(December 20th, 1987)
Inside a school building, Haru could be seen sitting at his desk, not paying much attention to what the teacher was saying.
His eyes were fixed on his blank notebook, moving slightly as if he were reading something that wasn't there.
Haru had his hands under the desk and then.
Flip.
The sound of a page being Flipped was so subtle that even the person who made it barely heard it.
Haru's eyes began to sparkle as he kept looking at the desk, well, more like through it, focused on a page of a comic book he was reading.
"It's Morphing Time!"
Ding!
The soft chime of the school bell caught Haru's attention.
He blinked, the image in his eyes fading as the teacher spoke. "Alright everyone, that's it for today. Have a good break."
As soon as she finished, the classroom filled with noise as students packed up.
Haru slipped the comic into his bag, stood, and headed to the lockers at the back of the room. He opened his locker, took out his coat, scarf, and gloves, and put them on and headed towards the exit of the school.
As he stepped outside, his boots crunched against the snow. Cold air hit his face as he walked down the street, breath faint in front of him.
Eventually, he reached a crosswalk. The light was red, cars passing by in a steady flow.
Seeing that he would have to wait. He pulled his comic from his bag and continued to read were he left of in the class room.
The pedestrian light then turned green. Haru took a step forward, then paused.
'Oh yeah… didn't Mom tell me to go get a cake or something?'
He frowned slightly, trying to remember. 'What was the shop's name again…?'
He crossed the street, still thinking. 'I know it belonged to one of Mom's friends, but what was her name… Moria? No… Iori?'
'Wait… wasn't the shop named after her too?'
He continued walking down the sidewalk, shrugging to himself. 'Well, whatever. It's close to home anyway. I'll figure it out once I see it.'
*****
After twenty minutes of searching the street his mom had told him to go to, Haru still couldn't find the cake shop. He scowled, muttering under his breath, "Where the hell is this thing?!"
He swung past the corner, and finally saw a pastel sign at the front of the shop: "Iori's Pâtisserie."
"I think I found it!" Haru said in relief. He walked up to the door, grabbed the handle, and stepped inside.
The warm scent of baked goods hit him immediately.
"Welcome!" a young woman behind the counter greeted him. As she got a better look at his face, her eyes widened slightly. "Aren't you Miki's kid?"
Haru nodded. "Yes, I am"
"Here to pick up your mother's cake?"
Haru nodded again. "Yes, ma'am."
"Alright, let me go get it for you." she said, heading to the back of the shop.
While he waited, Haru gazed through the glass panels at the pastries inside. 'Man, that chocolate cake looks good!'
Just as Haru was still staring at the pastries, the door opened with a soft jingle.
He turned to look and saw a boy about his age with blue eyes walk in. 'Isn't that Izumi from class?' Haru thought to himself.
The boy's eyes flicked to him, a spark of recognition passing between them. They both nodded at each other at the same time.
Then Izumi walked toward the door at the back of the shop, and walked through it, closing it behind him.
After a few minutes, Iori returned carrying a small cake. "Here you go," she said, placing it on the counter. "That will be 2,000 yen."
Haru handed over the money his mom had given him. "Thank you," he said.
He grabbed the red strings around the cake box with both hands and lifted it with a small grunt. Iori gave a slight chuckle. "Be careful now, it's a bit heavy."
Haru nodded and started walking toward the door. "Have a nice day!" he said.
"You too. Please come again soon!" Iori replied.
Haru smiled and stepped out the door, the cold air hitting his face as he carefully carried the cake.
He started making his way home, enjoying the sight of snow covering the roads. 'Gotta love the snow.' he thought as he started to cross a street. 'Didn't really get to see much of it back then.'
CKRAKA-BOOOOOM!!!!
"GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!" Haru exclaimed, completely stunned. Then he muttered aloud, "Was that thunder?"
He then looked up at the sky, and saw not a single storm cloud in the sky.
"Then what the hell was that soun-"
Before he could finish, something caught the edge of his vision almost eight blocks down, two streaks of light. 'Red and orang-?'
Before he could even process it, the red-and-orange light moved faster than he could perceive.
Just as it was about to crash into him, he felt something like an arm slam into his chest, sending him flying, causing him to toss the cake into the air.
But before he went too far, the orange light broke free from the red one and caught him. The street around them blurred.
Then Haru felt it,
The lightning.
Its power surged over his body as the figure carrying him moved at impossible speeds. The cake that had flown a moment ago was caught by the figure.
The figure skidded to a stop, and Haru finally got a good look at him.
His jaw dropped as he stared at the red-and-gold suit. Just as he was about to speak, the figure asked, "Are you okay?"
Haru nodded, pure excitement shining in his eyes. 'He looks like he walked straight out of a comic book!'
The figure, with no time to waste, handed him the cake and gave him a fleeting look of recognition, but before Haru could even register it-
FUSHHH!
The figure was gone in a flash of orange lightning, following the same path the red one had taken, leaving Haru clutching the cake box, his heart still racing.
Haru just stood there, staring down the street where the man in red had raced past like a beam of lightning.
His mind replayed the image over and over, the suit, the yellow lightning bolt surrounded by white.
And then it finally clicked.
"HOLY SHIT- WAS THAT THE FLASH?!!"