The time In Between
And the world is saved. Everyone forgets. (Post Nyx)
Pancakes.
Sunday Morning.
The first thing that greets Akihiko as he walks through the doors is a glorious smell. After an early morning run on the weekend it would usually just be him alone, walking into the dorms. Everyone would still be asleep or in their rooms busy with getting ready for the day. But this time it's different. The young man wonders if he should go upstairs first and get changed, but a distinct sizzling sound and the wafting smell of butter proves too much to resists. He wanders over to the kitchen, curious.
Ah, really, he shouldn't be so surprised, it's her and she looks so… perfect. Her motions are deft and precise, with a flicking of her wrists the pancake is turned and cooking in the fragrant butter. She puts down the spatula, not needing it anyway and wipes down the bench, humming as she works. Akihiko can't help but smile, she has her distinct red earphones in even when cooking.
"Good Morning Sempai." Her cheery voice and accompanying smiles pervades his thoughts.
"Ah…yes… Morning." He returns.
She puts down the headphones, and now they are looping around her neck, resting on her chest, talking while she takes out plates and cooks more pancakes. The smell is almost intoxicating.
"How was your morning run?"
"Uh… Good." And for some reason Akihiko can't concentrate on his response.
A slight laugh comes from her mouth, 'that's nice to hear. The weather looks beautiful today." A pause fills the air; silence permeated by the smell of butter and the sound of pancakes sizzling. "I felt like making pancakes. Even though we all live together, I don't think that we eat together enough. I thought that it would be nice." She punctuates the end of the sentence with a smile.
Akihiko starts- her smile is directed straight at him- and in his chest something stirs, it clenches around his heart and then it lets go. He doesn't understand, and can only catch the end of her words. "…Great if you could get everyone down here. I'll set up." He would offer to help but the remnants of feeling daze him and he just nods.
The next time he sees her it is over a laden table. She has somehow managed to find maple syrup, jam, butter, sugar, lemons, cream, strawberries, bananas and even caramel sauce. Everyone else is already finishing up, pushing plates aside or scooping the last bits of fruit and hotcake into their mouths. Akihiko briefly wonders how he managed to take so long to get ready, he was moving so slowly, and feeling so… lethargic? Confused? Something else?
Yukari is already halfway out the door with Ken beside her and Junpei tagging along behind. "That was delicious! I couldn't stop eating them. I'm going to get so fat from those pancakes!" She laughs.
"Don't wait up. We're going to see a movie!" Junpei grins and turns to Ken talking about the newest action flick.
There is an expression of marvel written all over Fuuka's face. "You're amazing! Unbelievable even. You have to teach me how to make these!" she exclaims excitedly. Mitsuru smiles, that slight smiles of hers and adds, "Indeed. It was equivalent to a five star breakfast in a world-class hotel. Oh, yes, by the way if you need Fuuka or me we're going to be on the top floor. The security camera is malfunctioning and we need to go take a look at it."
"Thanks, and yep that's fine," she smiles tilting her head to the side so that the sun reflects the number twenty-two in her hair. She looks to Akihiko, and wordlessly takes out the last stack of pancakes from the kitchen and puts them on the table. "Akihiko sempai, I saved you some."
Before he knows it he finds that he is sitting down, devouring the fluffy golden pancakes while she clears the table, humming a tune and making small talk. "You know Yukari likes her pancakes with strawberries and cream, unsurprising given how much she likes strawberry short cake I suppose. Personally I think lemon and sugar is the best combination, you know. It's sweet and sour at the same time with a bit of crunch. I see you like yours plain though?" she intones in a half questioning manner.
He takes another mouthful only to realize that they are already all gone. "They were great. I really like pancakes…"Akihiko isn't entirely sure what else to add, so instead he looks at her face. Red eyes, brown hair, and then, her mouth twitches slightly, it's half way between a smile and a frown. She says, almost inaudible in a distant voice, "I know…"
Maybe he didn't hear it right. He raises his eyebrows, but she deflects him straight away. "Maybe I should make breakfast more often." She's already cheerful again; grinning from ear to ear, almost cat like. He nods and smiles, "yeah, that would be nice if it's not too much trouble."
Once she leaves the dorm, closing the door behind her, she looks up at the sky. It is blue and clear. A soft smiles graces her lips, after all, a promise is a promise, and she's kept one today… Even if he doesn't remember.
I just wanted to write about, as stupid as it sounds the time in between the defeat of Nyx and everyone regaining their memories. I mean… it's like two months, that's a lot of time for interesting things to happen.
I've actually already gotten the last part of this written. It's probably going to be three chapters long unless I can think of another scenario to add to it. Umm, try and bear with me here I've never written a multi part story with actual plot before. I would also love to know what you think.