Work Text:
The scribbling sound floating on air was equal to a greeting.
In a narrow room for one, miracle seemed like the only factor of her return. Those eyes that had been shielded from outside light fluttered open, revealing the dull pair of jet black irises. The light on ceiling was proven to be too much, though. She attempted to move her hand, perhaps trying to block her own view. Despite putting a lot of effort, the said hand only managed to move ever so slightly.
"I ...," she muttered, shutting her eyes tight in stead of shielding it with her hand. After her hand, even her lips wouldn't move just like how she would like it. They felt heavy and kept shaking uncontrollably. The damsel gave up half-way, not finding any purpose in trying so hard. She found comfort in doing nothing and emptying her head. She stayed still, sigh escaping her lips in silence.
"You're awake."
She jolted, eyes shot open when the voice broke her peacefulness. This time, she didn't give up even when the light dazzled her. It felt like her eyes took forever to adjust themselves to the surrounding, even when it took only a moment. When she no longer need to squint her eyes to see, two standing figures staring at her were what came to her vision.
One of them had a pair of black eyes. His hair reached his all-black garment's collar, somehow a little bit unkempt. He seemed familiar, yet she brushed that thought aside. She could notice how there was a hint of worry from him, though might be hidden so well. He didn't seem to notice it himself, keeping his composed aura around.
The other one had wrinkle on his forehead. A thick spectacle framed his eyes. She couldn't feel the same nostalgic feeling from him just like how she felt upon looking at the man in all black.
She couldn't find their identity in her memory. Rather than that, she felt the strange absence in her head. She frowned upon realizing how she had been ignorant enough not to figure it out sooner. Truly, ignorance is bliss itself.
That's when she asked herself. 'What was my name, again?' She brought panic upon herself. She could feel immense pain on the right side of her head.
"I ... wh ... o? Whe ... wher ... rre ...?" Her trembling lips wouldn't coordinate with her. Her clacking teeth wasn't helping, too. She couldn't even make up simple words. It's almost as if she's talking gibberish syllables, honestly it annoyed herself. She wondered if talking had always been that hard. The man with white lab coat didn't seem to have the same struggle to speak up, though, so she threw away that idea.
Both of the strangers fell into a lingering silence, trading a glance with each other. She could sense the pity in one of their eyes, while she sensed grief in the other's eyes. What she was capable of doing in that moment is blinking, confusion probably obvious from her slightest gestures.
The first to speak up was the man with spectacles. "What's your name?" He asked.
The damsel shook her head weakly, a trickle of sweat formed on her temple. The confusion became even obvious. She opened her mouth as if about to say something, but she gave up half-way again. Her gaze went back and forth from the guy with spectacles and the man in all-black.
The man asked her a lot of questions, yet not a single of them was comprehensive for her. She kept shaking her head, not ceasing the confusion on her visage. Sometimes, she tried to speak up. Even with her effort, she couldn't even make up a single words. She was utterly clueless.
The man with spectacles put his hand on the other's shoulder. He didn't even try to hid his pity. Pulling the man in all-black a little bit farther from her, he uttered something. If what he said was supposed to be kept unknown to her, he failed miserably. What he said was completely audible to her.
"It's a good news that she survived after seven months of comatose. But, I'm sorry, Miss Sakurako lost her memories."
She learned a lot of things for the past five days.
Firstly, her name is Sakurako. She had lost her memory due to an accident and was brought to hospital. It had been approximately seven months since that accident. She had asked them what kind of accident was it, but they never told her any detail.
Apparently, the man in all-black is her partner. No, not a lover. He told her he's her colleague in her working field. He introduced himself as Iori. He had told her not to try too hard on remembering things. Taking her time might be the best solution, or so he told her. It's a wonder, truly, as to why she felt that his soft smile was not something anyone could see everyday.
In the room for one where she was staying at, her eyes were fixated on the book Iori had left for her. It, in a way, is an attempt to revive her buried memories. The words written on the ivory paper gave nostalgic feeling. Iori wasn't lying when he said that Sakurako had read those before.
She was all alone, immersed in how events in the story being described. It was indeed her taste. She couldn't take her eyes off from the thread of words. Despite the memory loss causing her lack of ability to understand some aspects of the story, she enjoyed it. She had to read the book for countless time to fully understood it, but she didn't seem like she would stop any time soon. Even if the ticking clock displayed how it's late at night already, she seemed relentless.
Not only the description, she felt like the whole concept of the book is amusing. There are two characters whose daily life filled with adventures all around the world. They found a secret to this world, and they got separated because of that. The man finally wrote a story of their journey and the said world's secret. The concept was that book is that man's work. The hero was the author all along.
Amidst her activity, she could hear a faint thump coming from somewhere near her. No response was given by her to that sound. Her skin brushed the paper, turning the page slowly while yawning. Strange thumping sound and drowsiness wouldn't be the reason for her to stop finishing the book.
What she didn't expect was a voice coming out of nowhere, as if speaking to her directly.
"Did you forget all about me?"
The blank pair of orbs of hers wandered around in slow motion. She knew that it's a woman's voice. She could hear it as clear as day, she deemed it impossible for someone outside to be the one who did it. Honestly, it even felt like someone was speaking straight in her head.
As if she got no reason to feel alert after not finding the source of the voice, she whispered in low tone.
"I don't know."
With the words being said, she proceeded to read the book in silence.
"Iori, something has been bothering me."
Sakurako broke the silence between them with the sudden confession. Her grip on the the old book of hers tightened, as if she was struggling whether to tell him or not.
Iori only hummed in response, still peeling an apple for her. It had been more than a week since she had woken up, so he wouldn't try to hide things again. He had promised to let her know anything she want to know after a week of full rest, after all. She didn't show any indication that she felt tremendous pain too lately, so might as well get her memory back.
"Do I have any acquaintance besides you?"
Iori hummed nonchalantly again, finally finished peeling the said apple. As he cut the apple and put it on a plate, he shrugged lightly. He didn't speak up before finishing his activity, as if he put his everything in cutting up the fruit.
As he finished, though, he finally answered her.
"You do."
The short answer did not satisfy her fully. She frowned, hand reaching out for the apple. She put the apple inside her mouth, munching it slowly to make no sound. Her gaze was fixated on Iori's eyes, discreetly trying to make him tell her more. That didn't work very well, apparently, because Iori kept staring back at her wordlessly.
"Lately, I can hear a girl's voice." She finally uttered, giving up on the mini staring contest. Iori listened in silent, still eyeing Sakurako with his dull jet black eyes. "I feel like I've forgotten something very important and I won't forgive myself for this."
"... And?" Iori whispered.
"And ...," She blinked, seemingly in loss for words.
Something is missing. That's for sure. Someone is supposed to be there, visiting her with smile on her lips. She remembered the voice asking her if she had forgotten everything about her. The voice was strangely familiar. It was enough to make her feel as if it was meant to be like that—the owner of that voice talking with her. She felt empty when she realized she was talking to no one. She felt disappointed knowing the fact that it might be her hallucination.
"It feels like someone took an essential part of me. It hurts."
Iori broke the eye-contact, looking at the apple he had cut for her. The conversation ended just like that. Both of them didn't initiate any conversation after that.
Long time was spent in silence. As Iori got up to take his leave, Sakurako was already asleep. Couldn't be helped, he had heard from the nurse that she stayed late at night reading her book relentlessly. It's amusing for him how the very same book was capable of entertaining her that much.
He caressed Sakurako's head, a gesture he would never show anyone. For the last time before he left, he whispered.
"I'm sorry. It's not time for you to remember Fai, yet."
And he left, leaving a note on the table beside her bed.
' Sakurako,
I will wait for you
right here
where it's close,
yet so far from you.
— F '