Chapter Text
“Miyagi,” I knocked at her door once, then twice, “aren’t you going to be late?”
It’s Miyagi’s birthday. I absolutely wanted to be the first person to greet her even if what I planned to surprise her with wouldn’t be until after we both got back home from university.
But the birthday girl was nowhere to be seen. If she took any longer, we would both be late for our first class.
I try knocking one last time, “Miyagi, I’m coming in–”
Right as I attempted to bluff my way to some response, the door abruptly opened. However, it seems as though nobody actually was behind it? No, that’s not right. Although I usually need to look down to meet Miyagi’s eyes, she’s nowhere within my line of sight right now.
This is because in front of me is a child barely up to my waist.
“Shiori?!”
“Who the hell are you?!”
I feel a sharp jab at my knees before this tiny figure slips past me and into the shared space. Dazed, I get a glimpse of her room and though it seems nothing is amiss in there, my eyes are drawn to Roro-chan politely sitting on the floor next to Miyagi’s bed.
Roro-chan isn’t on the shelf?
I shook myself out of my surprise and followed after Miyagi(?), dashing to make sure she didn’t escape out of the apartment before I could understand what in the world happened. Thankfully, I found her standing in the kitchen fumbling to unlock her phone.
I guess I’ll be skipping class again today.
“Miyagi, I’m your roommate…a friend, could you calm down for a moment?”
“Is this a dream? No, you’re a kidnapper, aren’t you?” Miyagi said, giving me a stink eye that made me believe that this child who could be no older than ten was truly my Shiori.
“You can call me…” –Sendai-senpai--Bad, “Sendai-san. Like I said, I’m your–the future you’s–roommate,” I said. Even still, this kid refused to lower her guard. It’d be bad if she managed to call the police when I had no idea how things ended up this way. Then, I remembered I had my phone on me. I slowly walked up to Miyagi, unlocking my phone as I did, and showed her my wallpaper.
“Is that supposed to be…me?” she said, skeptically.
“Miyagi, it’s absurd, but I think you’ve somehow turned back into the 10-year old you while you were asleep.”
“What?! Are you stupid or something, how does that just happen?”
Well, her mouth certainly hadn’t regressed in the way she talked to me.
“I don’t know! You’re the one who likes to watch anime a lot, didn’t this kind of thing happen at least once?”
“Well, it does look like me…”
I sighed, exasperatedly opening the gallery on my phone to show this child even more proof of our eventual existence in each other’s lives.
☾~𑄝੭~☽
“So there’s Utsunomiya-san, Shirakawa-san, and Komatsu-san? They’re all friends I made in university?”
Well, there’s Noto-senpai…who can wait another day to be introduced.
After Miyagi settled, I left her in the shared space while she went through the photos on her phone. While occasionally responding to her questions about who was who, I quickly prepared us some French toast for breakfast. Figuring that if I couldn’t get her to trust me with pictures alone, I thought that she’d at least appreciate my cooking like she always did. However, after mumbling “Thank you for the food,” she went back to apprehensively glancing between me and her phone, taking small bites of the food in the process.
“You, Utsunomiya and Shirakawa have been buddies since high school, but Shirakawa’s the only one who decided not to leave. Mio is someone I introduce you to,” I recounted while Miyagi went through her contacts. Perhaps I imagined it, but I thought I glimpsed a faint smile form on her face for a second before the scrunch between her eyebrows returned.
“But Sendai-san, how did we end up friends?”
The full answer is definitely not something appropriate for a child to know.
“You lent me money a couple of times, and we ended up getting along pretty well,”
“Huh? A couple of times? Were you just really unreliable, Sendai-san?”
This girl.
“Miyagi, the way we became friends wasn’t normal at all, but,” there’s nobody else who treated me the way you did, “I think you, in the future, and I are as close as people can get,” I said.
The relationship Miyagi and I had was hard to describe, and the only other person who could describe it has no memory of the two of us right now. If I told Miyagi that we were two people living in something important, she might not understand enough to believe that she could trust me. I resorted to calling us friends, but we were never that. This is a Miyagi who, once again, had no idea just how much I love her. You’re so unfair, Miyagi.
“This is us at a school festival?” she said, continuing to peruse the photos on her phone.
“You and Utsunomiya gave me a tour of your campus. You got to meet this voice actor you admired. We had a lot of fun.”
“And this? It’s a Christmas party?”
“Yes. Utsunomiya and Mio celebrated with us last Christmas Eve.”
Miyagi lingered on the group photo with a pensive look on her face. The tension in her shoulders relaxed somewhat.
“So future me gets to celebrate Christmas Eve with so many people too, huh…”
Ah.
“We’ve been to festivals, the movies, an aquarium,” Miyagi looked at me abruptly, “some time ago, you even visited me with Utsunomiya while I was working. Even before university, I came to your house often to read and study together,” I trailed on.
“You came over often?”
“That’s right. You even asked me to tutor you so you could go to the same university as Utsunomiya.”
“The two of us go out together quite a lot.”
“Actually, you’re always telling me that you don’t want to go out.”
“Then you must really be a troublesome person, Sendai-san…”
I chose to ignore her rudeness, as it showed me this Miyagi wasn’t too different from mine. “Look, you got me these earrings after piercing my ears for me, and I did the same for you,” I said instead.
“They are pretty.”
After that, we ate breakfast together in relative peace, Miyagi asking me all sorts of questions about the places we’ve gone to, our high school life, even the things I like. I’m glad that my Miyagi and I have been talking about things like these more often because otherwise, this might have been the most I’ve ever heard her speak in all the time I’ve known her.
☾~𑄝੭~☽
“I didn’t meet Shiori until the first year you became classmates with us too, you know, Sendai-san?”
At noon, as much as a part of me wanted to keep this version of Miyagi to myself, I realized that it would be no good if Utsunomiya were to be completely in the dark about why Miyagi was suddenly missing from her classes today. Somehow, it felt a little wrong to lie about her being sick this time. That’s why Utsunomiya ended up at our apartment to see the situation for herself, and perhaps to help me figure out just what to do about Miyagi’s situation. The girl in question was very politely sitting across Utsunomiya at the kitchen table while I worked out the order for Miyagi’s birthday cake that I had planned to pick up after my afternoon classes today.
“Although I don’t have your gift with me now, happy birthday, Shiori. Maybe this is the first time someone receiving that greeting actually became younger rather than older, huh?” said Utsunomiya.
“Mhm, thank you, Utsunomiya-san,” Shiori agreed quite meekly. So she’s still polite to Utsunomiya.
“It’s strange to hear you call me that. I take it that you haven’t replied to Ami today either, have you?”
“No. I didn’t want to say anything that the future me might regret,” said Miyagi, “and my Dad…actually, is this Komatsu-san really my friend? She keeps messaging me increasingly weird things,” she started, before getting interrupted by the sound of her phone, the furrow between her eyebrows back. Utsunomiya looked understanding of the abrupt change in topic, but I was curious as to what Miyagi was about to say. Mio, your timing is ever so…
“Do you mind if I explain things to Ami? She’d be upset if you just ignored her all day,” followed Utsunomiya. Leaving the two to sort that out, I shifted back my focus to the task at hand – wondering if I needed to request that the numbered candles be swapped to ten rather than what they originally were supposed to be. I ended up searching for stories on the internet about characters who found themselves regressed into their younger selves, or those that woke up in the future, but there wasn’t a single solution that seemed appropriate for our predicament.
Last I checked, Miyagi doesn’t have some childhood friend she rejected and would crash the wedding of…no, that’s not even the right…Or maybe if she blew out numbered candles for the age she’s supposed to be…
Lost in thought over this unbelievable situation, I’m snapped back to the present by the sound of Miyagi’s laugh. Taking a moment to listen to her and Utsunomiya once more, it turns out that they’d called Shirakawa to explain what’s going on.
“Shirakawa-san, I don’t think I’ve been isekaid at all!”
“But Shiori, it’s like, every time you call something unbelievable happens! I’m starting to feel left out.”
“I’m sorry, Shirakawa-san, do I not call you often?”
“It’s no problem at all, Shiori, because Maika’s always filling me in anyway. How has Sendai-san been dealing with you?”
This time, Utsunomiya replied, “This younger Shiori already seems like less of a handful.”
For the moment, I give up on looking for solutions and just move to sit with them in the shared space. But when I got there, they had just hung up the call with Shirakawa, who, unlike us, was actually on her way to class. Miyagi looked much more relaxed, at ease with her friends even though they’ve suddenly ended up a decade apart. Utsunomiya noticed my arrival, smiled at me, then Miyagi, and said,
“Did you and Sendai-san plan to stay home all day? Why don’t we go out? It’d be a waste to spend your birthday stuck at home, so we’ll make sure you don’t get lost.”
Miyagi didn’t seem particularly enthused by the idea, but I could tell she was still curious about the kind of future she lived in. So, I agreed with Utsunomiya and ushered Miyagi back to her room so she could prepare.
I get dressed in my usual outside clothes, mindful that we probably wouldn’t be going too far given that going around with a child unfamiliar with the place would be dangerous if we lost her. By the time I headed back to the shared space, I found Miyagi in high spirits as Utsunomiya likely shared more stories with her. Fortunately, it seemed that Miyagi managed to find some clothes that wouldn’t look too big on her to go outside in. She noticed me arrive immediately.
“Woah, you’re so pretty, Sendai-san,” said Miyagi. Faintly, I heard Utsunomiya snicker.
“Thank you, Miyagi,” I did a small twirl to show off my skirt a little, happy to still get such honest compliments from Miyagi.
“Let’s go!”
𓅪𓅪𑄝੭𓅪𓅪
“Shiori-chan, you’re so adorable!” squealed Mio, squeezing Miyagi’s cheeks.
If anything more needed to go wrong today, Noto-senpai would be materializing out of thin air next. Apparently, Utsunomiya had also sent a message to Mio explaining the situation after Mio had been sulking to her about Miyagi ignoring her birthday greetings. Naturally, Mio immediately decided to pop up outside the apartment as we were about to start our walk around town.
“My, Shiori-chan, even when you’re so tiny, you’ve still got quite the scary face on!”
“Mio-san, keep in mind that Shiori has no idea who you are right now, please.”
“You know, I’m also quite good with kids!”
“Is that so?”
A garbled, “My cheeks hurt, Komatsu-san,” prompted Mio to finally let go of Miyagi.
“Shiori-chan, as my birthday gift to you, let me treat you to all the sweetest things in a convenience store!”
Upon hearing the promise of sweet things, a disgruntled Miyagi instead turned into an attentive Miyagi. Thus, on a day I was hoping to spend quietly with Miyagi, Utsunomiya, Mio, and I ended up turning into three musketeers protecting the princess as she searched for her happy ending – ice cream, a bag of pudding, and by my suggestion, a stick of Churu. All this time, Mio and Utsunomiya doted over Miyagi, holding her hand while crossing the street, sharing anecdotes about the Miyagi they knew while I pointed out the places we had been to in our time living here. Here and there, we took photos, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these photos magically disappeared once Miyagi returned to normal.
“So like, when I first met you, I had to ask Hazuki really, really nicely because even though she was going all ‘my roommate this’ and ‘my roommate that,’ she wouldn’t introduce us!”
I didn’t talk about Miyagi that much.
“So Sendai-san really is troublesome,” Miyagi responded, listening intently.
“She is! But when we first met, it looked like you wanted to run away as soon as I came to your table,” Mio continued.
“So imagine my surprise when you came to me to help you find a job.”
“A job? With you? Where?”
“You helped out at my family’s cafe for a whole month,” Mio replied cheerfully as ever.
“Customer service…,” with the way Miyagi looked right now, you’d think we forced her to eat broccoli.
Eventually, we ended up taking a break at a park near our usual route home. As Miyagi was won over more and more by Mio’s liveliness, I decided that it hadn’t been a bad decision at all to tell Utsunomiya the truth.
“Even when you’re like this, I’m glad we’re getting to hang out for your birthday! You and Hazuki are always so hard to invite out, it almost breaks my heart!” exclaimed Mio, complete with dramatic flourish.
Giggling, giggling!, at her antics, Miyagi replied, “Sendai-san is?”
“Yup! A total grump sometimes, too! So, Shiori-chan, are you having fun?”
“Mhm, I am,” nodded Miyagi as she continued to dig into the ice cream she was holding.
As she looked around for our next destination, Mio continued, “That’s good. Kids should get lots of sweet things on their birthday, you know?”
A family of four, a table set for one.
The abrupt memory almost made me miss the flicker of disappointment in Miyagi’s eyes. Utsunomiya, who was standing next to me, must’ve also seen my face change for a moment. Oddly enough, both of them looked to me as they started at the same time,
“Sendai-san–”
Before she could finish, a sweet meow sounded in the bushes rustling next to us. As I quickly took out the Churu from the plastic bag, Miyagi and Mio got up from the bench they were sitting on, alert. Eventually, Cali crept out of her hiding spot. Upon spotting her, Mio let out a loud squeal of delight and reached for the cat who was apparently not immune either to her good nature.
“Miyagi, here, this is the cat I told you about. She’s quite sweet, but she can be a little prickly at first,” I held out the treat in Cali’s direction while encouraging Miyagi to come closer. Soon enough, both Miyagi and Mio were pouring Cali with all the affection of a child and a girl who got along with everybody. I stepped back to stand next to Utsunomiya once more, content with just watching.
“Miyagi’s going to be so annoyed once she comes back and finds out that Cali actually let her play with her,” I mused, making Utsunomiya chuckle.
“Sendai-san, this is probably pretty weird for you, isn’t it?” said Utsunomiya.
“It’s definitely not how I planned her birthday to go.”
“What will you do if Shiori’s still like this tomorrow?”
“Well, it’s not like I haven’t been taking care of her the past years already,” I joked lightheartedly. Utsunomiya looked at me, exasperated.
“What I mean is, the Miyagi I know will come back. I’m sure of it.”
Utsunomiya looked deep in thought as her gaze drifted from me, to the cheerful Miyagi, then back, “Even back then, Miyagi, Ami, and I never really did anything special for her birthday.”
“Even though you’re all so close?”
“Miyagi has always been the type to prefer a quiet birthday. Our Miyagi, at least.”
I hummed. Even though it must’ve been terrifying to wake up a decade into the future, there wasn’t a single trace of fear on her. She was understandably scared this morning, but eventually, she believed me enough to comfortably ask me all sorts of questions. Then, each time she was introduced to one of her adult self’s friends, she started out shy but quickly warmed up to them too. The Miyagi in front of me now was happily cooing and petting at a cat who would usually bat away my Shiori’s attempts at affection. In fact, it didn’t seem like she was worried about not being able to go home on her birthday either.
“Are you a cat person, Shiori-chan?” asked Mio.
“I like cats. But, I like dogs more, I think.”
“Oh really?”
“Mhm. Really big, fluffy ones that follow you around.”
Shiori did once mention dreaming of a large dog.
From the corner of my eye, I saw that Miyagi had stopped playing with Cali-chan to look at her phone. The smile on her face had become barely visible.
“Oh. Dad left me a message and sent over some money just now,” she said. I felt a sort of familiarity to her tone as she said this. I glanced at Utsunomiya and Mio, who fell quiet, then looked back.
A family of four, a table set for one. Miyagi’s Mom, who I never met, and a Dad she rarely mentioned.
I approached Miyagi, pet Cali-chan’s head near her leg one last time, and crouched down. Just this once, I said, as quietly as possible so that only she would hear,
“Let’s go home, Shiori.”
The walk back was relatively quieter than when we first headed out, but Mio and Utsunomiya together were able to keep Miyagi’s spirits up while she timidly held my hand. When we arrived back home, after having said goodbye to Utsunomiya and Mio who headed to the station, Miyagi had considerably dimmed in enthusiasm. While I changed into my slippers, I noticed her looking at the two pairs of shoes at the entryway, as deep in thought as a ten-year old could be. Of course, I wouldn’t forget.
“Welcome home, Shiori.”
At this, I think I noticed her small frame pick up significantly. She turned her head towards me and replied,
“I’m home, Sendai-san.”
☾~𑄝੭~☽
“Miyagi, let’s eat,” I knocked on the door of her room. This time, she came out of her room only a moment later. She looked at me with a faint smile before heading to the dining table. Of course, I plated us hamburg steak for dinner. Both of them had small cat ears, just the way Miyagi would make them. Although I previously planned to ask her to help me shape and cook them, I was afraid of bringing down her mood once more, knowing that her mother had left before Miyagi could learn to cook with her.
Now, Miyagi was no longer uneasily prodding at the food like she was this morning. After taking her first small bite, Miyagi’s eyes lit up. She delightedly exclaimed, “This ish so good!”
“I’m glad, thank you,” I replied.
She took a couple more, bigger bites, took a sip of her iced tea, before she abruptly turned to me with a grave expression.
“Sendai-san, it’s really delicious.”
“Thank you, Miyagi,” I said again, unsure of why she emphasized this compliment (?) so seriously. Once again, she stared at me curiously as I dug into my own meal.
“Sendai-san, do you like cats?” asked Miyagi, curiously eyeing the two chopstick rests we had.
“Hm? I do.”
“Your key case, it’s got a cat too, doesn’t it? You really lit up when we saw Cali-chan earlier. ”
“It’s another gift we exchanged. I’m quite fond of Cali-chan, you see, because she reminds me of you,” I was able to say this to a Miyagi who wouldn’t hit me immediately afterwards. Instead, this Miyagi just gave me a shy smile.
“Our key cases match too…This morning, there was a black cat plush toy next to me when I woke up. It was scary to wake up somewhere that wasn’t my room, so I hit it off the bed when I got up,” she shared.
Ah, so that’s why it was sitting next to the bed…Eh? She slept with it?
“Was it from you, too?” she asked.
A little dazedly, I answered, “Well, yes. For your birthday, back in high school.”
“It’s cute,” she smiled, “the necklace it’s wearing, too.” Then, leaving me to my thoughts at this revelation, we ate the rest of our hamburg steak in comfortable silence.
Once we finished, I cleared out our plates to make space for the cake I had delivered while Miyagi was in the bath. As promised, it’s a round cake with numbered candles, a 2 and a 1.
“Well, Shiori-chan,” I said, sliding the round cake to her side of the table, “it is still your birthday, isn’t it?”
Miyagi regarded me, then looked at the strawberries, the small black cat drawn with icing and the chocolate “Happy Birthday, Shiori” topper on the cake, before her eyes flicked back to my face.
“I’ve been meaning to greet you since this morning but well…” I gesture at her, “happy birthday, Shiori. Even if things are different today, let’s finish this round cake together again, shall we?”
When I said this, Miyagi had looked away from me, but I still saw the truly precious smile that bloomed on her face. Quickly, I took a picture with my phone, hoping that even if all the other photos did disappear, just this one could stay.
“Today was probably pretty scary? Weird, and uneventful for a birthday, but I’m glad we can still enjoy this cake together,” I said, sure that the same sort of smile was reflected on my face. Even if this was a Shiori who didn’t know me, I still wanted to make sure I could make her smile on her birthday.
“That’s true, but, Sendai-san, this has already been the nicest birthday I’ve had in years,” having said this, Miyagi looked me in the eye.
“If my birthdays really are always like this in the future, then I hope I grow up even faster.”
If you grow up too fast, you might not end up being my Miyagi. But that isn’t what’s important right now.
“Miyagi, on your last birthday and mine, we promised to keep celebrating like this every year. That’s why even if you’re like this today, I wanted to keep my promise,” I said, feeling like Miyagi absolutely needed to hear this.
For a couple of moments, Miyagi remained silent. Then, she suddenly blew out the numbered candles.
“Ah, I didn’t get to sing you the song.”
“I don’t need that. Your voice is already pleasant, Sendai-san.”
I’m rendered speechless.
“Sendai-san, this year, I didn’t wish for a dog,” Miyagi said, voice sounding small, “So, you have to promise that we’ll really get to meet even after I go back.”
Somehow, the clover pendant against my chest felt warm.
“We will, Miyagi. And I’m not going anywhere. Not next year, nor the years after that. We’re roommates, after all.”
I wanted to hold Miyagi’s hand, but I refrained from doing so. The Miyagi in front of me is my Miyagi, but not my Shiori, so for today, the true extent of my feelings needed to be set aside. I proceeded to slice the cake into an even number of smaller sizes, placing one on Miyagi’s plate, then mine. When I went to place the chocolate “Happy Birthday” topper on her plate too, I briefly glimpsed Miyagi rubbing her eyes.
“Let’s eat.”
We said, together. I forked a bite of my slice into my mouth, then another, seeing Miyagi eagerly do the same too.
“Is it good?” I asked. She nodded in response, saying,
“I’m really happy, Sendai-san. Thank you.”
With every bite, the shadow that came over Miyagi’s face when she received that message from her dad was replaced by a peaceful smile that was as soft as chiffon. Before I knew it, we had finished our halves of the cake. A whole day passed as quickly as the cake on our plates turned into crumbs, and after cleaning up, it would soon be time for bed.
☾~𑄝੭~☽
“Sendai-san, could you stay in my room at least until I fall asleep?”
That’s right. Miyagi must be afraid to sleep in an unfamiliar place too. While I worried about my Shiori coming back, the child Miyagi is just as unsure of whether she would wake up back home tomorrow. That’s why I agreed to lay out a futon in her room to keep her company. Whatever happens in the morning, I was sure that we would be able to handle it. Before turning in for the night, I went back to my room to pick up additional reinforcements.
“Miyagi, this is Pen-chan and Kamo-chan. They’re Roro-chan and Wani-san’s partners in crime,” the last bunch of friends I needed to introduce Miyagi to, “and your second-biggest admirers.” It was a funny sight to see her tiny figure under the duvet surrounded by our stuffed animals, but at least Miyagi wasn’t glaring at me for it this time.
“Who’s the first?”
“Me, of course.”
“Sendai-san, you’re enjoying this more than I am, aren’t you?”
Laughing, I finally turned off the lights, leaving only the night light in the corner of the room. Miyagi stayed quiet as I got comfortable on the floor, so when I closed my eyes, I didn’t expect to hear her again.
“Are you already going to sleep?”
“Yes. You should, too.”
I could hear more rustling.
“But it’s still my birthday…”
“Kids who don’t sleep early won’t grow up any faster.”
Miyagi huffed. Even though a sick Shiori and I had stayed up all night having mundane conversations before when she hadn’t wanted to sleep, I don’t think I had any energy left to entertain this younger her after the truly absurd day we’ve had.
“Are you still afraid of the dark even with me here?”
This time, there was no response.
“Happy birthday, Shiori,” I greeted, so she could hear this just one more time, “while I’m here, you have nothing to be afraid of.”
Today, even though it was Miyagi’s birthday, I think I also received quite the gift. I got to meet the Miyagi who would become the Shiori I love. Although I didn’t want to pry this honest version of her for answers to some of the questions I held for my Shiori, it still felt like I came to understand her a little more. Even if today might not end up being a day she’ll remember, I’ll remember it twice as much for the both of us.
Just as I drifted off to sleep, I heard a quiet voice from the bed above.
“Sendai-san, the truth is, I don’t want this day to end…I really…can’t wait to meet you again.”