[Short Story] The Marron Glacé Man

For a long time, there have been many moments when the prologue of a story would strangely and fragmentarily rise up from scenery I happened to see while traveling.
I hope to write down those stories I have recorded, little by little, here.
I hope to write down those stories I have recorded, little by little, here.

Now, let the story begin.

On a pleasantly sunny afternoon.
Maya stopped in her tracks at the supermarket's snack aisle.

In the corner of the shelf, "Marron Glacé" were lined up.
Inside the transparent box, the chestnut pieces gleamed with an amber luster.

Speaking of "Marron Glacé"—
—ah, it's Yusuke.

A casual scene from a night ten years ago flashed through Maya's mind.
It was a supermarket she had stopped at with Yusuke, a colleague who joined the company at the same time, on the way home from a department drinking party.

"I'm so tired because Takahashi-senpai keeps telling the same story over and over again."
Saying that with a mischievous smile like a little boy,
Yusuke, who was walking down the aisle of the snack corner,
always bought Marron Glacé without fail.

"You know, these are great because they're round and not too sweet."
How many times had she listened to such trivial, passionate speeches?

The two of them, who didn't have specific partners at the time,
would sometimes go shopping at the supermarket together after department drinking parties or after having drinks just the two of them, which they called a "colleague reunion" to reward themselves,
and it was their daily routine to go home to their respective houses.

They worked hard together, and spending time together
had become a matter of course.

However, after a while, Yusuke changed jobs to return to his parents' home,
and the communication, which had initially been frequent with the same old trivial talk,
gradually faded away before she knew it.

And as time passed,
about two years after Maya had also gotten married,
she heard through the grapevine that Yusuke had also started a family.

Certainly, although there is no trace of it now,
that innocent and bittersweet time had existed in the past.

Like dazzling sunlight,
sparkling,
a nostalgic memory that remains unfaded.

"Marron Glacé"

Is it in the shopping basket of Yusuke's new family now?
Maya, suddenly coming to her senses, let out a chuckle.

And with the corners of her mouth still lifted, she briskly left the snack aisle.