Chapter Two
I was AMAZED at the feedback I got for the first chapter of this story. I think I'm still in shock. Thank you to everyone who responded, and the constant support I get from all my friends. Thank you again. Oh, and kudos to Lelu for providing me with a poem to put at the beginning of each chapter. ^_^ So, without further adieu, please read on!
ENGL/JAPN dictionary
gomen -- I'm really sorry
chichi -- humble way to say "father"
haha -- humble way of saying "mother"
- - -
"Touch the dawn,
Reach for the heavens,
Be dazzled by the brightness."
- - -
It wasn't until that afternoon that Mamoru finally escaped Nagisa's watchful eye. She left his apartment to run a few errands and he saw his chance. If what she had said over the phone was the truth, he HAD to find Usagi and see if she knew what was going on. All last night and that morning Mamoru tried to contact Usagi, but there was no answer at her apartment. Not even her answering machine picked up.
Before he could think that totally strange, Mamoru decided to take the other option. Thankfully Nagisa had written a few things down on the paper next to the phone, including the number to the office where he now supposedly worked. After a quick call to information, he located the address of the building and set off to find Usagi.
She was the only one he could count on now.
"Chiba-san! I heard you weren't feeling well this morning. It's good to see you sir," the secretary greeted him cheerfully as Mamoru walked through the front doors. He briefly nodded to her. "I appreciate that," he looked quickly on her desk for a nameplate, "Nagoya-san. I guess I started today off on the wrong foot. Tell me, is Tsukino-san still in her office? I need to speak with her on an urgent matter."
The secretary shook her head. "Gomen, Chiba-san, but Tsukino-san already went home for the day. She'll be back tomorrow same time as usual though. I hope your matter isn't too urgent."
"Can't you give me her home phone or address?"
"Chiba-san, you know the company rules. I'm not allowed to give out personal information of employees without their permission first."
Mamoru sighed. "Thank you anyway, Nagoya-san. I suppose I'll be seeing you tomorrow." He nodded once more to her and exited the building.
'Damn the company rules,' he thought to himself. He had to contact Usako, now! Tonight! He needed her more than ever, because she could comfort him and he could figure out why today had been such a bizarre day. The only thing he could do now was to go home and face that strange woman.
When he returned to the apartment, Mamoru was relieved to find it still empty. All he wanted was some peace and quiet, time to think things over. What he really wanted was to find Usagi and talk things over with her. She always knew how to find solutions to even his most stressful problems.
As he crossed the living room to the kitchen, his gaze fell on the framed photo of his parents that he had been looking at the night before. Peering closely at it, he realized that Nagisa heavily resembled the woman in the picture, as if she were a twin. But that was impossible. Nagisa was not his mother, she couldn't be. The only vivid memory Mamoru had from his past was the doctor telling him he had been the only one to survive.
To his surprise, another frame sat next to it, this one of the same people, but the young boy in the picture was dressed in a soccer uniform, holding up a ball proudly. Next to that was one with the man and the boy, holding up two large fish at the edge of a huge lake.
Where in the world had these photos come from? He knew none of these events had really happened... but strangely enough as he stared harder and harder at the pictures, they began to play out scenes in his mind. Suddenly he could smell the fresh air, felt the cold water as it splashed upon him in the tiny boat he and his father had been sitting in for three hours....
No, no, NO! This was INSANE! Mamoru whirled away from the photos, and fell back on the couch, gasping for air. This couldn't be! These memories that should have been his were lost when he was only six. Why were non-existent moments from his past appearing NOW?
His eyes lifted once more and this time his gaze fell upon the only picture that was familiar to Mamoru. Little things suddenly stared him in the face, like the difference of the frame and the careful handling the picture received over the years. Slowly he sat up and took the frame into his hands, allowing the beveled edges to press firmly into his palms. "Chichi..." he mumbled, foreign tears welling up in his eyes as he did so, "Haha...why did you leave me alone?"
"We're right here, Mamoru," a voice suddenly said from behind him. "I see you're looking at that picture again. That was taken at your birthday party. Your father got a new camera and he was trying it out on everything. He finally got a decent picture of the three of us that day." Nagisa stood in the room now, setting her coat and purse on the chair opposite Mamoru. A man in his mid 40s followed her into the room, staring at him. Mamoru stared back, shocked at the resemblance he could see between this man and himself.
"Don't you understand?" Mamoru exclaimed. "You cannot be my mother, nor can he be my father," he said with certainty. "I lost both of them in a car accident when I was six years old."
Nagisa's face suddenly paled. "You still remember that?" She glanced over to Hokori who had a similar expression on his face.
"What do you mean, 'still remember?' That's the only thing I could remember after I woke up."
Nagisa began to pace the room, her hand pressed to her mouth. Hokori just stood there in silence. "We had no idea you remembered the accident. The doctors told us you had suffered some amnesia when you hit your head, so we assumed that you didn't know what had happened to you. I'm so sorry, Mamoru."
Mamoru's eyes narrowed. "So what really happened?"
"I wish that was the part you could remember. We were taking a drive in the country, and you and I were singing along with radio. Your father turned to smile back at you, and that was at the same time that he was rounding the bend."
Hokori suddenly recalled the rest of the story. "It was at that moment that headlights flashed at us. You spotted them first, yelled and then I quickly swerved out of the way. When we came to a stop, we were just inches from going over the edge of a steep cliff. Your mother had a broken arm and I had many cuts and bruises, but you were the worst off. They kept you in the hospital for 3 weeks, not sure if you were going to pull through."
Mamoru shook his head wildly, not knowing what to believe. "How am I supposed to believe you if I don't remember any of this?"
Nagisa smiled calmly, and without warning pressed her hand to his hairline. "You still have a scar from when you hit your head. You can't see it anymore, but you can feel it." His eyes widened as he slid his hand up to the place where her hand had been previously and felt along his scalp.
She was telling the truth.
