Holmes of Kyoto, Volume 3 by Mai Mochizuki

Author:Mai Mochizuki [MOCHIZUKI, MAI]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J-Novel Club
Published: 2021-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

4

My mother and brother gave me and Holmes an enthusiastic send-off as we left the house. We headed towards Kitayama Street, which was about a twenty-minute walk away. It would’ve been faster to take public transit, but we decided to walk instead since we’d eaten so many sweets.

When we got close to Kitayama Station, Holmes looked up and remarked, “The roadside trees have lost all of their leaves, but the ones in the botanical garden are still colorful.” He was referring to the Kyoto Botanical Garden.

Led by his words, I looked over too. Even from outside, I could see many colorful trees. “You’re right.”

“Do you often go to the botanical garden, Aoi? It’s near your house,” he asked as we walked.

I shook my head. “No, I’ve never been there.”

“What?” Holmes’s eyes widened in clear surprise, startling me.

“Um, is that weird?”

“It’s more of a shame. You have such a wonderful garden near you and yet you’ve never visited. It’s an enormous, twenty-four-hectare lot filled with plants from all seasons. Beautiful flower beds, Western-style gardens, tropical plant greenhouses, and plenty of facilities, all for the low entrance fee of two hundred yen. Oh, and since you’re in high school, you should be able to get in for one hundred and fifty. It’s the perfect place for a stroll—perhaps if you want a diversion from your thoughts. While I’m at it, the annual pass is only one thousand yen. I buy it every year,” he declared, taking his annual pass out of his wallet to show me.

My face stiffened. Here we go again. I thought he was an ambassador for Kyoto and art, but I guess he’s also interested in facilities like this. Now that I think about it, he does like flowers too.

Two hundred yen (one hundred and fifty for me) or one thousand for the annual pass. That is cheap. It might be nice to take a walk through the flowers. Since it’s twenty-four hectares, it’s bound to be good exercise too.

“How big is twenty-four hectares anyway? I can’t really imagine it.”

“Hmm. People often use Tokyo Dome for scale, so around five of those?”

“To be honest, I can’t really think in terms of Tokyo Dome either. How many tatami mats is that?”

“About a hundred and forty-four thousand.”

“A hundred and...” Nope, no idea.

“At this point, the best way would be to experience it with your own feet.” Holmes chuckled.

“You’re right.” I shrugged.

“Furthermore, the environment here is excellent.” He stopped walking and turned to look back. Near the botanical garden was a concert hall. The street was lined with trees, and there were stylish Western-style cafes and restaurants, variety stores, a church, and a wedding hall. No wonder it’s called a modern and fashionable street. Kitayama Street was very unlike the image most people have of Kyoto. If you showed someone a picture of this area and said it was Kobe, they might even believe you.

“Ueda’s cafe is diagonally across from the botanical garden, between those two streets,” Holmes said as we crossed the street.

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