2023 Tropes & Fandoms: Square: 80/FINISH - Trope: Time Travel
This two part fic series is based solely off of MTR anime canon because I have not played the otome game or watched the movies.
The Magic of the Strawberry Moon
The morning after her return from the Meiji period, Mei awoke in her own bed above the antique shop where she lived and worked with her mother and grandmother. However, since she did not remember coming to her room after her emotional journey...much less falling to sleep...she quickly sat upright with a gasp and immediately grabbed her phone from its usual location on her side table in order to check the time and date. What she saw on there, though, made her gasp again before she collapsed back onto her pillow in an exhausted sort of disbelief.
After all, the calendar on her home screen showed that it was only the day after the strawberry moon...and not a whole month later as she had expected! Therefore, Charlie-san's magic must have worked better than even he had planned. After all, one month...from full moon to full moon...was the exact amount of time she had spent in the past.
Nevertheless, Mei knew for a fact that the last month had not been just a dream. It had really happened! After all, the wonderful memories of her time in Meiji Tokyo flooded over her as she fought to hold back her tears. Her efforts were in vain, however, and the dam burst easily as she turned her face into the pillow and sobbed loudly for everything and everyone she had left behind.
Yet, despite her pain, she knew that it had still been her choice to return. After all, Ougai-san and the others had wanted her to stay. She had wanted to, as well...she really had. However, when all of her memories finally returned after seeing Shunso's completed painting, something had snapped inside of her and she knew without a doubt that it would not have been possible for her to remain in that time period any longer.
She had simply realized that no matter what she might think or how she might feel, it was not meant to be. Ultimately, Ougai-san had his own life to lead (and important stories to write) there in the past...and she had to finally start living her life in the future where she belonged. Therefore, her departure was the right thing to do...for both of them...and for all of the others, as well.
Unfortunately, the knowledge of the truth did not lessen the pain she felt in any way, whatsoever.
Consequently, going to school was obviously not an option for that day. Fortunately, Mei's red eyes and hoarse-from-crying voice quickly convinced her mother and grandmother at breakfast that she was too sick to attend and she was immediately ordered back up to her bed to rest. Nevertheless, as soon after the other women had shut themselves back up into the office to complete the daily paperwork for the store, Mei instead took a detour and went straight to the shop's narrow gallery that featured all of the items that her family had collected from the Meiji era in Tokyo's history.
There, without a second thought, Mei proceeded to remove the Black Cat painting off of the wall and gently lift Ougai's anthology volume down from the bookshelf, as well. She then held both items close to her chest as the warmth of the memories associated with them washed over her.
In all honesty, after everything that had happened, there was simply no way that she could ever condone the sale of such precious mementos to some strange customer off of the street as if they were merely impersonal objects. As a result, she decided that she had to keep them for herself, instead. In fact, Mei determined that if her grandmother would not gift them to her outright, then she would just request the special items to be given to her in lieu of a salary for the next two years until she went to college...or even longer, if necessary!
Mei knew immediately upon hanging Shunso's painting on her own bedroom wall that such a sacrifice would be well worth it. After all, that was when the black spirit cat stepped out of the piece of art in order to twine itself lovingly between her legs before it returned back to its canvas and arranged itself on its branch in the perfect position to keep watch over her and console her in her loneliness...almost as if that had been the sole reason it had been painted there in the first place.
"Thank you," Mei whispered.
After all, that act of ghostly feline affection comforted Mei more than she ever thought could be possible at such a moment. It proved to her that, no matter what, she would never be alone and that she still had a connection to the time she had spent in the past.
It also made her realize that it did not matter how much time or distance now separated her from the amazing friends she had made there...or the love she had experienced. After all, as long as she continued to embrace those previously-scorned tamayori abilities that she now understood so much better, the magic of the strawberry moon would always be with her!
Additional Notes: I can neither speak nor read Japanese. Therefore, I am completely at the mercy of subtitles. Consequently, please keep in mind that translations and spellings in subtitles may vary across streaming platforms.