Chapter 185

Kazumi is dressed in formal wear, while Tomoki is dressed in a black suit and a striped tie lent to him by his girlfriend. They are at Tomoki's house, standing around waiting impatiently for their ride to the funeral. 

It was less than a week ago when the news broke that Tomoki's mom had passed away, and while it was tough to bear for his friends to hear what transpired, it completely shattered Tomoki. The sullen, dark clothed wearing teenager with an affinity for also rocking clashing bandanas had hoped above all else that he would some day be able to make peace with his mom after that ugly argument over a year ago that led to him moving out of her house. And now here he was, about to give a speech as his mom laid bereft of life in a casket. Tomoki had spent all this time trying to socialize and be more active. To break out of his shell and be less mumpish. And now, it was like he was back to where he was before, back before he first met Kazumi and Ooyodo.

“I can’t believe she died. And so suddenly. Did you know she was sick?”

“No, I didn’t. Apparently it happened only recently. I talked to her doctor, and he told me she developed breast cancer. They gave her a mastectomy, but I guess it came right back.”

“Did the doctor say it was stage four?”

“No, because the examinations showed no signs of it being untreatable. He said it totally came out of left field. In fact, my mom was scheduled to undergo another mastectomy but before she could do it, she had an accident in her home. Apparently, she fell down in her house and couldn’t get up. The next door neighbors had to call an ambulance because she was unable to reach her phone. From there, she was put in a hospital bed and the cancer flared up and the next thing you know, she was gone.”