@olive29: Yuko just had a sudden attack and this next chapter will explain more thoroughly I guess 
@Chichay12: As per request 
@abcari and Konoe: Yes..Yes.. *cough* Yuko *cough* 
@AryaMachdi: Yeah Mariko just ruin the moment there...and thanks for the compliment....please continue to make awesome fics as well 
@shiruba_rein: You've actually guessed it right 
and I think this next chapter will be the answer 
@Zita: I actually don't like Mariko-sama's character here and I can't believe I just made her look like the bad guy 
SorrytoallMarikooshipleasedon'tkillme 
@atsukojiyuu_C: Thanks I know how you feel and making this is so hard 
but don't worry I'll try my best to make it good in the end... 
@LovelyGaki: Thanks and yeah there's more to go... 
A/N: Hey I'm back
again and the good news is I'm trying to finish this up on/before Christmas hopefully
... here's the next part
Part 4 Atsuko tries once more to pry the thing from Yuko's grasp but has no luck. She decides to sit in the room and wait.
After an hour, Atsuko looks at Yuko and sees that her eyes were closed. She comes to the bed to examine her, and her breathing is more regular. Atsuko starts to leave, but was stopped.
"Acchan," Yuko says, heavily. Like she's been drugged.
Atsuko turns around, and Yuko is looking at her, though still curled in a ball.
"What is it?" Atsuko asks, relieved because at least Yuko remembers her.
Yuko watches Atsuko, until Atsuko moves back to the chair, and then pulls the chair next to the bed.
"What kind of – person – am I? Was I?"
Atsuko frowns. "What do you mean?"
"I mean – I had a flashflood of images run through my head. I hurt people. I – killed people." Yuko's thinking, how could a girl like Haruna ever like her?
Atsuko looks at Yuko kindly. "Well, Yuko, at one time you were a part of a Black Organization or a syndicate here in Japan. Do you remember what it is?" Yuko shakes her head no. "Well, you were a member of it and basically you guys did some bad things."
"I can somehow remember it," Yuko says, clutching her fist tighter around the object.
Atsuko nods. "You – you did hurt, and kill people. But you turned good and joined the Light, you fought them and betrayed your boss, you were an instrument in freeing the world of some evil tyranny."
Yuko processes the information. "So, I was bad, then I was good." Atsuko nods. "Was it because of her?"
"No. It was because you saw what your boss really wanted, what his ultimate goal was, and you did not want it to happen. So you came to us –
me, actually – and offered to be a spy. Like I said, you were very helpful. Without you, countless lives would've been lost.
Yuko nods, and then lessens her grip on the box. She slowly sits up. "All I can see are bad images and the horrible things I did."
"I can't even imagine what that was like."
"They just hit me, like a stray person."
Atsuko smiles. "What's in your hand?"
Yuko looks at her, and then tosses the box to Atsuko. "I remember we were friends," she says.
Atsuko catches the box then nods to Yuko, and opens it. It's a
ring, a silver ring, with a dark red garnet between two small pearls. It's not huge, it's not small; it's perfect for a person whom it was intended.
"Wow, Yuko. I had no idea."
Yuko shrugs, and motions Atsuko to return the box. She does, and Yuko looks at it once more. "It was specially made for her. Lots of special charms put into it. The band is a unique pattern, crafted for just this ring. My name, and all that it carries, was put into this ring. I was going to ask her the day after I was attacked,
Christmas Day."
Yuko then looks up at Atsuko. "I know what you're probably thinking. Very atypical of me, and oh, so cliché. But the truth is, it just happened to be that day that I decided I wanted to be with her and marry her, so I placed an order for the ring that same hour. The old man message me when it was ready, and I went to pick it up that night." Yuko looks at the ring again, sighs, and puts it in the nightstand.
"Yuko, we didn't know you were going to ask her to marry you."
Yuko smirks. "Isn't that the idea? A surprise?"
"Well, yes, but – she had no idea, either."
Yuko shrugs. "I have been spontaneous only a few times in my life. That I can remember." She chuckles. "But I'm pretty sure this was one of those times. I did not tell her a thing. Didn't talk about it – nothing. I wanted it to be a complete surprise."
Atsuko then looks at Yuko with sad eyes.
"It's okay, Acchan. Life isn't fair. Believe me, I know."
"So, you remember?"
"No. Just more and more of her, and now – all of that." Yuko scrubbed at her left arm. "I can almost see it, trying to burn through my skin," she says. "I'm scared, Acchan. What if – what if I don't remember?
Tomorrow. I could wake up completely oblivious."
Atsuko stands. "I know. We're all worried about that."
"We?" Yuko says and laughs. "We. Right."
"Just try and rest. Okay? I'll see you first thing tomorrow."
Yuko nods, and a wave of exhaustion hits her. Atsuko then leaves. Yuko crawls under the covers, and shivers, not because she's cold, but because she's scared to go to sleep;
scared to wake up.
Yuko has the same dream she's had every single night.
She smiles as she leaves the jeweler, the ring safely tucked in her coat. She takes four steps after turning left, and she's surrounded. Three people in all, black hoods up and guns drawn, pointing at her heart.
She stops, her smile frozen, then gone.
She knows these people. She'd sent them to their deaths, but these had survived. Vainly, she reaches for her gun.
With a cackle, the closest person – another member –
her Aunt – disarms her.
"Stupid little niece," she says, drawing back her hood. The others did the same. "Did you honestly think we wouldn't come for you? That we wouldn't find you? That you were safe? You betrayed us all. I lost my entire family –
your family – because of you." She circled her now; she stood staring straight ahead.
When she was facing Yuko again, she sneered, then jabbed her gun at her throat. "We found you, Yuko-chan. And we're going to have some fun with you, before we kill you." Her Aunt cackled again,
They hit and beat her leaving signs of trauma. Finally, through a concussed headache, Yuko tried to fight back but just before she does, her Aunt hit her with two heavy shots at once and then…
A flashShe wakes with a start, and sits straight up in bed. She looks around, and she notices everything is in
color, and she finds it odd. Then she realizes that it's strange to take note of the presence of color, and then she further realizes that it's something new for her to know it wasn't like this yesterday.
Yesterday.She lunges for the nightstand and pulls open the drawer. Grabs at the front left corner, puts her hands around the small black box. She pulls it out, opens it, and sees the ring.
And this morning, she remembers everything. Except the two years she was in the hospital; but before that.
Everything.Why she left the Organization. How Haruna first caught her attention; when she'd kissed her the first time to get her to shut up, and how they'd kissed for a good ten minutes before they knew what had happened.
Their first date; what she wore; the first time they'd held hands. Everything.
Acchan. Mariko. Takamina. The Organization. Her parents. Her award from the Government of Japan for a valiant service—an award she gave to Haruna.
The night she kissed her goodnight and went to pick up a ring. And everything in between.
The realization almost makes her physically sick. It was just –
there – and she knows that it wasn't always there, so easily accessible.
Then, something whispers in the back of her mind, she stands and goes to the stack of books. Akihabara High: A History, is actually brown not black. She frowns.
The door opens, and Atsuko walks in. "Good morning, Yuko. How – "
"What color was Haruna wearing yesterday?" Yuko interrupts impatiently.
Atsuko frowns. "Red."
"You're sure. It was Red."
"Yes. A Red blouse and black pants. Yuko— "
"What color is this book?" she asks, holding it up that was Black only hours before.
"Brown. Yuko, what is this about?"
Yuko looks at Atsuko. "Yesterday, they were Black and White."
"Yesterday."
Yuko nods.
"You remember yesterday?"
Yuko nods again.
"Then, surely you remember that it's a
big deal for you to remember yesterday."
And then Yuko falls onto the bed, staring at the wall in front her. "Yes," she says, nodding. Then she puts her head in her hands. "It's all true, isn't it? It's been almost two years."
Atsuko nods, and Yuko's reeling. Haruna was really with Mariko. It hadn't been a terrible nightmare. All of it —
"Ok I'd like to ask you some questions, Yuko."
She nods.
"Who did I talk to when you wanted to be a spy?"
"Your cousin Sayaka who works at the Central Police."
Atsuko nods. "And what did Minami say to me when I returned from the bar drunk?"
"She said, 'Maeda Atsuko, put on a sweater, you're going to catch cold.' But she was grinning and hugging you and crying at the same time."
"What did Sayaka plan to do for Mari-chan on Christmas Day that you, uh, missed?"
Yuko whips her head up to meet Atsuko's gaze. And she's really angry. "Why would you ask me that?"
"Because you are one of only three people who knew the answer."
Yuko glares at Atsuko. "She was going to take her to the amusement park, Which, I'm guessing, never happened."
"Uh, no. We were all there actually."
Yuko sighs and runs a hand through her hair. There's a constant, dull, ache in her heart and her gut.
Atsuko smiles at her warmly. "If you think you're ready, you can gather your things and follow me to my office."
Yuko blinks. "You want me to leave this room?"
"Yes. I'm going to discharge you."
TBC
Topic: Memories (KojiYuu) -Part 7- [COMPLETE] (Read 40711 times)