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Achi Endo had couldn’t help but feel a little … out of place. There was no doubt about it, he didn’t fit here. As he sat awkwardly outside Midoriyama Academy, watching a steady stream of students pass him by, that was the only thought in his head. These people just had an intellectual, serious sort of vibe. People who knew exactly what they were doing, where they were going and how their futures were going to look. Nothing like the way his life had turned out lately. On the bright side, at least the place was clean. The Academy had managed to escape the rubbish and grime of Shibuya, which gave Achi a small feeling of hope. He idly wondered how they did it. If he could replicate their style, he could clean up Shibuya in a week! Hell, maybe even an afternoon if he played his cards right.
“Achi? Earth to Achi!”
Achi jolted out his thoughts as the voice washed over him. He looked up in surprise, springing up when he noticed its owner.
“Oh, Hitomi! I didn’t see you there.”
Hitomi giggled at his answer. Achi felt a smile bloom across his face at the sound. Making her laugh was one of the best feelings in the entire world, no doubt about that. As his thoughts turned to her, Achi desperately hoped he wasn’t blushing.
“So anyway, what did you want to talk about? You needed to say something in person, yeah?”
She looked away, pushing some hair behind her ear as she did so. Was… was she the one blushing? No, it was just a trick of the light.
“Well, yeah. But not here! There’s this really nice cafe we can go to nearby, if you wouldn’t mind?”
Achi nodded with a smile, gesturing her to lead the way.
“Alright. It’s this way. Just follow me!” Hitomi gushed, pointing to a quiet side street.
She turned on her heel and walked purposefully to the indicated street. Achi followed, his long strides quickly catching up with her shorter ones. Walking through the streets of Shibuya like this was a nice change of pace. The last time they had moved through the streets had been filled with panicked running and desperate hiding from…
Oh, right.
The reminder of that day, what had almost happened, triggered a sinking feeling somewhere in Achi’s chest. Sure, the day had been scary. But what tormented him was the ultimate cause for their terror. For Hitomi’s fear, most of all.
“If you knew everything, then you’d be helping me! With this girl’s heart, we can save Suzune!”
Achi could see the scene again, clear as day. The sheer horror of seeing his father, the man he’d always loved, shouting those words and threatening Hitomi’s life in front of his eyes. That her life was in danger the entire day because of him and his desperate need to save Suzune. But more than that, a lingering feeling of dread in his heart.
What would Achi have done in his place?
The idea haunted him. He shot a quick glance at Hitomi before resolutely staring at the footpath under their feet. After everything his family had done to her, did he even really deserve to be around her? Hell, to even look at her? A precious, kind person, who was almost ripped away from her loved ones because of his family. And yet…
“Here it is!” Hitomi exclaimed.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. It looks nice, good choice,” Achi muttered, still not able to bring himself to look at her. If he had, he would have noticed Hitomi sending him a quizzical look.
The sign above the door said ‘Cafe Lautrec’ in neat cursive. Hitomi entered first, a bell above the door making a delightful chime as she did so. Achi quickly followed behind as Hitomi chose a handsome leather booth by a large window. He slid carefully across from her, hurriedly thinking of plan. He’d listen to whatever it was she had to say to him and then leave. Then he’d go pick up garbage around Dogenzaka to clear his head. Alright, he’s got this.
“Achi? You’re spacing out again. Is something wrong?” came Hitomi’s voice, slicing through his thoughts with ease.
“Oh no! Everything’s fine here. What did you want to tell me, anyway?” Achi responded hurriedly, hoping his change of subject worked.
Hitomi’s answering frown dashed that hope instantly. He knew she wasn’t going to let things go that easy. After all, her stubbornness was one of his favourite things about her. He let his gaze drift down to the table, unwilling to meet her eyes.
“Yeah right! You’ve been acting weird all day and now you won’t even look at me!” she said fiercely. Achi guilty snapped his gaze back up to her face, well aware of the truth of her words.
She continued in a softer tone. “You know you can talk to me, right? Really, it’s only fair since you listened to my fears last night. Whatever it is, I want to help you with it! So please Achi, talk to me.”
Damn. The sincerity of the words, coupled with the determination in her eyes, was too much for Achi to ignore.
“Alright, alright, I hear ya,” he said appeasingly. “Just give me a sec to figure out how to explain.”
Hitomi’s frown instantly turned to a triumphant grin. She sat back easily, clearly anticipating his next words. Carefully, Achi mulled over his thoughts. What was the best way to explain? He had never been very good with words, but he wanted to do his best for Hitomi. Just as he was about to open his mouth, a brown-haired woman approached their table. She looked vaguely familiar to Achi, though he couldn’t place her name.
“Hi, I’m Ryoko. I’ll be your waitress for today. What can I get you two?”
Surprisingly, Achi was not at that particular moment concerned with food. Luckily, Hitomi answered first.
“I’ll just have a chamomile tea please.”
“Sure! What would you like si-”
The waitress stopped at the sight of Achi.
“Hey, you’re that guy! The one who helped me out with those thugs a while back!”
Huh? Suddenly, the memory triggered. Right, it was on that day. The day he met Hitomi. The day when his entire life had changed.
“Right, yeah. Good to see you’re holding up.”
“Thanks again for that by the way. They haven’t bothered me since! Anyway, what can I get you?” said the waitress, slipping into a more professional tone as she did so.
“Oh, uh, just get me the same as her,” he replied, gesturing to Hitomi.
“Sure, two chamomile teas, coming soon!”
She quickly walked to the kitchen, no doubt relaying their order to the kitchen. Hitomi sent Achi an amused glance after the waitress had left. However, her face quickly grew serious again as she waited for Achi to speak.
Actually, he was silent for a fair while. The interruption had completely cleared his mind of the words he was going to say, so he had to spend some time to find them again. The waitress delivered their tea and left and finally Achi began to speak.
“It’s just, well. It’s my Dad. He’s finally been charged.”
“Oh, of course.”
“Yeah. I don’t know how to feel. What he did, what he planned to do. I don’t have to tell you how horrible it was. I just, I don’t know if I can hate him for it. You know? I keep thinking of that time in the store, when he tried to hit you with that stun gun. He was so … pitiful, I guess. This man that I’ve respected for so long, reduced to that. I dunno what to feel.”
Achi paused, unsure if he should continue. I mean, his father had tried to kill Hitomi. It didn’t feel right to describe his mixed feelings to her now. As he wrestled with the decision to speak, Hitomi took the chance to do so.
“He was doing it for your sister, right? His daughter. I can only imagine the desperation he felt, has felt for so long.”
“Still doesn’t make it right.”
“No, no it doesn’t.”
They sat in silence for a long beat.
“I’m sorry, Hitomi. For feeling this way. I should hate him, for what happened,” Achi said.
“Oh, don’t talk like that!” she replied. “I wouldn’t ever expect you to hate him. He’s your father and he was living through something almost impossible to bear.”
“That’s the thing. I … I don’t know what I would have done in his shoes. If Suzune asked me to get a heart for her, I’d probably try to do it.”
Hitomi regarded him with a small, sad smile.
“No, I don’t think you would. I don’t think you could bring yourself to go through with it, at least,” she asserted. “The Achi I know would never hurt someone like that, even if it was for someone else. I mean, you always take the time to protect even complete strangers. Like Ryoko! Like me. A person who goes out of their way to help others like that? I don’t think they could ever kill someone. And that kind of person? That’s you, Achi. To a tee.”
“You … you think so?” he whispered.
“I know so. There’s not a doubt in my mind, in fact.”
That … was reassuring. Sure, he might have only known Hitomi for a short while. Yet, if anyone knew him - the real him - it would be her. After everything they had gone through together, it was inevitable. Tears welled up in his eyes at the truth of the idea. She knew him and she trusted him wholeheartedly anyway.
His tears fell, slowly sliding down his cheeks. He let them without a care. Instead, he chose to smile at her, full of joy. Joy at being known by someone important and belonging with them anyway.
“Thank you, Hitomi. Thank you.”
Finally, it was time to return home. Achi and Hitomi walked quietly together, each content with the time they had shared in the cafe. Eventually, they reached a crossroads. Dogenzaka, which housed Achi’s home in one direction, while Hitomi’s lay in the other. With a smile they parted. Somehow, words weren’t quite necessary.
As he watched her walk away, a sudden thought jumped into Achi’s mind.
“Hey Hitomi! What did you want to tell me?!” he shouted after her, eager to know.
She turned and this time he was sure she was blushing.
“I’ll tell you later!” she shouted simply back, before quickly rushing down the street.
While Achi wasn’t quite sure what was going on, he couldn’t help but feel it was good news. Hell, after the talk they had, he could think of a few things he wanted to tell her too. When the timing was better, preferably not directly after he reminded her of his father.
I want to be with you, Hitomi.
I love you.