Hi sweeety, I sent you the PM at the other forum already and I am the original writer
Thank you for liking my story
Gomattou
Chapter 2
Forgotten Memories
The following day in the hospital was filled, almost overflowed with celebrities and hopeful fans trying to catch a glimpse of their loved idols. Almost every H!P member came in their own cliques to visit Aya. Perhaps this is something so unique about H!P as even those who didn’t even know Aya well, like the newest member Kusumi, came and offered some form of encouragement. The zooming figures in and out of ward 201 (hope you can still remember this is the ward Aya was staying in) made Aya feel more than overwhelmed.
On the third day, Def Diva visited her around mid-afternoon. The various members had visited her before but they decided to come together as a whole unit to create a strong and good impression of themselves. Furthermore, they wanted to stimulate Aya so that she could remember something of H!P which she had failed in the past 2 days.
Rika, wearing a white and green blouse and a pair of matching boots, asked worriedly, “Do you think it is right for us to do this now?”
Maki answered in an unconvincing tone, “Maybe yes, maybe no. But we have to give a try. If she fails to remember, we can start the DIVA relationship from step 1 again…”
“But do you think that’s so simple? Yesterday news was so deceiving! What if the paparazzi finds out about the lie one day? The entire H!P image will be ruined!”
Natsumi rolled her eyes, sighed and said softly, “I don’t think this is the key issue now. Aya is quite pitiful, you know. Everyone expects so much from her. Give her a nice break.” She turned towards Maki. “Right, Maki?” Maki nodded her head. “Do you think Aya will fancy some snacks? I can buy her favourite snacks at the convenience store. The convenience store is at…uh…right or left?”
Rika laughed so hard that her shoulders shook. “Abe-san, I think I know the way. I will bring you there then.” Rika turned and smiled at Maki and said light-heartedly, “Goto-san, you enter on your own first, okay?” Maki nodded wearily. “Bye, see you later!”
Maki took the elevator up to the second floor and entered the ward. Along the way, many glances were thrown at her. This was probably one of the main reasons why she chose to become an idol. Eyes strained to observe her every action, ears focusing hard to listen to her every word, this was her childhood dream. But now, this was not the kind of attraction that she hoped for.
Aya was lying on the bed, staring out the window. Maki greeted her politely and Aya smiled back. Maki sat down gently on the chair and asked, “How was it yesterday?”
“Too many people came but I can’t remember a single one of them,” Aya replied with a tiny grin on the side of her face. The sobbing of her heart could be heard in her weak voice. Maki shook her head. “Tell me, Goto-san, are you the first person to visit me?”
Maki’s eyes began to glitter with hope. Aya not only remembered her name but also recalled that she was the first person to visit her. Perhaps, Aya could recover in time for the Def DIVA performance next month. “Yes, I am, Ayaya.” This was the first time Maki addressed Aya as ‘Ayaya’, the nickname which was only used by the close friend of Aya ---- Miki. She hoped that this name would rekindle some memories although she did feel rather awkward to call her Ayaya.
“Ayaya?”
“That’s your nickname.”
“Goto-san—”
“Call me Maki.”
“Okay, Maki, am I…famous as a singer?”
“Yes, you are. You have a lot of hits songs like--”
“I know! Love… something… iro. What is it? Damn it, I can’t even remember the name of one song!”
“Love namida iro?” This was one of the Aya’s songs Maki knew.
“Yes!” An awkward silence fell between them before Aya continued, “I wonder how it sounds like. I don’t think I remember anything of it.” Maki nodded in silence.
The door suddenly flew open. “Hello, Aya!” a high-pitch voice was heard. Entering the room, Rika and Natsumi’s hands were filled with plastic bags with snacks and drinks in them. Obviously, they did not know which snacks and drinks Aya liked and ended up buying things they liked. The uncertainty had left Rika and she exclaimed in a lilt voice, “Do you feel better now? My name is Ishikawa Rika. Nice to meet you!”
Natsumi gave Rika a disdain look. “I am Abe Natsumi.”
Aya had a confused look and went on to iintroduce without knowing that everyone in the room was in the same unit.
Natsumi threw a glance at Maki and Maki nodded. Natsumi started the song, “Rarabai” and Maki and Rika sang their parts before a silence descended. They waited for Aya to continue her part but Aya just stared at them with enormous eyes. Maki shook her head and went on “ano koro ga yume mitai” and with Maki taking Aya’s parts, the song was sung in a ¾ DEF DIVA fashion without any movement.
“Bye Bye mou nido to awanai keredo suki sugite USO mitai.” The song ended without the final pose.
Aya clapped and exclaimed, “Perfect combination! That was awesome! How long did you take to master that? I bet a few months at least.”
Natsumi pushed back her fringe and said absently, “The song with the choreography took a month.”
“Wow, that’s fantastic. I am not being rude or something but I just wonder did Maki sing more parts in the song?”
“Of course. She sang your parts as well.”
“My parts? You mean I am in the, what do you call that, unit?”
“Yes.” Natsumi took a quick look at her watch. “I need to go now, sorry Aya-chan, I can’t stay longer.”
“Bye.”
After stepping out of the ward, Natsumi sighed and closed her eyes. “Hopeless,” she thought, “she cannot return in time for the performance.”
Maki returned home quite late after dropping by the studio to collect some video tapes. Knowing Aya’s condition, now she could only rely on one thing ---- Love namida iro. This was the one and only song Aya remembered so there could be a chance for her to regain her memory if she heard this. Believing that Aya’s failure to recall Suki sugite baka mitai was due to the lack of worth and the wrong delivery of the song, Maki played the tapes and danced along with it.
It was hard initially because Aya’s dancing style was so different from hers. Occasionally, Maki had difficulties dancing and singing the song at the same time which was what Yuko described as an “amateur mistake”. This hit Maki real hard because she was one of the best hello project dancers.
3.a.m. Maki sat down comfortably in her red sofa and watched some more tapes. She wanted to follow exactly how Aya delivered her song. There was a lot of differentiation in both the singing and dancing in each live performance and it was tiring to make up which style was the one that was used most frequently. Maki squinted and her eyes grew smaller and smaller and smaller…
The following day, Maki entered Aya’s ward in a white top and a black mini-skirt. It was cold but she did not care as she hoped that this would keep her awake. Her face was pale and listless. Aya smiled and greeted her. Maki took Aya’s hand and touched it softly as she edged herself towards Aya. She said with a half-blank look on her face, “Sorry for not being with you for every second. I sincerely apologise—”
“You’re the person whom I spent the most time with,” Aya corrected her.
“Is it? What about the other girl who visited you on the first day?”
“That snobbish girl? I never see her face after that day and will never ever wish to see her again.”
“What an irony.” Maki murmured under her breath as a tiny grin was revealed on her pale face.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing.” There was a slight silence between them. Maki tightened her grip and squeezed Aya’s hand unknowingly. “Uh, do you wish to hear love namida iro?”
Aya’s face brightened up all of a sudden. “Sure.”
Maki took a few steps back and started a few simple footsteps. “LOVE namida iro anata no MEERU wa yomimashita…” She did the typical dance moves of the song rather stiffly as she was not feeling well after spending a night sleeping on the sofa. She could not memorise the choreography of the song although she did remember most of the lyrics. The chorus was sung in pure stiffness. Maki played in her head, “Raise right hand above head, close the chest, spread it open, footstep right, left, right, left…” During the verses, it was awkwardness as she had forgotten all the dance moves and even messed up some of the lyrics. This was pure horrible.
Despite the bad delivery, Aya clapped and even remarked that this was great. She certainly would not have said this if she was fine. Maki shook her head in shock of her poor performance and a fringe covered her mesmerizing eyes. Moving herself closer towards Maki, Aya pushed the fringe back and stared lovingly at Maki’s face. Somehow, Maki loved the soft touch of Aya on her face. She beamed for the first time in the day.
They were certainly oblivious of someone watching them from outside of the ward. Miki stood at an angle such that she could only see Maki and the back of Aya. Watching Aya touching Maki was too much for her to take. She should be in Maki’s position, enjoying Aya’s touch. “Why?” She asked herself again. “Why am I standing outside?” She sipped a cup of ready-made coffee slowly. After having a sleepless night yesterday (Miki did not spend her night practicing Love Namida iro like what Maki did), she felt that coffee was the only thing to keep her awake. She looked at it in disgust and threw it away into the sterilized dustbin. “Too much sugar,” she said to herself as she visualized Aya touching Maki’s face, “Too little milk,” a tear prickled down her cheeks as she recalled how Aya failed to remember her. Same with how she handled the coffee, she literally threw her most treasured friendship away as she stomped off without looking back.
“Fujimoto-san?” a voice from behind was heard.
Miki turned back and saw a man dressed in a suit, smiling at her. Allowing her fringe to cover her red and swollen eyes, Miki questioned, “What?”
“I just need your help to confirm some things. Oh yes, I am a police officer and I am in charge of Matsuura’s case.” He said as he took out a piece of trampled paper. Miki stared at him for a few seconds before taking it over. As she opened the paper, she noticed the familiarity of the handwriting as her tears went streaming down her cheeks.
It wrote, “Mikitty’s favourite chocolate and coffee powder. 3 packets each. Ichiban Ichigo a street across the end of the park. Remind Mikitty to come over for a special treat.”
“Mikitty, chocolate, coffee, special treat, when can I hear all these again? I might not be at the receiving end of all these again…”
“I bet you recognize the writing. Matsuura Aya’s handwriting is it?” the police officer asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“Yes. Where and when did you find this?”
“At the crime scene. Matsuura-san was clenching this piece of paper in her right fist when she was knocked down.”
“Oh, so she was knocked down because of me,” Miki murmured to herself as a sense of guilt hit her hard.
“Don’t feel guilty,” he said solemnly as he placed his hands on Miki’s shoulder, “No one had expected that to happen to Matsuura-san.”
Miki shifted backwards while holding back her tears as she questioned, “So have you found the criminal?”
“Apparently not. It was a hit-and-run.”
“Idiot.”
“Yes, that person is an idiot, it will be a heavier sentence for the criminal since it was a hit-and-run and-”
“I am not referring to the criminal, you are the idiot.” He was taken aback. “What’s so difficult of catching that person? That happened during the peak hours, didn’t it?”
He gave a forced laugh and explained, “Yes, but the driver left the scene immediately after it happened. Witnesses claimed that the criminal did not even slow down. It seemed that it was intended to hit Matsuura-san.”
Miki nodded her head and walked off, ignoring the police officer. She thought, “If Ayaya did not buy that chocolate and coffee powder that day, she wouldn’t be knocked over.” Guilt struck her hard again. She knew it was her fault. “Wait, that happened on a Monday, right? So that means that…Towao!”