White. All she saw was white. From the moment she opened her eyes, her vision still dull from sleep the only color she could register was white. She looked around trying to look for any color of some sort while her vision was still adjusting. She found a ring of blue to her left that she surmised was attached to the wall and waited for her vision to clear out.
8:15. That was the time. The blue object was a clock hanging on the wall. Her vision was now clearer and she could make out her environment. Moving her head from left to right she concluded that she was in the hospital. She tried to move her body but she was sore all over, not to mention she had limited movement of her body being only able to move her head and limbs from side to side.
She heard herself sigh for the first time. She felt completely helpless lying on the bed. He was alone and only the faint sound of the monitor kept her company. She looked over the clock once more and was surprised that it had just been ten minutes since she initially looked at the clock and scowled. Looking down from her perspective she saw a glimpse of her feet and thought she might as well try moving her body some more.
A few minutes later she managed to lift her hands up and was able to take the nasal cannula off her face. It was starting to irritate her. Now, the thin tube that provided her oxygen lay beside her. She managed to assess herself and was able to note that there were several bandages all over her body. Her head was wrapped around with one and her torso was also covered all over. Renewing some strength to her arms, she tried to sit herself up but a sudden jolt of pain from her right chest prevented her to do so. Her body was quick to react to the pain and she forewent sitting up for the moment. Carefully she tried moving the rest of her body and was happy to note that only her chest ached on movement.
She glanced at the clock again and saw that half an hour has passed since then. She felt fatigued from moving her body and wasn't surprised when she felt the familiar pull of sleep creeping up to her. Not being able to do anything else, she succumbed to her body's wishes and closed her eyes for the much needed rest.
...
The next time she woke up she wasn't alone anymore. A nurse was checking her IV lines when she came to. Apparently the nurse wasn't paying attention to her that much, being busy holding up her small wristwatch to the top of the line counting the drops, to notice that she woke up. Only when she tried to move and let out a throaty groan did she notice.
"Oh! You're finally awake again," came the nurse's small yet high pitched voice. She pocketed the small notebook before leaning closer to her, inspecting her. She then smiled before saying, "wait here, I'll go get the doctor."
Before she could even think of a reply the dark haired nurse was already out of the room. Turning her head towards the door she felt the familiar tube that ran along her face. Feeling a bit irritated the second time, she gently yanked the object away and laid it beside her. Just then the door opened and the nurse came back holding a pitcher of water, with a brown haired man in tow whom she easily concluded was the doctor the woman was talking about.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Smith, a resident doctor of Fuuka Hospital," he introduced himself as soon as he stood by her bed. Behind him the nurse placed the pitcher on the bedside table and crouched down to get a measuring cup from the small cabinet. After pouring the contents of the pitcher to the cup, she handed it to the doctor and went to the foot of the bed. "You probably have a lot of questions; I'll do my best to answer them as soon as you drink some water first. I'm sure being asleep for two months has dried up your throat."
The head of the bed started to slowly lift up surprising her a bit but immediately relaxed to see that the nurse earlier was the one turning something to make the head of the bed lift up. When she was finally upright to drink the water, the nurse stopped and went back to their side. The doctor then assisted her in drinking the water. At first she had a hard time swallowing the drink causing some to drip from the sides of her mouth. After a few gulps, she was able to drink fluidly and had later on downed down three cups full.
"I – where am I?" Her voice was still raspy despite drinking a lot of water but it didn't hurt that much to talk.
"You're at Fuuka Hospital, a provincial hospital located on the boarder of Artai," Dr. Smith answered.
"How, what happened?" She looked straight to his eyes searching for an answer.
"Well, we were hoping you could answer that, Ms. Kuga," he started. "Two months ago someone found you near the explosion site over at Asgard, you were severely injured. Luckily someone got you and immediately went here to get you help. If it weren't for him you might have died then."
She went silent for a moment trying to remember something about what the doctor said but her mind was all blank. But then she remembered what he referred her as.
"Who's Kuga?"
"Oh, it's you Ms. Natsuki Kuga, or that's what your ID's said you were, it even had your picture so we assumed it was you," he answered but followed-up with a question. "Are you not Natsuki Kuga?"
"I –," she was speechless for the moment trying to get an answer for his question but no name came up to her mind who she was. "I don't know…"
...
She had amnesia. All her memories were wiped out and she could not remember anything aside from waking up in the hospital. After waking up she still stayed at the hospital for a month to check if she is in good health and went to rehab so she could regain her strength. Also, the explosion didn't leave her unscathed and she found out that she would be sporting permanent scars all over her body. The most visible one just below her left jaw.
Fuuka was really a small town cause a few days after she woke up, the man who helped her, Yamada, visited her as soon as he heard the news. She thanked him more than a few times and he laughed at her saying that he was just passing by and he couldn't just leave her there.
Now, six months after waking up, she was working as a mechanic at Yamada's shop. She had no place to go to as her address on her ID was already in ruins after the explosion and no one knew of her. She had no relatives or friends that can take her in. Yamada offered her a job and a place to stay. He figured her lean, strong physique could do well for his business and he wasn't wrong. Natsuki easily learned the ins and outs of cars and motorcycles and had a knack of fixing them. Plus she was attractive and it drew in a lot more customers, it annoyed her but sucked it up as the business became better.
"Natsuki-chan, lunch is ready!" The voice of Yamada came from inside the shop. "You don't want to keep the food waiting!"
"Alright!" Natsuki slid off from under the car she was working on and sat up to remove the gloves she wore and placed them on the tool box beside her. She went inside the shop through the door that connected to the garage. There the whole crew sat on a rectangular table at the back of the shop.
"You work too hard Natsuki," Tate, the blonde haired guy who was one of the mechanics, commented.
"Yeah, Natsuki-chan! Come on let's eat, you can sit by me," Takeda, the tan skinned green haired guy patted the chair beside him. She inwardly cringed. The guy was creepy as hell and she didn't even understand how his hair could be that shade. It made her wonder if it was really his hair color or that he had to dye it every now and then. To add up, his obvious crush on her wasn't giving him much favor on her side. She had already made it a point that she wasn't interested in him many times but she doesn't think that it sticks to his head at all.
She sits beside Yamada much to Takeda's dismay but he was quick to recover and was his happy bumbling self once more. They said their graces and happily ate the meal Yamada prepared for them. He was like a father to the three. Tate and Takeda were also orphans of the war and were taken in by Yamada since he had no family himself. The old man used to travel all around and used to be an intel for various people and eventually settled down in the small town of Fuuka where he started his automotive repair shop. Now, five years later, he was happy to have made the decision as he couldn't have been any happier.
...
It was particularly a very hot day that day. It was over 40 degrees Celsius. It was rare to see anyone outside due to the intolerable heat. Natsuki and the others were hanging out in the empty garage trying various ways to cool themselves. The AC in the shop busted down earlier that morning due to the intense heat and they were too lazy to fix it. After a year being together, the three were more like siblings than anything else. Natsuki laid down on the couch at the back only in her sweat pants and a tank top nursing an ice pack on her head. Takeda on the other hand was sitting in front of the fan trying to save himself from the sweltering heat. Tate was over the faucets washing his face with water over and over again.
"Oi, Tate, you're just wasting water if you keep doing that," Natsuki called from her spot. "If you're gonna wash your head and face all over, why don't you take a bath instead?"
"I can't go out in this heat!" He replied. "I'll melt the moment I take a step outside."
"Yeah right," Takeda snickered. "You just don't want to get tanned."
"Hey!"
Tate was about to retort something but was interrupted when a sound of a vehicle approaching their garage stopped him. He and Takeda looked to see who it was, surprised that someone was even out there. The small purple sedan stopped just in front of them and in a second smoke started coming out of the hood. The driver immediately came out of the vehicle coughing from the thick smoke that now surrounded the car and went inside the garage for shelter. Takeda and Tate's eyes went wide as they saw who the driver was.
"Ugh, what was that?" Natsuki stood up coughing from the smoke that now entered the garage. She went up to where Tate and Takeda were to take a look at what happened. Reaching the two she found that this mystery smoke came from a purple sedan which probably overheated due to the weather outside. She didn't fail to notice the newcomer who was also coughing from the smoke. Natsuki took this opportunity to look up who this person was and was surprised to see it was a woman. She was wearing skinny white pants and a green sleeveless top. When the smoke started to clear out a bit, she noticed the long, wavy, tawny colored hair of the woman whose back was facing her. The woman was quite a looker even if it was just her back and Natsuki could only imagine that she'd be even prettier facing them. And she wasn't wrong when she thought of that.
After another few seconds and the smoke finally thinned down the woman finally faced them with her blood red eyes that widened in surprise. The woman stopped in her tracks and stared at Natsuki as if she'd seen a ghost. Captivated by her eyes Natsuki didn't move from her spot and stared back. She was beautiful. Natsuki felt a strong tug in her heart that she didn't know where came from.
After what seemed to be an eternity the unknown woman was quick to move and the next thing Natsuki knew was a strong force pushed unto her and a pair of lips were now harshly placed on her own.
The female mechanic couldn't move. She was shocked. She was being kissed by a woman whom she didn't know, whom is really awfully beautiful, but still a stranger that she just saw literally a few minutes ago and her body just shut down on her. Only when she felt tears on her face did she snap out of her trance and harshly pushed the woman away from her.
"Wha- Who the fuck are you and why did you kiss me?!" It ended up being harsher than she intended but then again she felt violated.
"N-Natsuki?" The woman squeaked out her name and caused the namesake to furrow her brows together.
"Why do you know my name?"
"I – It's Shizuru," the woman introduced, a bit shaken. "Don't you remember me?"
"No." Natsuki shook her head her thoughts swimming.
"She has amnesia," Tate butted in. Apparently the two boys were also shocked at the events and just watched the two as in watching a live television drama. But after seeing Natsuki display this much emotion Tate knew he had to step up. "I know this is something serious between the both of you and I think it's something we need to sit over. Let's go inside."
Tate led them to the table at the back of the shop with him sitting on the edge while the two sat in front of each other. He instructed Takeda to watch over the front for the mean time to make sure no one was stealing from their shop.
"So, Ms. Shizuru, do you know Natsuki here?" Tate asked trying to be the intermediary. He looked at Natsuki who was looking down, staring at the table refusing to look at anything else. This is something that's hard for her, he thought. Maybe he could ask the questions on her behalf and hope that something spikes up her interest.
"Yes."
Tate looked at the tawny haired woman and observed her. She didn't even look at him when she answered. She was focused intently at the woman in front of her.
"So, how do you know Natsuki?"
"She was my childhood friend. We grew up together. The last I saw her was more than two years ago, when she –" Shizuru couldn't continue her answer without a sob escaping from her throat. She calmed herself a bit before continuing. "She left. A – a year later, she, she was pronounced dead."
Natsuki's ears caught something of it and raised her head to meet Shizuru in the eyes. "What- I'm supposed to be dead?"
"After the explosion, they couldn't find your body. They couldn't recognize anyone else. They thought you were dead," Shizuru's voice was strained. Tate knew that the things they were going to talk about from now on were private so he quietly stood up and left the two who didn't even pay him any attention. "You were a soldier of Windbloom Natsuki. They asked you to infiltrate the rebels in Artai to finally stop the war and you succeeded supposedly with your own life. But I didn't believe it. I felt that you're still alive. So I went out to search for you."
"And here you are…" her voice was barely a whisper. Tears started to flow from her eyes. She reached out her hand to touch the bluenette but the said woman leaned away from her touch.
"How am I supposed to believe all of this?" Natsuki's angry blue eyes met teary red ones. "How am I supposed to believe that you're telling the truth?"
Shizuru kept silent not knowing how to answer Natsuki's indirect allegations. She searched her memory of them that can make her convince the ex-soldier that she was telling the truth and something came to mind. Wordlessly she stood up and went outside with emerald eyes following her every move. When she came back she set down a small piece of paper and pushed it across towards Natsuki.
Natsuki picked up the paper and was surprised at what she saw. It was a picture. Of her and Shizuru. Possibly taken a few years ago noticing that the woman in front of her looked very differently, more mature, than the one in the photo. She was wearing camouflage and had the dark bold letters KRUGER, N. plastered to her chest. Her hand was wrapped around Shizuru's waist beside her was wearing a light purple sundress and they were smiling ear to ear. She tried to recall the memory but wasn't able to. Then her head started to hurt badly and unconsciously held it with both hands.
"Natsuki!" Immediately Shizuru was by her side trying to do something to help her but she didn't know how.
The last thought she had before she blacked out was the name of the woman beside her. 'Shizuru?'
...
When she woke up she noticed that she was in the hospital once again. To her left, the woman, Shizuru, was talking with Dr. Smith and she happened to overhear their conversation
"Her mind's keeping her from remembering her past," Dr. Smith told Shizuru.
"How is that possible? Is there any way we can let her remember?"
"Only time could tell Ms. Viola," Dr. Smith frowned. "It's a possibility that she may never remember anything at all. Quite possibly if the trauma was too great for her to handle."
"So you mean she may never recover her memories before the incident?"
"I believe so." The doctor gave his honest opinion based from years of practice and knew too well to be straight forward. Glancing at the bed he saw that his patient was already awake and decided to leave the two alone. "I'll leave you two be for the moment. I'll come back later."
Shizuru turned around to face her even before Dr. Smith was able to leave the room. Immediately she was by her side sitting on the stool beside the bed. Given the fainting episode earlier she figured she should trudge over shallow waters first. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." Natsuki still felt a little bit uneasy around Shizuru. She supposed she should give her the chance to help her as for months she didn't even knew who she was. And they found no leads or clues other than her ID, which she now realized was most probably fake anyway. If she were to find out who she really is she could start by accepting what this woman beside her could offer. It was better than nothing.
"Uhm," the bluenette cleared her throat. "Can, can I ask you a question?"
Shizuru's eyes became mirthful as they caught each other's gaze. Natsuki could see the emotions clearly like an open book and saw the hope that the red-eyed woman felt. "Sure, Natsuki can ask me anything."
"What's my real name?" She wanted to ask who she was but settled for her name first. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear everything about her right away.
"You're Natsuki Kruger."
"Kruger?" Natsuki tested out the name. It was somehow more familiar than Kuga when the name rolled of her tongue. "What about you? What's your family name Shizuru?"
"Viola, my complete name is Shizuru Fujino Viola." It felt weird introducing yourself to a person you knew most of your life but she had to endure it.
"Shizuru Viola." The bluenette couldn't help but feel relieved at the name. She didn't know why but hearing the name made her feel a tad bit happy.
"Who are you Shizuru? I – How do you know me?"
She wanted to say many things at once but she figured she should start from the beginning . So she told her everything from the moment she met her save for her feelings for the other woman. She already had the burden of not remembering her memories, she wouldn't want to burden her further with hers. She shared her fond memories hoping to lighten up the mood and was glad to have Natsuki listen in and ask a question or two along. She was thankful that the bluenette had already forgotten about the incident earlier as she wouldn't know how to answer her. But then again as you may see fate going along well with you sometimes it turns against you.
"Who are you to me?" The question caught Shizuru off guard. Even she didn't know herself. When Natsuki left she said thank you and that she felt the same but still pushed her away. So she became honest.
"I don't know." Natsuki saw the sudden change in Shizuru's eyes. They became sullen. "You were supposed to tell me after a few months probably after you come back but you never did. So I went to look for you instead. After a while I thought that maybe I was wrong, that you were dead. But then earlier today seeing you, I couldn't contain myself."
Natsuki sat up on the bed so she could level with Shizuru. She used her fingers to wipe out the tears that fell. She felt the same tug in her chest she felt earlier now only stronger. "I'm sorry."
"I know I don't really remember you right now. But this," she pointed at her chest. "Hurts when you're hurt and ached when I first saw you. And if that's not me telling me that you mean more to me than what I think then I don't know what is."
Natsuki didn't really know why she said that, something about not wanting the woman beside her so sad. She felt it. Urged her to say it as it would surely make Shizuru happy. And she couldn't help but smile as she held the tawny haired woman in her arms who was crying into her chest with tears of happiness.
...
"You take care of yourself now," Yamada said hugging Natsuki, patting her on the back at the same time. There were unshed tears in his eyes. He grew really close with Natsuki and treated her as family all the while during her stay. But a month after meeting Shizuru, she decided to go back to Windbloom and search for herself.
"Don't worry I'll be back to visit you guys every now and then." She gave gave them a genuine smile.
"Hey Shizuru-chan," Takeda called out to the tawny haired woman. "Take care of Natsuki-chan for us, will you."
"Ara, of course Takeda-han." Shizuru slipped in her arm around Natsuki's. "I'll make sure Natsuki's needs are met."
"O-oi!" Blood rushed to the bluenette's face at the sexual innuendo. If anything she discovered about Shizuru the past month, the woman had a bad habit of teasing. Not that she didn't mind, she just thought it wouldn't be so bad of a habit if she teased someone else other than her from time to time.
Over the month they spent together drew them closer quite easily. This could be attributed to the fact that despite Natsuki losing her memories, they knew each other long before. Natsuki changed quite drastically. She seemed more positive with Shizuru around. So when she decided to go with Shizuru to Windbloom they were happy for her.
"We need to go," Natsuki said after a long silence, the colour of her face returning to normal. "I'll see you around?"
"We'll see you soon."
They hugged each other and bid goodbye one last time before Natsuki and Shizuru boarded the purple sedan. She waved to them as Shizuru drove off away from the town to their next destination. The capital of Artai.
...
A/N: So… that's the second part of this fic. BUT! I decided to make it a three shot since the story got quite longer than I expected it to be. And this one was done in the perspective of Natsuki. So the last one. I don't know yet. But it will have the conclusion to this story. Hope you liked it! Share me your thoughts.