A room that isn’t mine but still feels like home.

As soon as I opened the door, the hope that I had of maybe remembering something against all logic finally vanished.

It looks nothing like any room I’ve ever been to.

It does look really nice.

There are a lot of football posters here; he was really into football if that wasn’t enough.

Maybe some other people will scream it in my face, maybe the whole football club will come to recruit me.

Can’t wait to say no.

These posters… I don’t think I’ve seen these names before.

Maybe this isn’t really based on my world.

Maybe it's copyright-protected, that’d be funny, but then again… I only know the famous football clubs, so maybe he wasn’t into them?

I could always go online and check.

Where’s his mobile… Wait, wait… WAIT.

He has a computer?

Finally!

Something he has in common with me, and here I thought I’d never understand you Akari, but you proved me wrong.

This feels like a decent rig, let me just turn it on… Well, I was right, kinda… it’s a great rig, way better than mine.

Now I feel even more jealous… what kinda games did he have here? Football, yes, expected and even more football games… well, there has to be something and there it is, first person shooters, I assume?

None of the games are what I’ve heard before, tho.

They’re all copyright-protected from the looks of it.

Maybe my world’s the real fake one with copyrighted names. Isn’t that right, Duty Calls?

Sigh… I need to stop… let’s just go online and research about this world.

Boogle… right. Let’s boogle stuff… This universe must really love Halloween.

Hmm, the famous brands sound similar but have completely different names.

Loca Cola does sound extremely amusing.

On the other hand… The countries are still the same, Japan’s still Japan.

The important historical people are still them. It’s a bit confusing as to see what’s different or what’s not… At this point, I am almost sure this is a parallel world which may or may not be inside a work of fiction.

Should I check… Maybe I do exist here too… maybe the people I know do as well… Let’s see.

I wasn’t that active in social media, but I was active in someplace… It’s called Ribbit here.

Just gotta search up my username and it’s not there.

Right. Either this world me has completely different taste, if so, then it sucks to be him or well, I don’t exist here.

Which makes more sense… My username’s still not used… might as well create an account.

In this way at least… somethings never change.

Knock. Knock.

I get up and open the door.

There’s a man standing, he looks somewhat similar but not that similar, maybe it’s the glasses, because he looks exactly like Akari but with black hair.

Looking back, his mother had his hair colour.

It’s funny how genetics works sometimes.

“Akari… I heard from your mother…”I wonder what kind of person he is.

And he suddenly started to bawl.

“My dear son…”, he screamed as politely as possible while hugging me.

Well, this is uncomfortable.

“Dear… you’re making him uncomfortable…”

The father turned around and looked at his wife with a puzzled look.

It did take him a moment to realize that he was pretty much a stranger to me.

He got back but started to bawl harder.

The mother sighed, “Your father’s like this…”, looking at me with those eyes and expecting me to get it.

I do get it. Just not in the way she probably wanted me to.

Memories are what make a person, well, them, or so I think… but well, it’s not just the memories in this case.

Their son is genuinely not here.

“Akari…”, said the mother.

“Don’t cry…”, she wiped the tears from my face.

Wait, tears? I’m crying? Maybe Akari’s still here with us. No… he isn’t, and that just makes me cry even more.

Crying together with strangers sounds very awkward when you think about it, but it’s honestly not that bad. Maybe because this body was familiar with them that this became easy, but… I felt some sort of relief.

“Alright. Let’s stop the tearworks.”, said the mother while wiping out her tears. Can’t say I disagree, the father might have a different opinion though.

“Yes.”, he smiled.

He turned towards me and spoke, “We will always love you.”

The mother nodded a yes while putting a hand on her husband’s shoulders.

Yes, just what I needed. More guilt and sadness.

“We’re going to go to the doctors as soon as possible.”, said the father.

“Early in the morning.”, the mother added.

I nodded.

I really hope they reunite with their son as soon as possible.

“Get some rest.”

I nodded again.

They closed the door, and I locked it from the inside.

I don’t know what to do anymore… Let’s just take a look around the room.

Maybe something would help? There’s a family portrait there. There's them and Akari alongside another man? Seems like Akari’s older brother with a football in his hand. I wonder what his favourite hobby is.

Right, gotta check his phone. Thankfully, it had a face unlock. I’m glad to have this face. Hmm, his phone is filled with contacts… But he doesn’t seem much of a texter.

Maybe he was a caller? Nope, his calls weren’t that long either.

Akari and I are completely different.

I’m thankful that the amnesia excuse has worked as well as it did till now, and hopefully we figure this out soon.

It has been a long day… I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

The new day started. Good news is that I don’t have to go to school, bad news, I could be burned at the stake if the doctor realizes my secret.

Well, not the stake, but I could probably get put into a mental institution or maybe a government facility if I’m really lucky.

Thankfully, Akari’s parents seemed to love him, so they probably wouldn’t hurt his body.

I doubt any sane person would believe that another soul someone captured another body, that too from a completely different world… maybe I’m insane too.

I make my way down the stairs and into the dining hall, and the mother and father duo are waiting there.

“You’re up.”, said the father with a smile on his face.

The face does seem to have cried the whole night, though. I do feel jealous… it’s not like my parents were bad, honestly, they were alright all things considered.

I do kinda miss them.

“Eat your breakfast.”, said the mother.

The dynamics are kind of opposite of my real parents in a way. Not that I mind. It’s bread! Didn’t think I’d eat something similar so soon. I’m not complaining, I’m just happy with free food.

“I’ve already booked a doctor’s appointment.”, said the mother to her husband.

The husband nodded. I feel like I should say something, but at the same time it’s not my place to say anything… I will just go along with them.

They have a car, which is nice. I am not really a fan of public transportation… especially ones with a lot of crowds. I doubt Japan has that many crowds but I’d still not try my luck, at least not so soon.

Off to the doctors we go.

The journey didn’t take that much time; I spent most of it on my new mobile anyway, like the good old days. Back in my high school, they didn’t allow us to bring our mobile phones with us… Maybe it’s the same thing here? Since Akari did leave it back.

Maybe I should just ask.

“Uh… is it banned for us to bring our mobile phones with us to school?”

The mother turned back and replied with a shocked face, “No… You just wanted to live in the moment. At least that’s what you said when we asked you to take it with you.”

The father laughed, “You are very stubborn… You always do the things that you want to do.”

That doesn’t sound like me.

The living in the moment part.

I never do that… although what his father said to me does somewhat resonate with me.

I guess you and I weren’t that different then Akari.

It took us around an hour to reach the hospital.

It was big… really big.

Probably the biggest one I’ve ever visited.

My current parents look rich… I feel even more jealous now.

The house was rather big, too, and his rig… it makes sense.

After the sudden contemplation of jealousy, it didn’t take long to reach the doctor’s office.

“Hello.”, the doctor greeted us in.

“You must be Akari?”, he smiled.

I nodded a yes, since I can’t nod no, no matter how much I want to.

I then proceeded to tell him all about Akari and the illness he has to the best of my ability.

I really do want him to come back but at the same time I don’t want to go into nothingness. I’m afraid…

“This sounds like dissociative amnesia.”, the doctor nodded.

Thankfully, it has a name.

“Did he go through something stressful recently?”, the doctor asked this body’s parents.

“No…”, the mother was shocked.

This is rather stressing to feel like an observer even if you’re the one they’re focusing on.

I’m not the one they’re focusing on anyway.

“He did talk about his football club a lot…”, she regained her composure, but at the same time, it felt like she was grasping at straws. I don’t think Akari was stressed. But this misunderstanding is good for me, at least for now. Maybe he was stressed, though. I guess you’ll just have to ask him when he comes back.

The doctor sighed, “We don’t know for sure…”, he looked into his papers. “Maybe it’s better he stays away from football for the time being.”

“But football was his passion…”

The father put his hands on his wife’s shoulders, “It’s fine… What’s important is what Akari wants.”

Oh, it’s my choice? “I’m fine with no football…”

Well, that’s another burden off my shoulders.

“Akari… would never…”, the mother stopped, “I’m sorry…”, she turned her face away.

“Don’t worry. It’s only temporary. His memories should come back again.”, the doctor smiled.

That’s a relief. If only it was amnesia… I really don’t know how to help these two…

They both sighed a sigh of relief, “Hopefully it does come back soon.”

They both thanked the doctor and went our way.

“Are you sure about football?”, asked the mother.

I nodded.

“Well, alright.”

Why does she want me to go to football that badly? I guess we’ll know when the plot moves forward. I don’t think I… I don’t feel like I am that close to her to ask this question.

“Do I have a brother?”

The father nodded, “He went to college just a month ago.”, and then he smiled, “You guys were very close.”

“He’s your idol. Even your football…”, the mother stopped suddenly.

I can see that we were very close… I guess Akari’s whole obsession with football stems from his brother.

He seems to be the same age as me.

Maybe we can be friends.

Who am I kidding?

I don’t do friends.

That’s another person whom I have to be careful of… I’m extremely lucky that this whole thing is so out there that most people wouldn’t even entertain the idea of their loved one getting possessed by someone else.

We reached home , and I spent most of the day as I usually do. On a pc.

There’s school tomorrow.

Hopefully, it isn’t too hard.

I did spend some time researching about the whole soul stuff, but there’s nothing except fictional works that even support it.

Well, gotta keep trying.

Maybe if this is a fictional story, I’ll go back after the main plot finishes? That’s possible.

I’ll sleep on it and let future me handle the problem.

That seems like a good idea.

Sorry, future me.