Snow On The Peak

Chapter twelve

He loved him.

With his whole heart, he loved him. He had never loved anyone as much as he loved him. And if Ohno Satoshi had to be honest, then he had to say that no one knew just how much pain he was going through.

It had been years since Kazunari's death. Satoshi was now an old man with white hair, and he was an old uncle that had to be taken care of by his nephew since he never had children of his own. However, as old as he was, Satoshi was still able to move freely and go wherever he pleased as long as the family knew where he was going.

Sho and Masaki had moved on and were still together happily. Sho owned his family onsen and Masaki helped with the food preparations for any weary guests that came through. Jun and Mao lived happily and had children and grandchildren of their own, and always made time to stop by and say hello to Satoshi whenever they had the time. Naru had gotten married and also had her own family, but she had also moved away so now it was just Satoshi and his nephew, Yuri.

Naru thought that Satoshi had gotten over Kazunari after so many years. She had never been so wrong.

Every day, Satoshi would wake up, get dressed, and then make the long journey up the mountain to the town cemetery to go to the gravestone that clearly read 'Ninomiya' engraved on the large stone. Satoshi had taken good care of the stone, making sure no weeds or moss had over taken it and that the flowers left were still fresh and new. He knew the way up the mountain like the back of his hand, and every day he would leave a fresh bouquet of lilies on the gravestone just for Kazunari.

And today was just like any other. Satoshi made his way up the mountain, bowed to the headstone, placed the lilies on top, and made a pray to Heaven. Katsuhiko had long since passed away. He had gotten into an unruly argument at a bar that ultimately took his life, but his name was never engraved onto the headstone. No one had been around to pay for it, so it never happened.

As Satoshi sat at the stone, he would talk to Kazunari about his daily life, although it probably sounded really boring as nothing new ever happened. He would talk about Yuri, about what was new in town, any fish he may have caught, or anything that may be of some interest. "You would've liked Yuri-kun," Satoshi would tell the stone. "He's sweet and caring, just like you Kazunari."

Yuri never went him to the gravesite. For that, Satoshi was grateful. He liked to be by himself as he talked to Kazunari. Sometimes he would cry feeling his heart ache for the love of his life, other times he would laugh and try to smile like he used to. However, he found that smiling came harder and harder to him as even more time passed.

"I'm reaching the end of my days," Satoshi said one day as he gingerly sat in front of the gravesite. "I'm getting older, Kazunari. Any day now, you'll be seeing me in Heaven. I promise that I'll always protect you and love you just as much if not more in the next life. As long as there is snow on the peak, I will always love you."

The one day that Satoshi never went to see Kazunari's gravesite was the morning Yuri found him in his bed. He came in silently, noticing his uncle wasn't breathing, and checked to see if the old man was in fact gone. When it was confirmed, Yuri drew a blanket over the old man to cover his face, and bowed low to the man.

And Yuri cried, but not for the loss of his uncle. He cried finally happy that his uncle's heart was broken no more. He could finally be with Kazunari.