.:Chapter 1: "Kioku":.
"Aiko! Hey, Aiko!"
Aiko turned to see Minako, a close friend of hers. She smiled weakly. Minako was the last person she wanted to see right now. Nonetheless, she waited for her at the stoplight.
Minako finally caught up, out of breath. As soon as she was able to catch her, she looked up at Aiko, grinning goofily as usual. "So," she said breathily, "why didn't you stop sooner? Didn't you hear me? I was calling your name and running after you for at least five blocks. I thought you were gonna ditch me again."
Aiko shook her head innocently. "I-I'm sorry. I really didn't hear you." Which was true. She had other things on her mind and had completely forgotten about where she was and why she was walking in the first place. She looked down guiltily.
"I called your cell phone and even left you a text. Didn't you get it?" Minako tapped her foot lightly on the pavement.
Aiko looked at the phone in her hand. "Huh? Oh…I-I'm sorry. I didn't notice."
The walk signal appeared and the two crossed. Minako shook her head.
"You know, you really should pay more attention to you surroundings. You could get hit by a car or kidnapped or shot or something," she said matter-of-factly.
Aiko froze, eyes widened. "Shot…gun…"
Realizing what she had just said, Minako clapped a hand over her mouth. She hugged her friend tightly. "Oh, Aiko! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bring him up. It just slipped out and—"
"Please," Aiko stopped her from going on. "Please, just drop it." She closed her eyes, a stray tear falling down her cheek. Must she bring up Keita in all of their conversations?
Minako nodded. She didn't mean to do it again…she pointed ahead at the nearing school building. "Look, there's the school. And hey, there's Kyoshi! Never thought he'd be here early, did ya'? See? I told ya' he's changing!" she winked.
Aiko grunted and walked on.
Minako sighed. "You know, he didn't mean to hurt hi—"
"Hurt him?! He killed him!"
"And he's really sorry that he did. He was pressured into taking part of the Yakuska High shooting, and he wasn't aiming at Keita, anyway. He didn't mean to—"
"He was aiming at me!" Aiko cried. "Kyoshi tried to kill me, but Keita…but he got in the way when the shot was fired, okay?!" She rushed ahead.
Minako fell silent. "I had no idea…" she whispered, then grabbed Aiko's wrist. "Aiko…"
Aiko whirled around, furious. "What the hell do you want now?!" she fumed. She tried to pull away from Minako, but her grip only tightened. "Let go of me!"
"No, Aiko!" Minako yelled, just as forcefully. She took a deep breath and bowed her head. "You have to forgive him, Aiko. He's changed. Honestly."
Aiko scoffed, jerking her hand back. "How can you forgive a killer?" she growled, turning on her heel and rushing to class.
At that very moment, Kyoshi walked up behind Minako. "Who killed who now?" he asked curiously.
Minako shook her head in defeat and sighed.
---Later that night...---
"'The World'?"
He smiled. "Yup! That's the one!"
"But...what exactly is it?" She asked, puzzled.
He rubbed his neck. "You mean...you haven't heard of it?"
She shook her head. "Sorry. Can't say I have."
He nodded slowly, eyebrows slightly furrowed in thought. "Hm." His smile returned. "Here," he said, handing her the disk in his hands. The words "THE WORLD" were written across the top. "Take it. I already have it installed into my computer, so I don't need it anymore. But you should try it out sometime. Who knows? Maybe we could meet up sometime in the game and form a party or something." His eyes shone hopefully.
She blinked. "Um...okay..."
Aiko sighed. That disk...did she still have it? She hoped so. It was the only proof of His existence she had. He'd always hated pictures, and his family moved away after his death. Maybe she should try it out...for his sake.
Aiko ran up to her room and kicked open the large wooden chest at the foot of her bed. After several minutes of rummaging through numerous candles, letters, books, and old photographs, she finally found what she was looking for.
She gasped when she saw it. For years the disk had remained untouched...or so she thought. She pulled it out, tears forming in her eyes. The disk was split in half. But how? She'd wrapped it in cloth when she first set it in...it was then that she realized the cloth was missing, as well. Someone had gone through the chest. She threw the disk across the room in a fit of rage. Uncle Yukio, of course. How dare he?! That stupid...
Her thought was interrupted. Her bedroom door opened behind her and Minako entered. She closed the door gently behind her. Upon seeing the shattered disk on the floor in front of her, she tensed. "Is that--"
"Yes," Aiko grumbled coldly.
"But why...?" It was then that she noticed the faint outline of dried tears down her friend's face. She rushed to her side. "Oh...you weren't planning on using that, were you?"
Aiko bowed her head in silence. "Keita..."
Minako hugged her. "I have another copy in my room if you want to use it. I even have a spare headset you can keep. I can bring it over, if you want. Would that be okay?
Aiko nodded. What else could she do?
"I just wish he were here to play with me..."