"Is our old home still there?" Hana asked out of the blue.
Jun was puzzled by her sudden question but quickly answered, "The whole area where our old neighborhood was is gone. Nearly all the buildings were demolished over a decade ago. Now it's a park and there's many sakura there."
"Do you want to go see it?" he asked.
After Hana nodded, they quickly left. Their current home was actually not far from their old one, just over a 20-minute drive away. From a distance, Hana saw a lush spread of green. Upon entering, the various ornamental plants were neatly trimmed, the place was planned to precision, much like the whole vibe of modern Tokyo.
On a weekday morning, the park wasn't crowded. Hana noticed moms with strollers, older folks relaxing, young couples strolling, and most of all, some students who hadn't started school yet.
Jun seemed to know the area well. He led her down a cobblestone path where they were virtually alone. Hana looked around and noticed many sakura trees. Unfortunately, the flowers had already fallen off.
"We had two sakura trees in our old neighborhood. They're beautiful when they bloom, soft pink and eye-catching in the sunlight. Sadly, I only saw it for one year," Hana remembered.
Jun caught her gaze and said, "The square next to us is called Sakura Park because of all the trees here. People come to take photos every year. From a distance, it's a sea of pink. The flowers are gone this year, but we can come back next."
They continued walking and came to a small pavilion in the green park, surrounded by clusters of ornamental bamboo.
"Here we are," Jun pointed to the pavilion, "This spot used to be where our building stood."
They sat down. As Hana approached, she saw a small plaque indicating the pavilion was donated by Mr. Sato.
'Mr. Sato? Could it be the same Mr. Sato who was sitting right in front of me?' While Hana was pondering, she didn't ask. She sat next to Jun. The pavilion was quite ordinary, and so were its surroundings. Not much to see, which was probably why few people stopped there.
However, Hana could easily imagine Jun sitting there alone over the years. No more family, no more home, just this unrecognizable spot left for remembrance.
From the way he led her through the park, it was clear he had been here many times before.
They sat there for a while, watching as a few people walked by on the path in front. Most glanced at them uninterestedly and moved on. Only a sanitation worker, wearing a badge identifying him as a park staff member, stopped to greet Jun.
"Mr. Sato, haven't seen you in almost two months!" said the man, who appeared to be in his fifties, with familiarity. Behind him hovered a transport carrier holding a garbage can.
Jun gave him a smile, "Had some things going on, so I haven't been around lately."
"Oh, I see." The man glanced at Hana and commented, "First time I've seen Mr. Sato here with someone else."
Curious, Hana asked, "So Jun comes here often? How long have you worked here, sir?"
The man laughed, "Several years now. I often see Mr. Sato, always alone. Sometimes he even helps me clean up the area around this pavilion. Those tourists just litter, ignoring the trash cans..." he rambled on, complaining a bit.
Hana caught Jun's wry smile and asked, "He comes in the winter too?"
The man candidly replied, "Yes, even when it's snowing heavily."
Once the chatty worker left with his garbage can, Hana crossed her arms and side-eyed Jun, "You sit here in the cold?"
Jun cleared his throat, "The view's not bad when it's snowing. The bamboo grove looks nice against the snow."
Shaking her head, Hana gripped his hand and began pulling him down the steps, "There's nothing much to see here, let's go somewhere else."
Jun resisted her pull, trying to free his hand.
Hana looked at him, "Fine, I won't pull you." She released the burdened old man's hand, then suddenly hugged his waist.
Jun felt like he was being kidnapped as he walked stiffly forward.
Their conspicuous posture of a young woman boldly holding an older man's waist drew the attention of passersby. The whole scene looked like a couple's embrace. Seeing two pairs of young lovers giving them peculiar looks, Jun lowered his gaze to Hana.
She seemed utterly unfazed.
With a sigh, Jun negotiated, "Could you let go so we can walk properly?"
His tone was gentle, hers was stern. "There'll be news tomorrow," she declared.
Jun was puzzled by the abrupt shift. "What news?" he inquired.
Hana said seriously, "'Young Woman Forcibly Kisses Sixty-Year-Old Man in Sakura Park,' that kind of news."
Jun stayed silent, worried his wife might actually do as she said. Hana felt like bursting into laughter inside. He was still the same young Jun who was completely defenseless against her, as if the forty years had done nothing to change him.
In the past, when they were out in public, Jun was always too shy to display any form of affection openly. Even holding hands on the street would make him blush, far more than she would. Hana used to think it was because of his age, but now she realized it was just his nature.
As she was contemplating this, she felt Jun gently pull her hand from around his waist to hold it in his own.
Without saying anything, Hana kept her eyes forward but gripped his hand tightly. That hand, no longer youthful and smooth, held hers just as securely as the young man who had done so all those years ago, despite his shyness.
They walked around the park for a while, and Jun went to the restroom. Hana sat on a bench under a tree, waiting for him and playing a mini-game on her PT. She was at level 230 of the game, recommended to her by two students from Naniwa University she had met while shopping for games.
In this particular level, the character couldn't climb the cliff and kept falling down. After several failed attempts, as she restarted the game, she heard a voice saying, "Pick up that round rock at the bottom first, it's a bird's egg. Take it with you, and when you can't find a foothold halfway up, a bird will come for the egg. You can catch a ride."
Without looking up, Hana passed the level and then said, "Thanks."
The voice belonged to a well-dressed, handsome young man leaning over the back of her bench, watching her play.
"No need to thank me. It's rare to see a girl enjoying this game, and you've reached level 230?" He winked. "I've gotten a few levels ahead of you. The game gets trickier, and you have to figure out all these little tricks. I could teach you."
Hana managed a small smile, "No need, I'll figure it out myself." After all, the fun in such games was solving their puzzles; if someone told her all the solutions, what would be the point?
The young man looked a bit disappointed but didn't give up, still trying to make conversation. "It's alright, I've got time. I can help you get through faster."
Hearing this, Hana understood— he was hitting on her. To be honest, she was attractive and had often been approached by strangers. She was quite adept at handling such situations.
She stood up, "Sorry, I need to go find my boyfriend. He's been gone for a while; maybe he fell in the restroom or something."
She walked away, one hand in her pocket and the other playing her game, without looking back. Little did she know that just around the corner, she'd find the old man who had been in the restroom for a long time, now standing at the intersection, staring at a tree as if lost in thought.
His back was straight, making him appear robust, but his grey hair gave off a vibe of loneliness and weariness.
Hana approached him and looked back, realizing she could see through the sparse foliage to the bench where she had just been sitting. She paused for a moment, her thoughts racing. 'This old goof saw a young man hitting on his wife and didn't rush over?'
Jun looked her way, and smiled. After a short pause, he merely said, "It's getting late; we should go home for dinner."
Back at home after dinner, Hana noticed Jun acting like nothing was different, causing her to doubt whether he had even witnessed the earlier scene.
It wasn't until later that night when she went downstairs for water that she overheard Jun on the phone.
"If she really wants to divorce, then let her. I respect her wishes. After all, she's still young and has plenty of choices ahead. No need to waste her life being stuck with someone she's not suited for..."
'Young? Plenty of choices? Waste her life?' Hana boiled over in anger. It hit her that they had been sleeping in separate rooms and how uncomfortable Jun seemed when they got a little intimate. 'So, he's waiting for me to ask for a divorce?'
Furious, Hana stormed over and kicked the table over. "Jun! What did you just say?"
Jun turned his head, surprised but showing no sign of shame.
"What the hell did you just say!" Hana exploded.
Jun hesitated, then spoke, "An old friend called me. His daughter is considering divorcing her husband. He was asking for my opinion."
Caught off guard, Hana realized she had misunderstood.
Awkwardness filled the room.
The room fell silent after the loud crash.
Casually righting the table she had kicked over, Hana walked towards the kitchen, "I was just getting some water; you carry on."
Watching Hana rush back upstairs, Jun resumed his phone call. Startled by the earlier noise, his old friend asked, "Jun, what was that noise just now?"
Before Jun could answer, he glanced at the table Hana had kicked over and then set back up. He suddenly burst into restrained laughter, careful not to laugh too loud and risk Hana hearing him from upstairs and kicking the table again in anger.
"No big deal, the wife was just venting some steam," Sato Sensei said, barely containing his chuckles.