"Hurry up, N/N!"
"Yumi-chan! Wait up!"
"Haha! Catch me if you can!"
A teenager with brown hair and dark brown eyes was awoken, blinking twice as he found himself sitting comfortably in a seat upon a private jet. Rubbing his eyes out of exhaustion, he turns to the window to his left and pulls the cover up, looking out the window. He eyes the white left wing that slightly shook as they continued flying through the air, his eyes then lingering downward to the land below.
Japan.
It had been quite a while since he was last here. Not since his childhood, at least. The last few memories were when he was around eleven or twelve, maybe in his fourth or fifth year of primary school, spending the days hanging with a girl he knew.
Just the mere thought of her couldn't help but bring a small smile to his face.
Why is it that her face brought a smile to his? It was simple, really. He liked her. Liked her in a romantic way. But he knew that if he were to tell her back then, it would probably would have ruined their friendship. But if he were to tell her now, he wasn't sure what would happen then. Would their relationship change and move on to the next level? Or would she reject him and continue to be friends with him? Or was it the other way around, rejecting him and would seek to forget that their friendship ever happened? He wasn't sure.
Now, just thinking about that scenario couldn't help but put fear into his chest, his heart beating at a much faster pace as he began to grow nervous. However, he soon shook his head, taking a deep breath as calmed himself down and put his smile back onto his face.
He was just excited to be back.
---
In the afternoon of class 2-F, many kids were coming and going. At the current moment, it was lunch time, so some students ate in the classroom, some ate out of it, or some went to the cafeteria to eat there or buy their lunch.
Though there was a particular group. A particular group in the classroom of class 2-F, all the way near the back, a blonde girl could be seen seated in her seat. Sitting in front of her was a girl with brown bobbed hair, glasses sitting on her face with a huge blush as she seemed to be rambling on about something. Standing over them was an orange-haired girl, a happy smile on her face as she seemed to be listening in into the story or whatever spiel the brown-haired girl was saying. However, the blonde-haired girl that was seated only seemed to nod her head every now and then, looking like she was listening when in reality, she wasn't.
Her phone in her hands soon chimed with a notification, seeing it was a text message from her mother. Usually, she'd just dismiss the notification right away or look at it later if she didn't deem it of importance. However, she saw that the message had an image attachment on it, making her curious as to what it is. Tapping the text, the messaging app opens on her phone. She soon smiled upon seeing the image, reading the caption text below it.
'I found this in the photo album earlier today, I just had to send it to you!'
It seemed that the photo attachment had given her vivid memories of the past. A past she enjoyed, as evident by the light smile she held on her face.
The picture included herself, when she was around primary school or so. Maybe around the end of her last year. She stood at the front of the school with a bright smile on her face, cherry blossoms falling all around her and the person that was standing next to her. The boy had a small smile himself, though it was a lot more sheepish and a bit of a more sweat dropping expression. Probably because of her behavior in the photo. He sported short brown hair and brown eyes, his facial features could either be average or that of a pretty good looking boy, especially at that young of an age.
But there was one thing for certain. This girl cherished the friendship she had with this boy.
Leaning back in her seat, she looked up to the ceiling while bringing her phone close to her chest. Likewise, the boy in the airplane leaned back in his seat as well, his gaze set to the roof of the plane above.
'I wonder how he's been...'
'I wonder how she's been...'
The two thought at the same time.
---
Arriving at Narita International Airport in the Chiba Prefecture, the aforementioned teenager with brown hair and dark brown eyes began walking out of the busy facility. Foreigners, tourists, and Japanese residents alike kept walking in and out of the large building, catching their designated flights to come in and out of the country.
Upon walking out, he sees a well-dressed man waiting for him. Properly dressed in a black suit and tie, white driver gloves, grey hair with small spectacles on his face, he looked to be a proper chauffeur. The older man bowed at the teenager, the young man smiling and nodding his head.
"Edward."
"Master L/N," Edward replied, looking back up. "The Mistress shall be waiting for you at the estate."
The teenager, named Y/N L/N, nods his head. "Thank you. I trust that mother has been well?"
"But of course. Though, I will say, she has longed for your company for quite a while. Hearing your voice is not enough for her, it seems."
"I see..." Y/N sweat dropped. "Well, I suppose I mustn't keep her waiting."
"Of course, Master L/N."
Edward extended his hand out to Y/N, offering to take his bag. Y/N accepts, handing his bag over to the older man before walking over to the sleek black car that awaited him. Getting in, he sets himself and adjusts his collar, relaxing in the seat as he leans his head back as he pulls out his phone. Edward then comes into the driver's seat.
"All set, Master L/N?"
"Ready when you are, Edward."
"Very well."
Soon after, the sleek black car begins to drive out of the area and begins to head out. Browsing through social media for a bit, he closes the screen and tucks his phone back into his pocket.
Leaning his jaw against his hand, he stares out the window. He couldn't help but sigh in a sense of serenity. It felt so good to be home again.
Edward then peers his gaze up into the rear view mirror. "How is your father doing, Master L/N?"
"Hmm? Ah. He is doing well. Though, father spends most of his days in his office rather than his bed," Y/N voiced, disdain in his tone. "It ought to do him better for him to take some rest every now and then."
"Well, your father is what they call a 'workaholic,' Master L/N," Edward chuckles.
Y/N tucked his phone away and leaned forward in his seat, "Anyway, has my mother made the arrangements of where I'll be going to school?"
Edward nodded, resuming his gaze back to the road. "As soon as she heard you were coming home, she made the arrangements right away. I believe you start tomorrow."
"That early, huh?"
"Your education is a priority, Master L/N."
"Right, right..."
"...Is there something on your mind, Master L/N?"
Y/N waved his hand dismissively. "No, not really. I'm just... Thinking about someone."
Edward look confused before gaining a sly grin. "Ah, referring to that young woman now, are we?"
"Wha--Huh? Don't get the wrong idea, Edward," Y/N swiftly replied, a light blush on his face as he looked away. "I'm just wondering how she's doing, that's all."
"I'll have you know, Master L/N, she has grown to be quite the beautiful young lady," Edward chortled, turning the car down a street.
However, Y/N didn't respond this time, only making Edward's laughter increase, seeing the L/N teen turn his head to the side with a red hue on his face. Though, he won't lie. That crush he still had on her remained within him to his day. He often wondered, and people have asked him before, what did he see in her? What made him attracted to her? She was always considered as someone who was pompous and sometimes stuck-up. In fact, she acted like that when they first met. So still, the question of what made him like her still lingered within his mind.
Well, the answer was simple, really. Once he truly got to know her, he could see the kindness that she was able to give. Not only that, when they did have fun together, he enjoyed hearing her laugh and seeing her smiles. All he could say is that they warmed his heart.
---
Once they arrived at the home, Y/N entered inside, with Edward following behind him with his bags. Y/N offered to take them upstairs to his room himself, but the butler simply shook his head and dismissed the idea, already carrying them up the stairs.
Shaking his head with a small with a small content sigh, he began to explore the home. His fingers and nails traced the wall, tracing the edges of the frames of the passing doors, just grazing the metal door knobs in place. His eyes were set on the many pictures lining the walls, a twinge upward in his lips as he recounted the many fond memories he had here before he had gone to his life in England. Though he stopped at one particular photo. One of the photos he had stopped to look at was another one of those pictures with that same blonde girl he had on his mind. It was a day of them spending time at the park. What joy it was, Y/N recounting that what he most vividly remembered there was just seeing her smiles and laughs.
After recounting the fondness of the times of when he was younger, he announces to Edward that he was just going to go for a small walk around the city. Being the caring butler and servant he was, the older man asks the young master if he needed him to accompany him around the area. But Y/N politely declined, saying that he was just going to see if anything changed or not, only going to be a short walk around the place. With that settled, he exited the front door and out the gate, walking down the street as he began heading for the station to head more inland into the city.
---
The school bell rings, the final bell signifying the end of the school day.
It was the afternoon, many students beginning to pour out of the front entrance as they all began to head home for the day. Those who remained on the campus, however, were most likely staying due to after-school sports or club activities.
One of the groups exiting was the very same girls in the back corner of class 2-F. Although this time, the orange-haired girl and the boys in the group weren't there, presumably doing one the two activities aforementioned.
The girl with brown hair looks to the blonde. "You got something to do later, Yumiko? Or are we still meeting up?"
The blonde girl, Yumiko, sighed. "Sorry. My mom requested me to pick up some stuff for dinner tonight. She wants me to help her cook tonight, which I'd rather not."
"Oh?~ Are you sure she isn't just training you to be a proper housewife?~" The girl teased, then gaining a lewd expression. "Perhaps even–"
"Alright, alright, I get it, Ebina," Yumiko sighs again. She then waves goodbye to her, going her separate ways as she whips out her phone, looking to see if she received any new messages.
To her surprise, she didn't receive any new ones. Odd, she thought, considering she is considered the most popular girl in their grade, maybe even the whole entire school at this point. But in any case, Yumiko took the local bullet train to head into the city. The ride to the city wasn't particularly long, standing for about twenty or so minutes as there weren't any seats available for her to sit down in. As she stood, holding onto the many support handles that hung from the ceiling above, she continued to scroll through her photos, a smile coming onto her face every now and then.
Still, she found it strange. Normally, Yumiko wasn't one to scroll through her photos that were on her phone, only doing those when she wants to recount the memories of a recent trip. It was only rare when it came to scrolling through photos from the distant past. But still, just scrolling through them has given her wave after wave of nostalgia, remembering the laughs of a particular brown-haired child from her youth. Well, she was still in her youth, just rather her late youth, so to speak. She still remembered his full name, but mostly used the nickname she had given him. Yumiko remembered how when she initially first gave that name to him, his cheeks had flared with embarrassment, clearly not expecting the drop of a new nickname for him. However, she couldn't help but admit to herself that she adored the nickname he had given her.
'Yumi-chan... It's been so long since I've been called that,' Yumiko remarked to herself. She then put the phone up to her chest. 'Weird... I kind of want to hear his voice again.'
Soon after, the bullet train came to a stop and the doors opened, letting out some sort of hissing noise. It was like pressurized gas was being released from pipes or sorts as the mechanical doors opened.
Letting go of the support handle, Yumiko heads for the exit and leaves the bullet train, shuffling her way through the somewhat crowded station as steps outside into the city. It wasn't particularly warm or cold today, just right. Actually, it was a bit warm as it was currently the season of spring. The season of summer wasn't until a couple of months from now. A small, subconscious thought crossed her mind as she looked down to her chest, almost as if she was examining it. Examining whether her bust had grown bigger or not.
However, she quickly shook her head. Who was she trying to impress? Well, it seemed that the only boy she showed interest in was the most popular guy in their school, Hayato Hayama. And it just so happened that he was also in her class and a part of her clique, so it seemed like a plus to her.
But pushing those thoughts aside, she remembered that she had to purchase some groceries for dinner tonight. Opening her messages app again on her smartphone, she scrolled down to the message thread between herself and her mother. Taking a look at the list, she sighed and turned into the direction the nearest supermarket was. The list wasn't overly long, but it wasn't too small either. But to her, the act of buying groceries seemed like a hassle to her. Including cooking and other sorts of housework. Walking along the street, going about the busy day, she would eventually get the things she needed. Some carrots, lettuce, and assortment of other vegetables, along with packaged pork ribs and such to make some sort of soup or stew.
Once leaving the supermarket, Yumiko looked to the sky and noticed that the blue horizon had now transitioned to that of a vibrant and beautiful orange-yellow sky. Was it the evening already? She didn't feel like she spent that long in the supermarket. But nonetheless, it was time for her to go home and take the bullet train back to the previous station so she could walk to the general and more neighborhood oriented district. So, just like her walk from the station to the supermarket, it wasn't a particularly long one and the ride back on the bullet train wasn't particularly long either. By the time she arrived at the station, it was around 7:30 PM or so, exiting the bullet train and heading out of the station as she began to make the trek back home. Although, once leaving the station and arriving at the residential area, something within her made her end up taking a more scenic route home. It wasn't by all means beautiful or pretty, but it exuded quite the ambient and peaceful atmosphere that it just felt overall pleasant to walk down. Again, this wasn't normal for Yumiko. Usually, she'd be taking the route that'd be the quickest to get home, and yet, something beckoned for her to come down this route.
And it seemed that what beckoned for her to come was nothing more but mere nostalgia. She came along a park. A park that she hadn't come to in a long while. The light breeze blew in gently, causing her to hold some of her hair on the side as it tried to obstruct her view and get in her face. However, once she held her hair back and brushed it out of the way, her eyes widened at the sight of a brown-haired teen standing on the opposite entrance she was at.
Time seemed to have stopped, frozen as they seemed to have been staring at each other for what seemed like forever.
One last breeze had blown through for the final time. Both their hair waved with the wind as they simply stared at each from the opposite ends of the park entrances. Just complete and utter silence. But, soon...
"Yumi-chan...?" Y/N uttered, his voice in awe and surprise.
Yumiko mirrored that same expression of his. "...N/N...?"
[Prologue] | Intertwined Reunion