Seven years later…
When we lose a dear one, we can feel that person's absence in permanence.
Shunsui's death has devastated all of us. And even today, we have still not recovered from it. I believe that it is impossible to recover from the loss of a dear one.
After the funeral, Tsubasa-sama informed Gōjun and I that Shunsui has bequeathed to us the house where we had both lived together. We stayed at the mansion with Tsubasa-sama for several months to keep her company- we badly needed her company as well- after which Gōjun and I shifted to live at the house. Many of my belongings had remained there from before the date of our marriage.
Gōjun and I decided never to leave Kokubunji, and we enrolled for the local university. And from there, Gōjun took in the step of his father to study to become a doctor, and I followed in Katsura-san's trace to become a writer. I had found my inspiration for writing the day I had written the drama script for Kenren-sama and Katsura-san's marriage. After Shunsui's death, I really put myself to it; I began writing about my encounter with Gōjun and him.
Two years after the funeral, Tsubasa-sama and Saien-sensei got married. The red-haired male had been a constant support to the blonde woman, but also to Gōjun and I. During the same year, my mother woke up from her coma. She divorced my father, took in Katsura-san's apartment and started to work at the Mizoroge Restaurant.
On their side, Natsui and her mother had made enormous profit with the restaurant during these seven years, and they were now the legitimate owners of both the apartment and commercial emplacement. Yūsei and she have gotten married some three years ago, after they had finished university, and today they have a two-year-old daughter. She has the same age as our son to Gōjun and I.
'Here!' Gōjun said, as he handed the bread over to me with a smile. I took it from him, and leaning in, he pressed his lips against mine in a kiss.
When his lips abandoned mine, we held each other's gaze affectionately, my cheeks reddening a little.
A few second later, we heard the others returning from their walk in the woods.
Tsubasa-sama, Saien-sensei, Kenren-sama, Katsura-san, Natsui, Kesai-san, Yūsei, Sōken Nishoji, Naoyasu Hanabusa, together with Gōjun, my mother and I had all come to spend the weekend together at the onsen in Rokumeikan.
We had found a beautiful clearing on the mountain to make a picnic. The ground was covered with grass, and there, right in the middle of the clearing, stood a sole, large, blooming, Sakura tree. That was where we had spread out a large piece of cloth and laid our picnic down to sit.
At the sight of the approaching party, Gōjun and I got to our feet.
Tsubasa-sama was carrying our son in her arms and was smiling cheerfully as she played with him, while my mother was playing with Natsui's daughter.
We smiled at the party.
Just at that moment, suddenly, there was a whiff of the wind, and it rose a lock of my hair. I turned half-around, raising my head a little to look up in the air, my heart skipping a beat as I thought I heard Shunsui's voice. It was a soft murmur, saying my name.
'What is it?' Gōjun asked me, and I looked at his face again.
'You heard his voice, didn't you?' he said, and my eyes widened at him, my heart skipping another beat.
'I hear it too sometimes,' he told me with a smile, and I held his gaze, smiling back at him.
Taking hold of each other's waist then, our eyes returned onto our family and friends to watch them in contentment.
Shunsui, we have given your name to our son in the hope that one day, he becomes as good a person as you!
And just like you, I believe that death is not an end, and I'm sure that one day, we will all be together once again!
Tsubasa-sama and the others have reached us by now, and we all embraced one another affectionately, before we sat down to take our lunch together while we talked and laughed in good humor.
*** The End ***