LOST TIME MEMORY Vol. 1

Chapter 7.4

"...How you feelin'?" Ene asked, timidly. She was acting like a child whose dad had just raised his voice. Trying to calm him down.

"I'm okay," Shintaro said. He really wasn't. "Let's go home."

"Yeah," Ene said.

Shintaro took a tablet out of the bottle and swallowed it dry. The medicine and the doctor's words left a foul taste in his mouth. He'd met up with him a total of six times. They'd been quite ordinary medical check-ups from when he was young until now. His parents sometimes used to take him to the local hospital for them but opted for Kusakabe after hearing about him from the neighbors. And that's all there was to Shintaro and the doctor's relation. Nothing. It made him angry that someone akin to a total stranger had made a comment on something very, very personal. It was rude. Intrusive. Fucking dumb old man should've just kept his bastard mouth shut. Shintaro wanted to go back there. To give Kusakabe a piece of his mind. To tell him how little he meant, to uncover or create a wound within his mind. And then push and dig into it. Let it hurt, fester, become mortal. If Kusakabe wanted to see into his mind, into Shintaro's life, he had to at least go through that.

These thoughts didn't plague Shintaro as much as he was slightly starting to enjoy letting them wander freely as if they were mere joyous fantasies. It was like a filter broke, and all the dirty water contaminated the clean. And then, a cry rang from across the neighborhood. He looked to where it'd come from but still couldn't see it.

"What was that?" Ene asked.

Somehow, Shintaro recognized the voice. Not the name, though. Not yet. He felt a need to run. There was a sense of urgency that couldn't be ignored, but he still wanted to find some kind of excuse to ignore it. It felt like he was going to lose himself somewhat like he was reverting back to his past. Like he was fading out of empathy, into the background and up to the clouds to merely look down on everyone else. He didn't want to stray back and so fought against it, running past trees and houses a few blocks down the street and leaving the clinic behind.

"H-hey, we're going!? Shouldn't we just wait or call the cops?" Ene protested.

As everything came into view, two things struck his mind. One, the house. It was hers. Why did it have to be here of all places? Shintaro could barely keep himself together. Exhaustion and stress took over his breathing. He'd never been here. He'd walked her home once and knew where she lived, but he'd never gone to her house and now suddenly he was standing in the middle of her garden. Second, there was a brown-haired boy with a white no-sleeve hoodie over a blue T-shirt, holding a girl in his arms on the ground. Bloodstained clothes stuck to both their skin. The girl was limp, deep dark blood oozing from her stomach and seeping through her dress. Tears ran down the boy's eyes as he continuously wailed and wailed. Shintaro stared wide-eyed and in disbelief at what was happening. Then someone suddenly slipped past him, walking toward the pair. It was a young man in all black, from top to bottom. His hair, his shirt, his cargo pants all the way to his shoes. Pitch black, but accented by a menacing, bright yellow. The words the man spoke next sent a shudder down Shintaro's spine.

"You've lived in feeble misery... as the dead keep knocking on your door." Every single word was said in a precise, elegant manner. Yet the tone was so discriminately condescending as if he were speaking to worms. "And this, too, will be a sight to see for our Master." He pulled something out of his pocket and slowly pressed it against the boy's head. Shintaro cried out at the top of his lungs as he dashed forward:

"NO!-

BANG! The rings around the sound of gunfire echoed within the small forestry that embraced the garden. Grass and flowerbeds were stained in red. The boy's face was tattered, pieces piled up of bloodied flesh. There was a screeching silence that followed. Shintaro stood dead still in shock. Somehow, he had a premonition that this wasn't something he could run away from. Like it wasn't the first time. No, he'd experienced this before. He was certain. But he was too late. Even still, Ene shouted at him in desperation:

"SHINTARO WHAT ARE YOU DOING- GET AWAY!"

The young man looked toward them, then gave them a horrible, twisted smile as he raised his foot away, blood dripping down the tip of his boots onto the girl. She was breathing. If only slightly. Shintaro could try to stop him. He could muster up his will and do something. He felt- or rather knew that he'd been able to do it before. But he couldn't. Not this time.

"You are not a part of this story, yet you keep coming back. Squirming," the young man said.

Shintaro hadn't been certain before. He'd only caught a glimpse of his face, but it'd left such a deep impression that he couldn't move. But at that moment, he could clearly see the young man's face and crushingly realized who it was. Before he could utter the name, Ene called out:

"...Haruka?"

Shintaro turned his head to Ene. How did she know that name? Why was Haruka here, walking and around like he hadn't been in a coma these past years. It couldn't be him. He'd be the last person to ever harm anyone. This was someone else.

"She, however," he pointed the gun at them, "–still has a role to play." Shintaro turned around to run. There was a bang and Shintaro's body flew back hard against the ground. He groaned in pain but tilted his head down to see. Blood spurted out of his chest. He couldn't feel any pain. The sound of someone approaching him reached his ears, as well as Ene screaming at the top of her lungs, begging for Shintaro to get up, begging for his life to be spared. Still, he didn't move. He only struggled to keep breathing. The dark silhouette of the man looked him down and stretched out a hand, grabbing Ene.

"Ngh...o..." Shintaro couldn't form words. He could only reach for Ene with his fingertips and nothing more. He didn't have any strength in his body.

The man went back and dragged the blood-stained girl and started walking off. Slowly, towards Shintaro. And then past him. But before his footsteps were out of ear's reach, he said:

"Hey." Shintaro turned around, at the far edges of his consciousness. He saw the gun barrel and he heard the trigger.

End of Route: 82