Sunlight looms its head through the bottom of the closed curtains. I twist in my white bed sheets. I don’t want to get up yet…
	-It’s morning already. Get up Tetsuo-kun. Today’s finally the day!
	A nurse walks swiftly into the room and runs straight to the window. She opens the curtains, letting in a meddlesome beam of light that hurts my eyes. I open them just slightly to check out my surroundings. The room is a little emptier than it usually is; they took away the machines that were next to me bed, keeping track of my status. They took most of them away soon after I regained consciousness either way. They also took away the flower vase. I don’t really care too much for roses or flowers, but it was the only gift I received during all this time I have been at the hospital. The roses lived for an exceptional amount of time, despite the fact they were trapped in this gloomy hospital room. They started withering just recently, so it was probably about time someone took care of them. The staff said a girl named Asohara Mina dropped by many times while I was in coma, and she even visited once after I regained conscience, but I was asleep at the time. She was the one that brought the flowers. It doesn’t bother me to not have gotten the chance to see her. It would have been awkward to have to talk to someone I used to know before I was diagnosed with amnesia. She didn’t show up around here again, so I assume she thought the same.

	Amnesia… The more I think about it, the more it sounds like an absurd, distant reality like those you see in dramas and movies. I would have never thought I would have to cope with it one day, but that day came 4 weeks ago. The doctors told me everything about the accident my parents and I were involved in; they even showed recorded news tapes to me. Someone set a building on fire and left gasoline cans lying around hidden so they would explode when the fire reached them. It spread really fast since it had many ignition points. According to the doctors and the little information they could recover from my parents, they picked me up from school and they headed to the building instead of heading home. My parents, being the successful businessmen they were, had to attend a quick meeting with someone important that was staying in the apartment building. I had nothing to do with that, so I just waited outside. I would have stayed in the car but the parking lot had a strict policy about not letting people stay inside the vehicles. That saved my life though, seeing how no traces were left of the parking lot for when the fire was finally put out. When it started, one of the gas cans exploded right next to me. The shockwave pushed me away violently, and made my head land right onto the concrete floor. Doctors suggested the trauma was the cause behind my “retrograde amnesia”, as they call it. I cannot remember anything about my past as it is, but I retain common knowledge and abilities I acquired in the past. It’s pretty awkward to be discover abilities I have no knowledge of.
As for my parents… They weren’t as lucky. Someone blocked the door leading to their room from the outside, and in the midst of the disaster, none of those who were running away noticed some people was still inside. The person my parents had the appointment with died in the fire while both my mother and father struggled in vain to inhale the scarce oxygen in the room. When the firefighters arrived, both my mother and father were badly injured, the latter more so than the former. But that’s not really the worst part. The prolonged lack of oxygen affected my mother’s brain, and now she is in a vegetative state. She does not answer to any kind of stimuli, but she is still alive. As for my father, he was badly burned but no other traumas were visible, at least not at first sight. He started losing his mind after some time. The doctors attribute the latter symptom to the shock of losing both his wife and his son. One may no longer keep a rational conversation with the man.
The whole fire incident wasn’t just an accident. The ignition points were very well chosen, and the location and amount of gasoline cans put in evidence that someone was behind all of this, and whoever did it is experienced in setting things on fire. The tragedy shook the people in our city. That day is etched into the memory of all the citizens of this country by now.

-That’s no good, Tetsuo-kun, you need to get up already. You don’t want to overstay your welcome in this hospital now, do you?
In response, I pull my blanket over my head and twist away a little more in my bed. As grateful as I might be to my nurse for all the time she has been taking care of me, she could be more lenient about schedules. It’s nice to have someone worry about you, but I’m fine, really. I didn’t need to be in rehabilitation for so long but the doctors insisted. I spent 4 weeks in coma and another 4 weeks in rehabilitation. I had to recover mobility after staying in bed for that much time. I have been in the hospital for 2 months though, since I suffered many injuries from the accident. My right hand was badly burned and some of my nerves were badly damaged. As a result, they send confusing messages to my brain complaining about how something is wrong with my hand. This causes me to feel terrible pain even if I’m not moving my hand at all. The doctors worked hard on solving the problem though. The solution implies I will take meds for the rest of my life, and even if they ease the pain for the most part, I still get pretty intense waves of pain from time to time, mostly when I feel stressed or when I strain my body. Still, I’m really thankful to the medical team. They did their best and it shows. For the first days the pain was unbearable, but they did all there was in their hands to make it better. I hadn’t noticed about it until some hours later the day I came back to my senses. My whole body was far too numb at that point.

-Get up I said, UUUUUUP!
The nurse pulled my bed sheet, and I adopted some sort of fetal position, as if I was hoping to dissuade her through pity. I realized it wouldn’t work the second she grabbed me by my feet, in an attempt to pull me out of bed.
-Okay, okay, I get it –I replied at her, while struggling to release my legs from her grip–. No need to be so harsh, Nozaki-san.
-Well, you obviously can’t do it by yourself –she said, while frowning at me. But I know she’s not mad at me or anything. It’s like that kind of motherly love. It’s endearing-. Young people these days, they want to be independent but they can’t even get out of bed by themselves, I swear… My mother would have never approved of that behavior for sure… –her voice tailed away into a mere mutter.
I sit on my bed. I stretch and yawn without paying much mind to the nurse. Her name is Nozaki Haruko, and even though she is pretty young she’s really good at her job. A lot of people look up to her in the hospital. She’s so familiar to me, it’s like we were relatives.

I rub my eyes and finally open them completely. Daylight shines a little too brightly on the white walls of my room and it shines vaguely on Nozaki-san’s brown hair and eyes. It highlights them in some sort of heavenly fashion, but I decide to keep those comments to myself. Nozaki-san notices I am staring at her and directs a look of healthy curiosity towards me.
-Nozaki-san, would you mind to step outside for a minute? I would like to change clothes –I hurriedly made up some sort of excuse to drive her attention away from this matter. I don’t want her getting the wrong idea. It’s true anyway; I don’t have any attachment to this hospital clothing. I’ll be more than glad to get rid of it.
Nozaki-san erases her innocent expression and then smiles teasingly. It’s like she was not the same person anymore.
-What are you talking about Tetsuo-kun? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.
-W, what are you saying!? –My face goes red really quickly–.  Have some respect and get out of here!
I end up kicking Nozaki-san out of the room myself. Sometimes she’s a little too familiar with me.

……

I exit my room wearing my own clothes and with the bag containing some of my belongings held in my left, health hand. Nozaki -san is waiting outside. She looks disappointed.
-Aw, and here I was thinking I would get to see something “else” since this is the last time we see each other –she begins to laugh in a playful manner.
- Nozaki-san! Why you…! –I call out to her loudly, but stop in my tracks as soon as I notice some bystanders turn their gaze to us, and an old lady passing by murmur something along the lines of “ no respect for the people in the hospital nowadays”.
-Oh, but this is not the last time we’ll see Kurogane-san –a middle aged man gets closer to us. He’s the head of the medical team that took care of me. His name is Arita Issei–. We talked about this some days ago, didn’t we? –his eyes turned to me.
-Ah, um, yes, we did –Nozaki-san raised an eyebrow at my answer. Truth is, I didn’t like the discussion we had some days ago. It was about the arrangements the hospital made for when my time here was done. Apparently, my parents had a pretty good insurance, and being me the only member of the family able to manage the money I will be the one in charge of it. I turned 18 while in coma, so technically speaking, I’m an adult now. I will have to take care of myself. And this money is certainly going to help me get through high school and university without having to work myself. In fact, it could maintain me for much longer… But it would be wrong of me live of money I obtained because my parents are disabled to do things for themselves. I won’t live out of it for any longer than I need to. There are probably more belongings that should be now handed down to me. But I don’t feel like chasing after every little cent. I’ll be more than glad to keep things this way as long as I keep the house.
-Could you remind of our agreements?
He was asking a silly question. Arita-sensei is a very smart person, but he’s forgotten what it’s like to be young. Sometimes he treats me like I was 12.
-I’ll come back to the hospital twice a month for a checkup and restocking on meds or whenever I feel ill –I replied mechanically. I didn’t like the perspective of running back to the hospital because of a slight headache.
-Good, good… Nozaki-san, could you leave us for a moment? There’s a place Kurogane-san needs to visit before leaving.
-Is that so? –Nozaki-san looked genuinely sad–. I’ll be look forward to meeting you again, Tetsuo-kun. Until then…
She bowed. I bowed to her as well in return.

That’s right… This is another of the parts of the agreement. I have to visit my parents once more before leaving. It’s not as if I dislike them, but I don’t really have feelings stronger than empathy and pity for them. They’re a couple of strangers with a really unfortunate fate. They are my parents, but I have no memories, and therefore, no attachment to them. I have visited them in their room twice now, and it has been really awkward to be in the same room as a woman that couldn’t understand anything I was saying and a man you couldn’t establish a logical conversation with. Doctors acknowledge they should be in separate rooms, seeing how their conditions are really different. But my father turns violent when he’s not in the same room as my mother. The doctors keep them together in hopes my father will improve over time, somehow.

-This is it; we’re here –claims Arita-sensei, as if I had never been here before.
I open the door slowly and painfully, and step in almost in slow motion. The atmosphere in this room is extremely gloomy and heavy. The curtains are closed and artificial lights don’t seem to be enough to light the room. There’s always some sort of black dust around the place, as if those in charge of cleaning weren’t exactly enthusiastic about this room. And I wouldn’t blame them. The room filled with cold machines, old bandages, shut windows and creeping shadows adding to the sensation of dustiness around the place is not very inviting.
-Asami-san, Fujio-san, your son is here. He was discharged today, and he decided to pay you a visit.
I didn’t decide to pay a visit to anyone. Don’t put words in my mouth. There’s no one left to visit here. Arita-sensei spoke really loudly, even though nobody was here to answer. It’s certainly pointless to be here.
-Don’t be shy, get closer to them –Arita-sensei patted me on the back and gave me a slight push. I felt like turning back to him and punching him in the face. He doesn’t understand what he’s talking about, at all.
My eyes instinctively move to the corner of the room. There, a woman lays in bed staring unceasingly at the roof, next to many steel machines that, more so than keeping her in check, keep her alive. The covering the window next to her bed are unusually long, dusty, and have a vague coloration that ranges between pink and gray. It feels as if that entire section of the room was dead altogether, like if it had always been so. Decades could go by, but that place would remain the exact same. As if it was some sort of curse that caused it to rot away into eternity rather than achieving freedom some distant day. I creep closer to my mother’s bed, and try to talk to her in vain.
-…Hi… –I get stuck after that point. How should I address her? I don’t really see her as my mother. It’s just a title. I shouldn’t be panicking over this–. I, I am going to be discharged today, alright? So I won’t be seeing you for a while. I hope you get… –my voice tailed away in an inaudible whisper. She’s not going to get better. I don’t need to lie to her or to myself. I stare at her blank expression. Upon closer inspection, I notice her eyes are the same color as mine. Ominous and lackluster emeralds staring into the nothingness… It’s almost as if she hopes her soul to fly back to her through the roof any minute now. Her mouth is slightly open, and her long black hair is spread evenly across her bed.
…
I would have enjoyed meeting her under different circumstances. I can imagine her hair waving in the wind and her intense green eyes meeting mine, calling out my name. Just like a loving mother would.
I shake my head in disapproval and slowly move on to my father’s bed. Unlike my mother’s eyes, his are almost black, and have that bold spark of life in them. It’s not a warm sensation at all. It’s the shine revealed through the eyes of madness that I’m seeing. His sight wanders from one place to another, ignoring completely the fact I’m standing in front of him. He’s constantly muttering things to himself. It’s all nonsense so I never really pay attention to it. He’s still covered in bandages. His doctor said he would have healed by now, if not for the fact he forcibly removes his bandages very frequently. And it shows; his current bandages are as sparkly clean further proving they had just been changing.
-H, hello there –I mutter. His hyperactive eyes linger in mine for a split second and continue to move on–. I’m going back to our house. The people here in the hospital have treated me really well, and it’s time for me to go back. I hope you find the strength in yourself to overcome this. I’ll wait for you until then, I am sure you can find your way out of this.
As soon as I stop talking, his eyes freeze in position and then switched back to my location. Rather than the same old muttering I was used to, his voice raised a little, and judging by the look on his eyes and the emphasis on his words, I would swear he was talking to me as he said:
-He’ll come back to you in dreams. Yes, he will; he offered you a way out of it and now he’ll come to make you pay for it. He’ll come, he’ll come, he’ll definitely come, you’ll see…
A hand tapped over my shoulder. With a stern look on his face, Arita-sensei made some hand gestures to suggest we should get going. He was probably impressed by my father’s reaction, just as I was. I can’t help but wonder what that was about, but I doubt it’s relevant in any level.
As we make our way out of the room I wonder what things would have been if we had not met like this, if that accident had never happened. The mental image of the woman whose green eyes call out to me flashes in my mind again, and for the first time since I ever entered this room, I felt sincerely sorry about my parents. Asami, Fujio… I will make it so we never meet again. You’re not fit to be parents and you don’t deserve a kid who doesn’t acknowledge you as such. I don’t want to feel guilt or pity for you. So this will be the last time…

……

I step inside Arita-sensei’s car. Not in the passenger’s seat though, I take one of the back seats. As thankful as I may be to the head of the medical team who made this possible, I’m not too fond of Arita-sensei himself. He stands outside for a moment, trying to process the reason why I would pick a backseat but decides to let it slide. He starts his car and adjusts his rearview mirror to keep me in his sight. This was also part of the agreement. You can’t send an amnesic person out to the world on his own. Arita-sensei offered himself to take me home in his car. The medic staff also made some phone calls and talked with some of my neighbors. Apparently they seemed more than willing to help me with anything I needed. I doubt I’ll find myself at their doorways anyway. I would rather discover what this town is like on my own, however long that might take.
The car exits the hospital building and I finally breathe some fresh air. Well, it’s not like they didn’t let me out at all. I went for a walk in the park accompanied by Nazuko-san a couple of times. It was very refreshing to escape the monotonous atmosphere of the hospital; this time I’m overwhelmed by the idea of leaving it behind for good.
-So, Kurogane-san –said Arita sensei–. Do you remember what we told you about recovering your memories?
Not even a poor attempt of trying to small talk. He’s just making sure I’m fully aware of my condition.
-Yes…  My memory, or at least fragments of it, might come back to me in time. Still, I’ll never get all of my memories back.
-Excellent, excellent… You’ll have more than enough money to cover your expenses, and your neighbors are both able and willing to help you in anything you need. Be it a tour around the city or just talking…
-Hmm… –I just direct an empty look through the window. It’s a pretty unusual city. It’s surrounded by green areas and wilderness to the point you would think it’s one of those isolated villages where people lead quiet lives and strange, unexplainable events happen now and then. Now I think about it, I’ve read a story like that in the past, something about guy moving into an isolated village which as under protection of some of some strange God and its curse. Yes, I’m sure I’ve read something like that but I can’t remember much more, and it’s no wonder. Remembering this much about such a little thing is a feat in itself for me. Even remembering little things like this is a good sign of recovery though.
As isolated as this city may seem, it’s quite actually modern. The closer you get to the center of the city, the more modern it gets, to the point it rivals some of the most popular cities. Even then, the city is not very crowded except for mornings and early evenings, so even its urban theme can prove to be relaxing if you know what places to visit. Well, that’s what I read about it at the hospital. I wouldn’t know myself since I haven’t gone any further than the park near the hospital.
-So yes, about the arrangements on your education…
I snap out of my day dreaming and pay more attention this time. I lost enough time at school like to repeat an entire year of education, and we didn’t talk much about it in the hospital. The authorities were at a loss about whether or not I should be allowed to pass on to the next course.
-I’m sorry to say this, but you’ll have to repeat the course over again. It’s not a big deal anyway, your grades were pretty good, so you won’t have any trouble understanding the lessons even if you don’t remember anything about them –he smiled to himself, knowingly–. The course starts in 2 days from now, on Monday. Ah, but don’t worry, the school agreed to let you in some weeks after the actual beginning of classes in case you don’t feel like assisting so soon after having recovered. You’ll have as much time to get used to your surroundings as you need.
That actually answered all of the questions that arose in my mind as he spoke. According to what I have been told, I was in my sophomore year in high school.  The final exams were drawing near for the time my family fell victim to the incident. I have to repeat that year, it seems. It’s probably better this way. I would rather be a complete stranger among younger people than not recognize any of my legitimate peers. I don’t feel like talking about the accident or meeting people I already knew prior to it. I’ll probably take a week or two to get used to my surroundings and such. I don’t even know what my house is like.
Arita-sensei kept rambling endlessly about the arrangements and such, when he came to a sudden halt and turned to me with a serious look on his face.
-Remember to always take your medication, and to come to the hospital to restock it. Your hand is in no condition to do anything too brusque or straining –he said, as we both gazed at the hand wrapped in bandages. Damn, it’s going to be hard to blend in at school if I always have to wear these–. Small things like picking up objects or writing should be fine, though.
-One as soon as I wake up and one before I go to bed, I got it all sorted out, so take it easy –he misinterpreted my subtle way of demonstrating I don’t have any interest in what he’s saying as me trying too hard to make him feel better about it–. Changing bandages once every two days, not overdoing it and asking for help if there’s anything  can’t handle by myself. I’ll have all of that in mind. Now, how much longer until we reach our destination? –I ask, almost complaining about how he came to a sudden halt while driving.
-Oh, but we’re already here –Arita-sensei made a vague hand gesture pointing outside–. The house we’re parking in front of belongs to you.
I froze for a second in awe, right before lunging for the car’s window to behold the ominous house that lied in front of me.