Episode 24: Hikappa and Tonko-Tonko

An Event Announcement and Asset Building

For some reason, the poster for the Horticultural Exhibition 27 that I noticed in town wouldn't leave my mind.

An exhibition of flowers and greenery—.

Just thinking about what the exhibition would be like made my heart dance a little.

I wonder what kind of plants will be on display.
Will it be different from a regular botanical garden?

Plants that normally can't be grown in Japan.
Plants that wouldn't survive in this climate.

—Oh, that's right.

The newsletter for the employee benefits program I joined through work had an announcement about advanced tickets.

As I flipped through the pages, I found the feature article about the exhibition alongside vibrant, colorful photos of flowers.

I carried the newsletter out to the garden and opened the page right in front of Hikappa.

"Hey, Hikappa, look. There's an event like this coming up."

On the page, alongside concepts of flowers and gardens, a tiny character was drawn.

"Look, Hikappa, it says this mascot is named Tonko-Tonko."

"...It's pretty cute. Honestly, it's a close match with you, don't you think?"

Hikappa didn't say a word.

And yet—

It glowed with a gentle light, and its leaves swayed softly.

For a split second, it almost looked like it was smiling.

—*In the event of a large volume of applications, tickets will be distributed via a lottery system.

So that means there's a chance I might miss out.

"Well, that's fine too."

I can't control the final outcome.
But whether I choose to apply or not is entirely up to me.

"For now, let's just give it a shot."

After finishing the application, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"When the environment is different, the plants that thrive are completely different, too."

It connected to the news about the Middle East situations that I've been hearing so much lately.
Stories about crude oil prices going up, or going down—.

Hikappa gave no answer. Yet, that quiet silence felt incredibly comforting.