Free Erika-San by Allen Say Page A

office."
    By lunchtime, all the students called her Erika Sensei.
Sensei
means "teacher." Mr. Imai called her Erika-san, and she called him Aki-san.
    "I'd be very happy to give you a tour of the island over the weekend," Aki offered.
    "I would love that." Erika bowed.

    Early Saturday morning, Aki came with two bicycles. They rode through rice paddies with hills and mountains all around. They bicycled along the rocky seacoast with many coves and empty beaches.
    "Everything is so green and lovely!" Erika exclaimed. "I think my grandfather must have visited a place like this."
    "He was a soldier, then?" Aki asked.
    "I'm not sure. I don't remember him," she answered.

    On their way home one weekend, Erika stopped suddenly.
    "Wait, Aki-san, what is that? Can we have a look?" she asked, pointing at a thatched roof in a clump of trees.
    As they walked toward it, a cottage appeared. Erika covered her mouth with a hand.
    "I can't believe it!" she said. "That is exactly like the house I've always wanted to live in!"
    Aki gave her a puzzled look. "But that's not a house," he said. "It's a
tea-bouse.
See the sign under the roof? It's called the Evening Moon."
    "A teahouse?" she whispered.
    "Yes—people rent the place for tea ceremonies."
    "Do you know how to do that? Do you attend tea ceremonies?"
    "I went with my grandfather once. He liked tea; I like coffee."
    Erika was silent on the way home.

    On Monday, Erika came to work as usual and taught her classes as usual, but she didn't say much to Aki. She smiled and said good morning to him, nodded to him in the hallway, and said goodbye in the afternoon.
    She acted the same way the next day, and the next. They didn't go bicycling that weekend.

    Every day after school, Aki sat in his favorite coffee shop and wondered.
    "Is Erika-san upset with me because I like coffee and don't know anything about tea ceremony?"
    Two months went by without one bicycle trip.
    "I don't think Erika-san is ever going to have coffee with me again..."
    Then the very next afternoon a familiar voice called from the doorway.
    "So this is where you've been hiding," Erika said. "How have you been, Aki-san?"
    Aki stared.
    "Remember that teahouse we saw together, the Evening Moon?" she asked.
    Aki nodded.
    "I'd love to see it again. Won't you meet me there this Saturday? Say, three o'clock?"
    "Yes!" he said loudly. "Would you have a cup of coffee with me now?"
    "I'd love to," she said, and sat down.

    Aki arrived at the teahouse early, but Erika was already waiting for him. He swallowed a breath.
    "Mama-san at Kamome helped me put it on," she said, and turned in a circle to show off her kimono. "Won't you come into my teahouse? It's ours for the afternoon."
    Silently, Aki followed her.
    "I've been taking lessons," she explained as she prepared the tea things. "I didn't tell you because I wanted to surprise you. And this is just a practice. I'm only a beginner."
    "You look like an expert to me!" Aki finally spoke.

    "My sensei tells me it will take years before I can be good at tea ceremony," Erika said.
    "Does that mean you are going to stay here ... for years?" he asked.
    "Well, I've always wanted to live in a teahouse, haven't I? So, don't you think I should be very good at making tea?"
    "Yes!" he shouted. Then in a quiet tone he asked, "Would you mind very much if I came to your class? I have an old kimono that belonged to my grandfather."
    "How wonderful. I'd love that!" she said.

    They were married a year later. They found a small farmhouse on the outskirts of town, nested in the green hillsides of old Japan.
    And there Erika-san stayed, home at last.