A five year old Emi had stopped mid- walk, listening intensively to her great-grandpa. Tears started to flow down her face as she heard the words "move somewhere new"
"We can't move grandpa! I'll miss Riki, Takuto, and Kenshi!" Emi screamed as she spun around and ran.
"EMI, don't run off on you own!"
Emi just shook her head and continued to pump her tiny legs. As she blindly ran away, she didn't see the restaurant door about to open. 'CRASH' , the force of the impact made Emi stumble backwards and cry out in pain. Her great-grandpa came up to her and carried her off to tend to her wound.
After Emi was all bandaged up and reprimanded for running off, her grandpa brought up the move again.
"Emi, I know you don't want to leave the boys, but I'm sure you'll make new friends."
"Who are the boys, grandpa?" Emi asked in confusion.
"Riki, Takuto, Kenshi, Hiro, and Atsumu, do you remember them, Emi?"
Tears ran down Emi's face as she tried to remember.
"It hurts my head, grandpa," Emi cried.
Her great-grandpa pet her head as he spoke, "Don't worry, Emi you'll remember soon."
Soon wasn't as quick as her grandpa thought, it had been a week since the incident and the day they were moving. Emi had not remembered her dear friends in that time span. That day Emi felt a sadness wash over her. She didn't want to leave, but she did not know why.
When Emi moved to her new home, she made two new friends, Tatsuro and Ranko, her old friends still forgotten. She would not see her old friends until years later, when they try to steal a painting on display at the museum she works at. Her old friends still remember who Emi is. It saddened them when they heard about Emi's memory lost. When they meet her as an adult they once again became her friends. They still have hope that one day she'll remember.
*PRESENT DAY*
"It's such a slow day today," I mumble to myself as I rest my chin on my palm. As I stare off into space, I hear a ruckus in the storage room. 'I wonder what that noise is?' I venture to the back, to figure out what the noise is. As I go to open the door, I hear a crash. I see Mitsuru on the ground trying to pick up the contents that fell from the boxes.
"Mitsuru, do you need help?" I ask.
"Oh, Emi, I was just moving this painting and then I hit the boxes," Mitsuru admits shyly.
"I can help you move the painting into the gallery, it looks kinda big," I suggest.
"Thank you, Emi!"
We both grab a part of the painting and start our trek to the gallery.
"Okay, now put the side of the frame on that hook," I instruct.
When we finish hanging the painting, I stand back to make sure it is straight. Then I see part of the frame start to tilt. 'Oh no, it's going to fall.' I run toward the painting and try to adjust it back onto the hooks. My hand slips and the edge of the frame hits me on my forehead. I struggle through the pain and manage to get the painting back onto the wall.
"Emi, are you alright?!" Mitsuru worriedly asks.
"I'm fine, I'm just going to get some ice for my head."
As I walk toward the staff lounge, my head begins to throb.
"Ugh, this hurts," I groan.
All of a sudden my vision blurs and I see five boys in front of me.
"Emi!" They all happily cheer.
I come back to my senses and see the staff door in front of me. 'That was weird. I wonder what that was?' I shrug it off and go get myself some ice.
*AT LRN*
"Finally, I'm done with the day," I cheer.
"Hey, Emi!"
"Kenshi!" I wave as he walks over.
"What happened to your forehead?" Kenshi asks concern in his eyes, "Are you alright?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. A painting fell on me earlier," I explain.
"Emi's back," Hiro says as he bounds toward me. As he approaches, his lips turn downward as he asks, "What happened to your head?"
As I'm about to tell Hiro the story, I see Takuto and Atsumu walk toward us. 'At least I won't have to explain it two more times.' When I finish explaining the incident, I ask where Riki is.
"Oh, he said that he would be staying late at the office, so he will join us later," Atsumu explains.
"Well I'm not waiting until Riki gets here to eat," Takuto exclaims, "Beardy, get me some pork noodles!"
"Boss, I'll have one also," I say.
"Two pork noodles, coming right up."
We end up sitting at a circular table, just eating and chatting about our day. I hear a bell ring behind me and see Riki walking through the doors. As Riki sits down my eyes glaze over and the scene before my changes. The walls melt away and becomes a clear blue summer day. I feel grass underneath my fingertips, and I hear laughter resonate through the breeze. I look around to see three little boys sitting beside me. Another boy who looks to be in his teen years comes up to us and says "I have a mission for you guys." 'A mission?'
My pupils dilate back as I return to reality. All the Black Foxes are curiously looking at me.
"Emi, are you okay? You zoned out," Riki informs me,
"I'm fine, I've just been having visions every since I hit my head earlier, nothing to worry about," I say as I wave them off. The whole room goes silent after I say that. Everyone looked like they wanted to say something, but thought better about it and decided not to. The silence ended when boss said "I have a mission for you guys. Word has it that there's one of Emi's great grandfather's paintings being put on display at a party tomorrow night. After the party ends, the host is going to take the painting and sell it on the black market."
"That's horrible," I gasp.
"Takuto, get me the layout of the room they are holding the painting in," Riki commands.
"Okay, got it. It looks like the painting will be on display in the corner of the room. There are three doors in the room. One of them are the main doors, another set of doors leads to the backyard, and the final set of doors leads farther back into the house."
"There will be guards surrounding the main entrance, painting, and the interior doors," Riki states, "Emi and I will attend as guests to investigate any possible dangers. Hiro, you will arrive shortly after us. As you walk by the painting, distract the guards and get them away from the their post. Takuto, you will cut the power. Kenshi. you will come in from the back and deal with the remaining guards. In the confusion, Emi and myself will grab the painting."
When the meeting ends, everyone leaves to prepare for tomorrow.
*TIME SKIP*
The van is parked a block away from our destination.
"Everyone knows what they need to do?" Riki asks. We all nod in unison. " Okay, operation snag-and-grab is a go. Let's move out team."
Riki and I get out first and start to head toward the house. I gasp in astonishment as we approach the house. It is a five story house with surveillance cameras at every window. There are two guards stationed at the entrance. I gulp audibly. Suddenly, Riki takes my hand in his and whispers "Don't worry, I'll protect you." My nerves calm down at the sound of his voice.
"Okay," I whisper back, as I give his hand a squeeze.
When we enter through the doors, I immediately spot the painting in the corner. I survey the area and spot two additional guards at the interior side of the entrance, two guards on either side of the painting, and one guard in front of a farther back door. After we searched the area, Riki drags me to the back of the room and contacts the others. I hear the main doors open and close, and turn around to see Hiro in a long red dress, with hair past his shoulders. The subtle click of hell on tile is audible as Hiro sashays over to the painting.
"May I have a look at the painting?" Hiro asks.
The guards move slightly to allow him to look more closely at the painting. When he's finished examining it, he looks in our direction and gives us a slight nod. This confirms that the painting is indeed the original. As Hiro walks away, he trips and falls to the floor.
"Can someone help me? I think I twisted my ankle," Hiro cries out.
When the guards walk over to help Hiro, the scene before me vanishes. Instead, I see a toddler helplessly crying on the grass as an adult goes to comfort him. My eyes focus in once again and I'm back to reality. I see Hiro being supported by the guards as they go outside.
I have no time to think about what happened as Riki says, "Come on, Emi let's get into position."
When we are in front of the painting, the lights go out and an alarm blares through the air. "FIRE!" I hear someone yell. Panic ensues as all the guests hastily make their way to an exit. During the chaos, Kenshi manages to sneak in. Riki and I grab the painting. Before we can escape, I hear a gruff voice say "Get the painting!" I feel a vice like grip on my arm and am thrown in the opposite direction. "Grab the thieves," A voice yells. I hear heavy footsteps coming my way. Just as a hand reaches my arm, the pressure ceases. I look up to see that Kenshi knocked down the man that was going to grab me. The scene dissipates before me and I see a little boy fighting off various dogs. "RUN!" I hear Kenshi yell, this snaps me out of my trance. I get back on my feet and search for Riki. I blindly stumble back to where the painting was in hopes that Riki is still there. Suddenly, I feel a hand cover my mouth. Before I have time to scream, I hear a familiar voice whisper, "Emi, it's just me."
I relax as I hear Riki's voice. "Follow me." I obediently oblige and follow Riki through the door that leads farther into the house.
"Takuto, can you find us a way out?" Riki whispers into the dark.
"Yeah, take a left at the next hallway, the open the door on your right. You should be in the kitchen. In the back right corner there is a window that opens to the garden. I'll disable the security cameras for you."
As we make our way to the back window, Takuto yells, "Hurry, there are two guards that will be approaching the kitchen at any minute."
Takuto's panicked voice triggers another familiar voice in my head. A little kid is saying "Hurry, he's coming back."
"Emi, hurry up!" Riki barks at me.
I quickly scramble out the window as I hear the creak of a door opening.
When we make it to solid ground, we sprinted as fast as we could toward the van. When we jump inside I notice a presence missing.
"Where's Kenshi?" I ask.
"He go in some trouble with the guards. He said if he doesn't arrive in the next two minutes, leave," Boss informed me.
Before I have time to worry, a voice says, "Sorry I'm late," and hops into the van. With everybody here, Boss floors it back to LRN.
When we make it back to LRN, everyone is cheering about the successful mission.
"Operation snag-and-grab was a success," Riki announced.
At that moment, I once again find myself in another world. Only this time I can recognize the faces around me. I see a young Riki, Takuto, Kenshi, a toddler Hiro, and a teenage Atsumu, along with a young version of me, sitting around a plate of cookies. "Operation snack-and-grab was a success," young Riki says as we all cheer in response.
The memory goes out of focus, as I find myself watching all the guys cheering. I can't help but laugh as I watch the all too familiar scene. I silently walk over to the group with a smirk on my face. "Hey Riki, you know you weren't that creative with the mission title," I say out of the blue, "What about snack-and-grab?"
The room goes silent as I utter the name of our first mission that took place years ago.
Riki slowly walks towards me and asks, "Emi, do you remember?"
As I'm about to answer, I feel water building up in my eyes. I smile brightly and say "Yes." At this revelation, a group hug forms around me. No words are said as we all savor the silence. As they let go one by one, I am presented with smiling faces.
Tears fall down my cheeks as I happily say, "Tadaima."