Serendipity

Love Letter to a Simpler Time

PBG sat at a secluded booth in the corner of the small cafe. He stared down at the latte he had ordered, not quite able to bring himself to drink it. It was a slow day for this venue, and only a handful of people were milling about on their laptops and chatting quietly to their friends. The counter was occupied by a single, bored-looking cashier. She looked young and tired, and it was likely that she was attending Asagao Academy down the road and had picked up this job for some extra cash. Maybe she was a transfer student.

With that thought came a rush of regret. He felt a pang in his chest and suddenly he was back to a simpler time, decorated in sepia tones and fluttering hearts. She sat across from him in this very booth, sipping their drinks and talking about the future.

They would be graduating that summer.

She was gazing out the window, and her hair fell perfectly over her face. Her eyes glistened as she spoke quietly about her dreams, her hopes for the life she would build after Asagao.

A thought had drifted into his mind as she spoke: would it include him?

Then he was back at the booth, his coffee growing tepid, and tears stinging his eyes. Apparently not, he realized for what seemed like the millionth time.

The bell above the door rang, the chime slicing through his thoughts and stunning him back to reality. He didn't even look up as the culprit walked in and ordered her drink. Her voice was high and airy, reminding him again of that day those years ago. But it couldn't be her, she had moved back to Amaririsu to be with her father in his remaining years, numbered by the gripping hand of terminal illness.

PBG had been there when she received the call that her father was in the hospital, and again when she got the news that he had cancer. She cried for hours on his shoulder and he let her, staring up at his dorm's ceiling, numb.

He snapped out of it, hearing the girl's footsteps drawing near. He instinctively shoved himself as far back as he could go into the booth just in case it was her and so he could covertly escape if she sat down near him.

To his surprise though, she didn't notice him when she sat down at the booth. Her hair was brown and short, and she wore the same glasses as Hana, but with thicker frames. She pulled out a book and began to read, all the while sipping her drink. Unbeknownst to her, he was sitting uncomfortably in the corner, toying with his phone all the while eyeing her up and down. Maybe she had noticed him and didn't care. After all, it was somewhat of a common practice to sit with strangers at coffee shops, so maybe she just wanted to share the booth.

She was wearing a blue hoodie and had a brown messenger bag slung over her shoulders. Upon further inspection of her hair, he noticed that it was not naturally brown, and that she had dyed it to be. Her roots were subtle, not quite there, but still noticeable. He passed them off as being light red at first, but then he noticed that, no, they were... pink?!  

(I'm only uploading this here because it's not quite up to my ao3 standards yet. i wrote this in a large block of text and am going through willy nilly attempting to break it into chapters fit for this hellhole of a site, so if the places i begin and end seem juvenile or cheap, it is intentional. any feedback would be welcomed with open arms. thanks, -willow)