Chisana-san of the drama room

65

I stumble into the bathroom and immediately fling myself into Amane's arms. Due to the sudden impact, Amane falls backwards and we end up on the ground. Stunned, he stays still for a moment before slowly bringing one hand up to gently run through my hair while his other hand wraps around my back comfortingly. He rubs my back up and down as he softly shushes me "Hey, hey, its ok... calm down... what's going on?" He asks softly. I pull away slightly and whisper "A-a lot happened, Amane..."

Through teary eyes, I watch a look of immense pity wash over his face. He nods and continues to rub my back in silence "Go on... tell me..." He whispers. I nod and take a deep breath before mumbling "So much has happened lately... I keep seeing memories I don't remember having... I keep feeling things I don't remember feeling... There are so many mixed messages everywhere... It's hard to figure out who's good and who's bad... I wayed my options and everything I knew... I let myself be almost pulled in what felt like the right direction... I keep feeling drawn to you, no matter how much I try to deny it. You never seem to do anything wrong. You never hurt me and always seen to try and make sure I'm ok and you help me in every way possible... Tsukasa seems to just hurt me over and over and over again... So... I decided to come to you and side with you. When I was about to open the door, Tsukasa appeared... and... he... he told me...." I stop, looking down as more tears fall into my lap. Amane takes my hand and squeezes it, gently lifting my chin with the other "What did he tell you, y/n?" He whispers.

My response comes out as another whisper "He... he told me that... he stole my memories from me... He told me that I came to him for a wish... That I was disappearing and I came to him for help... He told me he grants wishes for the dead... That he never actually killed me... That the price of my wish was my memories... That he can't give them back... That I have to get them back myself... I don't know how, though"

We both stay silent, the sun shining a warm glow on us as we think. What do we do now? We've uncovered everything... so what now?

The silence becomes awkward. We're just staring at each other, waiting for one of us to say something. Its unbearable. One of us has to say something but if we talk, it might just get weirder. I take a deep breath, maybe there's more I can say?

"I feel terrible... What if I pushed away everyone that was close to me..? I have so many questions about my life before I lost my memories... Was I happy? Did I have many friends?" I say, the words just tumbling from my mouth like rocks down a cliff. They don't stop. "Did I know what the consequences of my actions were? Was there someone I loved? Was there someone who loved me? If they saw me know and knew what I did, would they still love me? Do they... hate me now?" I end my questions in a mumble, feeling ashamed of myself and everything I've done. Is it even possible to redeem myself at this point?

Once my rambling finally comes to an end, I look up at Amane as he looks back down at me in shock before letting out a small laugh "My god, that was a lot! I feel like you're about to burst from stress and realisation!" I stare at him in shock for a second before my eyes narrow and I glare at him "Really?? That's all you gotta say?" I half-yell, whacking him. I don't hit him hard, but I hit him hard enough to express how I feel. To my annoyance, however, Amane just laughs more. I cross my arms and lean against the bathroom wall, waiting for him to finish.

After about 5 minutes of Amane laughing, he finally wipes a tear from his eye and takes a deep breath to calm himself. I roll my eyes "Well?" Amane walks over and puts a hand on my shoulder "Ok. It sounds like you need some explanations, huh?" He says. I just nod "Duh!"