“Hey, Mirai, let’s get married.”

Shida Mirai had been waiting for someone to tell her that words, but when it did come, it came from the person and in a time she least expected. Those words... she heard it from her best friend in her only family’s funeral.

She remembered being angry at him. She had just lost her grandfather, the only family she had. She was terribly sad, but someone who was supposed to understand her the best had thrown the intolerable joke. When he repeated the line, she remembered slapping him really hard that surprised the other people attending the wake.

She refused to talk to him for days after that. He sent her messages, he tried calling her many times, but she responded to none. His messages and calles ceased to come after a week, but it only changed into constant visits to her art gallery.

Two weeks of being stalked, she eventually chose to confront him.

That evening... She was closing her gallery, and as expected he had been waiting outside, leaning casually on the wall beside the door. She used to pretend not seeing him and walked away, but that day when he straightened his back and waited for her to acknowledge his presence, she lifted her head to meet his gaze.

“We need to talk, Mirai,” he eventually spoke first.

She saw him unusually solemn. He used to be full of laughter. Never once until that time she saw a different side of him she never knew before.

She nodded. They walked side by side to the park they used to play at since they were kids. Their talk in that particular time would change their life, but no one of them would realize, at least not until much later.

**********

A melody rang around the room when a certain mobile phone vibrated. Mirai who was finishing her painting halted, putting down her tools, and hurriedly reached for the phone on the counter.

“I saw your husband with a young woman eating in a restaurant,” came the immediate line from the caller after the exchange of greeting.

She frowned, “What is wrong with that, Kawamoto-san?”

“They looked enjoying their time,” the reply was heard soon. “I’m not suspecting your husband or anything, but you should be careful Yamada-san. I just don’t want you to experience the same as Hanada-san who was left by her husband for another woman.”

“Thank you for your concern. But please worry not, I know my husband.”

“But men are—“

“I’m sorry, Kawamoto-san, I gotta go. Bye.” She quickly cut off the talk so that it would not be prolonged.

She sighed. She and her husband had just move to the apartment for a month, but it was already the third time her neighbor, Kawamoto, told her about the possibility of her husband having an affair out there. She did never believe in the rumor, because she knew her husband was not the type to do that. Even more, her husband was busy finding a way to revitalize his business since it had been going downward for the past year.

However, she lost the mood to finish the painting already, so instead of going back to work, she went to the balcony. The evening breeze swayed her tresses as she stepped out. Looking around her neighborhood, she felt a little sad. She missed her hometown. Sometimes she wonder back to her decision. If she did not marry, she wouldn’t have to leave. If she did not marry, she wouldn’t be confused to find a place like her favorite park in her hometown to calm her nerves and look for inspirations for her art. And if she did not marry... She became even sadder.

I wouldn’t lose my best friend...

She was having a hard time adapting to her new environment. She was not good communicating with new people, and her neighbors were busy with their own business. Her husband, too, was busy with his work. She was lonely. If she still had her best friend, she would already tell him about her uneasiness. Her best friend would crack jokes to make her laugh and forget her anxiety. If only...

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

When her husband returned home, he found her curling on the bed.

“Mirai, what’s wrong?” he asked softly.

She brushed her tears off, surprised for not realizing that her husband had come home. Mustering a smile, she sat up, “Nothing. I’m fine,” then after a second pausing she added, “Sorry I didn’t hear you came.”

His lips curved down slightly in a frown, and she did not like it. She had been refraining herself from complaining to him. She had been struggling to keep her problems to herself so that she would not trouble him. He had had enough burden. She did not want to make him worry, but obviously she failed this time. He obviusly had seen her crying.

Instead of questioning her about it, her husband placed a hand on the top of her head, gently patting, “Are you still unwell? Do you want me to bring you to doctor?”

She shook her head, “Umika-chan has come this morning.”

Kawashima Umika was her friend who was working as a doctor. They had not met for half a semester since Umika left their hometown, but fortunately they could meet again in this city.

“Alright then. Just go back to sleep.”

She did as she was told. She knew her husband would take a quick shower then prepare the dinner himself. She felt bad as a wife, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to do better now.

However, she could not sleep even until her husband climbed the bed and settled beside her. She blushed slightly when he kissed her forehead before lying down to sleep.

“Ry-Ryosuke,” she stuttered, hesitating.

Her husband turned to her, gazing in alerted expression. “What is it?”

She fiddled with the sheet covering them, “I was... I have been wondering...”

“About?”

She dared herself to look at his eyes, “Ho-how if...”

“How if?” He waited for her to continue, but she couldn’t bring herself to finish the line.

“No, forget it. It’s not really important,” she mustered a smile. “Let’s just sleep.”

His brows knotted, but then he shrugged and back to relax himself to sleep. She turned off the light, muttering, “Oyasumi, Ryosuke.”

Stiffling a yawn, Ryosuke replied, “Oyasumi, Mirai.”

Before she forced herself to sleep, she wondered inside, “How if my decision to marry Ryosuke is wrong?”

Gazing secretly at Ryosuke’s back, she pondered. Ryosuke had been kind to her, never less kind than her best friend, but she could not feel the same with him as she felt with her best friend. She could tell her best friend anything, but she could not even talk to Ryosuke properly. With her best friend, she could be herself, but with Ryosuke... she felt inadequate.

*****

“Why?” she asked straightly after she heard him repeating the same request of marrying him.

“I’m going to leave for Hokkaido next month. I want you to come with me,” he answered. “You have no one now, Mirai, and I know you so well. You get lonely easily. I don’t want you to cry alone in the middle of nights. ”

“Don’t pity me!”

“I’m not.”

“Then what was you just said?”

“I’m not pitying you. I care,” he countered. “I remember clearly how you lived after your parents died in that accident three years ago. If not for your grandpa patiently and carefully taking care of you, you might have...,” he trailed off.

Committed suicide.

Both of them knew what happened years ago. She had tried to kill herself for not being able to cope with her lost, but her grandfather stopped her, and begged her to live. Now, her grandfather had left her too. She didn’t have any family.

“I have talked about it with my parents, and they did not against it. So, Mirai-chan,” h