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Makoto nervously walked down the hallway of the building, taking in deep breaths.
She inspected each door, making sure she got the number correct. It would have been embarrassing if she knocked and some creep answered.
She cleared her throat and knocked on one of them, waiting as she rocked back and forth on her feet.
The door opened and behind it was Kiryu Kaoru, dressed in her usual dress suit, blinking in surprise. “Oh? Majima Makoto?”
Makoto bowed. “Good afternoon, Kaoru!” She smiled. “Are you busy right now?”
Kaoru shook her head, leaning against the door. “No, just getting some overdue paperwork done…” She sighed. “Would you like to come in, Makoto?”
Makoto blushed. “A-actually, I was wondering if you would like to maybe go to the Hanami Festival with me… I brought some lunch…” Makoto held up a stack of wrapped bento lunches with a smile. “I thought it would be nice to maybe get to know each other while our husbands are away?”
Kaoru blushed as well. “Oh, sure. I would love to! Let me just get my coat…” She walked farther into her apartment to grab her trendy trench coat from her closet, walking out of her apartment and locking the door behind her. “Okay, let’s go then.”
The two women walked down to the nearest park, petals falling from the cherry blossom trees either onto the green grass or being carried away by the wind. Couples and families were sitting and eating lunches or treats, conversing and laughing amongst themselves.
“Would you like to sit here?” Makoto asked Kaoru when they passed by a cherry blossom tree. Kaoru nodded. “I brought a mat for us to sit on!” Makoto beamed, reach into her bag to get a folded mat. Kaoru widened her eyes. “Oh, wow. You sure were prepared for this…”
Makoto chuckled nervously as she unfolded the mat, placing it on the ground as the two sat themselves down. “I made a lot of food, so please enjoy as much as you like!” Makoto said with a grin as she unwrapped the lunches and arranged them.
Kaoru was surprised, but very grateful nonetheless. “Thank you so much, Makoto. You didn’t have to do all this…”
Makoto shook her head. “No, no! It’s my pleasure, really. I thought it would be fun to spend time together at the Hanami Festival with you, I don’t really have many girl friends… I wanted to perhaps get to know you better, since our husbands are quite close.”
Kaoru smiled, placing her hand on Makoto’s shoulder. “Thank you.” She took one of the boxes and opened it up, seeing beautiful dumplings, vegetables, and fluffy white rice arranged perfectly. “Wow, this looks delicious,” Kaoru commented as Makoto giggled, eating some noodles. “I hope you like it!”
Kaoru ate one of the dumplings, closing her eyes as she chewed. It was probably one of the best damn dumplings she ever had in her whole life.
Makoto leaned forward. “Kaoru? What do you think?” Kaoru swallowed when she finished chewing, giggling. “It’s so delicious. Honestly, it’s one of the best dumplings I ever ate!”
Makoto blushed. “Oh, you’re too kind, Kaoru…”
The two continued to eat their lunches, enjoying the light, breezy weather and the pretty pink petals falling from the trees above. “So, how are you and Kazuma?” Makoto asked.
“We’re good. I miss him a lot, but I know he’s having plenty of fun doing what he has always wanted to do.” She ate some rice before wiping her mouth and continuing to speak. “Him and Haruka are in Okinawa, running the orphanage he grew up in. Of course, I would have loved to go with him, but my job here in Osaka is just far too important for me to just get up and leave… But we call each other every day, and he’s coming to visit next weekend.”
“Oh, that’s great news!” Makoto said with a smile. Kaoru nodded. “I’m hoping as soon as I finish everything I need to do, we can both finally settle down together and have a home for ourselves, and of course, Haruka too.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Makoto said as she ate a pickled plum. “Goro has been so busy with the Majima family, with the reconstruction of Kamurocho Hills and everything,” she said with a subtle eye roll. “Of course, I’m glad he’s having fun, but I wish he would at least be at home more often to help me around the house, and take care of my son.”
Kaoru raised a brow. “ Your son?”
Makoto nodded. “Yes, my son from my previous marriage,” she said before looking up at the cherry blossom tree, reflecting. “Ever since I found out Goro, the man who saved my life eighteen years ago, was alive and well, and loved me all this time… I knew what I had to do after a lot of thinking,” she said before taking a sip from her water bottle. “Goro is my saviour. I love him so much, so I will support him in whatever he does, even if it’s something ridiculous…”
Kaoru chuckled. “Oh yes, I know how he is. We haven’t spoken much, but… from what Kazuma has told me and what I’ve seen, he can be a bit…”
“Eccentric? Wild? Crazy? Frightening?” Makoto finished for Kaoru. She laughed. “I was going to say ‘unique,’ but… you said those words, not me.” The two women laughed.
Makoto took a deep breath. “Even though he’s definitely something else… I’m in love with him. I can only see myself being happy with him for the rest of my life.”
Kaoru gave her a small smile. “What about your son? Does he like him?”
Makoto shook her head and chuckled softly. “Well… he is most certainly still getting used to all of this. It's definitely going to take a while for him to understand. I know he favours his father more, but…” She exhaled deeply. “I’m happy with Goro. Really, truly happy.”
The two women continued to eat as the sounds of other people’s conversations and the whooshing of the dancing trees set a calm, relaxing atmosphere.
“So, how did Kazuma propose to you?” Makoto asked as she munched on some broccoli. “For me, Goro being Goro made a huge spectacle, renting a boat and everything on the Sotenbori river with him and the whole Majima family wearing gaudy costumes and playing instruments, singing to me…” Makoto reddened, remembering the ruckus. “They were so loud, causing a big commotion and even had police officers ordering them to stop, but they just kept playing louder! Then Goro pointed at me and everyone was staring at me… He jumped from the boat, onto the bridge and landed on his head, but thank goodness he was wearing his hard hat.” She took a bite of food. “He then ran up to me, getting down on his knees and just grabbed my hand, not even asking me, but telling me I was to be his wife!”
“Oh, wow…” Kaoru said out loud as Makoto sighed, but chuckled. “I know. The Majima family had confetti bombs, and flowers being thrown at us. It surely grabbed the attention of a lot of people. I was so embarrassed!” Kaoru laughed before she took a sip of water. “That definitely sounds like something he would do.” The two women giggled. “Okay, now I want to know your proposal story now, too!” Makoto encouraged as she clapped her hands together cheerfully.
“Kazuma and I are both very practical people, I guess you could say,” Kaoru said as she rubbed her chin, reflecting on the night her husband proposed to her. “It was one night when I was so incredibly drained from work, I just wanted to go home and rest, but Kazuma called me while I was walking home. He told me to meet him at the place where we had our first… um… date…” Kaoru blushed as Makoto listened intently with an interested look on her face. “The rooftop of the hotel we were staying at before where we both got a bit tipsy and shared our personal stories to each other. So, I went… and Kazuma was there, surprisingly dressed up quite nicely, staring out into the city. When I approached him, he had a very happy look on his face.”
“And then…?” Makoto mused, waiting excitedly for Kaoru to finish her story..
Kaoru chuckled. “Well, I called him an idiot for making me come out with him when I was so incredibly tired from work,” she said before sharing onigiri with Makoto. “While I was ranting about how dumb he is, he kissed me… and told me that he called me out here for a reason.” Kaoru sighed dreamily. “He told me that ever since the death of Yumi, the woman he loved since they were both children, died… He didn’t ever think about falling in love with anyone else. He took my hand, and said ‘until he met me.’”
“So sweet…” Makoto gushed. Kaoru rolled her eyes playfully. “Then he knelt down, kissing my hand before pulling a beautiful diamond ring from his pocket. He asked me to marry him, and I was a total blubbering mess,” Kaoru said as she lightly chuckled, wiping a tear rolling down her cheek. “Ugh, sorry… I’m getting emotional here…”
Makoto handed Kaoru a tissue from her bag as Kaoru wiped her tears. “I never loved anyone before… never fell in love until Kazuma came into my life. I wouldn’t ever have thought in a million years I would end up marrying a Yakuza, not to mention a Yakuza who is thirteen years older than I am…”
Makoto put her arms around Kaoru, pulling her in for a hug. “I never thought I would end up leaving my husband for a man in the Yakuza, especially not a man like Goro. But life sure is full of wonderful surprises, don’t you think?” Kaoru pulled away and looked at Makoto, smiling. “Definitely.”
Makoto opened another box. “I also made some sweets for dessert, I hope you like these as well,” she said shyly. Kaoru looked inside to see delicious looking daifuku, small cakes, and chocolate candies on the side. “You really must have worked hard on these, Makoto. They look amazing.” Makoto nodded. “I really like making food for my son, so I’m trying out different kinds of recipes.”
The two shared the treats, enjoying themselves as they told each other more stories about their husbands.
“I remember when Goro was really badly injured,” Kaoru said while chewing on a cookie. “I had to carry him all the way to the clinic and he just kept hitting on me while he was bleeding.” Makoto giggled. “Definitely sounds like him… I remember quite a long time ago I went on a lot of adventures with both Goro and Kazuma. It was… a very interesting time in my life,” she said briefly, rolling up her coat sleeve. “This watch always reminds me of those times… both the painful memories and the sweet ones.” She smiled sadly, staring at her watch for a while before rolling her sleeve back down.
“...” Kaoru took a bite from one of the daifuku treats. “This is delicious,” she commented, mouth full as Makoto giggled. Kaoru wiped her mouth. “Have you and Goro been on any special dates?”
Makoto shook her head. “No, he hasn’t been home much. But when he is, we always do something romantic… even if it’s just going out for dinner, or doing karaoke together, or sometimes just snuggling together at home while we watch television. Majima usually is very spontaneous and likes showing off, but he knows I like our time together to be simple.”
Kaoru tilted her head, interested. “That makes sense.” She watched the petals fall from the tree and fly away with the wind. “Yeah, Kazuma and I like having private time to ourselves as well. We usually just go walking down the streets of Sotenbori while talking, going bowling, or just going to the bar and have some drinks. I’m really hoping that one day, when Kazuma and I are both retired, we could go on vacation somewhere, just the two of us… like Spain, or Italy.”
“Mmm, that would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?” Makoto said as Kaoru nodded. “Of course, work is always my first priority. I may have to wait a while longer, but for Kazuma, I’d be willing to wait as long as I can.” The two sat in comfortable silence, just watching the cherry blossom trees dance with the wind, and the clouds rolling by. There was someone playing music in the distance, most likely a busker.
The two women finished the last of the desserts, as Makoto began to clean up the boxes as Kaoru helped her. “Thank you so much for agreeing to come out with me today,” Makoto said as she and Kaoru both stood up, folding the mat. Kaoru smiled. “Oh, I should be the one thanking you! You made all the delicious food. I don’t know how I could repay you.”
Makoto widened her eyes and shook her head. “Please, there’s no need! Consider it a gift from me,” she insisted as Kaoru hesitated, then sighed. “If you so insist, Makoto… but please, allow me take you out for us to do something together again sometime.”
Makoto grinned. “I’d like that very much. Can we exchange emails?”
Kaoru nodded, pulling out her phone from her pocket. The two women inputted their email addresses into each other’s phones before trading them back. “Thank you so much once again,” the two said to each other at the same time, both reddening and laughing awkwardly.
Kaoru tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Well, I’ll hopefully see you soon, Makoto. Today was lovely.”
Makoto bowed. “Yes, I had a lot of fun. Farewell, Kaoru! Perhaps maybe we could even spend time together, with our husbands,” She said with a giggle before turning around to walk away, humming to herself.
Kaoru watched her walk away, smiling to herself before walking in the opposite direction.
I’m really glad I made a new friend, the two women both thought to themselves as they smiled.