Convenience Store Woman

Keiko’s days off are Friday and Sunday. On Fridays, she sometimes visits a friend, Miho, who is married and now lives in the area in which they grew up. They met at an alumni reunion before Miho was married, and now Miho occasionally invites Keiko to events featuring other women their age. This particular day, a woman named Yukari joins them and notes that Keiko’s speech pattern has changed since they last saw each other years before. Keiko has intentionally made herself sound like Mrs. Izumi and Sugawara, and Yukari notes that she used to sound more “normal.” Miho disagrees, but Keiko admits to the reader (but not to the women) that Yukari is right. Since her world changes all the time as new staff members are hired, the things that make up her adopted personalities also change. However, the women note Keiko’s change in wardrobe has been for the better, and Keiko smiles. She wonders who is actually smiling—the Keiko with different clothes or herself.

Miho and her friends all speak and eat in the same way, but Keiko cannot remember if they’ve always done so. The women discuss having children: Yukari and Miho already do, but another guest, Satsuki, admits she has been waiting for nature to take its course.