The Chanson Hat Story (Part 1) | Is it free?

You must not follow strangers.
Even if you are 40.

Saori, having reached her birthday, was visiting the largest shrine in the area all by herself.

On milestones of my own, I feel like greeting the gods.

Forty years old. A double coming-of-age ceremony, is it?
And what even is a double coming-of-age ceremony?
It's just as meaningless as a half-coming-of-age ceremony.

I suddenly thought of such things.
Perhaps my heart was feeling a little dry.

I don't want to believe that 20 years have already passed since then.

Have I really built anything up in the 20 years since I turned twenty?

Saori looked back in a vague way.
In those 20 years, I got married and became a mother. I also restarted my career, albeit loosely.
It's not like I haven't done anything. I should have lived my life in my own way.

Why is it that the more I try to affirm that, the more a soft place deep in my heart feels unsettled?

I have no confidence.
I am anxious.
I hate the idea of dying without having accomplished anything.

At this shrine, behind the main hall, there is a sacred place called the "Camphor Tree Path."

Photography is prohibited. Great camphor trees tower over it, and the dense forest is cool even in summer.

When I pressed my hands together in prayer to the great camphor tree, a breeze blew through, and the branches swayed back and forth. I felt as if it were saying, "I'm glad you came."

Perhaps because it is a weekday, there are few people walking around besides Saori, and the forest is quiet and still.

As I walked with a quiet heart, I heard a rustling sound, like leaves and branches rubbing together, from a place where no one should have been.

What!?
I was more startled than necessary, and froze while facing the direction of the sound.

Oh, it's just a pigeon.
Stop it.

Since I've heard it's sacred, I feel like I'm extra prone to that kind of mindset.
Am I that gullible?

Saori breathed in the sacred air of the forest to her heart's content. She felt a sense of refreshment, as if her daily anxieties were being dissolved in an instant.

After walking for a while, I saw a small crowd of people in the distance. The air seemed to be buzzing only in that spot.

As I slowly approached, a gentleman wearing a gray fedora was singing something chanson-like with great pleasure, as if ignoring the silence of the forest.

I couldn't believe my eyes that someone was singing in this sacred forest. And so, I stopped and watched intently. Eventually, the gentleman stopped singing and began handing something out to the women around him.

My wariness grew at the suspicious atmosphere, but I felt that I must never turn back on the Camphor Tree Path. Saori steeled herself, thinking that no matter what happened, it would be meaningless if she didn't walk all the way through and complete it. I was convinced that if I passed by while he was talking to those women, I would be fine.

While I was standing there thinking, the women were already about to leave the gentleman's side.

But I have no choice but to go now. My stride naturally lengthened.
I looked down, averted my gaze, and tried to pass by.

However, my modest resistance was in vain, and the gentleman in the hat
"Hey there, miss,"
called out to me with a smile.

Saori gripped the strap of the bag hanging over her shoulder tightly.
There is no way I'm a 'young lady'.
And yet, for some reason, she had stopped in her tracks.

"I'll give you something nice."

The gentleman stepped even closer.

By this point, she found herself feeling excited for some reason.

Was it because his fedora looked so stylish,
because she was curious about the chanson,
or was it simply curiosity about a strange person?

The hat-wearing gentleman continued humming the chanson as he pulled a brown envelope from the inner pocket of his dull light-blue jacket.

Then, he carefully took something out from it.

A pine needle?

"That's right. Usually, pine needles come in pairs, right? But there are pine trees with three-needled leaves at Mount Koya and at this shrine, one at each. It's not something many people can get their hands on. You're lucky, young lady! This is the luckiest of the lucky."

"I see." ...That's probably a lie.

"I'm a bit strange myself, but women who come to shrines alone are usually a bit eccentric too. I talk to them because they're interesting."

"Well, I suppose so."

Being told she was eccentric made her feel acknowledged, and she was happy. Saori found herself actually enjoying this situation of being accosted by a weirdo in early spring.

In the silence, the peaceful chirping of birds echoed.

"I used to be friends with the head priest here, and he gave me all sorts of things."

This time, he pulled a scrap of paper from his worn-out business bag.

...A Shinto prayer? What am I supposed to do with this?

"I read 15 books a month. If you want to spend your later years happily, you need to set goals from the age of 40 and take on various challenges. You can't just be passive, watching TV and complaining about the world without even reading books."

I see. That might be true.

The gentleman seemed to have a lot to say and rattled off his words in quick succession.

"IQ alone isn't enough. EQ is what's important. Communication skills that allow you to joke around with each other. See? The power to live. Jokes are super important!"

Well, certainly. That might be true.
But who on earth is this person?

The hat-wearing gentleman slowly took out his smartphone.

"When I talk to people, some women actually follow me. Seriously."

At that moment, a chill ran down her spine, and she felt the forest was too quiet. Saori took a small step back.

"Young lady, if today doesn't work out, let's have tea next time we meet, okay?"

"Haha, sure."
(If he closes the distance any further, I'm calling the police.)

He didn't seem to notice Saori inching away.

"How old do you think I am? If you guess my age correctly, I'll give you a one-night pair trip to a hot spring."

Shut up, Chanson Hat. You look about 65. You're quite energetic.
I will definitely not follow you.

Well, just as I was thinking it was time to wrap things up,

"Look, my life line is so long."

For some reason, Chanson Hat started showing off his life line.

Oh, this guy has a Simian line too!
Without thinking, Saori spread her palm out to show him.
Saori also had a single horizontal line on her palm. It was an instinctive reaction.

"Ah!! I knew it, we're destined for each other."

"No, we're not."

"I'll tell you something good, my destined lady. People with this palm line never have to worry about money."

"Um, well, I'm not exactly super rich or anything."

"Fool! You only need as much money as you need. Be grateful to your family, relatives, and ancestors, and be thankful just to be alive and healthy. Right? Don't go saying you're not rich. You should be more grateful for the happiness you have right now."

I was scolded by someone I'd just met, called a "fool!"
That was a rare experience.

Because I had spent longer in the woods than expected, my hands and feet were getting cold, even though it was spring.

"Well then, thank you for your time."

Just as Saori was about to leave,

"Miss, are you interested in fortune-telling?"

For some reason, he whispered that to her.

I'm not uninterested. Saori's ears naturally perked up.

"You know, I'm actually quite famous in that field. I can tell things like past lives and your life's mission. I'm good at palm reading, too. If you come to my house now, I'll do it for free."

…Free, huh.

There is nothing scarier than something that is free.

I know that. I know that saying.

But. I have wanted to have my palm read for years.

My destiny, the meaning of my life, my mission.
I am interested.

"Is your house nearby?"

Saori was surprised by the words that came out of her own mouth.

No, I was just asking, you know?
She tried to play it off, but

"It's close! Right over there!"
He said, cutting her off.

What should I do? I know for a fact that I absolutely must not go.
I check my phone's battery. 20 percent.

I can probably just barely manage.

I won't let you call it 'fate'.
But I felt that if I could just summon the courage here, something might change.

Saori felt her body, a mixture of anticipation and fear, trembling slightly.

(To be continued)