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"Life-Remaining Marriage Hunting" Episode 1 #CreativeAward2025 #MysteryNovelCategory Intermediate Selection Passed🎊

2025年7月22日 21:40

[Synopsis]

Minami Jindo, an ordinary office worker who has lived a peaceful life until now, is suddenly diagnosed with "six months to live."
Before she even has time to accept her death, on the night of the third day, she receives a sudden, cryptic phone call from her sister, with whom she had been out of touch.
From that day on, mysteries begin to unfold one after another.
Her sister's death, an ominous invitation that arrived one day, a mysterious marriage hunting program...

Together with a young man she meets there, as she closes in on the dark truth, she arrives at a certain "plan" revolving around "life" and "death."
And the two of them gradually come to know the true meaning of living.

In the time they have left, what is the "way of life" they ultimately choose?
Mystery x Human Drama x Romance.
A paradoxical story that begins at the end of life, closing in on "life" and "death."

~Prologue~

"Now, everyone. Today might be a slightly painful topic, but let's talk about a very important theme."

This is a special lecture by Shiori Koyanagi, an active psychological counselor whose books and essays on the hidden positive and negative emotions of people have become consecutive bestsellers since graduating from this university.
I applied for this public lecture at this university, which I otherwise have no connection to, through the general admission quota.
--I am neither a student nor an alumnus.
Even so, I just had to see her with my own eyes.

"Everyone, today I would like to take a peek, just a little, at the emotions hidden deep within your hearts."

Dressed in a stark white lab coat that looks like freshly washed sheets ironed to perfection, Ms. Koyanagi speaks to the attendees.
Seeing the attendees looking as flustered as elementary school students hiding their answer sheets, Ms. Koyanagi chuckles.

"It's alright. Today, I will certainly not be peeking into your hearts. I want you to try and feel the emotions sleeping within yourselves. Now then, let's begin, please open page 3 of the materials I handed out earlier..."

The memories being gradually rewritten within me made even my own existence feel uncertain, and I was already beginning to feel hazy about whether the person here now was the real me.

Why, of all things, was it this theme?
Was I able to make up my mind even more because it was this theme?
No, perhaps it was inevitable.

By now, are the emotions I feel inside truly real?
Now that I can't even tell that, perhaps the affection I have received from my husband until now is a lie wearing a mask of kindness.

I should have been able to easily distinguish between kindness and malice, to be aware of it, so why have I never looked at that boundary line and the sense of discomfort lurking there...?

The tears that are about to overflow are just blurring my vision, like feet trembling as they hold back before a cliff, trying not to cross that final line.

I keep moving my eyes back and forth over the materials in my hand so that Ms. Koyanagi, who is looking my way and approaching, will never realize.
The doubts swirling inside me were slowly taking shape, as if mocking my last remaining shred of hope.

With trembling fingers, I open the chat screen with my husband.
At the single line of reply I saw there--

That night, I impulsively called someone.
The name "Minami Jindo" appearing in the missed call history—it's my younger sister.

<<Episode 1>>

I received the call from my sister on the night of the third day after I was told I had six months to live.
That night, everything was too much, to the point where even the sound of the washing machine spinning was irritating.
It was because I felt like I was being rushed.
The words "six months to live" declared by the doctor three days ago still didn't feel real, just pricking at the back of my chest like a cold needle.

One month ago--

"Jindo-san, did you get your health checkup this week?"
It was my colleague, Shibata-san, who suddenly spoke to me during lunch break.
Tall and slender, with neatly groomed hair and a short-sleeved light blue blouse.
She, the very picture of cleanliness, smells of refreshing citrus.

I work at a small food-related trading company in Tokyo, and our department is small, with only eight people. Shibata-san, who joined the company as a mid-career hire a few months after I did, is a colleague who joined around the same time and is a good friend.

"Oh, yeah. I went yesterday. How about you, Shibata-san?"

"I went too, but... actually, I skipped the barium this year. I'm really bad at it... Jindo-san, you don't have to take it yet, right...? I'm so jealous."

Watching her pour hot water into her usual glass noodle soup even on a hot summer day and laugh lightly, and me laughing along with her, I think that until that day, my life must have been peaceful and ordinary.

A few weeks later--

The health checkup results had the words "Re-examination required."
MRI, bone marrow biopsy... After undergoing several detailed examinations at the hospital, the doctor quietly told me this.
"The diagnosis ismalignant lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
The progression is relatively slow, but... unfortunately, at this stage, it is judged to be difficult to cure completely."

Each word feels like it's drifting away.
"How much... time do I have left?"
"Of course, there are individual differences. However... six months is the general prognosis."

On the way home from the hospital, I was swayed by the train without being able to think of anything, and I tried to call my mother or my sister Kaede, but my fingers stopped.
I thought I would talk to them only after I could accept it myself.
Even so, whether I was hanging laundry in my apartment where I live alone, or watching dramas or variety shows on the subscription services I'm registered for, no matter what I was doing,
"How long will I be able to live?"
That anxiety weighed heavily on me, slowly crushing my chest.

My sister got married five years ago, and since then, we were sisters who were close enough to keep in touch regularly, but it had been about half a year since contact from her had suddenly ceased.
Even when I asked my father and mother back home,
"Masato-kun said his business trips have settled down more than before lately, so maybe they're just spending more time together?"

"Masato-kun" refers to my sister's husband, Masato Sakurai.

"It's been five years since they got married, so their future, children... I'm sure there's a lot going on. I'll try contacting them again, too."

Saying that, at the time, no one thought it was a big deal, just that there was no contact.
If that's the case, she could at least reach out—.
Ignoring everyone's worry, I don't know if she's busy or what, but wouldn't she have enough time for at least one message?

But—.

I had no way of knowing at the time that that night's phone call would be the beginning of my unprecedented "marriage hunting."

It would have been much better if she had suddenly contacted me with a straight face for some carefree reason that was almost irritating—.

On the screen of my phone that kept ringing was "Kaede." My sister's name.
......What do you want now?

With a mix of resentment that she would call me on a night like this without knowing my situation, and relief that she had reached out, I pressed the call button.

"......Hello."

My sister's voice, which I hadn't heard in a long time, was raspy as if she were crying.

"......Please. There's something I want you to look into."

"...Huh?"

The moment I reflexively asked back at my sister, who was clearly acting strange, I heard a voice saying "I'm home" from the other side of the phone.
My sister said her husband was home and hung up, leaving only the words, "Sorry. I'm hanging up now."
As if to drown out the sound of the call ending, the error sound of the washing machine that had been running until just a moment ago echoes from the other side of the door.

This sound, which was unusually ominous just for today, might have been the end of my ordinary days until now.

Nearly two weeks had passed since that call, but there was still no word from my sister, and I still didn't have the courage to tell my father and mother about my illness.
The precious time that wouldn't wait for me was just ticking away.

At that moment—.

A call from my mother made my phone vibrate. I took a breath and pressed the call button.

"Minami...! Minami..."

"Mom...? What's wrong?!"

My mother's state, more urgent than ever before, came through the receiver.
"Your sister...! Kaede...!"

"She died............"