Light Impulse

Peyoung yakisoba and flowers

It had been a couple of days since they met Yuuna and despite trying his best he could not get her out of his head. She knew Toman and she knew motorcycles well enough to know where the rattling on Baji's bike had come from. And then Mikey had suddenly remembered her from a timeline he wasn't aware of before. Mikey's original timeline. He had been lost in thought as he walked home from campus and when he looked up he found himself in front of a cemetery entrance. Involuntarily his heartbeat picked up. It was the cemetery where Baji had been buried in their previous timeline. He shivered. It was still a painful memory, even though it had been undone. He laughed softly as he recalled his friend's characteristic stubbornness when he had come into the pet store to cover for him that night. His heart skipped a beat. A store? He looked at the gate to the cemetery, memories flashing by his mind's eye. "Peyoung yakisoba," he whispered as he staggered back a little. "Peyoung yakisoba and..." he stuttered as he pressed his eyes shut, trying to make the images in his mind last a little longer so he could properly see. "Flowers!" he gasped as he spun around. His eyes widened and his heart pounded in his ears as he crossed the street towards the familiar flower shop. His hands started trembling when he opened the door tentatively. It was the flower shop where he used to buy flowers when visiting Baji's grave. He remembered now. In that time he was often helped by a girl that looked like her... He took a deep breath before stepping inside. This is why she had felt so familiar all along. He heard the little chime by the door jingle as he stepped in and he swallowed. It was almost exactly like it had been back then, apart from the fact that the friend he used to buy flowers for was still very much alive this time.

"Welcome, I'll be with you in a moment," a woman's voice sounded from the back of the store.

His breath stalled.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, I was just-," her voice cut off as soon as she saw him.

"It's you," he whispered.

Her eyes widened and she stepped back a little. The bruising around her eye had turned a greenish yellow and the gash on her lip had started to heal well. The tape Draken had used to close her split eyebrow was still there but most of the swelling had gone down. She was carrying a big bush of flowers with both arms and he noticed the coin was tied around her other wrist with a new piece of thread. "You shouldn't have come," she said softly. Her voice trembled a little and she seemed frozen in place, her eyes locked on his.

"Yuuna," Chifuyu said softly.

She closed her eyes and frowned at the sound of his voice calling her name. Her bottom lip started trembling.

"You seemed so familiar," Chifuyu said as he slowly made his way to the counter. "I brought the bike to Shinichiro, like you said. You were right, the exhaust hangings were worn," he said carefully.

Her eyes shot open, tears welling up in them as he mentioned Mikey's older brother.

"I used to come here-,"

"You shouldn't remember," she whispered almost inaudibly, tears rolling down her cheeks now.

He felt his heart race. He had to know. "I used to come here to buy flowers for my friend who passed away," he pressed on.

She shook her head and sank to her knees, the flowers still cradled in his arms. Unable to hold back her tears she started sobbing softly.

He made his way behind the counter and kneeled down beside her. It pained him to see her so troubled. "Yuuna," he said as he touched her arm gently. "Do you know why I stopped buying flowers?" he asked, a little firmer now.

The flowers fell to the floor as she covered her face with her hands, tears spilling onto her knees.

He touched the coin around her wrist gingerly. "How long have you known that Baji is alive?" he asked in a whisper.