Two and a half hours north from Tokyo by limited express. That day, I had returned to my hometown for the first anniversary Buddhist memorial service for my father. Upon arriving home, everyone was busy preparing for the ceremony. Hurried by my sister, I went to offer incense to my father, and there was an unfamiliar woman in the tatami room. She was a refined, beautiful woman who seemed out of place in this rural area… Her gaze wrapped around me. An indescribable tension and exhilaration. Why was she looking at me like that?
