January 16 - The Rosewater Wellness Spa

Machiko entered the Nippori branch of the Rosewater Wellness Spa, took off her shoes, and put them in one of the shoebox-sized lockers on the wall near the entrance. Then she locked the locker, took the key, and started toward the front desk, but then decided to take off her socks too and leave them with her shoes.
She went back to her locker and opened it, but her shoes were gone. Not only that, but the back side of the locker was open. She looked through the opening and she could make out a room. A few people walked past the opening. One of them stopped and looked through the opening. He made eye contact with her, registered an expression of shock, and quickly closed the back side of the locker.
Machiko looked around the entrance way, but nobody else was there besides a couple of staff at the front desk looking at computer monitors.
She put her hands on her hips and frowned, wondering if she'd really seen what she'd seen.
Then she put her socks back on, left the Rosewater Wellness Spa, and went next door where a receptionist chirped a welcome. Machiko ignored her and tried to estimate where in the building the room with her shoes was.
The receptionist stood up.
"Sorry, you can't go in there," she said, but it was too late. Machiko pushed the door open and went into the room which appeared to be some sort of a lab. It was bright and clean and there were computers and lab equipment everywhere. Two men and one woman in lab coats stopped what they were doing and looked at her.
"You're not supposed to be in here," one of the men said.
Machiko looked around. "What is this place?"
The people in the lab coats looked at each other and then at Machiko. Finally, the woman said, "Give her her shoes."
The other man looked at her. "Which--?"
The woman motioned to Machiko's shoes with her chin and the man picked up the shoes and handed them to Machiko. She accepted them hesitantly keeping her back toward the open door, glancing behind her occasionally.
"What is this place?" she asked again.
The woman spoke this time, apologizing for her inconvenience and bowing deeply.
The receptionist squeezed into the room behind Machiko. "I'm so sorry. I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen."
"That's all right," said the woman. "She's leaving now."
"Not until you tell me what this place is."
Again the people in the lab coats looked at each other before their eyes settled on the woman, who, Machiko came to believe, was in charge.
"Come in," the woman said. "And close the door."
Machiko hesitated.
"Don't worry," she assured her.
Machiko put on her shoes, stepped into the room, and closed the door.
The woman told her about the place and it was clear from her delivery that she had told the story before, possibly many times. The short version was that the room was a lab where they--a team of geneticists--conducted DNA testing of women who frequented the various branches of Rosewater Wellness Spas all across Tokyo (and throughout Japan). They took DNA samples from the women's shoes while they were visiting the spa. Thus, the shoe lockers with the back doors.
The geneticists were looking for a grown daughter of the Japanese royal family who, in a freak mishap, had been sent home from the hospital with the wrong family at birth. It was only in the last few years that the mistake had come to light and the royal family was desperate to find the female, now 32 years old, who was the rightful heir to the Japanese throne. They figured that since most women in Japan visited spas at least occasionally, taking a DNA sample from their shoes while they did so was the best shot they had at identifying the missing daughter.
Machiko's mind reeled as the woman told her the story.
"But the crown prince--"
The woman shook her head. "--has been in a coma since a car accident two years ago. We managed to cover it up and we've been using lookalikes for his public appearances ever since. Needless to say, he won't be assuming the throne."
"His brother?"
"Alcoholic and completely unfit for the role. Everybody on the inside knows it and that's how we've been able to ammend the succession laws."
"And so the woman you're looking for is 32?"
"Yes."
Machiko's eyes lit up before she could stop herself. She was 32 years old. Not only that, but she had been adopted at birth and didn't know who her birth parents were.
But the woman in the lab coat didn't let that fantasy get too far.
"Sorry," she said. "It's not you, Ms--" her eyes scanned Machiko's file. "--Tanaka. We actually tested you twice because you fit the profile in so many other ways. But no, sorry."
Machiko felt disappointed that she wasn't actually a long lost princess, and then she felt silly for getting her hopes up so quickly, especially over such a preposterous story. She had barely even gone through a princess phase when she was a little girl. And now to be caught fantasizing--however fleetingly--about such a scenario? She felt embarrassed that the woman in the lab coat had been able to read it all on her face. She hated being predicatable.
"If there's nothing else, we really should be getting back to work."
Machiko nodded, confused about how quickly everything had happened. She still had so many things to ask the geneticists, but the questions weren't forming. They turned their backs to her and went back to their work.
The receptionist put her arm around Machiko, surreptitiously jabbed her with a serum that would make her forget the whole episode, and then walked her out of the lab and back to the spa.