Nine years ago.
1st of June, 2379 AD
Demilitarized Zone on Honshu
Ren was a bald man with tufts of black hair on either side of his head. His face was tanned brown and covered in premature wrinkles. He wore an old blue sweatshirt that had a black burn along the left sleeve and grey cargo pants that had a hole made by a pocketed item on the right thigh.
With a flat chisel, Ren scraped the green lichen that had been growing along the sun-faced side of the stone. His right fingers brushed aside the pieces of lichen onto the nearby dirt. Then he reached into his bucket and pulled out a rag. Wringing it dry with both hands, he spread the cloth out on his right palm. In a circular motion, he pressed against the gravestone to clean the dirt off. First he cleaned the top, then the sides, then the back, and lastly the front. Red put the rag back into the bucket. This section of the graveyard was done.
Ren walked along the path of the cluster of graves and stopped at a corner. First he looked left, then he looked right, and he peered along the path on the ground. It wasn't until he turned the corner around a tall cluster of gravestones that he saw a small boy.
Yuki was wearing an adult hoodie that was far too large for him, forcing the boy to bunch the sleeves around his arms. It made him look more like a melting scoop of fudge ice cream than a boy of seven. He looked up from his poofy cheeks that hid his chin well enough to give his head a slight cubic shape. Between that and the untameable cowlick reaching out from the left corner of his hair, little Yuki was the epitome of kawaii cuteness.
Yuki held a broom with stubby fingers as he continued his way down the path, sweeping the path with the broom and the dangling corners of the sweatshirt. Yuki looked up at Ren. He had a big smile on his face as he squealed. "Look, Daddy, I'm helping."
"Yuki... What are you... Yuki, you should go play," said Ren. He held his hand out for the broom and waited. Ren had a long day ahead of him. Another section of the graveyard needed to be cleaned, swept, and cleared of weeds. Afterwards, he would need to chop some wood and bring it back to the shack to cook with. He should have enough time for a bath in the river while getting water. If they were lucky, there might even be a few hundred yen in the offering box and Yuki could have some meat for dinner.
"I can help. Really," answered Yuki as he continued to sweep his way down the path.
"Yuki, you can help daddy by giving him the broom. He needs it right now." Ren explained. He gestured over to Yuki who had stopped on the path, alternating between beckoning to Yuki and holding his hand out for the broom.
"No. You never have time to play with me." Yuki pulled the broom handle up against the side of his head. "I can help. We can finish early and then we can play. Daddy, let me help. Please. Please."
Ren took a look at Yuki and realized it for the first time. Yuki was holding the broom Ren had held for twenty years, sweeping the paths he had swept for twenty years. He felt his eyes grow hot and itchy. His eyebrows dropped and his face twisted together for a brief moment. He blinked in quick succession but it soon began to spread. His tilted his head back and took a deep wet sniff through his nose. "I'm sorry, Yuki. I'm sorry."
Yuki looked up at Ren with his head tilted and eyebrows raised. "PLEEEEEESE."
"Okay. Let's go to the park right now. We'll finish sweeping afterwards."
The park was a two mile walk from the cemetery. It was nearly the afternoon, as he was slowed down by shoes that were two sizes too large. The toes of the shoe would kick and scrape against the ground with each step, giving Ren an uneasy gait. He had already worn through the rubber sole, the wooden frame, and was nearly through the cloth padding. He would need to scavenge another pair of shoes from the landfill soon.
The park was a large open space in the shape of a Taoist yin-yang symbol. There was a large koi pond that was cut in half by a winding bridge with a smaller island on either side. The pond itself was surrounded by a sparse collection of cherry trees, painted metal benches, and playground amenities.
Ren spotted a nice bench to sit, besides a set of swings and a slide. He felt a slight tug at his hands and saw Yuki run off in a blur.
Yuki ran right up to the bench and nearly collided with a seated child. He poked his face obnoxiously close and chirped at the other boy. "Watcha doooing?"
"I'm making a crane," the boy chirped in response. The boy was making a crease along the middle of a brown piece of paper. He was about ten years old, with dangling hair, and pretty features.
Yuki squinted his eyes at the paper. He had never seen paper like that before. It was small and had a phoenix on the back. "Why are you making a crane?"
"If you make a thousand cranes, Kami will grant you a wish. My friend gave me this paper to fold." replied the boy.
"What are you going to wish for?" Yuki asked, poking his nose ever closer to the other boy.
"I'm going to wish people stop mistaking me for a girl," answered the pretty little boy with increasing emphasis and volume as he spoke. He looked down and pushed the corner of the held paper against the crease that he had made.
Yuki pressed his hands against the side of his head, scrunched his face for a second and then exclaimed excitedly. "You should push your hair up like this! People will think you are a daikon radish instead!"
"That's a great idea! My name is Kaoru. I'm from Hokkaido."
"I'm Yuki. I don't know where Hokkaido street is. I live over there." Yuki pointed excitedly at the cemetery on the hill. "Wanna play?"
"Another time. I need to get back to my parents before they worry about me."
"Okay." Yuki said. He turned around and ran face first into Ren, who had followed up closely behind him. "OOOF. Daddy! Push me on the swing!"
Ren and Yuki spent the midday on the swings, and then the slide. On his way down, Yuki heard a noise and made a big grin.
Puff, Puff, Puff. Yuki had spotted a mass of white and orange feathers by the koi pond. It had a red beak and a blue mane that stretched all the way down the back of it's head. It waddled around the perimeter with orange webbed feet.
Yuki crept up behind a cherry tree and then jumped out screaming gibberish at the bird. Yuki flailed his arms wildly in the air as he chased the poor bird. "RARARARARARARARA!"
QUACK QUACK QUACK. The creature jumped into the air and flapped its wings rapidly across to the other side of the koi pond, with Yuki is rapid pursuit.
The walk back from the park brought them well into the afternoon sun. Ren held Yuki's hand and watched him as he climbed the steps one at a time. He heard a low creaking noise. They were halfway up the steps when they heard it again. A second low creaking noise. He looked down at Yuki who said nothing as he climbed the steps. Ren expected a complaint but none came. He realized why. Yuki's stomach was growling. Yuki neither cried nor complained from hunger because he was used to it. Ren winced from an invisible knife that stabbed him in the heart.
They reached a beautiful stone courtyard that served as the entrance and a gathering point before the cemetery. Stone benches flanked either side and two large stone furnaces marked the back corners. At the front edge of the courtyard was wooden box with wooden bars that ran across the top as a lid. It was weathered and faded brown with the edges painted yellow and stood as high as a man's knees.
Ren approached the donation box with dread. He took a look at Yuki and marshalled what courage he had. He spoke softly to himself. "Please, God. Give us something. Anything."
Ren unlocked the box and lifted the lid. He reached inside and felt the smooth surface of the box. Nothing.
He tilted the box slightly and listened for any sounds. Tilting the box would cause any coins to slide and scrape along the bottom. Nothing.
He slid his hand along the edge and into the corners and felt a sharp poke against his fingers. It was small, sharp, and very light. Perhaps someone had used the donation box as a garbage can again. Ren grasped at the object and felt it crumble under his fingers. From the donation box, Ren pulled out a paper crane.
As he carefully unfolded it into a brown sheet of paper, he noticed a phoenix on the back. On the front was a picture of Fukuzawa Yukichi. Someone had folded a crane from a ten thousand yen note.