It was a bright sunny day, a rarity in the month of august. He woke up suffocating under the slightly matted fur of Blue, his beloved cat; carefully lifting her up, he squinted at the gentle yet damp rays of the Sun, that flittered through the Japanese Maple tree leaves. Deliberately, he stepped out of the queen-sized bed, sighing with joint aches that shouldn't be so prominent at his age; lighting a cigarette he plopped down on the 'porcelain throne of every modern man' the commode, hence starting the routine.
Yukitani was a quaint little village nestled near the famous Iya valley of Japan; scarcely populated yet vibrant with joy and diligence of the populace. He moved here about 10 years ago, in search of simple peace and to fulfil at least one of his dreams. Although, the community at first was quite strained in communicating with him, gradually everyone came around; maybe it was due to his profession- Doctor.
Humming with the new 'Maware-Maware' song playing on the radio, he was flipping his bread-omelette; when an amateur drumming of his main gate, made him look through the peephole- a young girl was humming some unknown tune, practising the beats on the wooden frame.
"Ohayoo, Sakura-chan. Okaeri."
A little dazed, getting interrupted during her impromptu session, Sakura, smiled innocently, her two incisors missing, "Ohayoo Gozaimasu! Sensei." Giving a little wave, she scuttled inside, searching for Blue. With a fond exasperation, he closed the gate; continuing with the breakfast, he asked Sakura, if she would like to eat too.
"Hai~" Came her reply from the backyard porch of the house, with a grumbling meow of Blue.
Mid-bite Sakura paused, slightly fumbling inside the front pocket of her dungaree she took out a crumpled envelope, "Ano~ Sensei, Mom asked me to give this to you" , and slid it towards him.
After another bite, while patting Blue on her lap, she suddenly remembered, "Also, she asked you to come by for dinner, at 7pm. Mom, said it's for every help you have given." Once again, she went back to enjoying her breakfast.
"Alright" Although treating any patient is his professional duty until the day he dies. And, other than the official fee, that keeps him afloat, he didn't appreciate anything else. Sakura-chan's mother is his only neighbour and she was also the very first person who welcomed him in the community with open arms, since the very first day. So, it is imperative that he attends the dinner.
As per the 'tradition', on a damp sunny afternoon, while living alone- he was sitting on comfortable bamboo chair, under sieved shadows of Japanese Maple trees, listening to the gentle splashes of the narrow stream that cut around his backyard.
It was one of those days- vagrant fluffy clouds chasing each other, surrounded by the vast patch of blue sky, the pleasant Sun, and the busy world of majestic birds. It was such a day, which nudges your mind to reminisce- the forgotten memories, that were never really lost. So, he obliged. Still a little help was needed to keep the shattered pieces of his self, lest they make him bleed.
With a lit cigarette held between his discoloured lips, and a cold Kawaba Snow beer, he strolled inside the broken and rotten garden of his memories. Multitude scenes shimmered beneath his closed eyelids- the first time he got injured, the first beatings by his father, the first time he kicked a football, the early morning he shared his innocent yet grand dreams of his future to his father, the gold medal he won in the international taekwondo championship, his first crush, his first relationship, the start of his rebel era and so on.
Among them, there were few that replayed a few more time- the day he found out about the atrocities of his aunts and uncles, the day his dreams were crushed by the ego of his father, his first breakup...
Yet, there was one memory that made the tears of regret and heartbreak slide down his heart, the image of that one person that held him back from ever thinking about anyone else, the one girl he never had the courage to ask officially and her perfect smile beneath those sad eyes...
He woke up to a dull pain in his head and evening calls of birds flying back to their nests. The lockscreen of his phone showed 6:30 pm, the slight drowsiness vanished with a startle, as he double checked the time. In a hurry the empty bottle fell off the table, as he rushed to wash-up and get ready for the invitation dinner. Carrying a DIY-ed fruit basket, while strolling towards Yuhi-san, Sakura-chan's mother and his neighbour's house, he tried to admire the waning rays of the setting Sun, but that persistent dull headache just didn't allow it.
Slightly rubbing his head he knocked at the wooden door of the rustic house, that he was invited to.
"Coming~" A beautiful yet slightly pale middle aged woman opened the door, Yuhi-san.
With a gentle smile, "Irasshai, Yahto-san. Ohisashiburi desu ne?", she greeted and welcomed him inside.
"Hontoo ni, it has been quite some time", he intoned with practised warm smile.
As soon as he sat down, Sakura-chan bounded like a happy little missile towards him and asked the whereabouts of Blue; getting the location she was gone like wind, while Yuhi-san chided her from the back, and asked her to wash-up for the dinner.
The spread was modest yet every bit homely. Also, once again, Yuhi-san thanked him profusely for treating her GERD and referring her on time to the Tokyo Hospice, for the removal of a small tumor on time and the procedure being quite affordable. By the time they finished-up, it was already quite late at night, for a quaint village, hence, he politely thanked her and excused himself, while picking up Blue.
Strolling under the year's first blood moon, that flitted throughout the sky among dark clouds, he reached back home, with the dull pain exponentially increasing, so, first thing he did closing the gate, was to take one tablet of Ibuprofen and a swig of cold water. Knowing that the effect won't be immediate, he washed-up and lied down beside Blue, closing his eyes with considerable effort.
It took a week for the authorities to come and check on his house, when they were informed by Miss Yuhi, who found out about the situation that day only, when she found her daughter, Sakura, sobbing, while sitting at the front steps of their house-
"Sensei and Blue are angry with me~ They didn't open the gate for me~ for a week!" Sakura told Yuhi-san.
When, even Yuhi failed to reach out to Yahto, via any means. She immidiately called the local police, and though timely, all they found after the broken gate, was a rotting smell and two dead bodies- a cat and a man in his 30s, snuggled together.