Truth of the memories

That girl who was laying quietly, and covered in darkness was Ichiko Yamada, she was laying very peacefully, unaware about her current condition.

After staying unstirred for a while, she opened her eyes and look around to find where was she. She try her best to view the situation, but the vast amount of darkness create things harder to understand. She was unable to see anything but she try to figure out the circumstance.

She didn't have any memories left about how she appeared that place. The last thing she remembered was, a sweet kiss on her lips by her husband, when she was heading to his workplace. She couldn't recognise anything after that, she blacked out completely. But then, she felt light behind herself, she's frighten to move but a male voice occurs from behind it was,

"Are you alright Yamada-san. You are moving so, I think maybe you are alright. Let's move miss. We had to cover a long path."

When she turns around she saw a silver hair colored guy, standing behind her, watching her with his deep and emotionless red eyes. He's wearing a white waistcoat, and a long black long jacket. The warmth she felt before was coming out from a vintage lantern which he was holding.

Ichiko was confused about her situation and don't know what to do,

'Cause according to the schedule she has to be on her working desk but she was sleeping in that weird dark place and when she somehow handle that uncanny trauma, a male character popped out in that place and ordering her to follow him and head somewhere. How and why she did that, there is no sense to follow a stranger.

She wasn't afraid but she don't want to go after him. So then, she take a deep breath and denies his offer.

He can't look good after hearing that answer. He said,

"Think about it Yamada-san, it's your lose if you can't follow me."

And Ichiko, after hearing that rude reply, reacted aggressively and said,

" I don't know who you are and where you come from and I even don't know what's that place how could I go after a stranger?"

That guy nodded his head a bit and reply to that angry lady,

"You don't know me?

And you don't know why you are there?

And you are right, how could a lady trust a stranger that she just meet and started following him"

He take a deep breath and sigh.

He view her for a while, and maybe he was thinking about the next step he had to do,

He took out his hand towards her and tells,

" I tells you everything, but for that you had to follow me. I insist Yamada-san please come after me. "

Ichiko is still suspicious about that man but when she saw his cold eyes, she somehow agreed about that proposal. She stood up and ready to follow him.

That person light up the path with that vintage lantern and both were continuously walking on it. She want to ask many questions to him but she is confused how to start, and then that guy asked her,

" back then you were exploding with lots of questions but you weren't asking any of it that time, why? Are you perhaps confused what to ask first."

It looked like that guy read her mind she blushed a bit about that and tell her that, " it's not that, I am confused over a silly thing, actually I don't know how to start the conversation with a stranger that you just meet."

He turns his head towards her and tells her,

"as I thought, you were a lively girl and yet stubborn kid, like your parents." And both were started walking again.

While walking, she denying those facts and stared telling him those tags weren't true but she stopped, when she noticed he tells, "like your parents."

She immediately asked, "how you know my parents."

That simple question from her, stops his feet for a while, he sigh and continue guiding there way. Both were quietly walking behind each other and the atmosphere around them is getting stressed. She wanted an answer to him but, she couldn't make it and she keep her moth shut.

The pin drop silence breaks with a reply by that man, " Let's starts with something simple. My name is Azrael. And the answer of your pervious question is a bit complicated and........ I am terrified, maybe the answers weren't suitable of your expectations."

And after that, he spit out the truth,

" Yamada-san you..... Hit by a truck and.... now your body is in deep unconsciousness.

After hearing that answer, Ichiko chuckled and tells him, "you aren't good with jokes, Azrael. And specially with those cold eyes it looks so lame." And she couldn't stops giggling. The whole place has only hearing her wild laughter. She laughing like crazy or maybe she is waiting for Azrael to join but he's stuck with his emotionless face like he's telling her ' Believe me, it's true'.

After those laughs faded, she realised he isn't fooling around. The sentence he spit out is pure truth.

It's a shock for her. She come close to him and ask that question again but that time she's serious and shaking. 'Cause she know what he is going to answer. She want to ask more questions to him But before that he tells,

" you don't need to get that upset Yamada-san, your body stills breathing but your soul loses it's way and if we cross that path maybe we reach the place where your body is and after that you may continue your life. And I, the spirit guardian led you that place for sure."

She was relived after hearing that, she still had a chance to behold her family again. She sigh of relief. She looked again that silver hair guy and give him a smile. That smile tells him, 'let's continue our journey.'

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It's been a while now since they started there journey. But she hear some weird moans of a girl. She asks that guy about them and he reply, "the path we are travelling is connected with other people's memory, you could call it a void of memories and sometimes we also, view or listen there memories, maybe Yamada-san you just hear is someone's old sexual experience.

Now she felt embarrassed about those screams. She was mumbling, 'please stop, please stop.' and after a bit those moans were converts into talks, Ichiko is curious that what that young couple talking about and she asks to Azrael, "did you know what they are talking about." He is continually walking. And he ask a question in his reply, "Are you perhaps a gossiper? You looked interested."

She refuse that fact by, 'I am just curious and nothing and nothing at all.'

He tells her, don't stressed like that he's just teasing her and if she want to hear the conversation he allow that. She come close to that place where those voices come from and there is a small window, she peeks in it and she saw a classroom. A young teen couple were talking about a girl.

"Jeez, your girlfriend is so dumb. She believed in that silly excuse for staying at school. She is an idiot.

" You are right baby, she is a moron. She even believed that my first time was with her. She is such an idiot."

"Yes, she is a stupid bitch."

She can't see properly his face 'cause those were very old memories, but she felt sorry for his girlfriend. She took his head out of that window and her expressions tells, how bad she's feeling for that poor girlfriend. Azrael who is just behind her watched everything but can't be able to tell anything except, " we had to continue."

They were started walking again and he said, "you are the lady with golden heart and 'cause of that you think about other's a lot. It's bad for you.

But, it's not your fault. You were just mirroring your mother." And after that short conversation both were continued covering there paths quietly.

Both were again started walking. And as much as they cover the path the quantity of those voices were increasing. That time that silent void turns into a local fish market.

"It's like everyone is talking."

Ichiko notice a thing, she can't just peek into anyone's memory and the reason Azrael explain is,

"those memories only viewed by those people who were connected to the owner of those recollections."

And she thinking about that fuck boy, that is he connected to her or not. She felt dejected but then she heard a familiar voice, it comes out of a window, she peeks in and it's her aunt's memories. It's the funeral of Ichiko's parents. Ichiko is sitting on a bench when her aunt pick her. She smiles that at least she witnessed a good memory. But her smile curved back into a straight line when she heard the complete conversation between her uncle and aunt.

"Machiko, you don't like Kanako-san at all. So, why did you took her daughter home?"

"'Cause I want her to earn money."

"You, want her to earn money? Are you out of your mind? You want a child to work to get you that shit money?"

" No! Not yet, I treat her like my own daughter and soon when she grown up and started working she send money for her old and unhealthy aunt and I also teach her all housework so, she could help her ill aunt when she want. Don't you think dear, it's a good plan.

And top of that, I heard Kanako-san telling her husband about there insurance. The amount is enough to pay my dear Io-chan's college fee. Now you know honey why I let that orphan girl stay in my home."

"You can't, it's wrong that money belongs to that child."

"I said, enough. Conversation is over now, you dare to open that mouth in front of anyone, clear my honey."

After hearing that talk, her facial expressions changed. Her legs felt numb and she fell down. She started crying and sobbing, Azrael who was standing behind her back as always, watching it with those expressionless eyes.

She was crying and sobbing but she stops all of a sudden. She heard again a familiar voice. It was a moan. She stands up and started stepping up to reach that window but Azrael stops her with words,

"please, stop right there Yamada-san you can't handle that."

But she wasn't listening, she know what kind of memory she was going to view but she want to look who was that girl, who stole her husband. She come near that window and her face has no emoticons. Just pale and sorrowful face and nothing at all.

She peeked and it was, Io-chan. Her husband merging his body with her cousin sister. She took out her head and stand silently.

First, she smiles and then she started laughing and chuckling louder and louder the place which is echoing with strange voices is now resonating only by those laughs. But slowly those chuckles were converted into tears and sobs of sorrow.

She sit down on the floor, took her legs in and started crying. After couple of time she looked up and she find Azrael looking her. She cover her eyes again with her arm and ask, "Azrael, where I went wrong? Is am I not lovable? Or am I can't planed anything? Or is it....."

And he replied with his emotionless face, " Did you want to hear truth or just want me to comfort you?"

She sense the deep meaning behind that simple question and think about it. The conclusion she finds out is, 'she want to know, the truth.' She wipe her tears and stand up near Azrael. After looking her eyes, he know what she wanted to hear. And he tell

"You were wrong about many things, you went with your aunt to live with her, but you know that your parents didn't like her. She treated you and your cousin unequally, but you never questioned about it.

You loved playing violin and you had talent too but you leave it 'cause of the fee.

You marry your first boyfriend, but you already catch him flirting with other ladies.

And then the biggest mistake you made is, you changed your job 'cause you wanted to spend more time with your husband.

Yamada-san, you planed everything from the started, everything. You planed and organized everything to prevent yourself hurting.

You know that, your aunt treating you unfairly but you continued living with her 'cause you wanted things to be normal. You marry your boyfriend although you know he may cheat you someday but, you can't cut ties with him 'cause you afraid to get your heart broken again.

Yamada-san, you may plan everything but things run as it could. It may not be possible, that things run as they prepared.

You love someone and sometimes they break your heart. It's hard to handle it but that's how life and love works. It's a part of life you can't deny that.

You are a pure hearted person and you love everyone that was your mistake, and trust me those weren't flattering word, that's the truth."

Her few tears were flowing down, some were stuck in middle and some still waiting to flow. But with those tears she looks happy.

And all tears were flow down at once and she hugged the person who is standing in front of her. While holding him she still sobbing but that time words were different, she is thanking Azrael for leading the path. And after a bit she leaves his warmth, she felt a bit embarrassed and she also apologies for hugging him. But the path is completed and behind that door her new life is waiting for her. Azrael took Ichiko's soul to her destiny and the time was to go back to there life again.

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Lee's Thoughts,

"Stick with a backstabber 'cause of love. But deep inside we know that, you did it because you don't want to hurt yourself anymore. But seriously it's foolishness not love Ichiko. "

Ichiko, made big mistakes in her life and after she know the truth she regretted her decisions.

We had to learn from Ichiko's mistakes. And choose people wisely.