Standalone Tokyo

Chapter 4 Funeral
  To ask for help, you must have a begging attitude and posture. Fujiwara Masato got up early in the morning and brushed his teeth. After spitting out the last mouthwash, he stood opposite the bathroom mirror and began to sort out his personal image.

Fujiwara Masato has messy long hair that covers his nose and a pair of old-fashioned round glasses. He found a rubber band to tie the messy hair into a single ponytail, then raised his hand to take off the glasses... before the glasses left his face. The next moment, Fujiwara Masato was surprised to find that he was not short-sighted. His vision was clearer without wearing glasses.

Why didn't he realize that the glasses he was wearing were plain glasses in the past few days?

Probably Masato Fujiwara is used to wearing glasses. He takes them off when bathing and sleeping. When he gets up, he reflexively picks up the old-fashioned plain glasses on the bedside table and puts them on. In addition, the pressure of survival in the recent period has weighed on him, so that Masato Fujiwara I always thought I was mildly myopic.

After doing all this, Fujiwara Masato looked at the bathroom mirror again. At this moment, he suddenly realized that he seemed to be a little... no, very good-looking.

Fujiwara Masato has an oval face, with clear facial contours, a neither high nor low hairline, a full forehead, a pair of thick sword eyebrows and red phoenix eyes, a high nose bridge, thin lips, fair complexion, plus his overall facial features Tall and three-dimensional, the layout makes people look very comfortable. When everything is put together, no matter who sees Fujiwara Masato at this moment, they will sincerely praise him... What a beautiful young man from ancient times.

And the finishing touch is a mole hidden under Fujiwara Masato's left eye. It is very small and cannot be seen from a distance. Only when people get closer will the observer be surprised to discover its existence. This tear mole increased Fujiwara Masato's beauty by at least 1.5 times, adding a touch of charm.

The only flaw is that Fujiwara Masato's skin is too white. It is not as white as warm as jade, but as lifeless and pale as close to lead powder. Coupled with the sadness that cannot be concealed in his eyes, Fujiwara Masato looks like now. Just like a Japanese nobleman's doll, it is exquisite and has Japanese mourning.

Well, Masato Fujiwara's height is also a flaw. Even in Japan, a height of 1.65 meters has nothing to do with tall people. And this seems to be blamed on Umeko Anaka. This is not a genetic reason, but more It was because after she divorced her father, Fujiwara Masato's mood was never stable again, which caused him to have trouble eating and sleeping well.

After Anaka Umeko smoked ℃, the poisonous insect who refused to recognize her relatives began to reduce Fujiwara Masato's food expenses at school. When the latter came home from school, Anaka Umeko was often not at home, so dinner was naturally ruined... Poor Fujiwara Masato He used to live a wealthy and happy life where his parents were alive and loving, so much so that he couldn't cook at all, and he didn't even have money to buy cup noodles.

No matter how good Fujiwara Masato's genes are, if he is often starved at critical moments of physical development, it is really a miracle that he can grow taller. Coupled with his current thinness caused by long-term lack of nutrition, and his weakness after death, Fujiwara Masato can really be blown away by a strong gust of wind, and a healthy female high school student can easily knock him to the ground.

Thinking about it this way, Fujiwara Masato's exquisiteness really makes people unhappy at all. If he doesn't want to die suddenly, then he has to take good care of his body through proper exercise and reasonable diet after the funeral.

This is something that will happen in the future. Fujiwara Masato needs to get over the current difficulties first. After discovering that his appearance is very good, he has more confidence in asking for help from others. People are all visual animals. For good-looking people, even if Even strangers will be more tolerant and friendly.

Fujiwara Masato wet the towel with tap water, and then wiped his face, neck, and behind the ears vigorously until the skin was red and no dirt was present, then he wiped a few fragrant Chinese soap on his hands and wrists... without hairspray, In the case of facial cleanser and men's perfume, he is doing his best to improve his image and cover up possible flaws.

Anaka Umeko did leave some expensive cosmetics and toiletries in the bathroom, but Fujiwara Masato didn't want to use them.

After finishing his personal cleaning, Fujiwara Masato returned to his room and began to look for a pair of decent clothes. Then he naturally found that there were none. The good-looking clothes were either small in size or visibly old. After searching around, he finally found only a school uniform. This suit was something that Umeko Anaka rarely bought for Fujiwara Masato when he graduated this year.

Touching this dress, Fujiwara Masato had mixed emotions. This was probably Anaka Umeko's last motherly love for him.

The light blue school uniform suit is not complicated to put on. The buttons are fastened and the blue and white tie is tied around the neck. When Fujiwara Masato once again stood in front of the bathroom mirror, what appeared on it was a handsome young man wearing a suit. ...Fujiwara Masato couldn't say exactly how handsome he was. He just thought he looked particularly good without makeup.

Fujiwara Masato thought for a while, and before going out, he put on a black cloth mask and a pair of old-fashioned plain glasses that were so thick that they could shrink his eyes twice.

Beauty is a double-edged sword. While it will make your life journey smoother, it will also easily cause you to encounter troubles that you shouldn't encounter. You will regret it later and have no end. Forked roads, women are like this, good-looking men will also encounter the same trouble.

Now Masato Fujiwara doesn't want to be hit on for no reason while walking on the street.

The Fujiwara family is not far from the Iwaji family, less than a kilometer away, just one street apart. However, the Fujiwara family is in a not-busy commercial street, and Mr. Iwaji Naoto lives next to a small park with unique scenery. After breakfast in the morning, you can go out to the park and play Go with other retired Japanese men.

On the way to Iwaji's house, Fujiwara Masato took a long detour and went to a sake store at the end of a commercial street. He bought a bottle of Japanese sake that was neither expensive nor cheap, and asked the clerk to pack it. Fujiwara Masato carried the bag and continued to set off.

Fujiwara Masato chose the time when he would go out. The time when he went to the sake shop and arrived at Iwaji's house happened to be half past ten, and this time happened to be shortly after Mr. Iwaji Naoto returned home from visiting the park.

Before the visit, Fujiwara Masato did not make a reservation in advance because he did not have Iwaji Naoto's contact information, so he could only come directly to the door.

The Iwaji family's house is a classic Japanese two-story house. For specific reference, you can look at Nobita's house in Doraemon. Masato Fujiwara stood at the door of the yard and rang the doorbell. After a while, there was a dragging sound coming from behind the door. Heavy steps.

With a click, the door was opened, and an old man wearing a gray men's kimono appeared behind the door. He was slightly surprised to find Masato Fujiwara standing outside his home.

"Masato-kun... come in quickly."

Fujiwara Masato didn't say anything yet, but his posture and the packaging bag in his hand immediately made the mature Iwaji Naoto guess that he wanted something from him. In order not to embarrass anyone, the old man pulled him carefully. Masato Fujiwara walked into the house. "Oh, rare visitor, Masato-kun, it's been a long time since you last came to our house..." In the hall, an old woman also wearing a gray kimono greeted Fujiwara Masato kindly, and then did not wait for Fujiwara Masato to respond. , she turned around to prepare tea and snacks for the guests, and also left some space for the two of them to be alone.

Fujiwara Masato, who was pulled by the old man to sit on the sofa, first put the sake in his hand on the table, then raised his hand to take off the mask and glasses on his face, revealing his delicate and delicate face, letting those who wanted to say something Iwaji Naoto was stunned for a second.

Fujiwara Masato wanted to ask the old man to help him find a funeral company. However, when things came to an end, the words of help he had envisioned came to his lips, but he could not spit them out. He opened, closed, and opened his mouth again several times in embarrassment. Fujiwara Masato Like a prisoner on the execution ground, he stood up and bowed to Naoto Iwaji, then stretched out the "Corpse Examination Report" clasped in both hands.

Naoto Iwaji, who stood up with Masato Fujiwara, froze in his movements. He looked at the words on the surface of the document in disbelief.

"Is this Anaka Umeko's?" Iwaji Naoto's voice was low and sad. Before Fujiwara Masato could reply, he himself shook his head and sighed.

"I knew it. I had long advised Anaka Umeko not to associate with her friends, but it's a pity that since she divorced Fujiwara, she can no longer listen to any advice... Now that she is gone, for the Fujiwara family It's a good thing to say." After saying that, Naoto Iwaji waved his hand to signal Masato Fujiwara to take back the document. He didn't want to see this sad thing.

"Where is Anzhong Meizi?"

"The hospital...in the morgue of Adachi Ward Hospital."

"Wait a moment, let me change my clothes, and then you and I will take you to visit your former friends, and together we will contact some stores that specialize in selling funeral supplies to prepare for Anzhong Meizi's funeral."

Masato Fujiwara originally wanted Naoto Iwaji to help contact the funeral company, but the latter seemed to regard himself as an elder of the Fujiwara family and planned to personally prepare the funeral and preside over the ceremony in memory of Anaka Umeko.

When things got to this point, Fujiwara Masato had no choice but to refuse. He could only be like a puppet, being pulled around Adachi District in Tokyo by the energetic old man.

The relationship between his father and Mr. Naoto Iwaji was deeper than Masato Fujiwara remembered. It is also possible that his face was more important than he expected. The old man and the young man worked hard for two days, asking people to buy things. , and then the old man looked down and found a familiar monk's temple as the funeral venue.

Japan is a country with a lot of rules, and funerals have a lot of cumbersome processes. It takes at least three to four days to complete the whole process. Traditional Japanese funerals are held in Shinto and Buddhist temples, and they can also be performed at paid funerals. It can be held in a lower funeral hall or at home. Monks are invited to chant sutras, and relatives and friends of the deceased come to see the deceased for the last time... If there is really no money, then hold a zero burial.

The so-called zero burial in Japan means that no ceremony is held, the body is taken directly to the crematorium and burned to ashes.

The funeral that An Zhong Meizi enjoyed was held in a Buddhist and Taoist temple. The funeral lasted four days and three nights, which was considered to be the best time. However, during the funeral, there were not many guests who came to see An Zhong Meizi on her last journey. Because of the depressed death of the second elder and her disgraceful behavior, every one of her relatives and friends has basically lost contact with Anzhong Meizi.

As for the relatives on his father's side... Fujiwara Masato suddenly discovered that he didn't know much about his father, and he didn't know if he had any relatives such as grandfather, grandmother, uncle, etc., and he had no way to contact him. His divorced father left this place. There was no news from the back of the house.

In the end, those who were willing to come and see Anaka Umeko for the last time were basically the neighbors of the Fujiwara family. Even Fujiwara Masato suspected that the reason why these people were willing to put on black suits and go through the motions was because of the face of Mr. Naoto Iwaji. Instead of An Zhong Meizi's affection... Du Chong's usual behavior is enough to ruin all human relations.

As the body in the coffin was carried into a black ceremonial car by the crematorium staff, it was taken to the crematorium. Then it went straight to the cemetery managed by the Buddhist and Taoist temple that Naoto Iwaji had contacted. Shovel after shovel of soil buried the coffin. , Anzhong Meizi's life path came to an end.

This funeral cost Fujiwara Masato about one million yen, which is not a lot of money. If someone else had held a funeral of the same specifications, it would have cost at least two million yen. It can be so cheap, but it is still old. The reason... Mr. Iwaji Naoto's face is so good that the monks who chant sutras, borrow temples, and manage the cemetery are willing to give discounts. This makes Fujiwara Masato a little doubt whether the old man is the holder of the face fruit.

Finally, at a fork in the road on the way home after the funeral, Masato Fujiwara, who was wearing a suit and getting off the bus, turned around and bowed deeply to Mr. Naoto Iwaji, who was wearing a black kimono behind him.

"Thank you very much, thank you for your help..."

Iwaji Naoto, who was still immersed in the sad atmosphere of the funeral, did not want to say polite words. He just waved his hand to Fujiwara Masato.

"Masato-kun, just come and see me when you are free, and be less polite. I am old and have nothing to pursue."

After saying that, the old man took the lead and walked home with his wife, leaving Masato Fujiwara standing there watching their retreating figures.

"Let's go, it's time for me to go home... all this should be over." Fujiwara Masato lowered his head, untied his single ponytail hair, let the hair cover the outline of his face, and finally turned the old-fashioned flat mirror to On the bridge of his nose, a short handsome man disappeared, and the classic Japanese otaku image appeared.

(End of this chapter)