A Centimeter Closer Chapter 3

Convergence

Author's Comments: Sorry about the lack up recent update. Between returning to school, work, and random power outages, I've been rather pressed for time to finish this chapter.

Well, I've gotten some reviews, and that's a good start. I'd like to make some general statements. First off, thank you to my reviewers! Appreciate each and every one of you! Second, the fic itself was intended not to be as teary as the movie. In fact, I'm a fan of happy endings. Not to say there won't be sadness, but I feel like it would be a disservice to Mr. Shinkai not to play the story to real life, and part of real life is happiness. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

The cell phone hit the wall and broke into a half a dozen pieces. Takaki had expected it to shatter against the wall, or something equally impressive. Instead, it hit with a dull thud and a crack, and then was lying on the floor in several pieces.

After years of frustration, the phone was finally lying on the ground. Takaki hated the thing. It was like some leash that he could not be rid of. It had brought him so much misery, from his mail which still sat on the "Not Sent" section to the final words from his former girlfriend.

That was the most recent problem. She had decided to call off their relationship since, as she had put it, not even a thousand e-mails would make their hearts grow any closer. Now, here she was, wondering why it was she had not been mentioned. She was wondering why she was not a part of his life. And she was wondering if she could come back in.

Takaki roughly punched the desk he was sitting at, and felt the tears threatening to come up. It was not her fault. Not really, when he looked at it closely. The young author was frustrated with himself more than anything. His joys were gone. He had figured this out long ago, but the re-realization of it threatened to overwhelm him. Where had his friends gone? Perhaps, but they were not forgotten. Had they left him or had he left them? Takaki was scared to find out. Could he still find them?

That was the question that haunted him. He used all manner of excuses. He had no limit, really. He was busy with work. They had not seen each other in years. Who knew if they were anywhere nearby? And the question that scared him most of all was what would he do if they did not care any longer?

Not for the first time, he tried, so very hard, to remember that cold winter he had gone on the train to see Akari. It had been freezing. The air bit through his coat, and he wished for the simple heat of a fire. And he had lost the note he had wanted so badly for Akari to read. He sat now, realizing that he would likely not have given it to her anyway.

He tried to remember who had stopped sending the letters first. In the end, he figured that it was unimportant. Akari or Takaki, the fact was, their communication had died. Why did it? Distance? Time? Or was this a part of life one was supposed to accept but he had never been able to?

The young man was sufficiently miserable and lost in thought that he did not notice the man walk into his office door, picking up the pieces of the phone. It was not until he heard the voice in a strange accent that he started.

"My my. Are you Tono Takaki-san? Should I return later?"

Takaki quickly whipped his eyes and turned to see a middle aged American man standing in his doorway, pieces of the phone in hand. He was dressed in formal business wear and had his blonde hair cropped at shoulder length. He peered over small framed glasses and smiled warmly.

"I apologize. The door was open."

"No, no. It is I who should apologize! I just got a rather upsetting e-mail and was trying to work it out calmly but I just-!"

The man held up a hand, making a strained expression.

"Sorry. I am still trying to learn Japanese. I have gotten decent, but I am afraid I still need some work. Slower, if you please."

"Sorry. It was just an overreaction."

"Ah. Ex-girlfriend?"

"How did you-?"

"Only thing that comes to mind for your reaction."

Standing up taller, the man cocked his head, then held out his hand.

"I do not think I introduced myself. My name is Damien. Rose Damien."

Taking his hand, Takaki said, "It is nice to meat you, Rose-san. Tono Takaki, though I think you knew that."

"Yes," he said, then smiled. "You know, I may never get used to putting my surname first."

"Is it hard? I have trouble with the English way of doing it."

Damien chuckled a bit. "Yes, it can be strange learning a new language." His face turned serious. "Now, I think I need to run things by you. I am the representative of this company in America, but I just received the job around a month ago. I am supposed to be meeting you, the up and coming star. But looking at things, I think I should probably wait to talk about things with you."

"No, no. I was just…it's complicated."

Smiling, Damien turned and nodded his head at the door.

"Why don't I treat you to a drink? A way of starting a good professional relationship."

"Well, I…um." Realizing he had precious little excuse not to, he nodded. "Sure."

Damien smiled and gave him a pat on the back. Feeling a little better, if for no other reason than the unfamiliar contact, he slowly walked out.

The air was fairly crisp, and smelled wonderful. The cherry blossoms were really in full bloom. He could see under the street lights a few blow down. Like snow, they fell to the ground and gave it a light coat. Takaki looked at them and started to think once again. He had promised to watch this again with Akari. So many years ago. It had been so long. Thinking of that made tears well up in his eyes again.

Damn. That was all he could think. Damn, damn, and damn. He was a grown man. This was not how grown men were supposed to behave, especially in company. He distantly heard Damien talking about something or another, but his mind was in another time and place. Or perhaps it was out of time and space completely. He was on that field, looking up at the night sky with Akari next to him. He stared out smiled, comforted by the fact that she was next to him. He reached for her hand, and felt nothing.

He turned to find nothing but the empty street with soft petals on them, blown away as a car drove past. Clenching his fist, he lowered his head. He would not show anyone his tears. Despite the pain he could physically feel in his chest, he would not show it.

He felt himself being guided into a small outdoor bar and briefly heard Damien order something for two. Damien held out a drink. The last think Takaki remembered from that night was the comment his new business partner made.

"May you find joy, Tono Takaki."

Having been in few situations as strange as this one, Akari and Kanae never expected to be sitting in a room with each other, watching what they had just watched on television.

Akari looked at the screen. It had been turned off for a few minutes now, but that was the point she fixed her gaze. It was the last place she had seen the one man in her life who she had wanted to see for all these years.

Kanae, for her part, stared at her cup of tea, a fierce blush on her face. Takaki had been on the television. He was making announcements about a book he was writing. It was like watching a dream put on the screen. The last thing he had said…

"They are my two best friends, despite having not seen them in a while, I hope that they might see this at some point. Sumita Kanae and Shinohara Akari, if you see this, thank you very much for the friendship you were able to show me. You will likely never know how much it means to me."

The two women sat silent. They had had an awkward meeting, but the two were now having an even more awkward conversation.

It had been a little over a week since Akari had introduced herself to Kanae. Since that time, they had exchanged E-mails about when they could meet. It had taken this long to find the time between each of their respective professions. They had decided to meet at a small café next to the bookshop they had first seen each other at.

Now they both sat wondering at the fact that they had seen the man they had intended to meet the whole time.

"Sumita-san."

Akari looked over to the woman who sat staring at her cup. She had not raised her head to look the other woman in the eye. Akari felt herself slightly tense at that. It had not dawned on her just how unusual the situation must be for Kanae. They were two complete strangers, meeting in a public place to discuss a friend who neither had seen in years. Suddenly, the cup of tea seemed very interesting indeed.

"You know, this is somewhat…unusual. I'm sorry to force this on you. I was just hoping you could tell me more about what happened to Takaki-kun."

Kanae frowned a bit. She wondered, not for the first time, whether or not this was the person Tono-kun had been sending E-mails to the whole time. She remembered what she would have given to have had just one of those mails sent to her. Just one, even if all it had to say was, "I just wanted to say hello." Was this woman who he had always been gazing out after? Maybe it was the fact that she had called him 'Takaki-kun,' a feat she had never managed to achieve. Or maybe it was just her familiarity, but Kanae felt very small suddenly.

"I hate to disappoint you. Shinohara, wasn't it? Tono-kun and I were never that close to start with. I would have thought he would have kept up better with his closer friends. He never really got my e-mail or phone number, so it made things difficult to contact him."

Akari did not miss the slight edge of bitterness in Kanae's tone. She had not been close to Takaki, but she had wanted to be. Akari wondered briefly if Takaki had decided to shut himself off from the world. His younger self seemed likely to. Kanae had probably chased after him, but he had likely missed her completely. Takaki-kun, what happened? Akari wondered to herself briefly.

"I'm sorry to bother you, then."

Beginning to get up, she was surprised to be grabbed by Kanae. The woman was near tears, and Kanae remembered a situation similar to this one, years ago in a train station, meeting with the only person she had wanted to meet at the time.

"Please. I'm sorry. I'm just…"

Smiling softly, Akari sat back down, this time next to Kanae. Though she had just met the woman, she felt her heart go out to her. A few minutes later, they had not spoken a word, but Kanae was giving a sad half smile, and Akari felt something close to relief.

"What would you say to a reunion?"

The words shocked Kanae out of her stupor. A reunion? She had to mean with Tono-kun. That was difficult to imagine. He looked different from high school. What if he had changed in other ways too? A part of her wanted to decry the idea, to simply cling to the idealized Tono she had remembered who would stare off into the distance, who was always so kind to her, who would ride home with her, stopping by the mart to buy drinks on the way home, and who would wave as he continued off to his own home. But when she looked at what she was thinking, she realized in her heart that to cling to this memory could not help her. And a chance to see, not a memory, but Tono-kun in the flesh again, was more than she could pass up. A chance to hear his voice, see his face, maybe even touch him again.

"Where do we start?"

Akari looked at the screen. She had a serious look on her face. Then she gave a wide smile and faced Kanae.

"I think I have an idea."

Well? Please R+R. Thank you again to those who reviewed. Trying to improve as a writer needs some nudging. See you all in what is hopefully not a long time.