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If there is one thing that Satoru Gojo never was, it’s being a morning person or right on time despite his well-oiled routine. Routine which consisted in getting up later than he should, spend an unreasonable amount of time in the bathroom before leaving to buy the sweetest coffee he can find.
The cruel reminder of his past came to him when he was walking down in the already busy streets of Tokyo. He passed in front of a small shop, nothing very fancy but the old manga sprawled on a table before the shop caught his attention. He wouldn’t have thought much if one title in particular hadn’t immediately made a memory resurface.
Nana. That was her favorite. Blue eyes and a happy laugh haunting him again after all those years. Oh, how he missed that laugh… But that was all in the past and he had learned the hard way that there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Hanae had disappeared when they were only seventeen, no amount of wishful thinking could change that.
The exorcist continued his way to work, ignoring the burning hole in his chest he had tried to fill for those past ten years. As he started his day, he hid everything behind not so funny jokes and a smile he hoped was bigger than the gaping hole.
This was how he lived for more than ten years now, continuing his life as if nothing ever happened until he saw something that reminded him of Suguru or Hanae. His best friend and the only girl he ever managed to love. Both of them were gone now. But he couldn’t spend too much time on those gaping wounds, there were still people that needed him.
That’s why when he got put on a new mission, Satoru couldn’t help but be relieved. Finally, an escape from this city filled with all too familiar memories to him. The mission took him to a small village in Hokkaido where some farmers were complaining about the loss of their cattle. A curse did this and it had to go. Nothing simpler for him, but he was sure that the change of scenery would help him.
And that’s how he ended up at the Shin-Chitose airport in Sapporo on a Wednesday night at 9 PM. It was comforting for him to not recognize anything about this place and he was happy to discover new regional food. His sweet-tooth was unstoppable as he already felt hungry just thinking what he could eat (after doing his job in the most cool, quick and badass way of course).
Satoru took another night train, toward the small village of Hidaka, where the cattle loss was reported to him. The case was dead-simple to be totally honest: a curse had been generated by the stress of one of the inhabitants and was now killing the farmers’ cows. Better a cow than humans, thought Satoru as he effortlessly slashed trough the curse in front him.
In less than an hour, he just completed a mission that had bothered his higher-ups for months. He wasn’t the strongest for nothing after all… He stretched himself as he swapped his blindfolds for his sunglasses, a sign that he would simply enjoy some nice vacations. After all, this was a nice place and all of his costs were covered by his work… So why not enjoy it?
The exorcist decided to simply explore the area. It was a rural one, with big fields that seemed to stretch forever and small country villages. At the end of those fields, he could see the piercing blue of the sea. A small smile stretched onto his lips; he liked this place. It was far away from Tokyo, from the city-scrapper filled capital and all of the noises. Here, everything felt calm and peaceful. His mind could finally rest.
He ended up finding a small bakery, looking at it with curiosity. The window shop was filled with baked goods and a variety of cupcakes. Some were made to look like small animals, here a white dog and there a black cat. And not even mentioning the cakes that all looked so delicious. Oh, he was going to eat well…
Satoru pushed open the bakery’s door and entered, looking at every sweet in front of him like a wide-eyed child. However, his smile soon vanished when he saw the woman behind the counter. She hadn’t noticed him yet, too busy shelving all type of breads as she hummed to herself. It was her. He would recognize her anywhere, in any situation, any clothes, any haircut. Sometimes you encounter faces that you can never forget and for Satoru Gojo, Hanae Shimisu’s face was one of those. How could he ever forget it when it haunted his every thoughts for ten years?
The woman turned around to face him and he entered a state of choc, unable to say anything else. She changed, he noted. Her face seemed so much mature; the teenager he once knew now replaced by an adult with the same soft traits. Her hair were longer too, falling in a black curtain along her back when they would barely touch her shoulders before. Still, she had the same blue eyes… As blue as the sea, as the blue as the water in the aquarium where he took to confess way back.
” Satoru?
-Hanae …”
For the first time in the last ten years, he felt the weight on his chest disappear and he could finally breath again. She was here, in front of him, alive and well.
“I’d never thought I’d see you again” he continued as he looked at her “You… you left”
“I… what are you even doing here?”
“I was here on a mission, I just wanted to buy myself a cupcake… They look so good you know? I never imagined I’d find you there.”
A small laugh escaped from Hanae’s mouth, a laugh he hadn’t heard in years. Oh, how he missed it… He could’ve been angry at her but the relief of seeing her again, of hearing her laugh was too empowering. He knew he played a part in her disappearance…
“You didn’t change a bit… Come for a cup of tea at my place when I closed down the shop. I owe you some explanations.” The young woman had a half embarrassed half happy expression on her face as she spoke.
Satoru accepted immediately, without really thinking about it and that’s how he ended in the living room of the girl he thought had disappeared for ten years, holding a steaming cup of green tea.
“If I left, it’s because if what happened with Suguru. I … I couldn’t stand to be a sorcerer after what we saw, after what he had done. I know I acted like a coward but that day, when he … he massacred those people, I understood I didn’t have the strength to fight. I’m not the strongest like you. So, I choose to disappear, to go as far way from Tokyo as I could. I wanted to forget and I wanted everyone to forget about me. To be honest, I never thought someone would find me here… But you did, of course you did. I’m glad to see you again Satoru.”
Hanae raised her head towards him, her blue speaking louder than her words. He could read there what was loss, sincerity and a deep-hidden, persistent love. He still knew everything about her after all those years.
“You know,” He started to speak as he removed his glasses so that she could also see his eyes and how they shone even after all those years. “I tried to forget about you. For years, I ignored the hole caused by your absence but I never quite managed to do it. There was always something that pulled me back to you. Do you remember when we kissed at the aquarium? I still mean every word I said there, every promise we made when we were young. I still love you and that will probably never change.”
If there was a thing that Satoru Gojo hadn’t predicted it’s Hanae’s lips against his. Soft and warm, they pressed against his for a kiss that tried to made up for all those years and that wanted to be a confession of love from her. Softly, as if she was glass, he stroked her cheek before kissing her back.
“I thought you had forgotten me” she whispered against his lips as a smile formed on her lover’s lips.
“Do you really think I could ever forget you?”