ever after

second life | makonice

listen to the song while reading :> (is already inserted into the media

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❝ even in our next life... even at that time, i'll go to you. ❞

there's a belief that some people have that once you die, you may have a chance to get reborn. the condition being that you've died injustly and your life, in a sense, was cut short.

jam, a strong-headed girl, never really believed that. she believed in what is 'you only live once'. there was no such thing as rebirth and that once you die, you die, be it injust or not.

this day, she was heading downtown to a nearby café since she had some downtime to spare before classes started. it was her favourite place to sit down, rewind, and relax. it was a small establishment and had good coffee and desserts. she visited the place to the point the baristas knew who she was.

upon opening the door, the cluster of bells jingled together against the mahogany woodframe. she walked up to the counter, ducking her head down as she searched in her bag for her wallet.

"hi, what can i get for you today?"

she stood back up straight, immediately staring into the eyes of the barista cum order dude. they were a shade of beautiful emerald green, the colour of fresh, healthy, young grass.

those eyes. it seemed like she's seen them before, but at the same time, she knows she hasn't.

she snapped out of her daze and gazed this guy as a whole. rather tall, slim yet firm build, and brown straight hair. he was an overall mix of cute and attractive, and jam was a hundred percent sure she'd never seen him around before.

"i'd like to have a frappuchino with less whipped cream," she said hastily, pretending to read the menu above his head as to avoid eye contact.

"anything else?" the guy asked, keying her order into the system. his voice was smooth and sounded melodious to her, if that even made any sense.

"nope, that'll be all," she replied, returning her gaze back onto this guy.

her gaze skirted down to the nametag on his apron: tachibana makoto. huh.

"that'll be three dollars," tachibana said, looking up to meet her eyes.

immediately, she darted her eyes down to stare into her open wallet, pulling out a two dollar bill and a dollar coin. she paid him, then headed over to the collection counter to wait for her drink.

it didn't take him long to prepare her drink since there were very few customers in the place. she soon found the frappuchino in her hands, so she went to find a place to sit down and relax.

+

"hey," a small smile settled on her face now that her usual barista-cashier duo was back a few days later, "who was that guy the other day?"

"you mean tachibana?" nagisa asked as he sent rei away to prepare her order.

jam nodded.

"he's new here, started working since last week, i think," nagisa said as he closed the cashier, then raising a mysterious eyebrow up at jam, "why? do you think he's cute?"

"he looks... nice," jam commented casually, reaching over to collect her drink and thanking rei.

she decided not to tell them about her déjà vu-like feelings back then on that day. nagisa and rei knew she didn't believe in such things, so it'd be odd if she suddenly brought it up.

+

jam was at the café again, and this time, she was rushing an assignment that was due soon. gulping her beverage down as her fingers flew across the keyboard at record speed, she checked the time on her watch.

"shit, i'm going to be late," she hissed.

grabbing her stuff, she shoved her belongings into her bag, not caring if everything was neat or in order. she sprang up, slinging her back over her shoulders, then exiting the café briskly.

she hadn't walked too far away from the café when she heard someone call after her.

"excuse me! excuse me, miss! you forgot this!"

jam turned around on her heel, only to see tachibana running towards her with her card holder in his hands, which contained her university pass.

"thank you," jam said with a relieved smile, taking the holder from him.

the two locked eyes by accident, but never looked away. as tachibana stared into her eyes, the more he felt like he had met her before. somewhere... in another life?

"don't let go!" the boy screamed, clutching onto the girl's hand tightly.

"hey, hey," the girl said, "look at me, listen."

the boy, with tears in his eyes, bit his lower lip and looked at her reluctantly, not really wanting to hear what she wanted to say and just get her up and into his arms.

"i'm sorry things had to end this way," she said, "but this is better for both of us. i'm weak, you're not."

"don't say that," he said, desperation kicking into his voice, "don't say that. you're not going to die, i'm going to save you—"

she shook her head, a rueful smile on her lips.

"i'm sorry," she said again, "but i sincerely hope that there's a next life, so i can meet you again with a healthier self."

tears dripped down from the boy's eyes as he grunted and heaved, trying to pull the girl up and over the ledge.

"goodbye."

she let go of his hand, letting herself fall down. his mouth dropped open, rivulets further pouring from his eyes as he let out a loud scream.

"have we... met?" tachibana asked, his eyebrows raised in interest.

"i think so," jam said, a smile spreading across her lips, "i'm jam. you are...?"

"makoto," tachibana said, a smile reaching his own face, a spark of hope entering his eyes, "it's a pleasure to meet you."

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happy december!! + finally a makonice oneshot after 84 years :") after finishing 'black knight', i was intrigued with the idea of having a second life, and then i saw seventeen's song and i took the chance shamelessly. you're welcome. :)

also, if you were confused with makonice's past life: past-jam attempted suicide, but past-makoto was there to grab her in time. however, past-jam decided to let his hand go and ultimately die because 1) she decided she was in an unhealthy state of mind and couldn't live on any longer, nor continue the r/s with past-makoto, and 2) believed there would be a next life for them to reunite and hopefully, she would be in a healthier state of mind (which present-jam was).