Cleave
Because coffee shops can bring together memories you were never supposed to have.
Disclaimer: Noap. XD I own nothing.
Author's Note: GUH. This took long. Anyways, this is for Mishaa and her birthday. :D
Oh, also, as always AoGA will be part of this list, because they are the coolest bunch of coolios that you would ever meet, and November Romeo because she is so incredibly amazing at giving me inspiring music that allowed me to get off my ass and actually write this thing.
This is AU (or not...?) and set ten years in the future after they have defeated the ESP. That's supposed to be all good, obviously, but the Japanese police found this idea of alices, and for security, they wiped the memories of all of the students and set them off to 'normal' lives.
Uh, the book by Aden is purely fictional (some aspects of it are derived from the genius that is MiladyQueenMab in our conversations before she totally disappeared...)
Yup. As per usual, there are grammar mistakes, and I was rushing it, so yeah. It's not as great as I'd like it to be, but I wanted to make it before I felt uninspired. XP I would really enjoy a review or two. ;) I swear; I try my best to reply. :D
The happiest, most unforgettable moments in life feel like a dream—one that is so real, so vivid, that it captures the fraught mind and forces one to believe in a hope conjured by the most desperate fragments of one's memories.
- Excerpt from At The Thirteenth Hour, written by NH under the pseudonym Aden (pg. 45)
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Enervated from last night's over-preparation, she found her hand reaching her briefcase in the middle of the courtroom.
"Order!" "Objection!"
Unlike what was portrayed so often in the media, her job was not entirely an amalgam of interesting inner oppositions that were pursued. Being a juvenile case attorney, most cases were calm. But on this day at the worst possible time, for some reason, she was positioned amid the only juvenile case that had any sense of action—shouts from every corner, hostility lurking in the air like a malodorous stench that finds its way to every nostril.
In truth, she loved her job—though the dark circles drawn around her eyes would beg to digress. There was something rewarding about helping those who were unable to help themselves. Cases would come and go—ranging from simple, small-shop theft to large-scale murders—and regardless of the results of the trials, she would always return to her poorly lit apartment with a gratification that could not be created by anything else. She was, after all, standing up for the misunderstood underdog—a notion she clung to with a certain familiarity.
Despite constantly reminding herself of such reasons to persevere, by the time the case was finished, she really needed a break. A drink.
The coffee shop across the street- called Sweet Anna- seemed to suffice.
-.-.-.-
It was a petite shop whose chimes in the doorway initially frightened her. Everything in sight was a light, baby-pink color, reminding her of her childhood.
Childhood. Hm.
It had been ten years since she blanked out.
Since then, she could only think of her past in fragments—aspects of which, she firmly maintained, seemed straight out of a fantasy novel.
The main protagonist who found out her true abilities were stronger than anything ever imagined, the best friend whose intelligence was beyond compare, the love triangle that threatened the relationship of two best friends. The evil man who locked her away in a tower so as to preserve her powers. The boy who vowed to save her.
It all seemed too fictional to be true. Still, the thoughts floated in her mind like childhood dreams that were never fulfilled. Memories she never had.
She entered the quaint coffee shop cautiously, making her way to the barista. He looked young- perhaps he was a part time employee.
"Hello there," he said, "how may I help you today?"
"I'll have..." Her eyes glazed over the menu, and sighed when she found too large a variety to choose from. "A coffee."
"Black," she managed to add. He nodded with glee, and his enthusiasm was somewhat infectious, as she felt her grin widen.
As she waited for her coffee, she looked around the shop, observing the customers.
There were couples, singles, groups- all of whom were involved in their own personal matters, not even minding the existence of one another. The men were mostly on their phones, texting or playing rudimentary online games. The women, on the other hand, were quietly enjoying the fictional journey of a thick novel.
She smiled at the relaxation, closing her eyes.
When she opened them, she realized that her world had completely changed.
The men had abandoned their electronics, and the women their books. By some means, they looked up towards her at the same moment.
The gifted chef. The friendliest pharmacist. The altruistic senator. The perky talk-show host. The quirky psychiatrist. The respected vet, whose compassion stretched farther than just towards animals. The coldhearted inventor, whose heart could pour selfless kindness that no person had ever experienced before.
The one-time novelist whose everything she loved beyond what words could describe. Her Romeo.
And their eyes all met for a millisecond frozen in time, and no matter how hard they tried to shake the feeling that they were simply strangers whose faces they'd only seen before, there was something that ignited a fire within the dark depths of their hearts.
Anna. Nonoko. Yuu. Sumire. Koko. Ruka. Hotaru.
Natsume. Natsume Hyuuga.
The lawyer recalled her lost love, her peculiar family of beautiful people whose company she missed so dearly. Upon impulse, an unforeseen droplet of water fell from her eye—rolling down her cheek, joining the sea of coffee in an attempt to go unnoticed.
"I'm doing fine. How are you? I hope you're doing well. I really hope so. I miss you. I love you."
And in a flash, it was gone.
The coffee she held in her hand was still hot when she took a sip, and its burn rendered the tip of her tongue senseless.
"Are you okay?" The barista looked as a barista would, cocking his head to the left side in superficial worry.
She nodded, slowly but surely. She quickly paid him, and raised her hand when he attempted to hand her the change. "Have it," she offered.
The barista accepted the money, but concern spread on his face as he noticed the wetness of her cheek. "What's wrong?"
She dug deep within herself for an answer, but to no avail.
"I... don't know." She sighed, "I think it was something really sad. Melancholic, almost."
She looked up at the sky.
"Something sad..."
Before leaving, she took one quick glance at those seated comfortably in the coffee shop, and shook her head, as if inwardly scolding herself for reasons she herself did not comprehend. The men went back to their mobile devices, and the women to their books.
And just like that, she picked up her briefcase and turned her head the opposite direction, continuing her usual path of life.
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And they walk, far away from a world unlived, in opposite directions, like two diverging plates that have forgotten their contact. They have been touched by something- perhaps someone- whose light reminds them of a different time, perhaps a different universe altogether. A parallel universe, where the memories returning to them in dreams are flashbacks of the past.
And it frightens them, because they do not know where to hide in all of this inconstancy.
But some things remain constant.
Her smile—how, with its magical abilities, its power leaps out from her face to reach into your heart and shake up something that had been long dead within you. Her tenderness—how it is warmer than any fire you could possibly conjure with your own feeble talent. Her heart—how there is nothing in the world quite like it.
Your paths—how they are bound to cross again.
These ideas, those memories, the tears shed and laughs exchanged—how they will never disappear.
Dream or reality, today or tomorrow- in spite of the millennia that pass by inexorably- these notions are, perhaps, what will persist.
- Excerpt from At The Thirteenth Hour, written by NH under the pseudonym Aden (pg. 77)
Author's Note: I know, I know. :( But I did try my best.
Who is NH? I know it's pretty obvious, but you can answer this question in a review, if you'd like. HAHA.
