It was in a shopping street at dusk when a magic spell was cast on Kiyomatsu.
An unfamiliar old woman was standing there. Just as he tried to slip past her, she turned around.
“I have cast a spell on you.”
Kiyomatsu pretended not to notice.
“If you say ‘tapioca,’ you will die.”
Kiyomatsu stopped in his tracks.
“Huh?”
“If you say ‘tapioca,’ you die.”
The old woman repeated herself, then vanished into the bustling crowd.
He thought it was a lie. There was no way a witch could be in a place like this. He figured she was just crazy. Still, just to be safe, he decided to test it.
“Tapi—”
The moment he said that much, his chest tightened. He crouched down on the spot, but quickly recovered.
He tried one more time.
“Tapio—”
This time his vision went dark, and he fell to his knees. The asphalt was cold. He stayed like that for a while.
The magic was real.
From then on, Kiyomatsu lived carefully. Whenever the topic of tapioca came up, he kept quiet. He avoided looking at cafe menus. If someone even started to say “Tapi,” he would clear his throat to drown out the sound.
A year passed.
One early afternoon, in front of the train station, Kiyomatsu spotted his former classmate, Yoshioka. He was a guy Kiyomatsu had given a nickname to back in middle school. Yoshioka hadn’t noticed him; he was walking with his earphones in, staring at his smartphone.
Without thinking, Kiyomatsu shouted out that old nickname at the top of his lungs.
His chest tightened, and his lungs collapsed. His vision turned white. As he crumbled to his knees, he finally remembered.
Yoshioka’s nickname was “Tapi-oka.”
* **Shopping street (商店街 – Shōtengai):** Traditional Japanese local market streets, often pedestrian-only and covered by arcades. They serve as central community hubs for daily shopping, making it a very mundane, everyday setting in stark contrast to the sudden appearance of a “witch.”
* **Tapioca (タピオカ):** While tapioca is an ingredient used worldwide, in Japan (much like in Argentina and globally now), the word specifically became synonymous with “bubble tea” or “boba” during a massive nationwide craze.
* **Tapi-oka (タピ岡):** The punchline relies on a Japanese linguistic pun. The classmate’s real surname is **Yoshioka** (吉岡). Japanese nicknames often combine parts of a person’s name with other words. By blending the trendy word “Tapioca” with the “-oka” from his surname, the nickname “Tapi-oka” was born. Shouting this nickname unfortunately triggers the old woman’s deadly spell.
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【1分小説】禁じられた言葉(18作目)
清松に魔法がかけられたのは、夕暮れの商店街だった。
見知らぬ老婆が立っていた。脇をすり抜けようとしたとき、老婆は振り返った。
「お前に魔法をかけた」
清松は気づかないふりをした。
「タピオカと言うと死ぬよ」
清松は立ち止まった。
「は？」
「タピオカと言うと、死ぬ」
老婆は繰り返し、そのまま雑踏に消えた。
嘘だと思った。魔法使いがこんな所にいるはずがない。頭のおかしい人だろうと思った。ただ、念のため試してみることにした。
「タピ」
ここまで言った瞬間、胸が締まった。その場にしゃがみ込んだが、すぐに回復した。
もう一度試した。
「タピオ」
今度は視界が暗くなり、膝をついた。アスファルトが冷たかった。しばらくそのままでいた。
魔法は本物だった。
清松はそれから慎重に生きた。タピオカの話題が出ると黙った。カフェのメニューは見ないようにした。誰かが「タピ」と言いかけると、咳払いをして音をかき消した。
それから一年が過ぎた。
ある昼下がり、駅前で清松は同級生の吉岡を見かけた。中学のころ、あだ名をつけた相手だ。吉岡は気づいていない。イヤホンをつけて、スマホを見ながら歩いていた。
清松は何も考えず、昔のあだ名を、大声で呼んだ。
胸が締まり、肺が潰れた。視界が白くなった。膝から崩れ落ちながら、ようやく思い出した。
吉岡のあだ名は「タピ岡」だった。