"Love is a promise; love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear." - John Lennon

XXIV.

I am an only child.

And I was always alone in a cage what I used to call home.

I was always alone.

And I thought that I've had it worse now since I'm home-schooled.

Studying with a teacher that my parents hired all day.

Playing with musical instruments all day, praying that someone would notice the unhappiness I had been letting out through music.

I wasn't even allowed to take a step out of the mansion.

I wasn't even allowed to keep standing.

I've been used to seeing people around me smiling and laughing because of the jokes they found funny and the excitement that their faces couldn't hide when stories and secrets spill out of their lips and they only it share with each other.

And every once in a while, those secrets are going to be the ropes that would bind them together for a lifetime.

I've also wanted to find someone that could make me keep a secret for a lifetime.

A sister...

A friend...

Someone...

Anyone...

"Yurika... Yurika!" the girl, who was currently hugging and squashing me to death, sobbed as tears rolled down her cheeks and some of it dropped on my cheek.

They were calling me by my first name. First name basis... Only those who are allowed to call me by my first name were...

"W-Wait..." I tried pushing them away but they wouldn't budge and that even made them tighten their hug on me. "I... I can't breathe," I complained then glanced at my fiance who was just staring at the three of us on the floor and I gave him a look that says 'Help me.' but still, he didn't move a muscle.

The other girl looked at me then grinned. "We're not even hugging you at max," She giggled then they pulled away.

"You're still as fragile as ever, Yurika." The sobbing girl added but a smile was evident in her voice.

They both stood up and offered a hand. I stared at their smiling faces before slowly reaching up both of my hands to grab theirs. In an instant, they yanked me up to my feet before hugging me again but this time, it wasn't as tight as earlier.

The girl, who wasn't crying, sighed. "Your smell never changed though," She chuckled and my eyes widened in confusion. "You still smell yummy as ever."

Hearing those words made me bite on my lower lip because I remembered someone said those exact words, except that it made me blush furiously though.

"You smell delicious, Yurika,"

"Like strawberries?" The other girl asked.

"Yep, my favorite!"

And yes, I was getting confused and irritated because I kept on listening to them babbling about how my hair and perfume smells like but I need to know who they were.

"I'm sorry but could you please pull away?" I asked politely as possible.

Thankfully, they pulled away with a pout on their faces.

"So mean, didn't you even missed us?" The ginger-haired girl whined.

"And yeah, we're supposed to be mad at you, Yurika." The other girl added and they crossed their arms across their chests. "You left without even informing us."

I glanced at my fiance and gave him a worried look. Now I was sure that they are people from my lost past and I contemplated whether to tell them the truth or not.

Yuta-kun just shrugged as an answer.

Well, gee, thank you for the encouragement.

I slightly pouted then with a sigh, I finally turned my gaze to the two teenage girls who were upset with me for some reason.

"I'm sorry but..." I trailed off then pursed my lips, thinking of a lucid response. "I... I don't know you guys."

They gave me a blank look then they both stared at each other then back at me.

"Wait," The girl with strawberry blonde hair said with a confused look. "Yukari, please tell me that I heard her wrong."

"What is?"

"She doesn't know us."

"Nope, sister, you heard her right." The girl named Yukari confirmed.

"She's kidding," Her emotion was blank then she looked into my eyes. "You're kidding, Yurika, right?"

I shook my head and I felt bad. "I was in an accident..." I looked away, not wanting to see their reaction. "I have amnesia."

"Amnesia, huh..." She giggled slowly, clearly the statement haven't fully registered in her brain. "No wonder she-- WHAT? YOU HAVE AMNESIA?!" She exclaimed.

"OH MY GOD! HOW... WHA-WHEN... WHY?!"

"Please calm down." I told them then glanced at Yuta-kun. "Help me here." I mouthed to him and he panicked like he didn't know what to do with this situation.

Okay, expect me to handle 3 people in a state of panic.

Then to my surprise, the girl named Yukari took me by the shoulders. "If that's the case, then we just have to rack that rusty brain of yours!" Then she started shaking me violently which made me a little dizzy.

"S-Stop it..." I begged her and she sighed before doing so.

"Yukari, that's not how it works..." The other girl sighed then massaged her temples. "Re-chan never told us that she doesn't remember any of us..." She mumbled to herself.

"Duh, that's because you didn't let him finish! You were pretty eager!"

"You can't blame me, Yukari!"

"Yeah, well--"

"Please, stop fighting." I told them.

Yukari-san smiled at me. "We are not fighting, Yurika," She informed me and my eyebrows furrowed. "That's just what best friends are for." My eyes shot up at the words.

Best friends.

Then a guess came to mind as to why they seem to know me well and it all made sense now.

"Wait," I pulled my hand out and stared at them with wide eyes. "Are you guys... somehow..."

"Yep," She grinned. "We were Totally Spies~!"

"Don't bother with her, Yurika, she just got discharged from the insane asylum."

"Hey!" Yukari-san whined and I just found myself chuckling at the remark.

"Yurika," The girl gave me a warm smile and I know that her next words are followed by a request. "Will you come with us? We just need to talk to you about something."

"No," It shocked me to hear Yuta-kun's firm voice from behind me. And it seemed that it shocked them too because it seemed that they just noticed his presence. "Whatever you're going to say to her, you can say it to the both of us."

Yukari-san raised an eyebrow in question. "I'm sorry but who are you?"

"Yuta Kiryuu, I'm her fiance." He emphasized the final word.

Then they repeated what they had done earlier, staring at each other then back at my fiance.

"My condolences to you, Mister..." Yukari-san blurted out that made Yuta-kun raise an eyebrow in question. "Uh, what I mean is, oh... shocking." She sweat-dropped.

"I think that you're just going to get bored to hell if you hear out what we're going to say to her." The other girl interjected. "This is mostly about... um, a girl's thing."

"Erika!" Yukari-san whisper shouted to her. Oh, finally she has a name. "Wait until Akashi-kun meets this guy!" Although it was a whisper, I heard her very loud and clear.

"I think he already did." Erika-san mumbled in horror. "Yurika, please, talk to us for a little bit. We've missed you."

I turned my attention back at Yuta-kun then he gave me blank stare. "Can I, Yuta-kun?"

After a few moments, he sighed. "I'll just be at the auditorium." He just said then walked away, not sparing me a single glance.

He is upset.

I always end up leaving him behind.

But why? Why was he always left behind?

And this girls in front of me claimed to be my friends yet... they didn't know him.

"I hope for your fast recovery so we could go out like we always do."

How come they didn't know him?

Is he, by chance, not a part of my past?

But... he might be lying if that was true because...

"I think he's mad." Yukari-san guessed, making me snap back to reality.

Well, you don't say.

"He's not mad, just upset." I muttered. "If you guys don't mind, I also have a few questions to ask."

"Of course," They agreed in unison.

•••

"I don't understand," I mumbled unbelievably as the two girls in front of me licked and savored their ice creams. "I absolutely don't understand any of this..." I ran my fingers through my hair in disbelief. "Why am I the one who pays for the food?!" I exclaimed, frustration clear in my voice.

"You always paid for our food, Yurika. You always volunteered." Yukari informed me nonchalantly.

"It's different now!" I pointed out and leaned back on my chair with a meek groan.

"No, nothing has changed, Yurika," Erika disagreed then she smiled. "You just can't remember, that's why."

I sighed then bit my lower lip. "I'm sorry," I muttered. "Can we please just get this over with? I don't want to miss the game, you know."

"Aren't you worried that your 'lovely' fiance might flirt with other ladies while you're busy with us?"

I raised an eyebrow. "He'll never do that!"

I never noticed time after we had spent the whole day talking about things I couldn't remember or even recall. I couldn't quite relate to what they were saying but I saw the emotion dancing in their eyes as they talked, laughed and everything.

I saw happiness, excitement, nostalgia and many more. And it diverted my attention to what I really wanted to ask the most.

"Yukari, Eri," I called out and they snapped their heads to me. "How come you guys don't know Yuta-kun?"

"We don't understand either, Yurika," Eri shook her head and looked into my eyes. "You were..." She trailed off then groaned. "I think your parents didn't tell you the whole truth."

"And so did the Yuta-kun guy." Yukari added nonchalantly.

I squinted my eyes at them, getting confused and then I found myself shaking my head slowly. "What?"

"Yurika, do you know a guy named Akashi?"

"Seijuro Akashi?" I asked and they nodded. "Yes, I've met him earlier."

They exchanged knowing glances.

"Yurika, we're going to ask you a question and I want you to answer us honestly," They suddenly became serious then I tensed up as I nodded in response, my heart beat started accelerating. "Did he do something disturbing?"

"We will leave."

"Welcome to your nightmare."

"He existed."

"You smell delicious..."

"Let's just say that I like to play games and... I don't play fair."

"I'll call you soon."

"I memorized it, Yurika."

And then I closed my eyes, nodding. "Yes,"

"As expected from Akashi-kun." Yukari mumbled.

"I know he played a big role in my life and I--"

"A big role?" Eri cut me off with a giggle. "Yeah, I think you could say that." She smirked. "He was the lead role in your life."

"The lead role?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yukari beamed with a grin, half-fangirling.

"He was your lover." Erika finished.

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Sorry, I haven't updated in a while. Exams are still not over. It's just that typhoons kept on coming, suspending our classes and therefore, moving the days of exams. Everything is fine now, I think.

OH MY GOSH, THANK YOU FOR THE VOTES AND COMMENTS WHILE I'M AWAY, IT MAKES ME URESHII! :D

I don't know if this chapter made sense so yeah XD

Thank you for 6k reads! OMG You guys are the best, ever! :D

OMG I MISSED WRITING! I MISSED AKASHI! AND ESPECIALLY I MISSED YOU GUYS LEMME HUG YA! //cries

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Okay, I should shut up now. Have a nice day~ :D

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