Chapter 69

                                    

                                          
With Osamu's help, Kaede managed to walk on quite well in the end. She was even able to walk over the exact spot where Kazumi had been lying. Very good progress for never having sought out a therapist.
Funnily enough, it was the same for Kaede as it was for Kyoko in the novel. They both had a man by their side with whom they could work through everything. Not in the way one should, but for Kaede, more than one should have.
Of course, someone professional would help her. But sometimes less was simply more. And for Kaede, Osamu was more than enough. It would have been more difficult with Dai, since he had actually become the last one after high school.
Because Kaede was in Tokyo every day, she was able to see Dai more often. His jealousy grew every day, and he got loud about little things. Even when it came to other fellow students. It was difficult to get out of such a toxic relationship, but Kaede was strangely strong enough to be able to break up with Dai easily.
Perhaps it was also because of how much she had wanted the relationship between Kyoko and Ojiro and had therefore not hesitated for long. As she had often mentioned, this was wishful thinking on Kaede's part. But the separation had also made her feel very free. She no longer needed to tell anyone where she was going and with whom. Actually a free will with a little loneliness. After all, Kaede hadn't known a truly single life since middle school.
And after the break-up, she actually felt a bit of longing. But not a longing for Dai, but a longing for Osamu, whom she could no longer see. About seven years to be precise.

"And this is my mom." Kaede said when she decided to go to the cemetery after dinner. She wanted to let Osamu take part in everything that had affected her life. To show him what she had gone through without him having to read about it.
"You're very much alike." Osamu smiled when he saw the picture that had been there for years. "That's what my grandma always says when she remembers me." Kaede grinned. "Must be exhausting to keep telling her who you are."
"I've gotten used to it. There are worse things." A very mature and accepted answer. Many would have made light of it, or simply smiled at it. Kaede, however, knew nothing else and made the best of it that she could in such a situation.
Several minutes passed as the two of them listened to the sounds that could be heard through the animals. Kaede really liked how patient Osamu was, bowing properly and even introducing himself.
"Well, you don't have to do it with Kazumi. I think she would probably look at you shyly and run away." Kaede said as she was about to take the next flowers she had bought to her best friend. "Run away?" Osamu asked slightly absently, as he had been looking at the area. 
"How can I put it? She looks like Chika, but her character is similar to Megumi's. It took Kazumi a while to open up to someone or even talk to someone." Kaede explained, which is why Osamu nodded. Although he knew Kazumi quite well from the book, hearing it even more clearly from Kaede somehow gave him a reassuring feeling.
Maybe it was also because Kaede could talk about it quite well now. He would have loved to be with her when she had had a panic attack during the chapter about Kazumi's death. Her words really had a truth to them by now. He was welcome in her life and was now in the middle of it.
"Wait..." he heard the brown-haired girl next to him say, who had stopped. His gray eyes turned to the graves in front of them. Two older people were standing in front of one grave, one of whom had raised his head.
Time began to stand still for Kaede. Her heart squeezed in her chest. A guilty pain suddenly resurfaced when she could only see the person's eyes.
As if of its own accord, Kaede began to exhibit behavior similar to that of ten years ago. A rather cool and absent behavior. The feelings were hidden so that she could not feel any more pain herself. 
But before Kaede could fully enter this old pattern, the young woman was suddenly taken firmly in her arms and pressed against a quivering chest. "Kaede! Please..forgive me...!"