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Names
Natsumi had dreams of another life, another time.
The dreams were of scenes from the life of Christine Daaé, but not all of them were from the Phantom of the Opera movie. Natsumi was reliving things she had never seen before.
Who was she? Singer or sports star? Prima donna or protector of Earth? Shy and sweet or strong and temperamental?
Natsumi Hinata or Christine Daaé?
"Natsumi," she heard a strong, familiar voice call. "Natsumi!"
And then she returned to the waking world.
Natsumi's eyes opened to see the Phantom of the Opera standing over her with a concerned look on his face.
"Aaah!" she screamed, backing up against the headboard of her bed. "Get away from me!"
"Natsumi, calm down," he replied. "It's me. It's Giroro."
Shock. That was the first thing Natsumi felt. For a few seconds, she could do nothing but stare at him with her mouth open.
"You… were the Phantom… in a past life?" Natsumi finally said with uncertainty.
He groaned. "Apparently."
Natsumi had never heard the Phantom groan in all the years she had studied under him. Of course it was Gir-
Wait.
She had studied under the Phantom?
Her mind drifted back to the strange dreams, and suddenly things started to make sense.
"No," she murmured. "No."
"Maybe you should look in a mirror," Phantom/Giroro suggested gently.
Shakily, Natsumi pulled herself out of bed, but then stumbled. Giroro caught her and helped her over to the full-length mirror in her closet. She regained her footing when they reached it, but almost lost it again when she saw the figures staring back at her.
Of course Natsumi would see the Phantom. Giroro was him now.
But she was also Christine Daaé.
Natsumi looked over at Giroro in shock, and when she saw the concerned look in his eyes, something stirred inside of her. Natsumi couldn't identify it- she had felt it before, but she couldn't put a finger on it, so perhaps she had only felt it in her past life- but it was there.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. I-I'm fine. But m-maybe we should pummel Kururu. This is probably some sort of practical joke. The chances of us-"
"No."
"What?" Natsumi never had seen Giroro pass up a chance to pummel Kururu.
"It's not a practical joke. Even Kururu can't make my face look like this just for the heck of it, down to the last detail." And with that he removed his mask.
Natsumi couldn't help but stare. Giroro's face- the left side of his face- was red and scarred. Every bump and contour was exactly as she remembered. Quickly, Natsumi pulled out her iPhone, went to Safari, and searched up the Point of No Return scene from Phantom of the Opera. Too impatient to wait through the video, she slid the white button at the top of the video to when Christine removes the Phantom's mask. Natsumi paused it when the Phantom's face was revealed, then held the iPhone up to Giroro's face to compare.
It was a perfect copy.
Natsumi just stood there, completely silent. (Thank God that she didn't drop the iPhone.) Eventually, she said the first thing that came to her mind.
"What was your old name?"
Giroro paused and closed his eyes. After two agonizing minutes, he whispered,
"Erik Destler."
That confirmed everything. Even if Kururu had given Giroro false memories, the curry-loving psycho-genius probably hadn't read the original Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Only someone who had read that would know that the Phantom's name was Erik. And they never mentioned the Phantom's last name. Suddenly, all those thoughts melted away as, instinctively, Natsumi reached up to touch Giroro's scarred face.
"Erik Destler," she murmured. "I like that."
He blushed intensely but placed his hand on top of hers with a sigh, and she remembered them doing much the same thing in another place, another lifetime. They stood there like that for a second, until he pulled away, his breath quickening. "I-I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I know we're on different terms now-"
"It's fine."
And it was. It was more than fine.
"Maybe… maybe I should go figure out a new place to stay, given that I won't fit in my tent."
Natsumi nodded. "Okay."