A Feeling Both Frustratingly Distant and Warmly Close – Part 01

The table was laden with a lavish feast: a mountain of fried chicken, fish simmered in a flavorful broth, chikuzenni, blanched rapeseed blossoms, fish-head soup, and rice cooked with all sorts of ingredients.

“So you lost your job and you’re working part-time?”

“Y-Yes.”

“How old are you now?”

“Forty… one.”

“That’s the prime of your working life. And you’re part-time? What, a security guard? Convenience store?”

“I sort packages… at a delivery warehouse.”

“There’s nothing wrong with part-time work. I was a security guard myself until last year, and I learned a great deal. Everyone has a job that suits them at a given moment. But what happened to your career?”

“W-Well, um…”

Hikaru’s father was being grilled. He had tried to put on a suit for the first time in a while, but couldn’t fit into it after gaining weight, so he had shown up in a cheap shirt and slacks instead. If only he was able