"𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢"
isagi yoichi has been your childhood friend since the end of grade school.
the two of you met as pen pals, paired together by your teachers in a random classroom exercise. at first, it was just an assignment, another task to complete, but writing to isagi quickly became something more that never stopped. he had a way with words that made every letter feel effortless, as if the two of you had known each other for lifetimes.
you were polar opposites – he, the athletic dreamer, chasing soccer with everything he had; you, the studious one, always lost in books and ambition. but even in your differences, there were bridges you crossed together – shared music tastes, the same love for certain foods, the way your minds met in a space only the two of you understood.
despite living an hour’s train ride apart, in entirely different cities, the two of you agreed on three simple rules:
no social media.
no phone numbers.
no pictures.
letters were your only means of communication – old-fashioned, tangible, and filled with a mystery that neither of you wanted to shatter. isagi never minded. in fact, he loved it. he loved the way your cream-colored envelopes always arrived with a gold-stamped lotus wax seal. the way your handwriting curved in distinct strokes, familiar yet mesmerizing. even the navy blue ink, scented faintly of blueberries, became something he cherished, something uniquely you.
and somehow, through those letters, he had fallen in love.
fate, it seemed, had its own plans.
at his favorite café in saitama, isagi stood just a few meters away from you. unaware.
he entered as he always did, stepping through the glass doors, eyes scanning the menu out of habit before deciding, as always, to stick with his usual order. after paying, he moved to the side, waiting near the pickup area, his mind drifting to thoughts of soccer strategies, until something pulled him back to the present.
a song.
infrunami by steve lacy.
a song the two of you had once raved about in your letters, one you would occasionally quote to each other like a secret language.
and then, accompanying the melody, was a soft voice, almost absentmindedly singing along from a nearby table.
he turned instinctively, ready to start a conversation with this stranger about the song, only for his breath to catch the moment he laid eyes on you.
you were absolutely gorgeous.
the way loose strands of your hair fell as you leaned over your notebook. the subtle gloss on your lips, the same brand of balm you once mentioned using to keep them from drying out. but also, the navy blue pen in your hand, identical in shade to the ink that stained the letters he reread too often. the curves of your handwriting… your handwriting.
it had to be a coincidence. he blinked, rubbed his eyes, convinced that maybe he was just imagining things. but then, he heard your name called.
and the nickname. his nickname for you.
you glanced up at the sound, meeting his gaze for a fleeting moment. to you, it was just another awkward moment of unintentional eye contact with a stranger. you brushed it off, stepping up to the counter to collect your matcha, offering a quiet “thank you” to the barista before turning back toward your table.
but as you passed by him, the supposed stranger who wasn’t a stranger at all, you heard him say something, something so soft, so filled with disbelief, that it stopped you mid-step.
“this whole time… you were right in front of me."
© 𝐤𝐱𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢
a/n: infrunami is my favorite steve lacy song guys (let’s not talk about how i mispronounced this song name for months until someone called me out on it)
