JPHiP Forum

AKB48 Fanfics => AKB48 Fanfics => Topic started by: Ruka Kikuchi on January 02, 2016, 07:50:29 PM

Title: [COMPLETE] Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 3 {170811}
Post by: Ruka Kikuchi on January 02, 2016, 07:50:29 PM
Here's a preview for my new upcoming fic with akb48couples and MayukiIsLife; it's a long 3-part WMatsui fic!

Credits to bbysakura for the trailer~ ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5qI2h-5BC4
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: Blackdawn on January 02, 2016, 10:21:12 PM
 :ding: :ding: :ding:
 :nya: :nya: :nya:

:kneelbow: :kneelbow: :kneelbow:
:on drink: :on drink: :on drink:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: purnamazaki on January 03, 2016, 02:26:23 AM
Horaaay wmatsui
I cant wait (\´▽`)/ (\´▽`)/
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: key17 on January 03, 2016, 06:14:12 AM
yayyy!!!! wmatsui!!!  *\(^o^)/*
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: junchan48 on January 03, 2016, 07:08:35 AM
As long as its WMatsui, I'll wait for this><
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: junrena on January 03, 2016, 03:28:52 PM
WMatsui  :deco:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: sasshirie on January 03, 2016, 08:17:11 PM
I can't see the video  :cry:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: Ruka Kikuchi on January 03, 2016, 08:59:25 PM
I can't see the video  :cry:

If it not working on YouTube, try this.

https://vimeo.com/141903149
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: Nezumayuyu on January 03, 2016, 09:02:47 PM
Wmatsui! *cheers*

I'll wait for this fic, author-san
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: kumabear on January 04, 2016, 03:05:10 PM
Finally wmatsui
I will waiting :)
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: sasshirie on January 04, 2016, 06:12:57 PM
I can't see the video  :cry:

If it not working on YouTube, try this.

https://vimeo.com/141903149

THANK YOU  :deco:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) *Coming soon* Trailer
Post by: Ruka Kikuchi on January 05, 2016, 08:03:57 PM
Thank you all for waiting! Here is Part 1 of 3! :D

===================================================================================

Part 1


Jurina’s POV

Flashback, 2 years ago…

“Rena...”

I stood in front of her, looking in her eyes. I saw she was fighting her tears, trying to force a smile for me. Rena, even if you are an actress, you can’t hide anything from me.

“Promise you’ll come back. That you won’t forget me.”

“Jurina, I could never forget you.”

She pulled me in for a hug, holding my head. I buried my face in her shoulder, I didn’t even try to hold back my tears, not for Rena. I’ve shown her almost every side of me, over the time we spent together, we were like sisters.

“I’ll definitely come back, no matter what.”

“Please do, it’s gotten lonelier without you in SKE.” I broke away. “Be sure to mention us when you win that Academy Award.”

She giggled. “I will. I’ll mention you, Churi, and everyone. And I’ll also be sure to pick up a souvenir from England.”

I nodded, wiping away my tears. She patted my head and kissed my forehead.

“Ah, right,” I pulled out two small boxes in my purse, one with a blue ribbon, one with a red one. I gave Rena the one with the red ribbon and told her, “Open it.”

She looked at me confused a bit, but then she untied the ribbon and opened the box. She pulled out what was inside, a necklace, with a “J” letter charm. My “J”.

“Jurina...”

I reached up and wrapped the necklace around her neck. When she turned around, I then unwrapped my box and pulled out the necklace I had. The charm that dangled down was an “R” charm. Rena’s “R”.

“It’ll be like we each have a part of each other with us,” I said as I hooked the necklace onto me. “Make sure you always have it around your neck.”

“Alright.”

She gave me one last, long hug before we said our final goodbyes and she left.

End of flashback

One year after graduation, Rena had gotten the biggest offer in her career. A lead role in a film in England. It’s been two years since I felt her last kiss, and watched her plane fly into the sky, far away from me.

I know that working on a movie is long, especially in a foreign country, but time and time again, I worry. I hope she’s okay, and… if she’s thinking about me. I pondered that thought as I held my “R” necklace.

“Matsui-san.” My manager called for me as I snapped out of my thoughts. “It’s time to start.”

“Yes sir.”

--------------------------

Meanwhile…

Third Person POV

Somewhere in England, a doctor was going over a few of his notes when one of his nurses came in.

“Dr. Green, it’s time for Miss Sandy’s checkup,” she said.

“Oh, thank you, Beatrice. I’ll go see her now,” he said with a smile as he got up from his desk.

The doctor left his office and walked down the halls of the hospital, greeted by his fellow patients and other doctors and nurses. He went up the elevator to the third floor and continued walking until he reached Room 309.

Knocking on the door, he slowly entered the room and saw a young patient sitting at her bed while eating her lunch. She smiled as she saw him and sat down her spoon.

“Hi, Mr. Green.”

“Sandy, I see you’re enjoying lunch.” He said as he sat down. “How are you feeling today?”

“I’m good.”

“And your little trip yesterday, did that help clear your head?”

“Yes. I went to the library and drew a picture of one of these book covers,” she pulled out her notebook and opened up to a page with a beautiful rose on it.

“You’re quite talented.”

“Thank you. I also bought this at a gift shop,” she pulled out a small keychain with an Eiffel Tower charm. “I thought it was cute and just had to buy it.”

He smiled. “Did it help you remember anything?”

“Hmm...” She stared at the dangling charm. “I feel like… I may have been to Paris once. I don’t remember when, but I have this strong feeling I have. I went and saw the Eiffel Tower and…”

“Here, I brought you a souvenir from Paris!” Sandy saw herself handing a small keychain with an Eiffel Tower charm to someone. A girl. She didn’t find the girl familiar, but when she saw her smile, her heart felt warm.

“Uwaa~ I’m so happy! Thank you, ****!”

Sandy sat down the keychain and looked down.

“I keep seeing visions of her, even when I’m still awake. I don’t know what the dreams mean, I don’t know who she is, but I feel like… I’ve known her my entire life.”

“This girl… what does she look like?”

“She changes appearance. Sometimes, she has short hair. Other times, it’s long. And, she always looks at me with a smile, and would always hug me and hold my hand. I could tell she was someone I was close to, and she made me feel happy to be around.”

“And do you see anyone else in your dreams?”

“I see other people with us, but I can’t see their faces or hear their voices, but whenever I see them, I feel...”

Sandy groaned as she held her head. Dr. Green placed his hand on her back and patted her shoulder.

“It’s okay, Sandy. I know it’s hard.”

“Yes, but… ever since the accident, the only memory I’ve ever clearly remembered is her. No one else, nothing. I still don’t even know who I am.”

“Don’t worry. In time, you’ll regain your memories.”

“But.. what if I don’t?”

“Now, let’s not think about that. If we focus on all the bad stuff, we cannot move forward,” the doctor patted her head. “Take your medicine after eating and get some rest. I’ll see you this evening.”

“Okay.”

After Dr. Green left, Sandy finished her lunch and took a few pills before lying in her bed, staring at the window. She thought deeply about who the girl in her dreams could be, trying to find the piece that fits together in her mind, but to no avail.

Not more than half a year ago, she was involved in a car accident. In a miracle, she had survived with only a head concussion, and due to this, she had lost her memories. She was given the temporary name, Sandy, which might has well have become her new name, since she can’t remember her old one.

Every now and then, she would have flashbacks that seemed incomplete, and has collapsed several times due to the brain trauma, but of all the memories that have played in her head, the only clear ones that are even close to being complete are the ones of her and that girl. She never heard her voice say her name, and she couldn’t recognize her own voice when she tried to say the girl’s; all of it came out as silence or distorted sound. But she knew for sure, this girl was surely someone important to her.

“Will I ever remember…?” she thought to herself as she pulled out a small necklace around her neck. She had it on ever since the accident, and it was the only clue she had to who she used to be.

A small chain necklace, with a “J” letter charm dangling down.

“Who’s ‘J’?”

---------------------------------------

Jurina’s POV

“Jurina-chan,” Masana tapped my shoulder as we sat at the cafe side by side. I must’ve been staring off into space again, because she was giving a look that told me I wasn’t listening.

“What?”

“I was asking how your career as an actress is. Even though you still have work in SKE, you’re really making a name for yourself in the acting world.”

“It’s something I want to do,” I said with a smile before eating the spaghetti in front of me.

“Rena would be proud.”

When she said her name, I put the fork down.

“Masana…” I spoke in a softer voice.

“Hm?”

“Do you think… Rena forgot about me?”

I looked and saw Masana giving me a worried expression. But then, she softly gave a sad smile.

“Jurina, don’t talk like that. You know Rena loves you too much to ever forget you. Nothing could make her...”

“I know, but...”

She patted my head. “Don’t worry. This is Matsui Rena we’re talking about. You’ll see. When she comes back from England, she’ll be there at the airport waiting for you with open arms.”

Jurina then smiled. “Thank you, Masana.”

“By the way, I watched your dorama yesterday. You were really beautiful.”

“Thank you. How’s things for you, by the way?”

“Good. The other doctors and nurses at the hospital I work at treat me very nice. But, I still miss you and the others.”

“I miss you guys, too… Churi just graduated, you, Rena… All of you have started your future.”

Meanwhile, I’m still here…

It seems that, even though I have so many kouhai now, I shouldn’t feel lonely, but being the last 1st gen member left, and Rena still somewhere in Europe, I still feel like I’m alone. I gripped my “R” necklace as I thought about Rena.

Maybe she’s thinking about me, too… right at this moment. Thinking about how so many of the members have gone to pursue their own futures, and I stay, carrying a heavy burden. Almost no one sees it, though, just how much I truly struggle. Maybe, right now, she’s thinking about how childish I was towards her, how I’d always cling to her and act spoiled, or how she would comfort me when I was broken down…

Rena saw every part of me… Yeah.. I doubt she’d forget.

“As expected of the super-idol, Matsui Jurina~” Masana said. “....They say. Hehehe.”

I chuckled. “Thanks for meeting me today, Masana. I knew you would cheer me up.”

“Anytime.”

-------------------------------------

Back in England...

Third Person POV

That evening, Sandy spent most of her time alone in her room, reading over the journal she kept. She was trying to piece together the fragments of her memories, trying to solve the puzzle of her amnesia and remember who she was.

But nothing was coming to her. She knew next to nothing about her past or who she used to be before the accident. She closed the book and sighed. However, she opened it up and turned to a page which she had doodle on when she was deep in thought. It was a drawing of the girl she always saw clearly in her memories.

“Raven black locks of hair, at times long, at times cut short. Dark chocolate brown eyes that shined like starlight when she was happy, and seemed easy to get lost into. A smile brighter than the sun, which can also give a very feral cat-like smirk. A child-like face, with a beautiful voice, at times mature, and at times childish…”

She could describe that girl in pages and pages of her journal. But, she didn’t know her name. If she remembered, she would find the girl, see her, and see if it gave her any clues at all as to her lost memories.

“If only.. I remembered…”

Just then, Dr. Green came in and greeted Sandy with a smile. She also saw a young man she didn’t recognize.

“Good evening, Sandy.”

“Good evening.”

“Let me introduce you to someone,” he gestured to the young man. “This is Alexander. He’s a psychiatrist and a good friend of mine. I asked him to come over to help with your problem.”

She shook Alexander’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. I’ve already been informed on the situation. You can’t remember anything about your life following the accident half a year ago, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And how recovery been going? Remember anything?”

“No… my only clue is this girl I keep seeing in the visions. I don’t remember who she is, but something about her is… familiar.”

“Other than that, you can’t recall anything else?” She shook her head in response. “Hmm… the reason for this could be psychological. Perhaps there’s some special connection to this one girl that has allowed your subconscious to remember her clearly.”

“Do you think I’ll ever remember her..?”

“That’s why I’m here. I believe I can help you tap into that subconscious memory so you can remember this person.”

“You can do that?”

“Yes. Sandy, are you familiar with hypnotism?” Sandy shook her head. “It’s a process used by some psychiatrists such as myself. It can be used to help patients in various ways.”

He then pulled out a pendant and held it out in front of the girl.

“Using this method, we can recover those memories you lost.”

“Can you.. really..?” Sandy stared at the crystal instantly mesmerized by its shining, glimmering beauty.

“Yes. Do you trust me to do this, Sandy? Trust is key to this.”

With that, Sandy nodded.

“Good. Now stare into the crystal. I don’t want you to be stressed, just relax and don’t worry about anything else.”

Sandy simply nodded and stared into the shining crystal.

“Just focus on the crystal and let your eyes follow it as it slowly starts to sway,” as he said that, he moved the pendant to start it swinging. “Don’t look away from it, just keep staring and let your body relax.”

Sandy simply let her arms rest in her lap, staring into the crystal. The shimmer in her eyes captivated her even more.

“Relax, let your mind slowly relax. Slowly, very slowly, your body becomes so heavy. You feel so heavy, your mind becoming cloudy in a haze. Second by second, your eyes begin to grow heavy…”

As he spoke each word, Sandy suddenly felt dizzy. Her eyelids fluttered as she began having trouble to keep focus on the crystal. Her vision started to blur and she couldn’t think or move.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe, there’s no need to fret. Let your eyes close and rest. Sleep. Sleep…”

With those last words echoing in her head, Sandy’s eyes shut and she gently fell back onto the bed.

“Good. Now, I want you to let yourself relax even deeper. Let your body become as light as a feather. Your mind slowly turns back the hands of time. One month, half a year, one year… farther and farther into the past. Back to that moment, back to when you saw her.”

Indeed, as he said, the girl was seeing herself walking in a familiar place. The streets were busy with people, all walking around a certain building. She saw something written on the front of a building; a title with a name, but she had trouble reading it out.

“Tell me what you see right now,” Alex spoke.

Sandy’s voice softly replied, “I see… I’m in a crowded street somewhere… and.. there’s a building in front of me… there’s a sign… letters...”

“What letters?”

“S...K...E… and the number 48.”

Alex wrote the details down in his notes.

“I want you to think of when you saw this girl you described. Do you see her?”

At that, the vision changed and Sandy was now seeing the dream girl in front of her, her bright smile shining as she looked over to her.

“I see her.”

“What are you two doing right now?”

“I.. I’m in a school… she’s looking at me, and.. that smile… that bright, warm smile… I see the two of us riding together on a bicycle.. she’s holding me… and.. now it’s nighttime… the two of us are looking at the stars…”

She felt so happy in this memory. She had never seen the stars so close; she felt like she could touch them.

“And where is this? Where are you looking at them from?”

“Somewhere high… A tower…”

He scribbled down the words. “Try to remember something else. Something more recent.”

Sandy’s mind now saw herself at the beach. There were many people here, all smiling at her. But… something was wrong. Some of them were crying. No, not some. Almost all of them were. And that included the one girl…

The one she always saw in her visions, the one who always had a smile… was now broken down in tears in front of her. That precious smile that warmed her heart was gone, and the girl looked heartbroken.

“Thank you…” she spoke.

“Sandy, what is she doing now?”

“She… she’s crying… I don’t know why, but…”

Before she could continue, Sandy now saw herself at an airport, the same girl in front of her. She didn’t look as bad as the last memory, but she was still crying.

“Promise me you’ll come back… that you won’t forget me.”

“I… I left her…” Sandy started to piece the puzzle together. In realization, tears started to form and stream down her face. “She’s all alone… I need to find her again…”

Here, Alexander asked the most important question.

“What is her name?”

Sandy’s heart was already pounding. Flashes of the girl kept overflowing her mind. Her smiles, her tears, everything. It was all too much and she couldn’t take it. Then, she heard her own voice.

“Jurina, I could never forget you.”

“Jurina!” Her eyes snapped open as she woke up, sitting up from the bed.

She breathed in sharply, her mind still racing from the sudden intake of memories.

“Are you okay, Miss Sandy?”

Sandy looked down at the necklace she had been gripping onto. The J imprinted on her hand.

“Jurina… that’s what ‘J’ stands for.”

“Jurina?” Alex repeated.

“I have to find her. She needs me!”

“Now, calm down,” Dr. Green spoke. “Sandy… you remember who she is, don’t you?”

“Not clearly yet… but, now I know her name. And I know what she looks like! I drew a picture of her, I can find her!”

“May we see it?”

“Yes, here,” Sandy pulled out her notebook and showed them the picture. “Please, find her… I need to see her again.”

“I know.”

The two took the notebook and walked out of the room.

“Get some sleep now. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Dr. Green said before closing the door.

Sandy sat there, still holding her necklace. She turned off the lamp at her side and leaned back, lying down where she could face the night sky. In her mind, she repeated Jurina’s name over and over, every moment of her, every scene replaying in her head.

“Jurina… you were special to me. Why did I let you go?”

----------------------------

“Here she is,” Alex and Green looked as the face of the girl Rena had perfectly described and drawn down in her notepad appeared on the computer screen.

“Jurina Matsui. Member of popular Japanese idol group, SKE48. Age: 21. Has been active member of both SKE and sister group, AKB, for almost ten years, and is SKE’s centering member.”

“Japan? Interesting. I thought there was something foreign about Sandy’s looks.”

“This,” Alex then noticed a certain picture of Jurina when she was younger.

Standing beside her, in a similar outfit Jurina was wearing, was the exact reflection of Sandy.

“That’s her, alright.”

Alex clicked a link and read more of the info.

“For 7 years, along with Jurina, former member Rena Matsui has centered the group as two of the most essential members, until Rena’s graduation in 2015.”

“Rena. That’s her real name.”

“Wait… this is…” Alex scrolled down.

“After graduation, Rena pursued her career as an actress. However, after going away for a movie project in England, she became missing in action.”

“Oh God…” Green covered his mouth.

“Sandy, no.. Rena. We need to tell her who she really is.”

--------------------------------------

Flashback

“The patient’s in critical condition!”

“Get her to the ER immediately! Charge up the defibrillator!”

The doctors placed Rena on the bed, the girl struggling to breathe and her heart weakly beating.

“Come on, stay with us,” Dr. Green was saying to the patient. “Is the defibrillator charged?! Hurry!”

“Yes sir! Here!” The nurse handed him the two handles. He placed them against Rena’s chest.

“Clear!”

A shock hit Rena’s body, but there was no change. Her heart was slowly down more as small, weak groans escaped the girl’s lips.

“Charge it up higher!”

“Yes sir!”

He tried three more times, panic running throughout the room. Rena was at her wits end, her voice dying down as her heart rate nearly stopped completely. The heart monitor started to flat-line.

“Don’t you quit on me! Higher!”

“But--”

“I’m not giving up! This girl… she surely has someone who loves her! We can’t lose her! Now stand back!”

We charged it to its highest setting. This was their last hope.

“CLEAR!!!”

With one last shot, Rena’s body jolted and her heart jumped. Her heartbeat slowly returned to normal.

No one saw, but through Rena’s closed eyes, a tear fell…

….

Rena’s eyes slowly opened in the hospital room. She looked around, confused. She didn’t know where she was or what she was doing, tangled thoughts spinning in her head.

“You’re up!” The nurse ran in, relieved seeing the patient awake, “Thank goodness. You’ve been asleep for three days.”

Rena didn’t speak. She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t find the words.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Rena simply nodded.

“I’m going to get the doctor. If there’s any problems, you can--” Before the nurse could leave, Rena suddenly grabbed her wrist. “What’s the matter?”

Rena looked at her like a lost child and spoke in a soft voice.

“Who am I..?”

End of Flashback

-----------------------------------

The next day...

“Rena?”

“Yes,” Dr. Green handed Rena the photo of herself and Jurina together. “That is your real name. This is who you really are.”

The moment she saw the photo, touching the small piece of paper, a rush of memories flowed into Rena. Memories of her and Jurina, together, dancing and singing. Jurina’s smile was brighter than she had ever seen before, with her and Rena on stage.

Rena felt like crying. Even though she had known for so long now she had suffered from amnesia, she found it unbelievable that she could forget such memories.

“She’s a member of a music group. And apparently, so were you. But you left to work on your acting career. When you came here, you must’ve been doing a movie project, and then you got in the accident.”

“So that’s what happened…” Rena’s fingers lightly touched the photo. “I have to go back now… I need to tell her I’m okay.”

“We’re already on that,” Alex then came in, along with one of the nurses, carrying a few cardboard boxes. “We found the apartment you lived in when you were here and gathered your things.”

“We also had these from the accident. We didn’t know who they belonged to, so we kept them just in case. Guess we should’ve known by the picture.”

Rena giggled. “You should’ve told me earlier.”

“Forgive me.”

“Here,” Alex handed Rena a book. It was a book for translating English into Japanese. “Just in case you need to re-learn the language.”

She opened it up and looked at one of the pages.

“A… ai.. aishiteru…” she read aloud. “Da.. daisuki…”

“Rena-chan~ aishiteru yo~”

“Jurina! Stop, it’s embarrassing!”

“But it’s true! I love you!”


“Jurina no koto ga daisuki…”

Even Rena was a little shocked she was able to say that. Looks like Japanese wasn’t going to be a problem for her.

“Once you’re discharged, Alexander and I will arrange one-way plane tickets straight to Japan. You have no reason to worry, Rena. We’ll get you back there and back to her.”

“And I’ll finally remember…” Rena clutched the necklace.

--------------------------------

Meanwhile in Japan...

“Sae-san!” Jurina walked up to the tall girl as she left the agency building.

“Hisashiburi, Jurina-chan!” Sae hugged her kouhai. “Ah~ The whole day off, and I’m getting to spend it with my former fellow member! I’m really excited!”

“C’mon, let’s go.”

The two started walking together through the streets of Tokyo. Today was a rare occasion that they both had a day off at the same time. Especially since Sae had graduated and had begun focusing in her work in theatre.

“How’s Sayaka-san doing, by the way?”

“She’s great. She just got back from shooting in America.”

“I knew she’d make it big internationally. Plus, she has Sae as such a nice girlfriend. Ah~ it’s making me miss Rena again~”

“Mou. No pouting faces, kay?” Sae squished the girl’s cheek. “We’re gonna be happy today. Right?”

Jurina giggled. “Un!”

“Yosh! Jyaa… what shall we do first?”

“Hmm, sou ne~...” Jurina looked around and saw a purikura machine in front of the local arcade. “Ah! How bout purikura?”

“OK~”

The two walked over to the purikura booth and stepped inside.

“Hai! Pose~”

The two made a few poses in front of the camera, hearing the shutter go off each time. After the photos were taken, they stepped out and started to look through all the photos, adding little decorations and stickers to them.

However, as they were doing this, Jurina suddenly remembered when she and Rena once did a purikura together. She remembered hugging Rena and trying to steal a kiss from her while the camera went off and caught the moment on the screen. She remembered putting hearts and pink sparkles around them and writing out “WMatsui Date” in pink writing.

Those memories made Jurina lose her focus and was staring off into space, thinking of Rena. Sae saw the girl was not with the world at the moment and shook her shoulder lightly.

“Jurina~”

“H-Huh?”

“Hey, you okay?”

“Oh, yeah.. sorry, I guess I’m a little sleepy.”

“Mou, I thought I told you to get some rest every once in awhile.”

“Gomen ne, senpai,” Jurina giggled.

“Ah~ I’m hungry now. Let’s go eat, I’ll pay.”

“Eh?! Really?”

“Un! Anything for my precious kouhai.”

“Yatta! Arigato!”

--------------------------------------

Rena was now at the airport, about to board the plane to Japan. She felt rather nervous as she was going back to her hometown, even when it was so unfamiliar to her.

Ever since she found out who she really was, she began researching the group called “SKE48”. She looked up different pictures and videos, and a lot of them included herself and Jurina. When she saw herself performing on stage during a concert, it didn’t even look like she was that same person. She couldn’t believe that this was the girl she used to be.

After she got her tickets and waited to board her flight, she then saw a gift shop nearby. Something clicked in her head…

“I’ll also be sure to pick up a souvenir from England.”

“A souvenir…”

She walked into the gift shop and started looking for some things she could get Jurina as a souvenir.

“What would Jurina like?”

As she was looking through all the little trinkets, she happened upon a small music box, painted to look like the starry sky. On the front was the message “I love you more than the moon, the sun, and the stars” in gold writing. She opened it up and saw a sun and a moon, spinning around as a gentle melody played.

[Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-vv0Rwqvuc ]

Rena smiled. “Beautiful…”

“You always say that I am like the sun and you’re the moon. But, to me, Rena is the sun, and I am the moon.”

“Jurina…” Rena closed the music box and held it close. “She’d love it.”

She took it up to the counter and got the present wrapped up. She paid for the music box and took the present with her, looking at her watch. She saw it was time and made her way through security check.

“You going to hold that?” The guard asked, pointing at the wrapped gift.

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright. Go on ahead.”

After her luggage was loaded on, Rena made her way to the gates. She handed in her tickets and got in line to board the plane.

“That a gift for a special someone?” Someone behind her asked. She turned and saw a young man with blonde hair.

“Oh, yes. It is.”

“Your boyfriend must be pretty lucky.”

“Wha-? N-no..!” Rena blushed. “I don’t have a boyfriend! ..Well, I don’t think I do. But, this isn’t for my boyfriend. It’s for a girl… and a friend. I’m going back to my home to see her.”

“Oh, I get it. You’re a Japan local, too.”

“Too?”

The man held out his hand. “I’m Naito. I’m from Fukuoka.”

Rena shook his hand. “Rena.”

“So, Rena, what was your stay at England like? Care to tell me what brought you here?”

“Well, to be completely honest, I don’t remember much…”

“Eh? Why?”

“I got in an accident half a year ago… Now I can barely remember anything.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m just going back home to remember who I am. My only clue is a girl I’ve seemed to have known for a long time. I’m going to see her and see if she can help me regain my memory.”

“Well, I wish you luck then, Rena. And, I hope she likes the gift, whatever it is.”

Rena chuckled. “It’s a music box. And thank you, Naito.”

“You’re welcome, and once again, good luck in your endeavors.”

Once the gates open, everyone started boarding the plane. Rena got on and sat down in the most comfortable seat she could find. Once she was all settled in, she took out her Japanese-language book and started going over a few basic phrases.

“Attention, please,” the flight announcements began. “Welcome to Flight 017 to Nagoya, Japan. Your flight will begin shortly.”

Rena fastened her seatbelt as she felt the plane start to move. Not too long after, she felt the entire plane being lifted off the ground. She looked out the window and saw the world below grow smaller and farther away as she ascended to the sky.

“Ma’am,” the flight attendant then spoke to her, “if there’s anything you need, let me know.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Rena sat with the music box in her lap. She caressed the wrapping paper with her fingers gently, thinking about when she would find Jurina and give it to her.

“Jurina… just wait. I’m coming back for you right now.”

-------------------------------

That evening, Jurina got back to her hotel room and fell onto the bed, holding her belly.

“That dinner was amazing… Sae-san is so nice.”

After stretching a bit, she started to run a bath and relax in the tub. Feeling a bit in need of more pampering, she put in some soap and made the whole tub a bubble bath. Once in, she could relax and swim in the bubbles, feeling like a kid again. She hummed songs like Coquettish Juutai Chu and Choco no Dorei to herself as she enjoyed her princess-like bath.

“Ah~ kimochii~”

After having the perfect bath, she got out and dried herself off, wrapping her body in a towel as she walked to her phone. She checked a few things on 755 and Twitter, commented on a few cute posts she saw by her fellow members, then after getting changed into some comfy PJs, just scrolling through social media a bit, still humming SKE songs.

She then happened to check Rena’s Twitter, curious to see if she had reappeared on social media since going to England.

“Last update: January 2018”

Jurina sighed. “Still nothing…”

She rolled on her back, looking up at the ceiling.

“Where are you, Rena..?”

Jurina’s POV

2 years ago, Rena left her home to England. And about half a year ago, she suddenly disappeared from media. Her Twitter and Instagram was dry of fresh updates, no news of her had come out in neither Japan nor England. She went missing in action completely.

At the time, I started to worry and let the anxiety of it get to me. The fear of where Rena might be, if she was okay, or if she would ever come back, ate away at me. Even now, I’ve had my doubts as to whether or not Rena is really still in England. Something terrible could’ve happened… or she might be…

“...No! Don’t think that!” I said, jumping up from the bed. “Rena’s okay, I’m sure of it! She’s going to come back! I just know she will!”

I felt tears fall down my cheeks.

“She… she just has to… I can’t live without her.”

-------------------------------

As the place flew to her destination, Rena relaxed and studied her native language a bit more, starting to remember more of it as she went on. She had a few snacks once in awhile and listened to music or watch a movie every now and then.

Eventually, she started feeling tired and went to sleep with her earbuds in, still playing the music. The melody took her back to distant memories of her past. She was remembering herself and Jurina, from their debut performance, to their first big concert, their TV performances together. Everything was so nostalgic to her.

“Rena!”

Rena’s eyes opened a moment. She saw herself at an empty theatre, sitting at the edge of the stage. Jurina was on the other side of the room, running down to her. As Rena stood up, Jurina immediately hugged the older girl.

“J-Jurina… what are you doing here?” she heard her own voice say.

“I had to see you off… just one last time,” Jurina looked up with teary eyes. “Congratulations on your graduation.”

“Jurina, don’t you have work tomorrow? It’s late--”


Rena felt the girl’s hold on her tighten.

“Please… Rena.. just let me have this. Just a little longer…”

She felt her lips curve in a smile. She held the girl’s head and comforted her. “Alright.”

“Rena… daisuki.”

“I love you, too, Jurina.”


Jurina looked up again and smiled. She then had an idea and took out her iPod, playing a song.

“Let’s dance!”

“Eh? Right now?!”

“Un!”
Jurina took the girl’s hands and started dancing with her, humming along to the song. Rena couldn’t help but smile and dance with the girl.

After that memory, she faded into a new one. It was the same memory she saw when she remembered Jurina’s name. The memory of them at the airport. Just like after her graduation concert, Jurina was the last one who saw her off. She gave Rena the necklace, hooking the small chain around her neck.

“Make sure you always have it around your neck.”

“Alright.”


After that, everything turned white again.

….

“Miss…” The flight attendant shook Rena’s shoulder lightly, trying to wake the girl from her slumber. “Miss.”

Rena’s eyes fluttered open. “..Hm?” She took the earbud out.

“Miss, we’ll be landing soon.”

“Oh. Thank you,” she said.

She yawned a bit and stretched as she felt the plane starting to land. After the plane, successfully got down, she carried the present in her arms, grabbing her things and packing them into her purse. She dropped her Japanese language book and knelt down to pick it up. She was approached by Naito again and he picked it up for her, handing it to her.

“Thanks, Naito,” Rena said.

“I saw you sleeping earlier. You looked very peaceful.”

The girl blushed. “W-why were you watching?”

Naito chuckled. “Lemme guess, you were dreaming about that friend of yours.”

Rena simply nodded.

“Huh. She must be pretty special to you if you’re dreaming about her. Especially since you got amnesia. I hope you find her.”

“Thanks again.”

Rena got all of her things and left the airplane. Once she entered the airport, it felt like she was in another world. It felt both familiar and unfamiliar to her all at once. She got her luggage back and got herself a map so she wouldn’t get lost in the big city.

After stepping out of the airport and seeing the sights of Japan after so long, she smiled.

“I’m home.”

===================================================================================

To Be Continued

Hope you all enjoyed Part 1~ :deco:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: DiamondRose on January 05, 2016, 08:12:02 PM
This is so beautiful and sad I hope that they meet up soon and I hope that Rena tells Jurina what happened. I love your writing style and your stories I feel like I'm a part of them and no other writer has made me feel like that. You are one of a kind and unique and this is one big step towards something spectacular.
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: daichi matsui on January 06, 2016, 02:18:55 AM
Thanks for update author-sama :)
Really good ff  :twothumbs
I'll wait for yor next update  XD
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: junchan48 on January 06, 2016, 12:36:59 PM
Woaaaaaaaaaaah! Interesting!
Jurina, just wait a lil bit more. Rena is back for you><
Rena, fighting! Go get Jurina back!

Author-san, gonna wait for the next chapter!
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: key17 on January 06, 2016, 12:46:56 PM
suddenly i want to cry T_T
it's really sweeeeeeeet! jurina still waiting for rena after 2 years! ahh...
and now they'll meet soon!!! yayayay!!
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: genkingblack on January 06, 2016, 12:57:28 PM
Hai Ruka-san  :on gay: :on gay:

Soooo, basically Rena's missing ?
Did her crew searching for her? and Why did the news of her missing isnt spread in Japan? *basically majime mode*

Poor baby Ju  :on speedy: :on speedy:

looking forward to next update~  :byebye: :byebye:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: RenshuChan on January 06, 2016, 03:36:35 PM
Oh no... this is just so good....
Rena lost her memories in the middle of filming,
didn't they try to find her? or this is some kind of.... lol
whatever, at least they will reunite soon...
and get married,
and have children,
XD
I'm waiting for the next! Ganbatte author-san Σ(´∀`;)
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: mirurunky on January 06, 2016, 04:59:26 PM
It's so sad :cry:
I hope in the next chap you make wmatsui meet each other again
Thanks for your update :twothumbs
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: sasshirie on January 08, 2016, 02:08:59 PM
SO SAD  :mon cry: :mon cry: :mon cry:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: Blackdawn on January 08, 2016, 03:43:13 PM
:err: :err: :err: :err:

:err: :err: :err: :err:

:err: :err: :err: :err:

 :kneelbow: :on gay: :on drink: :on drink:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: Minami-chan on January 09, 2016, 11:58:25 AM
I love the beginning. :inlove: :inlove: :inlove:


we look forward to your next update.

 :inlove: :inlove: :inlove: :inlove:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: LuckyMatsui on April 08, 2016, 09:52:28 AM
Update Author-san  :bow:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 1 [150105]
Post by: Ruka Kikuchi on November 21, 2016, 02:30:58 AM
Part 2

Takayanagi Akane was out taking pictures. Her favorite hobby, as well as her job, now she’s an official photographer. Now that she had graduated from the group, she took more time in enjoying the rest of her life. Taking care of her birds, enjoying her work, and also…

“Daichi!” She called for her husband. “Come here! I want you for this shot!”

“Eh? Me?”

“Come on~ Stand here,” she took her husband’s hand and dragged him to the center of the backdrop she had put. “Trust me, you’ll look amazing.”

“Alright, but make it quick, Akane, I’ve got work in 15 minutes.”

“I’ll try to.”

Akane readied her camera and started taking several shots of her husband. Daichi wasn’t all too sure what to do at first, but after Akane told him just to be casual, he became a bit more relaxed.

“Ooh~ these are really good!”

As for his work, Daichi was your average office worker. His pay was high enough to secure them a home, as well as to spoil his wife.

“Yosh! Perfect!”

“Are you going to use it for the article?” Daichi asked.

“Nope. Just wanted some shots of my handsome hubby.” Akane snickered.

“I’m flattered~ But I’m not as beautiful as my bird loving wife~”

“Aww~”

“Anyway, I’ll be off to work now.”

They kissed for a short moment before he left, on his way. Akane simply smiled and headed the opposite direction, looking through her photos and giggling at her husband’s photos.

When she looked up, she then saw a beautiful sight of the park, the cherry blossom trees blooming. She felt relaxed at the sight and took a few photos, admiring the beauty. As she was looking, she didn’t notice a certain someone come from behind and cover her eyes.

“Guess who~?”

Akane recognized the voice and grinned.

“Airin~”

“Yup!” Furukawa Airi, a growing artist, took her hands off Akane’s face. “Hisashiburi.”

“What brings you here?”

“I just wanted to do something with my bird loving friend~”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Hai.” Here, Airi took out two bentos. “Picnic in the park, underneath the cherry blossoms, sound good to you?”

“Sounds alright to me.”

“Alright. Let’s go then.”

The two found a bench under one of the cherry trees to sit down in. Airi gave her one of the bentos and started to open up hers. Akane opened hers up and saw how it was beautifully made. The omelette even had a heart drawn in ketchup.

“How’s your career going?” Akane asked.

“It’s not that bad. I’ve got a few recommendations to finish, but other than that, I’m not doing too much.”

“It’s good that you’re at least still involved with manga.”

“Yeah, it is, huh? I mean, Maimai’s going somewhat in the same direction. I’m expecting a collaboration soon.”

Akane chuckled. “Figures she’d get involved with that.”

Airi munched on some of her rice, then asked, “How ‘bout you? How’s photography doing?”

“It’s not that bad either. I’ve done some family portraits, some photos for some magazine articles and well, I’m just out and about.”

“Have you done anything for SKE?”

Akane took a bite of an octopus shaped hot dog while thinking.

“Hmm… recently, there was one photoshoot I did. It was for Jurina.”

Airi smiled. “How is she doing?”

“Good. But she still misses Rena.”

“I can understand.”

“That girl, she really cares about her.”

“‘Cares’ is an understatement.”

At that comment, the two laughed.

Then, Akane looked out and saw a young woman standing out in the park, looking at the cherry blossom trees.

“Uwaa~ kirei,” she said. She quickly seized the opportunity and got out her camera, taking a shot. She looked at the photo and stared amazed. “Wow~ that looks amazing!”

“Who is that?” Airi said, seeing as how the girl was far away, her back facing them, so they couldn’t see who it was.

“I dunno, but I’m gonna see if she wants to be my next model!” Akane started running towards the woman, Airi following behind. “Excuse me! Miss!”

“Huh?”

When the woman turned to face them, it turned out to be none other than Rena.

Akane stopped running and stood shocked. Airi caught up to her, holding her shoulder.

“What the heck, Churi? Don’t just suddenly run off!”

“Airin… Look,” Akane pointed at the woman in front of them.

Airi’s eyes widened. “It can’t be..!”

Rena’s eyebrows furrowed. She walked towards the two girls.

“Did you two need something?” Rena asked.

Akane’s eyes teared up. She hugged Rena tightly and started bawling, startling the latter. Airi did the same and hugged Rena. The woman just stood confused. She had no idea who these two were, but she figured that they knew who she was, and she did feel something nostalgic from the two hugging her.

“Rena! You’re back!”

“We missed you so much!”

“H-How do you know who I am?” Rena then asked.

“Eh..?” The two then separated from the hug, looking at Rena’s confused and startled expression.

“Who are you two?”

The two looked at each other, immediately worried.

“R-Rena…” Akane looked back at her friend. “Don’t you remember us? Look, it’s me! Chu-chan, remember? Chu-chan!”

“Chu-chan..?”

“You always call me that…” Akane’s smile disappeared.

“I’m sorry. I don’t remember.”

“W-What about me? I’m your loveable frog loving dork, Airin!”

“I recall no one by that name.”

“What..?” Airi frowned as well.

“I’m sorry… but, if I do know the two of you, I don’t quite remember at the moment.”

Akane then asked. “Why..?”

“I was in an accident half a year ago. I can’t remember anything before then.”

Both of them stood in shock. It was then the two finally knew what had happened, why Rena disappeared from social media after she went to England. Something bad happened to her, and now, she doesn’t even remember who she used to be.

“This is terrible…”

“How are we going to tell Jurina?” Airi asked her friend.

Hearing this, Rena’s eyes widened. “Jurina?!”

The two jumped a bit at Rena’s raised voice.

“You both know Jurina? Can you take me to her?”

“Wait, you remember Jurina?!” Akane asked.

“Yes! She was the first person.. no, the first memory I ever recalled! I came here so I can find her, so she can remind me who I am.”

“Then, if it helps you remember us, we’ll help you find Jurina.” Airi said. “Akane, let’s head to the theatre, maybe she’s there.”

“Alright!”

--------------------------

After some walking, the three finally arrived at the SKE theatre. As Airi had predicted, Jurina was standing on the stage, practicing some dances for an upcoming stage. Rena couldn’t contain her emotion when she saw Jurina for the first time (yet it felt like forever).

“Jurina!” she called out.

Jurina immediately stopped, her eyes widened. She turned around and saw Rena, after years she had been gone.

“Rena..?!”

Without a moment to spare, the two ran up to each other and embraced tightly. Jurina was crying in Rena’s chest, Rena crying as she held the girl’s head.

“Rena, I missed you! You have no idea how long I waited for you! It was so crazy lonely without you!”

“Jurina… I…” Rena parted from the hug, giving the girl a smile as she parted from her. She wiped off her tears and continued, “I’m so happy… I finally found you.”

“Eh..?”

“I’ve wanted to meet you for so long now.”

“I did, too! I wanted to come to England and see you! I--”

“Jurina,” Airi stopped the conversation. “There’s something you need to know.”

“H-Huh?”

“Jurina, she doesn’t remember anything, or anyone but you,” Akane explained, “Half a year ago, she was in an accident and now, the only memory she knows about is you. She doesn’t remember me, or Airi, or anything else.”

Jurina looked at Rena. “Is this true..?”

Rena nodded.

Akane continued to explain, “When me and Airi were in the park, she explained that she wanted to see you so she could remember us, remember everything again.”

“So, Rena, do you remember this place?”

“I don’t know, it feels so familiar…”

“Come here,” Jurina pulled her along to the stage. “This stage, we used to perform on it together, for a long time.”

Rena touched the stage with her hand. She looked at the empty stage for a moment before she finally felt she remembered something. She saw a group of girls on the stage, performing with smiles on their faces. Front and center was, of course, herself and Jurina. Rena smiled.

“I think.. I’m starting to remember.”

“What do you remember?”

“I remember… being here. With many other people,” Rena turned to look at Airi and Akane. “You both were here as well, weren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“And I was standing next to Jurina…”

“Do you want to meet the others?” Jurina asked. “They’re backstage, practicing.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Jurina took the girl’s hand and started leading her backstage.

Airi nudged Akane’s shoulder, “Jurina knows she doesn’t have to hold her hand and lead her places, right? She’s not blind.”

“Shh! Just let her have this. She hasn’t gotten to be with Rena in a long time.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Once they got backstage, they found the dance room where some of the members were practicing by themselves. She turned the handle and opened the door, stepping inside.

“Jurina, you’re back,” Ryouha was the first to notice. Then, she saw the figure that was behind her. “Rena-san?”

“Ryouha-tan, you know Rena-san--” Rara doubted Ryouha at first before turning to where she had looked. “Wait… it really is Rena-san!”

The other girls looked and they all shared the same expressions of surprise and happiness on seeing their senpai.

“RENA-SAAAAAAAAAAN!!!” Marika ran up to the girl and wrapped her arms around her neck. “We’ve missed you SOOOO much!!! Welcome back to Japan! How was the Eiffel Tower?!”

“Tani, she went to England, not France,” Nao corrected. The other members laughed a bit.

“Umm, guys…” Airi interrupted the conversation, “Hold up, there’s something me, Churi and Jurina need to--”

“Ah! Airi-san and Churi-san!” Rion pointed out as the two also stepped in.

“Ah, hi,” Akane waved.

“What are you two doing here?”

“Wait, lemme guess!” Marika raised her hand. “You brought along a bunch of our old senpai to have a welcome back party for Rena-san!”

“Yay! That sounds awesome! I hope there’s cake!”

“Definitely not.”

“But, we still can,” Jurina chuckled. “Once we get things settled in.”

“Yatta~ Thanks, Jurina!”

“Ahem!” Akane cleared her throat. “Before any of that… we need to talk about something serious.”

“Hm? What’s that, Akane-san?” Rara asked.

“It’s about Rena. Something happened when she was in England.”

“She got in an accident and ended up with amnesia.”

“Oh my God…” Nao covered her mouth. The young members faces now had shock and sadness painted on them.

“W-Wait.. does that mean you don’t remember any of us, Rena-san?” Kumazaki Haruka asked.

Rena shook her head. “I’m sorry…”

“Then… What do we do?” Rion asked.

“We need to remind Rena of who she is.”

“Yooooosh!” Marika gained a new fire in her eyes. “Alright, everyone! Let’s all talk about Rena so she can remember herself! Come on, Rena-san!”

The girl took Rena’s hands and dragged her into the room, sitting her down on the floor.

“Everyone, sit down with Rena!”

“Marika, as the oldest here, I don’t think this’ll work,” Airi said, “But we’ll give it a try anyway.”

“Don’t worry, Airi-san, trust me!” Marika smiled proudly. “Churi-san, Jurina-san, you both as well! Come on!”

“Well, okay~” The two came and sat down with the group.

“Now then, Operation ‘Help Rena-san regain her memory’ shall now commence!” Marika then sat down in front of Rena. “First off, introductions. I’m the kouhai you LOVED most of all, Tani Marika-chan~!”

“By the way, Rena, that was never true,” Akane pointed out.

“EEEEH?! No, no, no, it is! Honest! I remember, when you came to Hakata for HKT’s variety show, Hakata Hyakkaten! YOU picked me out of everyone else as your HKT oshimen!”

“After that, you plainly found her annoying,” Airi added on to Akane’s comment.

Marika shook her head. “No, no, you were tsundere at times, but you love me! You remember, right? Rena-san?”

“Mm… it seems familiar.”

“See?!”

“We all know how annoying you are, Marika, even Natsumi-kan told us!” Kanon said.

“Mou~ why do you guys have to be so mean?” Marika pouted, then moved closer to Rena. “This is the part where you comfort me. Hug me and tell me, ‘It’ll be okay’, while you pet my head.”

Rena tilted her head. “I did that?”

“Well, while Tani is being her usual self, she does have a point,” Rion said. “You were a very kind and caring senpai, Rena-san.”

“Okay! Who next?”

“Me,” Ryouha raised her hand and stepped forward, sitting in front of Rena. “Kitagawa Ryouha desu. Um… what do I do?”

“Just say something you remember about Rena-san.”

“Hmm… the one thing I most remember was.. she’s a lolicon.”

The other members snickered, agreeing.

“Lolicon?” Rena’s eyebrows furrowed, not recognizing the word.

“Well,” Airi tried to explain to Rena, “A lolicon is someone who… has a certain affinity with young girls.”

“You always used to go around the kouhai you found cutest going, ‘Kawaii~ Kawaii~’, and fawning over them.”

“Eh?!” Rena started to blush.

“Yeah, especially girls like Ego-chan and Ryouha over here,” Nao pointed out.

“Sometimes you couldn’t even look at them, you’d think they’re so cute,” Haruka also mentioned.

“Oh my word, how embarrassing!” Rena covered her mouth.

“Don’t be,” Airi said. “You’re an otaku.”

“Otaku?”

“It means you like idols and anime and things of that nature.”

“Like this dork over here,” Akane said as she nudged Airi with her elbow.

“Oh, oh, oh!” Rara raised her hand. “And, you’re a train fanatic!”

“Ah, right! Rena-san would always get so excited when you talked about trains!” Ego-chan agreed.

Rena smiled. “Oh yeah. I remember that!”

“You do?”

“Yeah. In England, I saw some scale model trains running on train tracks. I also remember reading a book on steam trains. It was the most interesting thing. I thought, ‘I must like trains’. So, it’s true!”

“Un! 100 percent!”

“This is good, let’s keep going! Who’ll go next?”

“I’ll go!” Rion said as she raised her hand, “The name’s Azuma Rion and I’ve known that you always loved eating melonpan!”

“Melonpan?”

“It’s your favorite food!”

“Here!” Ryouha held up a melonpan wrapped in a plastic wrapping. “This. This is melonpan.”

“Eat it.”

Rena opened the plastic wrapping and took the soft, round bread out, staring at it for a moment. Then, she brought it up to her lips and took a bite out of it. The second she tasted it, a flood of memories filled her head. Her eyes widened at the familiar taste, the taste that she absolutely loved.

Without even blinking, she took another bite, taking in every texture and flavor that hit her along with the long lost memories. Before the girls knew it, she had finished the loaf and had a smile on her face.

“Knew she’d remember as soon as she ate it,” Rion said.

“True that,” Nao agreed.

Rena licked her lips. “That was so good!”

“So, who’s next?”

“I’ll go,” Airi said, “My name’s Furukawa Airi and I always loved seeing your face when you hug me. Because that’s how close we were.”

“You always thought Airin was the cutest member in SKE,” Akane stated.

“Even though I am older than you and Churi by two years.”

“Speaking of,” Akane then got closer. “I wanted to talk as well.”

“Go on then.”

“I’m Takayanagi Akane, but like I said before, you always used to call me ‘Chu-chan’ because you and I were really close friends.”

“You two used to go to Disneyland together a lot because you both like Disney.”

“So, did you and Airi fight for my attention?”

The two looked at each other.

“Well…”

“More than us, the one who always wanted your attention most was Jurina.”

Rena looked at Jurina, who was just shyly smiling.

“It’s true, admit it, Jurina-chan.”

“Well… guilty as charged, I guess.”

Just then, Rena remembered something she forgot about for a second.

“That’s right!” She reached into her bag and pulled out the present she had gotten for her from England. “Here!”

“Eh..?!” Jurina stared a bit surprised.

“I remembered when I was at the airport, that when I left, I promised I’d bring you back a gift. So, here,” Rena handed Jurina the present. “Open it.”

Jurina nodded and unwrapped the present, revealing the most beautiful music box she had ever seen.

“This is beautiful…”

She opened it up, and when she saw the sun and moon, she smiled. She remembered how she and Rena always saw themselves like the sun and moon, and it warmed her heart. She turned the key and watched the music box start to spin and play the melody.

Jurina’s eyes widened and her smile grew. “It sounds like… ‘Bukiyo Taiyou’.”

The others soon realized it sounded similar to the song as well. Airi explained to Rena that “Bukiyo Taiyou” was one of their songs, while Jurina and the others proceeded to hum and sing along with the tune.

“This is good times~” Akane said.

“Here, Rena-san, stand up,” Nao took the woman’s hands. “Let’s re-teach you a dance we always did.”

The girls stood up and Nao started playing a song.

“Pinocchio Gun!” Jurina said.

The girls started dancing, Jurina and the others helping Rena as she started remembering some of the moves. Rena was smiling and having fun as she was re-learning the dance.

However, Rena suddenly started feeling a pain in her head. She stopped and stood still, taking in the pain. The others soon realized their senpai was in pain and stopped. Nao stopped the music and came to Rena’s side as the woman fell to her knees, clutching her head.

“Rena,” Jurina knelt in front of her. “Did you remember something?”

“It hurts… I…”

Rena felt her mind become overflowed with images from her past. It was all too much for her and she passed out on the floor, startling her kouhai even more.

Jurina looked at Akane and Airi. “Call Masana.”

------------------------------

Rena fell into her dream world again and was pulled back into her memories. Then she saw a vision popping up in front of her. She saw Jurina come up to her and cling to her arm, whilst she saw Akane and Airi taking pictures.

“Rena~” She looked as Jurina called out to her, puckering her lips as if wanting a kiss.

Rena felt her cheeks blush.

“This is classic,” Akane said, as she started to film a video on her phone.

“J-Jurina…” Rena tried to push the girl away as she tiptoed closer, but it ended up she turned her head and caused their lips to meet.

As the two cheered, Rena blushed even more as she pulled away, hearing Jurina giggling.

“I got Rena’s first kiss~”

“Mou, Jurina!”

She was then pulled into a different memory. She was remembering herself sleeping while on a train. When the train arrived at the station, she stepped out and felt like she had been whisked away to another world. There were flowers blooming everywhere, it was the most amazing sight. She spent some time relaxing in the flowery field before the train came back.

She smiled brightly and went back into the train. She felt herself transition into another memory. She was in a cafe, looking at a scale model of trains on a track, running along the tiny rails.

“Rena, come here. There’s manga, too,” Airi said, who was present as well.

“Hai~”

Rena sat down with Airi and read manga with her, the both of them talking about what they liked and other things like anime and games. All while they talked, Rena felt her heart flutter when Airi smiled or looked at her.

A few seconds later, she found herself somewhere else. She was holding hands with Akane and walking through Disneyland. The two of them didn’t have a care in the world and just spent time together in the land of dreams.

Another memory came and now she saw herself as a child, in a bakery. Her mother handed her a fresh loaf of melonpan and Rena happily ate it. It then showed herself as an adult, and she was still eating melonpan like she did as a child. Even then, she had a wide smile whenever she ate the bread because the flavor was something she loved most dearly.

“Rena~ if you eat all those melonpan, you’re going to turn into one,” she saw someone say, but she couldn’t recognize her face.

“If so, I’ll eat you!” Marika then said jokingly, causing the three girls to laugh.

As the memory faded to white again, she felt herself being pulled back into reality. She heard voices around her and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was an unfamiliar woman hovered over her.

“Welcome back, Rena,” the woman said with a kind smile.

Rena looked around and saw she was still backstage, the others sitting around the room talking with each other and doing different things.

“The others told me the situation. You don’t remember me, do you?” the woman then asked. Rena shook her head. “It’s okay. I understand as a doctor.”

“Doctor..?”

“Yup. The others called me here because you collapsed.”

“What’s your name?”

“Masana. Oya Masana. Sound familiar?”

Rena’s eyebrows furrowed. “A bit… Were you-?”

“Yes. I was a member. Not anymore. How are you feeling?”

“Still a bit dizzy… What was that?”

“You were remembering a painful memory.”

“Painful..?”

“Not emotionally or mentally, but physically. The others told me you all were dancing to Pinocchio Gun. Years back, when we first started learning the song, it was hard for you. You collapsed during rehearsal because of back pain.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah. It was pretty rough back then.”

“So… the reason I collapsed just now was?”

“Your mind took in a lot of information at once and overdid it. You fainted so your brain could rest and take in the information slowly. It’s common for people who suffered amnesia due to head trauma.”

Rena nodded. “I do remember, I fainted a lot in the hospital because I felt dizzy and my head hurt. When I was asleep, I was seeing my own memories.”

“That’s completely normal. It’s a good sign, even. It means you’re starting to remember who you are.”

“So, Oya-san… er, Masana-san?”

“Masana is fine.”

“Masana… why was the first memory I ever recalled was Jurina? It could’ve been any memory of anyone.. So why just Jurina?”

“It’s because you two have a strong bond. And besides, Jurina has an attachment to you.”

“Attachment?”

“She loves you very much. She was always with you and would act spoiled with you, and to be honest, that love is probably more than just platonic. And she always tried to get your attention. Heck, when you started Twitter, you were the first she followed.”

“She loves me that much?”

“Yes. So it would make sense that your attachment to one another is still there, conscious or unconscious, with or without memory.”

“Is that so…”

Masana patted Rena’s head, smiling.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m certain you’ll remember everything again. The best thing you can do for now is interact with the people who know you so it can stimulate your memory. Back in England, you probably didn’t have a lot of memories come back because no one knew who you were and you couldn’t talk to them. But here, there are lots of people who know you and can help jog your memory. Former members who had graduated and know you very well.”

“Do you really think that’ll help, Masana..?”

“I didn’t become a doctor for no reason. I wanted to help people. And besides, you’re one of my closest friends, Rena-chan.”

“Do you know where the other former members are?”

Masana thought for a moment. “I can give you the addresses to where some of them are.”

“That would be great.”

“Alright. I’ll write them down for you. Go talk to the others for a while longer.”

“Okay…” Rena slowly got up. “Thank you, Masana.”

Rena turned around and found everyone either playing on their phones or talking to each other. Jurina was the first to notice she was awake and immediately went to her side.

“Rena-chan,” Jurina hugged Rena, looking up at her. “You okay? You had us all worried there.”

“I’m fine, Jurina.” Rena broke the hug, reassuring the girl. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Eh? What?”

“What was our relationship like?”

“Oh... well..” Jurina rubbed the back of her head, blushing a bit. “You and I..  We were close…”

“How close?”

“Well… I guess we weren’t as close to each other, as like… You and Churi or you and Airi... But, we had our own relationship.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were incredibly close with Churi and Airin.. Always doing stuff with them… I mean, we did stuff together, too, but not as much. Especially after I became busy and we eventually were put on different teams. We became more and more distant and…”

“And?”

“...I missed you.”

“Eh..?”

Tears started forming in Jurina’s eyes. “Not just changing teams… not just you graduating… I missed you when you left for England.. I missed you when you were gone for all that time…”

“J-Jurina…”

“When everyone I trusted started leaving as well… It made me lonely… One by one, as they all left, I got lonelier… All I could think about is when you’d come home..!”

Rena immediately started feeling regret.

“You disappearing scared me, Rena..!” Jurina said, her voice cracking. “I thought something happened.. that you might have died..!”

“Jurina, I’m so sorry…”

“Please, don’t ever leave me again!” Jurina cried, hugging the girl again.

Rena simply hugged her back, comforting her as she cried more like a child. It broke her heart hearing Jurina cry in such a way.

She suddenly got a flash of another memory. It was a situation similar to this. Jurina was hugging Rena while crying and shaking. She kept repeating “I’m sorry” for some reason Rena couldn’t remember, but hearing Jurina cry left a tinge of pain in her chest. As she came back into reality, she heard the girl’s sniffles and looked down.

Jurina looked at her with poor puppy eyes, tears staining her cheeks. Her eyes were so sad, all of it made Rena feel even more regret for leaving her. She pat the girl’s head, parting the hug and smiling at her.

“Don’t worry, Jurina. I’m not going anywhere.”

The younger girl bit her lip anxiously, slowly backing away. “Sorry…”

“Eh?”

“I’m sorry, I burst my feelings out like this…” Jurina quickly wiped her tears away. “I shouldn’t do that even though I know you don’t remember everything.”

“But…”

“C-Come on, guys, it’s not about sadness anymore~” Jurina said with the best smile she could give. “We’ll be performing soon! So.. let’s show Rena we can give the best performances in Nagoya!”

“Ah, that’s right!” Rara smiled. “Rena-san, will you come to today’s show? Maybe it’ll help you remember what it was like being in SKE!”

“That’s a great idea!” Haruka agreed.

“We’ll give Rena-chan an extra special seat,” Jurina said. “I’m sure Yuasa-san can work a spot in for you. What do you think, Rena-chan?”

“A-Alright…”

“Don’t worry, Rena-san~” Marika spoke again, hugging Rena’s waist. “You will surely thank us once you regain all your lost memories!”

“She says it in an annoying way, but she’s right,” Akane and Airi said simultaneously.

“Yosh! Let’s practice hard so we can give Rena-san the best performance!” Ryouha said.

As the girls got up, ready to practice again, Masana approached Rena again. She handed her a paper slip that had some names and addresses on where they would be, as well as phone numbers to contact them.

“Airi-chan and Akane-chan will help you. I have to get back to work and Jurina has to stay here.” Masana said, patting Rena on the shoulder.

“Yep, we sure will,” Akane replied, “Isn’t that right, Airin?”

“Yeah. If it’s for Rena, we’ll do anything.”

“Thank you,” Rena smiled.

“Alright, who should we go see first?” Akane said as the three looked at the addresses. “Ah, Akarin! She’s really close to here, so let’s go see her first!”

“Sounds good.”

-----------------------------

With no further delay, after saying goodbye to the members, the trio started heading down the street until they reached a dance studio. When they looked inside, they saw a young instructor teaching some young hopefuls a dance routine.

What Rena found amazing was that the instructor was incredibly flexible. Even though the dance was cool and intense pop, she danced almost like a ballerina.

“There she is.”

“Who is that..?”

“Suda Akari. She was formerly Team E’s leader when you left. She graduated very recently and has been taking up dance. She does part-time instructing in this studio.”

“And as you can see, she does not disappoint.”

Once the girl ended her dance, she happened to have glanced towards the window where she saw the three. After staring for a bit, she said something to her students and started walking to the entrance as the young dancers started stretching and practicing some of the routine.

Akari opened the door and looked at them. “Come in.”

“Akarin, you have no idea how happy we are to see you,” Akane said. “But right now, we have important things to do.”

Once they got inside, they explained the whole situation to Akari.

“Oh gosh… I’m sorry to hear that, Rena-san…”

“No, it’s fine. It was no one’s fault to begin with.”

“So, what is it I need to do? There’s so much I can say, but I don’t know where to start.”

“Well… did we have a good friendship?” Rena asked.

“It… I guess you could say that--”

“You imitated her once,” Akane interrupted, “It was pretty accurate and funny. It made everyone crack up when you did it.”

“Hey!” Akari pouted.

“Admit it, Akarin! It’s true!”

Airi seemed to nod in agreement to Akane’s statement, not wanting to get involved with their mini argument.

“...F-fine.. I guess it was pretty close.”

As Akane was laughing, Akari couldn’t help but look over at Rena. Instead of laughing or getting embarrassed, her facial expression was blank and unchanged.

She let out a sigh and smiled bitterly.

“God, why now…” she spoke softly as she laid her head against her knees.

“Eh?” Rena noticed the girl’s change in attitude and became worried.

“We can’t even talk about things like that… How am I supposed to talk to you..?” Her voice sounded shaky, like she was near tears.

“Akarin…”

“It’s like…” Akari looked over at Rena again, “You look like Rena-san, but you’re not…”

Rena suddenly felt a tinge of pain in her chest. Seeing the girl’s depressed expression was hurting her. She couldn’t remember clearly, but she felt deep down that those tears of sadness didn’t suit her.

Seeing the situation, Akane and Airi thought it be best to leave the two alone to converse. Rena sat closer to Akari and tried to comfort the girl.

“I’m sorry I forgot you… This shouldn’t have happened like this.”

“I’m honestly jealous of Jurina… You remembered her so easily.. But you still don’t remember me… It’s unfair…” Akari said. Even though her words seemed angry, tears fell down her cheeks.

She then suddenly hugged Rena, crying.

“Please… tell me.. Is the Rena-san I know gone forever..? Will you ever be back to the way you once were?”

Rena didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t know the kind of person she was before, so she didn’t know how she could comfort the girl and give her some kind of last remaining hope.

“I’m sorry… I’ll make sure I remember everyone.”

“Please do. I miss the old you.”

-----------------------------

The next person they went to visit was Yagami Kumi, who was currently working in the entertainment industry. They were able to meet with her at a local cafe and once they had arrived, she smiled a bright smile.

“Rena~ it’s been a while,” Kumi smiled. “Ah, don’t worry. I’m aware you have amnesia. So, let’s start fresh. I’m Kumi. I was a fellow 1st gen member with you~.”

“Nice to meet you. Er, well, nice to see you again.”

“Yeah,” Kumi simply chuckled, “It’s been about… 5 years since I’ve seen you, Churi and Airin…”

“It’s been a while, huh…?” Akane asked, “The nostalgia’s coming back…”

“How’ve things been, Kumi-chan?” Airi asked.

“It’s been going steady. How about you guys? The photography business and the illustration career?”

“Everything’s gone well,” Akane smiled.

“But right now, our main focus is Rena. Talk about some past memories you’ve had with her.”

“Hmmm…. All I can remember is Rena’s acting. It always left an impact.”

“My acting?”

“Yeah! You were an amazing actress!”

“Especially Gekikara… She always gave me shivers when she acts like Gekikara.”

“Gekikara?” Rena raised an eyebrow. That name was unfamiliar to her.

“Basically, there was a drama you, Jurina and some of the others were in, called Majisuka Gakuen. You played a yankee named Gekikara, who was very dangerous.”

“Y-yankee?”

“Basically, a delinquent.”

“Your character was very scary. However, in Season 2, she actually had some very heartfelt moments, as well. She was a lot more than who she seemed to be in the beginning. It made her such a memorable character~”

“Even in concerts, if we did a Majisuka skit, the crowd would go NUTS when you came out as Gekikara!”

“Seriously?” Rena’s eyes widened. She was shocked hearing that she could portray such a character.

“Not just in dramatic stuff, but comedy, as well,” Kumi also brought up. “Do you guys remember Magical Radio?”

“Ahh~” Akane and Airi smiled, memories being brought back.

“That was great!” Akane said with a wide smile.

“Magical Radio..?”

“It was a comedy drama on the lives of a group of people working a small radio station. Churi was a radio personality who co-hosted with Jurina.”

“I was an AD~” Kumi smiled.

“And you were the director of the show! But you had some pretty eccentric moments.” Kumi and Airi started chuckling from Akane’s statement.

“Eccentric? How?”

“All I can say, is that you were… well, pretty goofy.”

“You would keep breaking into these sudden monologues.”

“And when you go to sing, it turns out that Nao would sing instead and you would just adlib on top of her singing. Kinda like backup cheering. Hahaha.”

“Ehh?!”

“Then there was that whole arc in Season 2 where you were going around the world being chased by bad guys who wanted a special tape. You went to India, America, Hawaii…”

“Seriously?! That show sounds crazy.”

“Oh no! You want crazy?!” Airi then mentioned. “One of the most recent roles you did after graduating was Kaede from Nietzsche-sensei!”

“AHHH!!! That! That was hilarious! Hahahaha!” Akane laughed.

“I saw it too! It surprised me!” Kumi covered her mouth. “I thought I had seen the wackiest Rena could get, but I was wrong.”

“W-what kind of role was it?”

“Basically, you were head over heels for one of the main characters.”

“So much, you pretty much did ANYTHING to try and win his affection.”

“Nothing really worked, though,” Kumi added at the end of Akane and Airi’s statements. “It even made Yahoo news.”

“Oh yeah! The episode where Kaede was hiding in the trash…! I saw that article…”

Everyone burst into laughter while Rena just sat embarrassed.

“I-I did that..?!”

“Don’t worry, Rena,” Kumi rubbed the girl’s shoulder. “It was just acting.”

Then, Kumi had looked at the clock on top of the counter. Her eyes widened as she forgotten that she had something to attend to.

“I’m sorry guys. I’ve got to go do an interview for a magazine! See you some other time!”

“Bye~”

As Kumi was leaving, Rena couldn’t help but think back of what her friends had described. She took out her notebook and started writing down what they had told her.

“Ah, Rena, you started keeping a diary?” Airi asked, noticing.

“Yes. It helps me remember things.”

“That’s good. Churi, who should we see next…?”

Akane took a look at the piece of paper, and eyed one particular name, before whispering to Airi.

“Should we…? I mean, she’s probably studying right now…” Airi said, hearing Akane’s whispers.

“I think we should. I mean, she is studying to be a major in psychology.”

“Ah, that’s right. Maybe she can help.”

“Let’s go!” The two stood up, with Akane grabbing Rena’s hand. “Come on.”

“Okay..!” Rena said, a bit surprised as they left in a hurry.

------------------------------

*Knock knock*

“Mukaida-san, you have some people here to see you.”

There was someone just sat at her desk in her dorm room as the door opened.

“Manatsu-chan!” Akane chirped in as she and the other two entered.

“C-Churi-chan…”

“I’m sorry about this one, Manatsu… I told her not to, but she said it was to help Rena,” Airi said, before slapping Akane across the back of the head, silencing her.

“Rena-san…” Manatsu smiled when she saw her former senpai step in.

“It’s kinda complicated, but she’s got amnesia and we’re trying to help her remember.”

“E-Eh…?”

“That’s why we came for you. We know you’re on your second year of your psychology masters, but we kinda came to you for your advice.”

“Oh, okay,” Manatsu looked at Rena with a sad smile on her face, “You might not remember me, Rena-san, but my name is Mukaida Manatsu. I loved the way you were supportive of me, Churi-chan, Airin and the other kouhai that were under your shadow….”

“O-Oh…?”

“Aside from Airi, the other second generation member you were stuck onto like a koala was Manatsu,” Akane replied, “She was like the cutest member back in the day, although now, we have members like Egochan, Rara and other 5th, 6th and 7th gen members.”

“For a long time, we watched you, Jurina and the other first generation members on stage, whilst we were still kenkyuusei… It was an amazing sight to see to be honest,” Manatsu added, “The memories are coming back~”

“Yeah~ Hey, do you two remember performing Ai no Kazu…?” Airi asked Akane and Manatsu, “That was a really nice song to sing…”

“Oh my God… The memories of performing it are coming back now…”

“Ai no Kazu… that sounds familiar,” Rena said.

“Wait, let’s sing it. Maybe it can bring back some of your memories,” Airi suggested.

“Un! Good idea!”

The three cleared their throats and looked at each other with smiles before they started singing.

Midori no oka wo kaze ga noreba
Hizashi no michi ga soko ni hirogaru
Bokutachi wa shiranai chizu ga mada aru

Umareta toki ni dare mo ga
Sakebu you ni naite
Kitto nakama no tame ni
Hitori janai koto tsutaeru


Soon, Rena started feeling the familiar melody play in her mind. Then, she started seeing a vision. She started seeing a few familiar faces on a stage practicing a dance, whilst listening to the familiar tune of the song she had just heard. Unknowingly, she started singing with them.

Hito no kazu dake
Ai ga arunda
Sekai wa ai ni afureteiru yo
Dareka no kanashimi wa minna de wake you


“Ah! There it was! She sang along!”

“Hey, Manatsu, do you know what might’ve triggered her to sing along…?” Akane asked.

“Hmm… There might be some connection to the memory storing section of her brain, that was severely damaged by the accident she must’ve suffered. It must’ve needed some triggers to allow Rena-san to remember some things, like the song for example.”

“That makes sense…”

“And for different people, those triggers are different. For Rena-san, it must be singing certain songs. I got a call from Masana-san that she collapsed after you guys sang Pinocchio Gun, so I started doing research on it and I came to that conclusion.”

“So, music is what’s bringing back her memories?”

“Most likely,” Manatsu replied, looking back at her notes, “But I also heard from Masana-san that the first person she remembered… was Jurina-san..?”

“Yes, but why do you ask?”

“Well, I was asked to do some research and some real life analysis on the correlation of regaining memories with people of specific relationships with those affected with amnesia for coursework, so I wanted to help you guys as much as I could,” Manatsu replied, “It’s also good practice for the future.”

“Okay. What do you need us to do?”

“Just try and reference Jurina as much as you can and make notes on her behaviour change and give those notes to me.”

“Alright… what are you going to do with those notes…?”

“Just email them to me, I’ll just do some analysis and then I’ll write some reports on my findings.”

“Okay…”

“Hey, I think I know who we can go see next,” Airi said. “Two to be exact.”

----------------------------

The next people they went to visit were Mieko and Yuka, who were both at a recording studio. Mieko was recording for a single, whilst Yuka was waiting to record for an anime. Once they arrived, Akane went to give Mieko a loving hug.

“Churi, it’s been too long! How’s the hubby?” Mieko said as she broke the hug.

“He’s doing fine~ How about you? How’s the solo career?”

“Going good~ I have a sold out concert this weekend!”

“That’s great! How about you, Nishishi?”

“Ah, things are good, can’t really complain. My work in anime is going well.”

“Catch up aside, guys, we have a problem,” Airi interrupted.

“Eh?” Yuka and Mieko said, simultaneously.

“That’s right. It’s Rena. We brought her here because we need you two to help.”

“With what?” Mieko asked, curiously.

“She has amnesia. We need you to help her recover her lost memories.”

“O-Oh…”

“Yeah, we were wondering if you could tell her what you remember about her that most,” Airi replied.

“Well, being in a recording studio, the first thing that comes to mind is when we sang together in SKE,” Nishishi mentioned.

“Ahh~ those were the days~” Mieko said nostalgically.

“Rena’s voice was pretty to listen to, as well. But, she never had confidence in herself. Haha.”

“Eh? Is that true?” Rena said, a bit surprised. Actually, when she was in England, she had no problem singing in front of others. She would even sing to herself without her conscious knowing.

“Yeah. Even though you were so good, you had zero confidence. But, then you had some sort of realization.”

“Realization? What was it?”

“You started to like singing after you did your single with Charan Po Rantan.”

“Oh! That’s a good song~” Akane agreed.

“Charan Po..?” Rena furrowed her eyebrows. “That’s a strange name for a band.”

“They were your favorite artists. It’s a strange name, I know, but their songs were really catchy.”

“And the song that you did with them was really good. It was the theme song to one of your dramas too~”

“Heck, I still can’t get it out of my head.” Akane chuckled. “Shabon shabon shabon~”

“Shabon…” Rena blinked. That name sounded familiar to her. A bit too familiar.

“Do you recognize it?”

“Somewhat.”

“Lucky enough, I have it on my iPod,” Airi replied, taking it out of her pocket. “Take a listen~”

Once she started the song and Rena could hear her own voice singing the first few notes of the song, everyone had smiled and started joining in, singing along in a hyper, somewhat goofy fashion.

Rena couldn’t help but chuckle at her friends’ actions. However, she, too, found the memories start to come back and started joining in on their goofy karaoke.

“Ah~ Those were the days~” Akane said as she and the others giggled.

“I wish we could go back to that time,” Mieko said.

“Oi, now you REALLY sound like an old woman.”

“Hey!”

“Hahahahaha!”

-----------------------------

Jurina’s POV

“Only an hour left…”

After practicing for the stage performance, the girls had already head to the dressing room to get ready. I was back in the practice room, thinking about what had been going on.

I’m so happy that Rena’s finally back and relieved she’s okay… But I felt something strange when I was hugging her. I haven’t hugged her in so long, it felt different for some reason. I closed my eyes, reimagining the event while hugging myself.

What changed..?

*Knock knock*

“Jurina? You in here?” I heard Ryouha call for me as she entered the room.

“Yeah, what’s up, Ryouha?” I asked as I opened my eyes again.

“It’s almost time. You better hurry and get dressed.”

“Oh. Right…” I got up, walking with Ryouha out of the practice room.

-----------------------------

Third Person POV

“Haa~ today was a long day,” Akane sighed as she, Rena, and Airi were resting in front of a crepe stand.

“Rena, have you remembered anything?”

“Yes, actually. I’ve started remembering a lot,” Rena said with a smile.

“That’s great!”

“I’m sure once you see SKE performing at the theater, the rest of your memories will come back in no time!”

The three ate their crepes happily, until Rena could hear whispers from the crowd of people around them.

“Hey, isn’t that Matsui Rena?”

“Oh my gosh, it is!”

“Matsui Rena-chan?!”

The two others soon noticed that there were fans staring with surprise. They even saw a few taking pictures.

“Uh-oh~”

“Maybe we should go.”

The three got up and started making their way through the busy streets to get to the theater. However, Rena accidentally ran into someone, causing her to get lost in the crowd.

“Oh no..!” She looked around, trying to find Akane and Airi, but wasn’t able to find them in a swarm of people. She started to panic, her breath quickening. “What do I do..?!”

She bolted from the crowd, not seeing which way she was going. She stopped for a moment, leaning against the wall to catch her breath. But when she looked around, she found herself somewhere unfamiliar.

“W-where am I..?” she looked around, seeing people just going about their day. But no Akane or Airi. “Which way was the theater..? Which way did I…”

She held her head, walking aimlessly trying to find her way back to the theater. But she just felt she was only getting more lost.

“Ah! That’s right! I’ll call them!” Rena reached in her pocket for her phone, but then suddenly remembered. “Oh… my cell phone.. broke during the accident. And I don’t even know their numbers…”

Rena fell to the ground, hugging her knees. She held her head down, trying to fight back the tears that were desperate to fall down. She could just imagine Akane and Airi in a panic to try and find her… and Jurina’s sad expression if she couldn’t make it in time.

“Jurina… I have to keep my promise…” she pursed her lips, standing back up.

“Holy cow! Matsui Rena?!”

She turned around and saw a young man with black hair approach her.

“Um.. I’m a really big fan! Do you mind if I shake your hand?”

“I-I…” Rena looked around, remembering she had other things to do. “I, erm…”

“Eh? What’s the matter? Something happen?”

“Oh, Kei-chan, quit creeping her out,” a familiar voice rose as Rena looked up and saw a young girl approach him. “Besides, I’m your number one, right?”

“O-oh. Sorry, Aya-chan. I got excited. Haha…”

“Aya..?” Rena blinked at the name, staring at the girl more. “That sounds familiar… Do I know her?”

“Sorry, Rena-chan. But, more importantly, it’s so great to see you again. You finally arrived back to Japan?”

“Um, yes,” Rena answered.

“It’s been too long! I was worried about you when you suddenly disappeared from social media.”

“R-right.”

“Mou, Aya-chan, I’m too jealous of you! You two were in the same group together for 5 years!”

“Yeah, those were good times,” Aya chuckled. “So, where are you headed, Rena?”

“Oh, uh.. The theater. I was going to go see the girls perform since I got back.”

“Hey, we’re heading that way, too! We can go together!”

“Okay.” The three started walking, when Rena chuckled noticing a certain fashion choice of Aya’s. “What’s with the shark earrings?”

“Just something that I’ve gotten into recently.”

“Wow. I didn’t think that’s something you’d be into.”

Aya just laughed.

“Um, Matsui-san,” Kei spoke again. “Could you tell me what it was like in London?”

“Oh, it was great. But a lot different from here. I feel like I’m home again…”

“Well, you are!” Aya commented, the two chuckling.

“I know, but… it’s a little more complicated than just that.”

“Eh?” Aya looked at her confused for a moment, but soon it hit her. She had gotten a text about what happened from Airi. “Oh… right.”

“Yeah…”

“Do you… remember me?”

Rena looked at Aya, who looked back at her with worry.

“A little…”

Aya smiled. “A little, huh? Well, that’s still something.”

“It’s progressing.”

As they talked, they soon arrived at the theater, where Akane and Airi were waiting. When they saw Rena, they both heaved a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank God!”

“We actually thought you got kidnapped or something!”

“Don’t worry. Our baby’s breath is perfectly safe,” Aya said. “You enjoy the show, Rena. And I hope you get all your memories back soon.”

“Thanks, Aya-chan.”

“Come on! Let’s go,” Airi took Rena’s hand and they hurried inside.

“Hey, slow down, Airin!” Akane said, following behind. “We still have about 10 minutes! We don’t need to rush!”

As they got in, Rena looked around. She was in the theater and she felt memories from long ago coming back to her. The days of when she would arrive with her fellow members in this familiar place, a place that felt like a second home. She smiles as she could hear the sound of fans murmuring amongst themselves.

The three took their seats and waited excitedly as the show began. The crowd cheered as the girls walked onstage, taking their positions as the background music began to play.

“Let’s go~!”

“OOOOH!!!”

As the song played, Rena sat and clapped quietly while the two beside her cheered along with the rest of the crowd.

Nee, aishiteiru nara
Sono basho de JUMP shite
Datte koko kara jya
Anata ga mienai
Medatsu you ni Love Me Do!


Everything was going smoothly. The girls were giving their all to make sure Rena would get her memories back. Among the crowd, Jurina found Rena and looked only at her, giving her brightest smile and singing from her heart. From where she sat, Rena could see a girl as bright as the sunshine.

“Rena-chan!”

“..!” Rena gasped silently as a sharp pain hit her head. She rubbed her temple, the sounds of the music and people around her starting to fade.

Akane happened to notice her friend was in pain, getting Airi’s attention on her, as well.

“Rena?”

“T-too… much…!”

Rena slowly got up, running out of the theater. Jurina saw Rena bolt out, holding her head in pain. She lost her smile, and feeling immense worry for the girl, she completely forgot about the performance and ran off to find her. The other members were confused and worried, but they had to go on with the show, or the fans would be confused and worried, as well.

“Rena!” Jurina ran out, trying to find Rena. She eventually found her, crawled up into a ball while holding her head. She quickly ran to her side. “Rena! What’s wrong?! Did you remember something bad?”

“J-Jurina…” Rena looked at her with a pained expression. “W-what.. were we..?”

“Eh? What do you mean..?”   

“What were… y-your feelings.. for me..? D-did you...?”

“Did I what?!”

“Did you… love me?”

“I…” Jurina thought about it, looking Rena in the eyes, not knowing what to say, She bit her lip, “I do love you, Rena. You’re an important person to me.”

Rena smiled.

“I-I knew it…” she said before collapsing.

“Rena!”

====================================================================

To Be Continued
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 2 [161120]
Post by: JurinaN on November 21, 2016, 08:28:38 AM
It was a good story  :love: I hope you can update the next chapter soon  :bow:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 2 [161120]
Post by: Minami-chan on November 22, 2016, 01:37:21 AM
Thanks for continuing.
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 2 [161120]
Post by: akbdaisuki48 on November 22, 2016, 04:16:56 AM
this is such a great fic, not simply a fic, its a project
 and its awesome, i wish for more fic like this
i wish one day I'm capable of making any fic like this

 thank you for the updates!  :farofflook:
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 2 [161120]
Post by: tmbaroro on November 24, 2016, 12:02:44 PM
what a great fic i really i enjoy your story  :twothumbs

im usually a silent reader so its my first time to comment on a story hehe
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 2 [161120]
Post by: key17 on December 06, 2016, 01:32:46 AM
I like it! It's like watcing a film in my head
Thanks for updating~
Title: Re: Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 2 [161120]
Post by: Ruka Kikuchi on August 11, 2017, 07:43:15 PM
And now, the part you've all been waiting for~


Part 3

Rena was rushed to the hospital after collapsing in the SKE theater. Jurina sat worriedly as her legs trembled. She couldn’t process the sounds around her; all her mind could focus on was Rena. She didn’t notice a figure walk to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Jurina?”

The girl suddenly jolted up as she was brought back to reality, seeing the person beside her.

“Churi…”

The two hugged; Akane could feel the girl shivering in fear. She rubbed her back, trying to comfort her.

“Churi… I’m so scared..!”

“I know… We all are. Not just for Rena, but for you too.” Akane then broke the hug, looking at her with a worried gaze. “When you suddenly ran off like that, we all started wondering where you could’ve gone.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Don’t worry. We understand that you were upset about Rena. But all the other members and fans who came to the stage were confused and worried, too.”

“I know... but..!”

“But nothing!” Akane then said. “The fans… they’ll need an explanation. And the members will need an apology. As a leader, you need to be responsible. Not just for them, but for yourself.”

Jurina silently nodded.

They then saw Airi approach them.

“The nurse says she’s okay. But she’s going to have to rest here for a few days. Her mind overloaded with a lot of information, so she needs to let herself process it all.”

“Okay…”

------------------------

“To all the fans, staff members, and fellow members… I’m sorry I caused you trouble!” Jurina bowed while the press filmed her actions.

The other SKE members watched from a distance as Jurina stood with a guilt-ridden expression.

“I acted without thinking and made all of you confused and worried… I shouldn’t have acted so impulsively and irresponsibly. As the remaining first generation member, I must act like a leader to the group.. For that…”

Suddenly, she thought back to Rena. She remembered how responsible she was as a leader and how she acted like a proper, motherly figure toward the junior members.

In truth, SKE was at its best when Rena was there. When she was in the group, she knew how to lead the young members and took responsibility for when things had gone wrong. After Rena left, all that responsibility to be a leader was put on Jurina’s shoulders.

She loved SKE, so she didn’t mind it… but, she was lonely. Everyone who she was closest with within the group had left her, and now she’s the only one left of her generation. She couldn’t lie to herself, she couldn’t hide her true feelings.

“I’m… sorry…” she spoke as tears fought to escape her eyes. She shut her eyes tight, bowing to them again. “I will do better as SKE’s leader, so forgive me for my actions today!”

Once the press conference was over, Jurina went backstage to where the other members were.

“Jurina-san…”

“Everyone.. I’m very sorry..!” she bowed to the girls, her head still hanging low with regret. “I shouldn’t have left the theater without warning… I was completely disconsiderate about the fans and my job as an idol..! And all of you, too!”

“Jurina-san, it’s okay. We understand you were just worried about Rena-san’s health.”

“That’s right! All we want is for Rena-san to be okay and you to be happy.”

Jurina raised her head, seeing the faces of the girls. They all had empathetic expressions toward her, sharing the same worry as Jurina.

“Rena-san will be okay,” Nao said. “We just need to be hopeful. That’s all we can do for now.”

“R-right…”

----------------------------

Rena was in a maze, lost searching for her memory. She walked around a city with blurred faces, trying to find the most important person in her memory.

Jurina.

She chased after the figure, but she only seemed to get further and further away. No matter how hard she tried, even if she called to her loudly, she was unable to reach her.

Jurina..! Jurina!

Her memory of Jurina was fleeting, getting farther from her grasp.

With all the strength she had, she bolted forward, stretching her hand out as far as she could…

….

Rena woke up in the hospital, groggy as she slowly sat up in the bed. She looked around, confused.

“What am I doing here?”

-----------------------------

The next day…

Jurina and some other SKE members ran into the hospital, seeing Akane and Airi already there.

“Churi! Airin!” Jurina called out. “Is it true?! That Rena got her memory back?”

Akane smiled. “Yup. She’s back to her old self.”

“Although, it seems like she doesn’t remember anything during that period she had amnesia. Yesterday, she was really confused as to why she was suddenly back in Japan and not in England.”

“Awesome! Rena-san’s got her memory back!” Rara cheered.

“We got her flowers and her favorite melonpan to celebrate,” Ryouha said. “Ice cream, too, cuz why not?”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Come on, girls.”

The two older girls lead their kouhai up the elevator. Jurina was also excited and nervous, wondering how Rena would react to seeing her. With those feelings, they made it to the floor where Rena was sitting in the hospital bed.

“Honestly, Nishishi, I’m fine,” she said, talking to her fellow 1st gen member on her cell phone. “They just wanted to keep me for checkups, but I’ll be discharged this afternoon.”

“Rena,” Akane called out, showing her that her junior members had all shown up.

“Okay, I’ll see you later. Promise.”

After she hung up, everyone ran in, happily hugging Rena and asking how she felt.

“Rena-san, you’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

“You remember everything, right? You remember who we are?”

“Mou, guys, I’m telling you, I’m fine.”

“Well, when we last saw you, you weren’t fully here,” Akari said, some of the members giggling.

“Here, your favorite,” Nao handed her the melonpan, to which the young woman happily took and started eating. “Yup, she definitely remembers she likes melonpan.”

As they laughed, Jurina then approached her, Rena looking at her for a second.

“Hi, Rena…”

Jurina was afraid. A part of her worried that Rena would look at her, unable to recognize her.

But, thankfully…

“Hey. It’s been a while, Jurina.”

The puppy girl smiled in relief. Everyone else also felt happy that the girl had recognized the one she was closest with.

“It’s been more than a while, baka Rena,” Jurina teased. “...I missed you.”

Rena didn’t hesitate to hug Jurina, the girl hugging back as she fully embraced her warmth.

“I missed you, too. I thought about you every day I was in England.”

“I was starting to doubt it for a while…” Jurina sniffled. “I was worried you forgot about me.”

“Jurina, I told you, I can never forget you,” the older girl pet her head. “I had no doubt that all that you’d forget me either. I know you too well.”

“Trust me,” Akane spoke up, “You were the only thing on her mind.”

“That’s not true!”

Everyone giggled as Jurina pouted, Rena just petting her head again.

“I’m just happy you’re here again… We all are.”

“Yeah. Welcome back, our baby’s breath,” Airi commented.

“Okaeri, Rena-san!”

“I’m home.”

------------------------

Half a year later…

“Woah! Akane, look!” Daichi called his wife as she was busy making dinner. She looked at the TV and saw news footage of a new drama that was set to premiere.

The leads of that drama were none other than Rena and Jurina! It was a sight Akane hadn’t seen in years.

“Amazing! Looks like Jurina’s wish came true.”

“The new summer drama airing this July on TBS, ‘Ane no iu koto’, stars SKE48 ace, and winner of last year’s sousenkyo, Matsui Jurina, and her former teammate and world renowned actress, Matsui Rena, acting as siblings. This marks 7 and a half years since the two have acted in a drama together!”

“Playing Rena-chan’s little sister is the best!”
Jurina commented. “We already act like sisters, so it’s easy.”

“And as for Matsui Rena’s movie project in England has also been announced a release date this fall!”

“I feel really bad that the movie got delayed due to my injury,”
Rena said, “however, I’m happy now that I’ve recovered completely and can continue doing what I love most.”

“We should definitely go see Rena-san’s movie once it hits theaters!”

“Yeah. I can’t wait for the drama, as well!”

Meanwhile…

“Everyone, be excited for ‘Ane no iu koto’!”
Jurina watched their interview on the couch, Rena soon joining her.

“We got another busy day of filming tomorrow. You not sleepy yet?”

“Not yet…” Jurina murmured, snuggling her nose into Rena’s neck. “Well, maybe a little… can I just sleep like this?”

“Baka, I’m not a pillow.”

“Rena-chan’s warm…” the puppy whispered, planting a kiss on Rena’s cheek lovingly.

“Mou, I guess it can’t be helped.”

Rena took a blanket and wrapped it around her and the puppy girl. She got closer and wrapped her arms around her, further enveloping Jurina in her warmth.

“We’ll sleep just like this. Sound good?”

“As long as Rena-chan wakes up in time to make breakfast…” she muttered sleepily.

“Of course.”

“Rena-chan, daisuki…”

“Sweet dreams, Jurina,” she kissed her forehead as Jurina drifted off into slumber.

Rena rested her head against hers, soon dozing off as the two started dreaming together, peacefully on the big couch in their small paradise just for them.

Even if the sun crashes onto us... I won't let go.

The End.
Title: Re: [COMPLETE] Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 3 {170811}
Post by: Minami-chan on August 12, 2017, 01:40:45 AM
Thank you very much for finishing the story.
The story has had a happy ending
And fulfilling a dream of Jurina acting with Rena.
Today ... it is an impossible dream, or so I think. But of course it would be a dream for WMatsui fans.
Title: Re: [COMPLETE] Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 3 {170811}
Post by: RenRow on April 16, 2018, 06:39:30 PM
As much as I wouldve loved that Rena retained her memories after she got all her memories back, It was still a good end and well made :) No complaints at all!
Title: Re: [COMPLETE] Remnants of You (WMatsui) - Part 3 {170811}
Post by: Kyuartz on April 27, 2018, 02:32:42 PM
Good story and perfectly wrapped up  :thumbup