Walking an unknown known road

I hope that wasn’t too prideful. I don’t even know how I got here; maybe I’m just delusional.

I need to get out of here.

To be honest, I thought I’d see the blue-haired girl again, but she didn’t talk to me after that. Thankfully.

I regret that, as she’s waiting for me right outside the school gate.

“Hey… were you busy?”

“No… not really…”

“I thought you went to join the football club.”

“No.”

And it’s awkward again.

“You were really into football.”

“So I’ve heard, I probably was till yesterday.”

I heard the fakest laugh I’ve heard in this world so far.

She didn’t have to do it, but she did. It was kind of funny, to be honest.

“Do you want to walk home together?”

Wait, where exactly is my home? I don’t even remember… I should really check my phone.

“Sure…”, otherwise I’d probably be lost. I sure hope I didn’t change homes.

“You live nearby?”, she has to right?

“My home’s a little far away. But it’s in the same direction.”

Thank you. Alright, now I can be anxiety-free for a while. I don’t even know her name.

“Um... Excuse me, what is your name?”

She turned towards me in shock.

“Right… It’s Hinata.”

“Hinata… Nice to meet you.”, and thank you for being so nice.

As much as I want to say thank you, It would be weird that I lost my memories while in school.

“So… what do you know of me?”

“We haven’t met for so long…”

“I know, but… what did you know of me?”

She smiled. “You’ve changed so much…”

I thought amnesia was a good excuse because I’m not the same person, at least I don’t think I am.

“I know you have amnesia, but…”

She looks towards a park.

“Do you remember this park?” she asks me. A person with no memories.

I nod a no. “Am I supposed to?”

She laughed. This was far more real than the previous one. Well, I’m not one to judge someone’s sense of humour but…

“Yes. This is where we first met.”

Ahh, that makes sense. The way she talks about the past me makes me feel like we were really close friends. That person isn’t here anymore…

“What did we do?”

“Well…”, she took a moment and started to walk towards the park. I guess we’re going to a park now.

“Mostly football.”

“Ahh… I didn’t know you played football as well.”

She laughs again. And it was genuine, again.

“No… It was mostly you.”

So she just watched me play? That’s well, interesting.

“You and a group of our friends used to play football here every day, evening, sharp.”

Hinata proceeded to sit down on a bench nearby us.

“This is where I sat down…”

She looked straight at me, “When you and your gang came with the football… It wasn’t long before you noticed me looking all sad and…”

She smiled, but it felt sad. No. Bittersweet.

“You offered to play football with you.”

“So you did play football with… us?”, It feels so weird.

This is not me.

I feel like an outsider in my own backstory… I am an outsider.

“Sometimes. But it was just mostly me sitting right here and watching you guys play.”

Was that fun? If I were in her place, I’d probably be bored. But she’s not me…

She sighed. “I hope that you remember.” She got up from the bench and came near me.

“We had so many fun memories here.”, she smiled as she looked towards the centre of the park.

A perfect view from the bench.

I assume that’s where Akari played football.

She started to walk again, and it didn’t take long for us to get out of the park and go on our way.

I assume the rest of the journey would be silent.

She probably really knows that I really lost my memories.

I think some part of her was hoping that this was a bad prank.

Some part of me was hoping for that too… Maybe this is a dream, and I’d wake up.

Any moment now.

But instead of waking up, I got hit by a question instead.

“Do you know Kuroki?”

Who?

“The red-haired guy.”

I’m thankful that she’s so good at reading facial expressions, or maybe I was a little too obvious. Should’ve just asked that at this point.

“Ahh… no…”

Should I just tell her? There must be a reason as to why she’d bring him up.

“He did try to talk to me.”

“Of course he did. You guys were friends.”

What? Friends? Since when? This is a surprise… A plot twist, even.

“I assume he was part of the gang…?”

“You assume correctly.”, she laughed.

Wow. She not only has one childhood friend, but two! Two! Now I don’t know who would’ve won in the actual story.

Maybe we both lost.

That would’ve been funny.

She suddenly looked at me as if she had made a big mistake, “I don’t know if you guys are still friends…”

Right, makes sense. Three years is a long time.

“Fair. I’ll see… Thanks, by the way.”

She smiled, “You’re welcome.”

“Your house is here…”

That’s my house? It wasn’t that far from school, maybe a ten-minute walk.

Seems perfect, my previous school was like an hour away, and that too in a bus. No buses this time, so that’s an added plus.

“No school buses this time…”

“I’m sorry… did you take a school bus in middle school?”

I don’t know?

“Ahh, no… Just making a joke…”

“Ah, I see… haha…”, there’s that awkward fake laugh again, well, this time it’s my fault anyway. The joke was an inside joke that only I will get.

“If you have any more questions, you could just talk to your parents. You guys seemed pretty close back then.”, she said, and followed it by silence as if she wanted to say something more but instead went with, ” I’ll go now.”

Well, fair enough.

Not every thought can be put into words, and I don’t know her well enough to guess them, so I might as well forget about it.

“Thank you… Hinata. Goodbye.”

She smiled, ”Bye, Akari.”

That’s that.

Time to meet one of my parents, or If I’m really lucky, then two of them at the same time!

But If I’m actually really lucky, none of them would be at home.

I do wonder if Akari has any siblings or not.

I don’t know what that’s like… I wonder what my parents back home are doing, since I somehow vanished and my last memory is coming home from the last day of high school and after which… I don’t remember.

I actually do have amnesia… in a way.

I wonder if they’re looking for me now. They probably are, or so I’d hope.

I don’t even know how much time it has passed there… I don’t know if there’s a point since well, I don’t know If I can get back.

No point wondering about it now, I’m gonna open this gate and hope that no one greets me.

“Is that you, Akari?”

Damn it.

I think that’s… Akari’s mother?

Or maybe a sister.

I go to where the voice came from, it’s an older woman in her apron washing the dishes.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”, she smiled as she washed her hands and then dried them before coming near me.

“Is everything alright… You’re usually much more enthusiastic?”, he put her hand on my forehead, probably checking for fever.

“You seem fine… did they cancel the football class today?”

Football class? I… Akari went to a football class? No, before that… Who’s still enthusiastic after coming from school?

“I don’t know…”

“Why? Are you finally having your rebel phase now?”, she smiled as she sat down on the dinner table chair.

“Your dad and I did have a bet on when you would have it.”, she chuckled.

So, she’s his mother.

Well, at least it seems like they have a great relationship. Honestly, good on them.

I should probably tell her right… She knows him way too deeply.

The amnesia excuse has to work, it's not like I have anything else to say.

Yes, I’ve taken over your son’s body, unwillingly, but I still have.

I have no idea where his soul is? Or if souls even exist? It should since I’m here and I don’t know… Amnesia it is.

“I.. have something to talk about…”, I sit down right opposite her. It still feels awkward. I mean, why wouldn’t it?

She put her hands right on her face, as if she was trying to express shock? Does she know? How? I mean, you’d think your son was having an off-day rather than straight-up amnesia…

“Did you finally get a girlfriend?”

Right. I forgot that I’m probably inside a fictional story… no matter how real it may seem. Well, some mothers really do love teasing their children.

“No…”, I struggle to make eye contact… This isn’t going well. Just say it.

“I think I lost my memories…”

“What?”, she screamed, probably in concern as she came near my and touched my face. It feels full of love but maybe I’m delusional.

“What do you mean by that? Are you alright?”

No. I wasn’t being delusional. I’m not alright either.

“I suddenly lost my memories back when school started… I don’t remember anything.”

She stared at me for a few seconds; she was probably processing this information, or she was still in shock. I hope she believes me and doesn’t call the police.

“No wonder you acted so differently…”

Are those tears in her eyes? Oh… I feel bad now.

“I’m… sorry…”

“No. Why are you sorry? I should’ve noticed it before… what kind of a bad mother am I?”, she wiped out her tears.

You’re not a bad mother. You don’t seem like one.

“Is everything else alright?”

I nodded.

She seemed to have a sigh of relief, and I told her everything I could without being branded as a witch.

“I’m so sorry Akari… I will have to talk with your da,d and we’ll probably go to the doctor as soon as possible, alright?”

This went better than I thought, well, as long as the doctor doesn’t brand me a witch.

“Are you hungry?”, she added.

I nodded again.

I assume Akari wasn’t this shy… but I’m not Akari.

She put some food on the table, which seemed like authentic Japanese cuisine: rice, fish, and some vegetables? I did want to eat it someday, never thought it’d be like this.

She sat down where was sitting back then, opposite to me, and kept watching me while I ate.

I can’t deny that it wasn’t awkward, but… she cared about her son. A son that I took away. I feel guilty even if it’s not my fault… at least it’s not my fault, I think?

“The food was tasty…”

“You did always like fish.”, she replied as soon as those words left my mouth.

Is she hoping for me to regain my memories as soon as possible?

No, she’s just trying her best.

“I see…”

I don’t really like fish. This one was fine, but I wouldn’t dare say that to her face.

“I’ll go to my room?”

“Oh… Yes, you should go rest… and call me if there’s anything wrong.”, She smiled.

I nodded, yet again. Well, it’s easier than talking.

Wait…

“Um… can you tell me where my room is?”

I could just go around opening random doors and hoping to get lucky, but this seems better.