So I recently watched the movie 5 Centimeters per Second and felt really depressed after watching it. It truly is a beautiful movie. While the plot is sad, it is reality. However, I decided to write a fic where Takaki and Akari encounter each other but don't recognize each other at first. Hope you enjoy it.
I definitely do not own 5 Centimeters per Second. Hats off to the animation team who created this beauty of a film.
It was spring in Tokyo. As if someone had taken a paintbrush and painted over the city, large areas of the city had turned a light pink. The cherry blossoms had bloomed and were falling from the trees, like snow. People all over marvelled at the beauty. Well, most people.
Takaki sighed. He was tired, so, so tired. Work was stressing him out and it was taking its toll on him. Holding his briefcase, he dragged his feet towards the subway station. As he always did, he tried his best to ignore the crowd around him, minding his own business. Keeping to himself, it was what he did best. He had never really opened up to many people in his life.
He walked through a park where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Cherry blossoms were falling from the trees. Takaki thought about how beautiful they were, yet somehow when he thought about them, it made him slightly sad. Though very blur, they brought back memories which pained him. While watching the cherry blossoms fall, he felt as if something was missing. Like he had an unkept promise which he had made many years ago. All those memories revolved around a certain person, one girl.
I don't even remember her name. Takaki thought to himself. It had been so many years that his memories started failing him. Despite that, he still felt the sorrow and emptiness when watching the cherry blossoms fall.
Takaki stopped himself there. "I must be losing it," he thought out loud. Maybe it was the stress from work. He decided to relax and wind down a little that night. Perhaps that would take his mind off things. A nice, hot cup of coffee would be great, he thought. He looked around and spotted a small cafe opposite the park, on the ground floor of a building. Seems like a good place to go, Takaki told himself. He turned and headed towards the cafe.
Takaki opened the door to the cafe. The scent of roasted coffee hit his nose. The cafe was relatively empty with a few customers. Nice and peaceful, Takaki thought. He sat down at a table.
"Welcome sir, how may I help you?" a waitress came to his table. Takaki looked up at her.
'She's… kind of pretty...' Takaki thought. She had long, dark brown hair that went past her shoulders. Her skin was pale and she had brown eyes. She had a bright smile on her face. Takaki also thought she looked around the same age as himself.
"I'll have one mocha, thanks." Takaki said, while eyeing the waitress. While she was pretty, Takaki couldn't shake off a strange feeling.
She looks extremely familiar… Do I know this girl?
"Coming right up," she said, smiling. Takaki watched her prepare his coffee. He couldn't help but notice her movements were graceful and fluid. That too, seemed incredibly familiar.
Who is she? Why is she so familiar?
The waitress brought Takaki his latte, still smiling. Takaki thanked her and handed a few bills to pay for the coffee.
Takaki sipped his coffee slowly. He couldn't help but stare at the waitress, not caring about the fact that he might have seemed creepy. Why couldn't he shake off the feeling that he knew her? He strained his memory hard for any recollection of that particular girl. Blurred pictures began to piece themselves together. He could see it in his head. Cherry blossoms falling. A letter being blown by the wind. Snow. Lots of snow. An empty train station. A lone girl sitting at the train station by a fire. A cherry tree. A girl leaning in closer to his face and-
"Are you alright, sir?" Takaki snapped out of his thoughts. The waitress was standing by his table with a concerned look on her face.
"Yeah, thanks, just spaced out a little there." Takaki smiled as he told the waitress. That too, the kind personality, it seemed familiar.
The waitress smiled and sat in the seat opposite Takaki. "Do you mind?" she asked.
"Not at all, go ahead." Takaki answered.
A few moments of awkward silence passed between the two.
The waitress looked out of the window at the park, covered in cherry blossoms. "Beautiful, isn't it? These cherry blossoms." she asked. There was a longing look in her eyes.
"They sure are." Takaki replied.
Cherry blossoms... So she does find them beautiful as well. I'm pretty sure I know this girl...
"Did you know? These cherry blossoms fall at a speed of five centimeters per second." the waitress told Takaki.
That ringed a bell in Takaki's head. The sense of familiarity grew. Takaki wasn't just sure he knew this girl, he was sure he was very close to her a long time ago, he had just forgotten. He was sure she had forgotten too.
"Yeah, I knew that. I learnt that many years ago when I was a child." Takaki said. Five centimeters per second… he whispered to himself. He knew where he had heard it, he just couldn't wrap his head around it.
A few more moments of awkward silence passed. Takaki stood up.
"Hey, it's getting late, I'd better be on my way home. Thanks for the coffee!" Takaki picked up his briefcase.
"No biggie, do drop by again alright?" The waitress lowered her voice. "This may be weird, but I have a feeling that I know you. Maybe we can talk through it some other time?"
So she does find me familiar as well... Looks like I'm not the only one. I really wonder...
"Sure thing. I'll come back, miss…"
"Akari. Just call me Akari." she said, smiling.
"Right, Akari. My name's Takaki. I'll see you soon alright?" Takaki left the cafe and walked back through the park. He waved back at Akari as he looked back.
Akari… he thought.
As he walked through the park, he stuck out his hand and several cherry blossoms landed gently in it.
Akari… Cherry blossoms… Five centimeters per second…
Takaki abruptly stopped.
Everything came back to him at that moment. Akari. The cherry blossoms. He had promised they would see the cherry blossoms blooming once again. He never kept that promise. The letter he wrote, conveying all his feelings for her. How it was blown away by the wind. The train journey to visit her. The night they spent in the old shack in the field, talking on and on. Their first and last kiss.
They eventually drifted apart. However, Takaki never stopped thinking about her. It was her, his longing to see her again, that had caused him such sorrow, such pain over the years. THAT was what was missing from his life. He knew in that instant.
"A-Akari..." he whispered, his heart aching. He wheeled around, and sprinted as fast as he could back to the cafe.
Akari was wiping a table with a cloth. She was clearing up the cafe and preparing to head home. Her mind drifted to something else.
That man just now… she thought.
As she wiped the table, she pieced together the fragments of her memory.
Takaki…
She glanced out of the window, at the cherry blossoms in the park.
Takaki… Cherry blossoms… Five centimeters per second...
Akari stopped wiping the table at that instant.
"T-Takaki-kun…" she choked out, tears forming in her eyes.