let's see how they fit you!"

I put them on, and immediately had to blink a few times from how clear and vibrant everything looked all of a sudden…! All the objects around me revealed further stories with all their details and little imperfections: all this new info burning themselves into my sight made me stumble on my feet.

"W-woah…!"

The old man looked incredibly proud. "Just look at how much they suit you…! Is your sight doing alright, though?"

Trying to digest the dizzying sensations, I started to look around for a mirror. It really must have been my imagination acting up, but I could almost hear the objects whispering things to me, and desperately trying to tell me something.

Maybe, now that I was wearing a magical item just like them, I had also awakened some sort of unexplainable power…?

I shook my head a few times. Jeez, wasn't I too old for these kinds of Chuunibyou thoughts?

I found a mirror, but then found a bigger one and changed my direction towards it. As I was too immersed in my own experience, I had forgotten about the other customer inside the shop. I only got reminded of them when they rang the shop’s door bell as they left the place, without making a purchase. The prices were probably too high for the average customer… Including me, who only had pocket money enough for a regular pair of glasses.

The sound of the customer leaving reminded me that I also had to come back home for lunch soon, and I felt a deeply sad sensation down my stomach, for having to leave this otherworldly place. It was almost like the hollow feeling after leaving the cinema saloon, having to come back to the real world after completely getting immersed in the film’s universe…

I took a last glance at myself, and removed the glasses from my face with utmost care, not wanting to cause even a bit of harm to this beautiful work of art. I decided to purchase the frames next time I came here—I would probably be able to save up some extra pocket money with some time—but Tsukumo-san made an unexpected offer.

"Why'd you take them off? I was planning on giving them as a gift for you!"

"E-eh? No, that won't do, 99-san…!"

"Ah, come on now, young gentleman. Consider this a welcome back home gift, from this humble old man. Won't you accept it?" He winked and laughed loudly. His laugh really filled up the entire space; it had such an intense quality to it.

I felt like it'd be disrespectful if I further turned down the offer.

"I… Thank you. Thank you so much, 99-san! I will really cherish these frames with my all. I will definitely visit again, and I'd be most happy if I could somehow pay back the kindness–"

Another laugh from him. He stood up, holding onto his walking stick. It felt like the dragon's head on the stick looked directly at me. Was it also trying to tell me something?

"Why, you can always pay me back with some interesting stories of yours about your experiences back in Canada. Really, there are many ways to pay back the price. Here, let me see you off."

He walked me slowly towards the door of the shop, and I took one last deep look inside, and then a quick glance towards his dark eyes. He simply smiled back at me.

What a day it had been.

And thus, with the chime of the door bell behind me, my trip to this otherworldly realm ended. There were such kind and generous people in this world…

I put the glasses back on. As I walked forward, I couldn't help but get bewildered at all the details I had missed out these days due to my myopia!

"Woah, there are leaves on trees…!"

My road back home would surely be quite interesting.

—

"Yes, Seira-kun… Here begins the Joyful and Tragic Theater of Life— let the events turn into fond memories one by one…!

Looking forward to the events of Act I, yes I do, very much…"

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