Akira, who was about to take a bath, suddenly remembered that Miyako, who would also be bathing later, had no change of clothes.
"Oh, old woman, do you have any clothes from your younger days? If so, could you get them out for her to wear?"
Miyako was still wearing her sailor uniform. She couldn't possibly wear it after her bath, and it was even less possible to let her go naked.
So he could only ask Granny Kobayashi for help.
"I don't have any clothes for a young girl. Let her wear your sportswear for now."
"Huh? What will I wear then? Old woman, you're not going to make me sleep in my school uniform, are you?"
As mentioned before, Akira only had the school-issued uniform and sportswear. The short-sleeved, short-pants summer sportswear had just been sent for washing. The only wearable clothes left were the long-pants and jacket sportswear.
If he gave even that long sportswear to Miyako, then Akira would only have his winter school uniform to wear.
Sleeping in a winter school uniform in the middle of summer? That would be hell! He would definitely be too hot to sleep!
"Um, I can just continue wearing my sailor uniform…"
"You've been wandering for two days, haven't you? Your clothes should be washed."
"Mmm…"
Girls are very conscious of their scent, and Miyako was also quite clean, so she really couldn't bear to continue wearing her sailor uniform.
Seeing Miyako's troubled expression, Granny Kobayashi sighed and said to Akira,
"Stop making a fuss. I'll find you some loungewear. I remember there should be a few pieces of clothing my old man used to wear…"
"You actually kept Grandpa's clothes?"
Granny Kobayashi, who usually remained calm, stiffened at this rhetorical question. She covered her eyes with her hand, seemingly to hide her shyness.
Generally speaking, clothes worn by the deceased are supposed to be disposed of, but Granny Kobayashi had secretly kept a few pieces due to personal sentiment.
From this detail, one could see that Granny Kobayashi still deeply loved her husband, and her feelings had not faded at all due to his passing.
Although it was a bit embarrassing, since it was the truth, there was nothing to hide. Granny Kobayashi simply threw caution to the wind and said,
"I couldn't bear to throw them away, so I kept them. What, is that not allowed?"
"Of course it is! But why didn't you take out such good things earlier? I've been wearing my school uniform to school in this hot weather."
"You're not at all bothered, are you? Those are clothes worn by a dead person."
"What am I bothered by? Grandpa Kobayashi is a role model for our generation. I admire him too much to be bothered."
"Hmph…"
Although Akira was only met with a cold snort, judging by the upward curve of Granny Kobayashi's lips, she was actually very happy.
When her husband was admired, a wife could not be unhappy.
Granny Kobayashi walked towards her room with her hands behind her back, calling out to Akira,
"Come with me, I'll go look."
"Coming! I'll light some incense for Grandpa while I'm at it."
Akira followed, and seeing that she was about to be left in the living room, Miyako also raised her hand and cautiously asked,
"Um, Granny Kobayashi, can I come along too?"
"Of course you can! My old man loved beautiful children like Miyako the most. His favorite person when he was alive was his granddaughter."
"Thank you."
The two of them followed Granny Kobayashi into her room on the first floor.
Granny Kobayashi's room had an altar for deceased relatives, with a portrait of Grandpa Kobayashi, some fruit, clear water, incense sticks, and a 'spirit horse' that Akira had made by sticking chopsticks into an eggplant.
It wasn't usually like this; the altar had been set up for the Obon Festival a while ago.
The Obon Festival is commonly known as Ghost Festival, and can also be considered Japan's Qingming Festival. It usually falls between August 13th and August 16th. Japanese office workers also get these three days off, so it's also called 'the summer vacation for working adults'.
Although the Obon Festival was over, Granny Kobayashi missed her husband, so she wasn't in a hurry to put away the altar.
Akira lit an incense stick, and Miyako quickly followed to offer her respects.