Lemon Incest c3

In the nearest vicinity, upscale residential condos with names like “Asanuno” and “Shirokana” spread, and it was a place where there were quite a few foreign embassies. Not only was the shop known for having highly skilled workers who met deadlines, but its workers were also known for having a wealth of knowledge when it came to glass, so this shop received patronage from the local wealthy residents, and there was a time when they would work in collaboration with large construction companies.

Misao had been living with her older sister and her husband during this time, and she remembered it well. It was a period of time when she threw herself into studying so that she could pass the national bar exam.

Their work was only to put in the glass as instructed in the sketch, and it was normally something that could be done in a short amount of time, but during their task several accidents popped up. Because of this, they ended up visiting the residential site several days in a row.

She was a good girl who tried to make up for her lack of education by putting effort into reading books and newspapers. She called Chikako “my lady” and Mio “miss.” And although they weren’t that far apart in age, she insisted on calling Misao “elder miss.” There were times when Misao chuckled at her saying “You should stop calling us by such strange names.”

“She must’ve found herself someone,” Keiichi said cheerfully. There were even times during dinner that he would jokingly ask Yoshimi, who was serving the dinner: “Did you find yourself a boyfriend?” and Yoshimi, in turn, would turn almost comically red, shaking her head furiously and saying in a slightly angry voice: “That’s not true.”

Before long, the people of the Shimada household forgot about the illicit love affair between Yoshimi and the son from “Kanaya Glass Shop.” And Yoshimi must have also somehow managed to become used to her fragile relationship because she began to act like her usual self again.

It had been shortly after the funeral of Chikako, who had passed away from massive internal bleeding from giving birth to Masao. The Shimada family was still engulfed in a deep sadness. Keiichi had left for work, and Mio had been temporarily living with her grandfather in Kamakura. As for Misao, she had stepped out, and there was no one at home.

Because of the tragedy of Chikako’s sudden death that fell upon the Shimada family, Yoshimi had spent many days unable to meet Kanaya. On that day, they had contacted each other on the phone and made plans to meet in the neighbouring park, if only for a short while.

Be that as it may, Yoshimi wasn’t responsible for what had happened. She was a victim of the kidnapping of Masao. And it could also be said that it was likewise for the son of “Kanaya Glass Shop.”

Misao thought that there was a need for her to go see Kanaya– that this was the time to see him. It may just be that the answers to the incident were much more simple than anyone had ever expected. It wasn’t just the police who were oblivious to it— it was also those closest to the family; that’s how she felt.

Was it really okay for her to go see him about it after all this time? Was what she was trying to do the equivalent of rubbing salt into an old wound?

Their individual lives had settled down in their individual ways, and time had passed as eventually the terrible memories of the past faded.

But— Misao thought: Mio’s biological brother had been alive and well. Not only that but he had grown into a handsome, intelligent young man who was a mirror image of his father… How could she close her eyes and turn away from such a fact?

Humans have this thing called “dignity.” A person without dignity; a person who didn’t value dignity– there was not one person in the world out there like this; Misao told herself. She fervently told herself that this was the right thing to do.

And this was how Misao, went to see Kanaya on a hot summer day.

“Kanaya Glass Shop” that had been located in the Ichinohashi of Minato district had gone out of business several years earlier, and the only thing left was a shabby looking building with the name plate “Kanaya Koukichi.” It was a pity that this shop, which had single-handedly taken on jobs in this area during the time it was in business had not even a trace of the prosperity of its past days surrounded by newly build apartments on both sides.

The woman who answered looked as if she couldn’t be bothered to greet this stranger of a woman who had suddenly come calling. Although this was a season when just standing still was enough to cause sweat to ooze out of one’s pores, the woman was wearing a slightly dirty pair of ash-colored socks along with a thin white cardigan. Her face had not a trace of makeup, and the white hair which had long lost its lustre hung limply on her shoulders. The way she flipped back a lock of hair that would brush her cheek in annoyance with the tips of her fingers gave Misao the impression that she was prone to hysterics.

Misao apologized for intruding without notice and explained who she was. She told the woman that she had been living in an apartment complex in this very neighbourhood and she had used this glass shop’s services a number of times before. She then went on to say that she just happened to pass by this place and got nostalgic and so she decided to drop in… as she said this, she offered the packaged sweets. Although the woman looked unconvinced, she thanked her for the present and accepted it.

She had no intention of revealing that she was a lawyer, so it goes without saying that she had no plans to say anything that would remind this woman of what had happened twenty four years earlier. She thought it would be no easy task to find out the name of the hospital where Kanaya was currently hospitalized, but the woman said to her as if she couldn’t be bothered to chit chat with her any longer: “If you have some business with my husband, would you mind going directly to the hospital? He’s currently staying in the hospital, but it’s not as if he’s on the brink of death. He is, now anyway, still right of mind, and he’s still capable of talking. What happened to him is something he did to himself, what with all his drinking. I always told him to not drink so much, but did he ever listen to me?”

Misao smiled and nodded, telling her: “Please enjoy it.” Kanaya’s wife brought her dry lips into a tight smile, and replied: “Well then, I will. Thank you.”

At the nurse’s station that was severely lacking in air conditioning, Misao wiped away her sweat as she asked for visiting rights using her real name. The busy looking nurses informed her as to his hospital room without so much as a glance.

Kanaya was lying down on the bed, but he wasn’t asleep. His face was darkened, but it was clear that it was not due to the sun, but rather the effects of someone who was battling a serious illness. Although he was supposed to be yet 55 or 56 in age, she could only see the apathetic figure of a man eaten away by illness, and there was not a trace of the spiritedness he had when he was coming and going out of the Shimada house.

At hearing the name “Shimada,” Kanaya suddenly turned his head in her direction. The faded blue hospital gown was slightly open, and she could see the raised ribs of his body which was darker in color than his face.

“Shimada-san…you mean, that….”

“Remember? How could I forget…” He said this with a voice thick with phlegm, and with a swiftness that was unthinkable for someone who was so ill, he got up and kneeled on the bed, adjusting the front of his sleeping gown closed.

“No, I’m fine. I’m lying down for practically the entire day, so it’s good for my body to move around from time to time…”

When Misao said this, Kanaya suddenly looked up at Misao with a strange expression on his face. It wasn’t an expression of suspicion or weariness— it was an expression as if he already sensed why she was here, and he was quietly trying to accept the situation… this was the feeling that she got.

As he said this, he rolled the sleeves of his sleeping gown up and stood up from the bed.

A short time later, Kanaya came to the lobby. He had thrown on top of his sleeping gown a faded brown gown, and it seemed as if he had shaved the sparse beard because he was clean shaven.

She told him the truth that she was currently working as a lawyer and as a result of one case, she had come to know a young man who introduced himself as Iwasaki Shougo. She also explained that he had told her that the maiden name of his mother who had recently passed away was “Kanaya” and that his mother had an older brother who ran a glass shop in Ichinohashi. She added that when it came to glass shops in Ichinobashi, the “Kanaya Glass Shop” was famous around that part of town and that the Shimada household has used their services in the past to set up a children’s room. She finished by explaining that hearing all this made her begin to think that this young man named Iwasaki Shougo might have some deep connection to the young boy who had been kidnapped from the Shimada house so long ago.

Misao guessed that she would either be yelled at or told “leave,” but Kanaya remained silent. He didn’t move a muscle.

“I’m sorry if I’m completely off base,” Misao said this in as calm of a voice as she could muster. “I came here because I thought you might know something important…”

“That very nephew told me himself that his mother may not be his biological mother.”

“I heard from him that his mother…in other words, your sister, opened up to him about the truth shortly before her death. Apparently, she told him that she wasn’t his real mother. She apologized to him and said she wasn’t the one who gave birth to him. Ever since, Shougo hasn’t been able to stop thinking about her last words…”

“Please don’t take it the wrong way,” she told him. “I have no intention of dredging up the past. After all, the statute of limitations for the incident has long since passed. What’s past is past. As you probably know, Masao’s mother Chikako passed away immediately after giving birth to him, and Shimada Keiichi also passed away some time later in a car accident. There’s not one person who is trying to dig up the past. I just… want to tell Mio…that’s my niece, that her biological younger brother is alive and well. I want to be able to reunite them…that’s all.”

“I have no desire to find solid proof,” she quietly said. “That never even crossed my mind. The police have long since closed this case, and everyone’s feelings regarding this matter have also settled down. Proof isn’t…”

“Kanaya-san, please listen to me,” Misao gently touched his arm, and when she saw that he didn’t pull back, she slightly increased the pressure on her hold.

“It must just be a coincidence.” Kanaya said this in a low voice, and he turned to his side as if he was trying to escape from her. She could see that his upper lip was slightly shaking. “Is that it? That is the only thing that made you think…”

“Everyone’s died…” Kanaya muttered as if he was talking to himself. “Yoshimi…. My sister….”

“My sister’s name was Tomoko. She was always desperate to hold onto her husband, Iwasaki,’s feelings. He was someone who was always with one woman or another, and even after marrying her, he continued to be unfaithful to her. That very husband was transferred overseas. Tomoko insisted that she would go with him to New York, but he fended her off saying he was going alone. Tomoko had it in her mind that he was going to New York with another woman.”

“I guess you could say that. But it wasn’t as if he had someone he was particularly in a deep relationship with. It was easy for a man to see that it was a fling. Just an extramarital affair. But Tomoko couldn’t forgive him for it.”

“I guess you’re right,” Kanaya replied as he showed a bitter smile before his expression once again stiffened into a mask. “She thought that if she became pregnant, he would come back to her. She truly believed that if she hade a baby, he would never again stray from her. That’s why she decided to call up her husband who had transferred to New York and told him a lie. A complete and utter lie that she was pregnant with his child.”

“She was a fool, that’s what she was. Well, she was never the brightest thing to start off with, but it might just be me who made her into a hopeless fool. I never imagined she would ever do anything like she ended up doing…” He said this as he closed his eyes. “I heard quite a bit about the Shimada family from Yoshimi-san, who I was seeing at that time. I knew from early on that Shimada-san’s wife was pregnant, and that she had died from giving birth to their child. At that time, Tomoko pretended to be pregnant and even went so far as to wrap a towel around her waist and wear maternity clothes. Even my wife and I were convinced that she was pregnant and we didn’t suspect a thing.”

“I don’t know the answer to that. I tried to get her to tell me the truth many times, but she never once gave me a straight answer. What she did was truly a frightening thing. She kidnapped Masao-chan and began to live in the house on her mother’s side. She even went so far as to forge a birth certificate. She told me later that she had submitted a notice of birth to the city hall. She also called her husband in New York, and told him that she had safely given birth to their child and it was a son…”

“No, she had passed on a long time ago. It was only her grand daughter and cousins that were still living there. That’s probably why she decided to start living in Toyama. She told us though that she moved there because she was feeling lonely, what with her husband living overseas. She also said that since it was her first child, she was worried about raising him on her own. At that time, we were all in a celebratory mood. Now that I think back to it, it was all an act on her part…”

“He was a busy man at any rate. During his post in New York, he never once came back to Japan, and he had already called me and other relatives in advance saying that he would probably not be able to be there for the birth. He was an utter fool, that one. He thought of a child who wasn’t even his as his very own. If it were him, if a woman he slept with became pregnant and the thing it gave birth to was a kitten, he would probably accept it saying ‘Oh, so this is my child.’ She made the right decision divorcing a dense man like him.”

“When did she open up to you about the truth?”

“I understand,” she said. On the surface, she maintained her composure, but her heart was beating wildly inside her chest. She felt as if she would let out a scream if she heard something move near her.

As he said this, he turned his clean-shaven face her way. “Do you have a cigarette on you?”

“Talking about something like this gives me a craving for a smoke, you know? Since I can’t drink, the least I could have is a cigarette…”

“Shougo,” Kanaya said. “He calls me ‘uncle.’ Well, I shouldn’t be surprised, should I? Since I am his uncle on paper. He truly is an honest child. He’s intelligent, and as you probably know, he’s quite the looker. He’s a nephew to be proud of. But every time he called me ‘uncle,’ a part of me would go cold. That hasn’t changed even now.”

“Is that right…so Tomoko, in her dying moments ran her mouth off like that?” He said this as if he was talking to himself, and he trained his gaze absentmindedly to the TV screen. The historical drama had ended, and a commercial for baby diapers was airing. The screen changed to a close-up of the changing of a baby’s diaper by a mother wearing a white apron, who was played by a young actress who had recently married a big-time singer.

With that, he turned his body so he was fully facing her, and he gazed at her with slightly yellow, muddy eyes.

“I have no intention of doing any of those things,” Misao spoke softly. “I only wanted to know the truth, for the sake of my niece, Mio. I want them to meet, since they are biological siblings, after all.”

“Are you feeling all right?”

Misao thought that it may just be as he said, but she held back from nodding in agreement.

The wife laid out a purple handkerchief on her lap, took out a large peach from her bag and began to peel it with her fingers. The nectar dripped down onto the fabric as she brought the freshly peeled peach to her husband’s lips.
The husband turned away from her as if he had no strength to even bite into the soft peach. The wife didn’t seem particularly disappointed by this. She simply clucked her tongue and brought the peach to her mouth and began to eat it, proclaiming in a loud voice that echoed in the halls, “How delicious!”

Chapter end