Chapter 33: Don't You Remember Anything?

Author's note: Long time no see! I have returned~ I'm so sorry for my long absence. A lot of things, good and bad, happened to me since the latter part of last year so I had been kept busy. I'll be updating 6 chpaters this time! I hope you will read and enjoy until the very end of this story; it's close to ending.

"So…Tell me again why are you two tagging along with me?"

"As I said, we're just going to be watching over you while you're with your aunt." Eiichi says. "Just in case anything happens to you or if you end up fainting again, we'll be around to help in looking after you and bring you back to Tokyo if needed."

"Um. I came along to make sure my brother won't be too much of a bother or an inconvenience to you and your aunt." Eiji says.

"Sigh. And here I thought I was going to travel with light baggage."

Eiichi and Eiji laugh wryly.

"Emi, do you know what your aunt looks like?" Eiji asks.

"Nope, I have no idea what she looks like. Ranmaru didn't have a photo of her so all I know is her description and her voice since I spoke to her over the phone."

"But you're sure of the address?"

"Yeah. The address that Ranmaru and my aunt gave me was the same; it's enough to convince me. Since you two are with me, if the address is wrong then we can just go home."

Throughout the trip, Emi was just quiet. She just stared outside the window, watching the scenery that passes her by in the car. Eiichi and Eiji do and say nothing as they're not sure about what's going on in her mind. It was so quiet.

They reach Emi's home town and the sight of the place makes Emi a little livelier.

"We've arrived in the town. Do you know which way is your aunt's house?" Eiichi asks Emi.

"Yup, she gave me directions. First we have to pass thru the town going to the back end and then…"

I gave our driver the directions and the scenery before me outside the window of the car gives me a sense of familiarity that scratches my brain to remember something. The car continues on for some minutes and passes over a bridge.

"Stop over there. My aunt says that we're gonna walk from there to her house."

"I see, I see. We'll have the driver wait in an inn or hotel in town; we'll contact him to pick us up here when we decide to leave." Eiichi says.

"Wait a minute. You two are gonna crash at my Auntie's place?!"

"I-If she won't mind." Eiji says reluctantly.

"Sigh, you two really are somethin' else sometimes. I'll try askin' Auntie but I have a pretty good feeling that she'll turn you two away."

"If that becomes the case, we'll just stay at an inn or hotel with our driver." Eiji says. "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience; I forgot to think things thru."

"As long as you guys have a place to stay at, I'm fine with things. If you two had to sleep outdoors, I dunno what the old man Otori is gonna do to me; I ain't open to a cut in my paycheck."

"…Do you seriously care about your paycheck more than me?" Eiichi asks in despair.

"Yes!" Emi replies immediately.

"My poor heart…" Eiichi says as he clenches his chest while sulking on the ground.

Eiji laughs wrly. "Brother, please stand up."

"Don't worry. I will recover…in a moment. Huhuhu."

"Oi, are you two going to just stand there? If you don't hurry up, I'll end up reaching Auntie's house without you both." I say loudly.

"Eh?! You walk too fast!" Eiichi says.

"Hmph. Either that or you're both just slow pokes. Ah, or maybe you're getting old already?"

"I'm still young!" Eiichi gets back on his feet and picks up his bag. "Let's go, Eiji—Eh?!" He looks behind him and doesn't see his brother. He looks towards Emi and sees Eiji right behind her. "Are you both just going to leave me?! Wait for me!"

After walking for a long while, the three reach a big old fashioned house.

"Whoa. So this is where my aunt lives? Pretty cool; the place looks like a dojo." Emi says as she looks at the house's front. "Here I thought that the front gate was cool enough but man, this house is bad ass."

Eiichi and Eiji catch their breaths, tired from the long walk.

"Here goes nothin'." Emi rings the doorbell and not even a minute passes before the main door opens.

"Welcome back, young boss." A whole army of women bow their heads; they're lined up into two separate lines—one line on the right and one line on the left of the entrance.

"Young boss?"

"Yes, that's what they've been callin' you since you were young Hara-chan." A woman with a strong aura steps forward towards Emi. "Welcome home, Koemi."

"…Auntie?"

The strong woman nods her head slightly and hugs Emi with utmost warmth and gentleness.

"It's great to see you up and healthy. I've missed you greatly; everyone has."

"T-Thanks for the concern, Auntie; it's good to see you too…despite my condition."

"Yes, you've told me over the phone about that." She releases Emi from her hug and sees the two tired boys catching their breaths. "Who's that pure-looking boy and the four eyes?"

"Those two? They're my co-workers and friends from Raging Entertainment, the agency that I'm in now. The one with the glasses is Otori Eiichi and the other is Otori Eiji."

"Ah, members of that group ya told me about. Heavens, right?"

"Yep."

"What're they doin' here?"

"Their dad, the head of Raging Entertainment, probably told them to look after me so they're like my babysitters. They also kinda came on their own free will; worried friends."

"I see." Auntie approaches the two tired boys and says, "Welcome to the Asagao Group headquarters. The name's Asagao Hanabi, leader of the all-female group and Hara-chan's aunt."

"It's…Nice…to meet you, ma'am." Eiji says.

"Pardon us. It's…nice to meet you." Eiichi says.

"I'd like to thank ya both for takin' care of Hara-chan; extend my regards to the rest of your group's members and to your agency."

"It was nothing. We're glad to be of help." Eiichi says.

"I appreciate your efforts for comin' here but sad to say I can't allow you both to step inside or to spend the night; you both will have to look for a place back in town."

Eiji stands upright and politely says, "We understand. Please contact us if anything happens to Emi-san."

"We'll come right away to help if anything happens especially if it's something related to her amnesia." Eiichi says. "Worst case scenario would be bringing her to a hospital and bringing her back to Tokyo."

Hanabi nods. "You two be careful on the way back down to town; no one would know if any of you fell into a ditch or something'."

"Y-Yes, ma'am." The brothers say.

"So…This is where I used to live? This place is really big and old fashioned—cool."

"Yup. You were our little member when you were younger, Hara-chan."

"Auntie, ya mean I was a yakuza before? I thought I stayed here after my parents' death; you said so over the phone."

"Yes, you did live here but I just forgot to mention that you joined the group."

"Hmm. Does that mean I have a tattoo? Don't yakuza groups usually have like a logo or somethin' that they put on their body?"

"You had one. When I allowed you to leave the group, I revealed to ya that your tattoo was just temporary."

"In other words, ya tricked me huh?"

"Yeah and I have no regrets. It wasn't the first time I tricked ya anyway haha."

"W-What do ya mean?!"

"I used to trick ya into doing household chores around here back in the day haha."

"You're cruel."

"It was easy to bribe ya with food, kid."

"Damn it…My one weakness. Tch."

Auntie tours me around the place and I gotta say it really is a big house. There are many rooms but most of 'em are bedrooms for the members of the group. The dining area is like one big hall; I kinda wonder if they all really fit in there since there's a lot of 'em. There are only a few private bathrooms or showers; they usually use the big open bath that's like an onsen. Man, this place is kinda amazing even though it seems old. The kitchen is my favorite place since there's a lot of food in there; I can smell it.

She brings me upstairs—the whole floor is filled with bedrooms and has one big hall where they hold events or meetings. The view from the windows is nice; you can see both the urban and rural side of the town.

"This room was yours." She opens one of the bedrooms. "It was and still is."

We enter the room and it's giving a strong familiar vibe. The room doesn't seem to be in use—not for a long time. Everything is clean but I think nothin' has been touched or moved.

"Do you remember the time when you lived here?" Hanabi asks.

I shake my head. "I don't remember but…but the room is giving some really warm and good vibes. I was loved well here, wasn't I?"

"You were defeinitely given lots and lots of love and care when you were with us, Hara-chan. We did our best to make sure you felt loved and that you were not an outsider to us. You were a handful at first, ya know? We had to make sure our eyes were always on ya. You were a nice kid but you were a troublemaker haha and trouble sure followed ya around here."

"Did I do bad things?"

Hanabi shakes her head. "No, you did nothin' wrong. Trouble found ya because you chose to do the right things and chose to protect those who were hurting. You usually helped the elders and young ones in town on our daily duties; you even joined the night watch if ya were free. You were definitely a good kid."

"Auntie, was I really a good kid?"

"You were. Sure, ya had some flaws but they weren't big."

"Sounds like I was okay here. Why did I leave the group and leave the town?"

Hanabi scratches her head. "That's a little complicated."

"Tell me. I gotta know."

She takes a sit on the bed while I look around my room as I listen to her story.

"You were a strong kid and when I say that, I really meant that you were strong—you can take on the whole group in full fource with top condition and I'm pretty sure you'll survive. You had strength and skills in fighting; you were always our secret weapon when we had to fight off the rotten yakuza groups who come to our territory. You gained the nickname 'Little Demon' because of your strength as a fighter. But because you were strong, we feared that you might end up killing someone one day. We always told ya to hold back a little because we don't kill and I don't want ya to have a criminal record that would ruin your future."

"…Did I kill someone? Did I end up killing someone and that became the reason why I left the group and moved to Tokyo?" I ask as I look at the books in my room's bookshelf.

"Thankfully no; you didn't kill anyone but we all thought that you did."

"Huh?"

"The group that kidnapped ya and attacked your previous apartment building—that group was the same group we took head on when you were still stayin' here. Back then, we fought them with all we had; I didn't want to send you out with everyone 'cause I feared you might get injured badly or even killed since that group is merciless when they raid. However, I had no choice but to bring you with the group at that time because I couldn't join the fight; I was injured from a previous encounter with that group and so we all decided to take you along as a last resort. We couldn't let ourselves lose to that group or else they'll take over the town; we couldn't bear the thought of failing and what might happen to the townfolk. Our group was doing okay in the beginning but when that group's reinforcements and boss arrived at the scene, the tide suddenly turned and we started losing our ground. When we felt really worried about not being able to hold them off, we decided to let you join the fight. The moment you stepped on the battle field, the tide didn't just turn to our side—you ended up taking down practically half of their numbers right away; you were unstoppable. The yakuza group's underlings feared you. You were hitting them with everythin' you had but it was a miracle itself that they were just knocked out and not dead; their injuries were all serious though. The problem came though when that group's so called generals joined the fight. You went against them and almost killed one of them—almost as in he was barely breathing when we stopped you from fighting since the enemy's group decided to leave while you were beatin' up that one general to the pulp; it was a really scary sight that even I had a shiver down my spine as I watched ya beat him apart."

"Damn. That sounds really bad."

"Huh, callin' it bad is a really big understatement."

"So I left because of that…"

"Yeah, ya decided to leave because you got worried that you might not be able to hold back in the future after that and well there was another reason—ya wanted to pursue a music career so you got up and went to Tokyo."

I go over to the desk in my room and see some pictures in wooden frames. "Auntie…Is this mom and dad?"

She nods. "That's them."

"..." My eyes started to become watery but I held back the tears. "I wish that I could see them again. I wish they would tell me stories of the past and hang out with them. I lost them when I was young, right? There was a fire at the house while I went out for a short while."

"I'll tell you all about them while we eat later; there are definitely a lot of things I want you to recall about those two. I'll even show you some old pictures that I have of you and your parents."

"Thanks, Auntie. I'm gonna be happy to hear about them."

I put down the picture and see another picture on my desk. "This…" It looks like a picture of me when I was younger and of another girl; was I close with this person? "Oi Auntie, who's this girl?"

"Don't 'oi' me, ya little squirt; I'm not just your aunt but your superior too ya know." Hanabi looks at the photo that Emi is holding. "Ah…That girl was your bestfriend; her name's Yasuko."

"Yasuko…? She was my bestfriend? I wanna talk to her. Where can I find her? She lives here or a different town?"

"She's ain't anywhere."

"Eh?"

"She's dead, Hara-chan. She died at a young age when you two were still in school; she was a fallen victim of cancer."

I quietly put down the picture. My chest feels a sharp suffocating pain as I look at Yasuko's smiling face in the picture.

"It's a sad thing—it's sad to know that there are some important people in one's life that are already dead. No matter how much you cry and call out for them, they won't come back to you…"

"You really took her death hard, kid; you cried for many nights and you just had a part of yourself die along with her. I wasn't too surprised though since you two were like real sisters; you two were inseparable. She was one of the reasons as to why you loved music too. She was into composing and she can play an instrument. She played the keyboard, you played the guitar, and you both sing; the two of you were always a duo. You would bring your guitar to school and spend your breaks with Yasuko just singing and making music when you both had anything pop outta your minds; you two were always a hit during your school's festival and when the town needed some performers for the local festivals. Those were good times. You were close to Yasuko's parents too; you visited them almost every day after Yasuko's death and they helped me take care of ya when your parents died."

I open the drawer of my desk and find several notebooks. I pick up one of them and inside was music notes and lyrics in two handwritings. I flip thru the pages of the journal that I picked up and discover a picture—it's me and Yasuko in our school uniform.

"Hngh…" My head is starting to hurt a little but I just shrug it off; it's not a strong headache anyway.

I take out another journal but this time it's in my handwriting—it's a diary.

"I didn't know that I kept a diary."

"Half of those are diaries, I think. The other half is filled with music made by you and Yasuko. It might help to read them; you can take them back with you to Tokyo if you want."

"I think I'll take them; there'a lot to read."

I flip to a random page of one of the diaries and read a random paragraph from it.

Each time I grow wings, life finds a way to cut them again. If I could only keep my wings long enough to fly higher into the sky, I would not mind falling from the heavens once life cuts them again because then I would have reached the stars I've longed to touch. Even just one touch would give me enough happiness that would bring me to tears—enough to let me rest.

I didn't think I could write something as cheesy as this. Hmm but maybe it's talking about something that happened in the past; I can't just judge my old self off the bat, I think. It would be pretty cool if I could use something from these journals for my next album; I hope by then I'd remember something. Sigh.

"Clipped wings…Cut again…Is it supposed to symbolize a rise and fall in the different parts of my life?" I mumble to myself. "What were the stars during this point of my life? Why did I want to fly to high up that badly? What did I want to do back then and in the future I thought of for myself?"

*knock knock knock*

"Come in." Hanabi says.

Two girls enter the room—a blonde haired one and a black haired one.

"How are ya, young boss? Remember anythin' yet? Ya must have remembered something after seeing your room in such a long time. Doesn't it bring back some old memories?" The blonde haired girl says. "We used to play with ya here when you were lil' haha."

"Oi, you're gonna pressure her that way. Stop it." The black haired girl says.

"Tch. Stop being such a worrywart."

"Who ya callin' a worrywart?"

"Oi, if ya wanna argue then go get yer butts in the yard; I don't wanna pay for an unexpected repair in this old house since the budget is a lil' tight this month." Auntie says.

The blonde haired girl goes over to Emi and asks, "So do ya remember me, young boss? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya? Does the name Suzy ring a bell?"

"Nope."

"…What?"

"I don't remember ya. Sorry." I shrug my shoulders with an indifferent attitude.

"Ya got to be kiddin' me! How could ya forget me?! Noooo!"

"Stop whining. You're makin' yourself look pathetic." The black haired girl says.

"Uhm. Sorry but I don't remember you either." I say to the black haired girl. "I don't remember ya both. So yeah."

The blonde haired girl and the black haired girl started to shake like falling leaves and their eyes started to water.

"I-I can't believe that ya've forgotten about me, young boss. I-I…" The black haired girl starts to sniff and wipes her nose.

"You look like a wimp getting all teary-eyed there, Lucy." Suzy says.

"You're one to talk, Suzy! At least I ain't cryin' like a faucet like you!"

"Ya stone hearted witch!" Suzy says.

"Urgh. Cut it out you two. Ya both makin' me sick in the stomach just lookin' at you both acting like that. Get a hold of yourselves." Auntie says as she smokes a cigarette.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Lucy and Suzy say in unison.

"Hey, you two act familiarly to me. Were the three of us close?" I ask.

"Oh hell yeah. We were blood sisters for hell's sake." Suzy says as she scratches her head.

Lucy sighs. "We've known ya since you joined the boss introduced ya to everyone back then and assigned Suzy and I to be your aides. After you passed the boss' test, you became one of the higher ranked girls in the group and you asked us to be under you. Even though you were technically our boss, you treated us no different from anyone else; ya always treated us well and we were all like real sisters."

"I bet ya don't remember this 'cause of you amnesia." Suzy folds up her denim jacket's left sleeve and raises her wrist. "Look—it's a friendship bracelet. The three of us made friendship bracelets the week after we became your blood sisters; each one of us has one with the same color and pattern."

"Mine's down here." Lucy lifts her pants' left side and around her ankle was her friendship bracelet. "I do a lot of errands for the group so I put it on my ankle for safe keeping."

"I have one like that?"

"Yeah, you have one but it broke during the big fight against that nasty group." Suzy says. "You wore yours on your left hand. During the big fight, you used your left arm to block a spiked bat; the bracelet got caught on the nails on the bat and well it broke." She sighs.

"Not only did ya break your bracelet, you also injured your left arm! I had to make sure there weren't any remains of the bat in your wound and man, the nails sure tore your skin! I had a heart attack when I saw that! What I hated the most was when ya continued to use your left arm until the end! I got worried that you'd permanently break it! I won't be able to bear the sight of ya not being able to play the guitar anymore or struggle in anything else with just one functioning arm!" Lucy says.

"Damn. I really do sound like a little demon from everyone's stories of the younger me. Can't believe I'm not as violent as before and the fact I'm still alive. It's really hard to imagine."

"Well after what happened at your old apartment building, I would say the lil' demon is still somewhere inside ya haha." Auntie says. "I actually had some tranquilizer in my pocket back then when I visited ya in the hospital just in case."

"Huh? What're ya talkin' about, Auntie?"

"Ya should ask Rukawa about the whole thing since I wasn't there when things went down; I might miss some details or remember some parts wrong."

"Okay…?" I shrug my shoulders. "Hey Suzy, can I see the friendship bracelet a little closer? I wanna remember how it looks; maybe I can make a new one."

"Sure."

Suzy lends me her wrist and after looking at the bracelet for a minute, my head started to hurt.

"Urgh." It's happening again. My head…it hurts. "Argh." I take hold of one side of my head.

"Y-Young boss, are you okay?!"

"I'll…be okay." I say with a grunt.

Without thinking, my body automatically makes its way to my desk in the room. I took out every single notebook inside the middle left drawer.

"What the hell are you doing, Hara?"

"Just give me a sec." I said in an irritated grunt.

Once all of the notebooks in the drawer were out, I take a pair of scissors from the top of my desk and stab it at the side of the drawer I emptied. The scissors stab thru the side of the drawer's compartment and I start to use it like a lever to pull out the bottom of the drawer compartment. The bottom comes off and reveals one layer of hidden notebooks.

Auntie whistles in amazement. "Whoa, I never knew ya had a secret compartment there! Pretty amazing; you probably made it yourself."

I take out one green notebook and put it on my bed. I hastily flip thru the pages until my hand decides to stop in one section.

"This…I saved it."

Inside a small ziplock bag that was attached to the notebook page, a bracelet that looks like the one that Suzy and Lucy have is stored. The bracelet is extremely tattered and it's not even whole; it's in pieces.

"Huh? How?" Lucy takes a closer look at it. "How and when?! We couldn't even find the bracelet when we were helping out with the clean up."

"When…it…urgh. When it came off of my wrist and…I took down the guy who hit me…hnghhh…I picked it up right away before moving on with the fight."

"Really? That would have been such a smooth move by you, young boss. Something like a second would have been the time span for ya to pick it up back then." Suzy says.

"Hold up." Auntie stands up. "You remembered that?! You remembered something?!"

I slightly nod before standing up and hastily take another notebook from the secret compartment of my drawer. I flip thru the pages and stop at one page that had a picture.

"This… was during Auntie's birthday. This one was from the local...festival; we had booths set up that week. This was on the day two of our members left the group to live normal lives. And this…was before I left this place."

"You remember! You're regaining some of your memories!" Lucy says in joy. "What else do you remember?! Anything else?"

"Uhnn…Suzy's blonde hair ain't natural…Lucy used to wear lots of paddings in her bras before her boobs grew later on…Auntie was lying when she said she was sober back then; she hides sake in coconut juice bottles and wine in grape juice bottles."

"Okay, okay, okay, that's enough. Stop talking." Auntie says with a glare.

I look down on the room's floorboards. My head is telling me that there's something under one of the planks.

"Step aside Suzy."

"Eh?"

I raise my leg and in one swift stomp, break one of the floorboards. I kneel down and reach inside the hidden space.

"Whatcha got there, young boss?" Suzy asks.

I take out a thick picture album.

Auntie suddenly stands up in surprise upon seeing the photo album. "That! Why is that with you?!"

"…Each night before I sleep, I browse thru every picture in this thick album."

"That's survived the fire?!"

I nod. "Yeah, I claimed it after the fire from the fire investigator team. I kept it with me always."

My eyes start to feel a little wet and once again I do my best to hold the water back. I put my arm back inside the hidden space and this time I pulled out a guitar; it was the first and last guitar that I ever received from Auntie; she gave it to me when she took me in.

"Huh, so that's where you kept it. I thought you threw it away or something after you left."

"I don't throw away important things, Auntie. You know that. I don't have the heart to throw away important things."

My mind tells me that I hid one more thing inside the hidden space to I once again reach inside. This time, I pull out a pair of clothes from the hidden space.

"What're those?" Lucy asks as she looks over my shoulder. "They're pretty cool clothes."

"These…School…Yasuko…How could I forget?"

I hug the clothes tightly as my tears start to fall.

"Oh shit, young boss…" Lucy starts to gently rub my back in attempt to calm me down.

"Those clothes were hers and Yasuko's; they were made for the annual school festival. Every year they always perform for their school but those clothes were never used for the year they were made for." Auntie goes over to Emi and hugs. "Yasuko died before the school festival happened; long before the festival could come. Yasuko felt that she could still live long enough to perform with Hara-chan for the school festival happening in the following school term but she didn't survive. In the end, Hara-chan still went to perform but it was the last school festival she ever went to."

"How did it go?" Suzy asks.

"She performed well of course and she didn't cry but the audience…the audience was crying and cheering from start to end."

"Boss, I think she fell asleep or somethin'." Lucy says. "Her brain must have overloaded."

"I'll tuck her in. You two go prepare lunch; she'll wake up by then."

"Hnn…?" I open my eyes to see Auntie by the side of my bed; she's talking to someone over the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you loud and clear. Stop being such a worrywart. I'm telling ya, she's okay! Uh-huh. Yup. Hm. Sigh. You're starting to rub off more as her mother than her boyfriend, ya know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm tellin' ya she's okay and she'll be with you the day after tomorrow in good shape. Gods."

Must be Ranmaru. He probably called to check up on me?

Auntie notices that I've woken up and says, "Oh, Hara-chan is awake. Told ya she'll be okay. What? Why don't you ask her yourself? She'll definitely say she's okay. Hmph." She hands me her phone and I put it against my ear.

"Hello? Ranmaru?"

"Emi! How are you?"

"I'm okay. I just fell asleep."

"Fell asleep? You sure that was it? You didn't faint or feel uncomfortable or somethin'?"

"Yeah. I think I just fell asleep. Stop worrying; you really might turn into my mom instead of staying as my boyfriend."

"I told youuu." Auntie says loudly in the background.

"I do have some good news for ya. Guess what? I was able to regain some memories already; it's still in bits and pieces and some are blurry but hey, it's a start."

"That's great news! I'm really happy for you. I hope you'll continue to remember more during your stay there with your aunt. I can't wait to see ya on Saturday. Nao and Madoka too are excited; they keep asking me if you're still coming haha."

"How cute. It's getting me all excited to see them too."

"I have to go back to work in a few minutes. I just called to check up on ya. It's already lunch time so go and eat with everyone there. Eat properly and lots, okay?"

"Roger that. You take care too. Ah! One thing before ya hang up!"

"What is it?"

"Can you buy some ice cream? I wanna eat ice cream when I get there. Oh, and some animal crackers! There's a new limited edition pack that's—"

"Alright, alright, I got it. Sigh."

"Thanks! I want vanilla or chocolate mint! Oh! Mango is good too! Bye!"

The call ends and I lie down on my back on the bed with my arms spread open. Auntie then lies down on top of me.

"Ack! Auntie, you're heavy!"

"I know. I've got more muscles than you haha. Now go freshen up; lunch is already ready. You remember where the dining hall is?"

"Yeah, I do. You can go on ahead."

"Good. I'm starving. See ya down stairs. If you ain't at the hall in ten minutes, I'll send Lucy to get ya."

If I remember right, this hallway and then that corner . . . I should be at the dining area in no time! Damn, this isn't the dining room. I think I ended up at the other side of the house? Ah, I can pass thru the courtyard and walk across it to get a shortcut to the other side of the house. The courtyard should be this way.

"Oh…"

Man, the courtyard hasn't changed much, I think. Still spacious and well trimmed as ever; the grass looks so comfortable to lie down on especially if I stay under that big tree over there. The pond is clean and clear with lots of koi fishes swimming in there. The pond's kinda deep too. It's by the tall concrete fence so it's probably a trap for those who try coming from here?

I squat down to take a closer look at the pond. "Looks a little too deep for a backyard pond." Probably an additional surprise for anyone who tries comin' from the back fence; pretty smart. It'd suck to fall into this—

"BOO!"

In an instant, I felt a pair of hands push my back and the next thing I knew was—the slap of the pond's water against my face and the darkness under the water.

The water continues to pull me down and no matter how much I move my arms and legs, I just won't float back. I realized two things—I don't know how to swim and that this pond is deeper than it looks! Shit! I'm gonna freakin' drown!

As I panic like a piece of shit, my brain decides to give me a flashback. When I first came here to Auntie's place, Auntie's girls, except for Lucy and Suzy, didn't know that I couldn't swim. When they took me on a tour at the mountain at the back of the house, they showed me a lake that they go to for swimming and stuff. One of them pulled me into the lake with her and I panicked because I didn't know how to swim. I drowned for some minutes before they realized I couldn't swim and took me out of the water. Did I take it against them? Nope. Did I get angry? Nope. Did I have a heart attack when I was drowning? Yes, I was scared yo. Since then, I always sat on land when they take me with them to the lake. I'd just sleep on the grass or fish some fish in the lake when I get bored there. Sometimes the girls would use a small boat to go around the lake; I'd ride with them as long as they promise to save me if I fall in the water; sometimes Auntie would make me wear a life vest if she knew I was going with the girls to the lake.

"Blaehadfskjhfvp!" Urgh, I'm running out of breath! What am I gonna do?! How am I gonna get back to the surface?! How much water have I drank from this freakin' pond?! I hope I didn't swallow a small fish or something! Why am I thinking of that?!

"AHPOASDJKWEJFBS!"

I'm running out of breath. Several air bubbles escape from my mouth as I run out of oxygen—this freakin' sucks!

As I drown in the dreadful pond of Auntie's, a hand suddenly grabs my right arm and starts pulling me up. I look up to see someone swimming up to the surface with me as dead weight. Bless you, whoever you are.

"GASP! ARGH!" I breathe deeply and think about how much I take oxygen for granted once I reached the surface. "GODS BLESS THE PLANTS WHO MAKE MORE OXYGEN! GASP! I'M SORRY FOR TAKING OXYGEN FOR GRANTED! GASP! I'M AN UNGRATEFUL CHILD! GASP! I LOVE BREATHING! I WILL CREATE BREATHISM IF I HAVE TO! GASP! I LOVE YOU, OXYGEN!" I'm breathing like I've never breathed before while I cough out the water I've drank from the pond. Ew.

"Are you okay, young boss?!"

"Lucy! Thank the gods ya found me. How'd ya know I was in the pond?!"

"The boss sent me to look for ya when ya didn't come to the dining hall on time. When I passed by the courtyard, I saw bubbles comin' from the pond; I was definitely sure that we didn't install any bubble-making devices in the pond so it was either you, an animal that fell in the pond, or an unwanted visitor fallin' for the pond trap."

I laugh wryly.

"Ya know young boss, ya really have a way with gettin' into trouble don't ya?"

"You can definitely say that. Maybe Auntie's right? Maybe trouble just really finds me hehe. C'mon, let's go eat before we run outta food!"

"Damn! I hope there's still some of the lamb chops I was aiming for!"

"There're lamb chops?!"

"And lots of other delicious food! Tamaki cooked for everyone; she's the best cook in the group. Let's go, young boss!" She pulls my arm and gets me on my feet.

"O-Oi! We have to change into dry clothes first!"

Lucy groans as she agrees that we really do have to get dry first before showing up at the dining hall; we'll get our butts scolded by Auntie if she sees us like this piece of mess. We head to my room to change into fresh clothes since it's the nearest bedroom from where we were. I change into a comfy baggy sweater and a pair of black leggings. I turn around and see Lucy putting on a gray shirt. Her back caught my attention because there was a huge scar that was from her left shoulder down to her lower right hip; it's a big slash across her back.

"Uhm Lucy, what happened to your back? I-If ya don't mind me asking."

"You saw? Ya don't remember, I guess." She fixes her shirt and turns to me. "That scar on my back was given to me some years ago. It was during the big fight."

"One of the lackeys of the other yakuza group got you from behind?"

"Nah, there's no way I'd be caught from behind by those monkeys."

"Then who got you?"

She smiles wryly at me as she places her hand on my head. "You did, young boss."

"W…What?"

She starts ruffling my hair. "Oi, don't think about it much. It was when you went berserk during the fight; I was one of the people who tried to stop you from killing one of the lackeys of the enemy. I didn't want to save a bastard's ass but I didn't want you to soil your hands with blood—no one wanted you to."

"Lucy, for what it's worth—I'm sorry about that."

"Hey, don't be glum! I'm going to have a tattoo to cover it up anyway. It's gonna be a really cool tattoo! I'll show it to ya when it's done!"

"Okay."

She gives me a big smile before putting her arm around my neck and starts to pull me out of the room so that we can go eat.

"Oi, did ya dry your hair properly Hara-chan? I can't have ya catching a cold."

"Yes Auntie, it's dry." I flop down onto my bed as Auntie finishes her ice popsicle by my bedroom door.

"So what do ya think of your first day here?"

"Well, I think this place is trying to kill me haha."

"Ha? What do you mean by that?"

"Hahaha. It's nothin', Auntie. It was fun. I got to do lots of fun stuff and I got to spend some quality time with everyone; I even got to catch up with you."

"This time I made sure to get your whole contact info so that you won't ghost me again."

"I haven't remembered why I ghosted you though. I'll tell ya when I remember, Auntie."

"You better!"

Auntie finishes her popsicle and throws the stick away into the trashcan in the hallway. She comes back inside my room and sits down on the side of my bed.

"You know when I take a good look at your face, you really do resemble your mom but your eyes are kinda from your dad."

"Really?"

She pats my head gently with a smile. "Yeah."

"…Now you're treating me like a lil' kid." I pout a little.

"You'll always be a child to me, idiot. I'm like your second mom for hell's sake haha. Come here ya lil' runt!"

"Whaa!"

Auntie hugs me really tightly to the point that I can't move in her arms. Her hug feels really warm—a really cozy type of warmth.

"I remember when you were still a lil' cute baby. You weren't the type to cry; you were so behaved and such a happy smiling bean. When you learned to walk, you were walking everywhere and followed your mom like a little duckling. When you trip, you would just stay quiet for a few seconds out of shock and then you'd start laughing as you get up on your own. I thought to myself just how you were kinda weird but you were cute so you could get away with it." Her hug becomes softer. "I'll never the time when I first gave you an animal cracker. Your eyes grew so big when I handed you a cat shaped animal cracker. When you took your first bite, your eyes sparkled and you had a really big smile on your face. When you finished the piece I gave ya, you pouted as you licked the crumbs left on your hands haha. Since then, I'd give ya a pack of animal crackers when I would swing by your family's house or I'd send one thru delivery if I can't come to visit but miss ya. When you entered elementary school, you were so cute in your uniform and the next thing I knew, you were already in high school lookin' like a lady sigh. Time sure is fast."

"You sound like a doting aunt, Auntie."

"Haha. You can say that, Hara-chan. I really am fond of you. You're family after all."

She hugs me tight once before standing up.

"Time for ya to go to bed. We've only got half of tomorrow so wake up early and let's make the best of your time here, yeah?"

"Okay! I'll be counting on ya all to give me a swell time hehe."

Auntie closes the lights for me and before she closes the door, she says in a really calm and warm voice, "Goodnight, Hara-chan."

"Goodnight…Auntie." My chest feels tight for a moment. I don't know why but I feel that I'm compelled, but in a good way, to say something else to her.

Auntie is about to close the door when I suddly sat up on my bed and called out to her.

"Auntie!"

"Yeah? What got you worked up all of a sudden?"

"I dunno but I just felt like I had to say something to you."

"What is it?"

"I love you, Auntie."

"…" Auntie's eyes grew big in surprise with what I said.

"…Auntie?"

"Sorry. It's been a long time since I last heard you say that since you up and went and all. I'm just really happy to hear those words from you." She takes a deep breath. "I love you very much too, Hara-chan."

Her words felt really warm. It was warmth that spread all throughout of me; it made me feel so happy. When Auntie closed the door, I felt something drip down my face from my eyes—they were stars of joy.

"I'm turning into a softie…I don't like it haha. Gotta keep myself in check or else I'll turn into an idiot!"

I get comfy in my bed and—BAAAAM

I immediately sit up a little and look at my door that suddenly flung open.

"A-Auntie?!"

She's in full pajamas and is carrying a pillow. "Scoot a little, kid. Give ya auntie some space."

"W-What?! You have your own bed!"

"Shut up. I missed you and what you said earlier amplified it so let me sleep with you."

"Okay, first of all that sounded wrong and second WE CAN'T FIT."

"Oh come on, you know we fit if you just move a little more over there. Go, go, go, scoot."

I groan as I move my ass to the side.

"Goodnight, Hara-chan." Aunntie says in such a happy tone.

"Goodnight. I hope you don't snore."

"Don't worry, I don't."

"If you snore, you're buying me pudding."

"I'll buy ya a whole box and a pack of animal crackers."

"You're confident, Auntie."

"Because I know I don't snore. Now go to sleep. We're going to have a fun day tomorrow."

"Yes, Auntie. Goodnight."

When she fell asleep, I turned to her and hugged her like a pillow. It was warm and just as she said, she doesn't snore so I guess I'm not getting my pudding and animal crackers after all.

The morning sun's rays penetrate thru my room's curtains and it warms up my face. I wake up to see Auntie beside me; she really didn't snore haha...ha? Why did I think of that? Was that important?

"Urgh…" My head starts to hurt as I think about it. "Tch…What the?"

"…Hara-chan?" Auntie wakes up and sees me holding my head. "Somethin' the matter? Did I snore? Don't lie to me because that would be cheatin'."

"Auntie…"

"Hara-chan?! Oi, is something wrong? You feeling okay?!" She sits up and holds me by the shoulders. "Koemi?!"

There were cold tears flowing down from my eyes; I can't stop them.

"I can't…" I say in a trembling voice. "Auntie…I can't…!"

"Can't what?! Tell me what's wrong!" She shakes me a little in worry.

"I can't…" I look at her straight in the eyes. "I can't remember some things from yesterday!" I panic a little. "I don't remember a bunch of things!"

"What?! Are you serious?! W-Well it's normal to not remember everything from a day before or even days ago. Maybe you're overreacting?!"

"I'm not kidding! All that I can remember is that I arrived here and then I met you, Lucy, Suzy, and the other girls of the group and then…You showed me my room…I was on the way to the dining room and then I reached it with Lucy…after changing clothes? I think I ate with everyone and then…I dunno what I did after eating and before sleeping."

Auntie quickly stands up and starts putting different notebook and things on front of me on the bed. "Don't tell me that you don't remember these?!"

I shake my head slowly. "I-I don't. What are these things?"

"Are you freaking serious, Koemi?!" She says in surprise. "Don't you remember all the stuff you told us about these things on front of you?! The stuff you wrote in your diaries? Yasuko? Do you even remember the pictures in your diaries when we brought you here in your room? And the ones I showed you in my own picture albums after dinner? What about last night? Do you remember what I said to you and what you said to me before you went to sleep?!"

"You don't?! Please tell me you do! Please tell me you remember!"

"I—" I have no idea what she's talking about. I don't know.

My body is trembling a hell lot.

Shit! Does this mean I'll forget things that I've remembered?! I d-didn't forget everything I think but I'm pretty sure that I forgot a lot of things! T-This isn't fair! What the hell is this?! W-What's wrong with me?!

"Auntie…" I take hold of her shirt and she hugs me in return.

"Hey now, things will be okay." She hugs me slightly tighter. "Everything will be okay. Shhh. Don't…Don't be too hard on yourself, okay?"

I nod in her hug but I think a seed of fear and doubt has been planted in my heart.