The Zodiac Spirit Guardians

Replay

"Could you repeat that?" Kappie raises his eyebrows and any trace of confidence disappears before my eyes. His confusion and shock baffle me, I thought he knew my response before I said it, but I was wrong.

"My...mother...wrote that poem...I think..." My body feels frozen on the cold white paper sheets under my palms and legs. Words I would've never familiarized myself with, until now, circle around in my head with faint memories attached to their letters.

Those violent images from before must've been my memories, but in some twisted fate I can't recognize them. The poem my mother used to sing to me when I was little flows out of the mouth of the unfamiliar boy sitting on his heels in front of me, as if it were natural to him. I can't picture my mother's face, I can't remember my mother's voice. Just like the memory of being bullied at a young age, it's only vague and blurry like it doesn't actually exist, like none of it has existed. Now I feel like this reality that I'm living in now is just a charade.

"This is the Red String." Kappie's smile returns and before I can think, he wraps an arm around me and crushes me to his chest. He brushes his fingers through my hair with his free hand. The smell of mint leaves and cinnamon rush through my nose and for a minute, I lose myself in this familiar yet unfamiliar scent.

"Wait a second!" I shove his body away from me. "I've never said those words before..." I pause for a moment to breathe and to think clearly. "and I don't...have parents..." I cover my blushing face with my arm. I contemplate my sanity for a moment, truly considering delirium. I can't figure out who my parents are or where they are or anything about them.

"I'm sorry, They said when you remembered that it'd be hard for you to process everything. I should've taken it slower." His hands rest on my knees, he's back to sitting on his heels with a concerned expression. He treats our personal space as if it's nothing, and his ease of closing our distance makes me uneasy for the second time today.

"What're you talking about?" I feel my eyes widen and my lips part.

"You don't remember?" As some sort of realization hits Kappie, his hands slip from my knees and he stands up. His back turns towards me, and his hand rests on the nape of his neck. Kappie begins to walk around the small room, pacing. Welcoming a minute distraction, I watch his repetitive movements. He abruptly stops and drops his hands to his sides. Everything about him is quiet, from his sound to his facial expression. Nothing gives me a hint as to what's going on in his head.

I sense a weird silence occupy the atmosphere in the room that now feels cramped.

Kappie rushes to me and slams his hands against the wall behind my head. His face is so close to mine that I can feel the exhalation from his nostrils. My head smacks against the drywall from being startled.

"Ow!-"

"If people told you to keep a secret about someone you really care about, would you keep it? Even if that secret would alter the person's entire world and conception of reality?" His eyes search between mine. I hold back the desire to laugh until I see the seriousness in his face. That desire vanishes in a blink. "There's something you need to know-"

"As much as I hate playing around, you can't rush this Kappie." Haruka's voice interrupts the intensity of the situation. His slim figure leans against the door frame of the nurse's office. With narrowed eyes, he stares at me from behind silver bangs for a few minutes before glancing back to Kappie. "You do this every damn time." He states, bringing a distraction that I guiltily welcome.

"I can't apologize Haru, I miss her." Kappie's eyes are still on mine even while I cringe at his words. "She was so close to remembering something on her own, and now that Ezra's back..."