The truth

At that moment, I thought I would get Rono back from his amnesia. It turns out he still doesn't remember a thing. Sakaki thought.

The Azu-girls were in Kimura's class, at the moment they were all waiting for class to start. The atmosphere of the class is all happy and talkative, everybody was doing there own thing and all. But there was something off about Sakaki, for any person, it may not look like it but she is sad. Due to the silent type she always kept its hard to tell. Tears haven't shed in the eyes, only depression had shown on her face. She thought she could get Rono back again, the only true and first friend she had in her life. But all that was for nothing now because he doesn't remember a thing from his past now.

Flashback to yesterday...

"Have..we met before?" Rono asked.

"What made you get that question?" Sakaki asked.

"I don't know, ever since I've meet you, I-I've been thinking about something that's been in my mind recently."

He paused then continued again.

"I've never had a friend like you, you're so nice, smart, caring and responsible. I would never of thought that a person like you would be friends with me. In all my life, I've wanted a friend like that, someone who I can trust and spend time with me anytime when I'm lonely. When you came up to me on that roof top, the first time you've ever talked to me, I was easily able to talk to you. Never in my life have I been able to do that! Usually it would end up with me giving you a simple answer and then I would walk away some place with no people in sight."

He sighs and gets to the point.

"In other words, maybe the reason I was able to talk to you was because we might of met somewhere."

"I-I..." She begins to shake a bit.

"Never mind, I think it's just in my mind. Besides, maybe all of that was just a dream, or it could just be me being weird."

"No its not that..." She said in a quiet tone that not even Rono can hear.

Next that happened, Yomi and the others came back causing the conversation to end in a unexpected way.

Flashback ends...

The moment she snapped out of her own thoughts, Kimura got inside the classroom. People thought this was going to be a disturbing class, he could be one of the weirdest teachers they had ever met. The dark aura that was sent out to the students gave them the chills. Instead of suggesting anything to the girls, he tells everyone to turn to a page for the next chapter in the history book.

She looks over at her friend to find him already reading the chapter himself.

"Already reading huh?" Sakaki whispered to him.

"Yep, I find history fascinating, especially ancient Japan."

"Nice." She said in a low tone.

He still likes studying just like back then, he hasn't changed at all. She thought.

After reading a few pages, Kimura gave a break to everyone while he goes to the bathroom. The group gathers around and Osaka is the first to start a new topic.

"Now that we found out about Kimura's obsessions with high school girls, what do you think he thinks about Chiyo?"

At this point, Chiyo starts to shiver in fear from Kimura.

"Why are you asking this to us?" Yomi replied.

After that weird question from Osaka, Kimura came back to the homeroom.

"Alright everyone, it's time to do some work that I have assigned for you."

Some people groan in the background out of laziness.

"Now now, the faster we complete the assignment the sooner we get the rest of the class time to our selves. Make sure to answer questions 1 through 20, most of these are multiple choice so it shouldn't be too hard. You can work in pairs, if you all behave during the the upcoming weeks, then I'll let you all work in groups."

Rono turns his head around facing Sakaki to his left. As always, she is looking out the window thinking about something.

"Sakaki."

"Hm? What is it Rono?"

"Kimura let's us work with partners, want to be mine?"

"Sure."

He picks up his desk and places it next to her's. Now the both of them are now in a pair. In the background, Tomo and Yomi are seen working on the assignment sitting with each other. Tomo looks over to Rono and Sakaki working on the assignment.

"Something smells fishy." Tomo said to Yomi.

"That's probably you." Yomi quickly replied.

"Hey!" Tomo said.

"But seriously, look at Rono and Sakaki." She points at them.

Yomi looks at them for a while but finds nothing wrong.

"What wrong with that?"

"Don't you think they get along too well? Are they dating?"

"I don't think so, they met since last week. Besides, it's too soon to ask someone out this early in the school year."

"Fine, but what if they already met before they even came to this school."

"Now that you say that, I'm actually curious too."

"Should we ask Sakaki?"

"Yeah, why not, but let's ask her in private. Maybe some of that stuff is personal."

An hour passed, the students finished with their assignments and are now granted with free time. At this rate, every person in the class moved seat to sit close to their friends. Like always, the group of friends reunite again. Things changed during the process, Yomi and Tomo told Sakaki they wanted to talk to her in private. In order to do that, they had to talk in the girls bathroom.

They did so by first asking Kimura they needed to go to the restroom. He nods then the girls leave. Rono got suspicious of this and decided to follow them, he was later stopped when he overheard Osaka asking Kimura a question he never thought Osaka would ask to Kimura.

"Mr. Kimura may I ask you a question?"

"Sure go ahead."

"If you like high school girls, then what do you think of Chiyo?"

He looks over at the now frightened Chiyo who is looking at him in return.

"That's all well and fine!"

"I get it."

Just what does she get? Rono thought.

In the girl's bathroom...

"Sorry that we had to talk here, it's better if there is nobody around." Tomo said.

"It's fine." Sakaki said.

"Now...are you and Rono secretly having an affai-ow!" Yomi hits Tomo on her head.

"That wasn't what we were going to ask her idiot!" She yells at her.

"Anyways, the question we wanted to ask is this. Have you two met before?" Yomi asked Sakaki who is now startled at her question.

"What makes you say that."

"We've noticed that the both of you have been getting along really easily. The moment when he is around you act differently."

"Like how?" Sakaki asked politely.

"Like...your personality. You're usually shy around people, most of the time, you barely talk when we're all hanging out. The moment he appears, you talk to him more as if you we're never shy!"

"Oh, sorry."

"No need to be sorry, it's normal, we're just curious that's all. Now... Have you two met before?"

A long pause occurred after she asked, until she finally spoke the truth.

"In truth...we actually have."

"So you have, I knew it!" Tomo said.

"But it's not the way you think." Sakaki responded.

Tomo and Yomi were no confused.

"What do you mean?" Tomo asked.

"He doesn't remember me." She looked down.

"How can that happen, when was the last time you two met!?" Tomo asked with curiosity.

"We've known each other since we were kids. He was my first friend."

"A childhood friend huh?" Yomi said.

"We used to play with each other everyday. Until one day, we had to separate. That last day, we both shed tears together. I remember when he cried easily when it came to emotional moments like those. I comforted him whenever he cried, because of that, we became closer than before. The day he left, I was all alone again. Alone at the park, alone at school and then when my life progressed, I've spent my time alone. I thought I would never get friends again."

On that long explanation, Tomo and Yomi felt sorry on what Sakaki had to go through.

"Until one day, on my first day of high school, I finally got to see him again. After I found out that he didn't recognize me, I was completely shocked. Before I even gave up, I talked to him on the roof. Before I realized it, I was able to talk to him easily again! I was thinking that the more I hang out with him, the faster he'll remember."

"Did you tell him that you two met?" Yomi asked.

"Not exactly...I'm afraid that he wouldn't believe me."

"That is true." Tomo said.

"Sorry that you had to go through that, we shouldn't of asked." Yomi and Tomo bowed to Sakaki.

"Oh no, it's fine really!"

"It's our fault, sorry. We should probably get back to the classroom, lunch is about to start. I'm hungry already." Tomo informed.

"Yeah let's go." Yomi said.

Tomo and Sakaki follow her out the door and walk towards the classroom. Now that Yomi and Tomo know about the situation, they will try their best to not interfere. The first thing they see from their friends, is Chiyo in Rono's arms. From the entrance, it looked like if Chiyo saw something terrifying. She was shaking, her eyes were watery and he hugged Rono's arm very tightly.

"What happened here?" Yomi asked.

"Chiyo got scared by Kimura." Rono responded.

"I see, doesn't surprise me."

"Lunch is about to start, should we all eat at the cafeteria? We need to let Chiyo spend time out of this class, especially from him." He said.

"Great idea, let's get out of here."

He and his friends then go down to the first floor where the cafeteria is located. Chiyo who was still trembling, held hands with Rono the whole time they were walking. To him, it felt as if she were his little sister. He never saw Chiyo have this side of her before, he felt the need to help. When they got to their destination, Chiyo finally snapped out of her fearful state and back to her happy self.

Everyone sighs in relief.

"What's that paper everyone in the line has in their hand?" Rono asked.

"That? Those are tickets, are the cafeterias in America different?" Yomi asked.

"Slightly, you just get in line and wait for your turn to get lunch and that's it. Can you tell me how this all works?"

"Sure."

She leads everyone to the ticket machine.

"Right here, is the menu for today. Everyday, the menus change, except for rice."

She looks at the menu and makes her choice.

"For example, they are serving curry today, all you have to do insert the money then press on the button next to the food that you want and wait for your ticket to come out."

Her ticket comes out of the slot, she grabs it and shows it to him.

"See? It's that simple, next thing you do is get in line, show it to the lunch lady and she gives you the food."

"I see, seems easier than back at my school."

He examines the menu.

"And the food here is healthy too."

"What kind of food do Americans eat at the cafeteria?" Tomo asked.

Before he could even answer her question, his stomach grumbled with hunger.

"I'll tell you while we're eating, I'm hungry."

He gets in line along with the girls, they wait and wait until it's their turn to get their order. Luckily the line wasn't that long, it was just a couple of students in front. Most of the high schoolers were already in their tables eating and socializing with their close friends. Unfortunately, this gave one of the members a bad memory.

Back in middle school in America, Rono was always alone when it was his lunch period. He didn't sit in any of the tables inside the cafeteria, not with anyone at least. Outside the cafeteria were a set of circular tables under the shade from a hangover of the nearby building. That's where he would always sit on, he never felt the need to eat with anyone, he wanted to be alone. Rono would eat his food prepared by his mother or from the school, he was never the type to have a conversation with nor socialize. Now today, it is the first time he will be able to sit with anyone, this time his close friends are there to accompany him.

At last it was their turn to get their order, they did so and got to their desired table to sit at. The table was completely empty, so for now, it is for them only. Tomo and Osaka sat next to Yomi, Chiyo sat next to Sakaki. When Rono finally came back with his food, he decided to sit next to Sakaki. When that happened, she blushed a little causing Yomi to notice. Before anyone could have their first bite, all of them said 'Thank you for the food.' and then began eating, all except Osaka. She was trying to split her chopsticks in half. For a while there, she was struggling until she finally snapped it in half. She now felt happy that she felt the need to show it to the others.

"Hey Chiyo!"

"What is it?"

Osaka shows her the now snapped in half chopsticks feeling proud.

"Heeh." She said happily

She turns to Yomi to show her.

"Yomi, Yomi! Heeh!"

"Yeah and?"

"Tomo, Tomo!" Osaka called her.

"Huh?" She looks at her.

"Heeh." She shows her the chopsticks once again.

"Is she happy because she split the chopsticks in half evenly?" Chiyo whispered to Yomi.

"Probably."

Moving on from to a different subject, Rono almost forgot to answer Tomo's question.

"That's right, I almost forgot! Tomo, you wanted to know what kind of food my school had, and right?"

"Yeah, took you a while to remember." She said in a grumpy tone.

"Sorry." He said as he rubs the back of his head.

"Anyways, the food most schools have are usually junk food. Usually there are pizza slices, chicken burgers, fish burgers, beef burgers and nachos; on a side note there is a salad bar. In some schools there are daily specialties, most of the time you have to pay extra in order to get it. Pretty similar to this school in a way."

"Yeah, but better food." Tomo commented.

"I guess, but I like this style better."

The whole time during supper, all of them focused only on eating. No conversations occurred whatsoever. When finished, all of them place their trays on the counter by the lunch lady.

"We go back to Kimura's class right?" He asked as all of them walk out of the cafeteria.

"Yes we do." Chiyo replied back.

"You still scared?" Rono asked.

"Not anymore."

"Tell us if anything weird happens between you and Kimura."

"I will."

"You're a real softie you know that Rono." Tomo said.

"You're no different than me Tomo, I know you have a soft spot."

"Uh what are you talking about hehe, I don't have one!"

"Forget what I said, let's go back."

Off they go to their homeroom which was located on the fourth floor of the school. It could sometimes be tiring to walk up and down the stairs, but if you're Osaka, you're doomed. In the back, she is found walking normally at first but as the group made it to the second floor, she is all tired. She breathes heavily, she slouches towards the ground and her walking slows down. At this point, she is likely to get left behind by her friends, luckily the small and thoughtful girl noticed. She calls her friends to let them know that Osaka needs help on walking up stairs to their homeroom. After this, it reminded everyone to always check on Osaka when it comes to something physical related for her.

That out of the way, Sakaki stares at Rono as he walks in front of the group with them. She wants him back, even though his personality hasn't changed, a part of her wants the old Rono back again, the one that asked her to be his friend. Yomi catches her staring at him from behind and tells her something.

"You want him to remember don't you?"

She nods to her question. Yomi and Sakaki talk to one another in a whispering tone.

"Back then, he knew your parents, right?"

"Yes, why?" Sakaki asked.

"Why don't you and Rono go to the mall with your parents this Friday. Maybe that'll give him some kind of memory?"

"I-I don't know about that."

"How come?"

"Last Sunday...He visited my house."

"Wow really? What did you both do there?"

"We both spent the half of the day in my room. The other half, both of us had to do an errand for my mom, we had to get groceries. On the way there, we ran into Chiyo in the convenience store. After that, we ended up at my house for a while. Then my dad came back from work and decided to take us all to a fast food restaurant."

"Looks like you had a fun day huh?"

"Mostly, but something happened with Rono when we got McDonalds."

"What was it?"

"I'm not entirely sure at this point, he didn't seem well from my perspective. I asked him if he was sick or something but he told me that he was fine. After a while, I saw that he was being cautious as if someone was about to get him. He looked worried, scared, nervous, paranoid. Maybe he shouldn't spend too much time outside."

"Nonsense! It was only for that time, do not worry, I have a feeling that everything will go fine the next time you and your parents spend time with him."

"You think so?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, I-I'll make sure that I ask him after school."

They made it to class which was halfway full with students. Always noisy as usual, different conversations going on, people laughing and others looking out the window. A short while after that, the school bell rang causing all the students to go back to their seats and all the teacher to come back to their class. First thing that Rono did was observe Chiyo all the way from his seat. As he expected, she turns back to him.

"Calm down." He said in a quiet tone as he moves his hand up and down to calm her.

She nods and looks at the board where Kimura was writing.

On the board it says 'World War II'. It was figured that now they will be learning about the events of World War II.

"Welcome back class, from this point forward we will be learning about World War II for history. Since there were more than two countries who fought in the war, we'll do a single test for each country. To make things easier for some of you, we will be watching a documentary of the subject first, and then we'll read about it after. Keep in mind that some of the images you will see in this documentary will be graphic. I think all of us will be able to handle it since all of you are indeed high schoolers. You may do notes during this."

For most people, they can handle a graphic imagery. The only people who don't are Sakaki and Chiyo. Sakaki isn't a big fan of any type of graphic imagery. Little did Kimura know that the only child prodigy in his class wouldn't be able to get through this since she is 10 years old.

Graphic imagery huh? That reminds me, is Chiyo allowed to watch this kind of stuff, after all she is still a child. Nah she's the smartest of them all, she probably already knows about this stuff. Rono thought.

When a whole hour passed, the movie finally came to an end. Luckily, the majority of the class were hooked on the subject, mainly the male students. Before they knew it, the school bell rang which meant that school has finally ended. Rono and the others grouped up, all except Chiyo. Something was off, she would always be the first to group up with the others. Sakaki was first to notice, she lets the others know. They all walk towards Chiyo, as they get closer, she starts to shiver. The second they walk to see her face, shock filled their faces. Chiyo was pale white, shivering in fear and tears filled her eyes. She was traumatized from the documentary.

"Chiyo did you enjoy the movie?" Osaka said in a happy tone.

"Oh yeah she's shivering in happiness." Yomi said in a sarcastic tone.

"Really? I'm glad she enjoyed it."

I don't think she gets the sarcasm she is saying. Rono thought

"Let's make sure she walks home safely." Rono suggested.

"Right!" Everyone said.

And thus, the group of friends help Chiyo down the stairs, through the hallway and out the gates.

During their walk through the sidewalk with Cherry Blossom trees by each side, Chiyo begins to calm down. All of a sudden, Rono remembered something, he forgot to buy more groceries for his house. It was a matter of time that he would run out of food to cook.

"Uh oh, I forgot to buy more groceries!"

"Oh yeah I forgot, you live alone." Said Tomo.

"Go on without me, see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye!" They all said.

As he ran off to the nearby convenience store, Yomi asked Sakaki a question.

"Did you ask him?"

"Oh no, I forgot. I'll ask him over the phone." She said.

"Ooh, you two gave each other's phone numbers?" Tomo said.

The question caused Sakaki to blush a slight shade of pink on her cheeks.

"That reminds me, we haven't given each other our numbers yet." Yomi said.

"Want to do it now?" Yomi asked to Sakaki.

"Sure." She replied back.

"You guys are lucky, I don't have a phone." Chiyo said in disappointment.

"Hahaha, all because you're a kid." Tomo teased her.

"Shut up moron!" Yomi exclaimed.

By the time Rono got out of the store, the sun had already set. Luckily there were still a few people around his area. Which means that it's still safe, less danger of course. He walks and picks us his pace to his apartment building.

When he made it to his apartment, the first thing he did was organize the new groceries in his refrigerator and place some of the herbs and spices in the cabinet of the kitchen. The last thing he was going to do was take a shower after a long day of school.

Suddenly he was stopped from doing so, he receives a call from someone. He looks at the screen of his phone and finds out that it was actually his friend Sakaki! He answers the call.

"Hello?"

"Rono."

"What is it?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, what is that you want?" He said as he went to the bathroom to get his towel.

"I was wondering if you would..."

"Would what?" He asked.

"Hang out with me at the mall with my parents."

He had doubts about going outside in the city, but he didn't want to turn down the offer. He does not want to let her down.

"Alright, I'll go. When is it?"

"Friday after school."

"Okay, where should we meet?"

"At my house."

"Cool, I'm looking forward to it."

"Great, good night."

"Sweet dreams!" Then he hung up.

During the whole conversation with Sakaki, her parents with her the whole time. All of them were hoping that this little trip would at least recover some of his lost memories at least. As for Rono, he felt if something bad will happen on Friday for him.