WORLD OF SUITS

~ Michi ~

"Oh man…"

"What did you remember? What?" Musca shook me excitedly.

I jumped up and started rooting through every drawer I could find. "Come on, it's here somewhere…"

"What are you doing? What is it? The anticipation is killing me here, Michi."

"Ah-hah! I found it!"

"What did you find?!"

"Look." I had put it in a box, saved it even as it withered and withered over the years. I held it gingerly in my palms, the long-dead flower ring. It looked ready to crumble into dust at any moment. "Ikki gave it to me right before I moved." I sighed. "I really did promise to marry him, but we were just kids then. It wasn't serious."

"Oh… What else?"

"We were inseparable ever since we started school together. I guess since I started off with the Heart World, I had just forgotten everything…"

"That seems plausible. If you started with Shin, it would make sense that memories of Ikki wouldn't come through to confuse you."

"Hmm..."

"How are you feeling after talking with Shin?"

"I don't know. I mean…" I still loved him, but I couldn't be too upset with how things had ended up. It could have been a lot worse, after all. "But it's certain that I have other things to take care of. I'll figure it out as I go along."

Musca nodded. "So what now?"

I pulled out my phone and dialed. "I have to talk to Ikki."

~ Ikki ~

She had sounded so serious on the phone… I need to see you, she'd said… It kept ringing in my ears. I kept calm on the outside while I waited but my insides were being swirled around with excitement and nervousness born from curiosity.

"Hey!" She called out as she ran up to me, and I had to resist the initial urge to jump a bit from being startled out of my thoughts. "Hey, how are you?"

Slowly devolving into a nervous wreck. "Fantastic, now that you're here. The sight of you fills me with happiness."

She snorted. "Laying it on a little thick, aren't you? Just be yourself around me, okay? I'll be able to tolerate you then."

I shook my head and smiled. "I was being genuine." The fact that she could resist my eyes had me basically addicted to her presence.

"Huh. Well, okay, whatever you want. Anyways, let's walk and talk."

"Sure." I was on pins and needles because I still had no idea what she had called me out for.

"Alright, so listen to me and tell me if I've got it right. See, I ended up, uh, thinking about you a lot, so I remembered a few things."

My heart leaped. "Fire away. I'm all ears."

"So. We met in elementary school and were close since we were always put next to each other in class, and when we figured out we lived in nearby neighborhoods we played like, every chance we could. Right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"But then my parents divorced and I had to move just as we were starting middle school."

"Unfortunately."

She sighed. "Well… That's the gist of it anyways. I've definitely got some good memories now… Uh, sorry I forgot about you."

"Another apology from you, Michi. I can hardly believe it," I teased.

"Whatever."

"Tell me about one of the memories of me you have."

"Oh." She tilted her head as she thought about it. "Ooh, yeah. There was this one time we both sneaked out to play even though it was raining really hard and our parents had told us to wait for another day. We hadn't even changed out of our school uniforms, and we got so muddy, our whites never looked exactly white again. Ha! Our parents were so mad."

"I remember that too." I laughed. "You ate a mud pie. I never thought you would actually do it."

"You dared me to and bet that I wouldn't! What else did you expect?" She grinned up at me. That sort of brightness, my sunglasses couldn't do anything against.

"I just remember learning that a mudball fight isn't as good as a snowball fight."

"Agreed. Man, it was just… Those were good times. I'm glad I remember." The fondness in her voice made nostalgia sweep through me too, making me feel warm. "Oh yeah…" She reached into her purse and pulled something out, cradling it gingerly in her cupped hands. "See? Turns out I still had it."

Although it was shriveled and dead, barely what it had once been, I recognized it as the flower I had given to her while proclaiming my feelings as a child. "Hah… Haha!" I suddenly couldn't stop laughing.

"What's funny?"

"I don't know, I just…" I swallowed my hysterics. "It makes me a little bit happy, to look back on it all after so much time has passed."

"Me too. You know, it's better when you laugh like this, openly. When you're talking with some people, the way you laugh and speak seems really forced. Yeah… Much better, just like this." She smiled warmly, and I melted a little in the heat. That expression morphed into a startled and slightly panicked one as the wind plucked the dead flower ring out of her hands. She started after it, only for us both to watch it land on the ground and be crushed under the feet of passersby. "Oh man…!" She crouched down and gathered up the fragments of it after she had shouldered through the crowd with me on her heels.

I bent down next to her. "You don't have to look so upset."

"But… Dude, imagine that someone just came in and threw a jar of your favorite salsa on the floor right after you'd bought it. Salsa everywhere, huge mess. That's what this feels like. Only worse. Much worse."

I couldn't help but laugh at the strange analogy. "Well…" I tucked hair behind her ear. "I can make you a new one anytime. In fact, I'd like to, since it seems like we're starting over now."

She looked doubtful. "Are you sure you're not mad?"

"I'm sure." I grabbed her hand and pulled her up, letting the remnants of the flower be lost to the breeze for good as they tumbled out of her grasp. "Come on."

"Wait, what?"

"Just let me take care of it, okay? It's a surprise."

"Slow down a little, okay? I've got short legs."

I stopped running, hoping that she would let me keep holding her hand like this. A glance let me know she was staring down at our entwined fingers, frowning. Even with that, I was resolved to let go only if she pulled away on her own. I didn't want to let go of her again if I didn't have to.

~ Michi ~

"Have you ever been in here before?" Ikki asked while smiling back at me.

"… No." It looked like it was a craft store, a tiny building hidden in a nook along the strip of places to shop. I wouldn't have noticed it anyways, since I was busy inspecting the position my hand was in.

"Michi?" Musca tilted her head at me. "What are you thinking about? You look very concentrated."

I just shook my head at her. The material of his glove was smooth and slightly cool against my hand. His bare hand would probably be warmer than this. "Anyways." I coughed. "Why are we here?"

Ikki looked around to make sure the coast was clear before taking his sunglasses off. I was startled to see that his eyes were bright with excitement. "I have something I want to do. Help me out just a little bit, okay?"

"Uh, okay? What do you want me to do?"

"Just tell me what you like." There was a vast array of plastic flowers set up in an row of large bins.

"Oh." Looking around, there were a lot of things in here, like empty chains and charms to make your own jewelry and fabrics to sew your own clothes. "Oh, cool. How come I didn't know about this place?"

"Well, you know now. Take a look." He was so excited about it I was amiable to concentrating on the flowers. I didn't really understand what he was up to, but hey, I'd go along with it. I picked some dark blue ones, some pick ones with white centers, and some purple ones with deep red spheres to resemble berries attached.

"Does that work?"

He was smiling away, seeming very satisfied. "Yes."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"That's a surprise." He winked, then laughed when I glared at him. "What's that for?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Geez, why did he have to be so damn charming?