Toilet-bound Hanako-san

Ch. 6 - A Sudden Realization

"Look here!" You pointed toward a spot on the file laid out on Satoru's desk. The two of you were standing in the faculty room and going over your technique's mechanics. "It tells us exactly how to use it! What luck?!"

"Wow, wish we would've seen that yesterday," Satoru chuckled and briefly read over the instructions, leaning over his desk in order to read. "Seems a lot like my infinity in a way... Well, give it a shot!" He encouraged, backing up to give you space to concentrate.

The file went over the various aspects of your technique, just on the pages you neglected to read the day before. Figures, huh?
In the case of your corporealization, all you had to do was channel cursed energy. Similar to Satoru's infinity ability, you had to channel it at all times to maintain your physical presence. It would take some concentration at first, but should become second nature with time.

Slowly and steadily, you did what you could to channel the energy around you. After a few prolonged seconds of concentration, you suddenly began to feel a bit of weight to your body. Delicately, you planted your feet firmly on the ground as your transparency slowly wore off.
Looking down at your body, you slowly watched as your flesh became real in front of you. You looked up at Satoru with excitement as you became fully opaque. 

"Look at you!" Satoru laughed happily as you observed your new state of being. "How do you feel?"

You contemplated it for a moment. "Starving!" You declared.

At the same moment, Suguru walked in with quite a somber look on his face. "Want to go get some lunch?" He asked on the spot, bringing a smile to his face the moment he saw you.

"What? It's almost time for the afternoon session!" Satoru whined at his co-teacher. 

"You'll cover for me, right, Satoru?" Suguru grinned at his best friend and walked over to you. "Wow, you did it," he lightly grabbed your upper arm to make sure you were actually flesh and bone in front of him.

"Yep!" You smiled happily. "It was honestly so easy, I'm a little embarrassed I didn't figure it out sooner."

"So...lunch? On me?" Suguru repeated his offer, raising an eyebrow in anticipation of your answer. You nodded almost immediately.

The two of you began to walk out of the faculty room, you following Suguru. "Hey, c'mon, Suguru!" Satoru whined again.

"I owe you!" Suguru assured him without looking back. You giggled at their interaction and continued following Suguru out the door.

"Where are we gonna' go?" You asked, happily walking beside Suguru; and this time with your feet on the pavement. 

"There's a nice spot down the street," he noted, "it has some of the best zaru soba in town." He looked over at you with a very assured look.

"Oh!" You noted. "I remember that being a friend's favorite."

"Remember?" Suguru asked, turning the corner to an alleyway where there were a few tiny restaurants. 

You nodded in response. "Ever since reading some of my files, I've had a few 'flashes' come into mind. It's interesting, like coming back to me in separate puzzle pieces." 

"Oh, great," Suguru tried his best to sound happy. After learning what he knew from his grandfather's journal, he almost wanted to prevent you from remembering. He didn't want you to remember any sort of pain. 

The two of you strolled into one of the tiny restaurants. It looked to be run by an older couple, an older man behind the cooking and the wife to care for the customers. It was a quaint place, worn in quite well from years of loyal customers.
Suguru ordered for the two of you as you agreed to enjoy the zaru soba together. You sat across from one another and enjoyed company, sipping on warm tea as you waited for the dishes to arrive. 

Suddenly a song came on the old radio that sat in the corner. The radio itself looked as old as the couple and you certainly recognized it from your past. It was similar to the one your family had growing up.

"No way," you sat up at attention as you heard the familiar tune float through your ears.

"What?" Suguru hesitantly sat up with you, looking around to see if he could see what you were referring to.

"I know this song!" You said happily. "I remember hearing it on the radio while getting ready for school in the mornings!"

Suguru's face paled, yet another memory. They seemed to be coming back to you like a flood. "Oh, yeah?" He asked, hesitantly curious.

You began to sing along with some of the lyrics, swaying back and forth to the beautiful melody. "It's Otomaru-san! It came out during my first year of high school. The melody is so...hypnotizing and beautiful. I loved it." You continued swaying along with as the notes from the flute sang out loud and clear. When you closed your eyes you almost felt like you were in a fairy tale.

"You know this song?" The older woman's voice was weak, but she smiled happily as she set the soba in front of you. 

"Oh yes, one of my favorites," you nodded and thanked her for the meal while you were at it. 

"My, my, how interesting. This song came out when I was just a little girl. It makes me want to go to the ocean," she gave a nearly toothless grin. "Enjoy," she lightly bowed and left the two of you to eat. 

Suguru was nearly silent, so interested in who you were and why you somehow seemed so familiar at the same time. After a moment of watching you eat, he joined in.

"It's so good," you nearly cried, mouthful of noodles. "I've missed eating so much!"

"I can imagine," Suguru chuckled. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

You slurped down the noodles that you had and wiped your mouth. "Suguru," your voice was soft. He stopped eating as soon as you said his name and looked up at you, this time his turn to have a mouthful of noodles. He swallowed before you continued speaking. "You're really sweet," your tone was incredibly endearing that it made a bit of pink rush to his cheeks.

"A-ha," he awkwardly cleared his throat as if you had caught him off guard with the compliment, "thank you. You're sweet, too."

You gave a warm smile in return and continued eating your noodles. 

You finished out the day with Suguru by watching him teach the last of his afternoon class. You never made it to your graduation so all of the content was new. 
Before you knew it, you were back at his apartment for the evening.

You had brought back all of your files again, specifically the one on your family and the one on your graduating class. You wanted to look at the photos again to see if you could spark any more bits of your memory. 

"What was your grandfather like?" You asked Suguru as the two of you looked through the pages of the 1934 folder. 

"I actually don't know," he answered, leaning back on the couch lazily. He had on lounge wear -- a simple, white t-shirt and gray sweat pants. He let his hair down for the day. You were surprised by how long that it was, draping down to his mid-back. It didn't look it when up in it's bun, though you had accidentally seen it down in the shower the day before. "He passed away a few months before I was born, coincidentally enough."

"Oh..." your chest suddenly hurt. You couldn't remember much, but you did know that he was your classmate and you cared for him at least as a friend. "How old?"

Suguru thought on this one for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. "Seventy-two, I believe," he said, but then wanted to confirm by whispering his mental math out loud. "Nineteen eighteen minus 1990... Yeah, 72."

"Wow, good for him," you smiled. You were happy to know that he at least lived his life fulfilled. The man had a grandson so he was clearly loved. Something about it made you feel bittersweet, but you just couldn't figure out why.