LOST TIME MEMORY Vol. 1

Chapter 2.1

Shintaro frowned at the scorching sun, and it glared back at him. He was anxious. Did the girl notice anything off about him? She'd looked at him for a fraction of a second, so she must have thought of something. She must have thought he was odd. Or oddly suspicious. Or that he was something that didn't belong. Even though these were technically his streets and his home, the thoughts started growing like poisonous mold inside his mind. But the sun burned them all away. He was a nervous wreck and sweat was already dripping down his neck. Having been outside for only a few seconds, he could still immediately tell his jacket was going to boil him alive for the rest of the day. How hot was it? Thirty degrees Celsius? Maybe sixty... thousand? The heat distracted him, and so did Ene.

"Let me up!" She yelled.

He'd forgotten, for a moment, that she was there. He raised her up, the front camera facing the playground in front of his house, which she could see, among other things visible within the little street square. The rest were just other houses, apartments too, that surrounded and limited their viewing experience. A few local bakeries and antique stores stood a few blocks away, making you feel like everything connected this happy little square with its local stores. It felt grounded and welcome. Not much in terms of diversity, but it wasn't bad for the eyes by any means, especially on a bright summer's day with the wind gently blowing leaves away from the trees. The sky was a deep, clear blue and the clouds only showed up whenever they could complement its majesty.

"Woah, I haven't seen this in forever." She said, already pointing out various things like the sky, the soaring birds, the trees, and even the children. One of them noticed the phone and gave them a curious wave, which prompted the rest to do the same. Ene, of course, waved enthusiastically back at them. Shintaro hesitated slightly but decided to turn his phone around so they could see her. He had a front-facing camera, too, so she could still see them as well. Every single one of them suddenly gasped a "woah!" as soon as their eyes landed on her small blue swaying outline and waved with smiles and excitement. He put his phone down as soon as the parents were starting to give inquiring looks his way. The last thing he needed now was that kind of attention. The kind that comes with waving your phone's camera at random kids in your neighborhood. A big 'yikes' plastered all across Shintaro's face when he thought things through. Yet, as he contemplated their gazes and what their impression of him might be, one of the parents suddenly called out to him. They called him by his name.

Wondering if he might've heard wrong, he looked at the person. It was a woman, one of three, standing behind the children. She was in her 40s, maybe less. She was slim and nice-looking. Pretty and proper. Raising her hand, she gave him a warm smile and a little wave, much to the surprise of the other two beside her. She was the only one among them who'd recognized him. Shintaro gave her an awkward smile and an equally trying and trembling wave. As if fearful it might all just be some big misunderstanding, and she was actually greeting someone near him or mistaking him for someone else. But he was the only one there apart from Ene, and she wasn't even visible right now. The woman kept her tender smile as he walked a little hastily away. Ene looked at him as if wanting to ask but didn't speak a word.

After a few minutes of walking and showing Ene the local scenery from time to time, Shintaro finally exclaimed: "I think she was a friend of my mom's."

"You mean the person you waved to, Master?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

He'd recognized her voice. She'd visited and chatted with his mother sometimes, which, now that he thought about it, he was grateful for. As weird as it might sound. He'd randomly listened in to one of their conversations when he was getting a snack but trying to avoid being seen at the same time. Circumstances being what they were, others would've just stuck to badmouthing his mother and her 'shut-in son'. Or they would have tried to befriend her because of her famous daughter. But this woman was different. Her name was Saeki Murata. And although he hadn't met her face to face or talked with her, she would occasionally come over for a cup of coffee and spend time conversing with his mother. He'd heard their voices when walking through the hallway outside of his room. He recalled having seen her twenty-six times on his way to and from school back when he still went. She'd moved in about two years ago. So unlike the other two who'd been with her- he hadn't seen her as much. The other mothers beside her were your standard neighborhood housewives. The kind that spread gossip and believed everything they wanted to hear, with forgettable names nobody would even try and remember. He knew this from personal experience. He'd never had a good reputation among parents in general. Despite Mrs. Murata being friends with them, and despite their apparent unease, she'd still proceeded to greet him. Though Ene and Shintaro didn't say anything else on the matter, he had a slight smile creeping up. Ene's mood had been bubbly before, but now she also wore a somewhat contented look on her face.

"She seemed nice," said Ene.

"Yeah... I never noticed," Shintaro said, with both corners of his mouth now forming a proper smile after Ene's approval. "On another note, please don't call me 'Master' in public." She ignored that.

They continued onwards, and every time Ene asked whether they could "stop at that bakery for some macarons!" or "take a good look at those creepy-ass dolls!" of the local antique stores, he would say:

"Maybe later. Like, after we're done with what we went out for?"

Her sulky reaction, reminding him of the kids back at the playground, made him look around for another way out of the conversation. He noticed green metal frames peeking out from behind tall apartment buildings, shaped like an infinite ladder. A couple of seconds after, people in rows made of metal carts popped up and then instantly vanished out of sight as they went down, screaming at the top of their lungs. It was a rollercoaster, and it was in an amusement park. He'd completely forgotten they had one in town.

"We can go there later if you stop pouting," he said as he lifted her in his hand.

Her eyes widened as she screamed excitedly at the towering rollercoaster. "YES, ABSOLUTELY! LET'S GO, MASTER!"

"Later." He was glad she wanted to go as he'd meant to find a way to make up for their fight earlier.

"Yup. I'll be a good hologram girl."

Shintaro held down a chuckle, his mouth twitching in weird ways. He could give her a tour around the amusement park, sure, but not the satisfaction of having gotten a laugh out of him when she was just being her usual stupid self. They'd somehow managed to make that a thing, neither willing to laugh for the other despite their constant jokes and teases. They could laugh at each other, but not at the other part's jokes. It was stubborn, stupid and they would both die rather than lose. The joke wasn't even that funny.