Saeko was the first to go. A cancer of the ovary, the doctors said. She had been suffering for two years, and she hadn't said anything about it to anyone, not even Reika. Aiko wasn't surprised; it was something Saeko would do. All her life, she had suffered in silence.
They buried her next to Uncle.
Umibozu was next. It came as a shock to Aiko. Even though he had become completely blind and had to rely entirely on his sense of sound and touch, even though he had taken to the wheelchair towards the end, she always thought of him as invincible. She had always thought that nothing could get past Umibozu. He was waiting for death too, they all were, but maybe because he didn't show it much, she'd thought he would live forever.
Then, it was Ryo. They found him on his desk one morning, stone cold, whiskey bottles scattered all over the place. He was clutching Kaori's picture in his dead fist, and it gave the impression that he had been talking to it in his last moments. Maybe he was, there was no way they could know.
She had the picture buried with him. It wasn't hers, anyway.
She didn't cry at his funeral. Maybe her tears had dried up as well.
There was an irrational, insane part of her that couldn't help but feel relieved, happy for her father. He had died at his home, probably in his sleep, probably dreaming of Kaori, Aiko thought. He was where he had wanted to be, sleeping in the cold, grey earth, beside the one he loved. He hadn't been happy in his life, but, like all men of the underworld, he had found happiness in death.
She hoped.
She hoped he found his peace.
She hoped they all did.