New Person

Short story exploring the forms relationships can take

To Kurumi,

Thank you for your hard work as always. This is Kinoshita.

I had a look at the document you shared. Can I ask you to double check Alice Greene’s information? Alice is a foreign national, so she cannot adopt my surname.

Please continue your hard work.

From Masafumi Kinoshita

Reika opened the attached file. Alice Greene was indeed mistakenly recorded as Alice Kinoshita. Reika made a post-it note to remind the staff about the issue. But why did Masa address her as Kurumi instead of Kurumizawa? Reika had noticed a few instances of Masa’s strange behavior regarding how he addressed or talked to her. It would make sense that he did; he was engaged to Reika for two years before it was called off. She was his Kurumi, and he was her Donguri.

It felt real, it was real. It was just also too hot, too fast, and too raw. Even if two people loved each other, intimacy wasn’t something one could force. One too many prematurely exposed vulnerabilities later, both of them were overwhelmed and the relationship was ended. Their parting was amicable as a totalitarian state election and painful as a kidney stone removal. Reika would know; she broke down first, and then promptly broke up with him.

“Why did you date her in the first place?” Alice once asked Masa.

“We were young and in love.”

“I’m pretty sure she’s not completely over you.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No.”

While Alice and Masa didn’t have a sexual relationship, they had a romantic one. Masa was an asexual hippie with love that could fuel the Mars 2020 project, and Alice was a proud hedonist who had heard her name moaned in many unique voices. They made it work for ten years before Alice finally got tired of going to the local immigration office.

Masa and Alice were spouses the same way Exxon and Mobil were. Alice wanted a spousal visa, and Masa wanted his family to shut up about not having a real wife. Their marriage was sometimes described by Aunties and Uncles as “nothing more than a transaction” because of the prenup. The reality was that their legal marriage didn’t replace their polyamorous commitment ceremony five years ago in Alice’s hometown.

“Do you still love her?”

“I thought you didn’t like rhetorical questions.”

“Of course you do. Do you want to get back with her?”

“It’s not gonna happen. She doesn’t want to read the same sad story.”

Reika said so to Masa, and she meant it. Even as he still loved her -- and even as it was mutual -- she didn’t believe in getting back together with an ex. But it had been fifteen years. Masa was a new person. Wasn’t Reika also a new person? Did she still believe the words she said when she was a young adult? Or had she done the work to understand that she lashed out at him when she felt hurt and rejected that he didn’t fight the break up to keep her?

She slightly flinched when she met Masa for the first time since their breakup at the local branch of the organization she volunteered at. She wasn’t giving up her place in the community for him, and he had always been passionate about this cause since high school. To Reika, this was a test to see if fifteen years was enough space and time for them to grow and flourish into new people that could still have a good relationship. Reika could see that Masa was a new person with healthier boundaries and more self-respect. What about Reika?

To Donguri,

Thank you for your email. This is Kurumizawa.

I fixed the document and will inform the staff about the issue.

From Reika Kurumizawa

Maybe Reika was a new person too.

Reviews

[JT Godin]

Not really here to critique, just happened to be on the site while needing something to read and wanted to say thanks for the fine distraction.

[SweetNutmeg]

I really like your analogies, Exxon and Mobil describes it perfectly. The others are equally effective. I have to admit I needed to read this a couple of times to get all the names straight. I think that is partly because I have trouble with names in general, and partly because name use in Japan is foreign to me. Like Russian name use, lol. Except Russian is much much worse.

About the content... this is an interesting glimpse into the characters' worlds. Lives intertwine and ebb and flow. You captured that well. People sometimes change, sometimes they don't. It's sad when they don't, as we all have room to grow and mature.

Thank you for sharing this with us.