Odd Jobs

Chapter 40 - Lemon Tree

"Uncle Guren?", the child whispered, tugging at the bedsheets.

"What's up kid?", Guren whispered back. "It's 4 in the morning."

"I can't sleep... Can I have some sleepy juice?"

The man sighed. "Yuu, the sleepy juice is bad for you. It's gonna make you sad."

"I'm sad already. When am I gonna go back to mom?"

Guren felt his throat tense up. "Yuu..." Movement next to him, indicating his wife had woken up.

"Come up on the bed, Yuu.", Mahiru spoke. The kid nodded, crawling in between the two. "You know mommy isn't coming back...", she whispered, gently scratching the top of his head. "She's in a better place now."

"Everyone always says that!", the child cried, crossing his arms. "Why couldn't she stay? Did she not like me?"

Guren choked back a small sob. "She loved you, Yuu. More than anything in the world."

"Do you love me, uncle Guren?"

"More than anything in the world."

~

He was able to put up with it the first few weeks. The boy was hurting, sure, fine. Guren had always known Yuu hadn't had the healthiest ways of coping. He grimaced as he loaded in the laundry machine, a tangy stink clouding the air of the garage.

Starting the machine, he started making his way up the stairs, the scent growing stronger and stronger.

"Yuu.", he called, knocking on the door. No response. "Yuu." He sighed, leaning his forehead on the door. "I'm coming in."

"I'm naked.", came from the other side. It wasn't a panicked shriek. It was merely a stoic sentence that was spoken.

"Too bad."

Guren opened the door, revealing a fully dressed Yuichiro. Well, if sweatpants and an old T-shirt was something you could call fully dressed. He didn't turn his head to look at his uncle, remaining half hung outside of the window, cigarette in hand.

"Don't you think it's about time you quit that stuff?" Yuu's response was a simple shrug. "I'm serious. Your great-grandpa died from that stuff."

"It's just a cigarette. It's not that bad."

"The entire house stinks, so do all your clothes. At least smoke outside."

Yuu extinguished his cigarette in the ash tray. "Why does it matter?" His voice trembled.

Guren sighed, resting his hand on his nephew's back. "Because you still matter. People still care about you. Love you."

A small sob escaped the smaller. "Mika doesn't."

"That's heartbreak. And it's gonna happen a lot more, but that's okay. You're gonna cry a lot more, and that's okay. But you're always gonna have people at your side."

"You're just saying that because you saw it in a romance movie Shinya watched."

"Not gonna deny that."

A small chuckle escaped Yuichiro. "How was the wedding venue? I didn't expect you guys to be back yet." Yuu reached into the box of cigarettes, only to have the box swiped from his hands.