The mourners who attended his wife's wake were the only ones who offered their final sympathies to Kintsugi. As the weary eyes focused on the grave, he nodded in appreciation of their condolences.
Kintsugi and Sophie had been married for three years, and he never expected the day would come when she would leave his side. One morning, he woke up to find Sophie pale and lifeless.
If not for Sophie's diary, Kintsugi wouldn't have known she had cancer. Sophie kept it a secret because she didn't want to worry her husband.
If only Sophie had told him about her illness, Kintsugi might have found a solution to cure her - but it was too late. She was gone. Sophie was no more.
He treated Sophie like his own life. When she was gone, his own existence slowly became meaningless.
After the funeral, to ease the pain, he went to a roadhouse and got drunk. He wanted to drown his sorrows in a pool of whiskey.
"You seem to be carrying a deep sadness," a woman said, approaching Kintsugi after watching him from afar. She was beautiful, slender, and had captivating eyes.
"What do you know about what I'm feeling?" Kintsugi asked, his gaze piercing as if reading the woman.
"They say when someone wants to drown themselves in alcohol, it means they're going through something tough. And based on your expressive eyes, you're heartbroken."
Kintsugi knew why the woman was saying that and what she wanted from him. He faced her, composed himself, and looked at her critically.
Her beauty couldn't compare to Sophie's, but she might help ease his sorrow a little. He took the woman to the bathroom and showed her what he was capable of.
Kintsugi's pace was fast. He became inconsiderate and deaf to everything else. He just wanted his own way. In the bathroom floor, he executed his favorite position - missionary.
The door was locked, and anyone who wanted to enter couldn't, and if someone tried, he'd just let them in. He didn't care. After buttoning up his white long-sleeved shirt, Kintsugi left the men's restroom cubicle, leaving the woman there without even knowing her name.
He went out and headed to the parking lot, deciding to go to the beach. Holding a bottle of bourbon, he walked on the white sand barefoot. His thoughts were deep as he gazed at the island across. He had no tears left to cry. He'd cried them all out.
He took a swig of bourbon when he saw a woman in a white dress sitting on the sand, staring at the waves under the stars and full moon. There were cans of beer next to her, and as Kintsugi watched her, he suddenly remembered Sophie.
"Sophie, is that you?" Kintsugi muttered.
He approached her, and due to the woman's fear, Kintsugi received a brittle slap on the cheek, but it didn't faze him. In fact, he was excited when he was physically hurt, especially by a woman.
"Pervert!" the woman shouted, but when she smelled Kintsugi's scent, she felt embarrassed.
Kintsugi's cedarwood scent gave her goosebumps all over her body. She was taken aback by Kintsugi's strong scent. Again, Kintsugi was able to produce cream, and it wasn't just that, because each time, the cream was savored and swallowed.
It was predawn when Kintsugi arrived home. He didn't change his clothes or take off his shoes. He threw himself directly onto the soft mattress.
It was already noon when he woke up, and the first thing he felt was the ache in his bladder. While urinating, his hands were unbuttoning his long-sleeved shirt.
When he headed to the kitchen to drink water, he also removed his shoes and socks. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a pitcher of water when suddenly the telephone rang and spoke.
"Hey, man. I've been trying to reach you since yesterday, but I couldn't," said his concerned friend Dalton on the other end of the line. "I know you. You're not suicidal, but if you're planning to end your life, at least let me know so I won't worry anymore."
Kintsugi chuckled slightly at his friend's words, but soon the faint sparkle on his face faded, replaced by a monochromatic expression.
Kintsugi poured himself a glass of water, and as he drank, he suddenly caught a familiar scent. The scent had notes of aldehydes, ylang-ylang, and sandalwood. Kintsugi didn't flinch, calmly placing the glass in the sink.
When he turned around, he crossed his arms, seeing a woman pretending to read a Men's Journal in front of his vinyl record collection.
The woman was enigmatic, wearing leather garments. When she felt Kintsugi's gaze, she stopped reading and folded the magazine. She casually walked to the living room, returning the magazine to the glass table where she got it.
"Even with sadness on your face, I can still say you've made your stay in this universe meaningful and enjoyable," the woman in the leather hood said, facing Kintsugi, who was topless and leaning against the kitchen sink. "Sadly, I'm here to inform you that you're overstaying."
"I don't care," Kintsugi replied bitterly, turning his back on the woman and rummaging through the fridge for something to eat. "Damn, I forgot to grocery shop," Kintsugi muttered to himself.
"Excuse me?" the hooded woman said, trying not to show offense.
"If you don't mind, please return to where you came from," Kintsugi added, still rummaging through the fridge. "You entered my house without permission. In this world, you could be charged with trespassing, and while I'm still sane, it's better if you leave before we end up in court."
"You'll make me leave or I'll drag you to where you belong?" The hooded woman knew Kintsugi's nature; when he said no, he meant it. He was difficult to convince.
If she couldn't persuade him to return to his place, she would have to forcefully take him there. While Kintsugi was putting lasagna in the microwave, the woman carefully searched for a usable gun in her weapon gallery on her floating panel.
However, Kintsugi's instincts were sharp. He slowly opened a cabinet where some guns and sharp knives were stored.
To expedite the mission, the woman wanted to capture Kintsugi using a gun that fired catching net bullets, but she didn't succeed because Kintsugi had already anticipated this and destroyed the bullet with a thrown knife.
The woman's cheek was injured, and she wiped the flowing blood with her palm. Realizing she was indeed hurt by Kintsugi, Kintsugi suddenly appeared with a Gatling gun and spontaneously rained bullets. The woman's only option was to dodge and hide behind a wall.
When Kintsugi noticed the wall of his condo unit was riddled with holes, he stopped, but it gave the woman a chance to emerge from her hiding spot.
Holding handguns in both hands, she discharged bullets. Kintsugi rolled on the floor, now struggling in the situation. Holding a butcher knife, Kintsugi waited for the woman to run out of ammo. When she was about to refill her ammunition, Kintsugi emerged and pounced on the woman.
She threw away the guns and pulled out a cursive-shaped dagger from her scabbard. The two clashed until Kintsugi overpowered the woman, pinning her in his arms with the butcher knife pressed against her neck.
"You still haven't changed, Lotuslush. You're still the same talkative aquamarine-haired girl I've known," Kintsugi muttered while slowly slicing Lotuslush's neck. Instead of killing her, Kintsugi pushed Lotuslush away from him. "I spotted you at the mound yesterday. And now, you're watching me from my condo. In case you didn't know, I'm free to move around my own place. Luckily, you didn't see me naked."
Lotuslush tried not to show the flush on her cheeks. "Only a crazy person would strip naked in their own home. You're still as unconventional as ever, Kintsugi."
Lotuslush gasped. Coming from a planet wrapped in ice, she was accustomed to the cold. Since the room temperature wasn't cold enough, she decided to remove her outer layer, leaving only a white silk cloth wrapped around her chest.
They both turned to the door as it opened. At what he saw, Dalton dropped the box containing the coffee cups. "Sorry for not knocking. Your door was open, Kintsugi."
Dalton quickly picked up the cups that had fallen on the floor. "I'll just clean up this mess before you continue with what you're doing." A mischievous grin appeared on his face.
"Dalton, you're thinking wrong," Kintsugi said, stopping Dalton from leaving. "This is just my friend Lotuslush. A former teammate, an ex-coworker, that kind of thing."
Dalton scratched the back of his head."I was worried about you, so I decided to visit you at your home. But what's going on with your house?"
"Cockroach," Kintsugi replied simply. Dalton tried to convince himself that the mess inside the house was indeed caused by a cockroach.
"Might as well, let's go out, the three of us. Let's go to the beerhouse," Dalton invited the two.
Lotuslush faced Kintsugi and gave him a look that indicated she was backing out of his friend's plans because they needed to return to the Upper Echelon, but Kintsugi was stubborn. He convinced Lotuslush to make the most of the whole day. With just one tap on the floating panel, Lotuslush changed into party clothes.
The three of them headed to the beerhouse that the two friends frequently visited, riding in Kintsugi's car.
They had drinks there. Dalton got to know Lotuslush, but as a Larkansas, they weren't supposed to reveal their true identities to others, so Lotuslush just lied. Dalton was easy to convince.
They played bowling, went to a seafood restaurant, watched a boxing match, and when night fell, their destination was a strip club. After Dalton got drunk, they sent him home.
"Did you enjoy what we did?" Kintsugi asked Lotuslush outside Dalton's apartment building. A smile spread across Lotuslush's face.
"It's really different here in this world."
Kintsugi agreed.
"By the way, I forgot to send you my condolences," Lotuslush added sympathetically. Kintsugi smiled slightly.
"When I met Sophie, I promised that I would change," Kintsugi revealed, looking up at the sky, feeling his deceased wife's presence watching over him from above. "I decided to retire as a Larkansas and focus on building a family with her. Maybe it was fate that she would leave me so that I could continue being a cyberclassical cutthroat. Lotuslush, I have one more favor to ask. Before we return to the Upper Echelon, I just want to say goodbye to Sophie one last time."