The Accompanist

Chapter 46: Wrapping Up

On the second day of Boutarou and Sayaka's hotel stay, they finally had a decent conversation.  

Boutarou told her everything he knew: the story of his abrupt meeting with Mr. Umari at Onsei on the way to rescue her mother, Mrs. Umari's reasoning for hiding everything, Mr. Umari's appearance on the roof, and his reappearance after Sayaka's kidnapping. How he stayed angry and resentful towards him for a time, and just when that anger and resentment faded into respect again he was gone. 

He ended up crying in front of Sayaka, who held him against her chest and toyed with his hair until he calmed down. 

In the end, Sayaka concluded that it didn't matter what her parents did, who they really were. Her dad died when she was eight. But seeing his death finally allowed her the closure she needed to let go of the lingering attachment, the fantasy of a perfect father who was cruelly stolen from her, the anger at death itself for ruining her happy little life.

She finally understood. Death didn't ruin her life. She did. She failed to notice that someone else was going through the same thing, and they could have relished in each other's comfort instead of becoming each other's enemies. 

That night (and most of the day after) involved much less talking. 

Boutarou would later say that Sayaka far surpassed her imaginary counterpart. She truly lived up to her reputation of sadism, not in the sense of physical harm, but in the sense of torturous demands and pauses that seemed completely unreasonable and somehow felt ten times more gratifying than anything he'd ever done to himself. Head over heels didn't even begin to describe what he felt for the woman who probably couldn't stand anymore because of all her begging. 

Sometime later that afternoon after passing out from pure exhaustion, Boutarou woke up and got out of bed to an unusual creaking sound. He bent down and inspected it with horror, only for Sayaka to quickly ask, "What's wrong?"

His only response was a very embarrassed, "Sayaka... I think we broke this bed."

.  .  .

Mr. Umari's real funeral drew Boutarou and Sayaka's three-day recovery hotel stay to a close. It was a simple small gathering of people in Shiki's foyer. And by small, Boutarou noticed there were only about ten people there total. But all ten of them had tears streaming down their faces. 

The urn containing his ashes was properly handed over to Mrs. Umari, who was a sobbing mess. The only time Sayaka left Boutarou's side was to comfort her mother. And during that time, Boutarou came to the realization; this was everyone else's first encounter with Mr. Umari's true death. They were experiencing as adults what him and Sayaka had experienced as eight-year-olds. In their minds before, despite his ten-year imprisonment, there was hope of meeting him again. And now that hope was gone.

For him and Sayaka, seeing him again had been like a miraculous occurrence. Something that shouldn't have been possible. Now, that miracle simply reverted to the state that it was in before. Boutarou got hit harder, perhaps because he started developing hope of a future with Mr. Umari in it. But for Sayaka, it ended up serving as a breakthrough. 

Despite her brief shutdown two days before and her incredibly strong attachment all throughout childhood, she was the only one at the service who didn't cry.

.  .  .

Sayaka and her mother had another conversation a few days after the funeral with Boutarou present for emotional support. She tried to explain why she lied, and through many tears, told her that they were always thinking of her with her best interest in mind. 

Sayaka calmly said she understood and forgave her for everything. Mrs. Umari ended the conversation with hugs, thanking Sayaka for understanding, and thanking Boutarou for always being there for her daughter. And after that, he followed Sayaka back to her room.