That Summer

Chapter 22

"Wake up, Mirai." I heard a voice in my ear.

"What?" I rubbed my eyes open.

"Are you okay?" I could only make out a large figure with my blurry vision in the dark.

"What do you mean?" I kept blinking my eyes until I could clearly see Hiro sitting on the bed staring at me.

"It seemed like you were having a nightmare." He gently tucked a hair behind my ear.

For the first time in years, I didn't feel like there was a dark cloud over my childhood memories. I could remember everything. I remembered what my dad looked like. I remembered how his voice sounded. I remembered how bright his smile was. I remembered how jolly his laugh was. I remembered how we would blow bubbles in the backyard and eat waffles together. All these memories made me feel liberated as if the door on the cage was open and I was free. I finally knew what had been holding me back for years. Not just the happy memories, but all the pain and grief that accompanied it. I finally understood what I had forgotten. I looked at Hiro's beautiful, gentle eyes that I remembered from when I was nine years old.

"Hiro." I cupped his face in my hands as if I was actually seeing him for the first time after all these years.

"What's wrong?" Hiro covered my hands with his.

"I'm just happy to have you in my life." I rubbed my thumbs over his cheekbones trying to etch this moment into my mind.

"I've heard that before." Hiro smiled as his eyes filled with passionate fire.

"I know. I remember telling you that before." I smiled back.

"What?" Hiro pulled away from me and got off the bed.

"Hiro?" I thought he would be happy but he was anxiously pacing around the room.

"Are you serious?" His back faced me as if he couldn't look at me and his voice sounded shaky.

"Are you mad at me?" I didn't understand his reaction.

"No, I'm not." He turned around and kneeled by the side of the bed tightly grabbing my hands.

"Then what's wrong?" I could see his eyes had become glossy.

"Do you really remember, Mirai?" Hiro's voice strained as a tear streamed down his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Hiro. After all these years, I'm sorry for not remembering you." I wiped his tears away.

"That doesn't matter to me." Hiro continued to softly cry.

"How long did you know?" I asked, realizing that he wasn't surprised that I was his first friend as well as his second and third.

"Ever since you ran into me when I was a teenager and the first day you helped me on campus." He tried to compose himself.

"That long?" I was surprised.

"I knew something wasn't right. You looked exactly the same as you did when I was a teenager." He tightly held on to my hands as if I was going to fly away.

"Hiro, I need to explain." I tried to say.

"It's okay. It doesn't matter. As long as you're with me now, I don't need an explanation. I feel like my life started again." He hugged me tightly and let out a huge sigh of relief.

"No, Hiro, I'm not from this time." I pulled away and he pouted.

"I know that." Hiro dropped another bomb.

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I know you're not from this time. I don't know if you're from the past or the future but I don't care." Hiro said as his gentle eyes looked at me.