Chapter 1: Echoes

(A/N: This is inspired by a lot of mid 2000s and 2010s shoujo manga. If anything needs clarification drop a review. I've written a separate chapter that's just a key with character names as well. It will always be updated as the last chapter. Most recent chapter will be second to last. Thank you!)

April 8th, 2016:

It had started off a good day at the shop; Kouki, the trainee, had been doing a great job at food prep lately. Which meant Hattori and Yoshioka were able to get a head start on their daily commitments. In turn, giving Shinji had more time to experiment with recipes today. Shinji was so pleased after seeing to the conception of items, several of which he predicted to be surefire best-sellers, that he treated his employees to an early dismissal. Foot traffic was starting to slow down and he decided he could handle an hour by himself. Well, that's what he thought before this complete nuisance showed up:

"All right! I'll take two boxes of cream puffs, two shortcakes, two of your finest apple tarts, and uh… actually make that four tarts. No, three. No, six. No —"

Shinji tiredly watched the blonde man dither between display cases. "Sometime today, Jun." He gritted out. Dealing with Jun Miyazaki always brought him back to the few times in high school when they were assigned seats next to each other. Shinji couldn't escape the guy's various ramblings for two whole terms freshman year.

"Okay, fine. Three tarts. A dozen eclairs aaaaand one of those sweet swiss rolls to top it all off." The cheerful voice snapped Shinji out of his thoughts.

"Great." Shinji replied. Although, his mood wasn't so great, the faster he got this asshole out of his establishment the better. He put a seal on the last container. "That'll be 32,000 yen."

"Steep prices," Jun whistled, "Good thing everyone's chipping in this year." He reached over the counter for the loaded bags, setting them on the floor before taking his wallet out of his coat pocket. He flicked through credit cards until choosing one to give to the violet-haired head chef.

Jun hummed to himself and took in the interior while Shinji finished ringing up the order.

Electivire was one sleek bakery: marble countertops, a monochromatic color scheme, and a few sparsely placed industrial hanging lights. The minimalist decor contrasted greatly with the intricate desserts that had just been packed away. But Jun did believe the bakery truly matched the soul of its proprietor. He glanced back at the stone-faced man behind the register.

"Great place you got here, Shinji" Jun tested the waters.

"Thanks." Shinji replied shortly. Although, the satisfied look on his face betrayed any attempts at stoicism. Shinji returned the credit card to Jun.

"Hey, are you sure you don't wanna come to the reunion? It's not too late!" Jun grinned, pocketing the piece of plastic.

"No thanks." Shinji responded without missing a beat.

"Awww, but come on! I told Midori-chan and Shigeru where I was getting the snacks and they said to bring you." Jun supplied.

"Again. No thanks." Shinji started wiping down the counter with a rag.

"...Isn't there anyone you're even a little bit interested in seeing? Moriyama-sensei's class was a real cool group of people." Jun tried. Shinji put a pause to his cleaning. His muscles were tensed up all of a sudden. Jackpot, Jun grinned. He thought Shinji and he would be getting on the next train to Shinjuku(1) together any moment now.

But instead an odd expression crossed Shinji's face. Dark blue hair and an easy smile appeared in his mind. Yet any consideration of going to the class reunion to meet this person went as quickly as it came. 'No, she's probably still in the US. Ayako never mentioned anything,' he concluded.

Jun became more uncomfortable the longer the silence stretched on. Which is why he was so very relieved when Shinji met him with, "Didn't you say it started at six?"

Jun looked down at his watch. "Ack! You're right. Midori'll kill me." He snatched his goodies and sped out the door. Jun gave a final emphatic wave,"Good seeing you Shinji. Let's hang out sometime!" The door slammed shut in his wake.

Shinji lamely raised his arm back. Since the store was peaceful again, he was able to execute closing procedures normally. After taking care of the leftover products from the day, he walked out onto the floor to start mopping. It wasn't until he made his way to the front of the store that he noticed an eerily familiar package tucked into the corner. He scowled at the sight.

"That idiot left half his order behind."

Earlier. April 2nd, 2016:

Hikari coughed from the dust floating in the air.

She'd been back in Japan for close to a month now. It was utter madness the first two weeks. Housing had been frustrating to say the least as well as adjusting to all her new co-workers. Thankfully, things had cooled down the third week. Today was the first day that both Ayako and Hikari schedules didn't overlap. Now, Hikari could spend some much needed catching-up time with her mom.

She was so thrilled to meet Ayako at the airport. She literally screamed when she saw her. A couple bystanders shot strange looks at the 26 year old woman. Hikari didn't care. Sure, they video-chatted while Hikari was in New York but it just wasn't the same. Seeing mom in person is worth the spectacle.

"I missed you so, so much my darling girl." Ayako whispered when Hikari went in for a hug. Hikari just squeezed her tighter.

Hikari smiled at the memory of the happy reunion. Today the duo went to the spa in the morning, checked out some of their favorite haunts, and wrapped it all up with a night in. Ayako had insisted she stay the night for old time's sake. And wrapped in the warm feeling of home, Hikari could hardly turn the woman down. Her mom had stopped by her childhood doorway a couple hours ago to bid her goodnight.

Hikari waved her on, "Ok, I think I'll stay up a little longer. I'm having fun going through old things."

It was true. Memory lane led to some amusing findings. It first started with her going through old clothes to donate:

Her old jersey - she was wearing it right now.

A hot pink military jacket - 'I guess this can be used as inspiration.' She mused.

A jean skirt with about a thousand ruffles - 'I can't believe we used to think that this was fashionable,' She recalled a time where Haruka Hayashi and she had fought over this very skirt.

She then moved onto a box that previously lived at the bottom of her closet. It was pretty nondescript. Just your average cardboard box that you throw all your unused school supplies into.

Inside was a pile of notebooks. These weren't any old physics notes. Ohoh, Hikari knew that well. She plucked the top volume from the stack and walked over to her bed. She perched on the side then gingerly cracked open the book's cover. Immediately she was greeted by a distinct blocky handwriting.

"Heh, so stiff.'' she snickered. She ran her thumb across the characters.

The next page was littered in diagrams and some of her own precise handwriting. She thought, 'wow, we had some really out there ideas.'

Though the more she flipped through the pages, watching ancient hopes and dreams pass by, the more feelings of ruefulness overtook her. She closed the notebook with a deep exhalation. 'Ugh, he probably still hates me.' she thought. Her bangs cast a dark shadow over her eyes.

Mercifully, her phone dinged, breaking Hikari from her reverie. It was Nozomi. They just met up the other day. Hikari had such a ball catching up, it was like she never left.

Hikari picked up, "Hey Noz, what's up?"

"Hikari! Glad I caught you. You know I got so carried away at lunch that this thought totally slipped my brain." Nozomi answered.

"Huh, What was it you wanted to say?" Hikari responded.

"I mentioned to Midori Nagao from high school that we were going to be hanging out." Nozomi started.

"Uhuh?" Hikari repositioned herself on the mattress.

"Anyway, she said to relay to you that she's hosting a class reunion on the 8th. Think you can swing it?" asked Nozomi.

Hikari answered without a second thought, "Totally! I haven't seen everyone in ages. I'd really like to see Haruka-chan and Kasumi-chan again."

"Ok, I'll let her know. Sorry it's so late. I basically just remembered." Nozomi said.

"No need to worry!" Hikari exclaimed. She could hear Nozomi chuckling on the other side of the phone upon hearing her friend's youthful catchphrase.

"Awesome! Okay I'm going too, so I'll see you there. Thanks, Hikari." Nozomi ended the call.

'This is great', thought Hikari. Nozomi had kept her updated while she was in America. She flew in three years ago for for Haruka and Shuu's wedding. It was a lovely ceremony but she had to admit she felt a bit at a loss when mingling with some of her former classmates during the reception. No matter, this would be the perfect opportunity to set down roots again.

She rolled onto her side. Her eyes landed on the well-worn journal sitting on her nightstand. 'Hmm. I wonder if he'll be there.' She eyed the notebook wearily. However, the promise of seeing old friends outweighed the slow-building anxiety.

And with that Hikari pulled the covers over herself. The waves of slumber washed over her within a couple of minutes.

(A/N:

Honorifics:

-chan, a title added to someone's name to show you are very familiar with them. Usually for women and girls. Very cutesy.

-sensei, title for teachers

Footnotes:

1. Shinjuku: A huge shopping district on the west side of Tokyo.)