He stared at the note. Then he ate his rice alone, watching the snow pile on the windowsill. At 8 p.m., she still wasn’t home. At 10 p.m., he called her phone. No answer. At midnight, he pulled on his jacket and walked two miles through the blizzard to the city hospital.
The next morning, walking home in the frozen dawn, Haruki kicked a can down the empty street. Yuki walked beside him, still wearing his scarf. okaasan no koto nanka zenzen suki janain dakara ne
When Yuki woke up an hour later, she found her son’s arm linked through hers. She kissed the top of his head. He pretended to stay asleep. He stared at the note
One winter afternoon, Haruki came home to find the house silent. No smell of miso soup. No laundry folding on the sofa. Just a note on the table: “Gone to the hospital. Grandma fell. Back late. Rice is in the warmer.” At 10 p
And Haruki, for the first time in years, didn’t add his usual line.
Haruki sat beside her. Quietly, he took off his own scarf and wrapped it around her neck. Then he leaned his head against her shoulder and closed his eyes.