a spider trapped on a cherry tree

Chapter 2 - Days Spent in Another World - Part 5 (Aoi)

Insert song: H2O - Omoide ga Ippai (Full of the Memories)

- One day till the wedding -

"Yes! You almost got it, Aoi-kun," Mikaboshi cheered, "Wish stronger and more focused!"

I kept repeating my wishes over and over. The deer was wounded by a tiger on its neck. Somehow Mikaboshi brought it to his backyard for me to practice on. The goal was to regenerate the wound and the tissue around it. It was hard but I needed to learn it.

"The trick is to imagine the wound to disappear and the skin and organ to reshape into the normal state," Mikaboshi taught me, "It'll be easier for you if you can picture it vividly."

"Okay," I said while doing exactly what he told me.

Slowly the wound was closing and new skin tissues formed. The fur was also growing from the new skin. I was amazed by my new accomplishment. There are more of me than what I know of. I never knew I could use my power to heal living things. I looked at Mikaboshi who was very excited when I succeeded.

"I'm proud of you, Aoi-kun!" he clapped like a child, "Remember, strong and focused wish and imagine the process."

"I'll keep them in mind!"

The deer stood pranced around again. It was the greatest reward for me, to save it from dying. I was so happy I mindlessly hugged Mikaboshi which froze. I snapped out of my excitement and released him after. We got awkward but didn't hate it either.

"So what will we learn next?" I became impatient.

"Woah, slow down! I'll teach the other thing to you later after lunch," he smiled.

"Aww... alright. You're the teacher," I was disappointed.

"But since it's still the morning, I want to show you something."

"Hmm? Something interesting?"

"Something you'd like."

We went further to the back of the house. There was a gate leading to a garden. It was beautiful. He showed me a garden full of cherry blossom trees. It was my favorite thing and everyone knows it.

"There's a place like this in here?" I ran around.

"Yes, of course," Mikaboshi was pleased I liked what I saw.

"Did you grow it by yourself? Sakura is my favorite flower ever!"

"For this one, I didn't order my servants to grow it. I did every work by myself."

"Why?"

"I wanted to show how genuine I was in keeping my promise to you. And it was a hard thing to grow something from the living land in here."

I was incredibly touched. He prepared this garden just for me.

"About the promise, I'm curious. How much memory of you did I forget? Is there any way I can get it back?"

He became quiet.

"I wish I could show every memory of us to you, but it's not easy Aoi-kun. In fact, it can be quite painful to relive a memory taken by gods."

"But it's unfair. I want to have it back. Please show them to me, Mikaboshi! I'm fine even if it's painful."

"Well, there is one memory which would be less painful. This one, I think you can handle it," he considered, "Come with me."

He opened a portal to his safe room I broke into the day before. Besides the jar of candies, there's a plastic bag and a string. He took it from the table and told me to touch the object. The moment I put my hands on it, a scene played around me. It was as if I was inside a movie. A scene where I was turning five played out. From the birthday party, the gods who attended, my reckless act as a child, and the first meeting of me and Mikaboshi, everything was shown to me. My head hurt after it was finished. I almost swayed and fell but luckily, Mikaboshi was there to catch me.