Chapter Text
That August had begun with record high temperatures in ten years, with a bright and vibrant blue sky without a single cloud in it and an inclement sun that made the asphalt of the road burn and blurred the contours of nearby objects anchored in an eternal canvas of mountains and forests of intense green after an abundant and generous Rainy Season.
It was not the best day to take a road trip, merciless and treacherous in the face of that heat that clung to the body like a second skin, humid, sticky and uncomfortable. With the western light blinding the vision with mid-afternoon rays that were too strong for the time shown on the vehicle's clock.
The blades of grass in the meadows on both sides of the road remained still, stoic and languid in the face of a particularly suffocating day without even a slight breeze to console themselves.
The van in which they were traveling on that inappropriate day rolled on the road with a continuous purr from its old, rattling engine that provided the background notes of the songs that were playing on the radio with happy and lively melodies typical of a jolly summer.
Kidou Yuuto nodded in the passenger seat, where he was sitting with his elbow on the window and his cheek resting on his half-closed fist. He didn't know at what point he had got so sleepy; but he immediately stretched out, waving his other hand, trying to move the air that the vehicle's old cooling system wasn't enough to cool.
His eyes were covered by sunglasses that protected him from the large orb that was in front of them in the sky like a guiding star. He was dressed in a light white shirt and coral-colored cotton shorts and his light brown hair was combed in a high bun to cool his neck, and even then it did not prevent the annoying, thick drops of sweat from running down his body.
But the discomfort caused by the heat was nothing compared to the weight that pierced his heart at that moment, a feeling of loss, guilt, anguish and sadness that sank him against the sticky seat of the vehicle with a force greater than gravity. He felt like his entire body had been dismembered and he was bleeding from every small pore of his soul. And yet, like a cruel curse, he couldn't close his eyes and simply stop feeling, stop withering, stop dying.
He was still alive.
He felt nauseous and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The driver raised his eyebrows and turned his head just so slightly towards him.
He was a man with messy reddish brown hair and a kind expression. He also wore sunglasses over his eyes so as not to be dazzled while he drove very cautiously, especially cautious on that trip from which he already felt all his muscles covered in sweat stiff after more than fifteen hours driving in two days.
“Just a bit more, Yuuto,” he cheered, releasing his left hand from the steering wheel to give him a friendly squeeze on the shoulder. Then he looked for something and handed him a drinkable jelly. “You have to stay hydrated in this hellish heat, we don't want to get heat stroke.”
Kidou pursed his lips, his friend had completely misunderstood his unease, but he did not want to talk about the real reason then and there. His sense of non-permanence made him feel overwhelmed and dizzy, as he watched as they left behind small isolated agglomerations of houses on both sides of the road and the landscape gradually became less wild and more urban. He took the orange-flavored jelly drink with suspicion and brought it to his dry lips, despite what he thought, feeling that sweetness on his tongue helped him compose himself.
“Thank you, Koujirou.”
“Do you want one, Kaeru?” The driver asked, looking through the center rearview mirror at the person traveling with the two of them, the other also looked over and sighed softly.
Behind, with her head resting on the closed window, was a little girl fast asleep, hugging a stuffed frog made of pretty bright green fluffy fabric. Her dark blue hair styled in two high pigtails shook with the sway of the vehicle and her slightly more pointed ears gave her an especially adorable appearance.
The auburn-haired looked back at the road with a big smile on his gentle face. “I am sure that something very good awaits you in your new life.”
Kidou made a vague uncommitted gesture and once again lost his gaze into the distance through the van window. All he wanted was to be able to forget, to be able to leave behind much more than his Tokyo apartment that he had finally sold a few days before. Being able to leave behind that heavy luggage lodged in his heart, but he knew that no matter how much he fled, that burden would be with him forever. As much as he wanted to start from scratch, he could never start from scratch, he would always have a bleeding wound that would not allow him to live.
Half an hour later they saw the information sign with the name of the city they were heading to: Ozu, indicating the entrance to the small city in the west of Ehime. The driver looked at the GPS, which until then had not had much work, the voice of the device began to speak to lead them on the path to the written address.
When the van finally stopped in front of a white building after traveling through the narrow, quiet streets of Ozu on a late summer afternoon, the sun had greatly diminished its scorching intensity. The two men breathed in unison and unbuckled their seat belts to get out of the vehicle and stretch pleasantly after that exhausting trip of 16 hours on the road splitted into two exasperating days. The driver had a jelly drink in his mouth and took off his sunglasses, leaving them on his forehead, his blue eyes gleaming in the late afternoon light with the fierceness of an emotional whirlwind.
“Finally home, huh, Yuuto?”
The man also took off his sunglasses, hanging them from the collar of his shirt stick to his body, his friend also shook off his black tank top with a colorful lion with a crown. His red eyes looked sad and sorrowful, and if anything the fire that consumed them was one of self-destruction and pain.
“I don't think this place can become my home, but I hope it can be for Kaeru.”
He looked at him seriously and squeezed the jelly container thoughtfully. “I'm sure you’ll do, although I don't like you moving to this place so far away.”
“I need to be away, Koujirou.”
“What you want to get away from…” The man stopped, bit his lip, Kidou knew better than anyone. Sighed. “I know, Yuuto, I know and I really wish you can start a new life here with the girl and be happy, but now I won't be able to show up at your apartment every time you need me or I feel like it because I haven't heard from you for weeks because you are a bit too much invested on some business project.” He clapped his hands, wanting to change the conversation, something his friend appreciated. "Ok, let's begin. Do you want us to find a place to have something to drink and eat or would you prefer that we move the boxes first?”
"I'm not hungry."
The brunette grunted and rubbed his eyes. “Will you really be okay alone here? If I find out that you are not eating enough I will come and take you back to Tokyo by the ear.”
Kidou appreciated his concern and his attempt to lighten the situation.
At that moment the rear door of the vehicle opened and the girl jumped to the ground. The two adults looked at her with slight frowns, neither of them having realized that she had woken up.
“We have already arrived at our new house, Kaeru,” Kidou informed, placing his hand on her head gently in a loving gesture.
Her eyes were orange, round and large, looking curiously around what should become her new home, but also tormented by a shadow of immeasurable sadness.
In Ozu there were no very tall buildings like those they were used to in Tokyo, the roads and streets were narrow compared to the big city, with a rural air in its single-family houses and small shops. The building they had stopped in front of was one of the few apartment complexes for more than one family, but it was still only two stories high and had only four doors.
Kidou gestured for them to go up the stairs to the upper gallery and see the apartment before beginning to empty the trunk of the van loaded with a pile of boxes in which the man had tried to summarize his thirty years of life and the six of the girl.
“Do you already have the keys, Yuuto?” The other adult asked in surprise, stroking the girl's head, who looked at him for a moment with uncertainty. At first, that man had scared her a lot; but after two days of traveling together she had stopped being startled by any of his gestures, deciding that if he was Kidou's friend he was also her friend.
“Yes, they gave them to me at the real estate agency when I signed all the papers for the apartment, although I will have to change the lock as soon as I can.”
“I would never have dared to buy an apartment just looking at photos of it.”
They opened the door of the place and the three looked out with a feeling of solace in their afflicted chests with the expectation of what they would find when they took the first step into the unknown.
The entrance to the apartment looked strangely empty without a closet to store shoes, but it was normal since Kidou had bought it without furniture except the basic kitchen, bathroom and toilet equipment. There was a soft aroma of vanilla and sandalwood in the air and everyone let out a small gasp of relief as they felt a breeze run through their hair and tired bodies.
“I think the windows are open,” said the blue-eyed man, peering into the open door of the room to the left of a corridor that led from the entrance. "Yes, they are."
“The real estate agency said they would send someone to prepare the apartment before our arrival.” Kidou and Kaeru also walked into the hall, to the right of which were two closed doors, one of them sliding. When the girl opened them she discovered the small toilet cubicle and behind the slide the powder room with a pretty sink. In that same room there was access to a room with an old and dirty washing machine and also to the bathroom, with a modern shower and bathtub. The other man who had entered after them made an approving gesture.
“Nice bath,” he said simply, his eyes shining at the temptation of a cold shower that would so deliciously run over his body like a lover's kisses and fight that heavy heat.
“Koujirou,” his friend called from the hall with an exasperated growl and he jumped and slid out the opaque glass sliding door.
That hall gave way to a large room that mixed an open kitchen with a large and bright living-dining room thanks to the wall window on the opposite side of the entrance, used as access to a terrace that ran from one side to the other of the building.
“Very wide,” the auburn-haired man hissed in admiration. “Although I'm sure that once you furnish it it will look smaller.”
“I didn't know you graduated in Interior Decoration, Koujirou.”
He laughed and gave him a hard slap on the back that took his breath away for a second.
They saw the two remaining rooms, one smaller but cozy and the other spacious and designed to serve as a couple bedroom, from which they could also go out to the terrace.
“Everything looks freshly painted and very clean, it almost seems like it was a new apartment and not one that has already been lived in for several decades.”
Kidou finished making the rounds of his new house next to the girl who did not leave his shadow, the fair brown haired man seemed as satisfied as he could be. “Do you like the house, Kaeru? Do you prefer the big room or the one in the middle?”
The girl looked at the adult and turned towards the rooms, pointing to the central one, he nodded.
“Yuuto, we should start bringing the boxes now or we will be too late by the time we finish, there is only one hour left before sunset.”
"Yeah go on. Kaeru, you can stay at the house if you want.”
She shook her head quickly, grabbed onto his shirt without looking at him, and followed the two adults back to the van. After looking around thoughtfully, she decided to sit on the side of the stairs so as not to hinder the passage of the adults and without letting go of her stuffed frog for a moment.
Kidou's friend opened the trunk of the van and stifled a grunt when he saw the amount of boxes that had to be moved just between the two of them. He wiped the sweat from his forehead that had started again as soon as they stepped outside the flat and grabbed one of the boxes resolutely, the muscles in his arms tensing under his skin.
“Go ahead,” he said, maintaining his good humor, smiling kindly at the other man who was looking at the boxes anxiously.
It was extrange how people accumulated: they accumulated things, they accumulated commitments, they accumulated promises that they later did not have time to fulfill. But time, that intangible substance more valuable than any other in the world could never be accumulated. It couldn't be stored, it couldn't be returned, it couldn't be recovered. If only he could get his time back and warn himself, if only he could have better appreciated what he had before it was too late... Instead of making excuses; yes, always excusing himself with commitments, with promises, with obligations. If only he could have used his time better, if only something had been different that day, if only it had been him who had been robbed of his time instead of them. He rubbed his eyes, forcing back tears that wanted to come out wild as he heard his dear friend huffing and puffing up the stairs in an attempt to hum a song.
They began to carry the boxes to the apartment while a small, old portable radio that the auburn-haired refused to get rid of tuned to the trendy summer songs. Kaeru looked at it strangely, holding the device in her small hands, she had never seen a portable radio.
It was on one of those trips in which a middle-aged woman appeared on the corner of the street, carrying several bags in her hands. She approached the building in surprise, looking interestedly at the van and then at the two men who were coming down the stairs at a quick pace to continue with the move. Kaeru continued to investigate the radio and from time to time changed the channel by touching the black wheel.
“Good afternoon,” the woman greeted politely as she reached them. “You are the new neighbors, aren’t you? My name is Takanashi Kikumi and I live in apartment number 2B. We weren't expecting you until tomorrow, I'm so sorry that Akio isn't here to help you with the boxes.”
Kidou immediately approached the woman and made an elegant bow while gesturing for Kaeru to get closer. She clung to his leg, looking timidly at the neighbor. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Takanashi, my name is Kidou Yuuto and this is my daughter Kidou Kaeru.” At that the girl slightly sobbed silently. “Indeed, we are the new neighbors of the number 2A.”
“Genda Koujirou, ma'am, a friend of the Kidou family,” the other man introduced himself, also bowing.
She appraised them carefully, her sea green eyes shining just as bright as the sea itself on a calm sunny morning. She was wearing a fresh yellow floral dress and short sandy hair.
“It will be refreshing to have a young male couple with a little girl as neighbors, a nice change considering the previous tenant was a bitter grump until the last day.”
Genda and Kidou raised their eyebrows immediately. The first of them laughed. “Ah, no, Mrs. Takanashi. I'm just a friend who has come to help with the move; Tomorrow I will go back to Tokyo by train.”
“Oh, my apologies.” She put her hand to her mouth, slightly embarrassed. “Excuse my boldness, I hope my comment has not bothered you.”
“Not at all, it was no problem for either of us.” Genda smiled and patted the other man on the back who had his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Although it is a real shame, I wish I could have a neighbor as nice as you, Mrs. Takanashi.”
“Call me Aunt Kikumi, please. Being called miss or madame, although it is quite correct, makes me feel too old.” The woman narrowed her eyes pleasantly. “In any case, welcome to Ozu, I hope you can find your home in this quiet city.”
“Thank you,” Kidou finally replied, still surprised that the first thing the woman had thought was that they were a couple, and yes it was said that outside the big cities people were closed-minded.
The woman shook her head and went up to her house, returning shortly after with some drinks and ice creams to offer them and help them fight the heat that, even at that time of the afternoon, continued to be annoying.
“Thank you very much, although it was not necessary,” Kidou murmured in a harsh voice at that unexpected gesture of kindness.
Genda quickly grabbed one of the bottles of Ramune and drank it almost in one gulp. “Aunt Kikumi, you are my savior, I was becoming dehydrated to levels that if I had continued like this I would have turned into a puddle of water and you would have had to pick me up with a shovel and a bucket.”
She smiled. “It's no problem, I know how hard these jobs are because of Akio.” She turned to the girl and offered her a strawberry and cream ice cream. She looked at the red-eyed adult who nodded and only after having his permission took the ice cream.
The auburn-haired man sat on the stairs for a moment while he ate another ice cream. Kidou meanwhile accepted a banana-flavored Ramune, with his back leaning on the railing.
“You have made a very long trip if you come from Tokyo,” the woman observed, looking kindly at the girl and Kidou. “I hope you like our small city, surely for the people of a metropolis like Tokyo it is not a big deal, but the peaceful and quiet life is not as bad as it may seem.”
“A peaceful and quiet life is precisely what I hope to find here,” Kidou murmured without looking at them and his friend pursed his lips.
She smiled understandingly and turned to the girl again. “How old are you Kaeru? I think my Kouga should be the same age as you.” The little girl gestured the number six and she nodded. “I was almost right, he is seven years old, when he comes to see me I will introduce you, I am sure you will become good friends, he is a little rascal but he has a good heart.”
“Koujirou, we must continue.”
The blue-eyed man pouted, but he stretched, making a few vertebrae creak in a pleasant sound and they approached once again the trunk in which there were fewer and fewer boxes left.
While the two finished taking the boxes to the apartment, the neighbor stayed with the girl, taking care of her because she considered it inappropriate to leave her alone in a still unknown place. After trying to start a conversation with her without much success, she finally got the girl interested when she started talking to her about Banana, her cat.
Eventually the last and heaviest box was carried by the two adults and they sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from their brows. They were completely sweaty after physical exertion.
“My kingdom for a shower,” Genda murmured. “Let's ask Aunt Kikumi if there is a public bath we can go to.”
“No need,” she said, appearing next to Kaeru on the gallery outside the apartments. “Akio prepared the apartment so that you could move in as soon as you arrived. He painted the walls white, cleaned everything and took care of the paperwork for electricity, water and internet.”
“Now that you mention it, I thought I saw a router,” Genda said, rubbing his chin. “What wonderful neighbors you have, Yuuto. I would have moved to Ozu myself if I had known before.”
The woman and the man laughed at that comment, although the other only shook his head.
“Well, in that case I'll go take a shower, Yuuto. Or do you want to go first to your new bathroom in your new house?”
“I don't mind if you take the bath first, but let me get the box with the towel.”
"Oh my." The woman shook her head. “I can lend you towels for today, you must be exhausted to start checking boxes.”
“Don’t worry, Aunt Kikumi.” Genda put his hands on his waist. “Yuuto has all the boxes marked and knows what is in each of them, he has controlled even the smallest detail. He’s a genius, you know?”
“How interesting,” she replied, amused. “In that case, I'm sure he'll make friends with my Akio. He's also very intelligent, although he's wasted his potential with menial jobs since…” She pursed her lips and cleared her throat. “Why don't you come have dinner with me when you take your baths? I know that young people have no problem ordering food, but I think a good home-cooked meal to welcome you to the city and to our small building is more appropriate.”
“It sounds wonderful,” the blue-eyed man accepted, making the decision for his friend who looked at him stupified by the ease with which he had bonded with the woman.
Half an hour later the two men and the girl called at the neighbor's house who opened the door with a big smile. Genda looked at her affectionately, knowing that the woman was not only opening her home but her heart to maternally welcome his friend and the girl, something they would need in their new life. The feeling of serenity and family that the woman conveyed calmed him a lot, since the idea of leaving his best friend alone in such a distant place had made him lose many hours of sleep recently, even if he understood why he needed a change so drastic in his life.
“Banana,” said the girl as she entered and saw a huge, fat, light-colored cat with darker spots on its head and back. The animal had a flat, ugly face and large, round yellow eyes. He stared at her, stretched lazily, and lay on the ground, watchful.
That apartment seemed identical to the other but with the rooms reversed. They sat on some cushions around a low table in the living room, where the woman had already placed most of the food. They offered to help, but she refused and after finishing carrying the food she sat down too and they began to eat.
"Delicious!" Genda exclaimed as he tasted the food. “Aunt Kikumi, you are a master cook.”
She laughed amused, she really liked that young man, even though he wasn't her neighbor. “Thank you, but it was Akio who did everything. I only cooked the rice in the rice cooker and I fear that that is of no merit.”
“Then it is your husband who is a master chef.”
The woman laughed even louder and waved her hand. “Akio is my son, but I agree with you and not just out of motherly pride.” The neighbor then leaned towards the girl who was sitting between Kidou and her. "Do you not like it? Do you want me to cook something different for you?”
The little girl bounced in her seat, startled by that question. She had barely touched her food and had only done so to move it from one side of the plate to the other. Her lips tightened in a silent pout. Kidou frowned and pointed to the plate.
“Eat, Kaeru. You shouldn't have eaten that ice cream before if then…”
“Don't scold her,” the woman interrupted bravely, especially at the stern expression the red-eyed man gave her, but she was not intimidated. “This is a very important change for both of you and you are tired; Besides, I am a complete stranger to Kaeru and she may not feel comfortable with me to eat. You will take a few onigiri with you when you leave and I am sure that once she is calm in her new house she will work up an appetite again.”
His red eyes narrowed, Genda cleared his throat and nudged him, trying to be subtle but failing miserably.
That moment was interrupted when Banana jumped on the table to try to steal the fish that the girl was not eating.
"Banana! Bad cat,” the woman shouted, grabbing the animal unceremoniously, with an energy hidden until that moment that left her three guests speechless. The animal began to shake, still trying to catch the food and snorting.
Kaeru opened her orange eyes and let out a very weak but happy giggle, Kidou's bowl of almost finished rice slipped from his hand and fell to the floor, shattering when hearing her.
When they left the apartment towards their own house next door the woman said goodbye politely, flatly refusing to accept any money for either the dinner or the broken bowl.
“I hope you can rest, if you need anything just let us know, we are right here.”
“Thank you very much, everything has been delicious, from the food to the company. I have to leave early tomorrow, but it has been a pleasure meeting you, Aunt Kikumi, I hope that on my next trip I can meet your little Akio.”
“It will be wonderful, although Akio is not little at all, he is your age.”
Genda blushed slightly at the mistake, then shrugged and they moved towards the other apartment. The woman closed the door with a heavy sigh, rubbing her eyes.
“Poor kids…”
The moment the door of the newly occupied apartment closed, a man began to go up the stairs of the building with an ungainly step after looking in surprise at the vehicle parked in front of it.
He opened the door farthest from the stairs and waved wearily. “I'm home, mom.”
The man took off his shoes in the entrance, leaving his rather worn blue sneakers lying around and went directly to the living room where he fell on the sofa with a huff just to see the table still full of plates and remains of food among which Banana was looking for something interesting for his gluttony.
The man grunted and threw back his head of disheveled, long brown hair, closing his shrewd, long-lashed green eyes for a second and taking a deep breath before standing up again. He was putting the dishes in a pile when his mother left the powder room where she had gone to brush her teeth.
“Akio, stop that, you must be exhausted after working all day.”
"Do not worry, I'm fine." The man took the dishes to the kitchen and began to throw away the remains of food and leave the dishes in the sink. “So, what are the neighbors like?”
“Peculiar,” the woman said, trying to get him away from the sink so she could take care of washing, without success. Letting out a laugh when the man put his wet hand inside the back of her dress with a malicious gesture. “Akio!”
He smirked and asked, “Do they need help carrying the boxes? It is a very big van, they must carry a lot of things.”
“They already did it.” The woman stayed by his side, arms crossed. “They are a father and a little girl, but a friend from Tokyo came with them and helped unload the van. The girl is a year younger than Kouga.” The man felt a painful pang in his heart and narrowed his green eyes. She continued to pretend not to have noticed his pain out of respect for her son. “Looks like they need a fresh start.”
Her son looked at her, narrowed his eyes even more and shook his head. "I see. I hope they can.”
“Akio… You may not have…”
“It's okay, Mom,” he cut in sharply, turning off the faucet. "I don't want to talk about it. By the way, where has Banana gone? I hope he doesn't keep breaking into the neighbor's house like he did with old Miyamoto.”
“Well, at least Banana was the only one he allowed close, I think he didn't even love his children that much.”
The man smiled mockingly, wanting to forget his previous frustration and misery, and withdrew, waving his hand to get the air moving due to the heat of the night.
“Do you want to shower before dinner? Or do you prefer to have dinner before taking a shower?” his mother asked.
“Shower, always first. I stink after spending the afternoon carrying panels so that the Fujis can have their solar panel roof. I don't know if it will be of much use to them in Ozu, it would be different if they lived in Okinawa.”
The woman tilted her head, her eyes fixed on him. “You're tense, Akio. Did something… else happen?”
He raised his eyebrows and snorted wryly. He gave it several minutes before answering in a slightly cracking voice, “I've been offered a job for three weeks at Takamatsu. Renovating the sports center facilities. I would start the day after tomorrow if I accept.”
"So? That is wonderful news.” The man made a choking noise, but did not respond. “Akio, are you worried about leaving me alone? Or is it Shinobu and Kouga you don’t want to leave alone?”
“Shinobu is able to do perfectly with her son alone; but…."
“Oh! Are you implying that I don’t?” the woman said indignantly and he grunted, rubbing his temples.
“Fine, you win. You are also capable. But… It's three weeks, three weeks is a long time.”
“Three weeks is not a long time, Akio,” she observed. “They'll be gone before you know it. Besides, now there is a young man besides you living in the building, if anything happens he can help us old people who depend on you.”
"I guess."
“He is a very handsome man,” she said with an amused gleam in her eyes, but her son wrinkled his eyebrows and did not reply to her provocation. “Just because he has a daughter doesn't mean…”
"Mom." He raised a hand in front of his face. “Thank you, really, but I'm fine. Right now I'm more worried about… other things.”
“You'll take the job, won’t you?”
There was a long pause until he said. "Yeah. It's not every day I can get such a good contract. While I'm away..."
“Yes, yes, I promise you that when you come back Banana won't be a malnourished cat.”
“That might be good for him, he's getting fatter every day.”
She smiled and added more sadly, “And I'll also go visit Hiroto.”
The man entered his room to take a change of clean clothes to take a bath. From there he could access the terrace and he saw the cat scratching the glass door piteously with a continuous and false meow.
“Why did I install a cat flap on the living room door if you bother me to open the door here?”
“Mrow.”
“You're a spoiled bastard.”
“Mrow.”
He sighed and opened the door for him, the cat shaking his short tail and trotting out as the brunette walked out of his room with clean clothes.
The terraces of the two apartments were separated by a low wall, not high enough to stop him, a cat determined to enter other people's houses and steal food and love.
He jumped to the other side when he saw that the living room door was open, probably in an attempt to invite an almost non-existent breeze of air to enter. Well, he wasn't a breeze but he still accepted the invitation.
“How did this animal get in?” Kidou asked indignantly when he saw the cat appear in the living room as if it were his house, stretching out and directing his flattened head with large yellow eyes at the two adults.
“It's Banana, the neighbor's cat, Yuuto,” Genda laughed, the cat jumped onto his lap and settled there to the amusement of that man and the annoyance of the other.
“Well, he can't come into my house, I don't like animals, they leave everything full of hairs.”
“Oh, come on, Yuuto. “How can you say something like that to such a pretty face?” The auburn-haired scratched the head of the cat who purred happily, Kidou raised an eyebrow in disbelief, that cat didn't seem pretty to him at all.
He took one of the beers that the neighbor had given them with the onigiris and took a long drink. They were sitting in an open room full of boxes everywhere, he had his back leaning on a fairly large one. He had to go shopping for furniture and the first thing he wanted to get was a nice, big Butsudan for the living room where he could set up an appropriate altar for… He felt like he was suffocating again with his emotions, a feeling of tightness in his chest and nausea, the desire almost uncontrollable to scream, cry, give up and not get up again. He rubbed his face, bottling that despair once again.
“This is a good place to live, Yuuto. I feel it in my gut, I know you will be happy.”
“I don't even think I deserve to live, Koujirou. Much less be happy. Not after what happened with Haruna.”
“You must do it even if at first it's just for Kaeru.”
"I am trying."
“And you will be happy, both of you, you will both be happy. Over time, slowly, naturally.”
“If Kaeru can be happy, it will be more than enough for me, I owe it to her after what I did.”
“Yuuto, it wasn’t your fault.” Genda's tone of voice suddenly became very serious. “Will you tell me why of all the places in Japan you have decided to move to this small city on the island of Shikoku?”
“There is no specific reason, while I was looking for jobs I found a good offer from a company here that allows me to work four days from home and one in the office, that will allow me to have time to take care of Kaeru. Plus, Ozu seems like a good city to start from scratch and a good city to raise such a little girl.”
“I find it so strange to hear that about the eternal workaholic. Until now work was always your priority. Didn't your last girlfriend dump you precisely because you preferred to go to a company event than on vacation with her? And you were thinking about getting married.”
“I didn't want to get married, I always saw my relationship with her as an impediment to my career; I agreed to everything due to social pressure, I guess. But a lot has happened lately, Koujirou. Many things. None of which I wish had happened.”
“It's okay, Yuuto. I'm just worried about who will take care of you now that I'm not going to be by your side.”
“I'm thirty years old, I don't need anyone to take care of me.”
“That's not true, we all need someone to take care of us regardless of our age, it's part of our human nature. Who knows, maybe one day you will find someone who you yourself care about and who you prioritize over your work.” The auburn-haired man took a sip of his beer.
“Stop worrying about me.”
"Never! I will always worry about my best friend.”
He sighed. “Thank you, Koujirou. What would I have done without you?”
Genda looked at him pleasantly and shrugged. “Probably send the van with the company while you come by train with Kaeru to Ozu, avoiding a horrible two-day road trip.”
That comment made the red-eyed man's frown relax slightly, and a gesture of gratitude appeared on his exhausted face.
The next day Genda said goodbye to the Kidou family with a big hug, took the van to the garage of the company in charge of its rental and headed to the station where he would take the train to go back to Tokyo.
Leaving Kidou unpacking the boxes to start his new life while in the apartment next door the other man was packing a suitcase for his job away for three weeks.