Part 83: 11/11/11-11/13/11

11/11/11

Not much going on today.



Robert Koch discovered tuberculosis. Koch, cough, doesn't it sound similar? *giggle *
He's one of the best examples I know… But you guys all know someone like that, right?
In fact, there's someone here at school who might fit that bill… But don't try to find out who, okay? That's a no-no.
This one time, that teacher, Mrs. Nakayama, was… Huh? What's the matter, Souji-kun?
Aww, please, don't look so bored, silly. We're in class right now.
So, who's the one that discovered the mycobacterium, tuberculosis?

I was actually sort of preoccupied but I had been sort of listening luckily.



Good job, you got it right! I'm glad you remembered it.
*giggle * Earnest boys make my heart beat faster.
Alright, let's continue. Louis Pasteur is a researcher just as renowned as Koch.
These two are known as the pioneers of modern bacteriology, and they made many discoveries…

Nobody was around after school, can't say that I blame them. We'd picked up a bunch of junk in the TV world, and while I was talking to Daidara I found out he had something else I was looking for.



I found these strange letters in with what I bought. They're love letters! Don't you think it's strange?
Throwing them away is a bit cold… And returning them to their owner is also kind of an admission of reading them…
> Are these the letters that Hisano had told you about before…?
> You asked Daidara for the letters he found.
> Received Husband's Letters.

I went down to the shrine to tell the fox I'd caught that guy's big fish.



Yeah that's right the fox is messing with me or something. I just can't win lately it seems.

11/12/11

I ran into Kanji, he wanted to talk to me about something so we headed up to the hill.



The other day… I went to visit Dad's grave.
It's the first time I went on my own… Well, I had a lot to tell him.
How was it?
H-How was it…? Well… uhh…
I felt like I could finally face him.
…A little late, though.
> Kanji is smiling sadly…
Dad told me somethin' right before he died: "If you're a man, you have to become strong."
I felt like he was telling me I wasn't a real man. Pissed me off.
So, I changed my looks and pushed myself away from people…
Fighting gangs, thinking I was protecting Ma… Tryin' to catch this killer…
I thought all that was how I was becoming strong.
That I was really making up for all the trouble I caused…
I was drunk off my "power"…
But… That wasn't it. That ain't what Dad meant…
I still don't really get what bein' "strong" means, but I'm gonna start by not lying to myself.
No more being scared of everyone, hiding my hobbies, staying away from people…
Anytime, anyplace, I'm gonna bust right through as my own self!
That's the way to deal with that "other me" in the TV world.
As long as there's someone like that snot-nosed kid to accept me, I ain't afraid of nothing!

At least things are going well for someone.



Sir! It's all thanks to you!
> Kanji is smiling gently…
> You felt Kanji's firm resolve…
> You feel your relationship with Kanji has grown yet deeper…

I think I've been pretty dumb the past few days, moping like this because she ran off.



Oh yeah. We're gonna put those dolls of mine up for sale at the shop.
They were a big hit with that kid and his mom…
They called me just to say "thank you"… Heheh, I got a kick outta that.
Oh, I gotta go buy supplies… I need to jet.
> You parted with Kanji and went home.

I wonder if there's any other night jobs I can take, I'm really just sick to death of sitting around alone all night thinking about crap I can't change. I'll have to check tomorrow.

11/13/11

It turned out that there was another night job that had opened up. Someone needed tutoring, which seemed right up my alley.



I had those letters for Hisano, so I headed down to talk to her.



> You showed Hisano the letters from her husband.
The letters from my husband…!?
How…!?
> You told her they were at Daidara.
Oh my, it must have been when he came to collect the contents of the storehouse…
So that's where I kept the letters…
…Thank you, Souji-chan. From the bottom of this old woman's heart. I'm so happy…
> Hisano is very happy…
But I'm going to burn them.
…I'll go get some matches.
> She's going to burn them…
> What should you do…?

Curiosity overcame me, I must admit.



> You decided to read a little bit…
Postcard: "The wooden well frame / I was one shorter than it / I have outgrown it / in the time that we / have been kept apart"
> ……
> That's all the postcard says…
> Another postcard has a short composition on it…
Postcard: "I want to see you so much.
"How much sky, earth, and water do my words have to run through, on and over to reach you, my dear Hisa-san?
"How I wish I was this postcard."
…Isn't that just so sad?
He had no idea that he was being deceived…
I'm sure he never imagined that the "Hisa-san" he loved would some day wish to see him dead…

Hisano told me the whole thing.



……
He was a kind, honest, and loyal man.
…He fell ill and became bedridden. I had to work to support our family…
He would always apologize to me for failing as a husband. When he did, he would smile so sadly…
His illness worsened, and he must have been scared. He began to take his fear and frustration out on me.
The man who had been so kind…
…But that didn't bother me at all.
I had agreed that I would work and take care of him the day we were wed. "In sickness and in health…"
But he forgot.
He forgot who I was, and he forgot all about me.
I couldn't bring myself to love him. I couldn't forgive the way he would look at me with such confusion in his eyes…
And when I cried, he would wipe my tears away, like the man he had been all those years ago… I couldn't forgive that.

Why she was 'Death.'



But I couldn't.
While I was standing over him, he looked up… and he smiled at me. That same smile he gave me when I was a girl.
And in the same voice he would use to tell me he loved me, he asked: "Who are you, Ma'am?"
That was three years ago…
After that day, he would forget who I was every morning. Every day, he would ask me, "Who are you?"
And every day, I would answer: "Who am I today?"
I was a total stranger to him, until the very end…
He was being cared for by a stranger as he passed away.
That was his punishment. Punishment for forgetting me…

I was sort of shell-shocked, I mean what do you say to something like that?



…I was relieved.
Before I could feel anything else… I felt relief. Relief that it was finally over, for both of us.
It was then that I realized that I had been wanting him to die.
And because I wished it, he left this world and went to the gods.
…I am Death itself.
> Hisano smiles sadly…
> You feel that you understand Hisano a bit more…

It seems like Hisano's got nothing left but her regrets now.



Please, throw the letters away.
I can't bear to see them anymore. I don't want to touch them anymore.
I'm sorry…
> You weren't able to give Hisano back the letters from her husband.
> ……
> Perhaps you should speak with the owner of Daidara…

You know what, though? Tomorrow's a new day. And even if Naoto ends up telling me she doesn't feel the same way I do, I'm happy I told her. I at least have no regrets.