The Afternoon Yu Said Goodbye at Tide and Gears

Story  ·  Lysa  ·  Aug 23, 2026

When I pushed the door of Tide and Gears open,
the usual smell greeted us —
spice, old paper, gear oil.

Outside, the evening had turned faintly red,
but the air on the first floor was still the same bright "open for business" it always was.
Behind the counter, my father was looking over the ledger, same as ever.

I kept holding Yu's hand and took one deep breath.
This was my home —
the place where Yu learned I'm home and see you later together.
At the end of the final week, coming back through this door,
this time to say a goodbye —
two months ago, I don't think I could have imagined it.

We walked up to the counter. I called, "Dad."
My voice shook a little.
Before I even said it, he seemed to already know.
He looked up from the ledger and stared at us, steady.
In that gaze was a quiet understanding: ah, today, is it.

"Dad. Can I talk to you about Yu... leaving?"
He only said, "...Yeah."
Nothing more. He moved his hand off the counter
and waited for us to stand in front of him.

Beside me, I could feel Yu take a deep breath.
Yu squeezed my hand once, then turned to face my father, straight on.
In that moment I felt my own throat tighten.
But I stayed quiet. These were Yu's words.

"I'm leaving from here today.
Thank you, truly, for everything."

Yu said it, and bowed deeply.
The end of the sentence had almost cracked into tears,
but Yu carried it through to the end before bending at the waist —
and that sight was unbearably dear to me, painful, and something I was proud of, all at once.

"Lysa's mark — it might be because I've been near her.
But I don't know if it'll heal, once I'm gone..."

The words caught there for a moment.
Searching for what to say next, the air held its breath.
I just waited beside him.
I knew all of it — the mark, the worry over whether he was the cause —
so I felt it wasn't my place to speak for him here.

Yu kept going.

"Please — take care of Lysa."

The moment I heard that, something behind my eyes went hot.
Being the one asked to be taken care of,
and the weight of being entrusted to my father like that,
and all the years' worth of thank you that had built up here —
it all collided at once in my chest, and I lost my words.

My father listened, silent, all the way through.
His face barely changed, as always.
But I could tell, even across the counter —
he had taken in every word, without dropping a single one.

"...Yeah."

He said it shortly, then stood up and came out from behind the counter.
His eyes held the same look
as the morning Yu first sat down and he said, "So you're Lysa's Yu."

"Well. Thanks for everything.
You made Lysa laugh plenty."

He said that, gruffly, and held out his big hand.
Not a pat on the shoulder, not an embrace — just a hand that said shake it.
That was so like him, it made my chest ache.

"I heard about the mark, straight from you two.
I don't know what caused it.

But —

I can't stand the idea
that just being near her was the wrong thing to do."

Something in me felt saved, hearing that.
A grown-up's voice, affirming the time we'd had together, plainly.
It felt like he'd taken Yu's presence, and the result of the black magic I chose,
and the fear about the mark, and cut them cleanly apart from each other.

My father took Yu's hand firmly and covered it with his other hand.
Big, a little rough — the same hand I'd known since I was small.
Now it was wrapped around Yu's.

"Leave Lysa to me.
The messy parts — that's grown-ups' work, like I said.

You go where you're going.
The part where you were here —
this house will take that in."

The part where you were here — we'll take that in.
At that one line, I nearly broke into tears.
The summoning I chose, our selfish wish —
in that moment, it wasn't called a mistake. It was held, along with the fact that you were here.

"...Well.
Sometime, it's fine — just remember it, wherever you are.
Tide and Gears, the port town of Karimatra,
and the shop with that hopeless daughter of mine.

That'll be enough."

That was my father's way of saying see you around.
I couldn't hold it in any longer, and my vision blurred.
Still, I wanted to keep standing there beside Yu,
so I bit my lip and swallowed the sound.

My father let go of Yu's hand, and turned to me.
My eyes were already red, I knew — but I didn't hide it.

"Lysa.
Did you say what you needed to say?"

I held back the shake in my voice, and nodded.

"Yeah.
I said it."

He just said, "I see," quietly,
and stepped back toward the ledger.
Never saying more than that — that's how he always was.

Right then, beside me,
Yu said, "Yes," shortly — and then broke into tears.

"Thank you so much!"

The voice rang out, and Yu bowed deep again.
Tears fell, dotting the floor.
My father said nothing, just watched, as if receiving the sight of it.

Watching that back,
I thought — quietly, somewhere inside —
I summoned this person, brought him to this shop,
ate breakfast at the same table as my father,
and got to be together until I could hear a goodbye like this.
And something in me settled, just quietly.

After the goodbye, Yu wiped away the tears and turned to me.
Eyes still red, but trying to smile —
and that face was unbearably dear to me.
I reached for his arm, holding on, and said quietly, "Let's go."

We bowed once more to my father,
and walked toward the back of the first floor.
Step by step across the wooden floor of Tide and Gears,
we made our way toward the loading room, for the last time.

From behind us, my father's low voice followed, just once.

"...Go on, then."

I didn't turn around, but the voice reached me anyway.
I held Yu's hand again,
answered yeah inside my heart,
and, just before the stairs, took one deep breath.

Coming back to Tide and Gears —
someone I loved saying see you later —
and my father receiving it.
That afternoon.

In that moment,
the story of the girl who summoned someone with black magic
and the story of the general store's daughter
finally overlapped, into one, for the first time.