Nightmare 07 – I’m sure she will wake…up…

I left the station and walked the rest of the distance.

The location where I was headed was the place where the incident happened. A trailer truck hit us both while we were crossing. The news article stated that the ones at fault were me and Yume since we crossed the road while the light was still red.

What was important right now was heading to my destination. I was hoping that something might trigger my memories to resurface when I head there.

“…….” I stood silently at the sidewalk as I stared at the crossing where the accident had happened. I could see various people walking, some were standing at some spots. The cars, trucks and other kinds of vehicles were moving at the road like normal.

I could not remember anything. I had already thought hard and tried to analyze and focus on many objects and spots on this place but I still couldn’t remember anything.

Even crossing the pedestrian lane proved to be in vain.

“Damn…it was no use.” I slammed my hand on the wall.

In the end, I still couldn’t remember anything.

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Memories of my past shall return soon. That’s what I am hoping.

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Even though the plan of regaining my memories on the scene of incident didn’t work, it was not as if I had no other hints. There were other places I could visit. Namely, the park and the cinema. Those two were the setting in my dreams. I could not ascertain the last one but it was probably her room, which still need consideration on whether I would really try to go there.

There was also the option of finding people who could help me. If I could find someone who might know me and Yume, then I might be able to get some clue or other hints as well. It was not an option to give up now.

I went back to the general hospital since I wanted so see her face again before I go home.

I walked normally this time. I didn’t rush into her room. Although she said in the dream that we were once a lover, I could not act like one so suddenly. Still, even if that’s the case, there was a similarity between the present me and the past me. We were both in love with her.

I smiled at the thought as it seemed like it was destiny while I opened the door.

“…Who might you be?” A man in his early forties, sitting on the chair beside Yume’s bed asked, looking at me bewilderedly.

“……” I could not response immediately as I was a bit shocked to meet other people here. Aside the man, there was also a woman who had just stopped combing Yume’s hair.

“…Uh, hello?” The man asked again to grab my attention.

“My name is Kako Reiji.”

“What is your relationship with our daughter?” It was the woman who asked this time.

Relationship… Should I tell her that we were once lovers? No, will they even believe that—

“Is she you former—“

“Yes! Akasaki Yume is my former girlfriend!”

“Classmate…?”

…Crap, now I’ve done it.

The woman who was interrupted by me looked at the man’s eyes before the two of them laughed. She combed Yume’s hair as she talked gently. “It seems that our Yume has another secret she never told us.”

“Really, who would have thought she had this many secrets she hasn’t told us.”

Both of them talked solemnly and reminiscently about Yume, who from what I could surmise, their daughter. The man stood from his seat and offered his hand to me. I shook hands with him as he introduced himself.

“I am Yume’s father, Akasaki Saito and this is my wife, Harumi.” He pulled another chair beside him and offered it to me before he sat down on his own. He gazed at his daughter as he started talking about her.

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Reiji is just beside me, yet I still can’t wake up… I am alone…I’m scared.

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“Yume, since she was a child had been always an obedient child. She was good at many things, from sports and even studies. We were a happy family. But when she was in middle school, she had completely stopped asking for anything. She showed no weakness and always acted strong and independent. She tried to solve all her problems alone, I bet.” Mr. Akasaki suddenly looked grim. “Even on the day of the accident, we were unaware that she even left our home. We must be quite the unreliable parents for her.”

“…I see.”

He then smiled wryly at me. “Now, it’s your turn, Kako-kun.”

“Uh… She’s my ex-girlfriend…” I tried a vague response to his unexpected statement, trying to refuse his request.

“Yes, I wanted to hear your story about that as well, Kako-san,” Mrs. Akasaki said as she smiled at me as well. “We really had no idea she had an ex-boyfriend.”

Now this was a trouble, although I had said that she was my former girlfriend, I barely knew anything about her. The couple were already looking at me in anticipation. I supposed it couldn’t be helped.

“If you’re fine with the scarce knowledge I have.” I took a deep breath and remembered the three nights I spent with her. “Akasaki Yume is a beautiful girl. She is someone who can captivate other’s heart with just a gaze at her.”

Yes, I should just say my honest thoughts and feelings.

“Her smile is lovely and her voice is like a clear morning bell.” I smiled, looking down. “She is an assertive and aggressive person who will try to solve things all by herself. Her actions can be absurd but I could say those are part of her charming point.”

She would always try to kill me but honestly, I found her actions full of conviction.

“She is straightforward and decisive…… However, under her strong act, she is always at conflict with herself. In honesty, I have even seen her cry…”

I trailed off as I remembered the scene last night. My chest suddenly got tighter when I imagined her saddened face again.

“......Kako-san.” The couple wore a surprised expression. The mother said, “You must be a good person to Yume, seeing how deep you were able understand her.”

“We were unable to support her and cope up with her weaknesses. Thank you for understanding her.”

The couple stood from their seat and bowed their heads at me. “No, no. You don’t need to.” I smiled at them. Yume Akasaki had good parents, and they were doing their best for their daughter. I could sympathize with them.

“I really hope she would wake up soon,” the mother said in a low tone as she caressed her daughter’s head. She then broke down and sobbed silently while hiding her face with her hands. “Yume, sorry…”

“……” The man had a serious expression as well. He stared at my eyes and then started speaking. “The doctor said that her condition is stable now. In fact, she could be waking up anytime soon.”

“That’s great, isn’t it?”

“…That was what the hospital said five months ago.”

“That long…?” If I remember correctly, the chance of a person in coma waking up decreases gradually as time passes by. It was already six months since the accident, and both of them were probably worried.

“Harumi believed that maybe our daughter doesn’t want to come back anymore. Not to her terrible parents,” he said mixed with self-derision.

“…I’m sure she will wake…up…” My words trailed off as I remembered what she said last night.

—…The real world is scary. I don’t want you to betray me anymore.

Would that mean that she wasn’t waking up because of her own will? Yume said that the real world was scary and that I betrayed her. I didn’t knew what she meant. If the answer was within my memories then I could never figure it out in my current state.

Betraying her? In what way? What the hell was I doing back then?

“Kako-san?”

The mother looked at me skeptically. I didn’t noticed but I had stood from my seat. “I’m sorry.” I bowed my head before sitting again.

I knew I had just apologized to her but I couldn’t remove the restlessness I feel. I felt that if I linger too long in recovering my memories, Yume might just disappear within my grasp.

I need to act fast—

“Well, I suppose we shouldn’t be worried too much,” said Mrs. Akasaki, trying to cheer the atmosphere. “I’m sure that Yume is just playing with us. I mean she is a playful kid and she even hid that she has an ex-boyfriend.”

Suddenly, I heard the door opening behind me.

The mother smiled and stated. “My, it seems like her friends are here to visit her again.”

I turned around to face the door and what I saw was—

“Good afternoon, Masayuki-san, Yuka-san.”

The two in the doorway who had a shocked expression, were Hirata Masayuki and Shirazawa Yuka, my childhood friends.