Even though his lunch box was packed, Minoru still wasn’t out the door.
“It’s already eleven, you know,” said Rie.
“I know!” Minoru replied sullenly. The TV was on, but his pensive gaze was only fixed idly on the screen.
He’s still having second thoughts. Rie smirked.
Minoru was a very indecisive person, so it was easy to sense when he was being hesitant. His indecisiveness even annoyed himself, which ended up making him depressed, and then he’d take his anger out on Rie. But he couldn’t get mad at her, because it was his fault and his fault alone that things came to this.
“You need to pour the hot water in the cup like this,” she instructed calmly. She wasn’t trying to sound calm; that’s just how her voice naturally sounded. “Then it’ll turn into miso soup. The miso and vegetables are already in the cup, so all it needs is hot water.”
“…”
“You should probably start heading out if you want to arrive before it gets dark.”
Rie was leisurely sipping on some coffee at the kitchen table. A tall woman, she had big hands to go with her size. Her bony hands even made the Ginori mug look small when she held it. Both Rie and Minoru loved the Italian Ginori cups and saucers with the fruit designs on them. A simple cup and saucer with a violet fruit or blue flower on them cost around thirteen thousand yen. They had been collecting these sets for years and years until they at last reached four sets, and that was around when they started going through a divorce.
“Don’t think too much about it while you’re driving. You’ll get into an accident,” Rie said with a faint smirk. “Can’t have the groom getting hurt, after all.”
“Ha-ha. Very funny.” Minoru walked over and took a seat in the empty chair. “Pour me a cup of coffee, too, will ya?”
“Oh? Very forward, demanding a stranger make you a coffee.”
“Oof. Come on. Be a good stranger and please make me some coffee.”
“This is the last coffee you’re ever getting from me.”
“Come on, stop picking on me already.”
“If you want me to stop picking on you, how about you hurry up and leave?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. I feel funny. I still can’t imagine never coming back here. The fact that we’re gonna not be a family anymore still feels weird. It’s still like, ‘Am I really getting a divorce?’ ”
“Isn’t it a little late to be saying that?”
“It feels like a dream.”
“In that it makes you happy?”
“Mm, it’s not that simple. It’s something more complicated than being happy or sad. I still don’t feel like I have the courage to split up with you.”
“Well, you did.”
“It hurts hearing you say that.”
Minoru was three years younger than Rie. He was a large, healthy, slightly chubby man whose stomach had just started to protrude. His eyes were slightly drooping, and he had a boyish, cherubic face for a thirty-two-year-old. Minoru was also a very kindhearted man and rather popular with the ladies, but Rie found his kindness to be elusive. It was the kindness of a child: innocently cruel and full of lies.
I’d like a refund for this defective adult male, she used to think, although she nonetheless found his innocent kindness and childish ego cute. But whenever something happened, she would go right back to thinking he was defective.
He’s easily swayed and indecisive, Rie thought.
Minoru had said, “It hurts hearing you say that,” but she wondered if he really was pained deep down inside about going his separate way. Rie slowly filled the Ginori cup to the brim with freshly brewed coffee while Minoru watched, seemingly captivated by the cup.
“Is that your share?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“Did I pack my share?”
“You did, in your bag. Two whole sets,” Rie replied.
They split the cups and saucers half-and-half. Was Minoru planning on using his share, which was filled with memories of Rie and him collecting them together, with that other woman? Minoru was insensitive and indifferent, so he would probably use them with his new woman without giving it a second thought.
“You’re gonna be bringing the English chair with you, right?”
He was referring an old wooden chair that they’d bought at a Western antique shop together.
“You took the hexagon clock, too, right?”
“Yeah, but, like…you told me I could take whatever I wanted, right?”
“That’s fine. I was just thinking about how you’re mainly taking the things we bought together…”
“Sorry. If you want it, I’ll give it back. I’m just used to having the chair and the clock around. They’re easy to use.”
You were used to having me around more than anything, seeing as we were married for eight years, and look what happened there, Rie thought with a smirk.
“Oh yeah.” Minoru placed his cup down. “Can I bring the pictures from the photo album with me, too?”
“What are you going to use those for?”
“What do you mean? If we’re gonna split up, we should probably separate the pictures, too, right?”
“How considerate of you.”
Minoru opened the album and carefully peeled off any photo where he was the only one in it. He didn’t touch any pictures with both him and Rie in them. He apparently only wanted to bring his history and his history alone with him to the next stage in his life.
“Just take the whole album with you,” recommended Rie in a particularly insouciant manner. “Then you could keep the ones you want and tear up or burn the ones you don’t.”
“You’re being melodramatic about this.”
“I’m being melodramatic?” Rie scoffed. She was already over it. All of it. And that was why she could laugh and joke about it at the very end like this. “I’m acting just the same as always.”
“Hey, what kind of lunch did you pack for me?” Minoru asked after suddenly closing the album.
“I can’t tell you. Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. Anyway, you need to get going. It’s a three-hour drive to Okayama, right? You need to get going if you wanna beat the traffic.”
“It’s not like I have to be there at a specific time. Besides, eating lunch all alone at a rest stop in my car is just—”
“What’s wrong with you? You’re the one who asked me to pack you a lunch because you were driving all the way to Okayama.”
“I know, but…think of how lonely I’d be if I ate this lunch all by myself.”
“Hiroko is waiting for you in Okayama. Is she not? She and her family are all at her house waiting for you. They want to have that wedding already. How long has it been? Four months?”
“Five months,” Minoru pointed out in naive honesty.
“Oh my. Then you really should hurry up with the wedding before people start to wonder. Are your parents not coming?”
“I think my sister’ll be there.”
“Oh, so you’ve already talked about it with them?”
“It was sudden. Everything’s been really hectic.”
“You don’t need to explain yourself. It doesn’t bother me.” She slightly tilted her head to the side out of habit.
Rie had high cheekbones and a long face, which made her appear stern or lonely at times, but she knew she was beautiful depending on how you looked at her. Rie was shameless in this regard and had a very high opinion of herself, more than anyone might expect.
“If you say so. Anyway, let’s eat that lunch you made together.”
“But…”
“Come on.”