A Memory...
She sighed when her cousin ended the call.
Ran: " it seems he got himself into something. I hope it's not that dangerous."
She had been trying to convince him to stop, to let go, to do something else. But all he kept telling her was ' I couldn't, it's out of control '.
Her eyes wandered up to the drawer of the closet. She looked down before throwing her body back on the bed.
Ran: " please, be safe, Arata..."...
Mirai sat down and looked at the blue and white painted LBX on the desk. It wasn't her Strike Freedom, that was placed inside her bag. This was a different one, with its design similar to Achilles.
Mirai: " what's the matter, Ban?"
She said as soon as she reached the park where he asked her to meet him. It was a few days after Hiro woke up.
Ban stood up and walked to her, holding up his hand that contained the blue and white LBX.
Ban: " Jin retrieved it from the spot of the incident. It was in a bad shape but Dad managed to fix it."
Mirai's eyebrow crooked slightly.
Mirai: " why are you giving it to me?"
Ban had a soft smile.
Ban: " because you're Hiro's older sister. When the time will come and you will feel Hiro does want to walk down the path of LBXs again, please give him it."
Mirai wandered her eyes between the brunette and the LBX before holding it gently in her hands. As she did so, she felt some kind of warmth in her hands.
Ban: " what you're holding now is non other that Hiro's passion, you're holding his heart in your hands."
Mirai looked up, confused at his words.
Mirai: " his passion... His heart..."
Ban: " Hiro used this LBX for so long. He fought along side it for everyone, he spend days and nights working on its maintenance and improving it. You can feel them, all the feelings Hiro placed in this small metal body."
Mirai looked down and for a second, she saw Achilles D9's eyes glimmering.
Ban: " please take good care of it."
He said and left her in the park.
Mirai: " when the time comes and I will feel he wants to go down the path of LBXs again..."
She reached to her CCM and scrolled down the photos again. She stopped on a particular one, it was when they both entered a small tournament that happened to be held near by and won.
She looked at his wide smile as he held up his Achilles proudly, more happy to have it in his hand rather than the shining medal.
Mirai: " why am I feeling it right now..."...
The room was almost dark, there was no light but the one from the monitor. That monitor was still attached to the blunette through a black wire. It was the only monitor left to follow his mind's situation. The doctors insisted on keeping it after learning of the sensibility of his mind after that trauma.
The monitor was emitting a rythmique soft beep that indicated the stability of the boy's mind. The sound wasn't so loud or so sharp to bother his sleep.
Suddenly, a glitch appeared on the screen for a second. The monitor acted like normal for a while before the glitch appeared again, this time stronger, wilder and longer.
The glitch formed a shadow on the screen.
" What a pity, to see you like this after this whole time..."
The blunette was still sleeping peacefully.
" Why don't you speak... Why don't you tell them you're missing something..."
Still no answer from the other man.
" They think they're protecting you, though in reality, they're making you suffer more and more. You wish one of them would speak and fill the emptiness inside you, right."
The room was still calm. Only the gentle breeze of night moved away the curtains.
" Don't worry, Nii-san... I will be easing your pain and sadness. Slowly..."
A spark could be seen running the black wire and to the boy's head. His eyes twitched a bit at that. The machine let one single short sharp beep louder than usual, signalling an excitement within the boy's mind.
" That's enough for today, sweet dreams, Nii-san..."
The glitch disappeared, leaving behind Hiro who started shifting in his bed...
Mirai: " the weather is nice today, right."
She said pushing her brother's wheelchair through the garden. He was still having some hard time controlling his limbs, so he needed a wheelchair.
Hiro: " yeah, it's sunny and warm."
He closed his eyes, enjoying the soft touch of wind on his face. A smile plastered to his lips.
After a walk around, Mirai finally stopped next to a bench under a tree . She sat down under the tree's shadow next to her brother.
Mirai: " how have you been? Is everything alright with you?"
Hiro: " I still don't remember that much about you and mom, not to mention everyone else. But everyone says it's okay and that it doesn't matter."
Though he said it with a smile, Mirai felt he was bothered. She was about to speak when he did.
Hiro: " nee-chan, yesterday, I had a dream."
Mirai: " a dream?"
Hiro: " I was there, with everyone. I'm not sure what we were doing but, all I know it filled me with happiness and joy. I don't know what was it, but I liked it so much. I just, felt like it filled the empty spot in here."
He said holding his shirt from his heart's side.
Hiro: " it brought us together, it gave us hope, future and dreams."
He looked at his sister and her eyes widened when she saw his tears welling up in his eyes, yet, he was still holding the smiley face.
Hiro: " It was a piece of me..."
Mirai got closer to her brother and hugged him tightly, startling him.
Mirai : " I'm sorry Hiro... I'm really sorry... We all, had taken a very precious memory from you..."...
She slowly closed the door behind her and looked back, a small smile on the face.
Mirai: " I hope... I'm not wrong..."
She turned to the elevator just when it opened, revealing a very familiar red head with a bouquet of flowers.
Mirai: " Ran!"
She screamed in excitement.
Ran: " Mirai-san!"
The younger wasn't less excited...
He opened his eyes slowly, and looked around, it seems he dozed off for a few minutes. His sister should have left seeing that she wasn't there.
He moved his head to the nightstand next to him and his brown eyes widened...
They went to the garden, not wanting to bother the patients or the nurses as they did their work.
Ran: " I didn't know you came back."
Mirai: " well, it's a short visit since I have a break this week."
Ran: " how have you been? How are your studies?"
Mirai: " I'm fine. And everything is great, I can finish up college sooner if I keep up the hard work."
Ran: " I envy you. To be able to live in Paris and study there."
Mirai: " living there is hard as well. But we should do our best Right."
Ran: " yes!"
Mirai: " so, what about you?"
Ran heaved and exhausted sigh as she sank deep in the bench.
Ran: " I'm overburdened with studies! I barely have time to train! I won't be able to participate in the Karate tournament this year!"
Mirai: " well, it's for the sake of your final year so you should work hard after all."
They stood up and Mirai walked Ran back to the door of the main building. They waved goodbye and Mirai was about to leave, but suddenly stopped after she turned.
Mirai: " Ran, you care for Hiro a lot, right?"
Ran blinked in confusion.
Mirai: " if Hiro made a choice for himself, would you support him, no matter what's it."
Ran: " of course, I will support him."
Mirai smiled gently as she looked up at the blue sky.
Mirai: " we have no right to decide in his stead. We can't keep him in a cage because of his weak wings, or else, he will be sad..."
She looked back at the red head.
Mirai: " take good care of my little Hiro."
Though Ran was still confused, she nodded with a smile.
Mirai walked off towards home while Ran climbed up the floors of the hospital to Hiro's room. She knocked twice before opening the door and stepping in. The smile once placed on her lips disappeared completely when she saw him.
He was sitting up, looking down at a certain blue and white toy that he held in his hand.
Ran made her way carefully to him, he didn't rise his head. Merely looking at the toy, his bang covering his eyes.
Ran: " Hiro... What does this toy do here?..."
She said forcing a smile. She placed down the bouquet on the nightstand and her hand moved to grab the toy.
Ran: " I'll take care of it for you."
Before her hand could reach Achilles, Hiro tightened his grip of it.
Hiro : " ... why..."
A shaking voice came out. A tear fell on the top of the LBX's head.
Ran looked up to see threads of tears running down his face.
Hiro: " why... Why do I feel like it's something very important to me? What does it have to do with me? With my past? Why does it hurt? Why can't I let go of it? Why can't I remember anything?"
He looked up at Ran with an furious, yet, miserable face at the same time. The machine linked to him started beeping faster.
Ran: " Hiro, this thing doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter if you don't remember the past, it's fi-"
Hiro: " ' it's fine! It's alright! It's ok if you don't remember! ' You've all been saying this! But it's! Not! Fine! Those are our memories! They're the sad, happy and hard times we shared together! They're my precious bond with you all! They're proofs of who I'm! Even if I don't remember anything! I have the right to know! To know what kind of past we had together!"
The machine kept beeping louder and faster until Ran bumped into it and made it fall down as she backed. The wire was yanked of its place and it send the machine into a loud continued sharp beep.
Ran merely looked at Hiro, who was eventually begging her with his tears to tell him everything she knew.
It was then when the doctors barged in after hearing the beeping.
Ran was confused and didn't know what she should do. She eventually broke into run, running out the the room, out the hospital, running and running and only running away...
She dragged her feet as she walked to her room, not even bothering to greet her she entered her bedroom, she closed the door and leaned back on it, recalling Hiro's outburst at her.
Ran: " ' why can't I let go of it?', huh."
She looked at the closet's drawer, staring blankly for a few seconds before walking to it.
She pulled it, revealing non other than Minerva Kai, laid down on the bottom of the drawer.
She hesitated for a second, but finally her hand reached to the pink figure and held it up, staring through its green eyes.
Ran: " everyone... Everyone can't let go of it... Though it caused so much troubles, though it took dear people, yet, why..."
She held it up, ready to throw it on the ground and break it. However, her hand wouldn't move an inch. It grabbed the LBX tightly and refused to move down.
The woman bit her lip as tears ran down her face, she lowered her hand and brought it to her chest, hugging the LBX tightly.
Ran: " why can't I let go as well..."
And she broke into cries. From behind the closed wooden door, her grandfather listened to her sobs...
Haruka ended the call and looked at Mirai who averted her eyes.
Haruka: " Mirai..."
Mirai: " I just... I couldn't... I didn't bear seeing him in so much pain! We had taken Hiro's heart, Mom! We had robbed him of his life! We had taken away a piece of him! Hiro was suffering so much! Pretending to be fine, for all of us! But he wasn't!"
Haruka rubbed her brow.
Haruka: " I understand what do you mean. But you know that this could have caused him a mental break down!"
Mirai: " we can't expect to keep quiet about it forever! A day will come and we will have to voice out the truth! Plus, I believe in my brother. If he wanted to know the truth despite anything, I'm sure he had prepared himself for that."
Haruka sighed.
Haruka: " let's just hope this won't lead to the worst."...
In that same room, the machine was brought up again and hooked to his head. He had fallen asleep due to the anesthetic the doctors gave him.
He was still holding his LBX tightly in one hand, he didn't allow anyone to take it away from him.
Once again, a glitch appeared on the monitor, and it started forming the same shadow from the night before.
"Seems that small spark set you off on the right way. Do you want more this time?"
A few sparks could be seen traveling the black wire.
"Sweet dreams, Nii-san."...
AN: so the story here finally caught up with Wattpad, and so, updates will be every Friday. Hope you enjoy the story ^^
