Reminiscent // KUNIKIDA DOPPO ||

Chapter 5 : Keeping Secrets

***

"Oi, old man, I'm going to change my ideal spouse page."

"Oh? Where did this come from? Did you finally think of something?"

"Yes, now if you'll excuse me." I went to my room and immediately opened my ideals notebook. I ripped the ideal spouse page out and went to a blank one. I wrote and wrote. I wrote so many requirements, one that had reminded me of only one person that I knew. My cheeks had grown warm just thinking about it, the same image of her in my mind.

My god...

All this time, the woman who had all of the requirements checked out on my list...was walking right next to me.

The moment that I was continuously remembering, was the time I...dare I say...fell in love with her?

L/N was the ideal spouse I had envisioned in my mind when I was young?

***

God, how embarrassing.

The origin of the requirements I had gone by for so long was someone I had forgotten about. How could I have done that? Not to mention, I previously had feelings for this woman when we were younger, is that awkward? Not as if she knows, but I think that's going to change if I don't stop staring at her. Oh god, I'm staring at her.

"Kunikida, you're in a daze again." L/N waved her hand in front of me.

"O...uh.." I wasn't able to form words. This wasn't right, I had to pull myself together. It's not as if L/N fits all of the requirements anymore, she had completely changed! That's right, what I was feeling was a mere embarrassment for the fact that I had feelings for her at a time. All I had to do was compose myself. "Sorry again, I'm not sure what's gotten over me."

"You might be hungry." That's her first thought..? Well, it was correct technically speaking. "There's a diner right here, c'mon. She moved her head in the direction of a building right beside us, and sure enough, there was a diner there. L/N opened the door. I looked at her, still trying to see the old L/N with the present one. "Don't think of this as some sort of kind gesture, you're paying."

Yep, they are hardly alike. I need to stop freaking out now.

***

L/N had devoured the food, so she was finished with her meal far before I was. I decided to ignore her lack of manners at the dinner table and continued to eat my sandwich. It wasn't a very hearty meal, but I hadn't had much of an appetite for anything and I didn't want to spend too much. Luckily, L/N didn't get anything too expensive either, which I appreciated.

"You feeling better? Mind clearing? Stomach becoming full?" The woman asked, resting her cheek on her hand.

"Yes, I believe so," I responded, placing the glass of water I had in my hands down on the table. "What about you? Are you satisfied with your meal? You seemed to enjoy it."

"Oh, I did..." Her grin had faded and her body tensed. She grabbed onto her stomach, "I think I enjoyed it a bit too much..." The woman stood up and ran towards the restroom. I didn't particularly have time to express my concern, she dashed out fast.

I shook my head, taking the last bite of my sandwich. Now that L/N was gone, I took time to look at the diner's scenery. There were quite a few customers still present, enjoying their meals while talking to their peers. I had noticed there were even some high school students in a group, it looked like they were playing board games on the table. Well, there was no school tomorrow, so I suppose they could've stayed out later than usual.