Lemon Incest c9

After Shimada Keiichi’s death, Misao never missed going to visit his grave on the anniversary of his death and during Higan week. She went there at least twice a year. She always brought Mio with her, and she requested a reciting of Buddhist sutras for him as well as for Mio’s mother, who was also Misao’s older sister, Chikako.

There were times when relatives would join. When that happened, she made reservations at a nearby Japanese restaurant, and requested a simple meal to be prepared. Since there was the air of a holy ceremony, it was performed with a serious mood that centered around Mio, but once drinks had been consumed, there were often times when the day would end with the relatives exchanging light-hearted conversation. Personally speaking, she wasn’t a fan of such parties.

So this time, the same as every year, she made her way to Kamakura. It was a fine, sunny afternoon on New Years’ Eve. Although the city was bustling with activity from people who were preparing to celebrate the coming new year, the area around the graveyard was draped in silence and there was not a soul other than herself.

She placed the single white rose she had purchased in the vase. In that instant, she was reminded of the time when a relative had told her that she lacked common sense for offering such a Western flower to a Japanese grave.

When Misao had told her that he had disliked chrysanthemums the woman with the caked on make up had made an insinuating remark: “Oh really? Well, you sure did know quite about him.” She sensed that through her words she was criticizing her for the long romantic relationship Misao and Keiichi had had.

When Misao had told Keiichi this story, he had burst out laughing saying, “That’s the kind of thing that a woman who had never been seduced by a man who say.” He didn’t have any other comment beyond that. Above all, she loved that kind of light-hearted side to him.

Although she had a faint trace of guilt towards her older sister, she had never once bore feelings of jealousy towards her. Back when her sister had been married to Keiichi, she had never once done any wrongdoing… that was the one thing that sustained her.

If Takao hadn’t been kidnapped in the manner that he had, perhaps the relationship they shared would have taken a much more different road. Even now, there were times that she would think this. Since her older sister had passed away shortly after she had given birth to Takao, it goes without saying that Misao would have likely taken over the role of taking care of the newly born infant. She would have moved in to the Shimada house and she may have taken over the role of mother to Mio. If that had happened, it might just be that one day, a passionate love akin to that of a fire being sparked might have begun between her and Keiichi.

But… Misao thought as she kneeled down and gazed at the stone marker– by the time they’d realized it, their relationship had drifted in that direction. One day, she just happened to realize herself in his arms.

The white rose looked out of place against the grave stone marker which had darkened after enduring assaults from the wind and snow; it didn’t matter though. She thought back to how Keiichi had told her that if he were to ever die to not place something depressing like chrysanthemums on his grave.

After giving it some thought, he replied: “Roses. In colors like red, yellow and pink… I’d prefer roses of various colors. I’d want you to go all out.”

She lit incense and brought her hands together in a silent prayer. She kept this position as she relayed to him the news that Takao had been found:

His name’s Iwasaki Shougo now. It seems he went through some hard times after they divorced, but you see, now he’s attending university while receiving a scholarship. He told me that the woman who had kidnapped him passed away a few years earlier. I haven’t told any of the relatives from your side of the family. I’m sure if I did, there would be people who would try to dredge up the past and cause unnecessary trouble, and I didn’t want Mio and him to suffer more than they already have. It’s something that has already passed, after all. Of course, it goes without saying that I reunited him and Mio.

She let her voice trail off and swallowed the rest of her words. “Close”? That was true. Mio kept her up-to-date from time to time. Just the other day, she had told Misao that they had spent Christmas together.

She noticed how Mio had been different lately. The way that she always seem to have her nerves stretched hadn’t changed, but that thread of nerves itself was constantly shaking. Not only that, but it wasn’t in a normal manner. As if shaken by the wind, it continued to quiver, and if it continued to do so, she had a feeling it would one day snap…

Whenever she came here, it made her wish she never had to leave. She wished she could sit here and watch the sun rise as she drank beer.

She had a feeling that there was something more she needed to tell her brother-in-law and sister. But whatever it was that she wanted to say was so vague that she wasn’t quite sure what it was. She pretended that she didn’t notice that it was the faint suspicions that had begun to bloom inside her heart. She added: “And happy new year.”

She exited the gates of the graveyard, and she began to slowly and leisurely make her way down the winding hill. The wind was cold, but the winter rays felt gentle against her skin.

If they also prepared cheese and a salad to go along with that, there was an almost overly-extravagant meal to last them through New Year’s Eve into the new year. It had become a ritual for the two of them to sip on Japanese sake, beer and wine while they ate as they waited for the new year to begin.

She had never spent the last and first day of the year with anyone other than Mio; and it goes without saying that Keiichi was no exception. This year, Kusuda had told her that he was going to take his wife, his college-aged daughter and her daughter’s friend to Hawaii.

She wanted Kusuda to have a family. If he wanted to be involved with her despite that, then that was fine with her. And it was also true that if a day were to come when he wanted to end things between then, she didn’t mind a bit.

The very instant she had lost Keiichi, some unswerving belief took root in her heart. That believe was the fact that there would never appear in her lifetime a man who could ever surpass him.

She returned to Kamaura Station, and it was when she stepped onto the platform for the Yokosuka line that her cell phone began to ring; it was from Mio.

“I’m just about to get on the train to head back. What is it? Did you forget to buy something?”

In the brief silence that followed, Misao had a feeling she could guess what was about to come next.

“What a wonderful idea,” Misao said a white lie as she immediately answered. “To tell you the truth, I was thinking how it would be wonderful if you two could spend New Year’s together.”

“Well, of course! You’re siblings, after all. There’s no point in you spending the coming of the new year apart.”

“May I remind you, I am his aunt too, you know. There’s no need for formalities. You should tell him that he can even stay at my place for the night. We’ll spend all night drinking and go to a shrine the next day.”

Her train arrived, so Misao told her: “I’ll talk to you later” before ending the call.

There was a part of her that thought this was cute. But on the flip side, she noticed the suspicions she had begun to harbour begun to move about in a spiral.

Shougo arrived at Misao’s apartment close to eight o’clock. She and Mio had finished cooking the meal, and they had been drinking cans of beer as they greeted him.

A pine tree and Nantin tree branch with their with its red berry attached were decorated in the large vase that she had placed in the entrance hallway. And on the kitchen counter, she had placed small offering rice cakes that she had purchased at a local supermarket.

“You’re amazing, Misao-chan. You’re so busy, and yet you still find the time to do preparations for the new year!”

But Misao never went into detail about why she did this. This was her, she had convinced herself.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Shougo said shyly as he greeted her. “I’m sorry to intrude on such short notice. Not only that, but I didn’t even bring anything. I knew it would have been better if I had, but Mio-san told me that I shouldn’t bring anything, so…”

When Misao said this, she didn’t know if it was because he had reacted to the word “family” but she noticed his expression changed to a serious one as he nodded and glanced in Mio’s direction. Mio and his gaze strongly twined for a brief moment, and then their gazes softened as if they had reassured themselves of the other’s presence before they eventually broke the contact.

Mio had become beautiful lately, Misao thought. She had always been a stunning girl, but lately, her complexion had taken on a healthy hue and she gave off the impression like she was carrying a white, transparent mayudama somewhere deep in her heart.

He was exactly a head taller than Mio. He had taken off his old, brown leather jacket and his muscles could be seen from his olive-coloured t-shirt. His thick neck, which gave off a healthy tan, his strong arms, and glossy hair… everything gave off a sparkle of light that was almost blinding.

And that likeness reminded Misao of Keiichi when he was younger. She had burned in her memory the image of Mio and Keiichi standing beside one another. She felt no jealousy– if anything, she felt warm. This feeling of warmth drew her to Keiichi even more, and reminded her of how she had lived her life having Mio placed closest to her heart.

They gathered together around the living room table and had just finished making light-hearted talk as they drank beer when Misao asked this to Shougo.

“Mio hasn’t shown you any yet, has she? Pictures of your parents. I don’t have very many, but I do have a few.”

“I understand. You’re right. I’m sorry– there’s no pressure. What would you like to do? Would you like to see them or would you rather not?”

“But if you have the album, I’d like to take a look.”

Misao brought out a photo album from her bedroom. She had an adversion to flipping through an old album. Even now, the memories that it contained brought a lump to her throat. This was because the album was like a memory box that had been put away.

“I have them in the back of my closet,” Mio said in a dismissive manner. “But I don’t even remember where I put it away. I haven’t cracked open any of the albums since my father passed away.”

She shrugged, “I wonder why myself. I’m not really sure. I guess because it’s all in the past. I hate steeping yourself in the past and licking old wounds. There’s nothing more pointless in this world than to chase after something you can never go back to.”

For Mio, she was frozen in time. The only reason why it seemed as if she was living in the present was because she herself was good at putting on that act. In reality, what was running through her veins were the echoes of a past time.

Shougo began to flip through the pages of the photo album in a nonchalant manner. Although it was old, the album didn’t show much signs of aging. After Keiichi passed away in a car accident, Misao had organized all the pictures that the Shimada family had, and she had gathered them all into one album after taking out the ones that she was in.

“The person in that picture was your father and mother back when they were younger. So, what do you think? Your father looks so much like you, don’t you think? This photo has Mio in it too.” Misao said as she leaned forward and pointed at one picture.

It was a photograph dating back to around the mid-70’s. Misao was wearing an orange t-shirt that clung to her figure along with bellbottom jeans. Her hair was fashioned in a wolf cut that was trendy back in the day.

“So Mio-san was this small, huh?”

“Well, since this photograph was taken in the summer of 1975, and Shougo was born in ‘77… I guess you’re right. That would make it almost a year after that your mother got pregnant with Shougo.”

It may just be that this was the kind of reaction that would be expected of someone who was told that some stranger of a man and woman they had never seen before were their biological parents. And yet, there was a part of her that couldn’t help but feel that his demeanour was out of the ordinary.

“You’re so strange, Shougo-kun,” Mio commented.

“Don’t you feel anything looking at the pictures of your biological parents?”

“I’m not saying that. It’s just… strange, that’s all. It could just be something superficial like ‘huh, I kind of look like them’ or ‘oh, they’re different from how I imagined them to be’… I just thought you would feel something, that’s all.”

“Then that’s fine,” Mio said swiftly as she popped a slice of red kamaboko into her mouth.

“That makes sense,” Mio replied. Their conversation trailed off after that, and a static-like silence stretched itself out in time.

Misao sensed instinctively that these two were trying their best to hide something. They were desperately trying to hide something that they themselves were already aware of.

For Misao, she didn’t know what that meant.

“Why don’t we open up some white wine?”

“Wow, it’s already this time of night?” Mio exclaimed. “There’s only a few minutes left before the new year. Hey, since it’s so close, why don’t we wait until the clock strikes twelve before we make a toast?”

Misao lowered the music volume and in turn turned up the volume of the TV. It was 11:50. On the TV screen, the text read: “The end of one year and the start of a new year.” It was a gentle and quiet changing of the year.

“So many things happened this year,” Misao said. “But I’m glad we got together tonight. This way, we’ll be able to celebrate the coming new year in good spirits.”

“Well then, we should all stand,” Mio suggested. “It’s just about time.”

“Happy New Year!” The three said in unison, and they clinked their wine glasses. In the next instant, Misao watched as Mio and Shougo embraced each other.

“My,” Misao said jokingly. “You’re making me blush.”

Just past two, Misao prepared the living room sofa for Shougo, and then prepared her bedroom for her and Mio before slipping under the covers. She turned off the lamp on the side table and said to Mio, “Are you still awake?”

“Was it fun?”

“Oh, no reason.”

“Hey, Mio.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Reuniting with Shougo-kun… no, Takao-chan.”

“You’re so strange, Misao-chan. Why would you ask something like that?”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

She scolded herself saying she shouldn’t read too much into things. Even if Mio’s father, Keiichi, had still been alive, Mio probably still would have done the same thing.
However, that night, she couldn’t bring to life the traces of Keiich’s memory inside her. She kept on tossing and turning in bed, the only image coming and going in her consciousness the somehow heartrending image of Mio and Shougo embracing.

Chapter end