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𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝: 𝚃𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚄𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 1362

☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎

Chapter Eight: Try to Understad

☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎

Quite an expectional sight. Out of all those who recognized you, he was the only one who never mentioned anything past-related.

"Isn't my job amazing?" The male who calls himself Hanako grinned from ear to ear. You can't tell whether he's pretending not to care about it or that he really doesn't give a single frog. He never even made clear what exactly his role was in your past. He left a big gap for you to find out. You have to ask Tsukasa for information since he doesn't want to explain. However, here comes a bigger problem... "Yeah, but can I go to the bathroom for a minute?" You stated, trying to find a way to get out of his watchful gaze. "We are in a bathroom, though..."

Oh.

You looked around, and indeed, this place was a bathroom... You're not really sure why he chose this place as a hangout spot. You don't want to judge people by their taste, but you really want to judge. Plus, you've been here for hours. Just how long is he going to keep you locked in here? "By the way, how'd you know Tsukasa?" Hanako asked.

"Well, I met him a couple of days ago, and he said he knew me, so he asked to play for a while." You said with nothing but truthful words. "Are you related? You look so much alike." It's the plain obvious, but you just felt like you need to hear it directly from him. "Yeah, he's a younger brother of mine." He rested his head on his cheeks with a smile. The way his eyes looked at you felt undeniably bothersome. "Were we also friends back then?" You asked.

"Friends?" He repeated with a dumbfounded expression. "I wouldn't say friends.." his eyes wondered, breaking eye contact with you for the first time. It seemed like that answer made him stiffer than before. "But we were really close..." Hanako smiled.

You can't clearly state what he's thinking about. That's how mysterious he felt to you. He's someone who's hiding something. "Did Tsukasa say anything about me?" Hanako mentioned in a hesitant tone. "Nothing in particular." You said, though you wished Tsukasa really said something. Not even a grain was told to you.

"You shouldn't worry too much, Chiyo. At the end of the day.. the past has already passed. Just forget about it, hm?" His arms extended to you and wrapped it around, embracing you once more. This guy really has a thing for physical touch. You wouldn't say you particularly hate it. You're just so not used to it since the only one who can get this close was Ai.

Just as you were accepting the calm atmosphere. "Hanako-kun!" A loud thud opened the bathroom door, making the both of you flinch and scoot away from that tight hug.

It was the blonde girl from last night. This time, she had papers on her hand and a determined expression. However, upon seeing you two in an  awkward distance, she cleared her throat. "Did I disturb something?"

"No. Just give it here." Hanako inflated his cheeks, stealing the paper that yashiro had in her hands. "Is this all?" He skimmed through all the papers and raised his eyebrows. "Yes, everyone gave theirs except for Fushigina.."

"..Again?"

You felt directly at fault after hearing your name. "Was I supposed to give something?" Your eyes blinked a couple of times, trying to remember if there was a task that you were not aware of. "Huh?" Yet, that made the conversation a lot more confusing.

"What?"

"What do you mean, Chiyo?" Hanako unnecessarily caressed your cheeks as if he was looking at his little sibling. "She said everyone gave a papers except for me. What was I supposed to give? I didn't know I had to make one." You stated it as clear as the skies above, yet no one can truly understand. You all stood in silence, gradually making the atmosphere even more awkward. What was so confusing?

You passed on glances to each of them, but no one was willing to say anything. Except for one.. "I knew you'd be here."

Just beyond the door frame, a little boy peeked his eyes through with a frown. "Tsukasa." You leaned back in surprise. It's the feeling you'd never expect to bear. You were relieved to see him again. "Hi Amane, hi Chiyo... Hi, radish seller." He awkwardly poked out and waved. You wanted to jump out of the sink counter and run to the arms of a familiar dangerous man, but Hanako was quick with his hands. "Where are you going?" The male mouthed his favorite sentence to say.

"Amane, are you doing it again?" Tsukasa's hand touched his mouth in a curious manner. He was asking for something neither you nor the girl beside you knows, but Hanako reacted negatively. "Tsukasa, will you leave us alone for a while?"

"Why? He just got here." You gently pushed Hanako's hands away, trying to protect his younger brother. "Chiyo, not now.." Hanako tried to calm you down and slip you back to his side, but his hand froze as if hesitating to touch you. At just a mere second.. "Well, whatever." He gave up trying to argue and just took a deep breath.

"Chiyo!" Acting like a helpless victim that had been through a lot, Tsukasa came rushing to embrace you and buried his face on your chest. "I missed you so much! You never came back last night!" Your hand raised, forcing yourself to caress his back. Why does it feel like you gained a child after coming out here? "I'm sorry, I just left without saying a word.."

"Um.." The other female cleared her throat and pointed towards the door in a haste. "I should probably go.. Class is starting." Before she could even hear a response, she already left, leaving you in this mess. You can try to handle one, but you don't think you'll live to see another day if you're left with two of these guys. "Cut it out, Tsukasa." Hanako came to break that long hug with a frown on his face. "As you can see, we're a little bit busy with November's event." He flicked the paper in his hands. "I don't think you'll be much help."

"No, I can do it!" Tsukasa took the paper and read it on his own. He skimmed through every page, seeing everyone's entry. These were each of the mystery's personal pick for the chosen one to get the spotlight this month. But something was missing.. excluding the overall leader, Hanako. Only six mysteries gave their entry. "Chiyo, you didn't choose a participant?" Tsukasa asked.

"I was supposed to do that?" You looked dumbfounded at his words.

"You didn't know? Every mystery needs to partake! Did your clone not tell you anything?" His words struck like someone scolding you for being irresponsible, but the word "clone" triggered you the most. "Ai is a friend and not a clone."

"Touché." He shrugged.

"What are you two talking about?" Hanako raised his eyebrows, already annoyed from earlier. Now he's  more irritated that he couldn't understand what you two were talking about. "Didn't I already tell you, Amane?"

"What exactly?"

"That the redheaded Fushigina is a fake and Chiyo's the actual 8th mystery."

"What?" Hanako scoffed, not believing a single word his siblings said. However, the look on your face could never indicate that Tsukasa's statement was a lie. The most ridiculous part is that he fell for it and believed an imposter was the actual eighth mystery. Hanako glanced at you, hoping to find an explanation. However, you can't answer yourself as you also don't know why it occurred.

What was Ai's purpose in the first place? Why was she created to just disappear out of nowhere?

Only you can answer, but even you are annoyed to be uselessly clueless.

If only you could remember.