playing cards | ryohei arisu

17

"Hana! I found you!" A little girl by the name of Hiroko called out to her friend.

A young Hana then walked out from behind the fairly large tree she had been hiding behind for a short amount of time. "How did you manage to find me?" Hana laughed. "You're too good."

"I'm just a pro at hide and seek." Hiroko grinned before walking over to a nearby bench.

Hana trailed along behind Hiroko before sitting down on the seat. "Now what?" She asked, suddenly confused about why they were sitting down instead of playing another game.

"We should enjoy the view - it's nice." Hiroko's eyes were relaxed at the sight of the bright blue sky.

"Okay." Hana smiled before looking out at the view. "It is nice. The sky is really pretty."

"Yeah," Hiroko replied.

There was a moment of silence as they took in the view of the sky (more so Hiroko than Hana but she still enjoyed it nonetheless).

That was until Hana broke the silence. "I hope we're friends forever." She told Hiroko.

"Hey, we are gonna be long-time friends! Trust me." Hiroko sent another smile Hana's way.

"Okay. I believe you."

[6 years later]

Karube and Hana made their way to a table in the cafeteria. It was filled with many students and lots of noise - it was Hana's least favorite place to be sometimes.

The siblings finally found a seat and waited for Arisu and Chota to come along and sit with them.

Hana started to eat her food - she'd been hungry for a while now and class didn't help her, but this food was amazing.

Karube didn't eat yet but instead looked around the cafeteria, his eyes landing on a familiar girl. "Hey, isn't that your friend- what was her name? Hiroko?"

Hana's eyes darted over toward the girl, a quiet sigh escaped her lips. "Yeah."

"How come you two don't hang out anymore? You guys were practically glued to each other. It was impossible to split you guys apart." Karube said, a hint of teasing in his voice.

Hana shrugged as she chewed her food. "I don't know. We were friends in the past and then high school happened. We grew apart and now we're strangers."

Hana thought about Hiroko every day. She missed her dearly and always wanted to speak to her, but was scared of how Hiroko would react.

Would Hiroko think Hana was weird for talking to her again - did she forget who Hana was? Surely not.

But ever since then, they were strangers. At least strangers with memories.

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"Hiroko?" Hana was in disbelief when she saw her old friend standing directly in front of her. "What are you doing here?"