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August is sweet.
The gentle sunlight of late summer paints the evenings in the color of honey. It's Megumi's favorite time of the day, even though it doesn't last longer than 45 minutes. It's usually warm, but he can't help but shiver a little as he's taking off his shoes at the entrance of the apartment.
Save for the dust floating around in the air, it looks like not a day has passed since the last time someone was there. His black house slippers were right there, next to Satoru's. They were Cinnamoroll themed; you look identical, Tsumiki had said to him and he had bought them immediately. Tsumiki's My Melody slippers were next to Gojo's Cinnamoroll ones—neither Megumi nor Satoru had the heart to put them away after the coma, a childlike hope that she would wake up soon.
"Can't believe you never told us you grew up in a penthouse," Nobara's voice brought him back to the present.
"Whoa, the living room is the size of my house," Yuji's eyes sparkled taking in the view.
It was a good thing he brought these two with him to help clean the house. He probably would've been stuck at the doorway for ten minutes staring at the slippers if he was alone. They were loud, but effective. In just half an hour they had filled a box with things that would probably be donated and a bag full of trash from Megumi's room alone.
When he tied up the trash bag he turned to Yuji and Nobara, "Can you take these downstairs? Put the box in Ijichi's car. There's a trashcan a few meters down the road."
"Sure thing!" Nobara chirped and Yuji mused see you in a bit, lifting up the box and kissing Megumi on the cheek. Nobara fake gagged. Megumi (fondly) sighed at their antics, but the silence in the house was unsettling. It was never silent. It was never just him. He brushed the feeling off and moved on to start cleaning up the kitchen. There was bound to be some spoiled food after so many months.
And he was right. He emptied out the fridge and freezer and concluded that most, if not all, of the food should be thrown out. Especially the eggs. And there were so many of them. Satoru had promised him they could come back here the weekend after Halloween and he would make tamagoyaki for breakfast and omurice for dinner.
He suddenly felt irritated at him. He had promised, so why where the eggs still there? Why were they left to rot in the fridge? Why did Satoru not fulfill his promise? Why was he not here with Megumi, making fun of him for getting emotional over eggs? Right, Megumi thought and laughed humorlessly, you're getting emotional over eggs. Man, get a hold of yourself. He put the eggs back in the empty fridge and moved on to the cupboards.
The first one was Satoru's and Tsumiki's candy stash. He was never particularly fond of candy. He always preferred more earthy tastes and healthier food in general. This cupboard was unhealthinesss at its peak. None of the candy in there was expiring any time soon. Just what were they putting in those things? He grabbed a random pack to check out the ingredients.
It was a konpeito pack. The konpeito pack, the way the golden hour rays spilled into the kitchen, the warm breeze and him standing at this exact spot made him feel like he traveled back in time, in the first years Tsumiki and he had started living with Gojo.
It was a hot August evening and Megumi and Tsumiki were sprawled idly on the living room floor.
"I'm home!" Satoru declared walking in and heading to the kitchen, "I brought a gift!"
Tsumiki got up and followed him to the kitchen at the mention of the gift. Megumi begrudgingly followed.
When all three of them were in the kitchen, Satoru hid the bag behind his back and had a grin on his face, "Any guesses?"
"Just show us," was Megumi's guess, but was overshadowed by Tsumiki's excitement, "Is it candy? Please say it's candy!" she pleaded, palms clasped together and eyes full of hope, looking up at Satoru. It seemed like his grin got bigger at Tsumiki's words.
"It is candy!" he opened the bag he was previously hiding behind his back and showed them the pack of konpeito. Tsumiki immediately got the pack in her hands. Megumi pretended to be indifferent but peeked over Tsumiki's shoulder to look at the pack of candy. Both of them had heard other kids at school talking about it, but they'd never tried it.
"You like konpeito, right?" Satoru asked after neither of them said something. He expected a bit more excitement.
"We don't know. Our parents never bought us any when they were with us and when they left we saved our money for food," Tsumiki said, like it was a normal thing. Gojo's grin faltered at that, but the kids didn't notice. They were still intrigued by the pack of candy.
"It's pure sugar. I think you'll like it. I mean, who doesn't like sugar? Go on, try some!" Satoru urged them and Tsumiki opened the pack. She got one between her fingers and looked at it before tasting it. Satoru followed. Megumi was the last.
Tsumiki hummed in approval and happily ate another. Megumi spat it out on his hand. Unbothered by Tsumiki's and Satoru's sounds of disgust, he said "It's too sweet."
"That doesn't mean you can just spit it out. It's gross."
"I don't like it."
"That's too bad, you'll never be as sweet as us," Satoru replied and ate more of the konpeito. Tsumiki laughed and did the same thing as their guardian.
Megumi wanted to get mad, but there was something about the golden hue that was coating the kitchen that made it impossible for him to get mad. Or maybe it was his sister's and dad's guardian's happiness. It was difficult for seven year old Megumi to determine exactly what it was, but there was something about this moment that made it almost as sweet as the candy.
The memory was over. The golden hour wasn't as intense now, a reminder that the day was coming to an end, just like that moment. But Megumi was still staring at the konpeito pack in his hands. He opened the pack and ate one. He spat it out.
"It's bitter," he said and looked up to see the two people that weren't there and never would be again. His fingers felt sticky from the sugar. If there was so much sugar on the candy, how come the taste was so bitter? He checked the expiration date. They wouldn't go bad until a few years later. Maybe he mistaked the candy for something else. But no, 'konpeito' was written clearly on the package.
It was grief. Bitter and sticky grief, like the sugar on his fingers he couldn't scrub off. It creeped on him and made everything that was sweet bitter and clung on to him. He clung on to it too. It was the only way to remember them.
He snapped out of it from the sound of the bell. Yuji and Nobara were back.
"Were you eating candy?" Yuji noticed the sugar on Megumi's fingers when they walked in.
"Yeah. But it was bitter."
"Bitter? What was it?"
"Konpeito."
"Huh?" Nobara wondered, "That thing's like 100% sugar, how is it bitter?"
"It's bittersweet."