Heaven's Postman

Love is a game in which one always cheats. –Honore de Balzac

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Guide To Becoming Heaven's Postman

Number 19:

Obtaining an assistant is allowed for the purpose of talking to the living. Having more than one assistant is against not permitted.

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Chapter 3 – Cheater, Cheater

Fujimoto Kumiko glided the vacuum across the hardwood floor, making sure not a spec of dirt was left in her husband's house. Her father-in-law hovered above a book laid on the table, reading peacefully despite the noise that the vacuum produced. Kumiko spotted the bottle of medicine and untouched glass of water next to the old man.

She turned the vacuum off to ask, "Otousan, did you take your medicine yet?" [Otousan: father—In this case, father-in-law.]

The old man looked up, surprised. "That's right, I was about to. Thank you for reminding me."

"Mmm…" Kumiko began vacuuming again, lost in thought. After cleaning the rug, she unplugged the machine and tucked it away in the hallway closet. "I know it's not my position as your daughter-in-law to say this, but it's been three months since okaasan passed away…" [Okaasan: mother—In this case, mother-in-law.]

It took him a while to reply. "Yes," he said in a monotone.

She regretted bring it up. "If you keep being too sad, it'll make me worry too…" Wisely, she did not continue and trailed off.

He nodded.

"Oh yeah, please don't be late today. My husband's coming early from work so let's have dinner together," she reminded him again. She knew her father-in-law was the type to forget easily within twenty minutes of hearing a statement.

He cleared his throat. "Right."

"Juni told me yesterday that he was worried because his grandpa looks so weak lately."

The old man chuckled, a rather rough sound. "I shouldn't be worrying my four year old grandson." He stood from his seat with caution. "I'll go play shogi and then walk for a bit until dinner, all right?"

"Yes, otousan. Be careful."

He grabbed his coat off the coat hanger next to the front door. Every time he left the house, he stopped for a minute to look at his dead wife's picture in a small frame on a table. He suddenly remembered the letter he wrote for her; the one he inserted in the enchanted mailbox. Shaking his head, he left through the door. It was a two minute walk to the park.

Darling,

How can you go first without me? I never expected it. After you left, I've become an empty shell. How is it there? Darling, to tell you the truth, I found something awful while I was cleaning your things. What's it called… I found a letter. It was specifically a love letter. It was to you from a man I didn't know.

"Shinchi, why aren't you making your move?"

It took him a minute to realize it was his turn to move a piece. His day dreams and worries made him even more forgetful and oblivious to everything around him than before. He wished he had never seen those love letters addressed to his wife. "Sorry," he said to his friend.

Darling, did you have feelings for that man too?

During dinner, he could not bring himself to swallow his food as he stared at his son, Kaito, who sat next to Kumiko. Ever since he read those letters, he had doubts that his biological son sat across from him.

By chance, is our youngest son, Kaito that man's son?

"Oyaji, what's wrong?" Kaito asked, realizing his father's glassy stare. [Oyaji: Formal way of saying Father]

His fork slipped from his hand and fell on to the floor, scattering rice. Beside him, his grandson Juni laughed at his clumsy grandpa. Kaito immediately went to retrieve it for him. He asked his father several times if he was feeling all right.

I become sleepless when I think about this. Was I not good enough?

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"Sakura! Can you hear me?" Sasuke waved a hand over the girl's face as she stared at the letter she was reading. He had told her something earlier, but she had made no reaction.

Tears streaked her face after reading three throughout the afternoon. "Rain…" she mumbled. "When it rains, she's worried that he might be crying because he's lonely in Heaven. His sister…" She sniffed.

"Sister? Did she loose her brother?" the postman asked.

"Yes, when he was ten years old." She displayed a deck of colourful, Yu Gi Oh cards to him. "There are even cards in here. Her brother wanted these all his life."

"Stop crying. You shouldn't cry in the first place. What were supposed to do is to read the letters and devise a plan! Stop crying and work," he told Sakura firmly.

She exhaled, collecting herself. "By the way, why are in Angel's Coffee Shop? You said this was a sacred job. Why are we in this busy coffee shop?" Sakura gestured to the long line of people who were waiting for their coffee to be made. The place was in the middle of the big city and outside the windows were traffic and office buildings. The old coffee shop next to the hill (the one they visited last time) was good enough. Plus, it was quiet like a library there.

"The thing is sometimes, I want to come out in the city," he said in a tone, full of wonder, that a country boy would use if he dreamt about visiting New York.

"Even if you talk like a baby, you don't look cute," Sakura told him, sticking out her tongue.

He scowled at her. "Fine, next time I'll take you to a really nice place." Then he snickered. "It's not like we're going on a date, so I don't see why you care so much…"

She scoffed. "Stop speaking nonsense! Don't fall in love with me, ghost!"

"I told you I'm not a ghost."

Sakura stared at him silently, holding back the next batch of complains she was about to unleash.

"Anyway," Sasuke handed her a new letter, "this is your first task." She took it with hesitation. "If you want to get paid properly, do the work properly."

"Who said I won't?" she questioned, grimacing. She took in a large amount of air before she read the crisply, folded paper from a man named Shinchi.

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Sakura flicked a shogi piece with her thumb and middle finger. Her objective was to knock out another shogi piece out of the board. She groaned when she missed. The little girl who was playing with her the entire time laughed mockingly.

"I win!" the girl said, showing Sakura her crooked, little teeth.

The old men around her turned to watch. "Does she live in our neighbourhood?" one asked another. "I haven't seen that game in a while. Except it was played it marbles and not shogi pieces," another said.

Sakura glanced at the old man named Shinchi. He had been staring at nothing in particular for half an hour since Sakura got there. He was the one who had written a letter to his wife, thinking she cheated on him before her death.

She got off the table and thanked the little girl for giving her a lollipop she was now sucking on. After bidding goodbye, she went to look for the house of that man by following the address on the envelope…

Once she got to the place, she silently waited until someone exited the house. A woman, just a few years older than her, left the gates after Sakura had waited for ten minutes. She figured that the woman was the old man's daughter-in-law, Kumiko. He had mentioned her on a letter that was delivered earlier before the one about his wife cheating. Just the person she was looking for.

"Excuse me!" Sakura grabbed her shoulder, halting her. "Can we have a talk?"

She pointed at herself and Sakura nodded. The pinkette stressed how important it was. She agreed and followed Sakura to a local playground next to a school, and that sat quietly on a bench. Sakura thought that Kumiko had an idea what she was going to talk about.

"…So it's about my father-in-law?" Kumiko asked hesitantly.

"Yes, your father-in-law is in agony."

She blinked. "What?"

"Your mother-in-law… you see…" she hesitated to continue, wondering if she could take the news. "She must have had someone she liked other than your father-in-law. There were some love letters hidden in her belongings."

Sakura was glad Kumiko didn't ask how she would know something like that. Instead, she responded with a surprised, "No way!"

"Your father-in-law's son, which is your husband…" She shook her head and revised her words. "To put it simply, he doubts whether your husband is his true son."

"Oh my!" She leaned in to whisper to Sakura. "I doubted that too."

She was caught off guard and filled with surprise. "Why?"

"Look at this." Kumiko searched her bag and pulled out her cell phone. Turning it on, she showed Sakura the background picture which was Kumiko and her husband. "My husband… isn't he handsome?"

Sakura smiled, studying his face briefly and seeing a face full of happiness and sunshine. He had dimples and dark hair, which Sakura found attractive. "Ahh, yes he is."

"Otousan doesn't look similar to him."

"Really?" She nodded slowly, thinking through things. "Your mother-in-law must have been pretty."

Kumiko bit her lip. "Well, not really. She just looked average, to be honest."

"Then your mother-in-law must have cheated on an extremely handsome person and your husbands looks are from him."

She gasped, absorbing the information about her husband. "You might just be right."

"But do you think your husband would've suspected it?" Sakura asked.

"No way! To him, mother-in-law is an angel. Saying that his mother cheated on his father and that my father-in-law is not his real dad and stuff, he'll be…" Kumiko trailed off, not wanted to imagine her husband in that kind of mood.

Sakura smacked her fist in her palm like in the movies she had watched before. "Exactly, that's it! Saying that won't change anything and no one will be happy, right? So I thought about it. What about doing a DNA test between your husband and father-in-law?"

"What if the results tell them they don't share the same blood?"

Sakura grinned. "There's absolutely no chance for that." She was going to cheat, and she knew exactly who to help her.

Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter was SUPER shot. I'll have the next chapter up soon!

So can you guys guess where Sakura is going to get help? Send me what you think in a review, please! Maybe I'll consider your ideas and change the next chapter around. As for the Japanese words in the square, italic brackets like these: [] I can tell you that I'm not one hundred percent sure about these words. I just Googled them, and articles in the internet has lied to me many times. If you guys know the correct term, please tell me!

Thank you for the reviews, also. Love you guys :)