Two readers were acting like a psychic and somewhat 'predicted' what was about to happen... HEhehe..>XD




“Is she alright? I already called your father. He will take the first flight going here in Japan.” Mrs. Yoshizawa said as she entered the room. Rika and the others gave a little space for their family bonding and decided to eat something at the hospital’s canteen.

“Hai, the doctor said that she’s going to survive. He said that she’s lucky that they managed to control her internal bleeding. She’s in a state of coma right now. The chance of her waking up is 70 to 30.” Miki explained. Mrs. Yoshizawa caressed Hitomi’s face and smiled weakly.

“At least this is better than what happened to her in this hospital 4 years ago.”

………………………..
“It’s really unfair!!! I really want to visit her! I miss Ayaya…” I whined as my parents cancelled our supposedly vacation to our hometown this vacation. It’s somewhat annoying to have busy parents. My father’s a well known plastic surgeon while my mom, is a famous chef and owner of our restaurant. If only mom didn’t catch a cervix cancer a year after giving birth to me, I would have a little sibling.

“I’m sorry Miki, but your father’s going to America tomorrow. Let’s just go to Chiba instead? At least it’s just an hour and a half of travel time.”

“But still, I miss my sister. We haven’t seen each other since we’ve moved in Tokyo… Onegai, let this be my graduation gift from you…” I can clearly remember how I begged my parents to let me see her even for a short time. Ayaya is my best friend. I always protect her from the bad guys. I’m her knight in shining armor. Maybe that’s the reason why my parents took me away from her. I always say that she’s my little sister but you know how scary a parent’s intuition is. Maybe they have a guess that I’m starting to fall in love with my friend that’s why they decided to move… Or I’m just imagining things and making an excuse for my own actions?

“I’m sorry… I promise, we’ll do it next time. Let’s just go to Chiba now.”

I don’t have an idea how to describe it. We just trekked up the mountain, ate on the summit and after an hour or so of rest, we descended down the trail. My father said that it’s good for the body. But I don’t care. I didn’t listen on his words. I’m just too bored that time. That was not a good way to celebrate my graduation in elementary.

I was exhausted from the walk. After trekking the mountain, my parents brought me in a department store and bought me many gifts. But it’s not enough, the best gift that I would like to have is to spend a day with her. The sun had already set when we decided to go back to Tokyo. Midway on our journey, we stopped on a gas station and have our car refilled. Beside it was a restaurant so we ate our dinner there.

“How was your day? Did you have fun?”

“Hai…. But still, it feels like it’s still not enough. I really want to see my little sister.” I didn’t have an appetite that time. I just played with my food. In my peripheral vision, I saw how my mom and dad looked at each other like they were planning something good. My imagination ran wild.

“I know that look! They’re going to surprise me… What if, Ayaya’s already here? Maybe they dressed her as a waiter here… Or Aya is hiding in our house right now! I really wish it would happen!”

“You know Miki, we’ve come out with a decision last night.” My father said in a serious tone. I became excited. He signalled my mom to continue what they’re planning to say to me.

“We’ve decided to adopt a girl so that you’ll not feel lonely.”

“You will adopt Ayaya?!” I said eagerly but then, my smile vanished when they shook their heads.

“Aya has her own family. We can’t possibly adopt her. It’s either a baby girl or a girl a year younger than you.” I lost all hope that night. It’s been my childhood dream to have a little sister or brother but ever since I’ve met Aya, my wish changed; I wished for Aya to become my real sister… or something way beyond that. I didn’t realized that until last year, when a speaker had a forum about puberty. As I was listening, it hit me. My longing for my little sister had unknowingly evolved into something. To hell with my pituitary gland! I must have more androgens than estrogens in my system for me to be falling in love with my little sister. Puberty sure is a really scary stage.

I just sat in the back of our car, sulking silently. I can’t be angry with my parents. They’re doing everything to make me happy. I should be happy… at least. It was a peaceful night but then, we saw something right ahead.

“Anata, there’s an accident right ahead!” My father quickly manoeuvred our car and parked it near the crashed car.

“Don’t go out. I’ll check if they’re alright.” My father went out and quickly scanned the area. My mom took out her keitai and called the emergency hotline to report the accident. I leaned forward and tried hard to see what my father’s doing amidst the low light emitted by the nearby lamp. I saw that the gas tank of the car was leaking. I opened the window and shouted back at my father.

“Otousan! Hayaku!!! The gas tank’s leaking!!!” I saw my father pulling out a girl’s limp body and carrying her towards our car.

“She’s the only one who’s breathing. We might be able to save her. The other two’s already dead.” I moved on the other side as otousan placed the girl’s body on the backseat with her head on my lap.

“I know that you’re not afraid of blood. I need you to press this part to minimize her bleeding.” I nodded and applied pressure on the girl’s left side of the waist. My father immediately drove the car towards the nearest hospital in Tokyo.

As we arrived, the nurses immediately brought out a stretcher and transported the girl to the emergency room. What a good way to celebrate my graduation right? We stayed in that hospital until the doctor announced that she’s out of danger. He reported that due to the impact, the girl suffered from internal bleeding in her head. They managed to stop that but, it’s possible that the girl might develop amnesia. He also told us that because of the impact, many shrapnel from the window broke and hit her face, making it impossible to identify her. They didn’t see any identification cards from the girl. My mom said to the doctor that we will take care of her. We were really exhausted that night so after wheeling the sleeping girl into a private room, my father decided to go home to get some rest. My mom made that girl as a reason for my father to cancel his trip to America.

………………
As what the doctor said, the girl couldn’t remember anything when she woke up. After 15 minutes, she went back to sleep again and this time, she didn’t wake up for 2 whole weeks. In the first week of her comatose, otousan decided to repair her face. Since he’s a really good plastic surgeon, he just followed the contour of the girl’s facial skeleton. Since its still vacation, my father asked me to help her to recover fast. And there it was, I grew fond of her. We called her Hitomi, because of her mesmerizing eyes. She officially became my sister when my parents decided to adopt her. She didn’t know anything about the adoption; she thought that we’re her real family from the start.

I helped my mom arranged the room adjacent to mine in preparation for her arrival from the hospital. They noticed that she’s really smart that’s why they decided to enrol her also in Tokyo High, as a freshman junior high school student like me. I excitedly went ahead of my parents and sat on our car. It was the time when Hitomi would be released from the hospital. I scanned our car while I wait for my parents. I saw something glistening on the floor under otousan’s seat; a silver necklace. I picked it up and looked at the locket that has a picture of two smiling girls. I stared at it for a long time.

“One of them must be Hitomi’s real face. They seemed so close. I’m jealous… I really miss Ayaya.”

I saw my parents coming out of our front door. I accidentally closed the locket. I tried to open it again but, I saw that there were numbers on its side. My efforts were in vain. It’s one of those lockets which can only be opened if you hit the right combination of numbers. I decided to keep it for a while.



……………..
“Yeah, and for that, I’m somewhat jealous of you.”

“Why?” Maki asked. Hitomi looked at the girl in front of her sadly.

“Because I saw how Rika really loved you. Though I want to help her move on, I knew that a part of her still wishes that you’re the one who’s with her right now instead of me.” Hitomi replied. Though what she answered was a serious one, Maki laughed out loud. “Fine… laugh at me. I already know that I’m a sappy person when it comes to love.”

“Baka, I’m not laughing at you just because of that. You’re so slow.”

“Ehh? I don’t understand you.”

“I showed ‘our’ past to you because…” Maki emphasized the word ‘our’ and prolonged it for a while. She examined Hitomi’s facial expression. Maki sighed as she saw that the other was looking at her bewildered; a sign that Hitomi didn’t really get what she means.

“Because you need to remember who you really are and start making Rika happy! Geez, you’ve been making her suffer for a long time now.”

“What?!? Wh… what are you talking about? Can you speak simple Japanese? I really didn’t catch what you wanted to say!”

“Can you remember your childhood days with your sister?” Maki asked, suddenly changing the subject. Hitomi scowled for a moment before answering Maki’s question.

“I don’t. Otousan said that I had suffered amnesia in an accident. My memory was from the time I woke up from the hospital up to this day.”

“The same hospital that you were in right now?” Hitomi suddenly thought for a moment. Maki’s right. That explains the reason why she’s somewhat familiar about the room; it was the same, private room she was using, almost four years ago.

“Apparently… yeah… I think so.”

“That’s the same room where I died… and where you were born.”

“Huh?!”

“You and I were only one. I’m you, and you’re me.”

“Uso!... You’re joking right? How’s that possible?”

………………
“You’re missing her already eh?”

“Hai, I hope that she’ll visit me tomorrow morning.” Mrs. Goto laughed at her daughter’s joke. She was glad that she’s starting to be funny again, just like the time before her husband died. She stopped laughing when she saw a figure of a girl walking in the darkness of the night. She tried to slow down and drove the car near the girl.

“Konban wa! What are you doing walking alone in this night?” They saw the tear-stained face of the girl. From her facial features, Mrs. Goto could tell that she’s not a Japanese.

“I’m…. kidnap… Yakuza… money… get… me left.. here.” The girl tried to explain in Nihongo. Mrs. Goto somewhat understand the girl and helped her. Tokyo’s almost near, so they will go first to a police station to report the incident. Maki looked back to the girl sitting at the back.

“Hi! You, name?” Maki tried to ask while doing some hand signals.

“Li Chun”

…………….
“Do you remember now? The one who died were actually that girl and mom. The one whose ash was on Rika’s necklace was actually Li Chun’s ash. ‘We’ were saved by Miki’s father… your otousan. And the necklace which Miki gave you yesterday was the necklace that Rika gave me as my Christmas present.” Hitomi’s eyes were wide with disbelief. She couldn’t grasp what Maki’s saying but deep inside, some of her past, Maki’s past to be exact, was unfolding in her memory.

“We need to wake up now. She’s waiting.”