I think Marie wants to open up more. I think you and Satonaka-san should be the ones to do it.
Huh?! Me?! Yukiko thought back in surprise that night.
Well, we were the first ones to meet her, right? It makes sense. Chie chimed in.
But what should we do? She's a bit distant.
I think she's just lonely. She says she can't remember anything and wants to try jogging her memory. You two could help with that, Yu said.
Chie could tell Yukiko was likely blushing at that statement. She was so much in love, it almost hurt to see from how awkward she was! Still, it would be interesting. Why didn't Marie have any memories to call her own? Chie couldn't figure it out and didn't want to attempt. She just knew it would be a challenge. And why was even Yu struggling with her? Yu could open up anybody!
The next morning, she got dressed in her summer kimono and headed to the inn, finding Yukiko already there and strumming a koto, and Marie there as well, the wind blowing in her face.
"So I guess today we'll just play some instruments!" Chie said nicely, getting out a shamisen and handing another one to Marie. Marie held the instrument awkwardly in her hands, plucking it one string at a time.
"I'll choose the song for us," Yukiko strummed a few notes before she started singing. "Sakura, Sakura, the mountains, rivers, towns, as far as the eye can see, is covered in a pink haze,"
"I don't think that's a very timely song." Marie said. "The cherry blossoms are long gone."
"Maybe, but it's one of my favorite songs to sing!"
Marie plucked her shamisen. "Regardless, I don't think I've ever heard it before." She frowned a bit.
"Do you really remember nothing?" Chie asked, staring at her. "I thought even people with memory loss had at least a haze over everything."
"Like I told Yu-kun, there's just this," She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a simple comb made out of bamboo. "It's all I had when I was found by…my caretakers."
"It's beautiful!" Yukiko gasped, moving closer to look at it. "But why won't you use it for your hair?"
"I don't know. I just get the feeling it's special."
"Oh, why don't we ask some people around town if they recognize this? There's tons of old folk around, someone has to know!" Chie suggested. Indeed, the comb looked ancient, something she would see in a woodblock illustration rather than in person. Even Yukiko didn't wear combs of that material, or that plain. "Like maybe the Tatsumis know something with their textile store."
"That's a great idea!" Yukiko put the instruments up and walked beside Marie, leaving Chie to lead the way, something she wasn't looking forward to doing merely because she wasn't sure if she still remembered where the Tatsumis' store was. But they'd have a sign, right?
Eventually, they found the store, Kanji sweeping up outside and Rise chatting happily to him about random things. Chie tried to bow and wave awkwardly.
"Uh, we need your help for something!" She asked.
"Yeah? What's up?" Kanji asked curiously, pausing in his work. Rise smiled at Marie, who stared back.
"What kind of dress is that? You look like some kind of snail." Marie eventually said. "You have a big backside."
"You don't like it?" She spun around and posed. Marie leaned over and tried to look up Rise's dress, her eyes wide.
"Do you also wear those boots with the huge buttons, like the tall ones?"
"Anyway! What did you need me for?" Kanji asked. Marie snapped to attention and pulled out her comb, showing it off.
"Do you know what this is?"
"An old comb." He deadpanned. "I don't recognize it, but Ma might. Ma! Tomiko-san!"
Both instantly came running, scolding him for the noise.
"Do either of you know what this is?" He held it out.
"Hmmm…" Tomiko frowned, looking it over. "It's made of really tough bamboo. Very resilient."
"And yet it doesn't look like one you'd wear. The shape is all weird. Interesting." Setsuko mused to herself. She handed the comb back. "I think you'd have better luck asking an old craftsman or collector. I've never seen something like this before."
"It's that rare?!" Chie asked in disbelief. She assumed it was only an old comb! Not something actually ancient! Just old like how Kanji's mothers were old!
"Did someone give this to me as a present?" Marie clutched the comb close to her. A sudden breeze blew her hair around.
"No, combs are actually bad luck to give as presents. The characters refer to suffering and separation, as I'm sure you know. Giving one as a present means you wish for the person to suffer in pain." Setsuko explained.
"Really?! Overseas combs are a lucky thing to give!" Rise asked in disbelief.
Marie frowned, stumbling suddenly. "Separation…I thought…I thought I remembered something, but…it's gone now,"
"Marie…" Yukiko stared at her in worry.
"Well, next we should try going to a collector or whatever she said. I want answers."
Setsuko and Tomiko bowed to the group, heading back inside, while Kanji returned to sweeping.
"Sorry they weren't of much help to you,"
"Nonsense! I think they helped plenty! We just have to keep looking!" Yukiko said. "We have a better understanding that the comb is old and thus should ask a collector. That can't be too hard to find around here!"
"But who should we ask?" Chie wondered as the trio walked away from the store. "Maybe the owners of the Chinese place? They're Chinese so they probably know a lot about old stuff,"
"Maybe the old lady who runs the accessory shop? I think I've seen combs there before," Yukiko said.
Marie just continued to frown. "Why would a collector be interested in my comb anyway?"
"Well, they collect stuff that's odd or interesting to them. And know a bunch of stuff too! So if we find a collector, they might know a ton about combs," Her face lit up. "Why don't we go talk to the old guy at the armor store? The blacksmith? Maybe he knows something!"
She ran ahead before the others had a chance to protest, finding herself back in the usual heat of the store. She hadn't been there in what felt like an eternity but was really only a few months ago. Time really did go by differently ever since they discovered their powers. Despite the heat pooling down her back and the loud bang and clang of metal, she leaned closer into the shelves, feeling at home.
"This place smells," Marie complained the second she walked in. "What makes you so sure we'll find answers here?"
"You have to try everything," Chie insisted. She noticed Yukiko hanging back in the doorway, so she walked up to the blacksmith instead, leaning forward. "Excuse me! Do you know anything about combs?"
He paused in his work. "Combs? I don't know what kind of place you think this is, but-" He caught a glance at Marie holding hers out and his eyes widened. "Where did you get that?! It's superb craftsmanship, very old, yet in impeccable condition!"
"So, that's good, right?" Marie blinked.
"It's made from a very rare type of bamboo. It's exquisite, almost otherworldly,"
"Huh?" She asked in surprise before gasping sharply, tugging on her hair and grabbing her head. "No! I-I…stop!"
"Are you okay?!" Yukiko hurried over and tried to put her hands on her.
"I'll get some medicine!" He ran out of the room while Marie shrugged Yukiko off.
"Stop! I…I just thought I remembered something, I got an inkling of a memory, but then it was gone…." She shoved the comb away in her sleeve and stormed away. Yukiko looked worried.
"I thought she would be happy to remember!"
"Maybe…there's more going on with her than we thought," Chie said.
That night, a piece of paper was thrust in front of her at the dinner table, her parents both pointing at it.
"Found a paper talking about factory life. It sounds good, right? The sooner you decide, the better." Her father said in a clipped tone.
So they were still on that nonsense. Chie flicked through the pages, unimpressed with the promises and images. The money was pitiful and she didn't want to move so far away from Inaba. Her friends were all there.
"Yes, more girls are foregoing marriage to work in factories. We won't be upset if you're one because then you'd be making money for us," Her mother said.
Chie tried to eat, pretending she was still looking at the paper. Factory life wouldn't make her happy or fulfilled, she knew that already. Did she have any other choice though? The girls in the paper wore checkered haori wrapped over their chests with wide hakama, smiling wide smiles as they showed off how much silk they made. She frowned.
That wouldn't be her.
"Actually, I think I might want to get married," She said instead, wincing at her half-lie.
"Marriage?! But it'll take us forever to find a suitable man with the way you look!" Her mother yelled. "No man wants you, don't you know?!"
"Maybe if you were just like that Amagi girl, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Her father huffed. Chie slammed down her bowl.
"Stop saying that about her! You know nothing about her! Nobody in this town knows anything about her! You all think she's some perfect maiden and refuse to see how much that hurts her!" She quickly covered her mouth after her outburst, blushing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to speak out of turn."
"Go to your room!" Her father took her food away. "You don't get to raise your voice to me!"
She huffed and stood up straight, walking calmly to her room. The second she was in there, she threw her pillow at the wall and ripped out her braid, letting the tangles and knots fall down her back. Yakiniku whined and she petted him.
"Everyone else seems like they know what they want to do. What's left for me?" She sighed.
Two days later, she walked the length of the river, enjoying her zori slowly crushing the dirt chunks underneath them. She played with her braid idly, seeing Marie standing at the edge, looking at her reflection.
"Marie!" She greeted, running over to her. Marie huffed and looked away in annoyance.
"I don't want to see you,"
"I'm sorry for yesterday. Yukiko and I really wanted to help you, we didn't plan on that happening."
"I'm just going to give up on my memories. I can't remember anything and thus there's no point. Maybe I'm nobody. Maybe there's nothing to remember." She tapped her choker.
"No way!" Chie snapped. "We want to help you, you can't just give up now!"
"Everything I remember just comes to me in flashes that hurt my head. When I try to focus, the pain gets worse and I can't recall anything." She sighed in frustration.
"We can still work on it together."
Marie stared at her before walking away, going to wherever it was she lived normally. Chie went her own separate way too, thinking about how it rained the previous night and nobody saw anything. It seemed to truly be over then, which kinda sucked for her. She wasn't sure what would happen to the others, but she knew a normal life for her would be shipping off for factory work or getting married. She didn't know what she wanted out of life, just that neither of those appealed to her.
"Satonaka-san!" Yu ran up to her, looking disheveled. It was a strange look on him. "Can you help at Junes? Hanamura-kun needs more hands for the summer rush!"
"Work at Junes?" She asked.
"Yeah! He'll pay us more. He's even got Raccoon working!"
She laughed. "Okay, that I have to see." She followed Yu to Junes and pulled on the colorful happi, standing at the entrance smiling and bowing to people.
"Welcome to Junes! We're the future of shopping! Welcome to Junes! We're the future of shopping!" She greeted over and over again. She twirled her braid around on her finger.
Yu and Raccoon were in charge of cooking food, offering various types of meat to customers. Raccoon had transformed back into his tanuki body and sat on top of a box of cold milk. Yosuke manned the cash register as usual, running around occasionally to serve customers. The four of them worked hard despite the heat beating down on them. Chie wiped her brow a few times, trying to down tea during her breaks but finding it did little to relieve her.
"Chie!" Yukiko jumped on her and hugged her tightly at the end of the shift, smiling. "Did you forget?"
"Forget what?" She asked.
"Your birthday! It's today!"
"It is?!" Chie honestly lost track of the dates already. Didn't help her parents didn't remind her and just expected her to remember all of that on her own. "Wait, did you just get me to work to give me a surprise party?"
"What? No! Honestly, I didn't know today even was your birthday." Yosuke admitted, rubbing his neck.
"But, there's still time to celebrate." Yu smiled and sat Chie down at a nearby table, Yukiko bringing over strawberry mochi and tea.
"Happy Birthday!" They all cheered.
"Sorry it's a bit simple, the party was my idea and I'm still trying to figure out this birthday thing." Yukiko apologized.
"Are you kidding?! This is great! I wasn't expecting anything from you guys!" She admitted bluntly before digging into her food. Yukiko laughed and gave Chie another tight hug that she returned, laughing from the good feelings all around.
"I always want to remember my friends' birthdays! It's the least I can do," Yu reassured her.
When she returned home, she found three photographs of unfamiliar guys sitting out on the table, her parents waiting there with stares on their faces. She swallowed nervously and took a seat too, picking up the first photo she saw.
She truly was a woman now, huh?
-The song Yukiko is singing is known as Sakura, Sakura, a traditional folk song about the Hanami season.
Sorry for the wait again. That job I mentioned? Yeah, I got fired. So I took a mental health break and right in the middle of editing this I got extremely sick again and had to wait to recover. Since I'm back to job-hunting with more free time again I'm hoping the fanfic will start being updated more timely again.