Spring Blooms When I'm With You

Instead of being scared off by her husband, Tsubaki had a relaxing bath. Ren had brought a couple of bath bombs together for this trip, he said for her to relax because he knew she would strain herself while trying to figure out her late mother"s secret.

"Sweetheart, what should we do with dinner?" Ren reached out for a towel from the luggage beside the bed. He ran the fabric through his wife"s hair, helping her to dry it.

"I forgot to buy ingredients for dinner earlier. What should we do?" Tsubaki replied regretfully, throwing him the same question.

Ren"s lips curved up into a smile. His movements were so gentle when he focused on drying her hair. The sweet smell of her shampoo wafted in the air, he leaned down to breath in her scent.

"You"re already tired but you"re still thinking of cooking dinner?" Ren chuckled in amus.e.m.e.nt. "We could just have dinner outside and buy the ingredients tomorrow. How about that?"

"But, dear..." Tsubaki frowned. "Most restaurants have already closed at this time. Do we need to go to the town again?"

In the village, only a few residents operated small restaurants and most of them would close at 7 PM. If she remembered correctly, only the bar located near the village hall would still be opened at this time. Tsubaki disliked going there. It was filled with drunk old men and the food wasn"t good. If they had to go to the town, Ren would have to drive again after he drained his energy for helping her cleaning the house. Even the nearest restaurant at the edge of the town was almost 30 minutes away from this village.

"I remember the old man who lived at the yellow house often opened his stall till midnight during summer." Ren stood up and walked over to one side of the room. He hung the damp towel over a hanger. He casually removed his robe, wanting to change into a clean outfit. "He sells delicious oroshi soba. That"s suffice for our dinner."

"Oh! You mean Uncle Hiroshi?" Tsubaki smiled when she thought of the bubbly old man who lived with his granddaughter. He had a food stall located near his house. "Okay. I think we should try going there. I wonder if he still sells food."

Ren chuckled lightly. He had finished dressing in a set of light blue cotton outfits. A set of clothes was hanging on his arm, it was Tsubaki"s. "Alright, sweetheart. Go and get change. I"m going to look for the laundry first."

"Thank you, darling," Tsubaki took the clothes from him. Ren left the room, heading outside. A small laundry room was placed beside the kitchen.

Tsubaki changed into a short-sleeved cotton dress reaching her knees. The material was so soft and cool, making the summer heat bearable. After tying her slightly damp hair into a loose bun, Tsubaki stepped out of the room. She heard the sound of damp fabrics being hung from the backyard. The backdoor was opened. Tsubaki wore a pair of slippers, walking over to her husband.

Ren was hanging all the clothes they washed during their cleaning session. Since the temperature was high, they just decided to hang the clothes to dry at night instead of waiting for the morning to arrive.

"You must be really tired today," said Tsubaki as she took a cloth from the laundry basket. She opened the cloth wide, hanging it on the wire. "And you haven"t had your dinner yet."

Ren glanced at his wife. His face softened and a smile curled up on his lips. He helped Tsubaki spreading the cloth properly before he took a clothespin, clipping the sides of the clothes together.

This scene reminded him of when he always helped her doing laundry years ago. A low-raised platform made from planks was placed under a tree at thr backyard. At times, they would have tea or dinner on the platform while enjoying the cool air of night.

The platform was still there although the years of it been abandoned showed on its surface.

"You haven"t eaten yet, too," Ren answered softly. "Let"s go out, the air is still nice, less hot than in the city. We could even go to the town if Uncle Hiroshi didn"t open his stall."

"Okay," Tsubaki immediately agreed.

The husband and wife had just come out from the kitchen to the living room when there was a sound of incessant knocking coming from the main door. They looked at each other, both were confused. Ren was the one who walked to the door first, followed by Tsubaki from behind.

"Tsubaki! Satsuki! Are you in there?" A familiar voice of a middle-aged woman came from outside.

Tsubaki"s eyes widened in awe. She knew who it was.

"Aunt Touko!"

Tsubaki walked past Ren, she excitedly opened the door. Her face broke into a huge smile once she saw the kind-looking old lady standing before her. The skinny woman was so shocked when she saw Tsubaki, she didn"t react when the young lady immediately hugged her tight.

"You! You"re really back?" Aunt Touko pulled away slightly after being hugged by Tsubaki.

"Yes! I"m back!" Tsubaki nodded her head, she was still grinning happily. "I didn"t expect to see you coming here tonight."

Aunt Touko was the wife of Uncle Kiyonaga. They were her closest neighbors who would always take care of her and Satsuki after the death of their mother and father.

"I saw lights coming from your house so I just came to check," Aunt Touko replied with a sigh. "It"s been a long time! How could you didn"t come to my house first?"

A laugh escaped Tsubaki"s lips. She felt a bit guilty as she replied, "I"m sorry. This house was in a mess so I decided to clean first. How are you, Aunt Touko? The last time I called you was the beginning of the year, right?"

"I"m good. I just didn"t expect to see you here. Are you okay, Tsubaki?" Worry was evident on the woman"s face as she looked at Tsubaki. She knew the reason why the young lady was so reluctant to come back to this village.

Tsubaki smiled softly, she couldn"t contain her joy from being apparent in her eyes. "I"m good now, Aunt."

"That"s good," Aunt Touko smiled in relief.

Aunt Touko"s eyes caught the movement of someone from the corners of her eyes. She raised her head, looking at the tall man who stood behind Tsubaki. Recognition flickered in her eyes as her mouth parted open in shock. When she wanted to speak, she stuttered.

"You... Aren"t you..." Aunt Touko gulped. She called out a name. "Shouto?"

Ren smiled before he bowed toward the old lady. His manner was so respectful and graceful even to the person he had not met for a long time. "It"s good seeing you again, Aunt Touko."

"Shouto? I thought... I heard you were kidnapped!" Aunt Touko looked at the couple"s faces, she was still shocked with Tsubaki"s sudden appearance but now the missing young man was here too? "How could..."

Tsubaki smiled guiltily. She exchanged a look with her husband before she met the old woman"s doubtful eyes again. "I"m sorry, Aunt Touko. It"s a long story."

"Ha..." Aunt Touko took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "This won"t be. We shouldn"t talk like this. Have you guys had dinner? Come! Let"s go to my house. We could talk and eat there."

"We do not want to intrude your dinner time," Ren said.

"Nonsense! Let"s go. I won"t let you both off if you do not follow me." Aunt Touko placed both of her hands on her hips, looking at them with a stern gaze.

Tsubaki laughed again. "Okay, we"ll accept your goodwill. Thank you, Aunt."

After locking the door, the three of them walked on the country road leading to Aunt Touko"s house. They had pa.s.sed the old house in the afternoon but since Tsubaki wasn"t ready to meet anyone, she didn"t ask Ren to stop at the Kuriko couple"s house.

"Old Kiyonaga! Old Kiyonaga!" Aunt Touko shouted as soon as she opened the door of her house, she was full of excitement as she was looking for her husband.

"What it is?" A chubby old man came from the kitchen, an ap.r.o.n was hung around his neck. His right hand was holding a ladle. "You said you just wanted to step out for a while. What"s with the sudden cheerfulness?"

"Tsubaki is back!" Aunt Touko announced in glee. "Shouto too! They are together!"

"What?" Uncle Kiyonaga gasped in shock. His eyes went past his wife"s shoulders when two silhouettes appeared from the door.

Tsubaki smiled shyly, she glanced at Ren who nodded at her with a calm face before greeting the old man.
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"Uncle Kiyonaga, I"m back. I"m here with him." Tsubaki looked at Ren again, her eyes twinkling with delight.

Ren chuckled. He faced the old man whom he had known and took a liking to. "It"s been a while, Uncle Kiyonaga."

Old Kiyonaga could only stare at the familiar faces with building shock. The ladle fell from his hand. His lips shook before he could form coherent words from his mouth, "You two... you are back!"

Tsubaki and Ren nodded. They were perplexed when suddenly the old man ran toward them, pouncing his chubby body to hug them. The sound of him wailing followed closely behind as he vented out his anguish to the couple.

"You are back! The two of you are really back!"

The couple giggled as they exchanged glances. They returned the warm-hearted old man"s hug. Aunt Touko just smiled while looking over them, her eyes blurred due to tears.

"Yes, we are back, Uncle," Tsubaki said softly.

Ren smiled. He patted the man"s back. "We are home."