A/N: I'm so damn happy to be back!~ This is the first time I replied anonymous' reviews in the chapter, so here it goes...
Nata: You're really a loyal reader! Thanks for reviewing, even though it took lots of time for me to update every new chapter, you always reviewed it. Either as the first one or the last one~ ^^ Thanks again!
randombox: You're the one who reminded me about Satomi's name and Ritsu's seiyuu's name! Hahaha! Thanks for reviewing on Ch. 4!
"Stay"
"Mothers are the most instinctive philosophers." -Harriet Beecher Stowe
Chapter 6: Okaa-san!
"This one goes here... and here... and- wait, this is wrong. Great." She groaned softly, glancing at the back to make sure that the other girl- who recently sleeping- wouldn't be woken up by her voice. "Okay, let's try it again. Like this... here... then this o- Oh, great! Why does it so hard to put on a tie?" She whispered and once again glancing back at the sleeping girl on the bed. "One last try."
Tainaka Ritsu is trying to do her own tie, because today she needs to go to the Tainaka Office. Not for work, but to take out her stuff out of the office. Ever since, her parents were back to Japan, she finally got back her freedom. Even so, Ritsu was being Ritsu, just because one simple and little thing could hold her back for more than an hour.
"I've had enough with this. It's not so-" She was stopped by a hand, which was grabbing her arm softly. "Eh?"
The owner of the hand raised an eyebrow, "Morning?" Confusingly, Akiyama Mio said while looking at Ritsu with a bit of disappointed look on her face.
"Ah, you're awake... Uh... Morning~" Ritsu smiled nervously, then bend down and kissed Mio on the cheek. Weirdly, Mio keep staring at her with a straight face. More like expressionless and Ritsu knew what this means is. "Alright, I'm sorry I didn't wake you up."
"Ugh, really now, Ritsu?" Mio stood up from the bed and standing up right in front of Ritsu. She grabbed the thing on Ritsu's left-hand and circled it around the brunette's neck. "Should I teach you how to do it?"
Ritsu thinks a bit, then smirked. "Nope."
"Why?"
"Y'know why~"
Mio rolled her eyes and started to do the tie on Ritsu's neck. "I just remembered that today is the check-up day."
"Check-up? You still need to check-up, Mio?" Ritsu asked back, frowning.
Mio shook her head, "No, it's us. After today's check-up, I still have to attend the last one. For you, you still have two more check-ups to attend."
The brunette sighed, she hates check-up. She always does, because she thought that it's useless, since it doesn't bring anything better with her sickness. In truth, she's usually hates it, but since Mio who asked for it and insisted her to attend it, she had no other or better choice. "Can I just reduce it? I mean, why would I need three check-ups? I'm fine~"
"Why does it so hard to just come, Ritsu? The doctor just gonna tell you some things that you need to pay your attention to."
Sighing in defeat, Ritsu walked over to the door. "Fine, when?"
"This afternoon. We'll meet at the hospital, okay?"
"Lunch-time? Why don't we have a lunch together right after?" Mio thinks a bit; because the way Ritsu said it... it does sounded like she was asking her on a date, indirectly. "Well...?"
"Your treat?" Mio raised an eyebrow at Ritsu, then she was answered by a nod and a grin. "Sure."
"...Mommy... help... I need you... please... don't leave me..."
It's a pitch black; all she could see was a pitch black. She tried to run to the source of her little daughter's voice. "Wait... don't go... Mio-chan!"
She snapped her eyes open, to see that she's in a room. Hos...pital...?
"Call the Doctor! Tell him that a patient in room 305 is awake!" A girl's voice said. She turned her head to the girl; she was wearing a white nurse uniform. She tried to got up, but failed. "Please, the Doctor will be here soon. Don't make any movements at the moment, Ma'am."
After a few minutes, the doctor walked inside the room. He ordered one of the nurses to inject something to her. "W-wait." She said, stopping the nurse to inject her.
"Don't worry. This will reduce any pain you feel, because you will try to remember your memories soon enough." The doctor explained.
"What...do you mean?" She weakly asked with her eyes half opened, she tried to got up again.
Once again, he holds her down. "I'll explain, but firstly..." He turned to the nurse and nodded. It didn't take long for her to gain all of her conscious, after a minute, she woke up. "Now, how do you feel?"
She sighed and shrugged, "A little better..."
"Good." The doctor smiled warmly, "It's really surprised me that you didn't break loose after your long sleep."
The woman stares at the doctor confusingly, "How long did I lose my conscious?"
"Counting since you were taken to this Hospital..." He started to count silently, "Five months."
"Where is my family, Doctor?" It doesn't surprise the Doctor if she asked about her family members, so he gave her a warm smile.
He sighed, "Your daughter and husband are going for...work, if I'm not wrong. Don't worry, I already called them to visit, since you already woke up."
"Where are you now?"
Walking as she talks on the phone, she made her way into the elevator. "I'm on my way, Father. I'm inside the building no- Ouch! Ah!" She fell and her juice was all over her dress.
"Oh crap! I'm sorry! Really, sorry!" She looks up to see a young man, in a silver tuxedo. She was speechless over this young man, not to mention, the guy who stares at her with a lot of disbelief look. "Uh, I'll... uh... lemme make it up to you, kay?" With that, the guy grabbed her hand and run out of the lift before the door closed automatically.
Who is...he? Was a sudden thought that came over to her mind. In some way, the guy remembered her with someone that she ever knew long ago, but she just can't remember it clearly. "Hold it, please." She pleaded, when the guy opened one of his passenger's doors.
He frowned, "D-don't worry. I'll buy you a new dress right over!" She was pushed inside the car and luckily, she had to come along.
The guy grabbed his cell phone and dialed someone. "Is Sawa-chan there?" He asked on the phone, then he nodded. "Don't tell her that I'm about to come to the store, okay?" And he ended the phone. Somehow, he couldn't distract his attention from the girl.
"Is there any proper reason why are you staring at me like that?" She finally asked.
The man shook his head and laughed nervously. "Sorry for that... Uh... It's just that...you really look like someone I really know~" His explanation made the girl frowned and shot her a confused look.
"Pardon me?"
"It might sound a bit weird, but you really looked like my friend."
"Tainaka-sama, we're arrived." The driver announced as the car stopped in front of the store.
"Alright." With that, the two got out of the limo and get inside the store. "Excuse me, do you have the exact same dress like hers?"
The girl giggled, "Oh, of course we do have. Well, can I congratulate you first, Tainaka-san?"
"What for?" Frowning, the girl leaned closer to his ear.
"You're finally going out with her, right?" She whispered, low enough for the girl next to him, but it's shocking enough for him.
"Wait, you got it wrong here. This girl is not the same girl that I ever took here before; I just accidentally bumped on her and got her dress dirty." He pointed to the girl next to him, "See?"
The shopkeeper gave an 'Oh' as a reply and quickly bowed down for her rudeness. Even though, it's not really counted as rude, since she's one of the guy's old classmates, so it doesn't really matter. "Is anything wrong?" The girl asked. "Oh, I just realized that... she called you 'Tainaka-san', that means you're the CEO of TBC? Tainaka Ritsu?"
The guy nodded, "We'll talk later, you need to change now." The girl smiled at the guy and followed the shopkeeper to change her dress. It is true that the guy is the CEO of TBC, but what's not true is that, it's not really a guy to begin with. I haven't eaten anything stupid this morning, have I? Ritsu thought.
A few minutes later, the girl walks back from the changing room. "Tainaka-san?"
"Oh, that's fast." Ritsu stood up and asked about the price, after she paid for the dress, the two back into the limo. They keep silent; it's quite rare for Tainaka Ritsu to get so silent like this. However, Ritsu had a good reason to be as silent as she ever be. "Hey, can I ask you something?" Finally, she spoke up.
"Sure. What is it?"
Ritsu took a deep breath, "Well, it's been bugging ever since I bumped on you... Uh... What's your name?" First things first, she needed to know the name. Why? Because this certain girl, really look like her girlfriend and she can't deny that there is nothing different about Mio and this girl. Everything's the same, except for their eyes' color and their acts. Mio is more shy, but this girl is more polite than shy.
The girl giggled and smiled at Ritsu, "Excuse me for not introducing myself in the first place."
"That's okay, just tell me, what's your name?"
"It's Mio, Akiyama Mio." Tainaka Ritsu was speechless.
"Ritsu..." The black-haired girl suddenly whispered that name. She shook her head, "What was that?" She asked to herself.
"What was what, Mio-senpai?" A girl next to her asking in a bit of worried tone.
Mio give the kouhai a warm smile, "Nothing, I was just suddenly remember of Ritsu. That's all."
"Oh, talking about Ritsu-senpai... you said you'll have your check-up with her at lunch, right?" Mio nodded, then stopped right in front of her locker. "Do you want me to take you there? Seeing that, this morning you even took the bus to get to the Uni."
"That's fine, Azusa. I took the bus to get here, because it will give me less attention with my surrounding."
"But no one knows that I'm a friend of Ritsu-senpai, they wouldn't figure it out, Mio-senpai~" Azusa pouted and made Mio flinched at how similar Azusa with Yui's new pet.
Once again, Mio smiled at Azusa, but this time with a reassuring smile. "Azusa, I'm fine. I'll call you if I get to the Hospital safely, okay?" Azusa finally gave up and nodded.
"Mio," A guy called out and ran over towards Mio and Azusa. He stopped and panted heavily, "Hey... Can I..."
"You might want to take a deep breath first, Minamoto-senpai." The kouhai said, frowning.
The guy did what Azusa asked him to do, he took a deep breath and steady his breath. He chuckled, "How many times should I tell you, Kitty? Call me, 'Isshi'~"
"How many times should I tell you, that I'm used to call you 'Minamoto-senpai'." Azusa mirrored Isshi and then the bells for the last class rang. "I gotta go now, see you guys~" And she ran towards her class, leaving Isshi and Mio.
"Well, I need to attend my last class no-"
Isshi hold Mio by the arm, "Wait, I wanted to ask you something first." Mio could only frown at him, "Uh... Two days ago, I saw you passing by the city park. What were you doing that day?"
Mio got even more confused, she hasn't gone outside ever since the incident of Ritsu and herself. "Sorry, but I didn't go anywhere. More like, I couldn't, because Ritsu didn't allow me to go outside. Especially all by myself." If it's really not Mio, then who is it?
"A-are you sure?" Isshi tried one again. He's sure enough that the one he saw at the city park was Mio, there's no way someone could look totally like Mio.
"I'm really sure. Ritsu and I spent the whole three days at the apartment, none of us going outside. Why?"
"Oh, nothing." Isshi laughed nervously, "Maybe I'm just hallucinating... Uh, I gotta go for my class, you better go too. Ja~" And there he goes, running the other way, before Mio could say anything. Mio was left out, confused with Isshi's weird act.
"I'm planning on- Ritsu?" The man shocked as he watched his daughter walked inside the room without knocking. "Don't you have manners?"
"I don't have time for such manners, I need an explanation. Now." His father noticed that Ritsu bring someone with her.
The other man inside the room suddenly stood up and stares at the girl behind Ritsu. "Mio-chan?" Now, it gets even more confusing for everyone in the room. "Ryuuji, I'll talk with you later. Come with me, Mio." Then he grabbed Mio's hand gently and led her outside. Once they're outside, her father finally asked, "How did you meet her?"
"Pardon me? What do you mean by 'her'?"
"That girl, is Tainaka Ryuuji's one and only daughter. Tainaka Ritsu."
Tainaka Ritsu-san is a girl? 'Mio' keep silent; she can't tell her father that all this time she thought Ritsu was a guy now. However, she needed to know more. "If she's a girl, then why does she wear a tuxedo and everyone called her with 'Sir' and 'Mr.'?"
Haruka sighed, "I didn't plan it like this. I was going to introduce you two later; today I just wanted Ryuuji to meet you personally. But I never thought Ritsu will show up today."
Meanwhile...
BANG! Ritsu slammed her hand on the table, "You lied to me! You know about Mio, don't you! ?"
"I don't, all I know is Haruka's daughter, Akiyama Mio." He stood up and back facing Ritsu. "Not the one you bring yesterday, Ritsu."
"Wait, so you were saying that Mio's been lying to me about herself?" She got no answer, "Is that it, dad?"
"I didn't say that."
Ritsu clenched her fist in a lot of anger, but she needed to hold it for now. "Tell me, what are you planning on doing?" This time, Ritsu had enough. If her father won't tell her anything, she can guarantee that her parents won't ever see her anymore. "How long have you been hiding this? You know that girl-"
"Shut it, Ritsu!" Ryuuji's anger got the best of him, "That girl is the daughter of my best partner and friend. She has a name and it's-"
"You've arranged a marriage between us, hm?" She looked away, staring out the window as if it's the most interesting thing.
Her father cleared his throat to get Ritsu's attention, but the girl never intends to turn her head away. "Listen, I swear I really don't know about your girlfriend. It's not like I'm putting her as the one whom faking her identity, but... I need evidence, in case she's really telling the truth or lying to us." Ritsu remain silent. "We'll talk about this some other time."
Ten seconds passed, Haruka and his daughter walked inside the room. Ritsu quickly turned her head to the door; she bowed down in front of Haruka. "I'm sorry, but I need to excuse myself now. It's nice to meet you and... y-your daughter." Ritsu didn't dare to take even a glance at 'Mio' and walked out of the room as fast as she could.
"R-Ritsu-san..." 'Mio' muttered.
"Is anything wrong, Ryuuji?" Haruka asked, as he closed the door behind him. Sadly, Ryuuji keep silent and not even turn his head towards him.
Finally, a sigh escaped Ryuuji's mouth. "Tell me, Haruka..." Turning around, he had a really serious expression on his face. "...Have you ever had an...Aircraft?"
The sudden question made Haruka flinched a little, but then he gather up his courage. "Yes." It was the worst thing that could ever happen in everyone's life, especially when it comes to the whole family members.
"When?" Haruka got even more confused at how curious Ryuuji wanted to know about it. He doesn't even want to remember a single thing about that.
"Look, I don't want to talk about it. I'm just grateful that me and my family were not dead from that aircraft."
"...Is that why Minoru still at the Hospital?"
Walking towards the car, the guard opened the passenger's door for her and she got inside the limo. "Where to, Tainaka-sama?" The driver asked.
"Hospital." She answered, then pushed the button to close the black window between the passenger and driver. Tainaka Ritsu, took her cell phone out and text her girlfriend. In the back of her mind says that she's afraid if what her father said was all right. However, her heart says otherwise, she knew that Mio wouldn't such silly thing to fake her identity.
If she does, then what for? She didn't get anything from the Akiyama family, did she? I don't care; I just don't care whoever she is. She's the 'Mio' I've known and I've fallen in love with.
"We're arrived at the Hospital, Tainaka-sama." The driver said after he slides down the black window.
"Just park it here, I still have thirty minutes to kill. I'll have a little nap." Ritsu laid her body on the comfortable couch and sighed in a bit relief. "Wake me up in thirty minutes, understood?"
"Understood, Sir." He did what Ritsu had ordered him to do. He waited patiently for thirty minutes, glancing to his hand watch every ten minutes. Finally, thirty minutes passed and he slides down the black window once again. "Taina-" He stopped when he saw a certain girl, sitting next to Ritsu and hushed him down. He knew who's the girl, so he only nodded and closed the window slowly.
Meanwhile, the brunette who was planning on 'having a little nap', was actually sleeping. The girl next to her raised an eyebrow, "Is this what she always do? Sleeping in her own limo?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Ritsu shrugged a little and slowly opened her sleepy eyes. "Mhm... Mio?" She tried to got up, making the other girl move backwards a bit.
"It really surprised me that you came earlier than me." Mio smirked, glancing at her watch and realized it's almost the time for the check-up. "Let's go now, the doctor's probably waiting for us now."
The two get out of the limo and walked inside the Hospital. Something is odd when they passed one of the patient's rooms, Mio can feel it for some reason and she's really curious with this weird feeling. On the other side, Ritsu's act is totally out of her usual act. She's more silent and she walks with her head's down. Mio was about to ask if anything wrong with Ritsu, but she decided to just ask about it at lunch, it'll feels more comfortable that way.
Should I ask her? Should I tell her what had happened this morning? Should I let her know about the Akiyama family? Ritsu's mind can't stop thinking; she thought that she might go crazy inside. "Dammit." She cursed softly and low enough for Mio not to hear it.
"Ritsu, where are you going?" Mio suddenly asked, making Ritsu stopped and turned around.
She felt dumb-strucked, "Oh, uh... Sorry, I was just thinking 'bout somethin'..." Ritsu muttered as she walks back and followed Mio.
Ritsu and Mio had the same doctor, so it'll be easier for them to have check-up. Moreover, this is Ritsu's private doctor, so she believed almost one-hundred percents in him. "Oh, Rikkun~ Wait, is this what I thought it is?"
"What did you thought, Doc?"
"The infamous Tainaka Ritsu's girlfriend. I mean, I've always known that it's about time for you two." The doctor joked.
Ritsu rolled her eyes, "Oh c'mon, Doc. I'm here for check-up, not to get tease from you~"
"Haha, alright. Let's start it, shall we?" He walks back to his desk and checked some of the paper on the table. "So, who wants to go first?"
"Mio's ever done many check-ups, so I would like her to be the first one, please?~" She grinned and Mio just sighed in defeat.
Turning her head to the doctor, she smiled. "Alright, I'll go first."
"Minoru-san, there's someone wanted to meet with you here." The doctor said, allowing that someone walking inside the room.
Seeing who's came inside her room, Minoru gasped. "Mother, how do you feel now?" Akiyama Mio asked as she looking worriedly at her mother.
No, she's not my daughter... Why did she call me that? Minoru's expression was totally puzzled, she's confused. Even though, she can't remember some part of her memories, she knew it and she can feel it. This girl in front of her, who was calling her as 'Mother', was not her daughter. "I'm sorry, but... why did you called me like that?"
Mio was taken aback; it hurts when someone you recognize as your mother didn't recognize you as her daughter. "B-because you're my Mother. Don't you remember me?"
"I remember my daughter, Mio-chan." Tears started to roll down her cheeks. It didn't go unnoticed by Minoru, seeing the girl cried, she patted Mio's head. "Why did you crying?" She asked in a motherly tone.
Sobbing softly, she pulled her head up a bit. "Why don't you remember me, Mother? It's me. I-It's me, Mio." Feeling a little guilty for making the girl crying, Minoru didn't say more and just patting Mio's head gently.
Not long, the doctor walked inside the room. "I'm sorry, visiting time is almost over. Minoru-san needs more time to rest."
"Isn't it too fast, Doctor?" Mio asked, frowning.
"Well, she's still a little bit unstable now. You don't want her to be sleeping for such a long time again, do you?" Sighing in defeat, Mio said good bye to Minoru and said that she's going to visit her more often next time. Outside the room, the doctor holds Mio for a bit before she go home. "You must be shocked with that, right?"
Mio nodded, "Of course. Why doesn't she remember me at all? Did she lose her memories?"
"No, her problem is not that bad. It actually surprised me too, because she told me that she remembers her family and she also asked me about them." The doctor sighed, "She had a Retrograde Amnesia. Looks like she only remember that she has a daughter, but can't visibly remember the look. Even so, that's only my prediction, I believe she'll remember everything clearly soon enough. So, you don't need to worry."
Bitting her lower lip. Somehow, she felt a little uneasy. "See? What did I told you? Pay more attention to your health, Ritsu." Hearing that name, she turned her head around and gasped.
"Ritsu-san...?"
"Get sleep at least ten hours at night and three hours at afternoon~" Ritsu mirrored the doctor and groaned, "Gah! He's torturing me with that!"
Mio just rolled her eyes, "I thought you loved it."
"Well, yeah! But if there's no you around, I hated it~" Ritsu make a pout with her mouth.
"You should pay more attention to your health, Ritsu." She sighed and when she took a glance at Ritsu, she saw Ritsu's been holding her stomach. "R-Ritsu? Are you o-okay?"
Ritsu shook her head, "N-no... I'm fine... It's just- Ouch!" She groaned in pain, making Mio even more panicked.
"See? What did I told you? Pay more attention to your health, Ritsu."
"I gotta go to the bathroom now... berightback!" With that, Ritsu dashed to the bathroom.
She acted instinctively and running towards the 'Ladies' room, until someone stopped her from doing so. "Ritsu-san?" Ritsu jumped in surprise and cursed under her breath.
NICE TIMING, DAMMIT! Screaming mentally, Ritsu turned around and gasped at the one who called her. "Oh, it's y-you... What a coincidence~" She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head as she tried her best to hold her unbearable feeling.
"Yes, uhm... What are you doing here anyway? Did you sick?"
"Ah, no... Not really, I was just-" She was interrupted by something 'down there' and she had to use the facility right away. "Excuse me... but can I t-talk with you later? I need to f-finish my business f-first..." With sweats all over her face, she forced herself to turn her way from the 'Ladies' room, to the 'Boys' room. She's wearing tux now, so it's only wrong if she goes to the 'Ladies' room.
Gulping deeply, she opened the door. Everyone inside the room gasped and bowed their heads down on Ritsu, she felt really uncomfortable with this. "No need... Just... Can you guys out of the room now?"
"Huh?" Mio tilted her head to the side, there's the feeling again. It goes even stronger as she walks closer and closer to a certain room. Her heartbeat goes faster, her mind can't think anything, her mouth can't say a word, and even her body doesn't want to follow her command. "Wait, I can't just-" She stopped talking when the door opened itself, it does not opened widely, just a bit and it makes Mio thinks that it'll be okay to just see whose inside.
She gulped softly, staring at the woman who lying down on the bed. She could hear nothing, only the sounds of her footsteps and every breath the patient took.
When she close enough with the woman, she gasping and tears started to flow down to her cheeks. "O...Okaa-san..."
A/N: Whoooaa~ Finally the other woman in the Akiyama Family shows up! XD Well, to be honest, I looked up on Google pretty much for this chapter~ Gyahahah!
Hint(s):
1. Retrograde Amnesia is the inability to remember events preceding a trauma, but recall of events afterwards is possible.
2. Akiyama Minoru, is Akiyama Haruka's wife and obviously, Akiyama Mio's mother.
3. In truth, Akiyama Mio had a Transient Global Amnesia: Temporary, complete loss of all memory.
~Thanks for R&R~