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I was worried about this one at first. I started out kinda shakey with the seemingly inconsistent amnesia and the fact that nobody seemed to know each other despite having gone to school together for years.

I think you've manged to turn it around and make it work though. I'm actually quite curious as to where it's all going. I especially like the little detail of writing things on her arm.

Now that I've seen RWBY, I can't see Team Coffee without thinking of Team CFVY(pronounced coffee). I may not be a big coffee fan, but I am a big CFVY fan. I got way more amusement out of that than I should have.

As for the update itself, I'm glad Hisao and Seiki are having such a positive impact on each other. Not a whole lot to say besides that.

Really loving this fic, Seiko (I think that's how you spell it) is written super well written.

AntonSlavik020 wrote:Now that I've seen RWBY, I can't see Team Coffee without thinking of Team CFVY(pronounced coffee). I may not be a big coffee fan, but I am a big CFVY fan. I got way more amusement out of that than I should have.

You too, huh? (And now I'm wondering what Coco, fashionista that she is, would think of Hisao's sweater vest.)

Can You Remember Me? Chapter 13

“Whaaat time is iiit….” I speak lazily, flailing my limbs about in a morning stretch. Right leg, left leg, left arm, right ar-

I feel a slight resistance to my right arm, but I really don’t have the energy to check. I relax all of my limbs again, closing my eyes for another nap.

The door starts to creak open before I fall back asleep. Who would enter a door with no lock, anyway? There’s no fun in that.

I see two pairs of legs where the door used to be. One is beautifully tan, while the other has a leg brace affixed to the left knee. Ahhh. Them.

“Mornin’.” I hear from Miki’s legs, as I’m too tired to lift my head. She stops mid-step on her way into my room. “Oh!”

I hear a gasp from Suzu’s legs, who has taken a step back into the hallway. A second later, a giggle from the same voice.

Miki’s legs twirl around, exiting the room. “Come on, let’s leave ‘em like that. It’s cute.”

The door shuts again.

It’s only then I realize I’m anchored to Hisao, whose lightly snoring on the floor.

…

I have Hisao wait in the hallway so I can change. My slept-in uniform is terribly wrinkled. I also scribble my usual numbers on my forearm again. I know I’ve already showed him, but I feel as if writing in the numbers is a more intimate process than it probably is…

Before leaving the room, I take a look at the large pile of books sitting near the door. It’s awkward tilt makes it look like a burglar trap, ready to topple over and defeat any would-be thieves… hah. It is a lot of books, though. I open the door slowly and let Hisao back in. The lack of sleep seems to have stopped bothering him.

“Let’s just take what we can, without looking incredibly stupid.” I take the first few books off the top, and they’re just light enough to move around comfortably… I also don’t mind looking more studious. Maybe I could pass for a genius-level astrologer, given the right pair of glasses. We end up taking a majority of the books with us.

“I don’t think we could hold onto these without looking incredibly gifted.” Hisao bends down by my overdue library book collection, silently mouthing the titles of a few books. He stops at one in particular. “ ‘Cosmos’? Really?”

“What’s wrong with Cosmos?” I ask, tapping my fingers on the books in my hand. I don’t know what his problem is, I really enjoyed reading that. The book he’s holding has a pink ‘return date’ slip tucked into the pages… I can understand Yuuko’s fury, now.

“Nothing at all. It’s just not the usual piece of literature you find lying around in a girl’s closet.” He turns the book a few times in his hand.
I raise my most sarcastic eyebrow, adding a little curl to the end of my mouth. “Of course not. Do you need to see the wallpaper again?”

He gives that raspy chuckle I’m so used to hearing now. “Also, maybe I’m a little spiteful.”

My eyes move to his hand, wondering what he could mean. Is this some limited edition, signed copy or something? “It’s just a library book?”

He takes the book, along with a few more stragglers from the top of the pile. “Well, when I desperately searched in the library for it, only to hear that it’s been overdue for more than a year…” he nods his head towards the door, now ready to leave. “… I should have thought the forgetful Astronomy Club president would have it.”

Ahh, it all makes sense now.

I close the door behind me, catching it with my foot as we walk out of the room. Since it’s daytime, walking around the girl’s dormitory should be fine, even with a guy. “It’s one of my favorites.” I’m quick to change the subject.

We walk down the hall and quickly leave the building, books in tow. No one else is awake, anyway. Hisao gets to tag along with me on my extremely early mornings, it seems. I’ve never really had to share my usual morning walk. Not bad.

“So, why ‘Cosmos’, out of all the billions and billions of books?” Hisao asks as we walk through the cold morning mist.

I look up into the bright, morning sky. The clouds are just barely covering the sun. “Have you ever felt mystified by everything, all at once?”

Hisao has no idea how I get when I become passionate. Unstoppable.

He readjusts the books in his arm, but seems to be giving it an honest thought. “I’m not sure.”

I tap the book on the top of his pile with my finger. “Read the book, then.”

He rolls his eyes, probably thinking that I’m being sarcastic. Oh, what little he knows.

“When you’re ready, of course.” I mock him by speeding up a little as we make it back onto the concrete.

As we near the classroom, I remember the state Hisao and I had woken up in… and also, who saw. A cold shiver runs down my back, thinking about what Miki could do with such information.

I carry the thick stack of books in front of me, making sure to hide my face. It’s become a deep shade of scarlet after waking up with a boy’s sleeping hand loosely held in mine.

He is walking beside me, with an even thicker stack of books. I can just barely see the top of his head. Lucky him, he didn’t have such an embarrassing morning. I won’t bring it up and spare him the embarrassment that my friends think he’s some kind of deviant.

We shuffle into class, and I’m quick to avoid Miki and Suzu as I zoom past them and place the books on my desk. Hanako’s eyes immediately focus onto my stack of books. Hisao takes his own stack and places it on his desk.

Hisao agreed to help me with the books today, as long as we walk slowly and take elevators. Given both of our lack of exercise, it’s the best course of action. Actually, I seem more winded then he does… I guess climbing stairs a few times a day doesn’t count for much. I’ll have to talk with Emi about that…

The butterflies in my stomach begin to stir when Misha and Shizune walk into class, the usual pair talking amongst themselves. A promise is a promise. At least that’s what
I’ll tell myself, for now, and for as long as I can possibly postpone my nervousness.

My eyes are drawn to Suzu, though, who has kept quiet in her seat. We still haven’t talked about what happened last night. It seems she has no intention of solving this today, though…

…

Today’s lessons pass by in a flash. We still have fifteen minutes, but Mutou has already stopped babbling about chemical reactions for today. Suzu barely fell asleep three times the whole class.

I’m very paranoid about Suzu, suddenly. I put our friendship to the test, which may have not been what we needed…

Hisao wakes me up from my thoughts, carrying his stack of books in front of me. “Let’s take care of these books first.”

Suzu doesn’t move, sitting perfectly still, head tucked into the inside of her elbow. I know she’s not asleep; I’ve known her too long to fall for that. She knows that, I know that. So I wonder why.

There’s a pressing issue to take care of, however. I grab my own stack, Hisao already in the hallway. I notice Hanako peeking at the book spines as we walk out.

…


“...You’re overdue total comes to…“ Yuuko writes a few numbers down, handing me the slip.

Hisao whistles and walks away as I survey the damage to my wallet… on a second look, it’s more than fifteen of my meager wallets.

Yuuko looks sympathetic. Perhaps this is more than her meager wallet, as well. The slight pity makes me feel just a little better… and somehow, worse, too.

How am I going to pay for this? I’ll need a job… or, I don’t know, a large amount of money to fall out of the sky… or maybe a millionaire in need of a heir…

I slam my hand on the books in front of me, partly because I need to make a statement, and partly because these books are the source of my misery right now. “Is the library hiring?”

Yuuko gives a crooked, nervous smile and laugh. “Sorry, Seiki.” She shrugs her shoulders. “On the bright side, you have until graduation to pay it off…”

I cover my face with my hand. Like that’s really going to make me feel better. I appreciate the effort to cheer me up, despite how much it did not…

Hisao has moved even farther away, pretending to look through a shelf of books. Nice try, but you’re not a romance novel kind of person. I see him struggling not to look over to me and Yuuko.

I take the piece of paper. “Yuuko?”

She smiles and nods. “I’ll let you know if I see any job offers.” She puts her hand on my shoulder, like she’s trying to show that she feels my pain. “Don’t worry too much about it, okay? If I have to, I’ll help you out.”

I… wasn’t expecting that. I blink quickly to dispel any tears that may be welling up. She’s like the big sister I never had. I would tell her that, but in times like these, words tend to escape me. “Thanks... Really. Thank you.”

She grins, resting her elbows on the table. “I could never leave my favorite customer to fend for herself.”

My legs begin to shake. That was a little too much for me. She would do so much for me, even though I swear we’ve only met a handful of times… it’s like she wants to take care of the worst person in the world.

I don’t have a single memory of being “her favorite customer.” I’m sure we had a lot of fun together… but thinking about that only increases the frustration of the memories not actually being there.

I let out a quick “thank you” again and turn around, head down. I feel cold as I make a beeline for the door, just a few steps away but seeming so much farther than that. I see Hisao redirect his attention to me as I walk away, hurrying to meet me at the exit.

As soon as I’m through the doors, I put my back against the nearest wall, letting myself lean comfortably on it. My legs are really too shakey to do much moving.

Hisao rushes through the doors as quickly as I did. “What was that all about?”

I’ve already rubbed the wetness out of my eyes. He won’t notice that. “Just… memories and stuff.”

He joins me by the wall. “Stuff, huh?”

“Yeah… I’ll be okay, though. It was good and bad.”

He says nothing, letting the comfortable silence settle comfortably down between us.

I notice the book in his hand… Cosmos.

“Why do you have that?” I ask, wondering if he forgot to hand it in with the other books. The pink slip is still sticking out of it.

He turns the book around, showing me the back cover. “No barcode. And the pink slip is for one of the other books we returned.” He turns it back to the front cover. “So it’s not a library book.”

I look again, peering at the back cover. It’s true. Every book had a barcode except for this one. “But if that’s not it, who has the one from the library?”
He closes his eyes. “Who knows? It’s definitely not this one.” He skims through the book, letting the paper fly past his fingers. “Can I borrow it?”

I can’t help but laugh. This idiot. I’m indebted to the library, worrying about my memories, about to meet with someone who apparently used to be my best friends, and all he can think about is borrowing a book from me. The absurdity of it cheers me up. Seriously, this idiot.

“Wait.” I push myself off of the wall, taking the book from his hand. “I need to do something to it.”

If it’s not a library book, then I have free reign to do this. I turn to the first page. My favorite page. I very carefully tear it out of the book, right on the edge. It tears out perfectly, the page and book separated but seemingly unscathed. “You can’t look at this page until you finish it.”

I put the page in the back of the book, making sure it doesn’t fall.

Hisao has a perplexed look on his face. “Uhh… why?”

I hand the book to him, our hands finally free from the heavy stacks we’ve been carrying around. “You’ll see, when you finish the book.”

“You really trust me to not read that page?”

I start walking down the hall. “Sure I do.”

I definitely feel better, now. The library fees can wait. “Come on, Hisao. I guess there’s no more running away.”

I see a sign near the library, with an arrow pointing down a hallway. It reads…

“Student Council Room.”

…

...

The nerves start to get to me, as the door in front of us is left menacingly shut. I fear this door, this room, whoever is in it, and anything even pertaining to this room.

Hisao flicks my shoulder. “It’s just a door,” he whispers

I shake my head. “You don’t understand. I didn’t think this far through.” I whisper back, to avoid being heard from inside.

He shakes his head in return. “You’re overthinking this.”

I continue to shake my head. My hair is getting ruffled. “I didn’t think about this enough. What do I even say?”

Hisao puts his hand to his chin in thought. “What do girls usually talk about?”

“I have no clue.”

“Well, just talk about what you usually talk about then.”

For a final time, I shake my head. I’m trying to shake away my nervousness, but it doesn’t seem to be working. He and I are still just standing here, whispering outside of the door. I’m glad he’s here… it’s giving me the slightest confidence.

I look away, nervous. “…Hand.”

I put my hand out behind me, towards Hisao.

He twists his head in confusion. “What?”

I put my other hand to my face, both to cover my queasy smile and to signify how much of a blockhead he is. Does he not know how embarrassing this can be? Well… I guess he does.

I repeat myself. “Give me your hand.”

His face reveals sudden understanding. “Oh!”

He grabs my hand, even locking our fingers together. They do come together quite naturally… The sensation is hard to put into words. It wouldn’t be something I could look up in a dictionary. More like… feeling as light as air. Floating, ready for whatever may come. That’s it exactly. I hold onto that lightness, gripping his hand a little more.

And with that, feeling so carefree, I pull open the door as I let go of his hand. I can still feel its warmth as I take my first step inside.

The first thing I notice is the girl in glasses, across from the room, not even noticing that we came in. Her head is buried in paperwork, with ridiculous amounts of paper creating a little fortress around her.

We’re hidden from her vision, with her head down, writing things erratically. I can still see the top of her head. Her back is towards us.

“Umm…” I let out instinctively, trying to catch her attention away from the papers laid out in front of her. I seemed to have forgotten the definition of ‘deaf.’

I move slowly into the room, inching my way past the large table in the middle of the room. Shizune is on the other side.

I start to walk a little faster, not wanting to get caught in the middle of walking… I think that may be the worst thing to do. Before I get to her, Hisao sits down on a desk of his own, still out of sight.

I turn around, giving him a desperate look. He closes his eyes, giving a nod of approval. “You can do it.” He says out loud.

I shrug heavily. I knew something like this was going to happen. This is a road I have to take alone… but, thanks, Hisao, for getting me this far... The rest is just for me. I turn away, facing Shizune again.

I can do it. One step forward. She’s not scary. Another step forward. If we were friends once, I’m sure it can happen again. A bigger step forward. I have a picture. Yet another step. Hisao is right here, with me. A final step.

I tap her on the shoulder, without another thought. Her head moves away from her papers, and turns to me. Her eyes grow a little bigger as she realizes who I am.

I didn’t really think this far. She’s staring at me… not angrily. Surprise? Wonder? Something along those lines.

The only thing I can do is give her a big, stupid grin. The stupidest grin I have ever put on my face... my eyes close in the process.

I open them again, to a sight I didn’t expect.

Shizune is tearing up, emulating laughter. She’s holding her stomach, trying to stifle her silent joy. She seems completely unable to move.

I find myself laughing, too. My stupid grin was pretty stupid… I wish I could have seen it. All of my nervousness seems to have melted away with it.

So… I guess that’s all that it took. I really did overthink this. This was surprisingly easy.

When I look over again, Shizune has finally calmed down enough to scribble on some paper in a notepad. After some very quick writing, she hands me the pen and pad, tapping on the table afterward.

"What was that! After all this time!"

I read it quietly, sighing afterward. I take the pen and scribble my own words. "Can you blame me? I was nervous."

She takes the notepad back, sitting it on top of the rest of her paperwork. "You were never the “calm and collected” one, anyway."


She taps on the seat next to her, moving her papers away to the other side. She motions for me to sit down by patting on the seat.

I sit down, and she slides the notepad towards me. It’s easier to ‘talk’ like this. "Yeah? Then which one was I?"

She takes the notepad next. "You’re still exactly the same. It feels like you never left."

Well... that makes me feel better. I was worried I was different before, somehow...

I reach for the notepad, but she isn’t finished."I really, really missed you, you know?"

As I read it, a drop of water finds itself on the line I was going to write on. It’s not from me...

Shizune’s glasses have fogged up, a few tears rolling down her face. In a panic, she wipes her eyes with the fabric on her shoulder. She doesn’t stop writing the entire time.

"You just left and I thought it was my fault or something and every day you would just pass by like you’d never known me before—"

The rest become indecipherable scratches as her writing stops being legible. I take the pen from her hand to make her stop. All I needed was that first sentence.

I am such a coward. I was the one nervous for this?

…

"You okay?" I write down after some time.

She fumbles the pen as I pass it to her. "Yes. I just needed to get that out."

"For what it’s worth, I’m sorry."

She fixes her glasses before writing again. "It’s okay. I know your memories disappear sometimes. I just never expected it to be me."

A twinge of sadness runs through me as I read what she’s put down. I write the next line. "Why didn’t you try to approach me about it?"

"I did. You don’t remember."

My fault… again. Time and time again, the most important details slip from my mind. "Can you tell me what happened that day?"

She nods."This might take a while. It would be best to wake Hisao up and let him go to his room."

I’m initially confused, but turn around to see Hisao, in the same desk he chose earlier, sound asleep. I guess the lack of sleep still hits him rather hard.

I get up, flicking him on the top of his head. Revenge for earlier. “Hey, you awake?”

I hear the faintest groan from him. “Now I am…”

“You should go and get some rest.”

He looks up sleepily. “You can handle it from here?”

I nod, waiting for him to get up from his seat. He waves goodbye to Shizune, who has moved the papers from earlier and now has a clear view of the room. I walk Hisao to the door.

When we’re out in the hallway, I remember the book in his hand. “Don’t read the first page until the end.”

He nods, still not completely alert from his afternoon nap. “Promise I won’t…” he ends with a yawn.

I think he deserves a going-away present today. He’s definitely earned it. I give him a quick hug, touching my forehead to his chest. “Thanks. I owe you… a lot.”

He laughs as I pull away. He raises the book in his hand. “We can call it even. You owe the library enough anyway.” He laughs as he lets out a hurried goodbye and walks away.

I can’t even be mad at that joke.

I walk back inside, where Shizune is patiently sitting there… giving me a rather cold look.

I sit beside her, taking the notepad again. "What is it?"

She writes rather roughly. "I liked him too, you know."

I blink a few times to make sure I read that correctly. She did? And what does she even mean? I didn’t steal him… we’re not even going out. Well… maybe I unintentionally stole him. "Is that why-"

She cuts me off, scribbling where I was planning to write. "Absolutely NOT. I liked him, but not enough to be angry with you."

I write under the next line. "Then why were you-"

She cuts me off a second time, an identical scribble right in front of my sentence."I didn’t know how else to act."

Instead of writing, I merely nod in acceptance. I can see why… if someone didn’t remember me, I’d feel nothing but angry and hurt. I can understand that. I pick up the pen. "Okay."

She waits for me to finish writing this time before starting her own line. "I’m sorry for that."

I cross out her last line. "You don’t need to apologize."

She writes furiously. "But I should."

My fingers can barely keep up with my mind. "Any apology written by Shizune in this notepad will be null and void-"

Shizune reads the line quickly, and promptly puts a line through it. Her own line starts. "Overridden and overruled."

I strike out that line."Nuh-uh."

She scribbles out that last line. "At least use proper grammar."

I ‘m enjoying this, but I get the feeling that she’s going to win eventually. It could be days from now, but she will win.

I decide to give in and change the subject, but not before drawing in a simplistic smiley face on the notepad. "Anyway. Tell me about that day."

Shizune suddenly becomes very serious, counting the pages on the notepad to make sure she has enough space. I move my chair back to let her begin.

I’m actually quite nervous, again.

“...You’re overdue total comes to…“ Yuuko writes a few numbers down, handing me the slip.

Yamaku's library has overdue charges?
For students with amnesia?
That could be called exploitative...
There seems to be a slight contradiction, since they didn't manage to carry all the books in the beginning and later they still have returned them all

I turn to the first page. My favorite page.

The one about the cure fot toothache?

Very unexpected reaction from Shizune to say the least. Very curious about the next chapter.

Interesting.

Seeing Shizune like that is quite strange, Seiki must have done some serious work to get her to be that easy going.

Looking forward to see where this fiction goes!

Shizune's reaction was unexpected, but not unwelcome. I really enjoyed their conversation and am really looking forward to the next chapter.

My only real question is were they writing in English, which would be weird, or if she just meant use better grammar.

AntonSlavik020 wrote:My only real question is were they writing in English, which would be weird, or if she just meant use better grammar.

Someone else caught that, I see.

Cleaned up the errors a bit, thanks for pointing them out. Anyway, i'm assuming library fees makes sense given that Yamaku is supposed to emulate a normal school. I'm sure they're easily excused or forgiven. Thoughts on that?

Also, NOT the toothache page! Haha.

Thanks for reading, everyone! (Oh, and sorry this took a while to release.)

bubeez wrote:Cleaned up the errors a bit, thanks for pointing them out. Anyway, i'm assuming library fees makes sense given that Yamaku is supposed to emulate a normal school. I'm sure they're easily excused or forgiven. Thoughts on that?

Also, NOT the toothache page! Haha.

Thanks for reading, everyone! (Oh, and sorry this took a while to release.)

Perhaps she should get some detention instead, and have to try avoid that to spend time with Hisao?

Yamaku would have to give students with memory or movement problems slack regaring library fees, so they most likely just don't charge anyone for fairness. Detention seems like an okay substitute to me.

Yamaku is supposed to accomodate students' disabilities not capitalize them...

And what is on the page you mentioned? In the edition I looked in there are only the dedication, Sagan's bibliography and the ToC before the toothache page.

Mirage_GSM wrote:Yamaku is supposed to accomodate students' disabilities not capitalize them...

And what is on the page you mentioned? In the edition I looked in there are only the dedication, Sagan's bibliography and the ToC before the toothache page.

Maybe she wrote a message on that page or something?

Can You Remember Me? Chapter 14 Part 1

Note: Part 1 is in Shizune's perspective.

Today is going exceptionally well, despite Misha looking completely worn out. She’ll probably fall asleep before we make it to the end of the day. Even though we’ve done it a million times, she never seems to acclimate to the workload very well. A for effort, though. It’s not as if anyone else is going to do what we do…

Misha perks up, lifting her head off of the table. “Someone’s knocking.” she signs, looking just as perplexed as I feel right now. We haven’t had a visitor since… have we had one?

I head for the door, just a few sun-soaked floor tiles away. So late in the day, too... I push my glasses further up the bridge of my nose. It’s an unspoken activity as the Student Council president: do studious things without being explicitly told to.

I slide the door open, revealing two obviously nervous girls. One on the brink of falling asleep as her eyes start shutting on their own, and… Seiki. While I stand there perplexed, they wave quietly, probably waiting for Misha to come to the door as well. Knowing Misha’s nearly-incapacitated, I head back into the room, waving them to come inside.

They hustle in as I sit down, trying to keep calm. They don’t seem as able to keep calm, though. Seiki is especially fidgety. Makes me wonder. I offer them a seat across from me and Misha, to look more official.

I tap the pink-haired sleepy girl sitting next to me to communicate with the blue-haired sleepy girl sitting across from me. “Can you ask what business they have with the Student Council today?”

She nods silently, turning her attention towards the two girls with death in their eyes. I turn to them as well, refusing to lip-read.


Seiki has already wandered her eyes away, switching from looking her hands to peering at the window; really, she needs to find some way to space out and be less rude about it… Suzu is doing the talking right now.

Misha taps my hand. “They want to start a club. Something like Astronomy.”

Do they even know how much work and paper that is? “Ask for a member list. Also, tell them not to be so nervous.” Maybe adding in that last line is a little cruel.
Misha laughs after hearing what needs to be translated. I continue eyeing both of them, switching between both evenly. When did they get to become such great friends?

Their reaction was well worth the small pinch of cruelty; the line only served to make them more nervous. Suzu seems to have swallowed her tongue, and Seiki is very intensely eyeing her hands… that’s new. She had never done that; at least not often enough for me to notice.

“Just the two of them. That isn’t enough, is it?” Misha signs.

“No. The minimum is three. Kindly remind them, please.” I sigh. Even though I let no sound out, I like to flourish my disappointment; maybe half as much as they subconsciously flourish their skittishness.


After hearing Misha’s last, probably very loud, statement, Suzu seems ready to give up and walk through the door; it’s only now that Seiki faces me and Misha, to both of our surprises. She has a very serious, determined look about her; very rare. She only gets that excited about one thing… I wait for Misha to confirm my suspicions.

“She says an Astronomy club would mean a lot to her. Her usual, dreamy talk, Shicchan.”

I can vividly imagine Seiki, scribbling away about space and whatnot, in one of the rare times she could write faster than me… her obsession is nothing short of impressive. It’s in the same strand as what I find in the Student Council; purpose, for lack of a better word.

I nod, Misha waiting for me to respond. “Ask if they have an hour or two to get the paperwork done.”

Before relaying my message, Misha pouts. “We’ve been at this all day, Shicchan!”

“Come on. It’s for an old friend, isn’t it?”

She begrudgingly nods. I know she means well, and would agree in a heartbeat. Besides, Seiki would do it for us, too.

The strange duo in front of us brighten up at the aspect, although their excitement is obviously concentrated towards Seiki. She gives off a very energetic aura when she succeeds.


…


After a while, everything falls into place. Misha has become completely unconscious, after just a few of the forms; Suzu, meanwhile, seemed to have fell asleep as I took out the forms from their respective drawers.

Seiki is hurriedly scribbling names and initials on the “Teacher Approval” form. Meanwhile, I’m empty-mindedly adding their club name to our lists of approved clubs and such. Not that they would do much for festivals, anyway… just a formality. I can admit that a lot of Student Council is just formality... but where would we be without it?

I notice Seiki suddenly stop in the middle of the form… Teacher Signature box. Normally, this would require a teacher’s signature. I’m curious as to what she’ll do. After a slight hesitation, she forges Mutou’s name before rushing towards the next box.

With that, formality is thrown out the window. I can’t help but laugh to myself. Seiki and I are very different in that sense; she seems to not worry about minute details.
Maybe she can’t sense the disaster that could bring.

No, that’s not it. She knows. She just wants something else so much more that it defeats her fear of unpredictability… she probably just waved it off with a ‘whatever.’

For some reason I have never been fully able to explain, it’s inspiring to me. So much that even after seeing such a blatant disregard for the rules, I let it slide. Because it’s Seiki. She likes to think her dreams are a waste of time, but being passionate enough about anything to do something like that? I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Maybe that’s why.

This is also bringing back a lot of memories. I want to ask the question that’s been on my mind since she walked in. Does it feel familiar, this room? How much do you know about me? Enough to fill all of these notebooks, again?

I tap the desk in front of me, lightly, only to capture Seiki’s attention. The deep sleepers aren’t disturbed. She looks up from her form, a starscape of questions in her eyes. She always has a million questions.

I only have one. I take out the notebook we often wrote in, to talk to each other. It’s filled, except for the last few pages. I use the back of the page from our last conversation. The pencil impression from the front of the page is still visible; the last ‘see you later!’ in her handwriting.

“Do you remember?” I write, the pencil smoothly gliding under my hand. Seiki takes a while to understand what to do, even after I pointed out where she should write.

“Remember what?” she writes, head tilted.

“Does any of this… feel familiar? Writing in this notebook?”

“I don’t really know. Isn’t it like writing on any notebook?” she finishes writing, a very honest answer appearing on the page. Honest, but sharp like a knife. Some force inside of me is compelled to turn the page, back to the entire notebook of conversations we’d had.

My fingers move closer, preparing to turn the page. I see Seiki move her hand towards Suzu, carefully picking up a piece of grass off of Suzu’s head. A twisting guilt I’d never felt before takes over my body. My hand pulls away from the edge of the notebook.

I close the notebook entirely, the swiftness of my movement enough to wake up the two sleeping girls. A few confused looks later, I practically force Seiki and Suzu out of the room, having Misha tell them that it’ll be taken care of.

I let Misha head back to her room, knowing just how early she likes to sleep. At the door, she gives the paperwork left on the desk an intuitive look. “Are you sure you don’t need any more help with that?” she signs.

I wave her away, ensuring that all will be taken care of. After being assured, she walks away as well, too tired to argue her case. Back to the paperwork.

I sit back down and collect the papers into a nice, neat stack. I can circumvent most of the issues, but… they still need three members minimum. I can’t do anything about that. Student Council is the only club exempt from that rule, out of necessity. Well… there is something I can do. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I think about all of the stress this is going to cause me. Probably a few mandatory meetings. Reviewing and correcting all of this paper already in front of me. Having to explain this later.

I can see Seiki writing notes of approval in the notebook, finally glad that I’m becoming more like her. So laid-back, letting life take its course however it should, but still having the courage and ability to fight for what she wants…

But still, I have my rules and administration. I still like to operate under those circumstances. This is just a little rebellion compared to the Seiki ‘way of life.’ Maybe I need to drink some coffee, too.

Ahh, well. I add ‘Shizune Hakamichi’ to the members list.

…..

Can You Remember Me? Chapter 14 Part 2
…..

Shizune finishes writing, her description of that day put so vividly into words. “See? I gave it my best shot.” She shrugs, resting her hand on the desk in front of us. That was quite a few pages.

I stretch my neck, peering out of the Student Council window; the sun has completely gone, but the air is still warm and muggy. I’m not the biggest fan of warm weather.

Although, a cold canned coffee tastes much better in this heat.

“Do you still have the notebook?” I write on the paper. Shizune looks begrudgingly at me, her hand probably still aching. She writes nothing, but heads towards a small cabinet inside of the room; among some board games and office supplies, she pulls out the notebook. It has definitely seen better days; as she walks with it, I notice the corners are bent and the individual pages are lightly crumpled; this makes the notebook look thicker than it really is.

Having the notebook handed to me seems like a strange ritual of some sort; I feel like I’m being handed something more than a collection of papers. I’m being handed who
I am, as seen through a friend I didn’t know I had. I’m fascinated. “I hope you find what you’re looking for in there.” Shizune writes.


Shizune and I head outside, the night finally growing cold as we walk. The silence between me and her isn’t uncomfortable, either; she reminds me of Hisao in that way.
Although, with Hisao, the silence feels almost natural, as if created by our relation to each other. With Shizune, though, the silence seems to already be there; she and I simply find ourselves in it. We could talk, but we do not.

Shizune and I head our own ways at the first floor of the girl’s dormitory; the notebook is still in my hand. While we couldn’t really talk much, our goodbyes are still warm, with smiles.

I check the number on my sleeve after some confusion on the first floor; thankfully, out of the sight of anyone. I still find it embarrassing. ‘Room 119.’ I make it to my room, door unlocked as always. The mass of books by the door are gone, sadly; they brought personality to my room that has now come to pass.

I set the notebook down on the table, flipping through the pages impatiently. A lot of pages are spent talking about studying, Shizune’s handwriting trying to explain to my handwriting how certain math equations work. The many, many doodles in pink pen are unmistakably Misha’s. It seems she’s had her share of fun in between these pages, too.

Most conversations were formulaic; Shizune, neat writing and staying in the lines, sparking conversations most of the time; me, sloppy handwriting, somewhat distracted and sarcastic responses; Misha, the definition of anarchy with her doodles usually featuring Mutou in various forms of impending doom.

While I felt bad, especially leading up to the events of the Student Council room, reading through the conversations now makes me nostalgic, in a sense. While I don’t remember these days exactly, and I can’t say I’ve actually experienced them, the ‘Seiki’ in this notebook is unmistakably me; I was having fun, I had friends, and it seems
I haven’t changed much since then. That’s good enough for me. I might grow a little too fond of reading this notebook, now and then.

My eyes begin to ache due to the reading, and the dimness of my room; I skip to the back of the notebook to answer another question I have. What exactly happened to me?

The last few entries are about final exams, vacations, and whatnot. Misha and Shizune were planning to go to Shizune’s family home; it seems they’ve gone together at least once before that. They invited me, as well. I politely declined, it seems, many times. The invites went on for several days before vacation started. I always trailed away from the conversation, passively declining each time.

Nearing the end of the notebook, it seems like things had become serious. They started to worry, the doodles and drawings noticeably gone from these last few pages. Just very upfront, no-nonsense conversations about homework and the upcoming vacation.

On the last two pages, Misha had seemingly become absent from the conversation. This must be the last conversation she and I had.

“I know you’ve said you were busy this break, but I wish you would tell me why.”

“Sorry, Shizune. I need to take care of a few things. I’m reluctant to tell you about it.”

“Why?”

“I’m reluctant to tell anyone about it… Don’t worry. It’s nothing bad.”

“It better not be space camp, or something. Or some moonlit telescope date with a mysterious guy.”

“Nothing like that. Just don’t worry, okay?”

“Fine, fine. Anyway, Misha’s sick for today. I need to talk to the Nurse about it. Care to come with me?”

“As long as I’m not the one who has to find his office. It’s impossible.”

“You’ll remember it, one day!”

The conversation ends there, much like our friendship did; abruptly, without explanation, and somewhat bittersweet. I feel like I’ve reached the end of a book, and the characters have faded away.

Where did I go, that last summer? What happened there? I scratch my head, confused and filled with the fear of the unknown. Like most nights. Although this ‘unknown’ is much heavier than the unknown of where I left my favorite sweater.

That was a lot of information, today. I cringe, remembering the fact that I need to search for a job, now. Hisao was with me, so I doubt I have to commit that to memory.
This notebook, though… I’ll be sure to read it again tomorrow. Hopefully just seeing it on my desk will remind me to do that.

I head to the bathroom, showering away the heaviness in my heart. I reach a revelation, in the shower of all places; I have a clue. A breadcrumb trail, if I’m willing to follow it. It’s the key to that missing gap of my life… maybe now is a good time to finally fill it in.

First things first, I know the last place I was, before my memories were seemingly wiped again, in the middle of that vacation. I was with Shizune, in the Nurse’s office.

….

Left. Left. Right. Straight down this hall, down these stairs. The large room, with three hallways, completely identical in form and decoration.

“Giving up now, Seiki?” The Nurse teases me. “I know it’s Monday, and you’ll still have four tries this week. Still, do your best.” His words of encouragement have the added effect of slightly annoying me.

“Uhh…” I take a look down each hallway. As I usually do. Something feels off, though. Something is itching in the back of my brain, telling me that there’s some trick to
this. Some trick…

Trick…

Is it… behind me?

I turn around, looking back at the stairs we just came from. A fourth door appears, well-hidden by the stairs on the way down. The Nurse bellows out a laugh. “Hahaha!

That’s the first time you’ve gotten that right!”

I beam at him, unable to hide the giddiness in my eyes. Maybe my memory is improving, after all. It could be the result of all of this thinking I’ve had to do over the past few days. I breathe a sigh of relief, as we walk through the door.

The Nurse stops me in this hallway. “Alright, Seiki. This is it. Last hallway. Left, or right?”

I blink. And blink, and blink, and blink again. I can’t seem to find the right answer whatsoever. I’ve always been worried about that room. I’d never imagined there was more afterward. “…Left?”

The Nurse urges me to continue walking, to see if I had picked the correct direction. We reach the end of the hallway, and I peek my head to the left first. Nothing but a storage closet. I feel the Nurse’s hand on my shoulder. “Right. But I’m still proud that you made it this far, today. You were stuck on that room for quite a while.”

I feel a mix of happiness and disappointment; about fifty-fifty. One hurdle overcome… stopped by the next one. It’s maddening.

As we reach his room, he hands me the pills for my epileptic problems. Not that I ever think about that anymore; the memory loss aspect is much more important for a teenager, anyway.


After he finishes his usual check-up and jokes about nurses, I speak what’s on my mind. “Nurse… do you remember when I came in here with Shizune? Last year, just before vacation?”

He raises his hand to his chin, reminiscing. “Hakamichi? I do remember that. It was so rare, seeing her without Misha.” He finishes scratching his chin. “What about it?”

I realize my question is rather open-ended. “Do you remember something strange happening that day?”

He thinks hard, sitting in his office chair. “Well, you did seem rather frantic that day. Worried about something very immediate, which is unlike you. You were writing something, too, while Shizune was trying to sign to me.”

“You can remember that far? I could use some of that memory power.” I joke, trying to lighten the situation. “Was there anything else… what was I writing?”


“I don’t remember that. I’m not one to peek at love letters, you know.” He jokes back. “Though, I remember you put the paper away in a very strange book. Something odd for a high schooler to read. I can’t remember the name, though.” He shrugs, disappointed that his memory power has seemingly failed now.

I rub my temples. What could that be? I recall the stack of books in my room. Could it have been one of those? Though, one doesn’t particularly stand out compared to the rest. That was a few days ago, too. Might as well be months ago.

I nod, thinking deeply about what I’d just learned. “Thanks. I think that really helped.”

He nods, no longer looking disappointed. “Glad to be of service!” As I walk out of the office, the Nurse begins to speak again. “By the way… I wasn’t aware that you remembered much of last year. Did something happen?”

I sit back down. “It’s a long story... mostly high school problems.”

He smiles. “Well, it’s not my job to ask about that now, is it? Catfights, fights with friends, dating… Not my specialty.”

My face grows hot. “Dating?” The word escapes me, highlighted among the other words he used. Why dating?

This time, he laughs. “Well, anyway, I’m glad you’re trying to figure everything out on your own. I think that may be best. You got past that room today, after all.” He puts a thumb in the air. “You seem a lot happier than usual, too. Always a plus.”

I thank him, still red from the notion of ‘dating’ anyone. I move out of the room, back into the hallway. He quickly wrote me a hall pass to give me some time to find my classroom on my own. Yamaku academy places a lot of power in him; he’s basically overseeing me. Good thing he acts like a cool uncle.


After some time, and passing by a few students trying to leave class early, I enter my own classroom. I’ve only missed a few minutes of class, thankfully. Suzu is still avoiding my gaze as much as possible… I’ll clear that up as soon as possible.

Shizune gives a smirk in my direction, followed by Misha’s wide grin right afterward; it seems I’ve lost and gained, this past week. I look towards the back of the classroom as Mutou begins to assign student pairs for today’s assignments. Hanako is nowhere to be found, but her belongings are still at her desk; I imagine her backpack full of Star Wars books at this point. Maybe she went to hand one off to Emi. Ha. That’s about as likely as Lilly and Rin enjoying each other’s company for very long.
Mutou continues to rattle off names. “Hisao, you’re with Seiki today.” He continues to read names dryly.

Hisao looks over from his desk to me; his desk being my old one. Thank you very much. I walk over to take the vacant seat next to him, when the Nurse’s words repeat inside of my head. ‘Dating.’

I shake the feeling away as immediately as it came; its lasting effects, however, remain. “Hey there.” I say, unengaging but still positive.

He reciprocates. “Hey. How was the Nurse visit?”

I scoot my desk over so that we’re across from each other. “Educational.”

“Not the weirdest word you could have used, but still weird.”

I get to the point. Dating. The word rings in my ears. “Hey.”

“Errr… hey?” He says.

A million things flow in my head. Fight the wind. You held his hand already. He likes coffee, too. What if you forget him? What if you leave for a summer, and suddenly he doesn’t exist anymore? I think it’s worth the risk. I haven’t met anyone like him before.

Ahh, well. Before I forget anything else.

“Would you go on a date with me this weekend?”