Spring Comes To Osaka

Chapter 5

The first class was finished. The teacher left with a upbeat message, and urged the students to enjoy today's festivities. Everyone said a loud 'Yes!' in unison.

The next class was to start in a couple minutes, and everyone couldn't help but talk about the rest of the day. Who was going to propose whom. Who would look good with whom. What sort of gifts and treats they got. It was a maelstrom of questions, everyone glistening with excitement.

Rina would be attending another high school next year. She was positive on her move to Tokyo Manor. As a parting gift to one of her best friends, she took out something from her bag. Imported Swiss chocolate with almonds and berries. Aki accepted eagerly with a warm smile.

Curious, Kazuo was seeing this from a distance, and a memory bubbled up deep from his mind.

As kids, both of them followed a specific routine every Sunday. It became a ritual for both. Every Sunday morning, he would borrow some money from his father and would run to the ice cream store as soon as it would open. He got two ice cream cones.

It was always chocolate with nuts, her favorite. He would then run quickly over to Aki's house, and her expectant face would light up when she would see him with the cones. They both would eat them while gleefully chatting in the park in front of their house.

What Aki didn't know was that Kazuo hated eating that flavor. He didn't like the nuts too, and yet he felt like a floating cloud in those moments every Sunday morning. That ice cream became the tastiest, sweetest thing in all of creation.

He was still lost in his thoughts when the next class began. The history class, one after another. The science classes were suspended and replaced by these history classes, he remembered. He liked history the most, well if you did not count the computer classes.

Today's discussion would be based on the living standards in the rural areas during the Edo period. He loved it, and it helped him take his mind off of his worries for some time. The stacked classes ended on a high note.

The teacher had just left when suddenly the door jolted open. Mr. Kiyohira, the chief assistant, was standing there with a serious expression. The class went silent, anticipating something unexpected.

"Kazuo, to my office, right now!" he said.

Everyone was a bit puzzled, and so was Kazuo. Why was he being called at this time of the day? Did he do something wrong? Did he breach a rule? But then he wasn't that kind of a student, everyone knew that, and he was being called by the chief assistant, not a teacher. What was going on?

Kazuo left the room promptly with him.

On the hallway, as they were walking towards the chief assistant's room, Kazuo became a bit nervous. The tension on his senior's face wasn't fading.

He asked, "What has happened Mr. Kiyohira? I don't suspect it, but am I being reprimanded for something?"

"No Kazuo. That's out of the question. Your reputation as a student is impeccable."

"Then what is it? Why are walking so fast? Why do you look so tense?"

"It's... It's your mother Kazuo. She's in the hospital right now."

He stumbled when the words hit him. He barely avoided a fall. Stopping for a second, he drafted behind the elder.

He was aware of his mother's sick condition. She has been working overtime since months, maybe years? They hid the fact from Shiro, his younger brother, but now it seemed everyone in the family would know about it. But this was new. Despite her condition, he never expected her to be admitted as a patient for that. Then was it something grave? He became unsettled.