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She sees the braids first, out the corner of her eye, hearsthose cheerful footsteps, and the memories hit her all at once. For a moment,she thinks her heart is going to burst. Logic and awful images threaten at theedge of her mind, but before she has time to acknowledge them, absolutecertainty overwhelms her.
Her chest is filled with sunlight as she runs, choked by theemotions that spill down her face. Her feet are unsteady, but she doesn’t thinkabout falling: she keeps moving, even as she hears Saihara shout, “Yumeno-san,come back!”
“Tenko!” She shouts the name at the top of herlungs. It feels strange on her tongue, like a forgotten wish, despite thecountless nightmares where she screamed that very same name. Yumeno tackles herin a hug; the girl staggers, clearly taken aback.
She buries her face in Tenko’s shirt, still sobbing. So manyunsaid words and apologies try to bubble past her lips, but all she can manageis a muffled, “Tenko, Tenko!”
But it occurs to her, then, that Tenko has said nothing. TheTenko she knew wouldn’t have hesitated in hugging her and patting her head. Yumenolooks up. Tenko’s face. Tenko’s eyes. Tenko’s hair. That smile, however,bewildered and tight as she etches her eyebrows together… That isn’t Tenko’ssmile.
“Ah, um, I’m sorry,” says the girl. “Who… Who areyou?”
Yumeno blinks. More tears slip down her face as joy iscrushed in an icy grip.
“T…Tenko? It’s me, it’s…”
Footsteps. Saihara and Harukawa have caught up. Yumeno hearsa sharp gasp, most likely Saihara as he sees the girl who looks like Tenko.
“Oh, hello,” says the girl. She awkwardly peels awayYumeno’s arms. “Is she your friend?”
“She’s, um… Aren’t you…?”
Yumeno can’t hear them anymore. She can only stare at thegirl who looks like Tenko. Even as her heart is close to shattering, she can’tstop herself from asking, “Tenko, you don’t recognise me?”
The girl looks at Yumeno, curious, thinking, wondering, justlong enough to ignite a spark of hope.
“Sorry. I have no idea who you are.”
“Oh. Okay. Sorry for bothering you.”
And she returns to Saihara and Harukawa. Silent, they watchas the girl who looks like Tenko leaves. She probably has a family to returnto, and friends. She will only see this encounter with Yumeno as an odd incident,a case of mistaken identity perhaps, and then think nothing else of it. Becauseshe has no reason to think of it. Not of the strange girl with red hair whosobbed into her shirt, nor her two companions.
“It wasn’t her,” Yumeno says, softly. “I… I thought…”
Saihara pets her head. “We know. It’s okay.”
Yumeno nods, once, then lets herself cry.
