Broken Fragments

Chapter 5: Ramen's Warmth

"I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay. I understand. This isn't the only time I had to experience this," Yuuhi interrupted with an awkward smile on her face as Hiroto let go of her to apologize.

Hiroto watched Yuuhi walk away as she straightened her dress that got wrinkled in the process. He felt bad once again, but he was a little confused.

"That wasn't the only time she experienced it?" Hiroto asked himself.

Hiroto followed Yuuhi and entered her car. He sat on the passenger's seat while Yuuhi drove down the city. Silence lingered between them, not knowing how to break it. Yuuhi concentrated on the road while Hiroto, who was still thinking about what she said, looked at the scenery pass by.

"Do you want to get your car from the bar?" Yuuhi asked, finally breaking the silence with all the courage she gathered.

"Yeah…if…you don't mind," Hiroto carefully said, watching his words.

He was being really careful on what to say for he didn't want to hurt Yuuhi's feelings again. They'd only known each other for less than a week and he was already hurting her feelings as if they'd known each other for a longer time than that.

Yuuhi drove to the bar they were in last night and left Hiroto to get his car. She told him that she would just meet him at the company building. Hiroto entered his car, his mind still full of thoughts of what happened moments earlier. Yuuhi's voice echoed in his mind as if to make Hiroto feel guilty. Not knowing what to do anymore, he decided to keep on looking for the ramen shop that he and Kirari went to months before her death.

Feeling stressed, Hiroto parked his car by the sidewalk out of nowhere and thought about what he had been saying and doing to Yuuhi. He had already called her 'Kirari' more than three times and even hugged her, thinking that Yuuhi was Kirari. Hiroto couldn't take it anymore. He felt as if he was losing his mind.

"Why the hell is this happening to me?" Hiroto thought as he clenched his fist on the steering wheel and punched the handle.

"Hiro-kun?"

Hiroto turned his head to the passenger's seat's window where he saw the face he'd been looking for.

"Oba-san?"

Hiroto quickly got out of his car and ran around to make sure that he was seeing the right person. It really was the old lady that made the best ramen for him. Her short stature never changed, but she had grown skinnier and more wrinkles on her face had formed. Her head was covered with thick, white hair that was put up in a nice, neat bun on top.

"When did you come back, Hiro-kun?" the old lady asked as Hiroto bowed for respect.

"Just a few days ago, Oba-san. I've been looking all over for your ramen shop. Where did it go?" Hiroto asked, walking by the frail lady.

"It's been closed for almost two years now, Hiro-kun."

"What? Why?" Hiroto exclaimed, aghast.

"Well, I've grown older and I'm getting weaker every day. New ramen shops have also been built near the shop. We lost customers, even the ones that always come despite the shop's hidden location. We had to close it down or we would've been in debt. We can't owe any more money to the bank for I've been in the hospital lately for my sickness."

Hiroto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Everything seemed so unrealistic to him. The always-cheerful Oba-san that he knew was now a frail lady that always goes to the hospital. Hiroto never thought that the smile on her face would be wiped away in such a short time.

"Come on in, Hiro-kun," Oba-san said as she opened her house's door for him.

This was the first time Hiroto went to the old lady's house. Oba-san's ramen shop wasn't near her home because the ramen shop was surrounded by other shops, too. The small house that the old lady lived in was as old as her, maybe even older. The house still consisted of sliding doors and rice-straw floors. There was a light bulb in the middle, but other than that, there were no new technologies, not even a TV. The stove wasn't electrically powered and there was no refrigerator. Basically, Oba-san's house was built decades ago.

"Sit down, Hiro-kun. I'll prepare some tea," the old lady said as she disappeared to the small kitchen.

Hiroto sat on his knees by the small table in the middle of the room. He looked around and found holes on the roof and spider webs in the corners of the room. Hiroto found a portrait of the old lady and her husband that was hanging by the bathroom door. He stood up to look at the sepia-colored picture that had survived through all the years with the old lady.

Hiroto's eyes grew wide when he saw the old lady's beautiful face with her husband. They both looked happy as they smiled for the camera while their fingers were intertwined with each other's. The old lady had long, dark hair that extended to her chest; her face wrinkle-free; her lips extending from cheek to cheek. Her husband looked handsome and gentle with his kind smile on his face and sparkling eyes focused on the camera's lens.

"I miss him so much," the old lady said, placing the tray that she used to carry the tea kettle and cups on the small table.

"His name was Enaga and he loved me from the very first time we met. His eyes always showed kindness and his smiles were always gentle. He was my everything," the old lady smiled as she took a glance at the picture while pouring the tea.

Hiroto sat back down to listen to Oba-san's story as he smelled the delicious aroma of the tea that she prepared.

"Enaga and I met during the school festival on our first year of high school. My class teamed up with his class to perform a play. The play was 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.' He was the prince, but I was not the princess. I was the princess' understudy," Oba-san narrated as she reminisced the past.

"Since the girl playing the role of the princess was one of Theater Club's most talented actresses, I didn't worry about remembering the lines or actually acting. Watching Enaga's great performance, I found myself slowly falling in love with him, but I knew that it was only one-sided for rumors were spreading around about how Enaga and the princess were more than friends, but my feelings still remained. Five days before the play, we found out that the princess was hospitalized and wasn't going to be discharged two weeks later, so I had to play the part."

"Good job today, Mariko-san," Enaga said with a smile on his face as he handed her a bottle of cold water.

Mariko, who stayed up all night to recite her lines to be able to practice with Enaga, looked like a wilting flower. Her face was tired and her eyes looked red from getting no sleep.

"Thank you, Enaga-kun," Mariko replied, her face flushed.

The two sat on the bench outside the school, watching the sunset. They stayed after school to practice their lines together for there were only two days left before their play's performance. Mariko had been working hard since the past three days, reciting her lines and learning how to act. Silence lingered between the two as they drank the bottles of water they had.

"You're quite amazing, Mariko-san," Enaga said, breaking the silence between them.

"H-how? I-I-I…I'm not as good as your girlfriend," Mariko replied, her voice fading little by little in shyness.

"My girlfriend? I don't have a girlfriend."

"Y-you d-d-don't?" Mariko exclaimed in surprise.

"No, of course not. What made you think that?"

"Well…you and Reiko-chan looked beautiful together whenever you're acting…as if you were…a real couple," Mariko said as she fidgeted with her fingers in nervousness.

"That's because we have to convince the audience that our feelings for each other are real."

"Really?" she asked, her face full of hope, yet pouting in jealousy.

Enaga, who couldn't control it any longer, let out his laugh as he saw Mariko's big brown eyes glimmer in hope.

"Wh-what's so funny?"

Enaga kept on laughing, holding his arms to his stomach. Mariko watched him laugh while she worried about what he found amusing.

"You're like ramen, Mariko-san," Enaga said after stopping his laughs.

"Ra…men?"

"Yeah. You give warmth to people without your knowing. To be honest, I've been having troubles with my family lately, but ever since we started working together, you'd always make me smile and feel warmth in my heart."

"I…do?"

Enaga nodded with his gentle smile piercing Mariko's heart.

"Thank you, Mariko-san."

"After the play's performances during the week of the school festival, Enaga asked me to be his lover on the Annual Midnight Dance. Ever since then, we were together all the time. We had arguments, yes, but we didn't let those arguments get in our way. We got married and had children that now have their own family. Then, he fell ill ten years ago and died three years later. However," Oba-san, whose name was Mariko, paused to look at their portrait once again.

"Even though he's gone, I can still feel his warmth. The warmth that he said I gave him was actually the warmth he was giving me, too. I still love him with all my heart, but I moved on and smiled because I know that we'll see each other again someday."

Hiroto felt as if he was enlightened by the old lady's love story.

"Hiro-kun," Mariko called after she let him think about her story.

"Time will heal the pain. Don't rush it. If you're not ready, then you're not. You'll know you're ready to let go when the time comes, okay?" the old lady comforted.

"Thank you so much, Oba-san," Hiroto gently smiled.

After finishing his tea, he paid his respects and said goodbye to Mariko. The old lady waved goodbye as she watched him drive away.

"He looks just like you, Enaga," Mariko smiled.