Chapter 7
Back Home
‘Taki don’t you think it’s about time for you to head home?’
It must have been towards the end of 1943 when the Mistress called me in and said this to me. I felt as though something had shattered deep in my heart.
I left the Hirai household in March 1944. My time with them is forever stopped there, as vivid as ever despite the passing of the years.
After the war, I served in numerous households, but that was different, on a separate thread of time. Indeed, with each passing year memories of the old days come back to me more distinctly than ever. That’s what ageing is. Youngsters like Takeshi don’t understand at all.
My chest constricts a little when I recall the slight distance that opened up between the Mistress and myself.
After Mr. Itakura was conscripted in t
