Chapter 1: A Divorce Form After Twenty-Five Years
“I want a divorce.”
That evening, at their home in Japan, Honoka Hino’s husband, Koji, placed a sheet of paper in front of her.
They had been married for twenty-five years.
It wasn’t a bouquet or a gift.
It was a divorce form.
“…What is this?”
“What does it look like?”
Koji opened a can of beer. There was a brief hiss.
He did it just as he always did, as though this were any other evening—not the night he was asking his wife of twenty-five years for a divorce.
“I’m fifty-six already. I want to spend the rest of my life living for myself.”
Honoka couldn’t find anything to say.
Living for himself?
The first people she thought of were his parents.
When the children no longer needed so much of her time, she had thought she would finally have some time of her own.
Then his parents had fallen ill, one after the other. She had been left with little choice but to live with them and take care of them.
Taking them to the hospital.
Keeping track of their medication.
Preparing their meals.
Helping them use the toilet.
They had woken her in the middle of the night more times than she could count. Sometimes they had said cruel things to her.
Still, she had put up with it.
They were ill. They couldn’t help it.
People grew anxious as they got older.
If she could just be patient, that would be enough.
And what had their son, Koji, been doing?
“I have a job.”
That was his answer.
Once, she had asked him to take over on his days off. He hadn’t even looked up from the sofa.
“What do you do all day, anyway?”
No matter how many years passed, she would never forget that.
And now he wanted to spend the rest of his life living for himself.
“…What about me?”
She hadn’t meant to say it aloud.
Koji frowned.
“What?”
“When have I ever gotten to live for myself?”
It took only a few seconds for him to look thoroughly fed up.
“It’s such a hassle when you start talking like this.”
Something inside her went cold.
She was less sad than appalled.
Twenty-five years together, and he had never really seen her.
“Anyway, I want a divorce.”
Koji tapped the form with his finger.
“Of course, I know you’ll have a hard time.”
He continued as though there were no question about it.
“You’ve lived off my earnings for twenty-five years. You can’t support yourself now.”
Honoka said nothing. She just looked at him.
He seemed to take her silence as an admission. The corners of his mouth lifted a little.
“Relax. I’m not a monster.”
“I’ll give you enough to cover your living expenses for a while.”
Give her enough.
As though it were a favor.
At that, she felt colder still.
“…Let me think about it.”
“Sure. Do that.”
Koji nodded, satisfied. Then he got up, leaving the form on the table.
“Decide by next month. I can’t wait forever.”
Next month.
Honoka repeated those words to herself.
She was sure she knew what he thought.
A housewife over fifty.
No way to earn money of her own.
How could she possibly survive if she left this house?
Eventually, she would have to accept his terms.
He was counting on it.
The next morning, after Koji left for work, Honoka finished the housework as usual.
At ten, she opened the laptop she kept in a corner of the living room.
Koji didn’t know what she did during the day.
He had never even tried to find out.
The screen was filled with comments on the story she had updated yesterday.
“I can’t wait for the next chapter!”
“I really hope the heroine gets to be happy.”
“I’ve been waiting for your new story, Ms. Mizuno!”
Among them was a familiar name.
“I’ll definitely read your new serial, too! —Saya”
Honoka smiled a little.
Saya was one of the readers who regularly left enthusiastic comments.
At the top of the screen was a name different from her own.
Shizuku Mizuno.
Three years ago, she had started writing fiction to put into words the things she couldn’t tell anyone.
At first, she had only three readers.
She kept writing.
Gradually, more people began reading her work. She started receiving small payments from the fiction website, too.
Then, last month, an editor had approached her. A new serial for an online publication aimed at women was due to begin next month.
It wasn’t a lot of money.
It wasn’t enough to live on without worrying about anything.
Still, with the fees for the new serial, she would have some income every month.
At least she wasn’t earning nothing.
There was a message from her editor that morning, too.
“Ms. Mizuno, please give the first installment a final check so we can get everything ready for the launch next month.”
Honoka looked at the message for a while.
Next month.
Koji had used the same words last night.
Decide by next month.
On the table was the divorce form.
On the screen was the schedule for her new serial.
She looked back and forth between them.
Last night, that form had looked like a piece of paper telling her that her life was over.
Now, it looked a little different.
Maybe…
Maybe I could manage without him.
Until that moment, she hadn’t thought she could.
The names of her regular readers were there on the screen.
One of them was Saya.
Honoka did not yet know how much that name would come to mean in her own life—or how much trouble it would bring.
