As they made the journey over to Mikomi’s house, a warm sensation filled his hand. When he looked down, he noticed that Serah had taken his hand into hers. When he glanced up, she had her head turned away slightly with a bit of a pink hue in her cheeks. His face suddenly matched hers in color as his heart began to beat just a little faster. Normally, Mikomi would get lost in thought any time he walked anywhere but today was an exception. Just the feel of her hand gripping his short-circuited his mind to where he couldn’t think at all. He simply enjoyed the moment on their short journey back to his house.
When they arrived, Mikomi noticed that there were already a couple of cars in the driveway. Inside, his father was sitting in his favorite chair while Michael and Cassandra sat on opposite sides of the room, neither one of them looked as if they wanted to see the other. When Mikomi stepped inside, it was as if he provided the perfect thing for Michael to focus his attention on.
“Mikster! What’s good, my man?” asked Michael as he got up, looking for a high five. Mikomi was a bit confused at first but then gave him one of the weakest-looking high fives in history. “Not your style, eh? I gotcha!”
It wasn’t that it wasn’t his style. It was just that it had been ten years since he had seen Michael and Cassandra. They were still working at Onyx Technology Ventures in the other timeline when Mikomi took over the company. Seeing his former employees in front of him, as well as at a younger age, was a pretty weird situation. Cassandra got up from her chair and gave Mikomi a big hug.
“You’ve gotten bigger since the last time I’ve seen you.”
“Yeah, I suppose I have.”
“Mikomi, I see you brought your friend Serah,” said his father.
“Yeah… I did. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course it is! Serah, you are always welcome here in our home!”
“T-thank you,” said Serah a bit nervously.
Mikomi looked around the room and heard some rustling coming from the kitchen. No doubt his mother was there preparing food for the guests. Mikomi took a deep breath and looked at Serah. She gave him a bit of a nod that Mikomi understood as a way of saying that she was okay with him telling everyone the news.
“Hey mom, can you come in here for a minute?”
Karoline stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room. The fact that Mikomi called his mother in here raised the interest of the others in the room, especially his father. Mikomi looked around at all of them and cleared his throat.
“Um… I wanted to thank you guys for coming. I was excited when I watched dad’s press conference because I thought it was amazing what you all were able to accomplish. I kind of feel bad trying to steal the thunder here but dad’s announcement isn’t the only one that has cause for celebration because I have one of my own.”
Mikomi took a deep breath.
“Everyone, I…
Before Mikomi could finish his statement, he was startled by a knock at the door behind him. He let out a cute little squeak as he jumped. Mikomi covered his heart with his hand and let out a sigh before he turned to face the door. He figured that it was the other missing party members and excused himself to let them in. When he opened the door, it wasn’t George, Jared, or Colin standing there but someone he didn’t expect to see.
“Hey, Mikomi,” said a voice with an unsure tone about it.
It was Ryan! Mikomi’s father then offered up an explanation as to what he was doing there.
“Mikomi, I called Ryan’s house because I thought that’s where you were but he said that you never showed up there. Since I knew you would be back for the party, I figured you might want someone here that you could hang out with. After all, what fun is it for a kid to have to sit around and listen to a bunch of adults yammer on about stuff you probably don’t understand?”
“I AM an adult, too, you know… and besides, I understand things a lot more than you give me credit for.”
Ryan looked at Serah and felt a little uncomfortable but then Ryan said some words he thought he wouldn’t say.
“It’s okay, right? If I join you?”
“O-Of course!! Come on in!” said Mikomi a bit nervously.
Ryan took Mikomi up on his offer and came inside. He stood a little bit away from Serah and looked rather uncomfortable. Ryunosuke figured that he could put things back on track here.
“Now, Mikomi. You were saying something about having an announcement of your own to share?”
The pressure was now on. It was easy to announce this before but now that Ryan was in the same room with him, it wasn’t so easy anymore. The fact that Ryan willingly came into the house after seeing Serah standing there was a good sign but the main issue would be his reaction once the announcement was made. Mikomi knew that a huge scene was about to happen one way or another; however, there was no turning back at his point. There was only one path forward and he had to walk it.
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“Y-yeah. Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Serah… my girlfriend.”
Cassandra, Michael, and Karoline all clapped for the two of them. Ryunosuke walked over and slapped his son on the back and gave him a great big hug. Everyone was reacting except for Ryan and that was the one person Mikomi had his eyes on the entire time.
“All right, Mikster! She sure is a cutie… not as cute as Cassie over there, though,” blurted out Michael
“Yes, she’s very lovely, Mikomi. I’m happy for you,” said Cassandra as she gritted her teeth and shot a death stare over at Michael.
“I’m happy to hear that, son! Serah…from the moment I met you, I could tell you were a good person. It’s my honor to welcome you as part of our family!” said Ryunosuke.
Serah was deeply moved by that. The look on her face said it all. Ryan immediately took notice of it and was in complete awe. It was right then and there that he realized that Serah was everything that Mikomi had said she was and then some. He began to feel terrible for all the things he had said and thought about her in the past. That one moment caused Ryan to see Serah in an entirely new light and that was enough for him to make up his mind. He walked over to Serah and stood in front of her, extending his hand. Mikomi saw that and silently gasped to himself.
“Hi! I’m Ryan Pierson, Mikomi’s best friend. Hopefully, we can be friends, too!”
“Ryan… you….”
Serah smiled and shook his hand. That one handshake meant that two of the biggest hurdles on Mikomi’s path to changing the world have been cleared. To everyone else in the room, it was just a simple situation of two kids becoming friends but to Mikomi, it was, quite literally, a world-changing moment.
Suddenly, it was like a raindrop falling into a lake. The impact on the water’s surface caused a ripple to form. It was in that instant that things became a little bit hazy for Mikomi. As quickly as his vision blurred, everything returned to normal. It was so short, nobody noticed that something was a bit off with him.
Everyone seemed to be talking amongst themselves as if nothing happened. Karoline came over and gave Mikomi a hug and a kiss and also hugged Serah, welcoming her into their family. That made a huge impression on her but while things were continuing as normal, Mikomi felt different. He felt that something was missing but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to him but it was a feeling similar to the one he had when he wrote the letter to his father and couldn’t remember the name of the project, or the feeling he had when he first met Serah. It was just a bad vibration he had going through his body and the worst part was, he couldn’t exactly call Sebastian out to ask him about it.
Mikomi decided to let it go for now. Soon after, George, Colin, and Jared arrived and everyone had gathered. From there, it was a typical adult party with them talking about the project, recalling embarrassing work stories, and the like. Mikomi, Serah, and Ryan eventually retreated to Mikomi’s room where they occupied themselves with video games. One thing Mikomi learned about Serah was that she was a fierce competitor and an amazing gamer. She beat both Mikomi and Ryan in almost every game they played together.
After dinner, everyone began to head home for the evening. Mikomi and Serah went out to the living room and said their goodbyes to everyone. Once they were all gone, Ryan excused himself as well and headed back home. This left Mikomi, Serah, and his parents alone in the house.
“I’m going to walk Serah home. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Don’t forget to take your jacket, it’s pretty cool outside,” said his mother.
Mikomi grabbed his coat but instead of wearing it, he put it on Serah so she would be warm on the way back. The two of them departed and shortly thereafter arrived at her house. Serah gave Mikomi another soft kiss on the lips before she stepped inside for the evening but Mikomi had something that he wanted to ask her.
“Hey, Serah. Thanks for coming with me today. I hope that you had a good time.”
Serah simply nodded.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you something since this morning. What was that photograph for?”
Serah clung to the door as she thought about answering him for a moment. After a couple of moments of silence, she looked back up at Mikomi.
“Since we’re a couple now, I guess it’s only fair that I show you. Come in.”
Mikomi stepped into Serah’s house where she told him to have a seat on the couch. Once he did, she went into her room and grabbed her favorite book and Mikomi’s photograph. She opened the book and when she did, Mikomi glanced over and saw photo after photo stuck to the pages. She flipped to a blank page in the back of the book and taped the photo of Mikomi to it. She then passed the book over to him who held it in his hands.
“It’s okay. You can flip through it. I shouldn’t have to hide this from you but remember this is my most prized possession. Please treat it with respect.”
Mikomi assured her that he would since this book obviously meant the world to her. He began to carefully flip through the pages and what he saw was picture after picture of two people he could only assume to be Serah’s parents. The book she had been ‘reading’ this entire time was nothing more than a photo album filled with memories.
“As you can see, it’s a photo album of me and my parents. It represents a couple of things… like the last time that I truly felt happy. I made a promise to myself that I would never add any other photos to this book until the day I became happy again. That’s why your photo is in there, Mikomi.”
Mikomi was deeply moved by the gesture. He now knew just how much she thought of him but she did say there were a couple of things the book represented. Due to being caught up in the moment, Mikomi wasn’t thinking clearly and just blurted out his question.
“What’s the other thing this book represents?”
Mikomi’s question was met with silence. After he realized it had gone had been ignored, he looked up from the book and over at Serah who had tears streaming down her face. She looked at Mikomi and wiped away her tears.
“I’m sorry… it’s just that. These are the only memories I have of my left of my parents since they died.”
All of a sudden, it hit Mikomi. He couldn’t let Serah see his reaction so he leaned over and pulled Serah close to him, embracing her in a hug. With Serah in his arms, his thoughts began to run wild.
“Since they died!!? Serah’s parents weren’t supposed to die for another three years! That feeling I had at dad’s party… Was this the ripple that Sebastian was talking about!? Just what have I done!?”