The crowded room, filled with concerned friends, were more concerned by Keiko's question.
You don't know who Ren is?.!
Outside, an unusual couple stormed in, just a day late for Maria's birthday, seeing as it was already the 25th.
"Hey, I heard Keiko was hospitalized! Is she oka-" she froze, as everyone had their trained eyes just staring at her smooth entrance.
"Moko san, Hio, glad you could make it!" Maria exclaimed, trying to break the ice that was forming. This was a bit awkward, considering of what just happened.
The girl comfortably covered in blankets tilted her head, confused. "Moko san? Why would you call Kanae, Moko san?"
This just made everyone even more confused. If she didn't know who Ren was, then how did she know who Kanae was?
"Do you think it's amnesia?" Vidka cupped Tsuki's ear as she whispered. "Except, she knew the name of her best friend, yet not Ren?"
Tsuki scratched his chin, wondering the same thing. "Oh, well... I'm not even sure myself. This never happened before to shinigamis. To go in a trance that looks like you're dead, and come back to life..." An imaginary light bulb popped up, floating on top of his head, and it was on. He slapped his forehead lightly, groaning at his realization. "Damn that stupid... he's like a... mini Takarada Lory."
"What? Who?" Vidka waved around, wanting to get in on whatever he realized.
When he bent over, whispered two words, she then slumped her shoulders, and groaned along with him. "Him? But he... then again, he would do that..."
"What are you two blabbering about?"
They both turned, seeing an angry Chiori glaring at them.
"Stuff, toys-hey! Did you see that awesome toy that glows in the dark?" Tsuki clapped, trying to distract her.
It didn't work.
"Yeah, I highly doubt you care about toys. If you have something to say, just say it!"
"Well..."
"OH! Maria chan! You look just as cute as I thought you were!" a delighted voice exclaimed, coming from the troublesome teen. She was the cause of this confusion.
She can now see.
She can hear familiar voices, and she can figure out who they belonged to.
She probably knows who shinigamis are.
But she can't recognize who Ren was?
How was that possible?
"Damn that stupid Big Boss!" Tsuki clenched his fist, dragging Vidka along with him.
"Tsuki... stop calling God that. He was never pleased with you calling him that."
Tsuki clucked his tongue, swimming his way out of the annoyed angels looking at him. He was, without a doubt, a bad icon. He was known for sucking souls; so the fact he was in the center of Heaven, a cavern where souls turn into angels, was terrible for them.
His gait, followed by Vidka's, was unusual. They only used their wings when necessary, not all the time like these idiotic angels, who used them 24/7 just because they had them on their back. You didn't had to use them. You had feet, for goodness sake! Use them as practice when you're going to go to Earth!
Rolling his eyes, he opened the folding doors, kicking down one in frustration.
"Are you crazy?"
"Hmm, who's crazy?" God, who was in a position you would think he was, was sipping Darjeeling like a king. He was on his throne, holding both a tiny plate for his cup, and the tea cup itself.
"You know what I'm saying! Making Keiko forget Ren, yet still remember everyone else? Why do something like that, you extreme baka!"
The "Big Boss" rolled his eyes, and once again, had to switch to Japanese. "Don't call your boss like that. I admit that-"
"Hah! So you did do that!"
God turned his attention to Vidka, practically begging for her to let him finish for once.
"Tsuki..." grumbled Vidka.
"Yeah, yeah." He pinched his fingers, and "zipped" his mouth shut.
"As I was saying..." continued God, "I admit I did that. For a reason of course."
Vidka knew in the back of her mind what Tsuki wanted to say. "Which is...?"
"To see if Keiko can still be Kyoko without her memories."
Huh? Both shinigamis gave each other a confused look, soon directing it at God.
He sighed. "Let's just say, I just wanted to see if she can figure out why she's so infatuated toward that man. If Keiko keeps thinking that she's suppose to feel this because she did once, that would be like she was pretending, right?"
"Besides," he laid his cup on the plate, giving it to a servant, "let's see if memories are a requirement for a forbidden love..."
*Tap, tap, tap!*
"Huh?" Keiko murmured, rubbing her droopy eyes to get a clear image of her surroundings. This was the first day she had ever finally saw the light. No darkness, just clear pictures.
Well, it was dark, seeing it was night, but at least she saw the gray outlines of the objects around her.
What made that tapping sound? Oh well, must have been a branch.
She flipped around to the other side, only to become face-to-face with a beautiful visage.
Scared, she inched away from the sleeping man. His whole body was glued to a classy chair, something that looked out of place in a hospital room. He was holding her hand, almost making her wish he wouldn't let go.
He didn't even go to change out of his tux...
*Flashback*
After everyone but the shinigamis and... that man... were gone, Keiko was still remained sitting in bed. Confused, she took the pillow behind her, and cuddled it, feeling its cotton close to bursting.
Why was that man here? Did she say anything wrong?
Soon, Tsuki hovered over her, looking concerned. He lightly grazed her forehead, forcing her to look into the pools that were his eyes.
"Keiko... do you really don't know who that person over there is?" he waved toward him.
Keiko shook her head, shooting worried glances toward him. "Excuse me, mister, but am I suppose to know who you are?"
At first, all she got was silence, until, "Yes, you are. Since I'm your," he gulped, "victim for this year. I have been for the past two months now."
He held out his hand, forming a slight smile, "I'm Tsuruga Ren, nice to meet you."
"Nice... to meet you, too," she said, taking his hand, shaking it.
He then gave a sorrowful grin, and bowed. He (should she dare say, reluctantly?) let go.
As everyone finally left the room, Keiko had her eyes stuck on the closed door. The last person to leave was Ren, and his sad smile was buried underneath her memory.
She balled her fist, let it lie on her cheek, and sighed.
"Two months? He was my victim these past months? Why don't I remember?"
*End of Flashback*
She stood still, sitting up straight as she gazed at the sleeping man, hearing his sighs and soft snores rumbling in his throat.
Without warning, her fingers raked his bangs, suddenly admiring its softness.
How... nostalgic. Have I really forgotten who this man is? He... had such a strong impact toward me when I saw him frown. I feel as if those words were an arrow that pierced into his heart.
Brushing the curtain of hair off of his face, she sighed as no torrent of memories were rushing forward. No matter what, his face just seemed like a stranger's.
"Tsuruga Ren... Ren... Ren kun?" she repeated different versions of his name. Would that help? "Tsuruga san..."
Staring out into the darkness once more, she pressed her forehead against his. "Nope, still nothing."
"Really?"
Jumping, she hopped away from him, suddenly forgetting the grasp he still had on her. She was propelled back, earning a bone-cracking bonk on the forehead.
"OW!" they said in unison.
"Are you okay?" he asked, laughing at her bows of apology after that.
Was he laughing at her apology? He was bonked on the head and... oh my! Was he... delusional?
She panted at the thought, but it almost seemed as if he read her thoughts.
"Did you really think that a little bump in the head would make me delusional?"
"No! I mean- I did think that but..." she floundered. Her words fumbled, flipping from the tip of her tongue, and tumbled onto him. What a surprise!
She groaned as she shook, gripping her head.
"Sorry, I was surprised that you were awake. I thought you were sleeping."
Ren patted her head, giving her a warm chuckle. She was suspicious, wondering if he was an easy-going guy. Well... let's just hope he was.
"Sorry to have got on the wrong foot. I just... I wasn't joking when I asked who you were," she bit her lip, gripping her hands together, "but can you tell me a little bit about yourself, just so you can jog my memory?"
He gave a shook. "No, it was only two months. It's not like we knew each other very well."
She tilted her delicate head. This was confusing. For some reason, she felt his smiles to be a deadly weapon. She could have sworn she saw sparkles and flowers popping up in the background, blinding her.
For comedic effect, she squinted painfully at the sight.
Seeing her duck under the covers, he tsked at it. "Well, today is your birthday so-"
"Birthday? What do you mean? Shinigamis don't have birthdays?"
And this was true. Shinigamis were like ghosts. And ghosts don't know their birthday due to memory loss of their previous lives.
Wait... previous lives? Does that mean-
"Um... Keiko, you played Tsuruga Keiko, my younger sister. And... I just thought that Christmas would be a fun date for your birthday," he lifted his head, and straightened his back, hastily grabbing a cute, tiny purse into her tiny hands.
"So, happy birthday!" he beamed.
Unsure what to say, she opened the purse with a click. It was adorable how the purse filled her hands, and how the darkness was looming over the present.
Seeing her confusion on what it could be, he automatically was at the curtains.
As light fluttered into the room, sending imaginary fairies into her eyes, she gasped as her gift was... a rock.
Except, she didn't think of it as a lame gift.
As if the fairies whispered her body what to do, she plucked the stone out of its containment, twirling it into the light.
An odd image was in the middle, but it still hazed its violet colours to orange. It was like magic.
And like magic, the weight of the bed sank her. She turned, faced with Ren.
She blushed, wondering if the gift was suppose to change its colour. Were those fairies the cause of its magic? Or was it the Sun, the beautiful blinding Sun, that sent this gift down to Earth?
Pursing her lips, she calmly let the tears stream down her face.
"Thank you," she said, looking up at the surprised man, "I'll try my best to remember."
A person to give this to me can't have known me for just two months. We must have known each other longer than that.
Yay! Finally, Winter Break is close to be over! I hate day-offs... My brain always frizz up from looking for songs for my next MMV. (Yes, I spend my time on Youtube, looking at pro MMV's to improve mine, despite only using OneTrueMedia)