"Nee, what do you think the vanilla orange pancake will taste like?" Satsuki asked Taishi, pointing at an orange stuffed pancake on the menu. "I've no idea. Why don't you try it to know? I'll order the same" suggested Taishi. "Oh. Ya~y."
They became regular customers in the sweets cafe, they come there every after class. It seems like their goal is to try every dish in the cafe.
"Taishi, I'll just go to the restroom for a minute" Satsuki said and Taishi nodded. She went to the restroom.
After she got out of the cubicle, she washed her hands... her left palm has a faint diagonal scar that you can only see when you stare long and good at it. She smiled with a bit of both sadness and happiness in her eyes...
5 years ago, she and Kei lived in a different a neighborhood.
Kei would play with her when he had time, and he had a lot. He never went home late and they always go to school together. But when summer comes, she doesn't have school and needed to wait from 9AM to 6PM because he'd still be at work. She'd play alone. Fortunately, Satsuki met a friend.
Her name was Mirei. She lives a stone's throw away from their house. She would visit Satsuki everyday and invite her to play her type of fun, life-threatening games. She's a real life terminator.
Satsuki got this scar when they climbed up a rooftop of an abandoned house. Mirei reached the top shortly but not Satsuki. She accidentally stepped on a brittle rock and it cracked, splitting into pieces. Her foot had nothing to step on so her other foot lost balance, slipping on its place. She needed to hold on something to pull herself up so she hooked her hand on the nearest rock but she didn't know that it had wires over it and they cut on her palm, making her only hold herself with one hand. She cried for Mirei's help. Mirei noticed just then and that instant, she reached out for Satsuki's injured hand, stretching her arms and letting it get injured on the same spot of the wire. Blood dripped down her arm but she kept extending it to Satsuki, no pain spreading over her face.
She pulled her up to safety.
As they sat themselves on the top, Satsuki cried, cuddling her painfully wounded hand to her chest. "Why did we need to go all the way up here? You always make me do dangerous things. We've chased rats under a sewer, froze chicken poop in your fridge because you said it'll turn to choco but it didn't! You asked your sister to eat it and she vomitted! You told me that lawn mowers were like amusement park and we drove them but we fell off and I got wounds from it! Your games always harm us. I don't wanna play with you anymore!" Satsuki screeched. Mirei's eyes began to get watery.
"I'm sorry. I was just... trying to have fun... My parents are always away, you see. They always have work and they leave me alone with my older sister. But she doesn't talk or play with me because she's too big and teenager for my games. We have some sort of wall between us. That's why I'm always playing alone. Until I saw you that day. You were also alone. I got curious so I went to your house and invited you to play with me. You were easy to get along with. I never had friends that stayed because they always say my games are 'dangerous'. But you don't. When we play, we fall on our backs and laugh our heads off. I was happy to see you enjoy being with me. I didn't feel alone anymore... but now that you said those things... I guess you don't really enjoy after all. Sorry for everything."
Silence.
Satsuki giggled and Mirei looked at her, puzzled. "The chicken poop was funny though." She laughed. And knowing kids, just like that, their argument was fixed.
It's just another childhood tale but it was a nice memory. Satsuki dried her hands and headed out. Another girl came in with a huge lollipop in her hand and when they passed by each other, they both halted on their heels. Satsuki felt goosebumps all over her arms.
The girl turned around, her eyes wide. "SATSUKI-CHAN?"
Satsuki spun around to see who it was.
"Taishi, this is Mirei. She was my childhood friend, the one who I only met for 1 summer. Mirei, this is Taishi, my bestfriend" Satsuki introduced them to each other then they shook hands.
Mirei ate with the two of them then they started catching up on each other for the past 5 years.
"Wait, do you eat here everyday?" asked Mirei. "Oh, um, ye. Sorta. Not everyday but most of the time, after school. Why?" Satsuki replied. "I see. Um, I'll go ask my sis to give you two discounts whenever you buy something"
Satsuki and Taishi looked at each other open-mouthed. "You own this place?!" Satsuki hissed. "No. Um... well, technically my sister manages it but, you can call it mine as well. It's a family bussiness anyway." Mirei laughed, unwrapping a lollipop.
"EH?!" Satsuki shouted, her face still in a state of shock. Mirei only smiled at her and giggled.
They went home after that. Mirei asked to sleepover at Satsuki's and Satsuki easily agreed.
And so they started catching up more.
"Taishi and I met when we were at the 3rdyr of junior high. We were both transfers so we went with the 'same specie' theory. The first uestion I asked him was, "What's your favorite food?" and he enumerated lots! We laughed at each other. Though we don't like and dislike the same things, he makes me happy. I guess that's why I don't get tired or bored of being with him. He teases me lots and fools around most of the time but he's kind. The best part is that, he knows and understands me so well like, even with my simple gestures, he already knows if I'm mad and he also knows what'll cheer me up, what food can make it up to me. I'm actually very happy he's my bestfriend and I hope he feels the same."
"I see..... so! When are you gonna confess?"
"Excuse me?"
"Um. You know, tell him that you like him. Have you never heard of that or something?" Mirei pointed out. "I-- I don't like him."
"And I love my family. Are we done telling lies now?" said Mirei. "Eh? You don't?" Satsuki nervously said.
"Your eyes, your smile, the tone of your voice when you talk about him, actions don't lie!"
Satsuki stared at the floor. "But... I don't want to confess if he... doesn't feel the same way." She mumbled.
"What a scaredy-cat! What if that's the same reason he won't confess? That's like lining up for a concert of a group that you don't like. You're wasting your time, you're acting stupid, you're being pointless and you're going nowhere." she opened up another stick of lollipop and popped it in her mouth.
