終章

1 November 2075

It was great to be back home. My recovery had taken about as long as the doctors had anticipated it would but even with the benefits from eight weeks of post-recovery treatment I still felt sluggish as if I had been in a coma for three years and not three months.

I heard the lock of the front door click as it was released and then the rustle of plastic bags that followed as they were put down on the floor while Shoichi took off his shoes.

Tadaima! ‘I’m home!’

‘Okaeri!’ ‘Welcome back!’

‘They had an excellent selection in there tonight,’ Shoichi said as he opened the door from the genkan and walked through into the kitchen.

‘Great, what did you go for?’

‘Well, I thought that I would push the boat out seeing as this is a very special occasion…’

‘I’m glad that you think so!’

‘…and decided to get the “Grand Celebration Sushi and Sashimi Selection”,’ Shoichi announced and produced the tray of food from one of the bags with a flourish. He held it out in front of me to inspect.

‘Wow that looks fantastic!’ I said and without warning I felt a tightening in my mouth as the saliva glands fired into life in anticipation of this feast.

‘I’ll get some plates for the soy sauce and wasabi. Are you alright using the disposable chopsticks that came with it?’ Shoichi said, reaching into a smaller bag for the waribashi.

‘Oh no, let’s use our usual chopsticks,’ I said. ‘I want all the familiarities of home now that I’m out of the hospital.’

‘How about a drink?’ Shoichi said as he returned with our chopsticks and two plates that were patterned with a picture of a blowfish.

‘I think I’ll have some water for now, please.’

‘Coming right up, honey!’ Shoichi said on his way back to the kitchen. ‘Do you mind if I have a beer?’

‘No, not at all. I may have a sip though if that’s alright.’

‘Of course,’ Shoichi said placing a can of Kirin Original Brew onto the table together with one empty glass and one filled with water. ‘Is that everything? Shall we start?’

‘Itadakimasu!’ we both said at the same time and smiled as bashfully as when we had first started dating.

The sushi and sashimi were lined up in neat rows, each separated by aojiso green perilla leaves to prevent the subtle flavours of the different types of fish from mixing. Shoichi unclipped the clear plastic lid and placed it to one side.

‘After you, Kimiko,’ he said to me, gesturing towards the food.

‘Arigatō,’ I said as I reached into the tray and selected a slice of sea bream which I dipped gently in the soy sauce and then up to my mouth. 

Oishiiii! ‘It’s deeeelicious!’ I exclaimed, the delicate slice of fish dissolving slowly as I chewed. 

Shoichi looked on.

‘What?’ I asked, not expecting a reply.

‘Oh nothing,’ he said. ‘I’d just forgotten how beautiful you are.’

‘What are you talking about? Just get on and eat as I’m not holding back!’ I said deflecting his words. However, I was delighted to hear Shoichi pay me such a compliment after so many years together.

‘It’s great to have you home, Kimiko.’

‘And it’s great to be home. Thanks for being there for me.’

I must have eaten close to two-thirds of the sushi and sashimi and really should have stopped earlier although I needed all the energy I could get; my body craved food and I gave it what it wanted. However, the momentous journey that I had been on meant I still got physically exhausted very quickly. This was going to be a problem as my mind was buzzing, so anxious to get out and about. Naomi had already left a note welcoming me home and asking when I would like to pay a visit with her to Beauty Wai for some pampering. One step at a time, I had to keep telling myself to temper the enthusiasm and not get carried away, but it felt so good to be alive!

‘Kimiko-chan, do you want to have a bath?’ Shoichi asked as he tidied away the things from dinner.

‘That would be lovely, thanks.  Do you mind running one for me?’ I replied.

‘It would be my pleasure,’ he said as he walked off to the bathroom.

As the bath was filling up with water, I went through to the living room to watch some holovision. I was still catching up on everything that had been going on in Japan and that I had missed whilst in a coma. So much of the news was lacking context and I felt that I was just tuning into snapshots of information that did not fully make sense. The leading news story was of a man from Nagano Prefecture who had been sentenced to death for killing three of his neighbours over a five year period. It had seemed like an awful crime and I got the impression from that the reporter that this had been a big story which viewers had been following for some time. Perhaps it was but I didn’t have a clue and so I decided that I would ask Shoichi for an update tomorrow after a good night’s sleep in my own bed.

‘Your bath is ready!’ Shoichi called to me cheerfully.

I wheeled myself down the internal corridor of the ground floor to the senmenjo changing area just outside the bathroom, where Shoichi helped me as I undressed. I then paused for a moment, savouring the thought of bathing in this tub for the first time in over five months. Supported by Shoichi, I entered the wetroom and he lowered me down onto a chair that was placed in front of the shower.

‘Give me a shout when you are ready to get into the bath,’ he said turning the shower on.

‘Will do. Thank you, Shoichi,’ I called as he left the bathroom.

Drawing out the anticipation of the hot water enveloping my still tired body, I let the jets rain down on my head and I shut my eyes.

The smell of cypress wood caught me unawares, stirring distant but intense memories from my childhood; a wave of emotion came washing over me. 

Tears began to stream down my face to join the droplets of water splashing onto the wetroom floor.

I cried for Haruka, cried for the thousands who lost their lives in the earthquake and tsunami over sixty years ago and cried for the thousands more who, like Okāsan, simply disappeared without a trace.

おわり

Thank you for reaching the end of Washing Over Me.

If you would like to read this serialised novel in a single edition, Washing Over Me is available as a download for Kindle or as a printed paperback, both from Amazon:

Kindle Version – Amazon UK
Paperback – Amazon UK
Kindle Version – Amazon US
Paperback – Amazon US

Or search for “Washing Over Me Benjamin Brook” from your country’s Amazon homepage.