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Maybe in this lifetime, things would work out much better.
That's what I thought at first.
Hi, it's the heroine who doesn't know when to give up, Yashiro Nene! A 25-year old human with a grip strength of 35 kilograms on her right hand and a hopeless romantic!
…well, that's what I currently am at the moment.
Anyone of you know about the concept of reincarnation? Of course you do! Why else would you be reading this now?
Ahem… back to the topic at hand… I wasn't a human back in my past life. In fact, it might sound a little ridiculous, but I used to be… a fish! The cutest little fish around the pond! I looked very unique, mind you! I used to hear people passing by my previous home saying how pretty the color of my scales were, and how adorable I was!
How would I know that? I retained my memories around the moment I was reborn again, as a human this time.
Which means… I also remember exactly how I died.
There was that scruffy looking black cat that always lurked around the pond I lived in. I thought cats hated water, but the moment I happened to be passing close by, he suddenly jumped in and caught me with those sharp, pointy teeth of his! I tried to wriggle myself away, but his grip was super tight!
The last thing I remember seeing were those glinting golden eyes before I felt my body getting crunched by his fangs.
It wasn't a very pleasant experience. I'm thankful that I get to live my new life without that kind of thing happening to me anymore. Besides, being human rocked! Most of the time…
But I can now do things I couldn't do as a fish. Walk around, talk to people, maybe even find a boyfriend? Maybe this is my chance to start my very own romantic encounter!
"Nene-chan, you're spacing out again." I hear Aoi's voice bring me back from my internal monologuing. That's right, she's my best friend! The first friend I've ever made since getting reborn as a human. She was the very popular girl back when we went to school together, and that still hasn't really changed.
"Sorry."
"Ufufu~ It's fine, it's fine! Watching over the counter can get a little boring, so I understand."
We both started a little cafe together after graduating. It became a huge hit, probably because of Aoi's mere presence itself, and probably also from how her boyfriend keeps promoting the heck out of it.
Seriously… Akane-kun may be peculiar at times, but I find it sweet how supportive he is of Aoi. I'm a little jealous, to be honest.
Anyways, today I was in charge of the counter. There wasn't a lot of people coming into the cafe, so it was pretty much quiet here. While I don't mind the peacefulness of it all, I enjoy a little liveliness once in a while.
Aoi must have noticed that, because she began to talk to me again. "By the way, Nene-chan. Have you heard about the new flower shop that just opened yesterday in front of us?"
"Huh? A new flower shop?" I looked out of the window of the cafe. She was right, there was a flower shop I haven't noticed before until now. I wasn't around yesterday when it opened, so that's probably why.
"Yep. I think Yako-san's the owner of it. Remember her? She was the lady that used to give out vegetable seeds to us in the gardening club back in highschool."
"Yako-san! I remember her!" She tended to be harsh towards other people despite looking so beautiful. She tolerated me and Aoi, so it's safe to assume we were one of the only ones that she liked.
"We should go and say hi when break time comes around. What do you think, Nene-chan?"
"That's a great idea, Aoi! We haven't seen her in forever, so we can catch up too!"
Oh, how big of a mistake that turned out to be.
As soon as break time came around, I decided to go to the flower shop alone, since Aoi told me she was going to check on something and couldn't come with me. The place was very cozy, and the scent of flowers surrounded every corner I turned to by the time I stepped into the shop.
"Hm? Oh, you're—" I turned around to find Yako-san just exiting through a doorway, probably from the back of the shop.
"Yako-san, it's nice to see you again!"
"Eh, well, same here. You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you, kid. Although those little stumpy legs of yours didn't seem to benefit from time at all."
That was soul-crushing! One of the things I hated in my new human form was that I was born with these awful, weird looking legs! I kept getting teased and getting called a radish because of it, and it didn't help that my hair kinda resembled the color of a radish.
I thought I'd grow out of it, but in the end, such thinking was useless. Dang it.
"I didn't come here just to have you call my legs out…"
"Yeah, I know. Heard you work at the cafe right in front of here with that Akane girl."
"That's right. Are you working here alone, Yako-san?"
She scoffed, shaking her head. "My two annoying nephews were supposed to be here a minute ago to help me for their part time. The older one I can kinda vouch some helpfulness from, but the younger one? Probably never."
"Nephews?"
"Mm-hm. I mentioned them to you sometimes back then, didn't I? Those cheeky twins. Though they are somewhat the opposite of one another if you look closely at them."
They intrigued me, not gonna lie. Wait! Is this perhaps… the start of my romantic encounter at last? This awfully sounds like it! The heroine meets her love interest through a mutual friend, and they slowly fall in love with each other the more time they spend with each other, and then… and then—!!
I heard the door behind us open, and a male voice speak. "Sorry I'm late, Auntie! Traffic held me up!"
Okay, this might be it! Try to look as cute as possible, Nene! I turn around to look at him, and that's when I felt chills run through my spine.
Those eyes. Those terrifying, golden eyes, were looking right at me.
It can't be…!
Fear suddenly took ahold of my body, yet I tried my best not look like it. What was he doing here?! Why was he… human?!
"You're late, dumbass." Yako-san smacked him lightly on the head. "And where's your brother? Weren't you two supposed to go together?"
"Something came up, so I just went ahead without him."
Was HE supposed to be Yako-san's nephew?! But he's… he's that scruffy cat that killed me in my previous life! If he's human, does that mean he also got reborn too?!
"Huh? Yashiro? What's with you? You look awfully quiet." Yako-san then spoke to me. The man also turned to look at me again, and I felt myself stiffen a little under his gaze. Our height difference wasn't really making things better at all. Why was he so tall?!!
It must have been a coincidence. Yeah. It can't be him. Most people have golden eyes and black, rather unkempt hair. Yeah!
"I-I'm fine, Yako-san! Um, is he your nephew that you were talking about?" I tried not to make my nervousness too obvious.
"Yeah, he is. Go on, introduce yourself, brat." She elbowed him on the shoulder. It must have been my imagination, but did he look a bit flustered there for a moment?
"I'm Yugi Amane. You can just call me Amane, though. Nice to meet you." He held out a hand to me, putting on a smile.
In all honesty, I was still kinda scared. What if it really was him? What if he recognized me and was only acting nice, and when everyone's backs were turned he'd show his true colors? Yet he looked and sounded genuine, so he probably doesn't have any memories of his past life.
Without thinking, I took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you too! I'm Yashiro Nene."
"Hey, I know this might sound weird, but… have we met before?" That was the question that made me want to leave, leave, leave! Was he starting to remember, after all?!!
"U-um, no, I can't say I've met you… Yako-san has told me about you before!"
Amane frowned a little, but he shrugged. "I see. It's probably the same for me, too. Maybe that's why I felt you were familiar."
Eh? Yako-san has told him about me before too? And here I was being paranoid over nothing… Maybe he really doesn't remember.
But! I'm still going to keep my guard up! Who knows what will happen if I don't!
"Are you two done ogling at each other yet?" Yako-san interfered, and I gave her a mortified expression. Plus, I'm pretty sure I was sporting a blushing face at the same time too.
"I-It's not like that!" I almost didn't notice Amane saying the same thing simultaneously with me. Huh.
Yako-san rolled her eyes. Does nothing ever faze her at all?
"Well, break's almost over. You can talk to each other later after work." She left us without any further more words, I guess to put out more flower pots outside the shop.
"Your aunt can be quite bossy, huh?" I started, shuffling my foot awkwardly around. Since when did I feel… comfortable talking around him all of a sudden?
He laughed, and it was the kind of laugh that honestly, any girl would swoon over in an instant. In fact, it was tempting just to do that right now. N-not like I would, anyway!
"I guess I'll be seeing you around?" He asked me. I would be lying if I said my heart didn't leap at that. Why did he have to look so… so… so cute!
He's like me in a way. We're both starting out again in a new life, quite literally. Even if he doesn't remember… I guess it wouldn't be too bad to start over with him. It's not like he's going to eat me again or anything, that's too ridiculous now that I think about it!
And maybe… just maybe… we'd be…
Eek! Stop blushing like a highschool girl, Nene! You just met the guy! Don't go being weird now!
"I'll be at the cafe over there if you want to… well… hang out later. I-If it's fine with you, of course!"
"Yeah, that'll be nice."
Why do I feel so happy?
Just as I was about to leave the flower shop, I felt him grab onto my wrist from behind. "Wait a minute!"
"What is it?"
He seemed to be embarrassed, but he picked out a flower from one of the pots that were displayed next to us, and handed it to me.
"Here. Just a little something for you on your way back. Yellow suits you, by the way."
Kyaah….!! My heart's soaring at this point!
"T-thank you!" I mustered out, bowing at him before finally leaving the shop, unable to look at him straight in the eye. I hope he didn't notice how red my face was!
When I returned to the cafe, Aoi saw the goofy looking smile on my face, holding the flower close to my chest. "It seems like you had a good time back there, Nene-chan!"
"I guess you can say that…" I looked down at the flower. It was a yellow daffodil.
"That's a pretty looking daffodil you got there. If I can recall, they mean new beginnings and forgiveness, don't they?"
New beginnings. Forgiveness.
Somehow I felt myself smiling. How strange of me.
"New beginnings, huh…"