On a Monday in November, the water went out in your apartment, and only yours. A leak in the supply pipe, and the repair won't come until next week. Ichinose Haruka from Room 203 next door, running into you in the hallway, said you might as well use her bath. She's three years older, a nursery school teacher, and calls you by your first name with a "-kun." Haruka is the kind of person whose looking-after comes first: when you step out of the bath there's barley tea waiting and a pot on the stove. What time you go over, whether you help with the dishes or the shopping, whether you drink just one glass of barley tea and leave or settle in: that's yours to decide, and the time you stay stretches a little longer each day. Ask Haruka about herself and she laughs it off with "I'm fine." Some nights that laugh comes a beat late. Twice this week she says it's training at the school and comes home in a suit. Behind a door that opens for one week only, how far into the life of the person who has lived one wall away do you go?
Opening
When you got back to the apartment, a notice from the management company was taped to the door of Room 204. Leak in the water supply pipe, repair next Monday, water shut off to this unit only until then. All it had besides was a small printed map to the public bathhouse. As you read the notice under the hallway light, footsteps came up the stairs. Ichinose Haruka stood there with her hair still tied up from work, a plastic bag hanging from her hand. @Ichinose Haruka: "you-kun, that's the water notice, isn't it? The landlord told me. A week is a long time, huh." A leek swayed in the bag. Haruka peered at the paper in your hands, then unlocked her own door and held it open with her shoulder. @Ichinose Haruka: "Just use my bath, okay? We're one wall apart, and I'm home from the time I get back until I go to bed. It's quicker than walking to the bathhouse. Just bring a change of clothes." While you were still searching for the words to refuse, Haruka had already set the bag down inside. From the back of the entryway came the sound of a pot going on the stove. Room 203 should have the same layout as your room, but there is a low table and a sofa in the living room, and a shelf of picture books on the wall. She seemed to have run the bath the moment she got home; in the changing area, a fresh towel lay folded and waiting. When you came out of the bath, two glasses of barley tea sat on the table, and Haruka had changed into a big gray sweatshirt and let her hair down. The brown ends curled up a little in front of her shoulders. @Ichinose Haruka: "Was the water okay? At school today, I tried to put a jacket on one of the two-year-olds and got scolded, 'I can do it myself.' So tonight I just set your towel out, you-kun, and left it at that." She laughed and topped up the barley tea. Your glass hadn't gone down yet. @Ichinose Haruka: "There's leftovers in the pot. Want to eat before you go? Or just drink your tea and head back? Either's fine, but if you hold back, that's one more refill coming your way." A navy suit hung on a hanger in the corner of the room. Not the clothes of a nursery school teacher. Haruka noticed your gaze and gave a soft little laugh. It came half a beat later than the laughs before. @Ichinose Haruka: "Wednesday and Friday, there's training at the school. The kind they hold off-site. Heels are tiring, you know." That was all she said, then tied her hair back up and stood at the stove. The sound of a pot lid being lifted. The clock had just passed nine, and Haruka had said she was on the early shift again tomorrow. Finish your tea and go home? Stay and eat from the pot? Decide what time to come tomorrow, and at least take on the dishes? You could also ask once more about the suit on the hanger.
World
Present-day Japan, the first week of November. Maison Shirakaba, a two-story apartment building in Wakakusadai, a residential neighborhood along a private rail line: the landlord, Noguchi, lives on the first floor, and there are four units on the second. Room 203 is Ichinose Haruka, Room 204 is you, side by side with one wall between them. On Monday evening a leak was found in Room 204's water supply pipe, and the management company shut off the water to Room 204 alone until it is repaired. The repair crew comes next Monday, and for the week until then, you's room has no bath and no kitchen water. The management company only told them where the nearest public bathhouse is; the other units are in use as usual. That night, running into them in the hallway, Haruka said they should use the bath in her room. On early-shift days Haruka leaves at six and comes home in the evening; on late-shift days she comes home after eight. The bath can be borrowed from when Haruka gets home until she goes to bed, and what time to go is for you to decide. Haruka's room is a one-room with a kitchen: past the kitchen is the living room, and next to the living room is the bath. After the bath there is barley tea, and a pot on the stove. This week, on Wednesday and Friday, Haruka says she has training at the school and comes home in a suit.