Once the morning came, Tsubaki woke up to an empty bed. She propped up one of her elbows as she rubbed her eyes. There was a faint sound of rustling coming from the backyard. Tsubaki wore her slippers and walked to the kitchen.
"Dear, what are you doing?"
Tsubaki peeked from the opened back door, her husband was already sweating heavily early in the morning. He still wore the outfit from last night.
"Good morning, sweetheart," A smile swiftly formed on his face once he saw her.
Tsubaki smiled sweetly. She immediately ran to him. Her hands reached for the towel hanging around his neck, wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead. Her eyes were trained to the platform stood beside them.
"You're cleaning this?"
Tsubaki raised her delicate brows. She didn't expect he would wake up earlier than her and went to clean the platform even before eating breakfast.
"Yes, this platform is too dirty," Ren answered with a smile. "Maybe we could have our dinner tonight at the backyard?"
Tsubaki nodded with a smile. "I'd love that."
After helping her husband cleaning the platform, Tsubaki went to take a shower. They planned to go to the morning market held at the center of the village. Various kinds of products could be found in the market. Since the fridge in the kitchen was still usable, they wanted to stock up some ingredients for the few days they stayed here.
Ren stepped inside the bedroom when Tsubaki was pulling two sides of her hair, tying into a half knot. He had a shower after his wife. His long hand reached for the hairbrush from the vanity table, he gently ran the brush over Tsubaki's long hair after she was done tying the knot.
A beige shirt hung onto his slender body while a pair of black trousers matched his appearance. Tsubaki wore a cream-colored cotton dress.
"Darling?" Tsubaki looked at her husband's reflection on the mirror. Ren responded to her call by lifting his head up, looking at her eyes through the reflection.
"Yes?"
Tsubaki smiled sheepishly. "I'm hungry."
Ren laughed lightly. He buried his face on her right shoulder, his laugh reverberated against her skin. "Alright. Let's go and feed you."
"Okay~"
The husband and wife walked hand-in-hand to the market. The distance between the market and Tsubaki's family house was not too far so they opted to just walk over there. Ren brought an eco bag in his left hand while Tsubaki brought her cross-body bag. There were rows of tree stood tall at either side of the roads, providing shade for them from the sun.
"You know, sweetheart," Ren suddenly spoke, he glanced at his smiling wife. "I always walked with you to the market whenever I could. So, I'm actually really looking forward to our trip to the market."
"Really?" Tsubaki tilted her head to his side. Her eyes brightened as she looked at him. She swung their linked hands around as she said, "I might not remember the times we walked on the road to go to the market, but darling, I'm glad to recreate the same memory with you."
Ren stifled a laugh. He helplessly looked at her with a small smile on his face. "You've become such a sweet talker nowadays. I don't know how to react."
Tsubaki grinned happily as she replied, "I learned from you. I didn't expect a person who most people around him deem as a cold person could be such a sweet talker. So, don't blame me hubby for learning your cheesy words."
"You're so cheeky." Ren pinched one of her cheeks, earning a small pout from Tsubaki. "But, I love it."
Tsubaki quickly smiled. She fluttered her eyelashes coyly, making Ren laughed out loud.
When they passed the Kuroki's home, they noticed that the house was quiet. Usually, the old couple was in their vegetable patch with two of their workers around this time. Tsubaki and Ren would go to Kurokis when it was closed to the evening.
It took her a lot of self-restraint but Tsubaki understood she needed to keep her calm in this matter.
Once they got nearer to the market, the sound of hustle and bustle of a market life could be heard faintly. Some hawkers shouted loudly, trying to attract customers to buy their goods while some of them sang songs and praised for their products.
It was quite different from what Tsubaki had remembered. Apparently, the market had flourished through the years she left the village. It was bigger and there were customers coming from nearby villages. A group of dancers was performing a folk dance on the podium at the center of the market. Several elders sat on the bench facing the podium, they were singing along to the song while clapping their hands happily.
It was so lively.
"So much has changed," Ren exclaimed, he too was shocked seeing the transformation. He had heard of the development happened in the village from Akashi and Hibiki but he didn't put much thought on it.
Tsubaki nodded. "I think this village has become prosperous. The village head has done a good job."
During the time Tsubaki lived here, the socioeconomy of this village was below average. Most young people needed to migrate to nearby towns or cities to find a decent job. Tsubaki was the same.
She worked at a small bakery at the edge of the town which took her almost 15 minutes of a bus ride and 10 minutes of walking. She worked under the guidance of a retired pâtissier for almost three years before she resigned because of the accident. Since then, she moved to the city and worked in another bakery before her savings were enough to open one of her own.
The pâtissier had passed away almost a year ago and now there was no one to operate the bakery since he didn't have children to inherit it.
Now, Tsubaki could see many young faces in the market compared to her time before. The facility around the morning market also had improved significantly.
"We should eat first. You're hungry, right?" Ren suggested.
He swept his gaze over the rows of food stalls at one side of the market. The delicious smell lingered in the air, coming from the direction of the food stalls. There were various kinds of food sold by the hawkers.
"Alright." Tsubaki immediately agreed. She was starving.
They walked over to a stall selling common Japanese breakfast. It was owned by a pair of mother-and-son. Most of the tables were already occupied. As they were searching for a vacant spot, Ren's eyes landed at the far corner of the stall. It was a small square table for two people. The menu was hung on the wall.
"What do you want to eat?" Ren asked his wife first before considering his options.
"I want the grilled salmon set and the sweet tamagoyaki. How about you?"
Tsubaki knew the elderly mother made the best grilled fish and soup. She often frequented her stall whenever she could. Maybe the two of them had come here too since Ren immediately chose this stall without looking around the food lane.
"The same as you," Ren answered casually. He raised one of his hands, signaling for the waiter to come and take their orders.
The process went smoothly and it didn't take them long to get their food. Ren passed the chopsticks to Tsubaki which she accepted with a smile. The husband and wife didn't talk much during their breakfast. Occasionally, Ren would place a piece of tamagoyaki in Tsubaki's bowl.
As she ate, Tsubaki threw her gaze around the market. Seeing how busy this place had been made her feel odd. Maybe it was due to her memory of not having too many people around whenever she came here to buy the products.
It was hard to see the familiar faces in the sea of people.
"Sweetheart, what are you thinking?" Ren caught the moment when she paused from eating and her chopsticks hung in the air. She looked as if she was deep in thought.
"En... I'm just wondering," Tsubaki placed her chopsticks down, her eyes were still on the outside of the stall before she looked at her husband. "You must knew the village head, Mr. Kurosawa, right? I'm just curious how did he get the fund for the new facility in this village, especially the ones in the market. This is not a small matter."
She wondered, how did the village head get funds to flourish the village? As far as she knew, he wasn't good in negotiations to request a lot of funds from the town hall and managing the villagers.
Did he win a lottery?
"He is still the village head, right? Maybe his assistant is a capable one or he himself has got the grip on how to be a good leader. After all, years have passed."
Ren remembered the older man. He didn't have much impression on him. The man was mediocre so Ren doubted his appointment as thr village head but because he wasn't anyone important to him, Ren just brushed his existence off.
"Sweetheart, eat," Ren tried to divert Tsubaki's attention from unnecessary matter. He spooned some soup and brought it to her lips. "We still have things to do later. So, eat to replenish your energy."
Tsubaki nodded obediently. She leaned forward slightly and sipped the soup from the spoon.
Her husband was right. She shouldn't have time to think of anything trivial.