A/N: I've revised this chapter so many times that I got tired already ;(

Anyway, here's another long chapter ;)

Chapter 17. Questions

Sachiko was shocked. She was half-expecting that Yumi may not recognize her since she suspected she had amnesia, but she hadn't counted of her running away from her in fear.

Didn't Yumi recognize her even just a bit? If she couldn't remember her face and her name, couldn't she feel it in her heart who she was in her life?

"Sachiko, are you alright?" Sei asked.

"I'm…"

"Yumi-chan was running away and didn't even bother to look at me. She looked so surprise. What happened?"

It took Sachiko a moment before she could muster to answer.

"She said she isn't Yumi."

"But didn't we know already that she isn't using her real name? That her whole family had their names changed? Her brother is Kenji. Her mother is Naoko and her father is Yoshio. And their last name, it was her mother's last name when she was still single, right?"

"That's not it. What I mean is, she didn't recognize me, Sei-sama. I was hoping that she didn't have amnesia, but I believe she has. But why was she afraid of me?" she said painfully.

What more could be the reason? Did her grandfather threaten her? That's more likely. But still…

"Don't you think she's just avoiding you, pretending she doesn't know you?"

Sachiko frowned at Sei's words.

"It's a possibility. Maybe she was scared after what happened to her. But I don't think Yumi could just fake it like that. I would know if she's pretending."

"You haven't seen her for so many years, Sachiko. What if she had changed?" Sei said, though somehow, it seemed to be a ridiculous idea. She knew Yumi. And she knew how much Yumi loved Sachiko back then. It couldn't be possible that she had forgotten Sachiko, or didn't love Sachiko anymore because of the accident. Yumi wasn't that kind of person. But then again, why didn't she contact Sachiko for a long time? Did she really have amnesia?

"Maybe your fear is right. Judging Yumi-chan's actions, maybe she has amnesia. Didn't your father tell you something like that?"

Sachiko shook her head. She hadn't came back to see her father again ever since their confrontation. True, she called him and asked for his help in making sure that she could see Yumi without interference, but she had forgotten about anything else. All she could think about that time was Yumi alive and seeing Yumi.

"There's only one way to find that out," Sei said.

"Father."

"No. He should have told you everything he knew. Unfortunately, he still left some important details. You can talk to him when we get back to Tokyo. Ask him everything about Yumi-chan and her family. For now, let's plan a visit to the Fukuzawa known as Houribe household."

---o---

Aya couldn't stop herself from trembling.

How did it happen?

How could it be that people here know her name? Her real name.

She had always known that someday, someone would recognize her for who she was, but she didn't expect that the impact would be this big to her. She was scared, confused and excited at the same time.

Were they old acquaintances?

"Am I seeing people that have connection with my past?"

One person, she could just ignore because it might just be a mistake. But two? And both looked familiar to her. Come to think of it, even the person at the door of that restroom looked familiar. That's three of them.

Erase that!

Even without the other two, the first person who called her in her real name was bothersome already. That person really bothered her. She had plagued her dreams for such a long time now.

In her fear and confusion, instead of going back to her client, she found herself on her way back home, trying to be as far as she could from that woman, that woman who knew her.

Why was she feeling so scared at the thought that the woman knows her?

She didn't imagine that she would be scared when the time happened that someone whom she couldn't remember would recognize her.

"What am I so scared about? Were you the reason why I can't remember my past? Did you cause the accident to me?"

Somehow, she didn't believe it so. She didn't think that woman would do something bad to her.

It wasn't the fact that the woman knew her that scared her that much, but rather, it's what she felt with the woman. When she looked at her, she felt that she belonged to her and that the woman belonged to her. And she felt her heart ache for her, long for her.

Why?

What was her connection with that woman to have feelings like that?

Did she play an important part in her past?

What should she do?

And then she thought that she might not see the woman again. She felt her heart hurt at the thought.

Why?

If only she could remember her past, she wouldn't be like this.

Was that woman one of the things that her family hid from her?

Did she really play an important role to what happened to her?

Was that the reason why ever since she saw her at the restaurant, she couldn't take her out of her mind? That since then she was always in her dreams? That she was the person that she had been dreaming all along?

What would happen now?

She was the first one who had recognized her as Yumi ever since they arrived in Japan.

---o---

"Yoshino, what happened? You look like you had seen a ghost?"

Yoshino ignored the worried voice of her cousin as she stared at the place where she saw the woman who looked like Yumi disappeared into.

"It's Yumi-san."

"What?"

She turned to her cousin and held her arms tight.

"Re-chan, it's Yumi-san. I saw Yumi-san."

Rei touched Yoshino's forehead.

"You don't seem to have a fever."

"I'm not delirious! I'm telling you the truth!"

She was indignant and shaken at the same time. That person just now, it was Yumi. She looked like her.

"Stop kidding me. Let's go now. We have a train to catch up."

"I'm not kidding!"

"It's just your imagination. A person rose from the dead."

Rei wanted to believe Yoshino if only to calm her seething anger. But she couldn't. How could it be possible?

"Come on. Let's go back to Tokyo."

"I'm not going."

"What?!"

"It was Yumi-san. I'll prove it to you that it was her," Yoshino said firmly, her mind already working on ways that she would do.

"It isn't a story from your book. Maybe in there, that could happen. Yumi-chan rising from the dead. Maybe you would want to switch from mystery writer to supernatural," Rei said patiently.

"First, you opposed so much about me becoming a detective. Now, you're opposing me to…"

Rei rubbed her temples.

"This is getting old. You always say that when I'm stopping you from doing something stupid. Aren't you happy as you are right now?"

"I am! But Rei-chan I want to make sure that my eyes didn't play tricks on me."

Switching from hard-headed and forceful to pleading. Although it didn't as effective as it was when they were younger, from time to time she could still use it.

"What do you want to do?"

She smiled sweetly.

Several hours later, a tired Rei and frustrated Yoshino rode the train to Tokyo.

"It was her, I'm sure of it."

"Stop it already. You didn't find any records, so give it a rest. What would Sachiko say if she found out what you're doing…"

"Hmp. You're just worried about your business that's why we're in bad luck. Sachiko-sama wouldn't take back her investment if you're playing around from time to time."

She knew that what she said were just nonsense. Her frustration made her restless and miffed. She would find out who that person was. She would come back in Osaka if she had to. For now, she would go back to Tokyo and do what Rei said.

For now…

---o---

Aya/Yumi frowned when she heard commotion inside their house. Her mother and father were inside and she heard another person's voice. It sounded familiar.

The voice that was etched in her mind since she talked to its owner.

The owner whose face was in her mind ever since she bumped into her in the restaurant.

She felt her heart started to race. Actually, her heart and mind had been overworked in the last two days ever since she was called as Yumi by that someone who looked achingly familiar yet she couldn't recognize. It had shamed her that she couldn't recognize that woman, more so when she ran away from her when her heart told her otherwise.

"Why?"

With that question in her mind, she decided that instead of going inside the house through the front door, she walked around, hiding near the window of their living room. She felt that she shouldn't let anyone know that she's here. She felt like there's something that she must find out about that woman without being seen.

She heard her mother talked with worried voice.

"Please, I'm begging you. Leave her alone. She had had enough already," her mother said.

"Mrs. Fukuzawa, I know that my family owed your family a lot, but won't you reconsider? Please, I'm begging you. I want to see her, to talk to her," the familiar womanly voice said. It sounded hurt, and pleading.

'No. Don't beg.' Her thought that surprised her. Why didn't she like the woman doing that?

"Please understand us, Sachiko-chan. We don't want our daughter to go through that pain again. We don't want to lose her. Please. It was us who are asking you to understand. If you really care for her, then please don't let harm come to her again," her father said.

Sachiko!

That name rang a bell in Yumi's head. It sounded so familiar.

Once again, she felt her heart ache, and the longing almost made her knees buckle.

Why was it that her reactions to that woman were so strong?

"Ouch."

Her head started to ache. She closed her eyes and held her head, trying to lessen the pain. As soon as she did, something flashed her mind.

"Sachiko, you should smile often. You look more beautiful when you're smiling."

"Really? Do you want to see me smiling often?"

"Yes, Sachiko. I would love to see you smile often."

Yumi snapped back to the present when she heard the front door to their house opened. She peeked, and saw the woman walked away from their house sadly, tears were visible in her eyes.

She had the strong urged to come to her and wiped away her tears and sadness.

Perplexed, she watched her go.

She's perfectly sure now. She knew this woman before, not only because of the strong feelings that she felt for her but also because of the flashed of memory of her talking to that woman named Sachiko.

"Sachiko."

The name felt smooth in her tongue. It sounded so good to her ears.

"Who are you and what are you in my life?"

A/N: From now on, expect that I will be using the name Yumi instead of Aya because Aya admitted already that she's Yumi.

The Excapade, expect it next week ;) It's just a simple, short story.

---Arvendell---

30 October 2008

3:00 PM