Death Anniversary

¥Chapter One¥

It was just an average day at the Hayakura Cemetery.With the clear blue sky and that hazy afternoon,who would ever suspect that something was going on?

That's what Hiroshi thought.

He sighed internally and trudged along the path of dirt that he'd come to have usually gone every year in the month of September 21st.The day when sorrow crawled its way into his heart.The day he lost someone special.The day where everyone in the household screamed and screamed in agony.

The day his mother died.

He could still remember it as if it was only yesterday.The scene seemed far off,hazy,and felt like a dream,but it was real.He remembered his sisters crying out loud.Kasaki and Nōwa were literally releasing a waterfall of tears and snot.The housemaid,Sō,was very heartbroken.Hiroshi's father had looked rigid and very heartbroken as well.He remembered that he had no other reaction aside from staring at his wife's dead body in the bed.

Thinking back,Hiroshi couldn't help but think that his mother's death was too early.It was so fast,the way she died.She only fell asleep...

And never woke up.

A funeral had then commenced later the following week.The body was prepared.The Shinto Buddhist priests blessed it and readied it for the preparations of the spirit to cross Sanzu River of Yomi,the Underworld.There were flocks of visitors,people that Hiroshi never knew his mother would associate with.They sympathized with him and his family.There were condolences and concerns shared among the other parties.They were all feeling sorry for the death of Kaida Shibito.

But Hiroshi wasn't fooled.

He knew they only came just to endorse and impress other people.If his mother hadn't been so famous,they wouldn't have come at all.Because that's what they are: Liars and plastic backstabbers.All they cared about was making money.They didn't care if a business partner died.On the contrary,they'd be pleased to get more attention.

It was sickening to Hiroshi.He hated all the times he spent there that day in the funeral.He was tired of watching people shake hands with a smile on their face as they endorse something to one another.He just lost his mother,and these people probably haven't lost a wink at all!

So disgusting.

Hiroshi sighed.It didn't matter anymore,did it?In the end,he was always the one who'd end up visiting his mother,because everyone else was too busy.Not even his own father bothered coming down from his room to go out with him to visit her.

'I'm too busy,' he had said.'An important call from the office.I have to attend it.'

Oh yes.More important than visiting the death anniversary of Mother,was it?What a pathetic excuse.Hiroshi resented his father for such,choosing work over paying respects to his dead wife.What a sorry excuse for a husband.

But then again.It didn't matter anymore.It was just Hiroshi now,and always will be.

He was just a normal high school student.He had straight A's in every subject,always early at school,a model student,and he had many peers.Many girls admired him,but he was often too busy studying to take any interest with them.Books and grades are much more important than dating.He still has many years to date after college.He won't date a girl unless he really loves her.He's not like those jockies and players who waltz around school to pick up girls than later break their hearts by cheating on them with another one.He was different.

Hiroshi straightened his white polo shirt and dusted off his pants.He ran a hand across his wild black hair and readjusted his half-rimmed glasses,making sure they hadn't fallen off his nose; they tend to do that lately.He was planning on fixing them later,after his visit to his mother's grave.The bouquet of flowers in his arms seem to be much heavier,as if it sensed Hiroshi's dislike of being alone when visiting his mother.