Lia's POV
I woke up with a headache. It's currently 3 am, and for some reason, I can't remember what I did yesterday.
Hmm.. that's strange.
Anyway, I'm planning to bake macaroni later to share with my friends at the university.
I hope they'll like it. It's my favorite dish, after all. My nanny always bakes this when I'm feeling lonely or sad.
Two hours passed, and I was so tired.
TIMESKIP...
Finally, I arrived at the university. As soon as I entered, I could tell that everyone was staring at me.
I saw Hanni from a distance and walked up to her.
"Hanni, what's going on? Why are they looking at me?"
Hanni looked at me with a disgusted face.
"I was going to keep it a secret, but it seems like everyone knows already."
I was really confused.
"What is it?" I asked, sounding confused.
"Someone saw us yesterday at the garden. They uploaded it to the university's instagram account. But wait. Why are you acting so normal after what you did to me yesterday?" Hanni asked.
"What did I even do?" I asked, even more confused.
Hanni looked at me, equally puzzled.
"You literally threatened me to keep my mouth shut after discovering your secret."
I was shocked, surprised, and confused.
"What?! What secret?? What do you mean, Hanni?"
"Seriously? You can't remember? Watch the video. That'll probably jog your memory." Hanni said and then left.
I opened my IG and saw my notifications blowing up.
I was tagged in a video. It was a clip of me and Hanni talking.
Everyone kept staring at me, so I went to the girls' bathroom.
I entered one of the stall and sat on the toilet.
I was shivering.
I'm so scared.. I mumbled to myself and started crying.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Hello? Is someone there? Are you okay?" someone said in a soft voice.
"Please go away." I replied.
..."If you need anything, I'll be here for you. Just call out my name, Kae."
.....Kae?
32 minutes later...
As I stepped out of the cubicle, I saw a pretty girl sitting there, napping.
I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and called out her name, "Kae."
The girl slowly opened her eyes.
"Lia.. Haruki..?" Kae asked.
"Mhm.. how do you know me?"
"You're in my bio class. Anyway, are you alright? You've been in there for like 30 minutes. And by the looks of your face, I can tell that you've been crying a lot."
"I'm alright, you're worrying too much."
"I have an idea, follow me." Kae took my arm, and we went to the library.
"The library?"
AT THE LIBRARY..
"I heard from Dane that you love manga. So come here, I have a secret stash of mangas here." Kae slowly opened a secret door which led us to a manga library.
"Wow.. This place.. feels like heaven."
"Hehe, I knew you would like it. Look, this is the manga where Dane did a movie adaptation."
"Hey, are you and Dane close?" I asked, keeping a poker face.
Kae chuckled, "I'm Dane's little sister. You're so cute when you're jealous, Lia. Hehe."
"Oh, so that's why.. wait.. w-what do you mean jealous? I'm not jealous."
"It's okay to have a crush on my brother, Lia. It's obvious that you like him."
"Wait, so, does he know?"
"I don't think so.. he's pretty dense."
"That's good. Wait, movie adaptation? Dane has a new movie?"
"Yeah, it just recently came out. You should go watch it at the cinema."
"Meh. I don't like to watch with other people. I get emotional whenever I watch Dane's movies."
"You really like my brother, huh, Lia?"
I blushed, "Yeah, I love him ever since the day we first met."
"By the way, I don't know if it's a good time to ask but.. Why were you crying earlier?"
"Oh.. I guess you haven't seen the video, huh?"
I opened my IG and showed Kae the video.
"Did you.. really do this, Lia?"
"I don't know, I can't remember anything at all."
"Hm, let's ask my brother for help."
Kae texted Dane.
Kae says: Onii, help us!! Lia can't remember anything.
Dane says: What do you mean?
Kae says: It's like she lost her memory or something, she said she can't remember the things she did yesterday.
Dane says: Right. Are you with Lia right now? Let's take her to the hospital.
Kae says: Yeah I'm with her, Okay.
End of chat.
"Lia, let's go to the hospital."
"Huh? Why?" I asked.
"Let's just go, Dane will be waiting for us there."
Timeskip at the hospital.
"It seems like Mrs. Haruki has DID, or Dissociative Identity Disorder."
"What does that mean, doc?" Kae asked.
"Someone with DID has multiple, distinct personalities. The various identities control a person's behavior at different times. The condition can cause memory loss, delusions, or depression. DID is usually caused by past trauma."
Kae started to cry while Dane comforted her.
"What is the best treatment for DID?" Dane asked.
"I suggest that Mrs. Haruki spend some time with her loved ones."
"Okay, thank you, Doc."
We left the hospital.
I went home.
"Onii, the doctor suggested that Lia should spend time with her loved ones. How about you call Hanni, Paul, and Cedric and we all go to Lia's house?" Kae asked.
"That is a great idea but... I don't think Hanni and Cedric want to see Lia."
"Why's that?"
"They don't know Lia's condition yet, they think Lia is going crazy."
"Well then, tell them, Onii."
"It's best if Lia clarifies things herself. I've done my part in helping Lia, now it's your turn Kae. Your mission is to find out what happened to the Haruki family. Let Lia open up to you so we can help her."
"Okay, Onii."
