Snippet #2815382

Incense burned at the center of the gravestone, before which a woman sat cross-legged. Faint lines of water ran down its length, almost invisible against the stone's grainy texture, down to the base where offerings of food, flowers, and small candles could be seen. Izumi sat in silence for a while, her gaze fixated on the engraved characters, and her ears open to the sparse, dwindling chirp of cicadas.

"Hey, Sachiko. It's me again! As usual. Weird how I always end up back here, huh? Even though I seriously hate thinking about things that make me sad. It's hard not to, to be honest... Every day, I -- well, maybe not every day -- but recently I've been thinking a lot about how I wouldn't be here if you didn't... you know... do what you did. It feels like I cheated you out of your life somehow."

Sheepishly, she scratched the back of her head as she thought back to earlier that morning.

"I had a small fight, er, disagreement with Mio-chan the other day. I was sorta wondering aloud if it was really okay for us to be retiring and leaving things behind in the hands of these vulnerable, impressionable young kids, and your name kinda came up. I said, 'If Sachiko were here, she'd still be fighting with the best of 'em, she wouldn't have just given up like we did!' She didn't say anything back, but I've never seen her look so pissed off... I guess I'm actually just hiding from her until she cools off, hahaha..."

Izumi felt her knees crack as she rose to her feet, giving her arms a light stretch as she spoke.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring all this drama to your grave, you're probably trying to rest in peace and all that. I just needed to get this off my chest, and you always listened to what I had to say. Even if it was something stupid."

The incense stopped burning. Izumi knelt down to blow out the candles and gathered the offerings around her grave, clearing the space for one last cleansing from the pail. As she let the water spill from the ladle, she wiped away her own tears with her sleeve, crinkling her puffy red nose.

"We miss you."

Then, suddenly, she noticed something far above her head. In the darkening sky -- as if to grant her some kind of sign from the heavens, a thin streak of light pierced through the air and arced down into the horizon. She blinked. Like a mesmerized child, she found herself drawn to the glow, half hoping in her heart that it meant something after all. Facing back with a final bow, she turned around and parted ways with her old friend, to somewhere that wasn't home...