WORLD OF SUITS

~ Michi ~

"Oh man…" I frowned as I glared at the schedule that was taped to the wall once I got to work. "Shin, Ikki and I really are all off on the same day."

"I told you to be careful," Musca poked my cheek. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." This just made me feel even worse… "Oh, hey… It looks like Sawa is working today. Cool." We texted every day but hadn't hung out since the kimono shopping.

"Who else?"

"Looks like…" I blinked and stood up straighter. "Kent."

"Really? Looks like meeting him is easier than we thought it would be."

"Yeah… I really don't know what to expect, though."

"Michi, hey!" Sawa greeted me as she came in.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm okay. I'm taking some math courses online to help get ready for the next college term, but it's not going well. My brain is fried." She laughed. "And you?"

"I'm not up to much, really." College, huh? It was something to think about. After I was done with the four pathways, what was I going to do? This was my life now, after all. I did have that letter from Myouga University saying I could become a student starting next term… It was as good an idea as any. Maybe.

"Hey, Kent. You're looking as energetic as ever." I jumped when Sawa spoke again, in a teasing voice.

The man who had come in just looked at her. "Is that what my expression reads as? I wasn't aware."

"Uh…" Sawa shook her head. "It was a joke. You know, because, you… never look excited. You know what, never mind. I should have known you wouldn't get it." She turned to me, smiling with half amusement and half awkwardness. "You remember Kent, Michi."

"Uh…" Should I lie when I had no memories at all of him right now? But since I had worked at the café before, I definitely would have met him. I was able to slide through on forgetting Ikki, but I couldn't know how things were right now. Crap… Sawa was starting to look puzzled at my hesitation. "Sorry, I don't."

"Are you sure it's fine to admit you don't remember him?" Musca asked warily.

I'm a bad liar anyways. That was the only choice.

"I hope it's fine…" We both looked at Kent now.

"You've forgotten me after not seeing me for only six months." He gazed at me, unreadable. "Highly unlikely. But if you say so, I suppose I can't easily refute you."

"Are you calling Michi a liar?" Sawa glared at him.

"I'm calling her forgetfulness strange."

"Let's just stop talking about it and get to work." I patted Sawa's back as thanks. She'd been very cool, coming to my defense so quickly. "But I'm telling the truth when I say I have no memories of you." I shrugged at Kent. "Sorry about it."

"This makes me nervous," Musca fretted, wringing her hands.

It'll be fine. Don't worry.

During my break time that day I met Sawa in the break room, just finishing up her period of respite. "Hey, working hard?" I plopped down and smiled at her.

"I guess so. It's a relief to be away from my computer staring at numbers I don't understand." She laughed, then frowned at me. "Seriously though… You don't remember Kent?"

"It's weird. My mind's just blank." I spoke carefully and slowly, trying to buy time to craft a passable excuse. "I mean… After traumatic experiences, people forget things. I guess after my dad's death, my mind pushed out any extra stuff." I didn't like lying to her too, since she wasn't really involved, but it felt necessary. I had to save face here and not let them know it was full-blown amnesia.

"Oh… I'm sorry." Sawa gave me a brief hug. "I've got to get back. Enjoy your break."

I sighed with relief after she was gone. "Oh man…"

"I think she believed you. Good job at thinking on your toes." Musca nodded, satisfied.

"Yeah. I wonder if Kent would believe the same thing… He was pretty quick to call me out."

"He seems odd. Like not understanding that Sawa was kidding."

"He's not the first person to ever not get a joke."

"Are you talking to yourself?" A new voice interrupted our conversation.

I jumped up, chair clattering to the floor behind me. "Oh, heyyy, Kent. How ya doin'?"

"You countered a question with a question. That means you're…" He paused. "Nervous, that's it. Why?"

"Because you sneaked up on me. And yes, I was talking to myself. Who else would I be talking to?"

"Point." He sat down. "It's really of no consequence whether or not you remember me. We weren't close."

"Oh. Okay then." Technically, this made my job harder. If he was telling the truth and we didn't have a prior friendship, there wasn't a lot of groundwork already made in helping him with whatever his ordeal was. "Why?"

"Hm. I wonder." He lowered his eyes as he thought. "You forgot Ikkyu as well. This hurt his feelings badly. Thus, I began to dislike you."

I blinked at him. "Ikkyu. You mean Ikki?"

"Yes." His gaze flicked back up to me. "My feelings are irrational. You have never done anything to me personally. You were always polite when we did speak to one another. Yet my opinion of you became negative."

"Well… You were mad about me hurting a friend of yours. And that's fine. I don't think it's irrational. It's a bit sweet of you, in fact. Kind of like quietly sticking up for him, y'know?"

"Hm. I tell you I dislike you, and you compliment me in return. Stranger still."

"What? No it's not. It's because I'm cool, you got that? And you being mad on Ikki's behalf makes you sort of cool too. End of story. Stop questioning things; it'll drive you crazy to think in circles like that."

"Sweet and cool. You've complimented me twice. I do not understand."

"Just… stop thinking about it. Look, Ikki and I are becoming friends now. Maybe you and I can too. Think about that instead, yeah?"

"Hm… Perhaps I'll give it some thought."

"Okay. So, why do you call Ikki by Ikkyu?"

"That is his real name, after all. In addition, it annoys him."

"You get mad on his behalf, and you like to annoy him." I laughed. "Sounds like a friendship I guess."

"I find the whole thing illogical, still. Human relationships are more complex than problems written on paper."

"Well, yeah. I'd say so." I picked the chair back up and pushed it in. "Are you on break now too?"

"No. I was hoping to talk to Sawa, but it seems she was done and back to work before I came here."

"Ah. Well, you can talk to her any other time."

"Hm. Perhaps it's for the best. There is such a thing as timing. Although I don't comprehend it. The environment or time doesn't change what's being said."

"Uh… Wrong."

"Explain."

"Okay… Imagine you're about to tell someone you dropped their ice cream sundae that they had just made on the floor. So, pretend that they had a bad day already. That ice cream sundae was the only thing they had looked forward to the entire day. Do you tell them right after it happens or do you give them a minute to relax?"

"Right as it happens. It's best to do things expediently."

"Wrong! They had a bad day. You don't mercilessly make it worse. You wait until they're comfortable, and then you tell them. You make them a new sundae, and one for yourself too. It's a win-win situation."

"… I don't think you used the best example. Nothing has been made clear to me."

"Fine. We can use a better one. A real life one. What were you about to tell Sawa?'

"I was going to ask her to date me."

"Okay, so…" I trailed off. "Oh. Well, uh… So. You were going to do it right now?" That had been the last thing I expected.

"Yes."

"Wrong!"

"How so?"

"She's at work. Her feet hurt because she's been on them. It's hot in the kitchen, so she feels a bit sweaty. She doesn't feel like the uniform suits her anyways, so she feels a bit unattractive even though she's really cute. What girl wants to be asked out under those conditions?"

"I see." Kent frowned. "Then what are the proper conditions?"

"Let's see…" I looked at my phone as it beeped, having reached the end of the timer I had set. "Whoops, my break's over. Let's talk later, okay?"

"Ah. Very well then."

"That was certainly, um…" Musca sighed. "As I thought, he's weird."

"Nah." I grinned. "He's funny." This was going to be interesting.