argoflower

The Third Movement

For a while after that, there was no information on the other parts of the song. Then one day, my brother rushed into my room with a flustered expression on his face and the first thing he said was-

“I think I found information on where the third movement is. There were rumors going around from some fanatics that a resident of a nursing home somewhere has one.”

I immediately contacted every nursing home across the country. I wondered if the sheet music was being kept by someone wealthy and if they were also a big fan of Nanakuma.

Of course, my brother still helped me out even though he was busy with college and work. I really can’t thank him enough.

And then a few more days passed after that.

“Now that you mention it, I think the old lady who lives with us said that she knew Nanamegi Nanakuma. I don’t know if it’s true or not though…”

I received this response from one of the nursing homes. The location was in HAMA, fairly close to where we lived.

When I asked if I could meet her, they told me that I could only meet her if I got her family’s permission, so I waited a few more days before I finally got the OK.

The sheet music was very valuable, so they would probably wanted to pass it down to their family. I made my way there with a feeling that things might not work out as well this time.

“So you’re Nanakuma-san’s nephew? You certainly do feel similar.”

In this clean nursing home room, there was a lady with a small frame on the bed. She looked up at me from her snug position.

“I’m sorry for asking to see you so suddenly.”

“It’s fine. I was getting bored here anyway.”

Pure white sheets.

Lace curtains swaying in the wind.

A red cardigan draped over her shoulders.

My first impression of her was that she was a refined and gentle person. This might be rude to say, but she didn’t seem like the type of person who was very wealthy. She seemed like an ordinary, graceful and kind grandma.

“Since you’ve come all the way to visit me, would you like to hear some of my memories of Nanakuma-san?”

“Please go ahead!”

I leaned forward without thinking and upon seeing that, she laughed softly before telling me about an old story.

When she was younger, she lived near my great uncle’s house.

Whenever she passed by him, she would always say hello and out of concern for my great uncle who didn’t seem like he was really living, and would go over and share her meals with him.

“He had the freedom and tremendousness of an artist. There was a time where he suddenly painted all the walls in his room bright red.”

“...”

“When I asked him why he did that, his reply to me was ‘You like red, don’t you?’ I told him that even if that were the case, wouldn’t it be unsettling if his room was all red? The next day, his walls were white again. We were good friends.”

When I asked my relatives about him, they would always say that my uncle was eccentric and disliked other people, rarely leaving the house. But from her words, he wasn’t really like that at all.

When she suggested that he should plant flowers in his unused, spacious garden, he spent the whole day weeding. When she told him that he needed to get more nutrients in his body, he started stocking up on nutrient supplements and gulped them all down.

“He could be a little extreme at times, but he was a very nice person. …a while after, I got married and had children. We became pretty distant since my husband was transferred to another location for work and we moved. To be honest, before that I had a small crush on him.”

She took out an old envelope from the chest beside her bed while giggling to herself.

“Nanakuma-san gave this to me as a thank you gift for always looking after him.”

And then what she took out of the envelope was-

“Is this…handwritten sheet music?!”

I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest. I had no idea that something so valuable still existed. It wasn’t something like being taken aback, I felt like my heart was pierced through. I was so moved, nervous and excited all at once that my hands started shaking without even realizing it.

“I can’t read the music notes, but the lyrics written next to it were beautiful. He told me I could just throw it away, but I decided to keep it.”

“...”

She looked at the sheet music with a nostalgic look on her face.

After seeing that, I was thinking about just thanking her for her time and going home. I couldn’t ask her to just give up such a precious memento.

But-

“I’ll give it to you. You were looking for this, weren’t you?”

“Huh? No, but-”

“It’s okay. Music is meant to be heard by others. I can’t play any instruments, so I can’t tell what kind of song it is just from looking at the sheet music.”

“Then…”

I carefully reached out for the sheet music she gave me.

“After you give this to me, I’ll turn it into an audio file and upload it to the internet.”

“Oh, how lovely! I’d be happy if you did! That’s a promise, then.”

Encouraged by her smile, I accepted it.

“...”

I stopped for a moment before carefully opening the envelope.

I looked over the pages again and I could tell they were still in good condition even though they were old.

You are the moon

I can’t move from here / I can’t see the other side of you

Even if I move to the right / Even if I move to the left

I can’t see into your heart

Tonight too

Even if eternity passes

I knew what I was going to do as soon as I got home. In my mind, I pictured the walls painted red, the weedless mansion garden, and the pile of supplements.

“...alright.”

Right now, I needed to hurry and get home.

Novel Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5