The sun was sliding into the auburn sky as he made his way to the riverbank. After the long trials of the day stocking shelves, balancing the gripes and irritations of customers and staff alike and the all around life of a store clerk, he needed somewhere to be alone with his thoughts, which in itself was a sad reminder of what had changed in just a few days. Were this a week ago, he would have called upon his friend, his partner, his better half; Souji Seta. But like the sweeping change of seasons, the leader of their merry band had come, saved his life, the lives of his friends and the world, and then departed with the promise to return.
Still, Youske sighed as the star continued to descend. For now, he had himself to chat with, and that was fine for now. Laying back into the grass, he let serenity overwhelm him for a spell, worrying not about the day or tomorrow. The music chattering from his collar played well with the random waves splashing across the Samegawa, but that melody was soon joined by the rhythmic patter of agile feet across pavement and the hard-pumping breath of a runner.
An athlete that was suddenly upon him, hazel eyes smiling down “Hey, sleepyhead. Long day?”
“Hey, Chie. Yea, dad had me working the floor all day. Wouldn’t be so bad if the old man would pay me overtime, but…”
“But then you wouldn’t ‘learn how to appreciate coming up the ladder’, or whatever. Sounds pretty rough” she smiled a bit for pity if anything else as she sat down in the grass next to him.
“Yea, but what’s a guy to do? At this rate, I’ll have my motorcycle before the summer rush.”
Like you need something even faster than your bike” Chie teased with a shoulder bump. To which Youske nudged her right back “Sure, you say that now. But you’ll sing a different tune once you take a ride on it.”
She scoffed playfully at the idea “Like I would ever get on the back of one of those with you.”
“What, you didn’t think I was gonna let you drive it, did ya? I’ve seen you on a scooter, so no chance!” he countered.
Her only reply was to stick out her tongue, which he answered before both of them realized how utterly how ridiculous they looked and laughing to each other. Sure, Chie was sheen with the sweat of another long workout, and sometimes a bit on the antagonistic side. But when she laid her auburn locks on his shoulder, Youske could only smile like a fool and rest his chin on top of her, which made her sigh contently. Especially when she asked “So, where would you take me first?”
————————————————
Me entry for this week’s Free Write Friday from Kellie Elmore. The prompt; “serendipity”. This might just become the seeds of a larger story later, but by contest rules, it paused here for I need to decide where to go next.
Still, I hope you all enjoy
