Matsubara Kuniko's Life Story

"Will you still hear me out... Kiyota?"

"I will" I didn't hesitate. There was no point in me hesitating after hearing her say those words with such sadness. Such anger at what she had been through.

"R-Really?"

"Of course, even though there's nothing I can do for you now, I can still hear you out on your problems" "Besides... I can't let someone such as yourself alone and much less with these negative emotions around you"

"Kiyota..." She proceeded to wipe away a few tears that were falling down her face and smiled at me once more "Thank you... Kiyota"

"There's no need for thanks, Miss Matsubara. I'm just glad that I can help you to give you a sense of relief"

I tried my best to console her by saying that I was doing it for her which was the complete truth, but behind that, I was angry... Angry at the fact that someone had the audacity to commit such a heinous thing to their own wife.

"Men really are the worse..." I was a man myself, but in my eyes, those who did such things towards women were no less then trash. They didn't deserve the happiness that appeared before them. They didn't deserve to have partners such as Matsubara-san.

Just like my father... He didn't deserve to marry my mother and the same could be said about Matsubara-san's husband... He didn't deserve her.

"If you feel like it's too much Kiyota... Please do let me know"

"Don't worry about me, I just wouldn't want to force you to speak things you don't want to be spoken"

"Thank you..." She beamed me yet another smile, took a few deep breaths and proceeded to tell her tale "I met my husband in my first year of university... He was a very kind person, he was intelligent and on top of that, he was very alert of people's needs.

"When I first saw him, It was first love in a way... Everything about him was perfect, I couldn't see any flaws in him at all" "We talked with each other, went on a few dates and then he asked me to be his girlfriend"

"I was happy... I agreed almost instantly and as we started dating, he was acting even kinder towards me and once we finished university and found jobs, he proposed to me..."

"I accepted, we got married and started living a happy life just like any newlyweds. When we had our daughter, we we're both very happy about it" "After she was born, the three of us lived a happy life with one another but as she started growing up... He started to change"

"Every time I asked him if her was all right, he smiled and said that he was fine, but I could tell that he wasn't... He didn't look happy at all" "Later on, when our daughter had grown up and started going to high school, he would start getting even angrier towards me for the simplest things. He would curse at me and saying that I was butting into things of his that I had no reason to be in..."

"When I had started trying to find out what was wrong with him, It was when I stumbled into the fact that he was cheating on me and confronted him about him, he scoffed at me and simply said that I was delusional"

"I got tired of everything and then decided to put in the divorce papers. Since everything was at my name, I had nothing to lose... I just didn't want to live with someone who had made fun of me, used me for almost the entirety of my life..."

"When I did so... He yelled at me, cursed at me even more and then accepted the divorce and left without another word... Even though I was the one who wanted the divorce since I didn't want to be used no longer... I couldn't help but cry through the entire day... He was my first love... He was the one I wanted to spend my entire life with and yet... He did all of that to me..."

I could tell that she had really been heartbroken from the whole break up... Someone as nice as her had to go through such a tough moment and practically wasted a big part of her life with someone who really didn't love her...

"What the hell...?"

"Kiyota?"

"How could someone do such a thing to you...?"

"..." 

I clenched my hands tightly into fists and cursed at the man under my breath. In a way, he was identical to my father and that alone was more then enough to cause me to get even more pissed off.

"I don't understand... Why are people like that?"

"It's all right... It's all in the past now"

Miss Matsubara didn't sound the least bit worried. She sounded just like the first time I had met her and spoken to her.

"But even then... It's not fine for someone to use another living being like that!"

"I know that, dear... But there are many people in this world... He was just one of them, besides" She beamed me a smile at those words "It's not that bad being single, you get to do whatever you want without anyone telling you that you shouldn't"

I looked over at Miss Matsubara and sighed "If she's happy... That's all that matters..."

She beamed me a smile and then looked over at the kitchen "Care to join me for dinner, Kiyota?"

"A-Are you sure?"

"Of course, besides, I'm the only one who lives here"

"Doesn't your daughter visit you whenever she can?"

"She does, but today isn't one of those days" "Besides, I like having you as my company~"

"I-I see..." "Then I'd appreciate it, but I'd like to help out if that's all right with you"

"..." She stared into my eyes for a bit and sighed with a smile "I'd appreciate that very much, dear"

"O-Ok...""Did me hearing her out on everything make her trust me to the point of calling me dear?"

With those words, I headed off towards the kitchen alongside Miss Matsubara and started to help out with the cooking. Luckily, my mother had taught me to cook a lot of things for my new life living alone which was more then enough for me to survive without any problems at all.

"But something like this isn't bad from time to time..." I knew that the cooking of a mother was something that almost no one was able to copy or perfect, but something about the food that Miss Matsubara made was more then enough to be considered on par to my mom's.

"I'm done with this, Miss Matsubara"

"Thank you dear" "By the way, you don't need to call me Miss"

"A-Are you sure? It really doesn't sit right with me..."

"Of course, just call me Kuniko"

"Umm..."

"And I'll call you dear~"

Hearing her say it in such a tone, I couldn't help but feel my face start blushing "She really doesn't mind it one bit..."

"Of course, I'll call you Kiyota in front of the other neighbors" She lightly placed her finger on my lips and smiled sweetly at me "I wouldn't want rumors going around about me finding myself a young husband~"

"I-I understand"

She smiled at me once more and the both of us continued tending to the kitchen, cleaning what we made a mess out of, cooking and what not.

After some time passed, the both of us finished cooking the food and slowly but surely we started plating everything and putting it on the table.

"The food's ready, dear"

"Thank you very much"

The both of us gave thanks for the food and started eating without a care in the world. Compared to the first time we had dinner together, I could tell that a weight had been lifted off her shoulder.

"That must've really weighted a lot on her very being..."

We continued talking about our day and what not and once we had finished eating, I helped her out with the dishes and as I finished and was making my way towards the door, I looked back at her and bowed "Thank you for everything, K-Kuniko"

"No worries, dear" "Besides, I should be thanking you for hearing me out on my problems~"

Just when I was about to step out, she stopped me in place and gently gave me a kiss on the forehead "Take care and let us talk soon"

"Y-Yeah"

Once I stepped out of her apartment, I let out a sigh and started making my way to my own apartment. The way she looked as she did so only made me blush a bit more, but even then... The way she acted... It was like that of a mother seeing her son off

"At least that's what it looked like"

When I reached the top of the stairs, I noticed that Yukari stepped out for a bit "Hey, Kiyota?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't have your number. Do you mind giving it to me?'

"Sure... I was just about to ask you about it"

"Then let's exchange contact numbers~"

She beamed me a smile, pulled out her phone and thus we exchanged numbers. Once that was done, she waved at me with a smile and headed back inside.

As she closed the door to her apartment, I felt myself just standing there for a bit and staring at her door "Everything has been done... The only thing we can do is wait and see what happens..."

With those words disappearing from my consciousness, I made my way towards my apartment and started doing the homework that had been given to me.

"I'm glad that I was able to help her out as well... I just hope that these people rely on me if they need it..."