Playful Memories

Chapter Two

It has been more than a month now and Yuki was able to adjust to her life. He could see her laugh and speak with most of their classmates without trembling anymore. And if ever she did, it wasn’t as obvious as it was. One month and three days has passed since they talked about the story. Since then, they have been together most of the time.

“Takumi-kun, we’re heading to the cafeteria, is there something you want?” She smiled a shy smile but a happy one. She has made friends and she was having fun about it.

“Oi Yuki! You don’t have to look too happy, you know?” He sarcastically told her. You catch too much attention, he told himself silently. Her smile was so radiant anyone would fall in love with it.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” She has learned to ignore his mood swings and his sarcasms.

“Milk will do.” He answered her.

“Roger, Takumi-kun.” And she went on with some of the girls in class.

Yuumi turned her seat to his direction and placed a piece of bread in front of him. “It’s obvious that you skipped breakfast this morning.”

“Eh?!” He was caught off guard again. “I wonder how you knew.”

“We’ve been stuck together our entire life, how could I not notice? When you have milk around this time, it only means one thing and that is, you skipped breakfast because you were running late.” And then she giggled.

“What’s funny?”

“No matter how you show other people things, I know it’s the opposite.” She said and took another piece from her bag before taking a bite.

“Okay you got me there.” He took his break and ate it as well. “And when you turn your chair towards me, it only means one thing, you’re boggled about something about me and you want a clear answer. No need to take detours, go on and ask.” He was blunt. There was no other way to do it, especially when it comes to his best friend.

“Did she happen to tell you a story?”

He could only nod while his mouth was full with bread. After swallowing his food, he stared at Yuumi for a long time. “How did you know about that?”

“I was there. Almost a month ago has passed and I haven’t heard a word from you telling me about it.” She munched on her bread some more without looking at Ichigo.

Now that she mentioned it, the story was something he heard before but he could not recall where. After hearing the story, he started questioning things about him. Probably, there was a time in his life that meant so much but was maybe lost in him, somewhere. And retrieving it now seemed a little troublesome.

“How did it go? From where I stood, I could hear nothing at all.” She encouraged him to tell her.

“It was nothing extravagant.” Nothing?

The story was about a boy who had a notebook that held all his memories. One day, he left his ink jar open and the notebook as well. For some reason, the ink spilled all over the open page of that notebook. By the time the boy was back from where ever he came from, the ink has dried off. And from then on, no matter how hard he tried and how many tears he cried he could not retrieve that portion of his memory. It was forever stained by the ink. Forgotten and unremembered.

“Is that how it went?” Yuumi asked seriously, dropping her hands to her lap, the bread finished. “I see.”

“You know, you’re keeping something from me.” He noticed her change of expression the entire time he was telling her the story, despite the fact that her expression seemed the same the entire time.

“Nothing.” She pulled a notebook out of her bag and handed it to him. “Do you recognize this?”

He took the notebook from her and looked into it. It was filled with scribbles and funny notes. It obviously belonged to a child. As he flipped the pages, he noticed his initials in some of the notes. As he flipped some more, he saw a note obviously written a few years after than the others. The handwriting was better and wasn’t childish anymore. Rather, it was a bit matured and looked just like his handwriting.

I am going to do it. And I promise to never forget. Love, T.I.

It was his penmanship. He felt his heart beat faster and the blood seemed to rush to his head, making him feel dizzy. What was this? Was it him who wrote it? And if it was, when did he write it? He flipped a little more and found a date.

It was dated three years ago. Three years, it was not too far, but he could recall nothing. “Umi, what is this?”

“You don’t remember?” She was cool. To him, she sounded like she knew something, but if ever she did, it was obvious that she wanted him to find it out himself.

He was breathing faster and his heart was racing some more. He felt like he was fainting and before he knew it he already passed out.

“Ichi-kun, I want to see the world with you. To walk on a wide field with you and to hold your hand as we get lost in the field of flowers and grass. Ichi-kun, I want to grow old having you beside me and to have our rocking chairs side by side as we look at the horizon and see the sun take its rest. And if the time comes that we die, I want us buried next to each other.”

He was dreaming. The images were blurry and the scenario wasn’t familiar with him. But he has heard that voice somewhere. And as the image reached out to touch his face, he could feel the warm fingers on his cheek, the soft lips on his forehead and lips. He felt love.

“Takumi! Takumi-kun wake up.” He heard a voice that resonated like that of his dream. “Takumi!”

He slowly opened his eyes and adjusted to the light. He could see a very worried face and he reached out to clear the hair from her face. “Yuki.” When he finished tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, he felt tears on her cheek. “Oi. You should stop looking stupid sometimes.” He teased.

“Are you okay? Umi told me you dropped to the floor suddenly and lost consciousness. It had me worried! Are you hurt anywhere?”

Umi? As far as he could remember, he was the only one calling Yuumi, Umi. But he was still lightheaded for whatever the reason was. He wanted to return to that dream and take a look one more time. He wanted to figure who he was with in that dream and to confirm whether it truly was a dream or a portion of his memory. And he did fell back to sleep.

Scribble. Scribble. Scribble.

Two set of small hands scribbled all over a notebook. They were using newly sharpened pencils and a few crayons to make their creation colorful and lively. The little hands were seldom too far apart from each other, it were usually close and reachable. Children’s hands.

He could hear their voices talking about birds and trees and the sea. He heard them talk about adventures and scary stories and even about a wedding. He chuckled to the thought. Kids talking about a wedding were amusing, for them to think about something so complex and big made him smile.

“I want only the two of us in a small church with bells and white flowers everywhere.” A voice of a little girl said.

“We should invite our parents.” A little boy’s voice answered back. “Don’t you want rainbows in our wedding? It would make everything look really lively.” He said some more.

Rainbow? Who would want that much color in a wedding? He thought. Silence followed but the blurry scene was still going on, until one of the set of hands, stopped doing anything and just steadied them.

“Is something wrong? You don’t look too good.” The little girl’s voice sounded so worried. “Should I call your mom? Or a doctor?”

The little boy took a while to answer. “I am fine, this happens at times. My headaches are getting a little worse than I thought.”

Ichigo got curious. This little boy must have been ill and he must be confined while doing the scribbling. And the little girl must have been his playmate in the hospital and was always around to accompany him.

Where ever he was, in a dream or a forgotten memory, he felt warm here, welcomed and comfortable. He was now certain. He has forgotten something that seemed to matter. For whatever it was, he wouldn’t know for now. All he could think of was that incident and nothing more. But the incident was too much for him to think of. It was something that no child should experience at all. Something that any innocent child would never deserve.

By the time he woke up, he was alone. He was in the clinic. He was sure. Looking around, he scanned the place. He was never in the clinic before. But here he was, dizzy and unconscious for no particular reason. Who would believe him if he said he fainted due to dreaming? No one, he thought. No one indeed.

Sitting up, he sighed. There was no point in idling about a dream or memory he couldn’t know where or when it happened. The incident should be the only thing that’d help him solve everything.

“You’re awake.” Umi said, emerging behind the curtain.

“I didn’t notice you.” He said sleepily. He couldn’t recall the last time he slept this long and sweet. “What exactly happened?”

“You dropped to the floor like a vegetable. I shouldn’t have shown you the notebook. I never thought this would happen. I’m sorry.” She was apologetic. Yuumi was the person who would know him well than the others and what she did was something she knew very well, as well.

“Thank you. What you did helped. This must be a sign telling me to face that dreaded incident.” He said, scratching his head.

“You don’t have to push yourself. Forgetting it might be better for you. Recalling may just bring back everything.” She walked to sit beside him and placed a worried hand over his. “And by everything, I mean every thing.”

She was right. And everything was scary. If there was something in this world that he was scared of, it would be that and nothing else. But he knew, from the very beginning, that forgetting or ignoring would do him no good. Not at all. He also knew that it was only concern and guilt that overwhelmed Umi to prevent him from doing whatever he was planning.

“Facing this is going to be hard and torturous, but I can’t hide anymore. Whether I win every video game out there, I won’t be spared by the incident. Might as well, end it once and for all.” He said, squeezing his best friend’s hand.

“Are you certain?” She tried to hover.

“I am.” He was reassuring her.

“Then I must at least confess something to you.” She was more serious than she already was. Her monotonous and neutral tone suddenly sounded worried.