１６．筑紫
ビルの谷間を一本、奥へ折れた路地。
細く垂れた暖簾の向こう。
庭の見える窓の外で、竹の筧が水を落とした。
店内も表通りと同じく人影はまばらだ。だが寂れているのではない。席の間合いと、器の置き方が、この店の流儀を示していた。
数分前に「いらっしゃいませ」と微笑んだ着物の給仕が、細い指で膳をすべらせるように据えていく。
野中の胸は落ち着かなかった。
誰かと誰かの縁を結ぶ役目――仲人めいた責任に、期待が熱を足してくる。
一方で筑紫は、背筋をほどき、椅子にゆったり沈んだ。焼けた肌は照明を吸い、笑うときだけ白い歯がひときわ目立つ。
「いやあ、こんな素敵な日本食……」
美しい器を前に、南は感嘆をこぼした。
「前の帰国でも、ここまで丁寧な和食には、たぶん巡り合っていません。それに──」
前の箸袋の位置を少し整え、南は筑紫を見た。
「筑紫さんは、日本のこの業界では、名の通った方なのではないですか？」
野中が力いっぱいに頷く。
筑紫はわずかに口元をゆるめた。
「すみません。私が不勉強なもので。なかなか日本にいないものですから」
礼は崩さない。けれど喜びが、言葉の端から滲み出ていた。
「いえいえ。私などは――それより、意欲のある方とお話しできるのは、ありがたいことです」
筑紫は箸を取った。
「さあ、食べましょう。冷めないうちに」
促す声に、気負いはない。
目の前の膳を、ただ味わおうとする余裕があった。
※
An alley that turned one step deeper between the high walls of buildings.
Beyond a narrow hanging curtain.
Outside a window that looked onto a small garden, a bamboo spout let water fall in steady drops.
Inside, too, the crowd was thin—just like the main street. But it wasn’t the kind of emptiness that meant decline. The spacing between seats, the way the dishes were set down: it all declared the house style, the unspoken rules this place lived by.
A kimono-clad server who had smiled and said Welcome only minutes before now slid trays into place with slender fingers, as if setting them on air.
Nonaka couldn’t settle.
To be the one tying one person’s thread to another’s—matchmaker’s work—came with a responsibility that made expectation burn hot in his chest.
Chikushi, on the other hand, loosened his posture and sank comfortably into his chair. His sun-browned skin drank in the light; only when he smiled did his white teeth stand out sharply.
“Wow… such wonderful Japanese food,” Minami breathed.
Before the beautiful ceramics, admiration spilled out of him.
“Even the last time I came back, I don’t think I ever found kaiseki this careful. And—”
He adjusted the position of his chopstick sleeve by a fraction, then looked at Chikushi.
“Mr.Chikushi—aren’t you someone with a name in this industry in Japan?”
Nonaka nodded hard, almost too hard.
Chikushi let the corner of his mouth ease.
“I’m sorry. I’m not very knowledgeable,” Minami added quickly. “I’m rarely in Japan.”
His manners didn’t slip. And yet pleasure seeped through the edges of his words.
“No, no.” Chikushi waved it off lightly. “As for me—more importantly, it’s a gift to be able to speak with someone who has real drive.”
He picked up his chopsticks.
“Come,” he said. “Let’s eat—while it’s still warm.”
There was no strain in the way he urged them on.
He had the composure to simply taste what was in front of him.
