Covered Court

Chapter 8: "Memories Stolen"

Rei and Kochibi sat on wooden bleachers at the right side of the covered court. Kochibi ended the story of how he met Rei and just as he was about to tell him another story of his past, he received a text message from his sister, Konan.

"Where are you, bro? You still have to consult Engr. Hino..."

Kochibi sighed after reading the message. Rei noticed his expression and told him, "It's alright Chibi-chan. We can talk some other time. I need to rest after absorbing and recalling everything you said earlier."

The little guy looked hesitant as he replied, "You sure, Kuro-chan? I mean, we're talking about your past here. I could just..."

Rei interrupted and declined, "It's fine, really. I have to cancel my classes as well. I'm in no condition to teach after what happened."

"Sorry, Kuro-chan..." Kochibi apologized.

Rei extended his right hand towards his friend and smiled, "It was nice meeting you again, Kochibi. Let's talk again, like we've always been..."

He then left the covered court. Kochibi, on the other hand, thought, "I'll meet you again in this place, Rei..."

On his way back to the faculty room, tidbits of his lost memories kept on flashing back on his mind, "Why? Why were these hidden from me?"

Meanwhile, Isabelle received a text message from an unknown number on her mobile phone. Starting to feel disturbed, she stopped working and picked up her phone to read the message.

"I know your game has just started. But soon it will roll its ending credits, Ms. Schwartz..."

Reading the message gave her goosebumps and then she began feeling uneasy. She tried calling the sender, but the phone just kept on ringing.

"Game? What is he talking about?" she wondered.

She gave up on calling after several attempts and tried calling Daigo instead.

"Oh, Sabu-chan? What's up?" answered Daigo.

"How's Rei doing?" she asked.

Daigo laughed mischievously and answered, "He's doing a great job at Todai. You really must be obsessed with him, huh?"

She ignored his question and asked another one, "Were there times he's acting weird or something?"

He smirked and asked her back, "Why are you asking me this? Did something happened to him to act weird?"

Isabelle paused for a moment and thought, "What the hell... Why am I so tense and irritable? I have to calm down somehow..."

She then exhaled and told Daigo, "My bad, Daigo-kun... I think I just miss him..."

She ended the call and started crying. Daigo thought about the sudden change in Isabelle's tone while he wandered around the city streets holding a large metallic suitcase.

"Acting weird, huh? Why did she sound troubled?" he thought.

Mindlessly walking forward, he bumped into a woman. Judging her from her looks, she was a college student. After exchanging apologies, they both walked separate ways. The student, however, noticed something on the floor. She lowered down and picked it up. It was a picture of students posing for a group picture. As she stood up, she took a closer look at it and gasped after seeing someone familiar.

"Brother? Aren't these his friends from college?" she wondered.

The student was Kochibi's younger sister, Konan. She looked back to see if the man was still there, but all she saw were other people.