cicer

Genichi shuffled down the dirty road to his home, dust clinging to his sleeve as he wiped the sweat off his face. The summers in the city were hot and dusty, and he was looking forward to a cold bath when he got home.

The streets were quiet and empty and Genichi was struck with a familiar feeling, one he often felt in moments of quiet and stillness, the sensation that something was missing, that something should be here but wasn’t. Genichi tried to brush off the familiar feeling but it was as persistent as ever.

Distracted by he thoughts, Genichi didn’t notice the door to the bar he was passing slam open and a figure being thrown out.

“That’ll teach ya to cheat at cards with us, ya bastard!” A man in the doorway slurred, obviously intoxicated. His buddies hanging behind him made equally drunken sounds of agreement before shuffling back inside.

Genichi moved to go around the figure lying inn the middle of the road. As he maneuvered around the body, he happened to look down and caught the guy’s eyes.

Genichi felt like he had been hit by a lightening bolt. He froze, staring down at the stranger bleeding in the dirt. He immediately felt that he knew this man. His face somehow seemed as familiar as Genichi’s own. But where he knew him from escaped his memory completely.

He stared down at the man’s face, at the distant expression in his eyes. He suddenly sank to his knees, hardly even aware of what he was doing.

He was dragging the stranger towards his home before he even really thought about what was going on. All he knew was that he needed to help the guy, so he could talk to him, figure out why he was s familiar, why looking at him made Genichi’s stomach flip over.

Slowly and carefully, Genichi dragged the bloodied stranger to his home.

Clinging to the Past