Josee, the Tiger and the Fish by Seiko Tanabe

Author:Seiko Tanabe [Tanabe, Seiko]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Yen Press

Taken Prisoner

Even though his lunch box was packed, Minoru still wasn’t out the door.

“It’s already eleven, you know,” said Rie.

“I know!” Minoru replied sullenly. The TV was on, but his pensive gaze was only fixed idly on the screen.

He’s still having second thoughts. Rie smirked.

Minoru was a very indecisive person, so it was easy to sense when he was being hesitant. His indecisiveness even annoyed himself, which ended up making him depressed, and then he’d take his anger out on Rie. But he couldn’t get mad at her, because it was his fault and his fault alone that things came to this.

“You need to pour the hot water in the cup like this,” she instructed calmly. She wasn’t trying to sound calm; that’s just how her voice naturally sounded. “Then it’ll turn into miso soup. The miso and vegetables are already in the cup, so all it needs is hot water.”

“…”

“You should probably start heading out if you want to arrive before it gets dark.”

Rie was leisurely sipping on some coffee at the kitchen table. A tall woman, she had big hands to go with her size. Her bony hands even made the Ginori mug look small when she held it. Both Rie and Minoru loved the Italian Ginori cups and saucers with the fruit designs on them. A simple cup and saucer with a violet fruit or blue flower on them cost around thirteen thousand yen. They had been collecting these sets for years and years until they at last reached four sets, and that was around when they started going through a divorce.

“Don’t think too much about it while you’re driving. You’ll get into an accident,” Rie said with a faint smirk. “Can’t have the groom getting hurt, after all.”

“Ha-ha. Very funny.” Minoru walked over and took a seat in the empty chair. “Pour me a cup of coffee, too, will ya?”

“Oh? Very forward, demanding a stranger make you a coffee.”

“Oof. Come on. Be a good stranger and please make me some coffee.”

“This is the last coffee you’re ever getting from me.”

“Come on, stop picking on me already.”

“If you want me to stop picking on you, how about you hurry up and leave?”

“Hmm… I don’t know. I feel funny. I still can’t imagine never coming back here. The fact that we’re gonna not be a family anymore still feels weird. It’s still like, ‘Am I really getting a divorce?’ ”

“Isn’t it a little late to be saying that?”

“It feels like a dream.”

“In that it makes you happy?”

“Mm, it’s not that simple. It’s something more complicated than being happy or sad. I still don’t feel like I have the courage to split up with you.”

“Well, you did.”

“It hurts hearing you say that.”

Minoru was three years younger than Rie. He was a large, healthy, slightly chubby man whose stomach had just started to protrude. His eyes were slightly drooping, and he had a boyish, cherubic face for a thirty-two-year-old. Minoru was also a very kindhearted man and rather popular with the ladies, but Rie found his kindness to be elusive.

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