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The once in a lifetime true love or simply just the fateful encounter with one's soulmate was never something that I really believed in.

I take another sip of my coffee as I watch the people walk past the coffee shop window. One couple in particular piques my interest. They hold each other's hands while walking. But this is not the only thing connecting them. A faint red thread links the man's right thumb and the woman's left pinky finger together. 

It's subtle but solely based on that thread, I'm capable of deducting that these two have truly found each other. My eyes shift downwards to my left wrist. The watch tells me that I've been waiting for 15 minutes already. My eyes wander to my right thumb, which has no red thread attached. It's ironic that I can see the red thread of fate of all other people, but I can't see my own. While growing up I had to learn how to handle this information, which resulted in me never wanting to meddle with the decisions of the people around me. Both of my parents are connected by the red thread, which is in fact, great. But my grandmother for example doesn't have a red thread on her pinky finger. This might be caused by the fact that my grandfather has already passed away and with that also their red thread connection. So, either my soulmate just never existed, has already died or is yet to be born. One way or another, it's out of my control and I'm content with having no visible clue on my fateful encounter. 

The bell at the door of the coffee shop rings and as I look up from my hand I can see the delicate frame of a young woman bursting through the entrance with her dark hair all over her face. 

"Oh! Yuzuru! I'm so sorry for being late. I was already on my way here, but then I noticed that I forgot my phone at home, so I had to rush back to get it." She blurts out while being out of breath and coming to a stop next to me. I reach out for a cup of water on my table and hand it over to her. 

"Calm down, drink this first."

"Thank you so much." She takes the cup and empties it. 

"Sit down, do you want the usual?" I ask her while standing up to go to the counter. 

"Yes, please." She says thankfully and takes her seat. I walk over and order a strawberry latte for her. While the barista is making the drink, I glance over to Chiye who is trying to fix her hair with a small hand mirror. I chuckle a bit, since this entire situation is just so typically her. Ever since we were small she would arrive a little late for a meet up, but when she arrived, it would never be in a calm manner. Which is interesting since she grew up working closely in her family's shrine, where she is the most modest, almost serene, shrine maiden. But the way she carries herself changes in a blink of an eye as soon as she leaves the temple grounds. She turns into this whirlwind of positive energy which is contagious. The barista hands me the drink and I walk back to our table. 

"I'm so excited for you! How long do we have to wait for your results?" She asks me while I'm taking my seat and placing her drink in front of her. 

"The final grades will be presented in around two weeks."

"If it wasn't for the spring festival, then I would've loved to join you in getting your results. And afterwards we could've gone for dinner at Miyoshi and dessert at Happy Waffles." She pouts and sips on her latte. It has always been like this. Her duty as a shrine maiden on top of the temple being in her family's care oftentimes limited her freetime. Though, holding back has never really affected her since her duties are also an honour to be able to carry out. But this is the reason why we haven't been in touch or spending a lot of time together anymore since graduating from high school. Granted, I also moved to my parents place during university, so I wasn't close by anyway. For this transitional phase, I'm staying with my grandmother so it's easier to meet up again.

"Your grandmother told me that you also have a company that would hire you after your graduation?" Her expression changes and shows that she is genuinely happy for me.

"Yes, if everything goes as planned then I will work at Hisaishi in their commercial and sales department in two months."

"Congratulations! Did you find an apartment closer to the office already?"

"There are two apartments, but I'm not quite sure yet which to choose. Maybe, after the festival we can go take a look together and you can help me choose?"

Her face lights up and she nods in excitement. 

"I would love to!" She clasps her hands together and beams with a bright smile. I can't help but glance at her left pinky finger. It's empty. No red thread to be seen.

I always wondered why she either doesn't have a red thread or why I can't see hers. For a while I thought that it was because of her position as a shrine maiden. However, I'm able to see the red threads of all other temple servants. So, it remains a mystery why I can't see her red thread of fate.

Which is fine anyway. That's just less of a reason to worry about.

"Then it's settled. Tell me when you are free and I'll arrange for a viewing appointment."

"Yes!" Visibly delighted, she continues to drink her pinkish beverage.

"How are the festival preparations?" 

"They are going well and the weather forecast seems very promising too." 

"Are you going to dance this year as well?" 

Usually, in order to celebrate and welcome the change of season from winter to spring, the temple has a small procession from the river at the bottom of the hill back to the temple as well as a short traditional dancing ritual from the shrine maidens. Everything is covered in countless flowers and colourful banners. The dance has always been the only aspect of the festival that Chiye was anxious of and for me the one thing that I look forward to the most. 

There's just something about the entire procedure of walking through the streets with a lot of cheering and then arriving at the temple to silently spectating the dance ritual of two shrine maidens with just a flute and bells accompanying them.

"Yes, I will dance but this year it will only be me. Kaede hurt her ankle while practising, so she can't participate." She nervously bites on her lip.

"You will be fine. You've been dancing for so many years now and there was never a problem."

She looks at me and smiles thankfully, but I can tell that her nervousness prevails. The pressure of being the priest's only child and having to represent not only the temple but also her family weighs heavily on her shoulders.

"I will do my best like always, so I hope you will come watch me." 

"Well, I can't miss out on a solo performance from our former class president, can I?" I laugh and pat her shoulder to cheer her up a little.

She joins my laughter and with an upright position, nose high and a triumphant smirk she declares "As the former class president I, Miyama Chiye, will not allow you, Azami Yuzuru, to skip my solo dance ritual during the spring festival in two weeks."

"Understood!" I salute her jokingly and we laugh.

Chiye and I have been in the same class since Kindergarten. I grew up at my grandmother's place which is quite close to the temple where Chiye grew up. Our families are close so it was only natural for us to grow up together. 

I can still remember our first encounter. 

My grandmother usually helps out around the temple and once took me along. "There is a girl your age at the temple. Chiye is a really kind child, you will get along with her." She said on the way to the temple. I was excited to meet another child my age since my parents just decided to give me into my grandmother's care for Kindergarten and everything afterwards. Their work schedule wouldn't allow them to have enough time to take care of me in the way they wanted to. So until then I've stayed with them in a neighbouring city, but wasn't able to make any friends. I mostly stayed at home. 

So, I was determined to make Chiye my first friend, but also nervous as I wasn't quite sure on how to behave around other children. I only knew how to interact with adults. 

After introducing myself to the Miyama family, they told me to go look for Chiye. She's supposed to be somewhere on the temple grounds playing. It was around the spring festival too, so the buildings were decorated beautifully. I was a bit hesitant to look around since I wasn't familiar with the area and stood in front of the main building just admiring the flowers. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I chose those flowers." 

Suddenly, a girl stood next to me and pointed proudly at the colourful flower arrangement surrounding the wooden pillar. She was the same height as me with dark long hair in pigtails. She smiled at me with an interested look on her face.

"I'm Chiye, are you Yuzuru? Grandma Azami told me that she would bring her grandchild with her next time to play." She walked around me in a way to inspect me. 

"Yes, I'm Azami Yuzuru." My voice came out a bit unsure and stiff.

"Great!" She smiled brightly and took my hand pulling me along.

"Let's be friends! I can show you around the temple!"

Chiye took me around and told me all the fascinating things about the temple. It was fun and I really enjoyed myself freely. 

Over the years we became almost inseparable. 

We continued to talk for a while until her phone rang to indicate her next appointment. 

"What are your plans for the next few days until the results are released?" 

Maybe it's something that she does unconsciously, but whenever we are walking home she tends to walk a tad slower than normally. I match my pace to walk beside her.

"I still have to organise some papers and documents, but other than that I will just spend some time with my grandmother, if her busy schedule allows it."

"You should come to the temple, but I'll be quite busy too so there's not much freetime to hang out." She looks down at her feet a bit defeated.

I bend down to meet her at eye level. 

"I will still come. Eventually, I will be able to hang out with you even if it's only for a short while."

She turns her head and returns my gaze with a smile. She doesn't say anything and instead looks straight ahead again. However, I can tell by her flushed ears that she is embarrassed by my words. I also turn away to briefly reflect on my statement. 

It isn't a secret that we mutually enjoy spending time together. Especially, since that allows us to forget about our duties and responsibilities. While Chiye has her obligations as a shrine maiden, I, on the other hand, have my family whom I don't want to disappoint or pose any more burden on. My parents are working hard to provide for us financially and my grandmother had to take care of me, giving her best to raise me. 

I just don't want to trouble or worry any of them, so I always had this ambition to have the best grades and chose the safest path. 

But being with Chiye means being free from any of that determination. Even though it has been a while since we've seen each other, it still feels like the most natural thing. Just being with her. 

I don't know the meaning behind my inability to see our red threads of fate. However, if there is truly something like your fateful encounter, then I want to believe that Chiye is what comes the closest to that for me. There were times where I saw our missing red threads as a sign for our possible connection. Nowadays, I've settled with having her as a part of my life with no ulterior motive whatsoever. I don't want to be influenced by the red threads. So, everything that comes or not remains uncertain and is free to develop. As long as she partakes in my life, I'm content with it.

"You don't need to come upstairs, here is enough. Thank you for walking me back."

Chiye waves with both of her arms as she walks the numerous stairs uphill. 

"I'll see you tomorrow." I wave back to her and watch as she turns around and hurries upwards to the temple. While studying, I missed spending time with her. Though, the small town life is mundane at times, with Chiye even sweeping the temple grounds is fun. 

Shortly after, I arrive back at my grandmother's house.

"I'm back home!"

"Welcome back!"