Seiji's Love Letters

Chapter 1 – Home Again

Seiji parked the car in front of the house and got out. He walked around and opened Shiharu's door for her. She hesitated briefly before taking Seiji's proffered hand. Seiji knew from the distant look in her eyes that Shiharu was being flooded with memories.

He motioned for her to precede him to the house but she smiled softly, shook her head, and said, "You go in. I'll be just a few minutes."

"Don't be long," he replied with a knowing look on his face. He squeezed her hand gently, turned, and went into the house.

Seiji was dealing with his own flood of memories at the moment, though probably more recent than Shirharu's.

Just two weeks ago, Seiji and Shiharu arrived late to the family gathering. Aoi-kun and Akane-chan rushed to give Shiharu a hug as soon as she came through the door and pulled her over to talk to their cousins.

Kouichi, their father, greeted his brother, and asked, "Hey, Seiji, why were you two late? I thought you arranged to take the day off."

Seiji grinned sheepishly and answered, "Shiharu had a doctor appointment today and it took longer than expected."

"There is nothing wrong, I hope," Kouichi asked anxiously.

Shiharu came back over and took Seiji's hand shyly. Seiji kissed Shiharu's temple and smiled broadly. "Nothing is wrong. We wanted to let the whole family know at once. We are expecting twins!"

After everyone had congratulated them on their good news, Kouichi pulled Seiji aside. "Seiji, you and Shiharu should move into the house. I know it's farther from your job but it is closer to the daycare center where Shiharu works. It would also be a better place to raise a family than that tiny apartment you are in now."

Seiji pulled his brother into a tight hug and said, "Thank you so much. That means a lot to both of us."

"I hope you and Shiharu will be as happy there as Misaki and I were," Kouichi said in a tight voice with misty eyes.

After taking his shoes off in the entryway, Seiji made his way to his old bedroom. Reaching to the back of his top drawer, he pulled out a large envelope. It had been ten years since he had hidden it there and now it was time to give it to Shiharu.

Meanwhile outside, Shiharu was dealing with the kaleidoscope of memories. It had been about twelve years ago that she had first come to Matsunaga Seiji's house as a babysitter for the twins, Aoi-kun and Akane-chan. Seiji was not the twins' father. That was his older brother, Kouichi. Kouichi disappeared after the death of his wife, Misaki, in a traffic accident. At that time, Seiji had been twenty-five and a very popular television announcer. During the first three months after he had taken responsibility for the twins, they had cried constantly and were afraid of strangers, even him. There had been a series of housekeepers and babysitters but none had lasted very long because of the constant crying of the twins.

Shiharu grew up in an orphanage because her father died before she was born and her mother died when Shiharu was five years old. She never knew her father's family and her mother's relatives did not want her. During her years in the orphanage, she found that she liked to care for the younger children and it became her dream to run a daycare center of her own.

When she was sixteen she got a job in the daycare facility attached to the orphanage where she lived. The job would give her experience and help her earn money to pay for her university education. Shiharu started working at the daycare a week before she met Seiji. The twins were usually afraid of strangers but they took to Shiharu right away.

Usually Shiharu was not there when Seiji picked up the twins so he was surprised when he arrived later than usually to find Aio-kun and Akane-chan clinging to a daycare worker. After a conversation with the sensei, Seiji offered Shiharu a job as babysitter for the twins.

Coming to the house for the first time…the trip to the supermarket…meeting Takeru…the house key…Christmas…the New Year trip to the shrine…meeting Oikawa…Valentine's Day…zoo trip…the rainy day…Tanabata…the barbeque…the school festival…Halloween…Matsunaga-san ill…White Day…Home Center trip…Spring Festival…library…strawberry picking…fireworks…aquarium visit…twins' third birthday…trip to the twins' grandparents…kaki granny…amusement park trip…twins' errand…Matsunaga-san's confession…Kouichi's return…sleepover for twins last day before move…

Shiharu shook her head to clear away the cascading memories. She had not been to the house in ten years. That was when she said goodbye to the twins as they moved to their grandparents' home in Shizouka. It was also when Seiji moved to an apartment closer to his work. Back then Seiji had been Matsunaga-san and Shiharu had been Nakamura-san as appropriate for their employer/employee relationship.

Shiharu and Seiji had been married for three years and were now expecting their own set of twins. Although their apartment was closer to work for Seiji, they decided that they would rather raise their family in the house. They had come here today to see what would be needed to furnish the house and move in.

Hesitating briefly at the front door, Shiharu opened it and announced, "I'm home."

Chuckling, Seiji responded, "Welcome home. That brings back so many memories."

After Shirharu removed her shoes, Seiji took her hand and pulled her close. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he led her into the kitchen and pulled out the chair so she could sit at the table. On the table lay a large envelope with writing on the front of it.

Seiji picked up the envelope and handed it to Shiharu. "I originally intended to give you this after the ten years if you decided you wanted to begin a relationship with me. Although we have been married for three years, I still want you to have these. I'm going to look through the house to see what needs to be done. I want you to sit here and read these," Seiji said with a slight blush.

Shiharu looked quizzically at Seiji's back as he left the room. Finally she looked down at the envelope in her hands. The writing said, "To be opened ten years after Aoi-kun and Akane-chan move to their grandparents' home." Curious, Shiharu opened the envelope and pulled out the small stack of papers neatly held together with a clip. The top sheet appeared to be a letter and it was signed, "Seiji." Shiharu began reading.

Tonight I told Nakamura-san that I love her and I gave her a ring. Because she is only seventeen (she will be eighteen next month), I cannot act on these feelings right now. Before confessing any of this to her, I visited the graves of her parents and considered what they might say if they were still alive to counsel her. Based on that consideration, I have offered to wait ten years for her to experience life, meet new people, and travel to new places. If she wants me after those ten years, I will give her these letters.

I started writing them just after I met her as a way to contain and control my feelings. Although I had girlfriends in high school and university, none of them have ever made me feel the way Shiharu makes me feel. I doubt anyone else ever will. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her with the twins clinging to her happily. The past two years have been so precious to me and I can only hope that in ten years she will return my feelings and we can spend the rest of our lives together.

Seiji

Shiharu sighed and a blush colored her cheeks as she started to read Seiji's love letters to her.