Episode 4 – Gently crushed onigiri

Death of a parent.

I wonder how many young people have experienced this heavy word firsthand.

When I was a child, my mother died of illness. I still remember the warmth of my mother who always hugged me with a kind smile. She was like a deity to me in the past, and her death has had a tremendous impact on me.

Loneliness, anxiety ……

It was at that time that I met the three Kirie sisters. When I played with them, I didn’t feel the loneliness that came from the hole in my heart, so we were together all the time.

When we play make-believe, when we play doctor, and when we sleep together in my room.

And then…

Even when that criminal threatened me.

But after that incident, my father moved to another area because he was worried about me.

I didn’t want to leave the three Kirie sisters, so I tearfully begged my father to let me go, but he wouldn’t listen to me.

We said our goodbyes in tears.

Time is a cruel and heartless thing. I spent my days with my father, going to junior high school and high school. The feelings I had for the three Kirie sisters gradually faded away, and I came to see them as a page in my sad memories, as if to say, “Oh, that happened once, didn’t it?

But somewhere in the back of my mind, I always wished for them to live a happy life.

I wished for the three sisters to lead happy lives.

It had been a long time since I had lost myself in contemplation. It’s time to get up.

My house is big. It’s a single-family home for a family of four, after all. Dad probably wanted to bring his new family to live with him. But dad seemed to love mom, and every time he saw me, he would give me a difficult look and look at pictures of her.

I had seen him with other women a few times, but he never introduced them to me.

I walked into Dad’s room.

“Dad……”

In dad’s room, there are suits, writing materials, and an old laptop. There are lots of tools and clothes for him, but the important thing is that he is not here.

He is not in this world.

He died of cancer a year ago.

The death of a being who loved me so much is a heart wrenching experience. When I open the door, he’s going to say, “Hmm …… Yuma, five more minutes,” or something like that while lying down. ……

This place.

I’m all alone.

Me, with my face contorted and biting my lip.

But.

I’m usually supposed to be grieving, but my mind projects a scene like a phantom light machine .

The smile that the three Kirie sisters showed me two Friday nights ago.

How could they smile so brightly even though they lost their precious parents when they were young?

I knew that those three sisters were much more mature and respectable than the still immature me. In front of them, I am a small person.

But the thought of the three Kirie sisters helped ease some of the pain in my heart. Well, this kind of distance is just right.

It suits me to cheer them on secretly in my heart.

With that in mind, as I was taking out the rice balls with a 50% discount sticker on them that I had bought yesterday from the refrigerator

My cell phone in my pocket rang.

It was a phone number I had never seen before. Could it possibly be a suspicious call?

I picked up the phone.

“Hello?”
“Yuu chan. Good morning.”
“! Ai nee”
“Are you still sleeping?”
“N-no. I’m awake.”
“I see ……”

It was Ai nee who called me.

“I’ve finished cleaning your dirty pants, and I’d like to return them.”

I see, it’s about the pants.

“Hmmm….maybe after work or on the weekends would be ok”
“Really? Then how about dinner with me after work? It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, and with what happened the other day, I’ll buy you a drink.”
“No, you don’t have to buy me a drink. …… rather let me buy you a drink!”
“Eh? Why would Yu chan buy me a drink?”
“I’ve been …… away for a while, and I was really happy to see the three of you looking so good, so I kind of wanted to buy you a drink!”
“…… Yu-chan”
“W-What is it?”
“I knew it, Yu-chan is so kind.”
“!!!”

The glamorous voice that comes through even over the phone catches my ear and gives me goosebumps.

Ai nee is just talking normally, but I’m just overreacting. Calm down.

“I’d like to have a long talk alone with you. We have a lot to talk about.”
“……”
“Yuuchan?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“We can talk on a weeknight, right?”
“Yeah, …….”
“I’ll send you the exact date and time via Ain.”
“Y-yeah that’s fine.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later, Yu-chan.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you soon…”
“Fufu, Okay, then.”

Ai nee said and hung up the phone.

I feel as if my soul is being drained out of me. A small mirror attached to the refrigerator captures my image.

There stood a man with dead eyes, feeling a mysterious feeling welling up from the depths of his heart.

“Ah, onigiri…….”

I finally came to myself, and the onigiri in my hand was

It had been reshaped and gently crushed.

(TL/N : Poor onigiri..)