Light Impulse

The black box

Yuuna swallowed nervously as she looked at the couple of bags and a single box at her feet. It had been over a week since her life had been turned upside-down. Or maybe it had been turned right-side up? She smiled and checked her phone for the time. After the impromptu dinner at Mitsuya's, Kisaki had offered to drop them all off at Chifuyu's place. Mikey had gone home with the pup and Chifuyu had reluctantly agreed to Kisaki dropping Yuuna off at her grandparents. It had been so surreal she had actually pinched herself when she was finally alone in her room. Sleeping had been out of the question for the next few nights and she had quite some explaining to do about suddenly spending so much time with friends she had never told her grandparents about before. She laughed to herself. Friends. Before she had felt ready, the first text messages were coming in.

Mikey had been the first to text her. Pictures from Emma with her new puppy. He had also included a very forced picture of Draken with the pup and he could not have looked less pleased. It had sent her into a laughing fit that gave her a stomach ache the rest of the day. She still couldn't believe he actually gifted them a puppy out of spite. She took her phone out of her pocket again and scrolled through the pictures he had sent her. At the end of the stack she paused and smiled gently at her screen. After all the ridiculous pictures there was one that had been shot in all seriousness. Crystal clear and perfectly candid; Shinichiro on the deck of their house, signature cigarette between his lips and the sleeping puppy in his lap. She softly swiped her thumb across her screen before locking it and putting her phone away again. He was older now than she had ever known him and although she felt such sweet relief knowing that, she couldn't help but feel the tinge of sadness for missing out on all of that time.

Chifuyu had taken a couple of days before he gingerly started texting her. Asking very politely how she had been first. He told her that Takemichi had been a little bummed that he hadn't been there for dinner at Mitsuya's and that Naoto kept nagging them for more information about her. He had become quite intrigued with her 'case' as he'd started calling it. Chifuyu had returned to college life after being absent for a couple of days. By now he texted her ever so frequently about the silliest little things. They hadn't met since that night and she had to admit she was really looking forward to seeing him again. Her hand reached for the scarf she was wearing. He had insisted on her keeping it when he sent her off with Kisaki. She smiled and hid her blushing cheeks behind it.

It had only been yesterday that Mitsuya had texted her for the first time. He had tried to hold off on it because he didn't want to put any pressure on her. He had carefully asked her if it would be alright to call and they had spent over an hour talking. Chifuyu had told him in what conditions she was staying at her grandparents and had discussed it with Mana and Luna. They were offering her a place to stay. He had even come to the shop to meet with her grandparents to show them he was trustworthy and he ingeniously spun the truth and some white lies together to create a believable story about how they were long lost friends who had recently got back in touch with each other. Luna and Mana had joined him for credibility and had taken such an interest in the flowers in the store that they had offered to come help out at the shop on the weekends as part-timers.

It all still seemed too good to be true. She laughed softly and she shook her head. Her grandparents had already been considering closing the shop two days a week. They were adamant that their shop would never become the reason she wouldn't be able to spread her wings when the time came. She had agreed to keep working at the store at least all afternoons, so they would only have to cover half days in their old age. Mitsuya offered that he'd teach her how to ride a bike, so the commute between his place and the shop wouldn't take as long. Luckily her grandparents hadn't picked up on it, but he had given her a quick wink. He had only been half-joking.