Work Text:
The world was a beautiful place—even in flat, repetitive grayscale. Sakura flowers blossoming and the petals gently floating to the ground, fluffy clouds lazily floating across an endless sky, the pleated skirts of Misaki’s classmates swaying in the spring breeze. There were times when she wondered what it would be like to walk through the school and be able to see how the colors of their uniform looked on the other students’ skin, the colors of their hair and their eyes shining in the light. But she had other things to think about and more important things to do, none of which involved standing around and wondering what Tsurumaki Kokoro’s hair color was while she dragged that other girl into… whatever she was doing over there. Some kind of street performance? No matter. Her priority right then was this meeting with her new manager.
“Akari! Where are you?” a voice called. All of a sudden, the only thing Misaki saw was the figure of a girl skidding to a stop in front of her. “Ah! I’m sorry! I nearly walked right into—”
Now both standing still, the girls looked at each other’s faces.
“—you.”
The world exploded with color.
It started with the girl. Pale skin, her cheeks flushed from running, shining brown eyes, and short, brilliant orange hair—and the same tan Hanasakigawa uniform Misaki wore. How had she never noticed this girl before? Her heart pounded in her chest like it never had before. Even as the world around them filled in with colors—reds and blues and greens and all of the colors she had imagined seeing—all she could look at was the girl in front of her.
A huge smile spread across the girl’s face. “Do you—do you see it too?” she asked, all but jumping up and down.
Misaki nodded. “I—Yeah, I do,” she replied. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She had come out today expecting to start a calm, easy part-time job. She hadn’t been expecting to meet her soulmate. “You go to my school?”
The girl glanced from Misaki’s face to her uniform and back again. “Oh my gosh! We go to the same school! Which class are you in?”
“1-C. You?”
“1-A!” The girl almost squealed. “I’m so happy to meet you!” she exclaimed. “Oh, I’m sorry, I totally forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hagumi. Kitazawa Hagumi. I work just down the street there at my family’s butcher’s shop!”
Misaki couldn’t help but smile at Hagumi. “Okusawa Misaki. I’m starting work here,” she said, motioning to the storefront they stood in front of. Her manager had disappeared into the store, leaving the girls to their meeting. “I just—I don’t really know what to say. I wasn’t expecting anything like this to happen.”
Hagumi’s smile was so bright it was almost hard to look at. Almost. “Neither did I! I’m just out looking for—oh, no, I’m so, so sorry, but I have to go. I need to find Akari.” She pulled her phone out. “Can we trade info real quick? I promise I’ll call you as soon as I can! Or I can text you, if you’re more of a texter.”
Misaki retrieved her own phone. They traded for a moment to put their contact information in. “Either is good,” she said. They traded back—and Hagumi dove in for a hug. Had Misaki ever stopped smiling since they first saw each other? She wasn’t sure, but she hugged back with her heart full in a way she could never begin to describe.
Even after Hagumi was gone, off running down the street in search of Akari—whoever that was—, she was so happy she didn’t know what to do with herself. All she could do was try to collect her thoughts again and go inside to talk to her manager.