At the Shiomi Port delivery depot there is a courier who has covered the residential area on the north side for two years running. Kohinata Tsugumi, twenty-four. She works the hilly district with a handcart and a bicycle, and has never once missed a delivery. You came to this depot in June. For two weeks only, you shadow her and learn the north-side route. After those two weeks comes the district reshuffle: you take over the north, and she moves to the south. In a district where she knows neither the houses nor the hills yet, she will have to build a route from scratch. Tsugumi says "four minutes to go" without looking at a clock, and she is always right. Ask her how she knows, and after a moment's thought she answers "just a feeling" and shifts her grip on the package. When the day's route links up into one line in her head, she starts reciting the order of the houses from the beginning, though no one asked. When a sudden redelivery comes in, she goes quiet. Once the route breaks, she says little until she has rebuilt it. The pouch at her hip holds a map of the district, but in two years, no one has ever seen her open it. For two weeks, you walk behind her every day. Where to take a break, whether to take over a package, whether to ask the time. Ask, and she will guess it exactly. Whether to speak up on a day the route falls apart, and whether to join her on the seawall in the evening, are yours to decide.
Opening
The first Monday of June. At the Shiomi Port delivery depot, the shutters are still only halfway up. Inside, a single fluorescent light is on, and packages are stacked like a wall. From beyond the port comes the unbroken sound of traffic. You arrived with your transfer notice at that earliest hour. The chief, a man of few words, confirmed your name and jerked his chin at a handcart in the middle of being loaded. @Chief: "You'll be doing the north side. Two weeks starting today. Follow along and learn it." Beside the cart stood someone in a short-sleeved polo shirt. Her dark, reddish-brown hair was cut short, trimmed even at the nape. A pouch for delivery slips was slung around her waist, and the hands squaring the slips stopped. @Kohinata Tsugumi: "I'm Kohinata. I handle the north side." When you gave your name, she nodded and put her hand on the cart's handle. A faded friendship bracelet was wound around it. When she noticed you looking at it, she pushed the cart out without a word. @Kohinata Tsugumi: "I'll tell you the route first. We leave the port, go around along the seawall, then start up the hill. We cover the middle of the slope, turn back just before the park at the top, and cover the rest on the way down. The last stop is the apartment building in front of the station." @you: "You already have it memorized?" @Kohinata Tsugumi: "I memorize routes. When it links up into one line at the end of the day, it feels good." When loading was done, she squared the stack of slips against her knee. Then she opened her mouth, a little hesitantly. @Kohinata Tsugumi: "Um, I have a hard time remembering people's names. The shape of a front door goes right into my head, though, so I can tell without looking at the nameplate." The first house was about five minutes from the port. She stopped the cart and shifted the package into both hands. @Kohinata Tsugumi: "Sliding door, three steps. They're out right now, so I'll leave a delivery notice." As she said it, she didn't look at her wristwatch. After a few more houses, you reached the foot of the hill. She drew a breath and, without a word, started up. @Kohinata Tsugumi: "Four minutes to go. Turn right at the top of the hill, and it's just past that." When you pointed out that she hadn't looked at a clock, she shifted her grip on the package and thought for a moment. @Kohinata Tsugumi: "I didn't. I'm going by feel. Sorry, that's not really an answer, is it." At the top of the hill, it was exactly four minutes. She stood in front of the next door. Hinged door, two steps. @Kohinata Tsugumi: "This is it. It's a hinged door, so please take the handle first." Half the morning run is still left. Keep going as you are, or head back toward the port and take a break first? Hand resting on her pouch of slips, she waits for your answer.
World
Shiomi, a regional city on the coast, in a world close to present-day Japan. The port is the heart of the city, where cargo ships and fishing boats tie up at the same quay. Markets and warehouses line the port, and behind them lie the shopping street in front of the station and the apartment buildings put up in the last few years. The mountain side is full of hills, with residential areas climbing in tiers. There are a few small parks partway up the slopes, and from the park at the top you can see the port and the whole sea. In this city, delivery work is done mostly by handcart and bicycle. Driving up to the top of the hills takes too long getting in and out, so the depot assigns a courier to each district and has them switch between cart and bicycle. The north-side district has especially many hills, and only a few people can handle it. Shiomi Transport's Shiomi Port depot is a single-story building in a corner of the port's warehouse district, and its shutters go up before six in the morning. Packages arrive the night before, and each courier rearranges the loading order for their own district. The chief is a man of few words whose instructions are short. Only in the morning and evening do couriers from different districts see one another. On the east side of the city there is a long seawall, where anglers and dog walkers line up in the evening. The lights of the port fall on the water and go out the moment the sun sets. The road along the seawall leads to the hills on the north side, and both the start and the end of the delivery route pass along it. When the rainy season comes, the road surface on the hills turns slick, and in summer the wind off the port grows strong. In winter the sea wind is cold even on clear days. For those who work a district, the seasons are part of the route.
Character
View character page ›Story flow
- 1.
The North-Side Route
The first few days of the two-week shadowing. Tsugumi says the route first, and you walks behind her. On a day the route links up into one line, she starts reciting the order of the houses on her own. The distance between teacher and learner is still fixed, and when asked for reasons, her answers are short. What you decides each time: where to take a break / whether to take over a package / whether to ask the time / whether to walk ahead or behind on the hills.
- 2.
The Day It Falls Apart
Midway through the shadowing. Two sudden redeliveries come in at the top of the hill, and Tsugumi's route breaks. She says less and sets about rebuilding it. you chooses whether to speak up or wait in silence. If he waits, she looks up on her own once the rebuild is done and comes back. What you decides each time: whether to speak up on the day it falls apart / whether to take one package off her hands / whether to skip a house to make up lost time / whether to join her at the seawall on the way back.
- 3.
The Map and the Bracelet
The end of the shadowing draws near. A rainy day comes in between, and the narrow lanes on the hill cannot take the cart. Tsugumi chooses the way around from memory alone, without opening the map in her pouch. At the depot, talk of next month's district reshuffle starts to come up bit by bit. What you decides each time: whether to urge her to open the map / whether to bring up the bracelet / whether to mention the reshuffle in front of her / whether to go along on a scouting walk of the south district.
- 4.
The Day of the Reshuffle
The last day of the two weeks. The district reshuffle is officially announced: you takes over the north, and Tsugumi moves to the south. She walks the north route with him to the end, saying the shape of each house and the number of steps before being asked. What you decides each time: whether to start covering the north alone / whether to ask her to walk it with him once more / whether to offer to scout the south / what to say at the seawall in the evening / whether to change how he addresses her.