"Can I take shelter from
the snow with you?"
It took him a moment to catch his breath.
She was here.
"Y-yes, of course," Satoru choked and smiled a little bit, hoping he wouldn't scare her
off.
She smiled in return, "My name's Airi Katagiri."
She put out her hand to him.
He stared at it.
Idiot, she hasn't met you before.
"Satoru Fujinuma."
He said taking it.
They released their grip and shared a strange silence, her, staring at the falling snow
and him, staring at her.
Was it a miracle or fate or mere coincidence?
How is she here?
Airi is here! but... she doesn't even know who I am...
He had considered many times in the last eight years if he should find her but decided it
wasn't right for him to look for a girl so much younger than him.
Fate seemed to think it was time.
She looked much older than he remembered her.
If only he could talk.
"D-did the snow cancel school?"
He asked as he finally unscrewed his tongue.
"I mean, if you go to school that is…"
She turned back to him with her usual grin, "Yes, I go to school.
I study at University.
It's the perfect kind of day off, don't you think?
I'd be out in this weather even if I was missing class.
It's too beautiful for me not to be out here."
She looked back at the falling snow and sighed in happiness.
She's exactly like she was before.
It was a lifetime ago, but he clearly remembered that smile and the innocent wonder in her
eyes and he couldn't help but speculate.
"Have you ever been to Oasi Pizza?"
She turned back to him sending her hair flying and her smile wavered.
"Yes…
I have..."
You idiot.
Now you've scared her off.
You're a strange man under a bridge for goodness sake, show some tact.
Luckily she interrupted his thoughts.
"I interviewed for a job there once, but that was in high school.
I actually ended up working at Ginko's general store across the street until I graduated
high school."
She finished as she resumed her usual demeanor.
She sure is a talker isn't she?
Satoru hoped he didn't say that out loud.
He gulped and stared at her in fear.
She laughed, "You didn't mean to say that out loud did you?"
He only put his face in his hands and smiled slightly as he shook his head.
She giggled, "Do you have a job?
Or do you just sit under bridges all day?"
"I do, have a job that is," He answered almost defensively, "Let me show you I can be a little
normal."
He sat down again and leaned against the wall as he opened his sketch book.
"I'm a manga artist.
I was out for a little break and decided to sketch a little."
He flipped through the pages and the path he took reversed inside the pages, the underside
of the bridge, the river, the street, and came to sketches of the characters from his
current manga.
"It's called Galactica Sword; Seven Heroes."
He explained as he flipped through the pages.
"Wow."
She sat down beside him, "Wait, Seven heroes…
I've read that before."
"Really?"
He looked sideways at her, "Well, what did you think?"
"I thought it was boring, it was hard for me to pay attention."
That means she must have only read the first issue.
"B-but, the exposition is supposed to be informative…
That manga is critically acclaimed, it's being adapted into an anime."
She giggled again this time at his exasperation, "You really are a manga artist; you can't
take any criticism."
He chuckled slightly and put his face in his hands.
This isn't going very well.
"What's this?
A new manga idea?"
She grabbed a rather old looking note book from the ground on the other side of him despite
his objections.
"'My Hero', hmm?"
He wasn't able to even try to explain before she had it open and was reading the first
page recognizing the handwriting as a child's.
He let her read it silently and sketched out her silhouette.
She seemed so much more grown than before.
Probably because she is, you idiot.
She was awfully pretty.
She closed the book and stared at the cover, "Wow, is this your son's?
He has the mind of a manga artist."
He stifled a laugh, "No, I'm not even married, it's mine, actually, from elementary.
I visited my home town a while back and found it in my mother's house.
I don't really know why I kept it."
"I think it's important to remember who you were."
She replied, distantly.
He just wanted to finish the drawing before she ran away.
She put the book on the ground in front of her and hugged her knees to her chest, "Fujinuma…
Satoru Fujinuma…"
She glanced sideways at him.
"Are you from Hokkaido?"
Satoru's pencil stopped and he met Airi's eyes, "Yeah...
How'd you know?"
Her brows furrowed and she looked back to the book, "I read a story once... about a
Satoru Fujinuma from Hokkaido who was in a coma for more than ten years, he woke up and
exposed the man who put him in the coma when he was eleven."
"It was fifteen years."
He smiled at her kindly and stroked his chin, "Fifteen years in a coma, I woke up when I
was twenty-five with no memory of who anyone was or even who I was."
She stared at him and wondered if she dared ask him, but her curiosity outweighed her
shyness, "Why did that man put you into a coma?"
He smiled sadly at the ground, "That man was my fifth grade teacher, Gaku Yashiro.
He was going to kidnap my classmates.
I kept foiling his plans until he finally tried to get rid of me."
She murmured slowly to the ground, "How long has it been since you woke up?"
"Well today it's been about four hours."
He tried to laugh at the bad joke before clearing his throat and amending it, "Eight.
Nearly eight years since the coma."
She stared at him, "What was it like?
Waking up and having no memory of who you were?"
He looked up at the support beams and hmm-ed as he thought back, "I don't know how to describe
it..."
He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall, "I felt like an empty shell…
My body hadn't moved on its own in fifteen years, so I felt weak.
A woman that I didn't know kept taking care of me, so I felt awkward.
And old friends who I couldn't recognize kept visiting, so I felt confused."
He opened his eyes and looked at her.
She was hugging her legs and rested her cheek on her knees.
She was watching him sadly.
"Those feelings only lasted a week at most.
One of my friends, an old target of Yashiro, came to visit and it was like someone turned
on a light switch in my mind.
I remembered everything."
They sat in silence a moment longer, she was trying to absorb all he was telling her.
He took the book from where it sat in front of her and pulled out the picture that she
had ignored before.
"This is Hiromi and this is Kayo."
He explained pointing them out.
"They were both targeted by Yashiro when we were young.
I was put in a coma because I tried to protect them.
Don't worry, I'm not bitter toward them."
He added.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
Finding a picture inside he held it up for her to see.
"I woke up to find them married and the new parents of this little boy.
Mirai."
She took the photograph, and saw a little boy grinning wide at the camera, showing his
missing front teeth.
Beside the boy was a smiling Satoru.
"He calls me uncle."
Satoru grinned and admired his adopted nephew, "I missed part of my life, but I gained much
more and I was able to put the man who would have prevented Mirai from ever being born
to justice.
I find myself at peace for that."
She stared at the photograph and found herself looking at the man more than the boy.
No one could tell from this picture what he had been through.
Her eyes found their way back to the boy, the boy that may not be there except for the
actions of the man that could have died before he even became a man.
"That's incredible…"
She sniffed and shut her eyes.
He gulped, finding himself at a loss for what to do.
What did I do?
"H-here, take my scarf I don't mind."
He said fumbling to take it from his neck.
She took it and put her face into it.
I made her cry.
What am I supposed to do?
He sighed, "I said that out loud didn't I?"
She chuckled through her sobs, "It's okay, I'm fine I just...
I'm really glad I met you today."
Satoru looked at her inquiringly.
"I just…
I need to know there's hope today.
I actually came out here to cheer myself up."
"No one should be alone."
He smiled.
He took the picture from her and returned it to its rightful place.
Her breath became more regular and she closed her eyes as she rested her head on his arm.
He would have sat there for hours if she wanted, but he quickly realized how cold he really
was.
"Let's go somewhere warmer."
He said trying to wake her up, "I know a pretty good pizza place."
She opened her eyes and smiled shyly, "You aren't talking about Oasi Pizza are you?"
"Yes?"
He said standing and offering his hand to her.
"Do you know why I didn't work there?"
She asked as she took his hand and jumped to her feet.
He shook his head as he put his scarf around his neck again.
She sighed, "There was nothing interesting there for me.
The only employees were creepy guys and the manager was a bit of a creep himself, as I
was walking out the old man who owned the general store and must have noticed I was
distressed.
He offered me a job right there."
She looked at him.
He looked at the floor.
You knew it wouldn't be the same, so why did you even suggest it?
"I know someplace better."
She smiled as she put on her hat and walked into the falling snow.
It was nearly ten years ago to him, but he tried to remember what happened the day she
first came to Oasi Pizza.
The day they first met.
Her smile.
Think of her smile.
He heard the echo of a joke, a joke she repeated multiple times, almost the only thing she
ever said to him before his mother's death.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't eat all the pizza on the way."
A voice said behind him.
He turned around from packing the delivery scooter and looked at the owner of the voice.
She looked like a high school student.
"Are you here for the interview?"
He asked.
"Yup," She nodded, "Do you have any advice?"
Why would a high school student want to work here?
He looked her up and down, she was pretty, not a good type to work under Takahashi, and
she was showing just a little too much skin.
"Put on a jacket, it's cold in there."
"How old are you?"
She asked without leaving a single beat after his answer.
He sighed, "Twenty-nine."
"So why do you work here?"
"It pays the rent."
He shrugged, "Why do you want to work here?"
She only shrugged, "I'll see you around."
And she was in the door.
Strange girl.
When he made it back to Oasi he decided to fold up new boxes until his next delivery.
He found his co-worker Kouta hiding behind the counter playing on his gameboy.
"Kouta, aren't you supposed to be working?"
"There's no work to do."
Kouta shrugged.
Of course there's work to do.
Satoru took the gameboy and put it in his pocket causing his immature co-worker to cross
his arms and pout.
"Hey, Satoru," Kouta jumped to his feet completely forgetting his anger towards Satoru and looked
at him excitedly.
"You just missed this really hot girl coming in for an interview.
I'm talking H-O-T.
Her legs…
"
Satoru simply quit listening.
Idiot.
He heard voices coming from the back and turned to meet them.
He looked at Takahishi and the girl emerged from the hallway leading to the office and
break room.
She had taken his advice and was now wearing a thin jacket that he assumed she must have
taken with her in her bag.
Takahishi rubbed his hands and grinned, his eyes almost closed, "I eagerly await the day
you start here, Miss Katagiri."
You would.
"I'm looking forward to it."
She replied.
"What did I tell you, Satoru?"
Satoru could almost see Kouta salivating and the idiot was talking much too loudly, "The
things I would do if I-" Satoru broke the box over his head.
A single beat of silence followed.
"Satoru!"
Takahishi yelled, "You just cost the company money, that will come out of your pay."
"Yes, sir,"
Kouta whined as he rubbed his utterly uninjured head.
The girl looked at him.
When he met her eyes she smiled and said, "I'll see you next week, Satoru!"
And she was out the door.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could that day have been why he always seemed to share a work shift with her?
That day must have turned out much differently for her in this timeline.
It's better that she was away from both those creeps.
"Here it is, Satoru."
She smiled and gestured grandly to the sign of the café, "This is my favorite place to
go on cold days and it's almost always open because the owners live upstairs."
Café Piasu, sounds really hip.
She opened the door and walked in ahead of him.
His face warmed immediately and his nose became overwhelmed with the scents inside.
"Do you like coffee?"
She asked as she approached the counter.
"Yes, of course.
I often need it when a deadline gets too close or-"
"Hi, Miki!
How are you doing today?"
She interrupted.
The girl behind the counter looked up from her phone and grinned at Airi, "I'm doing
well except for the cold, I need to move somewhere warmer, Osaka is really nice even in the winter,
I heard that this is the most Kanto has had in ten years!
Anyway, what do you want to drink?"
The girl must have still been in high school; she couldn't have been any older than Airi
was when he first met her.
He looked around at the small shop.
It had tables and chairs everywhere and big leather chairs all along the inner wall.
When their coffee was in hand they found a table by the small fireplace and sat down.
"This place is really hip, I almost wonder if I'm too old to be here."
She chuckled, "Elderly people come here all the time."
He shook his head and smiled despite her words, "I'm only thirty-two, I'm not elderly."
"Only thirty-two, huh?"
The curve of her lips was hidden behind the cup as she took another sip.
He took a sip of his own as he looked out the window.
The snow was coming down much harder now than it was before.
Could we get stuck here?
He looked at her again and realized he didn't care.
"Tell me, Katagiri, are you happy?"
He leaned towards her and couldn't help but cringe a little bit at how strange this seemed;
a thirty-two year old man asking a twenty-one year old college student whom he just met
if… she… was happy.
She stared at him in shock for a few seconds before recovering and reassuring him with
another smile, "I think so.
I have friends, I work hard and I'm completing my goals little by little.
And I met you.
Yeah, I'm happy."
She gave him another close-mouthed smile and brought her cup to her mouth with both hands.
He smiled in return, "So, you said you were in university, what are you studying for?"
"I want to be a teacher actually…
" She stared down at her mitted hands wrapped around the coffee cup and sitting in her lap,
"I know you may not have the best opinion of teachers considering…
"
"Don't talk nonsense," He interrupted, "I only have a bad opinion of the bad ones."
She smiled slightly at him and took another sip.
In reality Yashiro was my hero.
Satoru took a long gulp of the hot liquid and looked at his hands.
In reality he tried to kill me.
She looked at him, her eyes wide.
He looked at her, "I did it again didn't I?"
She nodded slightly, put her hand on the table between them and seemed to stare into his
soul.
I've distressed her again.
He wasn't sure why, maybe it was to comfort her, but he felt the bold desire to take her
hand.
He didn't regret it.
He squeezed it reassuringly and took another drink.
They sat in companionable silence as the minutes stretched on.
It was shattered by his ringtone.
He let go of her hand and pulled his phone from his pocket, upon seeing the caller I.D.
he answered it.
"Satoru?
Where have you been?
You said you were only going out for a little break!
You've been gone for nearly an hour!
Come back, please?"
"Yes, I'll be there before lunch, so don't eat mine.
I'll see you in a little while, Kenji."
He hung up and leaned back into his chair as he sighed, "A fellow manga artist and friend
of mine."
He explained.
"I should be going."
He stood and looked at her hand where it sat abandoned.
"See you later."
She said interrupting yet another bold thought.
"See you later."
He smiled and he was out the door.
It wasn't until he was stepping into the door of the office building that it occurred to
him that he didn't have her phone number.
Idiot, idiot, idiot.
Instead of feeling revived after his walk he felt defeated.
Satoru Fujinuma barely listened to the evening report on the radio as he got ready to go
back home for the evening.
"2010 Olympics news tonight… heavy snow fall… advised to stay indoors…
"
And a little voice from earlier that day found its way to him from the depths of his memory.
'This is my favorite place to go on cold days.'
He smiled to himself as he put his coat over his shoulders
and grabbed his suitcase.
I guess I know where I'm going tonight.
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