“Majime isn’t much of a rival,” said Nishioka teasingly. “No challenge there.”
“You may know the concept of a love triangle in theory,” responded Professor Matsumoto with a serious expression, “but until you have experienced it in real life, you have no idea of the suffering and pain it entails. You cannot use a word properly if you don’t know precisely what it means. A lexicographer must tirelessly follow up actual experience with intellectual analysis.”
If these words could be believed, the professor had been willing to see Nishioka and Majime mired in a messy love triangle just so they would gain firsthand knowledge of the term. The man was a fiend for lexicography. Majime shuddered. The professor’s bag, stuffed with used books, took on an air of menace, as if filled with unholy passion.
“That’s a terrific idea.” Nishioka wasn’t, apparently, getting the same dark vibe. “You’re saying that for the sake of the dictionary we should go out and grab life by the horns. That puts Majime at a disadvantage, though, doesn’t it? Him being a virgin and all . . . Go for it, Majime! You can do it!” He nodded, quite pleased with himself, as he offered this nonsensical encouragement.
Majime was bothered less by Nishioka’s teasing than by a seeming inconsistency in the professor’s remarks. “But sir,” he said hesitantly, “didn’t you tell us a while ago that you’ve never been to an amusement park? What about the need to experience the reality of that word?”
“Oh, well,” the professor said airily, “I can’t bear the noise. But you people are young with energy to burn. You should be out there experiencing love and amusement parks and all the rest of it.”
In his place? Was that what he meant?
The others were taking the subway, so Majime parted from them at the station and began walking the rest of the way home. To benefit the dictionary, he wanted to win Kaguya’s heart and taste the wine of love if he possibly could; and if she was willing, he’d be happy to go to an amusement park, too. Korakuen was a stone’s throw away, after all. Yet to Majime the park might as well have been an ancient ruin in a remote desert. How could he tell Kaguya of his feelings for her? How could he get her to respond to them? First and foremost, how could he ask her out on a date? He didn’t have the slightest idea.
It became routine for the dictionary editorial staff to alternate eating at Umenomi and Seven Treasures Garden after their weekly meeting.
One morning, after seeing Kaguya working in the restaurant the previous night, Mrs. Sasaki came out of the reference room and told Majime, as he was heading toward his desk, “I think she’s a tall order.”
“She?”
“Kaguya. Majime, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
“You think Nishioka is more her type?”
“Nishioka?” She snorted. “If there’s a woman alive who thinks he’s her type, I’d like to meet her.”
What kind of man did appeal to women, then? Majime was even more confused.
“He’s too shallow.” With that single, devastating word, she dispatched the absent Nishioka. “It’s not him you should worry about, it’s the men she works with.”
“What?” Majime did a quick mental comparison of the craggy-faced master and the clean-cut senior apprentice. “You think she likes that other apprentice?”
Mrs. Sasaki sighed pityingly and shook her head. “Listen to me.” She looked as if she wanted to add “you ninny.” “I’m saying Kaguya is wrapped up in her work. Getting her attention without interfering will be the hard part. Your approach has to be timed just right. It won’t be easy. Can you do it?”
No. It was beyond him. Majime looked down and began sweeping up eraser bits on his desktop.
Just as Mrs. Sasaki was leaving, Nishioka came back in, carefully folding a handkerchief. He had apparently just washed and dried his hands. “Hey, this is no time to sit and pick your nose,” he said seriously as he watched Majime clean his desktop.
“Did something happen?” Majime asked, still keeping at his task.
“I just overheard some news in the men’s room in the main building.”
“You went all the way over there to use the bathroom?”
“I had to take a dump. I like to do it in peace, someplace where nobody I know is around.”
Majime was surprised to find Nishioka had such a sensitive side.
“While I was in the stall, I heard someone say The Great Passage is being canceled.”
“What?” Majime was on his feet.
“Someone from sales, I think. They were gone by the time I came out, so I don’t know who it was. You haven’t heard anything?”
“No.”
Majime hadn’t been close to any of his coworkers in the sales department. He’d been an encumbrance. Nobody there would think to give him a heads-up if The Great Passage was about to run aground.
“Making dictionaries eats up money, that’s the whole trouble.” Nishioka leaned back in his chair, making it squeak, and looked up at the ceiling. “What do we do?”
Majime thought swiftly. Their frequent staff meetings had paid off, and editorial policy was pretty much set. If the project were aborted now, Araki and Professor Matsumoto would lose face. “We need to find out how determined they are to shut down the project,” he said. “See if there’s any room for negotiation. Meanwhile, we can establish a fait accompli.”
“How?”
“Reach out to specialists across the board and ask them to contribute.”
“Aha.” Nishioka saw Majime’s point and laughed appreciatively.
Normally, a number of steps had to be followed before outsourcing could begin. First, using the example collection cards, the final entry selections had to be made. Then the editorial policy had to be tightened, and a style sheet had to be drawn up. Contributions from upward of fifty people were necessary. Without guidance, the writing styles would be so different that it would take forever to sort them out. That’s where the style sheet came in, with model entries showing what kind of information to include, using how many characters, and in what form.
Following their own style sheet, the staff would compose sample entries in consultation with the editor-in-chief, Professor Matsumoto. Doing so would indicate what adjustments to the style sheet were needed. The selection, naturally a small fraction of prospective entries, would have to include some with proper nouns, some containing numbers, and some requiring illustrations. The process of drawing them up and checking them would help determine the dictionary’s quality and orientation.