Between Him and Her

In memorial of the Matsumoto Family

That day Ryuuhei took a half day to start preparing for his family's memorial. It was only him who was left in his family. With the death of Hiroki, his parents and the separation from Yumiko, he had no one. It left a massive gap in his life.

He went to the supermarket to buy the necessary items for the family altar. It didn't take him long as he had been doing this for the last decade. Now in his black suit, he sat in seiza in front of the family altar going through the motions of honoring those who passed away. He had hoped Yumiko would come to pay respect for at least Hiroki, but she didn't show. Any communication between them was dwindling to nothing as one had moved on and one was still stuck in the past.

He sat in front of the low table filled with food on the tatami floor opened his first beer. His father's favorite in fact. "Here's to you, father." He toasted towards his father's tablet. He tasted his mother's recipe dish that he prepared and shook his head, "There is still something missing. Not as good, not as good."

He looked at Hiroki. Hiroki loved to watch baseball games, and his favorite team was Hanshin Tigers. "The Hanshin Tigers are not playing as well as they did last year. But I'll try my best to go and cheer for them."

After a moment of silence, he sighed. He laid down stretching his arms to either side of him. It was hard to lose one's parents, but it was expected, but losing his son was not expected. There were words for a person who lost their parents - an orphan, a loss of a spouse - a widow or widower. What do they call a person who lost their child?

He turned to his side facing the altar again. Tears slowly formed and fell at the loss and loneliness in his life. It was the only time he let himself feel the sorrow. He felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. He let it sound for a while however whoever was calling him didn't let him.

Ryuuhei finally took his phone out. It was his friend, Yasuyuki, best friend since elementary school. So he answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ryuuhei. How are you?"

"Hmm as good as I can be."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at home."

There was a silent moment. Yasuyuki continued after clearing his throat.

"We are standing out in front of your house gate. Open up."

Ryuuhei sighed loudly and left to let his friends into his home. The gate was automatic, so he only had to open the gate by touching a button. His parents home was enormous. Too big for a single person. There was a cleaning lady who would every other day to clean this traditional Japanese house. Though the house was no more the original setting because of his grandmother, the house went through a series of remodeling where it was modernized bringing more glass structures. One side of the house opened up to the garden that his mother had maintained taking over when her mother-in-law was no longer able to do so. It was his favorite place to sit in all seasons.