Erased/Boku dake ga Inai Machi
KayoXSatoru
Chapter 3: Reunion
*Author's note: To all of my faithful readers, I greatly appreciate your dedication to me and my work. I put a lot of passion into my writing. It's my only escape from the horrible reality that I endure every day. Anyway, to get on to the real note, here: I just want to say that this will, obviously, differ a little from the way events unfolded in the manga and anime. I seriously debated having her and Hiro at least making a child together, even though I obviously didn't want their relationship to develop any further than it did. I think the baby could've done a lot to the emotional impact still of the reunion, but I'll still try to match, if not exceed, the emotional impact of her return in the manga and anime. Please enjoy and, if you like it, leave a positive review to keep me going. Also, please please PLEASE forgive the shortness of this chapter. I wanted to give you guys more to chew on and progress to further on as well. Thank you all so much for the love and please get all of your friends and family into "Erased" ! I want this show and manga to become a sensation! It deserves it, despite *SPOILER* Kayo and Satoru not ending up together ..
"I made your favorite from when you were little," she explained as she opened the boxes revealing her special, hamburgers and fried rice. "You used to beg me for this after school, every day."
As she tried to contain her sobs, he looked down at the box before him, the smells urging him to recall some distant memory just beyond the cusp of his capability.
"M..." he began, turning his head to face the woman.
His mother, not really hearing him, continued to pull the boxes from the bag and set one aside for the doctor.
"Mo..." he tried again, pushing himself so hard he could feel himself sweating at the exertion. As he watched her continue pulling chopsticks and silverware out of the bag, still clearly unable to hear him, he mustered the last of his strength, forcing all the air he could from his lungs in one last attempt.
"Mom?!" he asked, very much louder than he'd intended but he found himself indifferent to the volume as he watched his mother freeze with her hands on his tray, setting down chopsticks. He felt a damn burst within him, relief and sadness washing over him in quantities he couldn't quite understand, and his eyes filled to overflowing with tears almost instantly as he saw his mother slowly look up at him, tears in her eyes as well.
"Satoru..." she said, softly, bringing her hands to her mouth as the tears streamed down her face and she began to sob in joy. "My baby boy..."
The two embraced for a few minutes, as Sachiko held her child in her arms, the warmth of relief washing over her and bathing her in a joy that, in her entire life, had no comparison. She kissed her son on the top of his head as she held onto him and sobbed openly. Hearing the commotion, a nurse had nearly run through the door, before observing the reality of the situation, smiling and closing the door to give the mother some privacy with her son.
******* The Town Where I Am Missing *********
The next day, the warm sun rose to wake Satoru. He looked around his sterile hospital room, his eyes fell upon the sleeping form of his mother, her head resting on his legs and her hair in a crazy mess. He smiled softly down at her and another massive wave of relief washed over him. He furrowed his brow in slight confusion as his mind again wandered.
'Why am I feeling relieved? Did I believe she was going to leave? What is wrong with me?'
These questions and more raced through his mind, even as he felt his mother stir and watched her sit up, rubbing her eyes.
"Good morning, Satoru," she said, smiling sleepily. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah," he said, softly, his voice still straining with single words from being so unused for so long. He smiled back at his mom when a flash caught his attention from the corner of his eye and his attention snapped out the window. As he tried to see what it was, his mother stood and closed his curtains. He was about to object, when she explained.
"Stupid vultures," she said. "Those damn paparazzi have been hiding outside waiting to get some pictures and an interview with you since you awoke."
"Oh," he said, his eyes falling into his own lap.
"Hey," she said, walking over to sit in the chair beside his bed again. "I think I should go get us some breakfast. Would you like some eggs or toast or something?"
"I'm not very hungry," he said, wincing as his sore throat felt like sandpaper being rubbed against his windpipe.
His mother gave him a slightly worried look before she reached over for her purse and spoke again.
"Alright," she said, standing as she grabbed her purse. "I'm gonna bring you something anyway, though, in case you change your mind, ok?"
"Ok," he said, wincing again and rubbing his throat as he sat back in his bed.
"I'll be back soon, Satoru," she said, smiling as she walked out of the room.
Within fifteen minutes, she walked back into the room and brought him a cup of Jell-O, a cup of tapioca pudding, and a box of orange juice while she ate a small sandwich and had green tea.
"So, Satoru, I figured today would be ok to bring some of your friends to see you," she said after they sat and ate silently for a few minutes. "Is that ok with you?"
'Friends?' he thought to himself. 'I have friends? Who are they?'
"Sure," he said, smiling at his mom.
"Ok," she said, smiling as she packed away all of their trash and tossed it into a trash can in the corner of his bedroom.
A couple of hours of the two sitting in relative silence passed before his mother received a phone call and stepped out. Within about five minutes, she returned with two men who smiled and almost cried at the sight of Satoru. He smiled back and waved. Satoru noticed his mother standing outside the door holding something in her hands as the two men came inside, a sad smile on her face as she held what looked like files in her hands.
"Yo, Satoru!" the blonde man said, smiling at him brilliantly. "It's about time you woke your ass up! How've you been?!"
"Well, I haven't been asleep by choice, you know!" he responded, intending it to be funny and mildly confused at the tension created by the minor joke.
"Do you remember us?" the other man said, smiling sadly at his friend.
Satoru looked at him for a moment, thinking for a long minute about it. As he watched their faces dropping into sad smiles, two names started to materialize in his mind and he slowly said them.
"K...Ken..." he began, noticing the blonde's eyes widen and his smile brighten significantly. "Ken...ya?"
"Satoru!" Kenya yelled and embraced the man in the bed. The two shared the embrace for a while before they broke apart and Satoru looked at the darker haired man with very soft features and feminine eyes.
"H...Hi..." he said, his voice getting scratchier with every attempt. "Hiromi!"
Hiromi's eyes watered and he looked as though he were about to burst into uncontrollable sobbing then and there. Satoru smiled at his friend and held out his arms, which Hiromi walked into happily and they hugged for a moment before letting each other go. As they broke apart, he saw his mother on the phone again, a smile on her face as she spoke to whoever it was and Satoru smiled too.
The three friends spent the rest of the afternoon talking about random things and telling stories. Many times, Satoru would be listening to one of them tell him a story and he would get so caught up in it, he could remember it actually happening and seeing them go through it. He even finished one of their stories at one point, much to the other men's surprise. As they looked at him curiously, he had to come up with completely ridiculous lies, like that he figured that that's how things would go, knowing those guys.
All the while, Satoru couldn't help but feel more and more lost as to why he knew so many things that he couldn't possibly have seen or been present for. After the other two men left, he sat in his bed, staring off at the ceiling for long periods of time silently, his mind abuzz with confusion and curiosity.
'How the hell do I have these memories?! I can't possibly have been there!" he shouted in his mind, a mild panic settling into his heart. He felt the doors to his memories still sealed tightly and he grimaced in frustration.
"Satoru?" his mother said, sitting next to him on his bed after escorting his old friends back to the parking lot.
"Yeah?" he said, looking at her and trying not to look so angry or confused.
"Are you ok?" she asked, not breaking their eye contact. "Do you want me to call your doctor?"
"No, I'm fine," he said leaning back on the bed as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened them back up and looked out the window, noticing how dark it had gotten in what felt like such a short time.
"Think you can weather one more visitor today or should I tell her to come back tomorrow?"
'Her?!' he found his curiosity piqued. "No, mom, I'm ok. I will see her whenever she wants to."
Almost as if she'd been waiting for that line, a beautiful young woman walked through the door. She was exactly his age with shoulder length brown almost black hair, dark brown eyes, and a soft, small, yet loving smile.
"Hello, Satoru," Kayo Hinadzuki said, smiling at him with small tears rolling down her cheeks and her eyes slightly red from many long fits of crying. He sat up straight in his bed and, for some reason, even though he couldn't quite remember her name, even though it was right at the tip of his tongue and he was unable to remember any of their lives together, he felt himself reaching out for her and he felt warm tears running down his cheeks, his heart warming at the very sight of her.
He smiled brightly, suddenly finding her name in some deep recess of his mind and, despite his body shaking and his choked sobs rolling from his lips, he said her name softly.
"Hey, Kayo."
