JSWGAS Chapter 1

Chapter 1 1.

Kokonoe was born in a cold winter. At 9 PM on December 19th, Mrs. Kokonoe entered the operating room, outside the door were her parents who had traveled all the way from Hyōgo Prefecture to Miyagi Prefecture.

While the Tsurumi couple was anxiously waiting, the doctor pushed open the operating room door and walked out. His face was covered tightly by a mask, only revealing a pair of bright and serious eyes. His voice was a bit muffled, and the Tsurumi couple couldn’t help but stand up, feeling somewhat timid and uneasy.

“Family of the patient?”

“Yes… yes.”

The doctor didn’t ask why the patient’s husband wasn’t present. After confirming that they were Mrs. Kokonoe’s parents, he calmly announced, “The patient’s physical strength is not enough to support a natural birth. If this continues, the baby may suffocate. I don’t know if you mind a cesarean section…”

Before he could finish speaking, the Tsurumi couple hurriedly agreed, “Cesarean section it is! Doctor, we’re entrusting our daughter to you…”

At 3 AM on December 20th, the baby was born smoothly. The new mother was covered in cold sweat but still stubbornly wanted to prop herself up to take a look at her child. The doctor pressed her back down, comforting her while instructing the nurse on what to pay attention to.

When the doctor came out and said to them with a smile, “Everything went smoothly, it’s a boy,” Mrs. Tsurumi cried out with excitement. Mr. Tsurumi bowed straight to the doctor, and then the two of them eagerly waited to meet their daughter.

Mrs. Kokonoe was wheeled out of the operating room. While being transferred to a regular ward, she looked around and softly asked her mother, “Hikohito?”

Mrs. Tsurumi forced a smile, looked into her daughter’s eyes, and sighed deeply in her heart.

“He didn’t come.”

Kokonoe Hikohito was a member of a professional tennis team, and most of the time he was so busy that his feet didn’t touch the ground. He didn’t rush to the hospital until 6 PM on December 20th, and as soon as he entered the door, he apologized to his wife.

“I’m sorry, Sumiko, the team has something important that requires me.” He held her hand, his expression apologetic and guilty. “Thank you for your hard work.”

The Tsurumi couple did not intrude on the atmosphere of the embracing couple. Mr. Tsurumi glanced silently at the ward and turned to smoke by the window in the hallway, while Mrs. Tsurumi stood at the door, looking at her daughter and son-in-law, sighing again in her heart.

The couple didn’t feel the worries of the elders at all. Soon after, Mrs. Kokonoe was discharged from the hospital. They moved into their new house in Miyagi Prefecture and established friendly relations with the surrounding neighbors.

Both were talented and good-looking, and they also had a cute baby. When the neighbors talked about the couple, they couldn’t help but express their envy and praise. But the Kokonoe couple, who were model couple in the eyes of ordinary people, had a fierce quarrel a month later.

“I want to name our son ‘Kokonoe Masato’,” he said to Mrs. Kokonoe.

Mrs. Kokonoe pursed her lips, unwilling, “I already thought of his name, it’s ‘Haruka’.”

Mr. Kokonoe frowned and said, “A girl’s name?”

Mrs. Kokonoe glared at him, “What? Is that not allowed?”

“He’s a boy!” Mr. Kokonoe, as if not understanding why her voice would suddenly rise, said to himself, “The name ‘Haruka’ has no masculine air at all! It’ll be Masato!”

Mrs. Kokonoe began to cry. She vaguely heard the sound of palm trees being hit by raindrops outside the window and, in a daze, heard the elegant and beautiful melody of her taking the stage to perform with her violin during her student days amidst her own crying. Mr. Kokonoe’s shocked eyes brought her back to her senses, and she realized that her surroundings were a mess. The carefully selected translucent dishes and vases had all been smashed on the ground by her.

Her eyes looked at her husband with trepidation. He had once been a member of the audience, and after a performance, he had stopped her shyly backstage, handed her a bouquet of flowers, but stammered and didn’t know what to say. The two had confirmed their relationship after that performance, going from high school to university, and then walking hand in hand into the wedding hall.

Mr. Kokonoe looked at Mrs. Kokonoe’s fawn-like light brown eyes, with tears hanging precariously on her eyelashes, pitiful and fragile. She didn’t look well, her skin had lost its usual luster, there were faint dark circles under her eyes, she wasn’t wearing carefully selected perfume, and her clothes were the most comfortable but not beautiful type.

Mr. Kokonoe hesitated, but he insisted, “My son will be named Masato.”

Mrs. Kokonoe started crying again.

She didn’t stop crying even at 12 PM an hour later, and her throat was already hoarse. Mr. Kokonoe tried to comfort her, but she seemed to be immersed in her own world, determined to die in it. Her crying made his ears hurt and his head buzz. Helpless, Mr. Kokonoe called her parents.

The Tsurumi couple arrived quickly half an hour later, but they also brought the Kokonoe old couple, who had come to see their son and daughter-in-law.

As soon as they entered the door, the two women rushed to the crying Mrs. Kokonoe. One went to comfort her, and the other went to check on the baby who had been forgotten by his parents. The two men sternly called Mr. Kokonoe away and, after getting the full story from him, felt dumbfounded.

“Just because of this?” Old Gentleman Kokonoe spoke first, sternly pointing his finger, “You should discuss it properly with Sumiko, she’s your wife and just gave birth to your child!”

Mr. Kokonoe could refute under Old Gentleman Kokonoe’s accusations, but he didn’t dare to look into his father-in-law’s eyes. Mr. Tsurumi was silent for a moment and asked him in a calm tone, “Hikohito, do you still remember what you promised me at the wedding?”

Mr. Kokonoe was speechless.

The church and white doves flashed in his mind, and the woman in a wedding dress came smiling, holding her father’s hand. What was he thinking? He didn’t know. At that time, his heart was full of his beautiful wife. What did he promise?

He felt annoyed and blamed his constantly crying wife in his heart. Such a small matter, what was there to cry about? But he couldn’t say these words in front of his father and father-in-law. So, Mr. Kokonoe lowered his head and weakly admitted defeat: “I’m sorry…”

“You shouldn’t say that to me.” Mr. Tsurumi looked at him. He was a calm and peaceful person. No matter how turbulent his heart was, at least on the surface, he was calm and unperturbed.

Mr. Kokonoe promised to apologize to his wife. His father looked like he wanted to swing the cane in his hand at his head, but he restrained this impulse in front of Mrs. Kokonoe’s father.

“Sumiko is a good girl!” He tapped the floor with his cane, two loud thuds, reminding Mr. Kokonoe of when his father used to hold a baseball bat and hit him angrily when he was a child, and he could only run around in a panic.

He didn’t hear what his father said after that, and silently went downstairs with them. Mrs. Kokonoe had finally been coaxed and calmed down at this time, and she wiped her eyes embarrassedly. Mr. Kokonoe walked up to her, knelt down on one knee, and whispered an apology to her.

Mrs. Kokonoe accepted the apology, and she inadvertently looked towards the window of the living room, where a mimosa tree was planted outside.

The two reconciled and began their sticky and sweet daily life again. Their parents sat down together after a delayed lunch. The men flipped through dictionaries, while the women enthusiastically discussed what name to give the newborn.

Mrs. Tsurumi suggested the name ‘Yuki’ because one of her favorite athletes had that name, while her husband pointed to the character ‘Koi’ in the dictionary, gently expressing his thoughts. Old Mrs. Kokonoe was busy coaxing the baby and withdrew from the discussion, while Old Gentleman Kokonoe, after thinking about it, thought ‘Yuya’ was good.

Mr. Kokonoe didn’t insist on his own ideas as much. He was afraid of his wife’s tears, and the memory only filled him with fear and dizziness. Mrs. Kokonoe didn’t know what her husband was thinking, and to avoid another argument, she gave up the name ‘Haruka’. Her husband breathed a sigh of relief, not wanting his son to have such an effeminate name.

Until night, when their parents decided to stay overnight, Mrs. Kokonoe passed by the study while tidying up the guest room and saw a model of a bird on the bookshelf. She suddenly turned to her mother and said, “How about ‘Taka’? Kokonoe Taka.”

Not to mention Mr. Kokonoe’s thoughts, their elders decided on this name after discussion.

Kokonoe can be seen as the ‘Nine Heavens’, which represents the ultimate limit in mythology, while Taka has wings and can fearlessly soar straight into the sky. Although it might sound a bit odd after getting used to traditional naming, its meaning was good.

Mr. Kokonoe thought, so be it. He agreed to the name.

After there were no more conflicts, he went to the study to start reviewing match videos. No one in the family disturbed him, and the women were constantly teasing the baby, trying to get him to give some special reaction. The two fathers stood in the yard, Mr. Tsurumi took out a cigarette case, and Old Gentleman Kokonoe lit them both.

The firelight flickered in the night wind, and the two men were silent for a long time.

“Tsurumi, I’m sorry.” Mr. Kokonoe’s father spoke first, his tone apologetic. His in-law shook his head at him and took a hard drag of nicotine before saying:

“I still think Sumiko and Hikohito aren’t suitable.”

This was a marriage that wasn’t looked upon favorably.

Coincidentally, both fathers had the same opinion.

If Mr. Kokonoe was fire, Mrs. Kokonoe was water. Water and fire could blend, but they could also clash. They had experienced many things and worried about whether their children’s future would be happy. But the stubborn Mr. Kokonoe and the Mrs. Kokonoe who was moved by him resolutely came together, even to the point of breaking off relations with their families.

In the end, both sides took a step back. The elders wouldn’t oppose their marriage, but they wouldn’t bless it either. If you were to count, not to mention Old Gentleman Kokonoe, Mrs. Kokonoe’s father, Mr. Tsurumi, this was only the second time he had seen his daughter in the past five years—the first time was at the hospital.

Old Gentleman Kokonoe agreed with his thoughts. Mr. Tsurumi flicked the ashes and looked towards the bright window. Laughter and the baby’s cooing sounds came from inside.

“I’m not worried about Sumiko and Hikohito, they’re both adults,” he said, “but I’m afraid this child will be hurt between his parents.”

These words had a kind of fateful premonition, but he preferred to think it was just an illusion. He hoped more than anyone that his daughter could find happiness. This was a simple wish that every parent had.