This is not the first chapter. If you're a first-time reader, I suggest you skip to the next chapter once it's uploaded, thanks!
2 years into the story
The sun shone radiant upon the vegetation of Hokkaido as the first few glimpses of spring finally nestled itself in season. An abundance of flowers besieged the lands mid-bloom, and the birds flew about, chirping to their hearts' content, as if nothing was ever wrong in the world.
The province boasted of its seemingly perpetual euphoria; nature was at its utmost peace while the people, with their rose-stained cheeks, expressed their gratuitous tenderness to those who came. Perhaps its grandeur was perfectly elucidated by its poetic expression of nothingness - for the land, up to present, remained drastically untouched compared to its counterpart in the south.
In the midst of this northern paradise, a black Roadster cruised along the streets of Asahikawa City, driven by a woman in her mid-thirties. It was quite evident, specifically in how she swerved, that she wasn't quite accustomed to such strenuous 4-hour driving; her eyes looked exhausted, but she remained beautiful nonetheless.
"God, this road trip's the worst," she mumbled after stopping before a red light. "Rima, can you please pass me some ginger ale from the back?"
Her companion – a petite young lady with long, blonde hair – obediently complied. She reached back, her hand feeling for a cold, hard plastic bottle in the backseat.
"Sure," her fingers barely reached it, but she managed nonetheless. "Here, Miyoko."
"Thanks!" Miyoko gulped at least a third of the carbonated drink before settling it down in a nearby cupholder. Rima leaned back on her seat, eyeing the GPS that showed how inexplicably near they were towards their destination.
"Gosh, I can't wait to see uncle."
Rima nodded.
Her anticipation urged her to let out an impatient, frustrated sigh, for at least a day had already passed since Rima left the solitude of her bedroom. Her back horribly ached, longing for a bed, and her eyes were starting to collapse due to fatigue. It felt as if her bones were in the process of disintegration, and after a few more minutes sitting stationary in this road trip she felt as if her spinal cord would snap into two.
A loud thud resonated from the car's trunk, compelling Miyoko to delay in a passing gas station to check if anything was wrong. This entailed Rima inspecting the container by herself while Miyoko ran away to flirt with the cash register; but it was fine, at least she had the chance to stretch her feet after a long day of sitting. Luckily, nothing integral or fragile was destroyed, only her rotary dial telephone had gone out of place when the driver committed a clumsy turn. The cake and bouquet of flowers they purchased along the way were still in near-perfect condition.
After the slight effort to stabilize the heavy weight of the phone, they returned to assume their positions in the car and resumed their travel. It was Miyoko's turn to choose music in the car (for Rima's choice of music was unadulterated silence), henceforth heavy metal music started to blare (much to the passenger's dismay). Rima turned away to observe the passing view while the driver tapped her fingers to the beat of the boisterous sound.
"Oh, dear, what a coincidence!" Miyoko chimed in. "There's a street named after me. Look, Rima."
"Mm." Rima rolled her eyes at the childish remark, staring at the dull, mundane lives of the people their car pass by and deeming them much more interesting than her present companion.
"There's a hospital named after me, too."
Rima remarked timidly, "You're amazing and Japan loves you."
"Sorry. It was just a great coincidence, that's all."
If there was anyone in the car who knew better about great coincidences, it was Rima - for coincidences, in the first place, had induced her to sit in this very car with Fujisaki Miyoko. Most of the circumstances that led to this very moment were premeditated by the people who thought they could dictate her every decision; some circumstances were choices of her own, but those occurences were quite rare.
But coincidences? Coincidences were different. They were unexpected blessings from the gods, or rewards for her altruistic tolerance for the people she despised (which was everyone). Her entire life was either a bore for already being mapped out by her parents, or a burden for having too much problems; it was in the little fateful accidents she relied her joy. She knew it sounded depressing, but she couldn't help it - only coincidences had the power to make her happy.
She didn't realize it, but Miyoko had already parked.
"Are we there yet?"
"The GPS says we're here," Miyoko interrupted, and Rima gazed outside her window to check.
"Where are we?"
Miyoko stared in stunned silence.
It was a beautiful day in the island of Hokkaido, particularly in this very spot at Asahikawa City. The place was abundant with nature, and a spectacular view of the mountains could easily be appreciated from where the two were standing. As mentioned earlier, it seemed as if the area's greatest natural resource was peace - for the place lacked the riotous mishap of noise that Tokyo's hustle and bustle was known for.
"Miyoko, where are we?"
"Nagoyama cemetery."
"Ah."
Rima looked around - of course. As far as peace went, the calmness of the area was the perfect place to rest. There were no birds - and if there were, they hardly sang. The trees dotting the area seemed to be bowing in mourning, and among their groves one could easily feel as if they were being watched. It wasn't the creepy kind of scrutiny - it was the kind that gave you consolation, with the cold enveloping you in its arms, as you weeped for the departed.
She felt her heart pause for a moment, disappointed. Tears started to well from her eyes.
It seemed like coincidences weren't so great after all.
Hi, guys! So, as I said at the start, this is not the first chapter. Most of you already know the plot twist of the story, so it was merely a spoilerless fast forward to give my former readers a little bit of closure and, of course, to evoke feelings of suspense that would compel you to re-read everything all over again. Drastic changes will be applied to this story, so really, once I start uploading I really oblige you to re-read everything to keep up with the story. In exchange, I will try my best to make it fun for you guys.
It's pretty obvious what this fast forward was about, but if you didn't quite catch it, it's how Rima and Nagihiko finally meet (or do they?). Who knows? Stay tuned to find out, yeah.
Next chapter will be the very start of the story once again, and as you noticed I've changed the time markers in the story to make it a lot easier for you. Yay.
Regarding the next chapter I'm already done, just not satisfied, so I'm just revising it!
Anyway if you wish to see more of my writing, I do oblige you to read Until the Rain Stops and Why They Left. The former is basically a really sad, angsty and relatively mature Rimahiko story which is quite hard to summarize into a single sentence, while the latter is basically the story of how our Guardians fell apart. Really fun stuff to write, so I hope you have fun reading them too.
Thanks and hope you review!