I live with my husband. Well… technically, our oldest son Hiroki still lives with us too. Hiroki used to excel at everything—he was the son I was so proud of. But after he quit his job, he’s been on a very long “break.” I’ve tried encouraging him to go back to work a few times, but he just can’t bring himself to step outside. Still, he was always so brilliant. I’m sure he’ll return to society soon and shine again.
That’s what I kept believing… but more than twenty years have already gone by.
I always thought our younger son, Masato, got married and had kids partly for our sake. Every time the family grew—with a daughter-in-law or a new grandchild—it felt like we had more people on our side. It made me happy. That’s why it hurt so deeply when Kana flat-out rejected me. When Masato got married, I didn’t tell her about Hiroki because I didn’t want to worry her. I thought she would understand if she heard the truth later. But not only did Kana turn her back on me—Masato cut ties with us as well. I still can’t understand how things ended up like this.
Even so, I still have Hiroki. He’ll choose to return to the world on his own, any day now—I’m sure of it. And with that hope in my heart, I make his meals again today, just like always.