Cherished Memories of My Life With You

6

"So... I have dementia." Akito said blankly. Toya's eyes widened as he struggled to keep his eyes on the road. "... So you overhead..?" Toya replied, accepting the inevitable. Akito sighed. "It's not like I wanted too, those walls were far too thin." Akito laughed. Toya felt his chest squeeze. He parked in their driveway. "I just kind of want... Things to be normal. I don't want to hide the truth but..."Akito looked to the side. Toya sighed. "You plan on telling them..? How..?" Toya asked concerned.

"Tell what to who?" A girl with long black hair that faded into blue smiled as she knocked on the car window. It was An. "Is something wrong?" Another girl, with blonde hair appeared. It was Kohane. Akito and Toya looked through their rear view mirror to see a plethora of cars at their house. Akito felt disoriented, and tired. Toya opened his car door. "What are you guys doing here..? And what is all of this?" Toya asked as he helped Akito out of the car.

"Well... We wanted to throw a party for Toya's birthday. We know it's a little early but... It was a day when everyone was free.. Kohane said twiddling her fingers with a smile. An nodded. "You guys need to get the hell out of here." Akito said roughly. An chuckled. "You just want to hog Toya all to yourself , huh? It's like you forget you have friends too." An teased holding Kohane's hand. Toya noticed Akito's discomfort. This was not the best time for this, unfortunately.

Akito sighed, seeing Toya's worried face. "Ugh... We can talk about this later. For now, just have fun, okay? They threw this together for you anyway." Akito said nudging Toya's shoulder. Toya nodded as he smiled. "Try your best to take it easy then, okay?" Toya replied. An and Kohane tilted their heads. "Is Akito sick or something?" Kohane asked concerned. Normally, Akito and Toya wouldn't have an issue telling Kohane and An, their best friends and partners, about Akito's diagnosis.

However, everyone was here. Akito knew it'd spread like wildfire. He gave Toya a look of disapproval and Toya got his message. "He has just been working really hard lately." Toya reassured. The four walked into Akito and Toya's home as confetti popped everywhere. Akito thought he'd be fine, but... He saw a room full of people didn't recognize at first. Everything began to blur and spin. "Who are you people!?" Akito yelled, startling everyone, including himself.

Toya put his hand on Akito's shoulder, and his kids ran up to him. "Dad? Are you alright?" Nami asked concerned, Yuki looked troubled, but didn't say anything. "I..." Akito grew embarrassed as he realized what he had just done. Akito looked down at his children and could barely recognize their faces. He got down on his knees and hugged them, a physical attempt at preserving their memory. "Yes... I am more than okay." Akito forced a smile. Akito bounced back up. "What kind of people don't tell Toya's husband first before surprising him!?" Akito played it off. The mood in the room immediately lifted.

"You really like that title, huh?" An teased. "Toya's husband was it?" Ena joined in. Mizuki, a person with long strawberry blonde hair, and Rui, a guy with purple messy hair snickered in the corner. "How could we make such a mistake!? Please accept my apologies!" Tsukasa chimed in innocently. He was also blonde and had straight hair that occasionally curled at the ends. Akito didn't respond to their teasing or Tsukasa's genuine apology.

"Woah! Why are you so grumpy today?" A girl with pink hair that could only be described as a happy person, Emu questioned. "It's kind of interesting." A girl with purple hair tied back into a ponytail, Mafuyu hummed. Another girl, with straight, white silky hair tugged on Mafuyu's shoulder."Kanade..." Mafuyu uttered the white haired girl's name. Akito felt his head ache. Akito sat on his couch as he found a book to read. Everyone thought he was acting strange.

"What book are you reading?" A soft voice asked. Akito looked up. It was Kanade. "A book." Akito replied dismissively as he noticed Toya talking to Tsukasa in the corner of the room. Kanade silently sat down beside him. Akito grew annoyed as she stared at him. His pent up feelings of confusion, sadness, grief, pathetic-ness... It all boiled inside of him. He turned his head sharply at her as he slammed his book. Her eues widened as he spat out gibberish. Kohane and An ran over to the couch where they sat.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" Kohane asked worried. An pulled out her phone. "I'm going to call the police just hold on..!" An was cut off by Toya taking her phone away from her and placing it on the nightstand. He understood Akito's frustration. His stress must've boiled over and triggered his symptoms. An looked at Toya in disbelief. "What are you doing he could be having a stroke!?" She yelled. Toya ignored her as he went down to hug Akito, who was shaking. Toya grew frustrated himself, Akito was going through so much yet they were celebrating with a party... Nami and Yuki ran over to them.

"This doesn't look good..." Rui said blinking. Tsukasa pulled out his phone. "Don't worry I'll get the police if An can't!" He said positively, trying to make everyone feel better. "Stop." Akito sighed, composing himself. Toya held his hand as he stood up. Akito took a glance at his children, their faces stricken with worry. He sighed as he turned back to the crowd of people that were his friends and family. Toya rubbed his back and looked at him, as if it say, 'it's your call.' Akito nodded, his head spinning.

"Guys... There's something important I should tell you..." He looked around at his friends. They looked confused, and disoriented. He must've given them all a scare... He looked over to see Ena holding Mizuki's hand. She was clearly worried. Akito sighed. "I'm sorry... I can't say it..." He said tears falling from his eyes, guilt overflowing within him. He looked up at Toya with pleading eyes. Toya felt tears envelope within his own eyes. He took a shaky breath as he held Akito and turned his head toward the crowd.

"Akito was diagnosed with Young Onset Dementia." Toya said, the words struggling to leave his mouth. Suddenly the whole room feel silent. As if they were waiting to be told this was some kind of messed up joke. Yuki looked like he was going to be sick, while Nami titled her head. She didn't know what that meant, but by the reactions of the people in the room, she didn't think it was a good thing. "That exists..?" Ena uttered in complete shock. Akito began to bawl his eyes out in Toya's shoulder, unable to look at his friends and family.