The Grave Visit

It was mid-August, the height of the Obon holiday in Japan. Obon is a Buddhist custom in Japan where families come together, visit their ancestral homes, and tidy up the graves of their long-gone brethren.

The Hashima clan took this opportunity to visit the grave of Keisuke Hashima’s ex-wife—in other words, Itsuki’s mother by blood—but Itsuki never went with them. He preferred to visit the site alone over having to deal with his father, stepmother, and half brother at the same time.

He was there by himself again this year, in front of his mother’s grave as the sun set over the horizon. The rest of his family had visited yesterday, so everything was already neat and clean around the site. So he went straight into the usual customs—using the nearby ladle to splash water on the gravestone, placing incense on it, putting his hands together.

Inside his mind, he reported the latest developments in his life to his mother. His novel getting the anime treatment. How much more he’d been hanging around with Chihiro since the start of the year. How he and his father were still fairly estranged… How his feelings for the girl he loved were growing stronger and stronger.

…He had a lot of scorn for his father at the time, marrying a new woman so quickly after his mother died. He hadn’t forgotten about that. But now he realized how far beyond one’s control love usually was, and he found himself not feeling so terribly angry about how his father behaved any longer. And sensing that change in himself just depressed him more.

Neither Itsuki nor anyone else in his family offered many kind words for Keisuke Hashima’s second wedding. Before then, the family tradition for Obon and the New Year holiday was to visit Itsuki’s grandfather’s house up in Gifu Prefecture; after, they hadn’t gone once. His grandfather and the rest of the family may not have held any ill will toward Itsuki, but they were far less lenient with Keisuke—and Itsuki resented that. So he started keeping his distance. He hated his dad, but more than that, he hated the judgmental eyes from his own family.

This is all such a pain in the ass, he chided himself. A sister’s all you need! The love I hold for my (pretend) little sister in my heart is what drives me to go on!

…But while it would’ve been great if things were that easy, real life had a way of tying you down until you couldn’t move.

“…There’s just no controlling it,” he whispered with a sigh as he unclasped his hands and stood up. “See you next year.”

And hopefully, Itsuki thought as he headed back home, I’ll have something even better to report then.