Of A New Introduction
by Autumn Win-Dow
(AoGA House Cup. Words: 636)
It was a difficult experience for Yuu to be walking along a regular street after so many years.
Living in Alice Academy, the closest place to a town with roads was Central Town—and even this shopping village lacked roads for vehicles, as the only way for a child to transport themselves around the place was to walk. The sight of worn out store signs and regular citizens strolling around with phones and newspapers almost glued to their faces was something which he knew he would have to get used to eventually.
The reason why he was in this town was because of an address his blonde homeroom teacher had handed him. All he could tell that it was the name of a shop, and he could tell that the shop was a bakery, judging from the name of it printed to the paper which he held in his hand.
As Yuu made his way down the street—now an independent eighteen year old with the ability to make his own choices—he counted the numbers of the shops in his mind.
Thirty-two… thirty-three… thirty-four… thirty-five… thirty six!
Finally locating the address number of the shop, his eyes shifted towards the shop sign to make sure—and as expected, the words 'The Cheesecake Bakery' were printed in pink.
Yuu was curious as to why Narumi had sent him there, because the flamboyant teacher had sped off to congratulate the other graduates before he could ask, and soon enough he as the class representative got distracted too.
But as he pushed he glass door of the bakery open, he completely understood why.
The movement of the door provoked the sound of light chimes from above. Yuu looked up to see a long but thin chain of bells hanging from the ceiling where he had pushed open the door. He glanced back down to see that the shop was quite small, yet homely—it had an air to it which Yuu found strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite place a finger on it.
"One moment, please!" A female voice called out from the kitchen, a tone of evident hurry in her voice.
The voice made Yuu freeze in his movements. His fingers slackened, finally allowing the door to swing back in its place. The woman's voice was one which was all too familiar—one which he wasn't able to forget for the three years he had last met her.
Just in time, a pink haired female donning a frilly apron clumsily tripped through the doorway between the kitchen and the counter, adjusted the handkerchief stylishly tied around her hair, and gave Yuu a hospitable smile.
"Hello sir, how can I help you?" She breathed, as she wiped her hands on her apron.
Yuu was rendered almost speechless. "…Anna?"
Anna raised an eyebrow in suspicion, and then tilted her head. "How do you know my name?"
The teenager shook his head at his stupidity. Of course she wouldn't remember me.
"I-I'm sorry, it's just that I knew you at one point. I doubt you'd remember me." He immediately covered up in a small fit of panic, as she pondered his answer for a moment—and eventually, she smiled again, this time with a whisper of remorse on her lips.
"I'm sorry, I can't remember you."
"It's okay." Yuu bowed apologetically to the pink haired girl, as he was about to take his leave. "And I'll just mention that even though we've met only once, you've changed my life."
But as he turned to exit the bakery, he was immediately grabbed by a small hand.
"Um… would you like to have coffee with me? Even for just five minutes, if you're busy." She murmured shyly, her grip on his shirt tightening.
Perhaps, it's a way to start over.
"…Alright. By the name, my name is Yuu Tobita."
A/N: By the way, this is in the canonical GA world... so did you get it? :)