LOST TIME MEMORY Vol. 1

Chapter 7: Reset, Restart

"No it- it's fine I'm okay!"

"You've gotta turn Ene down! It's in the middle of the day, but the whole neighborhood could hear all the noise!"

"Sorry, I'll keep her down."

"I'm really sorry, Mrs. Kisaragi!" said Ene.

"Ene... I'm glad to have you around, but do be careful with your volume next time, okay?" said Shintaro's mother.

"Will do! Again, sorry!"

"Or... Or did you actually do it to alarm me of someth- God... damn it, just open the door. Son. Please." Her voice quivered for a second.

Her request was wearing down on him. She normally didn't make any requests of him. He reluctantly did as she asked. And as the door slowly opened to reveal her, she could now see in all his glory- how incredibly shitty he looked.

"What the hell is this?" She put her hands on his shoulders, then on his cheeks. "You've got black bags under your eyes."

"I'm... fairly sure I usually have that."

"Your eyes are red, too."

"M-my pupils?"

"No, that would be much worse. Just the whites. This time. You even look paler than usual."

"Yeah. I think I'll go to the doctor," he nudged her hands away. It made him anxious, her getting close.

"Oh, okay, that's goo- wait huh?" She stared at him blankly. And so did Ene.

"What?" he asked.

"You're going to see the doctor?" His mom asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"We're going outside?" Ene asked, rather carefully.

"Yeah. So?"

His mom tilted her head to the side in disbelief. "But you haven't been out for years. I-I mean last time we just had the doctor give us a home visit. I don't even remember if you let him in your room."

"Yeah. And it's been two years," Ene said.

"What do you mean? I went out just yesterday."

"Yesterday?" His mother gave Ene an inquisitive look.

"We were inside just playing games yesterday. Just like every day. For the past two years."

"Oh." The fact suddenly sunk into him. "Right."

"B-but it's good. We can go together!" His mom put her hand on his forehead. "And I think you're starting to warm up, too."

"It's fine, I can go there alone."

"Not without me," said Ene.

"Sure, just come with."

"Then I'll still tag along," his mother insisted.

"It'll just be too... much. And anyhow, where's Momo?"

"Oh, yeah. About that, I..." For a moment she thought about it as the worry slowly got increasingly apparent on her expression. "I haven't really seen her all morning. I saw her heading outside yesterday. I thought she was shopping, but she hasn't come back and I'm starting to get worried. She hasn't answered any of my calls. No response to my texts either. Or my snaps."

"Your snaps?" Shintaro asked.

"Yeah. She likes to send me pictures when she's doing her live concerts, or see if she finds something she thinks I'd like."

"Right." Shintaro was reminded of how his mother and sister really didn't have many friends.

It was mostly his fault, and he felt bad about it.