Final Chapter I
Autumnal hues have taken over the trees that surrounded the graveyard, and their leaves were progressively scattering. Overhead, countless small red dragonflies were flitting here and there, seemingly occupied in their search for their fated mates. Summer’s last remnants of heat have faded away, and autumnal vistas have utterly reshaped the season.
The red dotted blanket on my lap belonged to my sister. When I pointed out to my mother how could a man possibly use a woman’s blanket like this, she insisted that I should just go ahead and put it on. Though it wasn’t that chilly yet, she was overreacting at the mere act of me heading outside. Even more, she advised me to get a stomach band and a woolen hat… It has been a long time since I went back to my parents’ house and this was what I got.
“This doesn’t feel like me. Just to be clear, this is not mine.”
The other party I spoke to was Hyuga… not the tombstone of the Hyuga family.
“I’m sorry for taking so long… to give my thanks. I really wanted to come a little earlier, but because of my condition, it took me a long time.”
Two months have passed since then. The examination results came back fine, and I was discharged from the hospital and returned to my parents’ house instead of my apartment to recuperate.
I still hadn’t adjusted to the lifestyle of being in a wheelchair, wearing an eye patch, having both legs in tight casts, and being handicapped almost exclusively by one arm and one eye. Despite my bracing for this, I was still in need of help from those around me for the foreseeable future, and I found myself frustrated that I could not do the things I used to be able to do on my own.
Things didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped, leaving me frustrated and feeling apologetic every time someone helped me out, but it likewise led me to be more grateful for the people around me, and I realized once again how much I appreciate them.
“Look, you’ve never seen me with my hair this short before. But I think it looks good on me. Oh, don’t tell me I look like a prisoner.”