☆ who you forgot ☆ - genshin impact (im back to publishing!!)

✧ chapter six - lyney ✧

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There are so many people, so many faces...

How many of them once knew Lyney? How many people has Lyney passed that must have known his name? Nobody in particular seems to stand out, there are familiars—the newspaper boy, the man running the cafe, the tall, red-eyed woman who runs an orphanage, yet none of them seem to poke out at Lyney like Charlotte does.

Perhaps he has met Freminet before, but Lyney feels something strange whenever he catches a pink-haired girl bobbing by on her toes. He tilts his head ever so slightly to observe her sometimes, as if a different angle of her face will jog any of his memories.

Gods, it bothers him.

"Freminet, you know Charlotte, don't you?" Lyney asks one evening on the aquabus, crossing his legs and wrapping his arms around himself.

"I don't personally know her, per se," Freminet shifts in his seat, repositioning himself with his hands at his sides. "But I've encountered her quite a few times. She has this idea that I'm some unique diver, with some sort of secret."

I would think that, Lyney thinks of himself studies Freminet's face now, noticing the constellation of freckles that hides behind the shadow of Freminet's hands. We made quite a few deliveries the past day or so, and he's barely said a word to any of his employers.

"I want to do something. About the memories," Lyney suggests suddenly, snapping his fingers as if he'll pull a card out of thin air. The faces he's sure he's seen before burn in the back of his mind...

Freminet's eyes widen, and his voice lowers. "Have you even heard about what happens to the people who we forget about?"

Lyney shakes his head innocently.

"I don't know much either—and that's the thing. Many people who have their memories wiped are taken into a home, supported by the Gardes... and they never appear again. The people of Fontaine hush about the prophecy because of how much it worries them, and most people don't even think about the victims, or what happens after—" Freminet lifts his gaze, and Lyney turns his head, a few people staring at them from behind.

The boy taps his foot impatiently on the ground, drumming his fingers against the fabric of his shorts. He looks around. "Do you know someone who would know?"

"There's someone who's always looking for the scoop. Someone who's willing to do anything to prove the truth," Freminet stands as the aquabus approaches their stop. Lyney's hand is clammy against the handrail. "Charlotte knows just about everything, and I know exactly how to get to her."

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The next morning, the two of them approach a circular-shaped building. It's billboard is packed with flyers, an organized chaos advertising beauty products and restaurants alike. The papers blow in the wind, the sound of them snapping sweet to Lyney's ears—he reaches for the door handle, Freminet behind him, and he pulls—at the very same time, someone pushes from the other side, and they fall right on their face at Lyney's feet.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Lyney drops the door and rushes over to the girl, wiping her pink hair out of her face. "Here, let me—"

He meets a very familiar face.

Freminet stutters, "Ah! Miss Charlotte! It's you!"

"H-hello?" She adjusts the monocole on the right side of her face, shaking her head as if to shake the dirt off her clothes. "Lyney? Freminet? I didn't expect to see you here."