Chapter 6

Having found her way to the nearby park, Sayuri slowed down her pace. She felt very troubled on a Sunday morning. Recalling the last few days, Sayuri had tried her best to avoid meeting with Nakai, by leaving the mall as quickly as possible after work. She felt the seat of a nearby bench, and sat down, listening to the children playing, wishing that she had a child of her own. You shouldn't think of such things, she scolded herself.

Not long after Sayuri had seated herself down, someone else placed himself beside her.

"Morning."

"Eh? Takuya-kun?" Sayuri asked. She could smell the odour of cigarettes on him. "You smoked?"

"Stress at work." Takuya simply said. When Sayuri kept silent, Takuya continued, "Our restaurant is having a very important guest soon, and his words carry the weight of the survival of the restaurant. We've been working harder than before in planning our dishes."

"I see. It must be hard being a chef. I used to think that as long as one knows how to cook, being a chef would be such a breeze. But I was wrong." Sayuri replied, somehow half-heartedly. Still, she was grateful that there was someone to talk to her, someone who was also experiencing problems.

"What about you? I've never seen you at the park before, why are you here suddenly? You don't seem happy on an off-day." Takuya then commented.

"It's nothing." Sayuri lied.

After a while, Sayuri began to feel guilty for lying, after Takuya's good intentions. "Have you ever loved a person whom you know you can't be with?" she asked.

"You are going through that, ne? Why can't you be with that person? Have you even tried telling him your feelings?"

"That..." Sayuri sighed. She had thought that Takuya knew the answer already. "I don't have the gift of eyesight," Sayuri answered, somehow seeming to be reading from a script, from the many times she had said this. "I am just a burden to others, so I've promised myself not to fall for anyone."

"What difference do you REALLY have from us so-called normal people then? You can take care of yourself very well, and if someone really loved you, your disability wouldn't matter to them." Takuya replied. Sayuri had nothing to say.

Very suddenly, Sayuri started sobbing, even though she was embarrassed to do so in front of others. To the world, she was like a person who had never cried in her life before. "Gomene..." Sayuri apologised. Takuya did not speak, but used his hands to brush Sayuri's tears away.

Minutes later, Sayuri managed to stop her sobbing, and then she stood up. "I should be heading home now. Thank you for showing me how nice it would be, to have a brother like you. Sorry for having to bother you like this..." She bowed and left.