Chapter 108-2
"Dear Mr. Ryosaku Takada.
Ryosaku-san, at first I would like to apologize for sending you this sudden and rude letter in this manner.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest regret and regret for having to report this sad news to you.
Our beloved daughter, Mieko, has passed away.
...That was over a year ago now.
Then, shortly after we returned to K City, my husband, Isao, was involved in a traffic accident and passed away.
My husband was on his way to work when a dump truck driven in the opposite lane crossed the center line and collided head-on with his car. He was taken to the hospital, but treatment was in vain and he passed away.
Shortly after her husband's funeral, Mieko also collapsed at school and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. After a desperate battle with the disease, she passed away just under two months later.
Ryosaku-san, the reason I sent you this letter is to convey Mieko's final message to you.
Mieko underwent vigorous rehabilitation in a sterile room, even as she lost all her hair and all the hair on her body due to the painful anti-cancer drug treatments, even as her physical strength rapidly declined and she became bedridden, even as she occasionally fell unconscious, she continued to write you her final letter as long as she lived.
Mieko... quickly became thinner and thinner, and was no longer the Mieko you knew.
I told her that I would contact Ryosaku-san right away and that he should come and meet her.
But she refused.
"I don't want Ryosaku-kun to see me in such an ugly state. Mom, please leave me alone. And let Ryosaku-kun write a final message... Please."
She said and started writing a letter to you.
That is the letter in the other envelope that I enclosed.
In it, I have enclosed the final words that Mieko left to you, her beloved, as well as a photograph of Mieko looking healthy and energetic for the last time, taken by her husband in the garden on the day that Ryosaku-san came to see Mieko, just before you arrived.
Ryosaku-san, I'm so sorry for being so harsh to you that day.
I...I was so stubbornly convinced that you were the direct reason why Mieko stopped going to school.
My husband, Isao, tried to tell me many times that it wasn't Ryosaku-san's fault, but I was a stubborn person and wouldn't listen.
It seems that my husband truly loved Ryosaku-san, whom he had only heard stories about from Mieko but had never actually met.
On many occasions, he would say, "I'm sure Ryosaku-kun would be a suitable husband for Mieko. I know that. Whenever Mieko talks to me about her memories with Ryosaku-kun, her eyes always sparkle with joy."
That's what I felt too.
However, for some reason, I felt as if a mean "demon" was living on both of my shoulders, which was getting in the way and preventing me from having a good impression of Ryosaku-san... You may think this is ridiculous, but the truth is, that's how I felt.
Soon, Mieko became thinner and thinner, turning into a ghost-like figure, losing all traces of her former beauty.
But she continued to write you messages with all her heart.
Moved by the true love she had for you...the "demon" inside me disappeared...and I wanted, no matter what, to let you meet Mieko before she took her last breath.
But in the end, I compromised.
In the few days that remained... she sometimes shed tears as she remembered Ryosaku-san, and sometimes she would become ecstatic, with a dreamy look on her face, and then she would stop writing... and begin writing a message to you once again.
When I read the final message that Mieko left for you, I realized the depth of her honest and pure love for you.
The truth is, ever since Mieko passed away, I haven't been able to read that letter...because it was so painful.
I left it in a drawer for a long time, and I just couldn't bring myself to read the letter...
Before I knew it, more than a year had passed.
I am now on American soil.
The only family members left are me and Mieko's older sister, Kaori.
Kaori and I decided to live in America.
Because I only have painful and sad memories of Japan...
I mailed this letter just before leaving for America.
By the time this letter reaches you, Ryosaku-san, I will no longer be in Japan.
...And Mieko too.
We intend to keep Mieko's ashes with us and live with her forever.
So to you... Ryosaku-san, I wanted to at least leave you with a legacy, even if it was just in the form of a photograph, of the Mieko you loved, on the day you last met, when she was still in good health...
Thank you, Ryosaku-san, for always thinking of and loving Mieko.
I'm sure Mieko would also be hoping that Ryosaku-san would read the letter she left behind.
And someday... I'm sure she will hope that one day... she will be able to see you again in heaven.
Ryosaku-san, please don't forget Mieko.
And... please remember her sometimes.
That is my final wish as Mieko's mother... and as your "mother in law", Ryosaku-san... as your family.
Goodbye, Ryosaku-san.
I hope you stay healthy forever.
Sincerely yours. "
