Forget Me, Forget Me Not

On Weekdays, Hidetoshi (YN) takes the same bus, with the same route, with the same destination. The way to the bus stop was already printed at the back of his mind and not once was he ever late to catch the bus on time.

Inside the bus, the man takes the same seat. Three rows just before the back seats and just next to the window, while the empty space beside him was for his bag or if someone else needed a seat. 

Going on with the bus ride, he usually plugged in his earphones and listened to music along his way to wherever he was headed to. Sometimes, he would grab a book from his bag or just simply scroll through his phone to help pass the time.

Today was like any other day in his simple life. He made his way through the crowds of people on the sidewalk to make it at the bus stop. The sun lightly shined down onto the city. The leaves and branches from the trees provided some cover as he walked down the sidewalk.

(YN)'s hands were placed inside the pockets of his coat. The usual burning hot and humid weather was replaced with the cool winds and the rain that came with the new season arriving so a coat was almost a need.

The scent of freshly made coffee soon engulfed him as he passed by the many open coffee shops. The same goes for the scent of hot, freshly made bread as he passed by bakeries offering the doughy delight.

The small bus stop soon came into view from a distance. The benches were empty which would make sense as it was still pretty early in the morning. 

He walked upon the bus stop and stopped just before the benches, not even looking at the wooden seats. He raised his hand quickly, cocking his sleeve back. A silver watch shined dimly back at him as it sat on his wrist.

Looking at the seconds fly by, he started counting down to when the bus he always used for transport was going to arrive. A minute had passed when he turned his head further down the road and as if on queue, the bus came turning from a corner.

The bus made its way down the road. The vehicle's soft hum from the engine slowly became more and more imminent. Soon, the bus arrived in front of the small bus stop. The doors creaked open, letting the man walk inside.

(YN) went up the steps and stopped to tap his card at the front of the vehicle. He turned towards the mostly empty seats, some of the seats were already taken by the passengers that got on before him. Fortunately for him, his favorite seat wasn't taken.

The man walked towards the back end of the bus and counted three rows just before the last set off seats. He sets his shoulder sling bag down on the right seat before sitting down on the seat in front of the window.

(YN) felt the bus slowly go back into motion. He placed an arm on the window sill. He placed his head over his hand as the bus soon made its rounds around the city.

The bus came to a halt in front of another bus stop. (YN) was now paying no attention to the world outside as he was focused on a book in his hands. He was so focused that he didn't even see that most of the bus seats were already filled and that some people were already standing, holding onto the handles that hung from above.

A couple more people came through the bus doors, making the vehicle more densely packed as it should be. 

"Excuse me! Oh pardon me, moving through!" A soft voice said amidst the crowd. The voice kept repeating the same phrases while moving through the people, trying to find a seat.

BEEP!

The bus unexpectedly halted in the middle of the road. The sudden stop sent some of the people back but luckily they were able to hold onto something either it be another seat, a pole, a handle or even..

another person?

(YN)'s book suddenly fell to the floor. A stunned expression was now on his face as two hands were placed beside both sides of his head. He blankly blinked as a pair of wide eyes belonging to a girl looked at him closely. 

"O-oh I'm sorry!" The girl immediately pushed herself off him and straightened the sleeves of her checkered sweater before she did the same with her pants.

"It's fine.." (YN) softly replied. The girl shyly looked down when she glanced at his bag on a seat next to him. Remembering how cramped and packed the bus was, she could really use a seat.

"Do you mind if I take this seat?" The girl asked. (YN) turned his head upwards to look at her, she had quite the height.

"No, go ahead." The man grabbed a hold of his bag and placed it in the space in front of her legs. With a smile, the girl nodded and sat down next to him.

(YN) adjusted himself in his seat before looking out the window. The girl glanced at him, still slightly embarrassed about what she had accidentally done earlier.

"I-i'm sorry about earlier." The girl shyly stammered out.

"Oh it's fine, not a big problem."

"I'm Kazuha, by the way. Nakamura Kazuha." She reached her hand out slightly.

The boy looked at her as she looked back with her wide eyes. She wore a small, and gentle smile, expecting him to reply to her kind gesture.

"Do you just introduce yourself to everyone you bump into?" (YN) replied, with a hint of sarcasm.

"No, but I was told that it makes me seem friendlier." Kazuha's smile grew into a wide grin before she watched the man quickly shake her hand.

She seemed to be quite the bright character, from her smile to simply the aura she gave off. The girl focused back onto her bag, or what was her burlap sack from the man's point of view.

(YN) focused back on the window beside him, watching as the bus passed by the tall buildings and trees that went alongside the city streets.

The girl continued to rummage through her things inside of her bag, creating a ruckus beside the man. He grew curious of what the girl was doing so he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

He watched her pull out a small notebook paired with a pen to the side. It had a brown cover, almost making it look like a scrapbook.  She then continued scribbling things down onto its brown pages.

(YN) could care less with what she was writing down so he decided to just focus on his business. He stared outside the window until he felt a tap over his shoulder.

"Is this your book?"

He turned his head back to the girl next to him. She held up a closed book close to his face, the same one he had dropped earlier when she unexpectedly fell on him.

"I almost forgot about it, thanks-" (YN) tried to get the book from her when she suddenly pulled it farther from him.

"Looks like you were reading. . .a fantasy book?" Kazuha looked around the novel, from the massive title in front to the smooth cover that held it together.

"Yeah, is there something wrong with it?" The boy slipped it out of her hands before holding it close to him.

"No. . .I just wanted to take note." The girl continued writing in her notebook before closing it loudly.

(YN) glanced at her at the sides of his eyes, thinking of her unusual behavior. Maybe she was some massive book worm that liked to write down every novel she saw. Whatever the reason was, he hoped she wouldn't bother her the rest of the way.

Little did he know that she seemed to just get started.

As he watched the bus continue to make its way around, the girl next to him slowly leaned closer to him. He didn't notice it at first but once he saw the small camera poking from the side of his vision, he immediately leaned back on his seat.

"W-what are you doing?" He stuttered out, startled in his seat.

"Trying to take a picture of the view outside, what else?" She softly replied, trying to steady the small camera in her hands.

(YN) wouldn't have been bothered if she wasn't so close to him, her arm was pushing up against him at this point. He looked away with his eyes slightly closed, hoping she could just finish up what she was doing.

"You're not going to get a good picture if the bus is still moving." (YN) told her, trying his best to move away from her but from the limited space he had, he could barely do much.

Just then, the bus stopped from what he assumed was right in front of a traffic light. It might have been a gift from the heavens since it allowed her to quickly snap a photo of the view outside.