A loud crash of thunder awakened you. Tiny raindrop fell on your face. Forcing your eyes to open, you found yourself in a big open field leaning against a tree.
'Where I am?' You thought. 'Why does it hurt to move?'
You searched your mind for answers. Nothing. Your mind was completely blank. You tried to focus harder, fearing something was terribly wrong. Nothing. Panicking, you tried to remember your name, home, family, anything that would give you a hint about who you are or why you were here. Nothing.
'I've lost my memory.' You realized. 'But how?'
In the distance, you saw a figure. You didn't know who or what it was, but anything was better than nothing.
"He…" You tried to speak, but it hurt your throat.
You hands reached for your neck. Your fingers brushed against the now delicate surface. It must be terribly bruised. You looked up. The figure was coming closer. Hope leapt from your chest. Maybe this creature would help you? Focusing your eyes, you noticed the figure was a man. He was running toward you now with surprising speed. Automatically, your arms covered your head, fearing he was going to attack you.
"Are you alright, miss?" A gentle voice asked.
You opened your eyes and cautiously put your arms down. The voice came from a man. He had long red hair and enchanted green eyes. You tried to speak, but nothing came out. It was like your throat was closed up.
"You're in terrible shape." He said looking you over. "I'm Shuichi. "
You nodded, beginning to feel light headed. Then everything went black.
Shuichi looked at the girl in his arms. She had fainted due to exhaustion or the wounds on her body. He shook his head and picked her up bridal style.
'I'll just take her home and patch up her wounds.' He reflected on the situation. 'She can go home in the morning. After all, I can't just leave her here.'
With that Shuichi began to walk home carrying the girl. It was now that Shuichi took the time to study her features. Her hair was a light shade of auburn, like the fall leaves. Her frame was small. She easily fit in his arms. Her clothes were odd to say the least: A simple black kimono. No adornments or accessories. Solid black like she had just attended a funeral. Over that she was wearing a heavy brown coat. When he noticed her neck, he frowned. It was purple and dark yellow. The bruises resembled hands. Someone tried to choke her to death and almost succeed.
'I don't understand.' Shuichi thought. 'I could feel her aura so clearly. It was definitely she. But she wasn't there, only this girl. Was she there?' He looked at the girl. 'I hope she wasn't responsible for this…'
Shuichi mulled over his thoughts. It had been years since he thought about Jun. He planned on returning to her after he recovered, but things got complicated. His human mother got sick, and then he had the dark tournament. He wasn't even sure she was still alive, until he felt her aura earlier today.
'Jun.' He thought. 'Where are you?'
You were in a black void. You couldn't see anything. Darkness surrounded you.
"I'm leaving." You heard a voice that you recognized as your own.
"Oh?" A different voice asked. It was simple, calm, but dark. It echoed around you and sent a chill down your spine.
"We had a deal." Your voice continued. "I gave you my services ever since you found me. We're done. I'm going to find him."
Your heart lurched. You didn't know whom you were talking about, but apparently your heart did. Words you couldn't make out were said from your voice. Then you felt something clutch your neck. It was difficult to breath. You started to struggle, trying to escape their grasp. Just when you thought you couldn't take it anymore, you felt something shaking you. Your eyes shoot open and you started coughing violently.
"It was just a nightmare." You heard the voice from the park. A warm hand rubbed your back, in an attempt to soothe you. "You're safe now."
Tears started to pour from your eyes as you realized it was not a nightmare. It was how you got in this situation. It was a brief reencounter with your attacker. Your body started to shake violently.
"Please lie back down." He told you as he help you lean down. He was silent. You could tell he wanted to ask you something, but didn't know how. "You're at my parent's house. I took you here to bandage you up."
You looked at yourself. Scratches and bruises covered your arms. Then you noticed that you weren't wearing what you were wearing before. Slowly, your cheeks began to feel warm.
"I had to change your clothes to tend some of the wounds." The man with red hair lightly blushed. "Plus, I thought you might feel better in something clean." You nodded slowly, processing the information. "Besides the bruising around your neck, you aren't in bad shape. As soon as you feel better, you can go home."
"I don't know where that is." Your words came out hoarse.
Shuichi handed you a glass of water. You greedily accepted and took a drink. The liquid felt cool and soothed your throat. At the same time, the muscles it took to swallow burned in pain.
"What do you mean by that?" Shuichi asked.
"I can't remember anything…" You replied before taking another small slip of the water trying to cool the burning sensation in your throat.
"Temporary amnesia…" He thought aloud. "You must have went though something really rough. You don't remember anything? Why you were there?"
"I woke up there." Fighting the tears, you continued. "You were the first person I saw. What is your name?"
"I'm Shuichi Minamino." He gave you a small smile. "And you can stay here until remember your home or family."
Eyeing the hand mirror on the vanity, you bit your lip nervously. A question weighed you down like a sack of lead. You couldn't remember anything. Not even how you looked. Shuichi noticed your stare.
"Do you want it?" Shuichi asked.
"I-I." You stuttered with a blush. "I don't want you to think I'm vain or anything. I'm sure I'm no spring chicken, but…"
"It's quite alright." Shuichi handed you the mirror.
You accepted the mirror. Slowly, you raised it to your face. Part of you feared what you would see. The other part urged you to look, as if it believed your memory would return if you saw yourself. As you gazed at your reflection, you traced the outline of your face with your other hand. Your long brown hair was disheveled and tangled. The amber eyes stared back at you in confusion. You put the mirror down. It was too much.
"How strange to not recognize your own reflection." You pondered. "It's so strange."
Shuichi gave you a soft smile. "I think you need some more rest. It's getting late. I have class tomorrow, but I'll stop by before I leave."
He secured the blankets around you.
"Thank you." You snuggled into the covers. "I'm sorry to bother you like this."
"It's no trouble." Shuichi smiled. "My parents are out this week with my little brother. A little company will be nice."
The door closed and you welcomed the sweet silence of sleep.
Shuichi, on the other hand, wasn't ready for bed yet. He had some questions for Koenma, ruler of the spirit world.
The spirit world was buzzing with ogres. It was nothing out of the ordinary and Shuichi made his way to the ruler's desk with ease.
"Ah, Kurama." Koenma smiled. "It's unusual to see you here."
"I'm afraid it's not a cordial visit." Shuichi was apparently called, "Kurama" by this man. "I felt the presence of S-class demon on earth. Have you had any problems?"
Koenma looked perplexed. Skillfully, he started typing on his computer.
"All the readings look fine." Koenma said not taking his eyes off the screen. "And there are no unusual readings…"
"Strange…" Kurama trailed. "How you mind if I looked through some files?"
"Sure, go ahead." Koenma continued looking the screen. Apparently, something caught his eye…
Kurama went to examine Koenma's files. He shuffled through the folders, until he found what he was looking for: Jun Miwa Matsuo's file.
