Chapter VII: Our Third First Meeting

The bright pillar of light shot from the ground towards the dark sky, and the wind whipped around you in a storm, forcing you back.

The light hurt your eyes but you didn't care. You lifted your arms in front of your face in an attempt to block the wind and light. You strained to look at the bottom of this pillar of light, trying to get even just a glimpse of him. Just a shadow of him and you were good.

You needed to know he was alive.

But as you narrowed your eyes to look for him, you spotted his sprawled out form a mere few meters from where the pillar of light stood. Your breath caught as you stared at him.

He wasn't moving.

His name left your lips in a desperate shout. You reached out to him, extending your left hand as far as you could, wishing—for the impossible—that it would reach him.

A stronger gust of wind threw you back.


Going back to school hadn't been so bad. Your condition had been kept at a low note for, according to the director, your safety. You weren't sure what that meant or what exactly it entailed (at least, you were hoping that it was just your overactive imagination at work when you considered that there were people trying to assassinate you. The fact that two of the Level 5s had once visited you to tell you they'd protect you didn't help calm the ludicrous imagination either), but it forced you to act polite and friendly to everyone like you knew them. You had to memorize all your previous classmates' names and others you supposedly interact with frequently, and it was wearing you down faster than you had ever expected. The recent dreams you've been having didn't help in the slightest, zapping whatever energy was left in you. Somehow, you felt like the dreams were important but you could barely remember them once you woke up, doing nothing but exhaust you before your day could even start. By the end of your last period, you all but escaped the School Garden in favor of walking around the city by yourself.

You still recalled some of the places your friends had showed you that one time you went to the arcade. It had been an hour since you left school, and you were feeling thirsty after walking around. You remembered there was a vending machine around the park though so you decided that as your next destination.

To be honest, the vending machine didn't look very promising.

It looked worn. It wasn't old but it looked overused. There were dents on the right side of the machine and it seemed like it had to have been repaired more than a few times. But you were getting really thirsty and the closest convenience store was another block away so you decided to just settle for it.

You dug your pocket for some change but found none. You took out your Gekota wallet, and your eye twitched.

"...five thousand yen...?" you mumbled as you stared at the bills in your wallet. While you certainly have more than five thousand on hand (that wasn't the issue though), you obviously lacked the coins that was needed for the vending machine.

You stared at it for a moment, conflicted. For some reason, your gut was telling you not to trust this dingy machine. It already looked a little suspicious but there was a nagging thought in your head that seemed convinced that the machine was giving off an aura that clearly said 'Evil Vending Machine' even though you couldn't really remember what wrong the electronic juice dispenser had ever done to you.

After a moment of indecision, you took out your smallest bill (which was the five thousand yen) and fed it to the vending machine.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Before the machine could get the bill, a high school boy (based on his uniform) suddenly grabbed your wrist, pushing the hand that held your money away from the machine.

You looked at him in slight surprise, confused as to why this spiky black haired boy had suddenly appeared and why he stopped you. "What?"

"Sorry, but you can't buy from this vending machine." He said, and your brow rose in confusion. "This thing eats bills, you know."

You lowered the hand with your money (and the one he had been holding), and frowned at the vending machine. "But... I'm thirsty." You told him, and for a moment, you thought of how silly you had sounded with your complaint. You ignored it though because you were really thirsty and needed a drink. You remembered the convenience store a block away and almost pouted at the thought of walking there just to get a drink. "And I don't have any change." You mumbled silently to yourself.

Before you could decided whether it was worth getting your five thousand yen eaten to save yourself from walking a block, the boy's hands were suddenly in front of you, inserting coins into the coin slot. Before you could comprehend what he had just done, he said, "There, you can choose one now."

You blinked, taken aback by his sudden actions. "Huh? Wait, that was your money!"

"I know," he easily replied, "And I said you can pick a juice now. Or would you rather walk to that convenience store on the next block for a drink?"

You shook your head, "That's not the point. I can't just make you buy me a drink."

"You didn't. I chose to buy you one."

"But I—"

"Just pick one, will you?" he interrupted you in an amused tone, smiling lightly, "Seriously, it's not a big deal."

You opened your mouth again to argue but stopped yourself. Here was a guy you didn't even know saving you from getting your money eaten and treating you to a free drink, and you did nothing but complain? "Okay... thanks." You said, pushing the button for Coconut cider and listening to the can drop.

Once you got your drink, he once again inserted some coins and this time, chose a drink for himself. You took a step back to give him room to grab his drink as you opened your own can. You watched him intently the whole time, feeling a small tug in your mind. You felt like you've seen him before: the spiky black hair, the dark blue eyes and the easy going smile. There was also a tug at your chest that you couldn't explain, a feeling of longing you couldn't comprehend.

"Is there something on my face?"

His voice brought you out of your reverie and you instantly blushed at being caught staring. You shook your head in an attempt to save face, stuttering out, "N-nothing."

He was obviously unconvinced as he scrutinized you but let the matter go with a hum. He finished his drink without moving from his spot while you stared at your can, stealing glances from him.

You were once again openly staring when he finished his juice and threw away the can on the trash bin beside the vending machine, but this time, curiosity won over and you asked, "Do I know you?"

He turned to you with a light grin and a shrug. "I don't know... do you?" he asked cryptically.

You frowned a little at his tone. "I..." you trailed off, unsure whether you should tell this possibly complete stranger of your condition. But somehow, there was an unexplainable sense of trust that you felt for him, and it only made you more confused. Still, you told him albeit hesitantly, "I have problems with my memories."

He was quiet for a moment, but his sudden blank expression revealed nothing if he was even surprised or not. "Is that so?" he mumbled after a second, and then his smirk was back on his face. "Well, do you remember if you know me?"

Your immediate response was to look at him dryly and say, "Of course not. That's why I'm asking you, you idiot."

You weren't sure but you thought his smile faltered at your words. "I see..." He said, almost sadly. But then he was smiling again so quickly that you brushed it off as a trick of the light. "Well, once you do remember, tell me. I always pass by here." He said before walking away, leaving you with your half-empty can of juice in front of the vending machine.


"Hey, Kuroko?" You began as you and your kouhai made your way to the family restaurant where you would be meeting up with Saten-san and Uiharu-san. You passed by the vending machine at the park, and it made you remember.

"Yes, Onee-sama?"

You paused for just a moment before asking, "Did I know a guy—a high school student, with black spiky hair and dark blue eyes?" you asked, gesticulating each description.

There was a flash of recognition on her face but she covered it up so quickly that you had almost missed it. Her expression was back to normal, as if nothing happened, as she answered you. "I cannot confirm or deny that you did, seeing as you had suitors that you had never bothered to introduce to us."

Your face contorted into a grimace. "S-suitors?"

She nodded, smiling lightly, "I couldn't blame Onee-sama though. I knew you never liked any of them. But back to the point, this boy you are referring to may be one of those. I cannot be sure though."

After shaking off the uncomfortable thought of actually having suitors, you considered what your friend had just told you. You didn't want to accuse but you weren't convinced that Kuroko was telling the truth. Plus, the boy hadn't acted like a suitor. He didn't flirt or anything, and he didn't even introduce himself when you told him that you don't remember him. "I don't think he's a suitor." You mumbled absently under your breath.

Kuroko seemed to have heard you because she asked, "Why not?"

You opened your mouth to explain; to tell her how the boy had been friendly to you, how he had helped you but didn't even ask for your name, and how he had smiled at you so easily with those gentle dark blue orbs that made something stir within your stomach.

He didn't tell you, but you were almost certain that he knew you and that he had known you didn't remember him.

You shook your head, dismissing the ludicrous thoughts. You were probably just overthinking and looking too much into things again. "Never mind. Let's hurry and meet up with the rest."


Author's Notes:

I guess by now you know that I only update when I'm trying to procrastinate so! Take a wild guess how much stuff I have to do now! :DDDD

Also, Oxenfree is such a good game and i would either continue playing it until the wee hours of the night (again) or post this chapter. I chose this one because hey. I actually need sleep. And I promised one of you i won't take five months this time

Fair warning though. next chapter might take a while

Also I hope you aren't too disappointed about this chapter XDDD not a lot happened here and Mikoto doesn't even know it's Touma but at least we all do, right? and c'mon, first meeting yaaaaaayy! of course this won't be his last. I think he'll have the most chapters... i think... but yaaaaaayyy!

Next Chapter: You Put the Caps in GUTS!

NOW WHO COULD THIS BE?

seriously though. These two chapters have been give aways when it comes to the whole 'guess who's next?' game XD

wish me luck so I won't fail my classes and I'll graduate this semester

~~61wisampa