Reunion

Sachie woke up in a hospital bed. When she realized where she was, she wondered how she got there. Her body still ached, but compared to the night before, she felt better. A nurse entered to check her and, noticing she was awake, went back out looking for a doctor.

"You had a stomach infection, Miss Sachie," the doctor told her while examining her.

Sachie sighed. If the doctor knew her, it meant she was in a private hospital that knew her situation. She thought that perhaps her father found her passed out in the street, and thanks to him, she was there. She mentally prepared for the confrontation.

The doctor ordered a day of rest, plenty of water, and soft food. When she was alone, Sachie meditated. What should she tell her father? How would they discuss paying the hospital bill? Surely that silly Urara went and told her father about the idea of her leaving Shimizu.

Her surprise was big when Takumi entered the room. He was smiling and looked relieved to see her stable and awake. Sachie was confused to see the heir of that factory there.

"May I know what you are doing here, Takahara-san?" Sachie said without even greeting him.

"I found you passed out in the street," Takumi replied. "It was my duty to help you, Apricot-san."

What was that man thinking? It was the first time someone called her by her surname, if she could still call it hers. She didn't bother to correct him.
"I suppose my father knows I am here."

"Actually, he don't know yet," Takumi replied. Sachie couldn't understand him. What did he want from her now that she was just a nameless woman? "But he will surely find out thanks to Tsushima-sensei. You are in Shimizu General Hospital."

Sachie sighed and leaned against the wall. Since 1888, her father had started doing business with the hospital owner to supply him with his medicines. A business that was a success. Haruto and Tsushima-sensei, the main doctor and owner of the hospital, are close friends. She still remembered those evenings when both stayed up late in the living room at home to talk about what she considered nonsense.

"I propose something to you," Takumi told Sachie seriously.

Sachie was tired of so many proposals. She tried to argue, but Takumi stopped her from speaking.

"I know your family situation," Takumi told her calmly. "If you wish, I can help you. After that night at the inauguration, I realized how stubborn you are. Let me help you."

"What do you have in mind?" Sachie asked him. She doesn’t know what to expect about the proposal. After the incident with Urara, she was expecting another reprimand.

"You will be under my care," Takumi began to tell Sachie, who was listening impatiently. "You can live here in Shimizu in total anonymity. You will live in an area where no one will know you, and you can start working on what you love most."

"Are you serious?" Sachie asked. But a question came to her mind at that moment: why is he doing that to her?

"Completely serious," Takumi replied, smiling as he saw her interest in the idea. "If you accept, you will live under my conditions: you will change your name, you will not be able to leave the assigned area, and above all, one or two days a week, you must spend an afternoon with me."

“What? NO!” Sachie shouted upon hearing the proposal. Takumi calmed her and asked her to be silent. She was still in the hospital.

“Is not what you think, Apricot-san," Takumi told her, still laughing a little. “I want to be friend with you. I want us to have dinner together, to have an activity just for the two of us. How does that sound?"

Sachie thought about the proposal. If that meant staying in Shimizu and continuing her activities in medicine and flowers, then she could accept, and she did.

The next morning, she left the hospital accompanied by Takumi, who looked happy about her decision, while she looked worried. Takumi asked her what was wrong.

"My father might search for me," Sachie replied.

“You don’t have to worry," Takumi replied. "I spoke with Tsushima-sensei, and we agreed that he would not tell Apricot-san anything. You are not part of his family. Why should Apricot-san has to worry about Nishimura Sachie?"

Note: at this point, Sachie, although she kept her name, which we recall is written 沙知絵, from here on, with Takumi's proposal, she changed to 西村幸枝, read as Nishimura Sachie. Note that now she is using the kanji for happiness, as Akiko once wished her daughter's name to be written.

September 13, 1891.
The area of the city, where the new Sachie now lived was full of poverty and people in need of all kinds of basic necessities. But Sachie was surprised. Despite all this people lived happy and they didn’t complain, and he lived a quiet life.

The contrast was confusing for Sachie, accustomed to order and cleanliness. She began to live near Mizutani port, where the smell of coal combined with the saltiness of the sea and fresh fish.

Walking felt almost dangerous for her because there were too many people walking everywhere. But it was thanks to Takumi's help that she was able to start over. He helped her rent a room for herself, which was near a food market. Known as the Orphan from Nagoya, they explained to the neighbours that Sachie had fled the city for fear of retaliation from her late father's family.

"You really don't have to explain much," Takumi explained once she was settled in that room, which only had a western bed, a desk, and a nightstand. "Pretend sadness and cover your face with your hands. You can say you don't want to talk about the matter out of fear.”

“By the way” said Sachie with curiosity. “Why did you know I can stay in this part of the city?”

“Most of the employees of the factory come from here” explain Takumi patiently. “When I got lost… well one of those many times I got lost I discovered this part of Shimizu.”

Sachie was having fun of this. She wondered how he get home safety. Was thanks for him she finally got a nice, small place to live. It was a small building of 5 floors. From the window she has she could see part of the ocean. 

That night, Sachie and Takumi went to dinner at a small bar run by a former sailor and his wife. It was the first time she had been in such a noisy place. They also had to share a table with another couple of similar ages to theirs.

It was Takumi who ordered the food and drinks. Despite her recent stomach infection, Sachie ate and finished what was served to her. It was the first time she had eaten until she was satisfied.

That couple was amused by the way they both ate. So decent, so clean, and their manners were not from people of that part of the city. Sachie managed to have fun chatting with the couple. It was the first time she felt free to express herself, to freely answer what they said, and upon leaving the place, the four walked around the area for a while.

When she was alone in her new room, Sachie smiled. It had been a good idea to accept Takumi's deal. Here, no one reproached her, judged her, and she didn't have the pressure of being single or behaving in a certain way. She never thought about her family. Rather, she fell asleep thinking about all the plans and projects that would come from that day forward.