Forgiveness and Goodbye

When she arrived to the room, she saw her sister next to Lieutenant Yanagi. They were talking casually. She couldn't see the lieutenant well, but she knew he was calm, judging by the tranquility with which Himawari looked at him and spoke to him.

She felt sad seeing her. Her broken leg was raised. She never thought about her situation. She never worried if she was okay or if she was being attended to properly. She smiled, seeing that at least if Izumi was there, she was being attended to as she should be, and her engagement was stable.

When she saw the Lieutenant get up, she tried to hide. She watched him leave and was thankful that he didn't recognize her. When he was gone she finally had the courage to go in and see her sister.

Himawari was looking out the window. She could see a large tree which still kept some orange leaves that had not been shaken off by the tremors. She approached her bed slowly. She noticed the cracked walls. Some patients looked at her in silence. They didn't have the strength to judge her, not even with their gaze.

"Hima-chan," Sachie said in a faint voice. Her sister turned to look at her, surprised.

"Onee-sama," Himawari said upon seeing her. She tried to get up, but Sachie forced her to remain still in her position. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," Sachie told her, sitting in that chair where Lieutenant had been. "How are you?"

"Fine…" Himawari whispered, unsure whether she should answer. "My fiancé comes to visit me whenever he can. But father and mother haven't come. Do you know if they are okay?"

Sachie didn't know how to tell her that their mother had already died. She avoided her little sister's gaze. Scared, Himawari saw her distressed, frightened.

"Onee-sama…" she whispered, filled with fear. "Tell me, I beg you."

Sachie told her how Akiko died alone, she was injured, and she managed to see her alive. But no one attended to her, no one worried about their mother. She commented on how, when she arrived, she was happy, she was glad to have seen her.

"Mother always talked about you since you left," Himawari said, wiping away her tears. "I heard her crying in her room several times. She always wished to see you again."

"Has Haruto come to see you?" Sachie asked her sister when she could speak. Himawari say no in silence.

That damned coward hasn't come to see his perfect daughter. Sachie told her that their father was fine, he was healthy. The sisters looked at each other and didn't quite know what to say.

"My… my fiancé has come," Himawari said to break the awkward silence. "The engagement will not be canceled. But Urara sama looks at me with pity. You were right… you always were… my marriage is going to fail…"

"No… don't say that," Sachie interrupted, taking her sister's hands. "You said Lieutenant Yanagi is continuing with the engagement. It's your turn to prove Urara wrong."

"But…" Himawari tried to reply.

"Forget what I said that night," Sachie interrupted. "I was angry, I couldn't stand being compared to you all the time. You were always brave, and you know it. Show them what you are capable of. Promise me."

Himawari was surprised. But she smiled timidly. She cried a little because of her sister's sincerity, for her words. She had found the courage she needed.

"I will show Urara sama that I am capable," Himawari said. Her sadness had diminished upon knowing that her sister believed in her. Now it wasn't just her fiancé. "I will be the perfect wife for her son."

Before leaving, Sachie gave her a small hair clip. She had bought it for herself, but she felt that her sister needed it more. The clip, although somewhat simple and cheap, had beautiful sunflower decorations.

Sachie left there to return to the shelter and await their escape. But she ran into Urara, who was waiting for her.

"What are you doing here?" the woman said, seeing Sachie, who did not let herself be intimidated. She would no longer let anyone judge her without reason. "I told you not to come."

"I came to see my sister," Sachie replied. "But don't worry. You won't see me again. From this moment, I am dead to everyone."

Urara's eyes widened, surprised by Sachie's response, who began to walk toward the hospital exit.

"I have to admit something," Urara said, which made Sachie stop to listen. "You are all a bunch of useless people. Himawari is the only one who can be rescued from a tree that only bore rotten fruit."

Sachie looked at her indignantly, pretended to feel offended, and continued on her way without saying a word.

The Takahara house was one of the few that withstood the main tremor, and although some walls were weak and cracked, the family could still live there, except for some dangerous rooms.

Souta Takahara was scared. He had been ever since he woke up because of that terrible tremor. The family only had some superficial injuries, and since that day, he felt alone, abandoned. His mother was always watching out for looters, his father and brother were always out, attending the factory and things he still didn't understand.

That's why he was surprised to see Takumi arriving home. They both hugged, and without distraction, the necessary conversation arrived. Souta didn't understand why he wanted to go to Tokyo and was feeling abandoned.

"Don't say that, Souta!," Takumi said, trying to calm his brother. "I'm not abandoning you."

"Then why are you leaving?"

"I need to leave. I can't stay here. I would be unhappy. I have chosen Sachie because she can make me a better person, someone capable of seeing the truth."

"What am I going to do without you…?"

Takumi hugged his brother, and they both cried for a while. Takumi explained that they would stay in contact. He promised that he would be sending him letters so they could talk.

"Promise me you will be brave, that no matter what father says, you will remain true to your own ideals."

"My… ideals?" Souta asked, not understanding.

"When you are older, you will understand it better," Takumi explained, trying to hurry. He had to leave before his father and mother discovered him. "You are the only one who can choose which path to follow, do you understand?"

Souta dried his tears while nodding silently. Takumi gave him a final hug and whispered "goodbye" to his brother.