That night, Mitsui sat at his desk trying to dredge up whatever they have learnt at Anta's house but it was fruitless for all he could think of was Kuwata and what had happened at the boy's house when he was there. It surprised him to see that sudden change in the junior and more so on the argument between the boy and the mother. Mitsui knew something had gone on between the two but he was at a loss on what it was.

...on't....don't...!
Trapped in a void of darkness, Kuwata cried in fright as the gentle but persistent pressure kept its assault on his mind. He knew that if he gave up he would be lost in darkness so he fought harder to maintain control but as he warred with his opponent, he felt himself being contained the more quicker, this time without thought to his pain.
Mitsui-sempai! Help me! I'm here! Sempai!

The body on the bed struggled restlessly, the boy gasping and whining in mental anguish as another person stood over him, watching in controlled concentration.

Sleep, Toki-kun, the woman murmured in her mind as she brushed back the sweaty bangs from her son's forehead, Forget all your troubles. Calm yourself.

After a few seconds, Kuwata's body relaxed and his pained expression laxed into complete relaxation. Even with that reprieve, the woman kept her soothing speech through her mind as her eyes watched in sadness at her son lying prone in the tangle of cotton sheets.
Sleep. Forget everything...



~~~~

"The puppy eats so much!" Ayako exclaimed as she and two boys walked to their school the next morning, "It was a chore to keep up with its appetite! Now, I'll have to wake up early to prepare two lunches for two bottomless pits."

Even with those words, Mitsui and Miyagi could detect a note of affection in the girl's voice. Gratified, Mitsui turned to Ayako and said, "Thanks for taking care of the dog, Ayako."

"No problem," Ayako said waving his thanks away, "It's cute."

"Aa," Mitsui nodded but suddenly stopped when he recalled what Ayako had said a few seconds ago. "Chotto. You said two?"

"Hai," the girl replied, grinning as she held up a wrapped up lunchbox in front of him, "For the other Shi-kun who is also another bottomless pit."

Mitsui grinned taking the proferred lunchbox from the girl and ignoring the 'bottomless pit' remark in return for her generosity. "Thanks! Hey- this isn't the same thing that you give the mutt, is it? I'd be hurt if it is."

"Baka," Miyagi growled, elbowing the taller boy on the hip, "You should be thankful that Ayako made you lunch!"

Ayako smiled at the guard. "Thank you, Ryota. For that I'll make you lunch as well for tomorrow."

"Ah! Honto ni?" cried Miyagi in delight.

Mitsui was already busy sniffing his lunch box to guess what it's contents were when he saw Kuwata appear from a corner of a building before the boy walked on, not realising that he, Miyagi and Ayako were nearby.
"Hey, Kuwata!" the scarred-face player called out to the second-year.

The boy stopped and turned to watch his seniors walk up to him with smiles on their faces. As soon as they reached him, Mitsui patted Kuwata on the shoulder.
"Ayako's taking care of the puppy now. It's safe."

Kuwata did not reply but merely looked at them with an odd expression on his face.

"What?" Mitsui asked, annoyed, "You're not pleased?"

Big brown eyes blinked in puzzlement. "Pu-ppy?"

Mitsui glared at the boy. "Yes. Ayako's taking care of Shi-kun now. You should thank her."

Kuwata looked at him blankly. "What do you mean, sempai? Ayako-sempai is taking care of you?"

"Brat!" growled Mitsui, before Miyagi could laugh at him, "The puppy that you brought home after we saved you when you were being harassed!"

"I was being harassed?"

"..........."


~~~~

It was a few minutes into the lunch period and four students were already on the roof, each of them silent until one of them opened her mouth to speak. "This is silly Mitsui-sempai. You can't stop talking to Kuwata-kun!"

"I can to," Mitsui said, still not looking at the junior who was also sitting on the concrete ground, silent and looking dismal.

"Grow up, Mitsui," Miyagi said, not liking it when Ayako was displeased.

"Tell him that!" the scarred-face player growled, before turning to Kuwata with irritation, "From now on, I'm not taking care of you anymore, Kuwata. You take care of yourself. I don't want to have anything more to do with you. This might teach you to grow up if nothing else will."

Kuwata's head snapped up, staring at Mitsui in helplessness before he looked down again, lost and confused about what he has done to make his sempai angry at him.

"Right," Ayako huffed, plucking the still unopened lunchbox from Mitsui's hand, "If that's the case, from now on, I'm not going to take care of you anymore either."

With a sniff, Ayako walked away with the lunchbox in hand, leaving Mitsui staring after her in dismay.

"Baka," Miyagi said to Mitsui before standing up to run after their team manageress. Snorting in annoyance, Mitsui gave one last hard look to Kuwata before he also stood up, walking away to see if there was time for him to buy lunch for himself at the cafeteria.

Kuwata lifted his head at that moment to silently watch Mitsui walk away before the senior disappeared from his sight.
Mitsui-sempai...


~~~~

Kuwata was walking home after practice that afternoon, his mind troubled at how Mitsui was treating him from the moment they met that morning until the time their basketball practice ended. The rest of the team were confused as well, especially when not only Mitsui was ignoring Kuwata, Ayako, their normally genial manageress, was acting cold to their 3-P shooter.

Passing by an abandoned building a few minutes later, Kuwata felt the need to stop and look. He had a feeling that he should be familiar with the place but try as he might he could not recall when he had ever taken the time to check the area out. As he shifted through his confused memories, he felt that he ought to know something since two things nagged in his brain.

Puppy.... sempai.... Shi-kun....


~~~~

"Mitsui-sempai hates me," Kuwata spoke up once he stepped his foot in the kitchen.

His mother turned around, surprised, and quickly placed the pot back on the stove before she dropped it.

"Mitsui-sempai is angry with me. He said he doesn't want to have anything to do with me," Kuwata continued, looking up at his mother in helplessness, "What did I do wrong?"

His mother walked up to him slowly, opening her arms to him in a show of comfort. "You did nothing wrong, Toki-kun."

"But Mitsui-sempai-"

"It was a misunderstanding," Kuwata's mother cut in, trying to sooth the boy, "I'll have a talk with him later."

Kuwata stared at his mother in confusion before he hesitatingly asked, "...do you... do you know something?"

The woman stepped back, surprised. Immedietly, she regained her composure and took another step towards her son.
"Toki-kun. You're tired. Forget about your troubles. Rest."

Kuwata suddenly jerked away from her, his senses warning him of something he has not yet understood. His mother stared at him in warriness.

"Iie! You're hiding something from me!" cried Kuwata, "Tell me what it is!"

"N-No. I-It's nothing..." his mother stammered uneasily.

"The puppy... Shi-kun... that's the name of the puppy..." Kuwata murmured, watching his mother's face go pale, "That's it, isn't it?"

"No, Toki-kun," pleaded the woman gently, "I was just-"

"Shi-kun..." Kuwata rambled, clutching at his hair desperately as his memory slowly resurfaced from the inner void of his mind, "That's the name I gave to the puppy. Why wasn't I able to remember it??"

"Toki-kun..."
The woman suddenly stopped, her breath stuck in her throat when she saw that her son's body has gone still.

Kuwata's hands slowly dropped from his head and he looked up, his eyes narrowed into a look of pure anger. His cold voice sent chills through her body. "Tell me, okaasan."

Mitsui sat in his kitchen, scowling as he stared at the empty cup of instant noodle that he just had for dinner. It was his second cup for that night and he hated knowing that he could have been less hungry if only he had not pissed Ayako off.

"It's all Kuwata's fault," Mitsui grumbled to himself while trying to decide if he should have another cup of noodles before settling off to watch tv.
"Hmph! At least, I'm not gonna have anything to do with that idiot kid again-"

"-Enough! That's enough!!"

Mitsui leapt from his chair upon suddenly hearing that cry from a familiar voice. He looked around but saw no one. His heart began to beat crazily against his chest when he heard that voice again.

"Stop it..! ... I.... I..."

Suddenly an image appeared in front of Mitsui, coming to him like a wisp of smoke before it slowly morphed into a form he knew so well. He stared at Kuwata's blurred image, the boy's arm reaching out to him in a plea.

Mitsui gasped in shock. "Ku-Kuwata??"

"Mitsui-sempai.... help me...." the image moaned plaintively.

A normal person would've been frozen in fright with that unnatural presence but Mitsui, seeing the helpless and pained look in Kuwata's eyes, stepped forward towards the boy's glazed form in an unconcious habit of comfort. However, before Mitsui could touch him, Kuwata disappeared, leaving behind a feeling of anguish that the scarred-face boy had to shake himself off from the sudden sense of empathy.

"Kuwata..."
Taking the image as a bad omen, Mitsui began to fear that something bad has happened to Kuwata. The third-year's body suddenly went toin motion and he ran out of the house and into the streets, heading towards the junior's house. When he reached his destination five minutes later, he stopped in front of the door, out of breath and worried at how he might explain the supernatural visit to Kuwata's mother.
With Kuwata's plea ringing in his ear, Mitsui shook his head and told himself that Kuwata's mother could call him crazy if she wanted to - as long as he was assured that the second-year was safe and sound, he would be satisfied.
After taking a deep breath, he rang the door bell and waited.

It was a long time before the door opened and Mitsui stepped back when Kuwata's mother appeared at the doorway.

"Hisashi-kun," Kuwata's mother greeted him with a soft voice.

"Aa.... obasan... I'm sorry to have come so late at night," said Mitsui, bowing to the woman, "But I was wondering if I could see Toki."

Kuwata's mother's eyes adapted a faraway look in her eyes before she replied with a gentle smile on her face. "Toki-kun? He's already asleep in his room."

"Honto..." Mitsui nodded, relief flooding in his heart. He's okay...

Suddenly, the woman by the doorway swayed and if not for Mitsui's quick reflexes she would have fallen to the floor face first.
"Obasan!" Mitsui cried, holding her tightly in his arms, "Are you alright?"

Kuwata's mother groaned when Mitsui pulled her up before he half carried her into the house. Carefully placing her on the couch, he began to holler to the direction of the stairs, hoping that Kuwata could hear him. "Oi, Kuwata! Kuwata!"

"No!" the woman gasped, pulling desperately at Mitsui's arm, "Don't wake him up!"

Mitsui turned back to her, surprised at her panic. "Obasan-"

"No, I'm alright," mumured Kuwata's mother, sitting up slowly, "I'm just exhausted. That's all."

Mitsui nodded, though he knew there had to be more than that. He sat down on a chair across the woman and after a moment of uneasy silence he spoke up, telling her what he saw a few minutes ago at his house. As he spoke he kept a close watch at the reaction on the woman's face, surprised that she looked less shocked than he expected her to be. In fact she looked sad.

"Oh," Kuwata's mother replied when he was finished with his tale.

"I know you don't believe me..." Mitsui said hurriedly, "... but I know I wasn't hallucinating. It was real!"

The woman on the couch sighed, lacing her fingers together. "Iie. I believe you, Hisashi-kun. He was calling to you. For help."

The scarred-face boy stared at the woman in amazement. "What?"

"It was Toki-kun."

Mitsui shook his head in a confused manner though his voice was steady when he spoke again. "You said it was him. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself."
The 18-year boy slowly looked up and his eyes met with the woman's. "Yesterday, I saw... you-you did something to him. Did you... hypnotise him? Was it the reason why he couldn't remember about what happened yesterday?"

The woman shook her head before she rubbed her eyes tiredly with her shaking hands. "I had to do it. I'll tell you now why I did it. You deserve to know the truth."

Mitsui sat back on his chair and prepared to listen to her explanation. Kuwata's mother laced her fingers together again and took a deep breath before she opened her mouth to explain.
"You said that I hypnotised him. That's not right but it is close. We call it the 'healing power', one of the powers of the psychics."

"The healing power?"

"Hai. This power can alter a person memory. Or wipe it away completely," Kuwata's mother replied.

Mitsui looked at her in shock. Wipe a memory away completely? "That was why..."

Pu-ppy?

The woman across him nodded in regret. "Yes."
She then stopped, appearing as if to compose herself before she continued, "I inherited this power from Toki-kun's great grandfather. I knew about the gift as soon I realised that I have it. Everyone figured that I would be the last since our family gift passes more dominantly through the male genes than the women's in our family. There was only a small possibility that the power will pass on to my child."

"A family of healing power..." Mitsui breathed in disbelief.

"Why that power is passed on to me, I am not sure," Kuwata's mother said, shaking her head, "It is probably fate. What I do know is that for generations our family uses this power to help people to erase any painful memories that they want gone because sometimes those memories bind people to the past. That is why we call it the power of healing."

Mitsui sat up suddenly, frowning. "But that's a coward's way out!" he protested, "To say that it has never happened and to forget about it just to be happy - it's just camouflaging your real life! I have bad memories of my own and even when they're so painful to remember, I believe that I shouldn't forget about them. With that, at least I won't make the same mistakes again. Don't people grow from their experience?"

The woman across him dropped her eyes in sadness. "What you said is true, Hisashi-kun. But some people aren't as strong to go on with some memories in their mind."

"Are you saying that Toki is weak?" demanded Mitsui, "Is he that weak that you wouldn't even let him take care of a little dog-"

"No," Kuwata's mother sobbed, "I had to do what I had to to protect him. His powers are too strong!"

The boy's eyes widened. "What? He has the same power?"

"Yes," the woman replied, sniffing, "But his power doesn't heal people. It kills them! His gift is a weapon of death!"

Mitsui's body stiffened. "A weapon of... death?"

What she said next, shocked Mitsui to the core.

"T-Toki-kun ... k-killed my husband...., h-his own father...!"

Upstairs in a darkened room, eyelids slowly lifted, revealing darkened brown orbs filled with coldness. The boy sat up on his bed, heedless of the beautiful pale moonlight streaming through the glass windows to play on his youthful features. With his conciousness, little shards of memories came flashing in his mind and he knew he had to know more to regain whatever control he has of himself.





Previous I Next I Back to the Velvet Room