Drabble: reincarnation first meeting SaruMi
Sarumi + Reincarnation first meeting
Saruhiko had been seeing flickers of crimson out of the corner of his eye for days now. It was like he had stared too long at a candle or an open fireplace, only the after image refused to budge. He’d tried rinsing his eyes out, had even gone to get some over the counter eye drops, and spent a full afternoon on the riverbank staring at the water, in the hopes of replacing the image. He didn’t like fire. It was a fear that had been with him since he was little, although no one knew where it had come, just that one day his mother had lit a candle, and he’d fled the room bawling his eyes out. However, despite his best efforts, the flickers wouldn’t leave him alone, and he growled under his breath rubbing at his eyes for the umpteenth time before trying to focus on tidying up behind the counter.
“You should go see someone about that,” Seri called to him from the table in the corner where she was working through the accounts, the surface littered with papers, a half-forgotten cup of coffee and the panini that he had plonked down in front of her an hour ago.
“And you should eat,” he retorted, before biting his tongue. Mercifully, she had gotten used to him over the nine months that he had been working in the coffee shop, trying to supplement his income as he went to college, and she merely rolled her eyes as she reached for the no doubt cold panini and taking a deliberate bite.
“Happy?” She asked, mumbling the word around her mouthful.
“Ecstatic,” he retorted, turning back to his work without addressing her suggestion. It wasn’t that he thought that she was wrong, it was just that he was worried that it might be something more serious than he had been telling himself, and he was in his final year, he couldn’t afford to be distracted by anything right now. Besides, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to sit there and admit to someone that he was imaging flames everywhere – even Seri didn’t know that bit, she just thought his eyes were playing up. Still, as his vision flickered again, he had to concede that it was probably time to think about reaching out to someone.
The bell above the door jangled merrily, oblivious to his sour mood, but for once he didn’t mind as it meant a distraction, and he wiped the scowl off his face as he turned to face the customer only to come up short, as he stared at the man who had just walked in. I know him. The thought slammed into him with a certainty that couldn’t be denied, and yet he was just as sure that he had never seen him before in his life. He looked to be around the same age as Saruhiko, so there was a possibility they were at the same college, but they certainly weren’t in the same class, because there was no way that he would have forgotten that bird’s nest of chestnut hair. Yet the sense of familiarity didn’t fade, and then flickers in the corner of his visions were brighter than before, and when the man looked at him, he could have sworn that he saw them reflected in the hazel eyes that met his gaze.
“Hey, Saru…you damn monkey what are you looking at?”
“What did you say?” Saruhiko snapped. He’d always hated that nickname, it had plagued him when he was younger before he’d got into a fight over it. He had been vicious during the fight, and while he had got into a lot of trouble, none of the kids had called him that name.
“N-nothing?” The other man looked taken aback, and Saruhiko scowled at him before glancing at Seri and pausing, realising that she was looking at him strangely too. Was he going crazy? He had heard the words as clear as day, and it was the same voice… or at least he thought it was, and the one he’d heard had been angry and loud, rather than the endearingly confused tone. Endearing? “Not yet at least,” the man added, seeming to relax a little when Saruhiko didn’t seem ready to take off his head, and with each word he only grew more confident that he had met this man before. But where?
“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “Do I know you?” It was blunt, and considering the glare he could feel from Seri, probably bordering on rude, but at least it was an easy way to settle the question. Surprisingly the man grinned, looking relieved, as he rubbed the back of his head, looking like a kid who had just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Well, at least I didn’t make that bad of a first impression,” he muttered sheepishly, before seeming to realise that hadn’t answered the question. “I was the, and I quote ‘idiotic moron’ who knocked you over the other week…” Saruhiko blinked, and then his eyes widened. He’d almost forgotten all about it, as he had been rushed off his feet between work and the deadlines that were piling up for his coursework, and it had been nothing but an irritation.
He was late for work, something that rarely happened and he was rushing along the street, focused on the green and white canopy of the coffee shop, when suddenly he’d gone flying as something had slammed into him. He’d hit the ground hard, but thankfully not seeming to do much damage. The warm body that had landed on top of him was a different matter because there was a groan, and then an elbow caught his side as the man tried to climb off, babbling frantic apologies. It was only when he allowed the man to help him up, that he noticed the skateboard on the ground, its wheels spinning wildly.
“I’m sorry about that, I caught a bump and…”
“What kind of idiotic moron goes skating around at the busiest time of day?” Saruhiko demanded, rubbing his side, before glancing at his watch and shaking his head. “Never mind,” he brushed aside whatever other apologies were going to be thrown at him, before all but bolting away, cursing his bad luck.
“What are you doing here?” Saruhiko settled for asking, his mind going a hundred miles per hour. He hadn’t thought any more about the accident, but now that he was thinking about it, he realised that the issue with his eyes had been happening since then. Had he bumped his head and not noticed?
“You dropped this,” the man finally moved closer, holding out his hand, and Saruhiko blinked as he stared at the bracelet draped across his palm. He had spent days turning his rooms upside down trying to find it. It wasn’t valuable or anything, but it had been the last thing his mother had given him before she died, and he had given up hope of seeing it again, and his fingers trembled a little as he reached out to take it as the man continued. “I found it after you were gone, but I was late to work so I couldn’t chase after you. I’ve been checking all the shops along here, hoping to see you again.”
“Thank you….?” He let it end on a question, realising that he hadn’t caught his name, and the man blinked, looking as though he had been expecting a roasting rather than gratitude.
“M-Misaki Yata…just Yata if you don’t mind,” Yata mumbled, as Saruhiko’s lips quirked at the name. “Some people shouldn’t be allowed to name their kids.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Misaki…” He said, holding out his hand, and smiling as after a brief glare Yata relented and shook his hand. “I’m Saruhiko…” He trailed off because when their hands had met the flames at the edge of his vision had flared higher and then disappeared as though they had never been there in the first place.
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