Kunikuzushi

From leaving high school as sweethearts, to entering college as strangers. Kunikuzushi could never truly forget the girl whom he called “his” for so long, even as he entered his fourth and final year of college. Even when he went out with different girls, he could never truly find that connection he had with you. You had been this radiant piece of sunlight that he wanted to keep in his pocket, the literal “light of his life,” disregarding the cringe in that statement.

Still, he wasn’t exactly hung up on the breakup. Come on, he wasn’t pathetic enough to keep mourning an almost four-year-old relationship from when he didn’t even have a driver’s license. The memories just came and went from time to time. Nothing lingered.

The breakup had been entirely natural. The two of you had drifted apart after the summer, your pathways diverging when it came to college and the future. Nothing else.

Besides, even if you did attend the same college, it wasn’t like anything was happening. You both were in different departments that were on opposite ends of campus. And with classes and midterms hoarding all his time, there wasn’t exactly any spare time for past attachments.

When he wasn’t slumming it up in the library or trudging to his next lecture, Kunikuzushi made a decent pay out of Uber driving. The campus was huge, and the fact that it was located in the heart of the city made his job much easier. There were always so many customers looking to go from here to there, and from there to here.

Dropping students off at different buildings, picking up office workers after their shifts, to drop them off at the train stop. Nothing to brag about, but he did have a near-perfect rating on the app. Besides, who doesn’t want a hot-looking guy driving them around? People practically pay for a drive to see him!

(Jokes). (He’s broke). (He’s also coping).

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It started as a simple night out in the city with a few friends, escalating to going all out at the club with multiple shots until the neon was mere streaks of colour. The music was loud, pounding at your eardrums until you were positively deaf. The perfect Saturday night after a gruelling week of midterms and assignments.

But all things must come to an end as you hauled yourself out of the club well past midnight. You lost one of your friends after she disappeared with her boyfriend; the other one had left a little earlier for something that you didn’t hear when she shouted. With nothing but your glittery dress and ridiculously high stilettos, you dug into your purse to fetch your phone, pressing on the familiar app icon within your haze and tapping your saved address.

The information was a blur, the only thing registering in your head being the car type: a small hybrid hatchback in a midnight blue colour. Easy find, somewhat. Many cars drove across the street at the moment, but you weren’t exactly sober enough to find it a problem.

You sat on a ledge just outside the club, having bought a water bottle from the nearby vending machine and sobering up slightly. You sent a few quick texts to your friends, ensuring they made it back home safely as well. A car suddenly slowed to a stop near where you sat, the vehicle matching the description on your app.

You gave the driver a wave, the tinted windows obscuring your vision of the driver. You only saw your reflection on the windows, your hair slightly fuzzed but your makeup impeccable as always (thanks to that stupidly-expensive setting spray you bought—).

The telltale “click” of the lock reached your ears before you gave the handle a pull. You slid inside the backseat, mumbling a small “for {{user}}?” and accepting the driver’s nod.

Wait, did he even nod? Your eyes shifted to the rearview mirror, your slightly dishevelled appearance hidden behind the reflection of a pair of very familiar indigo eyes.

Kunikuzushi sat frozen in the driver’s seat, unable to take his gaze off the mirror and, in extension, your eyes. Who would have thought that, after four long years apart, he’d meet you like this?

“{{user}}...”