Chapter Text
It’s been five years…
And yet, it feels like I never left…
Driving down the familiar streets gives me a sense of nostalgia that makes me have to blink back tears.
“Here you go, son.” The taxi driver interrupts my thoughts when we arrive at the new house. The house isn’t spectacular or anything - it looks exactly like the pictures my aunt showed me, though, so that’s a good sign.
“O-Okay.” I pull a couple of 20 dollar bills out of my wallet and hand them to the taxi driver. “Keep the change.”
As I step out of the taxi and into the sunlight, I take a deep breath. The air is much drier than I thought it would be. However, the weather itself is nice - not too hot, not too cold.
The taxi pulls away, and I’m left standing in the doorway of the new house.
“Welcome home,” I say quietly to myself as I turn the key in the lock.
When I step inside, I’m hit by a blast of cool air. The smell of fresh paint enters my nostrils, which just proves that this house is as new as my aunt claimed it is.
I don’t know if it’s my oblivion or just wishful thinking, but I decide to check the kitchen to see if there’s any food. To my chagrin, there is absolutely no food to be found in this house. “You gotta be kidding…” I groan loudly. After being on the plane for five hours, I just want to eat something . I really didn’t want to go grocery shopping first thing when I got here, but…
Suddenly, as if the world decided it was my turn for a dose of good karma. My phone starts ringing, and I stare at the contact. It’s Sayori, my good friend since we were children. After the accident, I was sent to live with my aunt, thus separating Sayori and me with very little warning. I remember her tears as she hugged me, begging me not to go.
But now, I’m here. I answer the phone. “Hey, you!”
“Ethan!!!” Sayori practically screams into the phone.
“Well, you’ll be happy to know that my plane did not explode and I am back in town as of now.”
Sayori gasps. “Yay!!! I missed you, I missed you!!!”
I can’t help but laugh at her antics. Sayori has always been very easily excitable, and now was no exception. Then again, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pretty excited as well.
Sayori continues. “My parents said you can come over for dinner if you want! I don’t suppose you have anything to eat there, and I’m guessing you might be a little hungry, so…”
“Yes! Sayori, you are a lifesaver! I’m starving !”
I hear her giggle over the phone. “I’ll text you my address. See you in a bit!”
“You too!”
She hangs up, then immediately texts me her address. To my surprise, she only lives a couple blocks down. I head outside and start in that direction.
As I’m walking, I take in my surroundings. The nostalgia is almost… overwhelming . So, I try to focus on the nice weather instead. The sky is turning a beautiful crimson color as the sun goes down.
I approach Sayori’s house. As I’m raising my fist to knock on the door, I hear the door unlock. Sayori appears before me. “Ethan!!!” She hugs me while jumping up and down.
“Sayori, calm down!” I chuckle. She’s still as energetic as ever.
“Sorry! I’m just so happy you’re here!” She lets me go, but she’s still very excited. “Come in, come in! I just finished cooking!”
“Wait… you? Cooking? Please tell me I heard that right.”
“Hey! That was one time I started a fire! ONE TIME!”
I chuckle and pat her head. “I know, I know.”
As I step inside, I notice a strong smell of… is that garlic?
Sayori answers my internal question. “I just bought cheesy garlic bread this morning. You’re not allergic, are you?”
“Not at all.” I smile. “That smells really good, Sayori.”
She puts on oven mitts and pulls out a tray with eight pieces of bread on it from the oven. She sets the tray on top of the stove, then places two pieces of bread on each plate.
“Anything to drink?” she asks.
“Water is fine.”
She grabs two glasses from the cabinet and fills them both with tap water.
“It’s pretty hot. Might wanna wait a minute.” Sayori sets my plate in front of me, along with the glass of water.
However, I haven’t eaten since breakfast. The hunger pangs and the smell of garlic combined make that warning basically impossible to follow. So, I take a big bite of one of the pieces.
“Oh God… too hot… mouth on fire…” I quickly gulp down some water to ease the burning sensation in my mouth.
“I told you to wait, silly! Ehehe~” Sayori sits down and takes a sip of her water.
“Ah, you’re right. I’m just… very hungry,” I say before taking another sip of water.
“Did you… did you eat at all on the plane?!” Sayori asks, almost scoldingly.
“Well… my aunt sent me with a bunch of cash, and - did you know they don’t accept cash for buying meals on flights??”
“Wait, WHAT? THEY DON’T?” She looks absolutely horrified by this new information.
“Yeah. And I don’t have a credit card, so I just… went without.”
“That’s so mean of them!!!” Sayori stands up and grabs her phone. She sits down and holds the phone up to her ear.
“Wait, wait, who - who are you calling??” I look at Sayori, who holds up a finger as if to shush me.
Finally, a faint voice can be heard from Sayori’s phone.
“Monika!!” she says, “Did you know they don’t accept cash for food on planes?!” A few seconds of silence, then… “YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT??? But don’t you have that big trip at the end of this year??”
I roll my eyes at her antics and try the garlic bread again. It’s cooled down to the point where I can eat it, and… I don’t know if the five hours of starvation talking, but… this is probably the best thing Sayori has ever made.
Once Sayori gets off the phone, she sighs. “Sorry. My friend is going to Amsterdam at the end of the school year, and I had to tell her that before I forgot. My memory has been a bit… fuzzy lately.”
“Did you hit your head or something?” I ask. I wouldn’t be surprised; she’s always been very clumsy.
“No. The last year of high school is just… stressful, you know?”
“No, no, I get it.” I chuckle. “Amsterdam, though. Sounds fancy.”
“Yep! You should meet her sometime; I think you’d like her!”
“Sayori, that’s…” I pause. Then, I sigh. “I’m glad you’ve made other friends. I’d love to meet them sometime.”
Sayori wears this very confused look on her face - eyes widened, eyebrows raised, jaw practically on the floor. “W-Wait! You want to meet my friends?? Who are you, and what have you done with Ethan?!”
“I dunno. He was abducted by aliens, I guess.”
We share a laugh.
“Anyway,” I say, “This bread is really good, Sayori. Thank you.”
She flashes a smile. “Of course!”
We continue talking - mainly catching up on the last five years. Apparently, Sayori is now the vice president of the school’s literature club. Not that I was ever aware that she had any interest in literature. I suspect she only did it because she thought it would be fun to help start a new club.
In any case, she actually does something with her time. That’s more than I’ve ever had.
After I get home, the hours of exhaustion all wash upon me like a wave. I go upstairs and change out of my clothes before collapsing on the bed and falling asleep.