𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺

08 | to her, 100 years ago

With little hesitation, they're lead through a dark hallway to a room in the back that's covered in cheap glow in the dark stars and tarot card decor. Aoi's already counting the bills she's lost to the scam as the employee points towards the office door.

"In there." She commands simply, and the two teenagers enter reluctantly.

She had acted impassively, relying on her gut, because when she read the neon words displayed on the sign, a pain of nostalgia shook her to the core.

"Welcome."

At the back of the room sits an anonymous woman with long black hair, her bangs growing over her eyes and her skin ghostly pale. Aoi can already sense the anxiety pulsing off of her friend, so she takes her hand and leads her to the seats in front of the woman's desk. The cashier closes the door behind them silently, and just like that, they're inside.

"My name is Nakime." The woman states in a mature tone, her voice echoing through the silent room. "You've chosen to look into your past lives, correct?"

The two teenager girls nod, and a small smile forms on Nakime's red painted lips. "Then, let us begin."

Nezuko fiddles with her thumbs nervously, clearly already regretting her decision to enter the shop. Aoi turns back to Nakime, clenching her first with anticipation.

"I'll go first." Aoi breathes, resting her hands in her lap before closing her eyes.

Aoi feels a pressure on her forehead, and before she can process it, her vision goes dark. A flash of memories. A boar. Monsters. Familiar faces. Birth. Children. Death. Family.

She wakes up laying down, on what she assumes is a hospital bed. Her body feels old and frail, and her blue eyes look down at her own crinkled hands.

Where am I?

"Mom.."

Her elderly hand raises itself to a young adult in front of her, a woman with green eyes and long black and blue hair. Tears are beading in her eyes, and beside her is slightly older man, his hair raven colored and his eyes are blue. Identical to her own.

Who is this?

Aoi's hand rest on her cheek, and the woman brings up her own to clutch it tightly.

Am I.. dying?

She feels a presence next to her, and she turns her head. Aoi's breath hitches in her throat, and the eyes that meet hers send her countless years back.

Inosuke.

"Aoi? Are you there?" His voice croaks, reaching out his own frail hand to grasp hers. The woman to her right chokes out a sob, and the man beside her bites his lip to hold back his own tears.

"I'm here." She rasps.

Tears begin to roll down her cheeks, and a small smile forms on her aged lips as she closes her eyes. His voice calls out to her faintly, and his name dances through her mind.

"Aoi.."

No mistake.. It's him.

"Aoi..!"

It's--

"Aoi! Wake up!"

Him.

"Aoi!"

Aoi blinks slowly, opening her eyes to a teenage girl in front of her, shaking her shoulders urgently. Nezuko's eyes are full of worry, and a smile of relief spreads across her face when she comes back to consciousness.

She feels something wet, and she lifts a hand to feel tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You're awake. What did you see?" Nakime asked, surprise hinting in her tone. She'd never seen a customer cry before, or resist an immediate snap out of a meditative state.

"Inosuke.." She breathes out, another wave of tears rolling down her cheeks. A weight on her chest feels like it's lifted when she sighs out his name, and Nezuko's eyes widen in surprise.

"It's him.. It was him beside me.."

"Inosuke? He was there?" Nezuko questions frantically, and Nakime remains quiet behind her.

"I have to go---!"

"What? Aoi?"

Aoi gets up from her chair, throwing her purse back over her shoulder before looking at her friend with urgent eyes. Her heart feels like pounding out of her chest, and without another word she runs out of the room and outside of the store. It's sunset now, indicating how late it had gotten over the time in the trance.

"Inosuke..!" She exhales, breathing his name as she runs through the shopping center, weaving through crowds of people until she finds the exit, turning onto the sidewalk without slowing her pace.

Inosuke. Inosuke. Inosuke.

I have to tell him.

The feeling in her gut makes her almost sick, like the drop of a steep roller coaster. Because the way he said her first name just then felt like lighting on a hot day in July, and she hated every second of it. Mostly because it felt like it hadn't been the first time she'd heard it.

"Pfft. I've heard that deja vu is remembrance from your past life. And believe me, if I knew somebody like you in my past life, no wonder I died."

Pharmacist.. medicine. I don't think I've even thought of a career like that before so why-- why does it seem so familiar?

"May I have this dance?"

"I've never felt like this."

"Wow! It's almost like your soulmates!"

"Then, how about you live this carefree life with me?"

Aoi chokes back a sob as she turns the street, past the school where they'd met in the storage room. Tears make her vision blurry, but she keeps pushing on, running and running towards where she knew he'd be.

Onto the street where they'd danced in the rain, where he'd offered her the life she had always wanted, where she had fallen for him.

The street where she'd fallen in love with Inosuke Hashibara.

For the third time in a month, she sprints up the stairs to the Agatsuma household, praying that behind the door he's there. The key to the lock on her heart. The answer to the relentless Deja-vu that had been shaking her to her core. Her fist bangs urgently on the door, salty tears running down her face while she waits for him to open the door.

"Inosuke!" Aoi yells, knocking on the door more harshly.

There isn't an answer.

"Inosuke! Answer the door, god damnit!"

She falls to her knees, panting and aching with fatigue.

"Please."

It's silent, not a single sound except for Aoi's cries, but after a moment she faintly picks up footsteps from inside the house. With a new sense of determination, she weakly stands back up, now desperately fiddling with the doorknob. "Inosuke-- please!"

The footsteps grow louder, and the door unlocks before creaking open slowly.

Please, Inosuke..!

I need to tell you how I feel.

I need to tell you.. that I love you!

"Aoi?"