The Golden Pear [YA - Featured]

♫~AfterNote~♫

Years had passed, and their paths had divided. Each had now a dream to pursue, but they remained in contact.

Freya accepted her body and changed her mind of getting a skin treatment. She now used only an ointment to protect her weakened body armor. Meeting with other fire survivors opened her eyes, and she worked hard to help them overcome their pain.

Some came to work for Handy Cafe as their physical appearance or injury prevented them from attending higher education or applying for another work. Freya encouraged them to never give up, sharing her story and experience.

It was some time since she was promoted to a manager of the cafe where she started as a part-timer. She was also teaching English and Japanese sign language for both locals and foreigners, traveling the world to take part in discussions or meetings.

So much had happened. She couldn't believe her own eyes when they spotted an old friend that she thought she had lost. She dashed among people on the street, crossing the road, and tapping a young woman sitting in a cafe.

Her head snapped Freya's way.

"Freya-chan?" Ueno whispered, also accusing her eyes from optical illusions.

The girl nodded, and they hugged. When she let go, she noticed how much Ueno had changed. Her hair reached to her shoulders instead, and her skin around the left eye was red, including partly red white of the eyes. The same went for her hands. At the first glance, it could seem she had bathed in blood.

Freya forbid herself from asking for details, but Ueno had beaten her to it.

"It's just a small souvenir." She traced her hands. "Something like a proud scar. Doctors have said my skin turned darker because of blood vessels bursting or something like that. It's nothing serious. I just need to let my fingers rest or they twitch."

Freya nodded, and then she watched in awe as Ueno gesticulated, using sign language to apologize for her behavior. The ginger-haired girl replied with a wide smile.

"Freya-chan, do you have a moment?"

She pondered for a bit, finding she went outside to relax, so she nodded.

"Do you remember that message I asked you to look after for me?"

Fishing out her ancient phone that worked after all those years, she found the old message. The address was there with a number.

"I'm here to discover what it is. Could you... come with me?"

'Of course.' Freya offered her hand. Entwining their fingers, they shared the events of the past years.

Ueno awoke from her coma three weeks later and needed a full month to be prepared to return to the normal life. On her phone, she had found a lot of messages, but she was too scared to open them, afraid they would blame her. She didn't know that they had found out Mori was the real culprit.