Amnesia Chapter 10:

Is This a Problem?

"Kisshu might never regain his memories?" Ichigo asked.

"It's a possibility," Pai said. "Kisshu, you haven't remembered anything yet, have you?"

"No," Kisshu said.

"And it's been two weeks since you lost your memory," Pai said. "I would have thought you'd remember something by now. And the fact that you've forgotten how to read troubles me."

"That does sound pretty severe," Ichigo said. "Is there anything you can do about this?"

Pai looked uncomfortable as he said, "I'm not sure. If he's forgotten how to read as well as lost all his memories, that suggests that there's more than just an ordinary case of amnesia here."

"Is it bad if I never remember everything fully?" Kisshu asked.

"It might be," Pai said. "It will definitely make it harder for you to relearn things like reading. I have to admit that you were never that good at math, but if you don't recognize numbers, it's going to be harder than it was when I was your teacher." Pai suddenly looked like he was thinking, then he said, "Mrs. Momomiya, do you have a sheet of paper and a pencil? I want to try something."

"Sure," Sakura said. She left and came back with some paper and a pencil, which she handed to Pai.

"What are you thinking?" Ichigo asked, as Pai started writing.

"It may be that Kisshu can't read Japanese," Pai said. "It's possible he could read other languages, though. So I'm writing the same word over in a few different languages, as well as Japanese romaji." He finished writing, and said, "Kisshu, take a look at this, and tell me if you can read any of these words."

Kisshu took the paper, and looked at it. Finally he said, "Green?"

"Yeah, which one did you see?" Pai asked.

Kisshu pointed to one word, and Pai looked. "That's Japanese romaji," he said. "So it looks like you can read, just not the actual characters." He turned to Sakura and said, "Are you going to be homeschooling him?"

"Yes, I figured since he's never been to a public school and has amnesia, he'd be better off learning from me," Sakura said. "I actually had a job teaching younger kids before Ichigo was born, but I left that job after she was born."

"Why?" Ichigo asked. "Is it the 'I was born too early' thing?"

"Yes," Sakura said. "To be honest, the doctors weren't sure you would make it when you were first born. It took a long time before I was comfortable enough to leave you with a babysitter, and even that I didn't do too often."

"That's kind of hard to believe, considering how strong she is now," Pai said.

Sakura smiled and said, "Well, supposedly everything gets stronger as you get older."

"Back to the homeschooling," Pai said. "Can you teach Kisshu in romaji?"

"Yes, I'll be fine," Sakura said. "I should be able to teach him at least hiragana, as well. Kanji's going to be the tricky part."

"Yeah," Pai said. "Well, I guess we'll see how it goes."

"Pai, are you going to be going to school too?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, I'll be with Lettuce in her school," Pai said. "And Taruto's going to be with Pudding."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Lettuce will like that."

"So will I," Pai said, turning slightly pink.

Ichigo giggled. "I've never seen you blush, Pai," she said.

Pai cleared his throat and said, "Something smells good in here." He was obviously trying to change the subject.

"It's apple crisp, do you want some?" Sakura asked.

"I've never had that, I'd like to try it," Pai said.

"Great, let's all have some," Sakura said. She scooped some into five bowls and put them on the table. Shintaro came over too, and they all sat down to eat apple crisp.

"This is really good," Kisshu said.

"Thanks," Sakura said. "I'm glad you like it. Pai, how's yours?"

"Great," Pai said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Sakura said.

"Mom makes great desserts," Ichigo said.

"Thanks sweetie," Sakura said. "You know you have to go back to school tomorrow, right?"

"Yep," Ichigo said. "Not looking forward to that."

"I told the school that you had joined us in Paris," Shintaro said. "I don't know what's gotten into me lately."

"Maybe you're becoming a bit more easygoing," Ichigo suggested.

"Mmph," Shintaro said.

Pai teleported out soon after, and Ichigo and Kisshu went to check on the laundry.

The next day, Ichigo got up and went to school. As she had predicted, her teachers were not thrilled with her, but she managed to get the work she had missed.

At recess, she got surrounded by girls, and she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone found Masaya stabbed to death in an alleyway!" one of the girls cried.

Ichigo did a pretty good impression of looking horrified, and said, "That's awful!"

"We heard he dumped you," another girl said. "Do you know what happened?"

The other girls, horrified, all shouted as one, "AKAI! How could you suggest something like that? Besides, Ichigo was in Paris when that happened!"

"I'm just saying…." Akai trailed off as Moe and Miwa were seen coming out of the building. They both looked rather ferocious, and the other girls all ran away as Moe and Miwa went to Ichigo.

"Hi Moe, hi Miwa," Ichigo said. "It's great to see you!"

"It's great to see you too," Moe said. "But we've got a question. Were you actually in Paris this whole time? Miwa went by your house and saw lights on."

"I guess I can tell you, but only if you don't tell anyone else," Ichigo said.

"Those girls?" Miwa said. "As if! So what happened? It's not like your parents to lie to the school."

Ichigo sighed. "You probably heard that Masaya dumped me, right?" she asked. Moe and Miwa nodded. "I was actually getting close with a guy I met at the Café, who I later learned was an orphan who lived with his brothers," Ichigo continued. "The day after my parents left, I found my friend, Kisshu, wandering around downtown, and when I called his name, he asked me if that was his name. I discovered that he and his older brother had had a fight in which Kisshu had been slammed against the wall. Unfortunately, Kisshu now has complete amnesia, and the last two weeks I was out of school were spent trying to help him get his memory back. Kisshu's living with my parents and me now, but he doesn't remember anything besides the fact that he's in love with me."

Moe and Miwa looked horrified. "Wow, that must be tough," Moe said. "What about school?"

"My mom's homeschooling him," Ichigo said. "We learned that for some reason, he can only read in romaji now, and he doesn't remember anything, so any school stuff he used to know is now forgotten. His brothers still visit him, but he doesn't remember anything about them. I told him who they were, but he doesn't remember things like that by himself."

"Did you take him to a doctor?" Miwa asked.

"His older brother is a doctor, but when he examined Kisshu, he told us that it's possible that Kisshu may never completely remember everything," Ichigo said.

"How is Kisshu doing with that news?" Moe asked.

"I was surprised, he seems to be fine with having no memory of himself or his past," Ichigo said. "He was a little sad yesterday because we found out he couldn't read anything besides romaji, but my mom thinks she can help him with that."

"Can we meet him?" Miwa asked.

"If you want, you could come over after school," Ichigo said. "Just don't bring anything banana-related into the house."

"Why's that?" Miwa asked.

"Bananas make Kisshu really sick," Ichigo said. "The first night he was staying with me, he ate one, and then he was throwing up all night. He didn't remember that he was allergic to them. It's a good thing his older brother came by later, since he knows more about what Kisshu likes than I do. I just wish he had come over before Kisshu ate a whole banana."

"Poor guy," Moe said. "We don't have any bananas today, but we'll remember not to bring any over, and tell our families not to make you guys banana bread anymore."

"Thanks," Ichigo said. "I just hope my dad doesn't get too desperate; he really likes banana bread."

"Yeah…." Miwa said.

The bell rang then, and the three girls ran back to class.

I'll post more tomorrow; and I'm sorry this chapter was so boring.