Parallel Affection

Chapter 1

Squinted his eyes at the bright morning sun, Shinichi woke up in slight chillness. The spring season had already arrived but the warmness did not seem to reach to him. He sat up on the soft mattress, feeling sluggish. There was a window next to his bed where he could see the bright blue sky through it. A row cherry blossom trees were planted nearby hence whenever the wind blew in the wrong direction, he would find countless pink petals scattered chaotically all over his room. No matter how times he had reminded himself to keep the window shut on the night before, he could never remember. Annoyed, he dragged his heavy body up for an untimely spring cleaning.

While cleaning the room, Shinichi turned on the radio for some noise. A well-known song was played and Shinichi hummed the tune with good cheer. Despite of the physical weariness, he was truly in a good mood. Finally, he thought, the illness that had been plaguing him like a stubborn lover decided to leave him in peace.

The ordeal he had undergone was baffling. At the age of twenty-four, Kudou Shinichi lived well with life. Born with a set of pretty face, he was a capable young man with a heart of gold. The job he had now was the one he adored and his future was promising. He had yet to meet his dream girl but he could always wait. He believed his soul mate would appear in due time and she would be the one he loved for eternity. In short, Shinichi was a fine fellow who strived to live day to day to the fullest.

However, ten days ago, Shinichi woke up with tears in his eyes. It was the kind of lost and emptiness that would plunge even the toughest guy into the bottomless pit of despair. Alarmed that his life was gradually spiraling down, he sought help but no psychologist or medication could improve his mental condition. A concerned friend suggested that a month of vacation could probably help and though remained skeptical, Shinichi acted on the advice.

And this morning, Shinichi was grateful. After a brief period of seclusion from the world outside, he had recuperated well.

The illness came as acute as it went. For more than a week he spent his days having crying spells and suicidal tendencies. The only drive that allowed him to carry on with life was the thought of his family and friends. He cringed at the psychologist's diagnosis; depression. He had pondered hard and concluded that he had nothing major in life to be depressed about. So it did not make sense at all. But since those dreadful days were gone, Shinichi resolved not to mull over it anymore.

Finishing the last bit of cleaning, Shinichi gathered the petals into a plastic bag and left it beside the door with the rest of the garbage. He took a refreshing shower and merrily prepared himself a big portion of breakfast. His appetite was good but unfortunately, the food did not get as much attention as the stack of outdated newspapers. A week of losing touch with the media had him amazed at the amount of world's events he had missed. He flipped the paper from page to page with great interest. Out of the many happenings, an unlikely headline caught his attention. It was the grand opening of a new local train line which had taken place few days ago. Shinichi scanned through the article with a small tug in his heart. There was a pang of inkling which he thought he could easily ignore, but he could not. For some reason, he was unbearably curious about the train line.

Hence he took along with him his wallet and outer coat and left the house for an impromptu trip. Striding along the street, he hailed a taxi as soon as he saw one. He got into the car and politely requested for the nearest train station.

Probably due to the new line, the station was unusually crowded. Seeing that the rows of ticket machines were jam-packed, Shinichi quickly joined in the long queue. When it was his turn, he eyed the recent rail network on the screen and chose a place at random. The name of the place was so foreign that Shinichi almost questioned its existence. In case he got himself lost, he wondered if the amount of cash in his wallet would bring him back home safely.

Nevertheless, Shinichi went along with his caprice and boarded the train. He found a seat initially but gave it away to an old lady. The two shared pleasant conversations after that. Shinichi smiled. After he had recovered from his depression, she was the first person he had interacted with.

Shinichi got off the train as soon as his station was announced and he waved the old lady goodbye. His heart stirred in melancholy as the train departed. The old lady somewhat resembled his grandmother who had passed away ten years ago.

Moving along with the crowd, Shinichi walked out of the station through the fare gate. As he stepped into the street, a surge of strange emotion overwhelmed him. He…had not been here before, had he? But he seemed to know this place; it was so familiar, and so eerily homely.

Intrigued by the mysterious feeling, he began to explore the place. He walked down the lane and found a residential area. With each step he took, chills unwittingly travelled down his spine as the sense of familiarity escalated. Flashes of incongruous memories began to appear in his head like a projected image. In his mind was a picture of a red roofed house. There was a garden beside it whereby the plot of land was adorned with beautiful lilacs and many pots of yellow tulips. Inside the house he saw a young man. The man was smiling warmly, almost lovingly at him…who was he? Did Shinichi know him?

Acting in accordance with his uncanny clairvoyance, Shinichi took a route that eventually led him to narrow road. He threaded through the path and found two sharp turnings at the end: one to the left and the other, to the right. Biting his lower lips, Shinichi took the one on his right and after walking approximately a hundred meters ahead, he gasped in astonishment.

"Oh gosh, how can this be…?"

He was standing in front of a red roofed building which had a garden full of lilacs and tulips. It was apparently a house modified into a café. The outward of the café was exactly like what Shinichi saw in his memory.

Shinichi swallowed the hard lump in his throat. His foreknowledge of this café was terrifying, and equally thrilling. Eager to investigate more, he walked in a fast pace towards the entrance of the café and pushed the door open. It was a rather swift push, causing the little bell at the corner of the door to jingle loudly and patrons inside turned their heads to the door. Shinichi stood still at the doorway. He did not know why but every single pair of eyes were staring at him in bewilderment. Some patrons were even outright frightened. Unsure of how to react, Shinichi smiled in awkwardness and slowly closed the door behind him.

"Welcome to Kuroba's café, sir,"

Startled, Shinichi turned to the voice and saw a young charming man, clad in white shirt and pants was walking towards him. That man, possibly around Shinichi's age, stood before him with a smile. Then, before Shinichi could care to refuse, he took Shinichi's hand and brought it up to his lips for a kiss.

Shinichi had just seen this man not long ago, in the memory that did not belong to him.

TBC

Thank you for reading!