Story:

A hand reached from behind the register to steady the nearest basket.

“Welcome, welcome. My, you’ve found plenty.”

The greeting came in an easy Kansai cadence.

Peach stopped with a packet of bread halfway out of the basket.

Violet’s laughter ceased. Beside her, Butterfly went completely still.

For one suspended moment, the little sounds of the store became painfully distinct: the hum of refrigeration, a plastic wrapper settling against the counter, the faint electronic music overhead.

The shopkeeper looked up.

Ordinary store lighting fell across a terribly familiar face.

Peach’s fingers tightened around the bread. She looked at Butterfly.

Butterfly was staring straight ahead.

Violet’s hand remained suspended above the basket, still holding a can she had apparently forgotten how to put down.

The shopkeeper's welcoming expression faltered. “Is something wrong?”

Butterfly found her voice first.

“Uesugi Kenshin-san?!”

The name burst across the checkout.

Peach nearly dropped the bread.

Behind the register, the girl blinked.

Butterfly took an involuntary step closer, searching that face as though another angle might make it less impossible.

Violet slowly set the can on the counter.

Peach looked from the familiar features to the store uniform, then down at the mountain of convenience-store food between them.

The clerk’s hand rested beside the scanner.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then the bread slipped from Peach’s fingers and landed softly on the counter.