136-11 The Department from GATTACA...




Me and you.

It's been about 20 years since we've been alone together.

The day I saw my daughter off, I finished my role as a mother.
I stood at the door with you, staring at her as she put her feet into her clean shoes.
You said over and over again.

'Did you forget something?
'Eat your dinner.
'You can come home anytime.

She is an adult now, but you treat her like a child.
She takes her hand off the doorknob and starts to walk away.
As soon as she did, her back became smaller and smaller.
I can't help but cry.

I feel sad, accomplished, happy...

It was a strange feeling.
After I was overcome by these indescribable feelings, I felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, knowing that my role as a mother was over.


When I was young, my time alone with Comet was surprisingly short.
It wasn't long before we got married, and our daughter was born soon after, so we had been a family of three for a long time.
So it was very fresh - yes, I felt that a second life was about to begin.
Just when I thought I had completed my major role, I realized belatedly that I still had some time left with you.

'Hey, let's go on a trip or something.

I suggested it to him one day.

'A trip? Is there somewhere you want to go?
'I've just found the time. We've been together for a long time, but we haven't really gone anywhere together.
'That's true, too. Then let's go sightseeing somewhere next month.
'Let's go around the world.
'The world!
I have no idea what the world looks like. I wouldn't call it an interstellar journey. But at least I'd like to die knowing what the planet I'm standing on is like.

Comet was amazed at the scale of the story.
I gave a small laugh.

It's funny that you and your sister should be surprised by something on a global scale when your names are associated with space.
'Even your maiden name is a surname associated with the universe.
''Huh?''
'Hibane. Hi is the sun. You are my sun. I'm the comet that keeps on circling Alina.
Is this the part where you laugh hysterically?
'Laugh it up, it's getting annoying.

And so we set out on our journey.

Little did I know that the world was so big.
I walked with him through fountains of every color, oceans of clouds, and canyons too vast to see.
We talked with the people who lived there.
I learned about their culture and tasted their food.
I saw the animals running across the land.
I touched and felt the greatness of the architecture with its long history.

To be honest, I would not have made the trip without you.
I thought it was important to be with you.
I am happy when I wake up in the morning and you are by my side, and I can sleep deeply when I lean over and your shoulder is there. I am ashamed to tell you this, but...
Yes, I still love you.
The world will change in the future, but my feelings for you will never change.


Another 20 years have passed.

Me, you.

Twenty years have passed since we were alone together.
My daughter has grandchildren who come to see us from time to time.
I am a grandmother now.


Waking up in the morning is a painful reminder that I am getting old.
I cannot walk as nimbly as I used to when I was young.
My hands have lost a lot of water and my bones are showing.
Sometimes I envy my youth, but I am sure that I am still happy.

As I walk down the street, children in school uniforms are chatting and smiling with squinted eyes.
Oh, I remember eating delicious food with him.

Do you remember? A long time ago--''
''Hmm?''
'Long ago, I had a sweet treat in the city.'

Lately, he's become deaf.
So I usually speak a little louder.

'Yes, there was a time. You ate a lot.
'All you drank was tomato juice. I miss it.'

Realizing that we will soon leave this world, we often look back to the past.
It was also a way of preventing ourselves from becoming senile.
We usually reminisced so that we would be able to notice each other's changes.
We no longer travel the world.
We take a walk every day in a quiet place away from the city.
His hands are weaker than they used to be, no longer wrinkle-free.
Whenever we hold hands, I laugh and say, 'I'm so old.
He coughs and laughs at me.

I'm so happy.

I think to myself over a cup of tea.
I am happier than ever.
It is true that I have more difficulties, but there is a calm, gentle and warm happiness inside of me, like a kotatsu (a table over a kotatsu) in the middle of winter.


He can no longer walk around and his eyesight has deteriorated.
Fortunately, he did not forget me.
I am Alina Sakakiki, your wife, and you are my husband.
That is the only thing he never forgot and always called me.
I walk to the nearest supermarket with a broken back and a cane, and imagine his happy face as I think of what to cook for him tonight. When I drink miso soup, he smiles and my heart warms.

I never thought of asking for my daughter's help.
She wanted to take care of us, but I was stubborn and kept refusing.
She will understand in time.
Alice will understand how it feels to be a parent.


I hold his hand as he lies in his hospital bed.
You have done your best so far.


I whispered in his ear.

I was glad we could grow old together.
We raised our children together, we lived together.
We held hands together, we walked together, we made love together.

We knew we could not die together.
We knew we could not shed tears together.

You are leaving.
I will live in this world a little longer.
This world without you will be ...... so lonely.

'Alina...... sorry, I'm sorry......
'It's okay. It's okay.

You are surrounded by so many people.
Me, your daughter, your grandchildren, your newborn great-grandchildren.
You will not be alone.
Thanks to you, I will not be alone.

I still remember vividly the day we first met.
We were in the library and he approached me.
I said some terrible things, but you never left me. .......
You were really around me all the time, like a comet.

So it's okay.
You're going to keep circling me anyway, aren't you?

'Alina'.

He called my name in a whisper.
I held his hand tightly and told him that I was there for him.

'Thank you.

I answer.

'My pleasure. See you soon.

And so his journey ended.
The comet with its beautiful tail will never come back to me.
It flies far, far away into the darkness.
I will shine as the sun just a little longer.

In a world without you.