I knew all too well that my eyes were shut closed, leaving my mind to wander in an abyss. I told myself not to let go, but I failed. I was tumbling down, down into a bottomless world, and I couldn't hear myself scream, yet my mouth was wide open. I felt the water submerge me for an instant, then instantaneously turn to ice, leaving me trapped. I banged my palms on the ice above me in vain, gazing upwards at the face that looked down at me. Am I on my way to Heaven or Hell? I thought to myself, the fresh tears not even sliding down my face. I closed my eyes in defeat, and waited for God and His hands to take me in.

"Risen! Open your eyes! Speak to me!" A voice said, my ears twitching as soon as I realized that I could finally hear something. I didn't do as the voice said but decided it was time to breathe deeply, as if the pull of the darkness slowly but surely faded away. I lived. I was a quick girl, so as soon as I made sure I was breathing, I began to feel. The numbness was gone, and I felt two soft but firm hands hold me. A girl's, I suppose. But no, it surely didn't match up with the deep voice that I had previously heard. I winced as the hands rattled me again. "Zeth, let go of me already!" I shouted before I knew what I was saying. My body shot upwards from the emergency bed that I soon realized was making its way to an ambulance. The world was no more a darkness to my eyes, and visible light gleamed everywhere in the setting sun. When I glanced around, I saw six transfixed eyes set on me. "Risen! You're alright!" I heard a feminine voice call out to me. I looked at her direction. "Zeth..." I said, recognizing her instantly. She hugged me tightly. I think I know what's going on here... I thought to myself.

"I nearly drowned in a river, right?" I stiffly said, surprising the Doctors that thought I would have slurred speech. "Y-yes, nearly, and hit your head as well. You should lie back down, ok?" One said, putting my bandaged head at rest once more. I laid in the hospital room glaring at the blank white ceiling. All of a sudden I heard voices. "You can come in, but visiting hours are almost over." One said. "Alright." Another voice filled with worry said. I didn't glance at the door as it slowly swung open. "Risen... Thank God you're ok..." The voice said. Soon, I remembered. It was the voice of the one who first called out to me. I didn't think I had the strength but I managed to shift the pillow arrangement so that I could look at this mysterious person. He was tall, I noticed, with aqua green eyes and shaggy black hair. I looked at him without any recognition on my face. And he continued to stand there, waiting for me to say something. Finally, he gave up. "R-risen? You do remember my face, don't you?" He asked, wavering for only a moments notice. "I don't think so." I said quite bluntly, obliviously faltering his hopes even more. He looked down to the floor harshly. "I don't believe this..." He muttered to himself. "Well, first of all, what is your name?" I asked him, trying to get to the bottom of the issue. He looked back up at me. "Kirihara Akaya. Please, just call me Akaya for old times sake, no -kun or niisan, if you still don't remember." He replied. Why am I having such a hard time remembering? I thought to myself. It was like when I tried, the thought would disappear instantly. He waited for me to stop thinking and talk again. "Well, who were you to me, back then when I could remember?" I asked, my head turning to the window side of the room. He walked slowly to where I laid and I stiffened. He sat down and picked my front half up from out of the sheets, then hugged my head to his chest. "I am your brother." He answered simply. "B-brother? I didn't remember I had one. This makes me feel better, knowing that I have a close by relative. But the sad thing is that I don't remember anything about you at all. Hey, does this all mean I look a lot like you right now?" I asked in awe. He nodded and looked at me as if I had a fly swatted on my forehead. "Ohh, then that's great. Because I was already starting to think that you were adorably emotional." I giggled to my own surprise. I didn't know I could do that yet. I looked up to his face and saw him quickly turn red and face another way. "Please, don't ever say that again in front of any body I know." He said, sweat dropping. "Well, now that I know who you are, you can get out of my room. Visiting hours are over." I bluntly said again. He seemed childishly offended then patted me on my head. He got up and then left the room. After staring at the door closed, I laid myself back down to a comfortable position and slept.

Morning time again, huh? I thought to myself as I shielded my eyes from the standstill sun that gleamed through the blinds on the window. I glanced at the table clock and decided that I should enjoy my time sleeping. So, I laid my head back down and dreamt again, but dreamt about what had happened the other day. They called me 'Risen' so that must be my name... I agreed to myself. Soon after ten minutes, a doctor came in. "Risen Kirihara, correct?" "I guess so." "The doctors you saw yesterday have diagnosed you with a little case of temporary loss of memory. But as long as you have someone to guide you, everything should go well. That means that we are releasing you as soon as two days from now. Ok?" He told me. Two days... "Thank you." I briefly said. Right as he was about to leave, he turned around. "Oh, and you can walk around the wards for a bit, get to know some people." And then he left. Walk around? Finally. I got up and kneeled on the floor. "Thanks God, for sparing me and letting me even see the light of day. Thanks again... in Jesus's name." I tried getting up, which was a little shaky, but I still managed to get up. I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. After I had come out with a towel, I put on the same hospital clothes they had given me. I walked steadily out of the room, closed the door behind me, and immediately went right. I felt my head knock into something hard and I fell. "Watch where you're going!" I yelled at the next person I saw when I opened my eyes. I blinked again, double taking. "Gomenasai..." I heard his voice. He grabbed his forehead as if in pain. "I'm so sorry to yell... I didn't know that my big head hurt you." I apologized, making him laugh. "Yes, I admit I have a big cranium. Nothing to laugh about." I replied to his actions, making him chuckle more. I bent on my knees and gestured for him to talk my hand. He did, and I found that we were of the same height. "What is your name, young girl?" He asked, dusting off his hospital baby blue clothes. "Shouldn't you tell me yours first?" I retorted. He stared at me with an eyebrow raised. I couldn't help but crack a smile. "You're right, my name is Yukimura Seiichi. Come, we should head off to breakfast." He said, quickly turning and waving his hand as a gesture to follow. I shrugged and went with him.

After several twists of the hallway, we entered a huge room that was heavily scented with buttered pancakes, swirly danishes, and cinnamon toast. He looked back at me to see if I was in awe, which I was. I was all but drooling like a dog. "Sit down over there, and I will get us something. Ok?" He said, pointing to a booth not to far away. "But, I can get it my-" I started to protest, but he was already gone. "Self." I walked to where he told me to sit and sat in defeat. I lifted my palms under my cheeks and put my elbows on the table and sighed. "Amnesia... Funny, I can remember that word. Now I have to rebuild my life, temporary amnesia or not." I sighed once more and decided to forget thinking about that and just laid my head down.

Young girl... Young girl... A voice called out to me from beyond my slumber. My eyes burst open to face Yukimura who was the one calling me. I noticed in his hands lay the food tray. He sat it down, then took a seat across from me. "Arigato, Yukimura-san." I politely thanked, my hand about to reach for the fork. He gently nodded and placed his hand on the table but on top of mine, stopping my movement. "Prayer first?" He genuinely asked. I smiled and nodded. We put each of our hands together with the other hand in prayer position. After a few seconds, we opened our eyes and began to dig in. "So, Nazo-san*, you never told me about your name." He said, taking a sip of his water afterwards. (He said "Mystery-san".) My eyes widened in realization. "Kirihara Risen." I proudly said, unknown to Yukimura-san that I had just discovered this the night before. "Really? So you must be the one my boy has been mentioning. You look just like him, black hair and green eyes." He said to my surprise, now staring sharply into the latter he mentioned. " 'Boy'? I seriously don't want you to break that egg over my head saying something like 'Luke. I AM your FATHER.' or anything like that." I said, shaking my head. "No, no! He's my kohai at our school, Rikkai Dai Fuzoku. I am the captain of their tennis team, and he's one of our regulars." He briefly explained. "W-wait a minute, if this is all happening, where am I supposed to fit into?" I asked him, swallowing down a big piece of waffle. He shrugged innocently. I waved it off and we ate in a comfortable silence. I munched down my smooth round egg happily with a shot glass of apple juice and sat back, having being done in five minutes. Yukimura, however, was still cutting his pancake. I looked at him with a sweat drop, and he seemed not to care has he delicately put one fork of food to another in his mouth, quietly chewing and brushing his lips lightly with a napkin. I figured he was one of those types of guys who were a level of high maintenance. Somewhat. "Yukimura-san, I have a question... If you're the captain of the team, why are you here stuck in this hospital?" I innocently asked. He dropped his fork in hesitation and looked up at me beyond his long and curly blue hair. I suddenly realized that he may have been offended. "Gomen, I didn't mean to..." "It's ok. I'll tell you. I have an illness, some neurological disease..." He paused after he saw the sympathy on my face. "But i'll be fine, hopefully." He said with a smile. I knew that there was more hidden underneath that smile, though... "Well, Yukimura-san, I hope everything goes well for you." I told him with a nod. He smiled fully, then glanced at the watch his had strapped to his wrist. "Oh, I have an appointment soon... I best get going. I hope you get better too, Risen-san." He stood up, minding to throw away our left overs, glanced at me again, and headed back through the binding hallway. What a weird guy, even though he looks well... I thought for a moment.

I decided to check around the place, making sure to take a mini-map with me. I strolled down another hallway, and saw that there was a small room full of people inside. They immediately noticed my presence and stared. "Sorry, wrong place..." I blushed and backed out the door. I exhaled in relief. "Hahaha! Child, it is best not to intrude on those old men... they'll stare you out the door and outside into the cold." An old but strong voice said in front of me. I looked up and spotted what looked like a cleaner. She had a white apron, black nurse shoes, and a small white cap on the top of her head. With her stood a cart, full of cleaning supplies, and I immediately spotted Bleach. "Yeah, I saw what you meant..." I said, sweat dropping and glancing to the door again. "Hi, I'm Margareth, top chief of the cleaning staff." She said, holding out her worn hand. "Risen. Pleasure to meet you." I also said, firmly taking her hand and shaking it. "So, what brings you 'round these parts?" She asked, now loading some more stuff from a nearby closet to the rolling rack. "Oh, I just tried to explore. Say, is there any other interesting places in this hospital without grumpy old men who failed at anger management class and are taking it again?" I asked, making her heartily laugh again. "Oh, there is such a place. Turn to your right, and press your palm on the wall. You should be able to figure the next steps out. Oooh, I have places to run, dishes to clean. Goodbye, Risen!" She called behind her as she quickly made her way out of the hall and to where I previously entered the hallway, away from the room. I did as she told me, and a part of the wall just separated from the rest and slid up. Another hallway, except black and emerald looking in the distance, lay before me. I stepped through the fairly wide opening and the wall shut itself behind me. I gazed at the weird shape of the hallway. A hexagon hallway? I thought. I continued on and found myself staring at the side of a huge (in my sight) gushing waterfall, with vines and flowers and plants encasing the stone behind it. A small pond that drained into somewhere else lay at its feet. Outside, I realized, but not off the premises. Good thinking. I made my way around it and found a small stone bench to sit on. I took in the sight, realizing that the city sounds couldn't enter this place.

I decided to play around with the other children at the hospital and found myself easily worn out. Now they think of me as their hospital-sister! I didn't expect that... Anyway, once I said farewell and escorted all of them to their separate rooms, I went towards mine. I wonder what he's doing... I thought, remembering that Yukimura-san's room was right next to mine. I slowly crept to his door like a spy and looked through the horizontal rectangular glass slot on the door that allowed you to glance inside. The room was dark, with only a few of the sun's rays coming in though the side window. I heard no movement at all. I'm too curious... I must tackle that problem... Later. I thought to myself with a smirk. I opened the door and quietly stepped in. I looked to my top right of vision and saw him, sleeping peacefully in the yellow sheets that neatly folded around him. I smiled at how calm he was. "You can't take me away... the National Championship... Gonna defeat Seigaku..." He mumbled, still in his sleep. I didn't know he was a person that talked in his sleep. His head turned and he shifted position so that his knees were closer to his chest. "Aw, isn't that just cute for a grownup to do?" I smiled. After all, from a 14 year old's point of view, he might as well could've been an adult even though I knew he was in middle school. I decided that the doctors might start looking for where I was, so I silently left the room, glancing back for only a millisecond.

I opened my door to find a group of people. At first I thought it was the doctors who took care of me yesterday, but I noticed that the people wore regular clothes. "Akaya? What are you doing here?" I asked, separating my eyes from the rest of the people and only focusing on him. "I came with my friends to visit you. Is that alright?" He asked. I nodded. He walked to me then turned around. "Sempai, this is my sister, Risen." He said, placing his big hand on my head. I smiled at each of them. "Konnichiwa, my name is Maruhi Bunta." One person with pinkish-red hair said. "The name's Ann. Tachibana Ann." The girl smiled. "Akutagawa Jirou is my name." A guy with light brown wavy hair said. "And that leaves me. Just call me Jackal." A tanned guy with a bald head said. "So, Risen, I'd really like to know what happened from your point of view, if you could still remember." Ann was the first to speak. I moved through them and took my place on the bed. "Sure. That's if I can still remember. Go ahead, you can sit down anywhere." I said to the rest of them. They complied and perked their ears, waiting to hear the story. "I was um... I was... Ah! Yeah, I remember now. I was fishing. Yes, and then I jumped in the river because I had dropped something in. I swam and I swam, and then I saw what I dropped, my wallet. I picked it up from the river's floor and tried swimming up again. That's all I can remember, I guess..." I said, glancing at all of them. It was funny how they all looked to sucked into what I was saying only a moment ago. "Yeah, and then I came to go find her and saw her still at the bottom of the river. That's when I jumped in after her and brought her to the shore." Akaya added. "Wow. That's going to be something to one day tell your children." She commented. I nodded. "So, Risen, are you coming back to your school any time soon?" Ann asked. "Yes, I was told this morning. Two days from now, they said." I answered. "Akaya, what school did I go to?" I asked him. He raised his eyebrows in thought. They immediately slumped down and even went into a frown. "That one school, Seigaku. Che, I'd rather have you go to my school. But nooo, mom said that you should 'have freedom from your brother'. Whatever that means. She's not even in the country to visit you! Neither dad..." He sneered. I giggled at his face expression. "Really? Seigaku?" Jackal asked Akaya. He nodded. "Risen... if you ever need me at any time, please feel free to get me. Ok? Stay safe and a~w~a~y from those tennis club losers." He said, stressing out his comment. I sighed with a sweat drop. "Yes, Akaya." I responded. Then I wondered. Was I younger or older than Akaya? I let it drop. "Take care, cause we have to go visit my Buchou that's next door." He said. "Yeah, I know him. Yukimura-san, right? We met in the morning. Just to let you know, he may just be asleep." I alerted them. "Mm. Ok." He responded. He patted me on the head and the rest of them filed out of the room except Maruhi. After seeing that everyone left for Yukimura, he walked up to my bed like a child looking at those glorious toy machines that you put a quarter into. "I really want to know. Is it true that you have amnesia?" He asked me. "Only a little. I may not remember some of my friends or people I had met before the accident." I answered. "Ok. Good. See, I have a little sister too so I care a lot for people's welfare. And also the fact that you're so cute!" He unexpectedly said, pinching my cheek. He smiled and left the room, finally. I rubbed the pinched and red cheek. "He didn't have to pinch me... Geez." I said, sweat dropping again.

My stomach suddenly rumbled, and I knew I was hungry. After reading my present, a manga book from Akaya, I went to go find food. All I had to do was follow a scent. I came into the big room again, now seeing a buffet of food, and people sitting down and enjoying whatever they could stuff in their mouths. I smiled and drooled. I took a hot plate from the stack and put rice, a potato (with filling and stuff- like a baked potato), meat, and a candy bar on the side for my desert. After I took a drink to go, I took my stuff back to my room and ate happily. Once I ate the last I wanted to of my candy bar (and saved some), I drank my soda and went to sleep.

Beep Beep! Something went. I realized that it was an alarm clock. My droopy eyes opened and I spotted it immediately. I pressed it to turn off. I arose from my bed and kneeled on my floor. I prayed again, then got up. After showering and brushing, the same routine, I waited for a few seconds by the door and then left the room. Heh, now I won't bump into anybod- My thought was cut off short as I bumped into Yukimura again. "Oooh, how does this keep happening!" I complained. "Risen-san... I waited by the door a few seconds so you could pass." He said. "I did the same..." I responded. He cracked a smile and then finally laughed with me. He stood up first and then pulled me up. He looked down at his hand, which still held mine, as if he was observing. "Ano, Yukimura-san?" I wanted to ask, wondering why he still continued to stare at his own hand. "Ah, gomen, gomen. I thought I had cut my hand earlier with the sharp edge of my desk, but there wasn't anything. Let's go, then." He said, leading me down the hallway, not noticing that I was trying hard to keep up. After all, I reasoned that it would be embarrassing to tell him to let my hand go.