前のエピソード――Part III Tomi's Note (1) She was supposed to have left for Brazil taking Kazuo's ashes

　1. She was supposed to have left for Brazil taking Kazuo's ashes (continued)

　Hisako had been taken good care of in the doctor's room and slept for one full day at the JAL hotel. She had not been able to go back to Brazil after all.

　The next morning Hisako would not go straight back to the dormitory because she had been seen off by the people from the golf club, relatives, and friends. She decided to go to her brother's for now. She left Narita with the ashes and portrait of Kazuo's. She said to herself, 'Kazuo you are so heavy'.

　At the dormitory, I was surprised by unexpected news.

　"Suzuki-san is in Japan now."

　"No kidding."

　"Yes, she is."

　"But I had seen her enter the departure gate, said good bye to her friend. Fumi-chan and I returned to the dormitory."

　Now I did not know where Hisako was and decided to ask the travel agent, Naoko-san of Unitour. She answered that Hisako happened to be speaking on another line. I asked them to ring me back and thanked them for their help.

　I sympathized with her trouble.

　"Welcome home. I missed you, Hisako-san!"

　Hisako and I celebrated this unexpected reunion by sharing a steamy rice and miso soup. "You know Kazuo weighed so much", she said. She now seemed a little less sad as she told me what had happened on the plane and how she had been helped by many people at the terminal. Two of us laughed as she remembered how she had repeated the question, "What will happen to my baggage?"

　After three days JAL reported that the baggage would soon arrive back from Brazil.

　Hisako asked Naoko-san of Unitour to obtain a ticket to Brazil for her. Normally there would have been a heavy fee for cancellation of the original ticket, but travel agent did not request any fee.

(End of 1)

　2. Three day's late going home

　On December 9th Hisako and I started from dormitory for Narita Airport. After the baggage had been checked in, I joked with Hisako that if she left the plane that day, they would never again allow her to board.

　Although Hisako had seen a doctor the day after her failure to fly to Brazil and had obtained a medical certificate and medicine, she was still afraid of becoming unwell. This time she had a reserved seat on the plane.

　When she asked how early she must check in, JAL counter answered, "You can come to the airport at your convenience. We have prepared the window seats for you." She (and I also) thanked JAL for their warm hospitality.

　The flight of 20 p.m. for Brazil was the last flight out of Narita Airport. Hisako had lost more than 10kg of weight since she had first arrived in Japan. But I hesitated to tell her that she was slim. Hisako said, "I will return for the worker's compensation procedure. Until then please take care. Thank you for everything you have done." And escorted by two JAL staff, she was the last passenger to enter the security check gate.

　I was asked to wait until the plane had taken off. The lights in the lobby were put out one by one until only the JAL desk was dimly lit.

　While waiting, I was reminded of Hisako: I could not tell what had caused the death of Kazuo. But does a mother have special intuition about her son? As a mother who have heard from the son about various bullying and had seen his psychological changes, might she have expected something horrible would occur?

　When the JAL staff told me that the plane had safely taken off and that I should go home, I had suddenly come back to reality and hurried to parking lot.

(End of 2, End of Part III)