Bits and Pieces

Despite getting run over by a drunk driver in broad daylight during the height of the unforgivable Japanese summer, Kirihara Akaya came out of it relatively unscathed. Surprisingly, none of the bones in his body broke on impact and everything seemed to stay in place. There was a lot of pain, but the double-edged miracle of medical opioids staved off the worst of it. Still, he had to be brought to the hospital and admitted for observation. No one could be too sure he didn't develop any sort of complications from it. At first, he was annoyed that he was being "imprisoned", but at least he could catch a break from the endless days of practice. Being a rising pro wasn't all it was cracked out to be, but at least now he was forced to rest. Closing his eyes, he drifted off into worry-free, drug-induced slumber.

When he woke up, he had no idea where he was.

His panicked eyes scanned the room for clues, but all he could infer was that he was in the hospital. He glanced up at the vitals monitor to his side and saw the date.

"Nurse?! Someone?! Anyone?!"

Something was not right. Why was the date set ten years into the future? He was still in middle school!

A flustered nurse ran into the room upon hearing his shouting. "Kirihara-san, what can I help you with?"

"Nurse, why is the date on that monitor wrong?" he asked.

"Oh?" They walked over to take a look. "That is the correct date."

"No, it's not! That's like... a decade later!"

The nurse looked at the young man with a worried expression. "Kirihara-san, what is today's date?"

"August 30, 20XX!" he pouted as he crossed his arms.

The nurse did not ask any further questions and left the room instead. They returned rather quickly with a doctor in tow.

"Kirihara-san," the doctor began, "may I ask you to confirm what today's date is?"

"August 30, 20XX! God, do any of you people listen? That clock is wrong!"

The doctor turned to whisper something to the nurse, trying her best to maintain a blank expression, but failing.

"Hey! What the hell's going on?!"

"Kirihara-san, are you positive that today is August 30, 20XX?" the doctor asked to confirm once more.

"Yes! I said it, like, a hundred times by now!"

The doctor sighed as she put her clipboard down. She started touching his head and inspecting it for bruising and other injuries. "Does your head hurt, Kirihara-san?"

"N-not in particular..."

"How old are you, Kirihara-san?"

"Thirteen."

The doctor stopped her examination and looked at him with pity. "Kirihara-san, I'm sorry, but we are going to have to admit you for further observations. You seemed to have developed a case of amnesia."

"What?! Amnesia?! What the hell is that?!" He could not believe his terrible luck right now.

"It's when you lose memories from the past," she explained. "The current date is August 21, 20YX. According to the identification we found on your person at the time of the accident, you are 23 years old."

"What?! You mean..."

"It appears you are missing all memories from the last ten years, but I am unsure as to what caused this to begin with." She picked up her clipboard and began to scribble down more notes. "Your scans showed no indication of head trauma, brain damage or other injuries to the cranial area. From your charts here, it says you even passed the initial psych evaluation upon admission into the emergency department."

Kirihara sank further into the uncomfortable hospital bed. "No way..."

She gently placed her hand over his now cold and clammy ones. "Is there anyone whom we should contact?"

"I... don't know," he responded, defeated.

The doctor nodded as she turned back to the nurse to discuss the situation. Kirihara watched as they walked out of the room. The sudden revelation made him feel empty, but confused. He couldn't believe he had forgotten the last decade and was even more irked that he couldn't leave. He was itching to play tennis, even though he was also still in pain. At this rate, he was going to die of boredom before someone found his lifeless body.

almost had a heart attack when the university hospital contacted her out of the blue. She was out on a photo shoot with a client in Yokohama's Chinatown when her phone started going off. She mindlessly answered the phone, thinking it was just a vendor calling her.

"This is ," she stated as she pressed her phone in between her cheek and shoulder and continued to take photos.

"This is the phone number of -san, correct?" came the response.

"Yes, it is," she confirmed.

"-san, I am calling from Kagai General Hospital. I am contacting you since your information is listed as the emergency contact for Kirihara Akaya-san."

She dropped the camera she was holding in her hands. Luckily, she was wearing her neck strap, saving herself from having to buy an expensive replacement. "I'm sorry?"

"I am contacting you since your information is listed as the emergency contact for Kirihara Akaya-san," the person repeated.

She was at a loss for words. Kirihara Akaya? That was a name she never thought she'd be hearing again. "W-what's going on? Is this a joke?"

"Kirihara-san was admitted into Kagai General approximately 24 hours ago. He was involved in an automotive accident."

"Is he alright?!" she asked, panicked.

"Miraculously, he is not injured. No fractures, concussions or anything abnormal," the person on the other side responded.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!"

"Unfortunately, it seems as if Kirihara-san has also lost his memories," the person added.

"What? But, you said that he was fine..."

"Physically, yes. He had passed the initial psychiatric evaluation when he was admitted, but he woke up this morning, unable to recall the last ten years of his life. He believes it is the year 20XX."

"You're kidding..."

She couldn't believe it. Kirihara Akaya—the rowdy and unpredictable star tennis player from high school who turned pro—got into a car accident and had her number listed as an emergency contact. He was bedridden at the hospital with no memories of what had happened in the last decade.

Her ex-boyfriend didn't remember who she was.

What was this cruel twist of fate? Why did he still have her number and why was she—not his agent, not his friend, not his own mother—the point of contact? She had so many questions, but the sickening knot in her stomach and the general worry and anxiety over his well-being were enough to keep her tongue-tied. It didn't matter what the reason was; she was now the only person who knew he was there and she had to make sure he was alright.

"I'll be down there as soon as I can," she said hastily as she hung up.

It was only a few meager hours later when appeared at his room door. Kirihara felt like he was staring at his saviour.

"Akaya-kun?" she called out to him.

"Yo!" he answered back, smiling. "Thank God you're here. You're saving me from death by boredom."

slowly approached him and took a seat in the chair beside his bed. She looked extremely nervous. "Akaya-kun, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" he answered, matter-of-factly. "Well, this whole amnesia thing is still confusing to me, but at least I didn't forget everything!"

Her eyes widened with concern. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Losing the Nationals to Seigaku," he admitted with a small frown on his face. "Nevermind me; who the hell are you?"

"I'm ," she bowed slightly. "We were classmates in our third year of middle school and for all of high school."

"Ah, no wonder I don't remember you," he realized. "Were we good friends?"

She nodded her head, but was rather hesitant to do so. "Quite close."

"Close enough for me to call you '-chan', then?"

Her cheeks began to flush a rosy pink. "I-if you would l-like to," she stuttered.

"-chan it is, then!" He tried to sit himself up, but the pain in his lower right side stopped him in his tracks. "Ow, fuck!"

"Akaya-kun?!"

"I-I'm fine," he brushed off with a pained expression. "Do you think you can help me sit up?"

immediately got on her feet and gingerly helped him sit upright on his bed.

"Thanks," he sighed. "Say, -chan, how much of high school do you remember?"

"Oh! Um, quite a bit, I would say?"

"Do you mind if I ask you questions about it? I'm just trying to figure out what I missed."

"I-I can try my best to answer," she said, reluctantly.

"Great!" He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Did Rikkai ever win the National title?"

"You led the middle school team in our third year to the title and during our second year in high school, you were on the winning team," she recalled.

"Really?! That's great!" He tried to think of something else to ask . "Am I really a pro?"

She nodded. "You almost dropped out in your final semester of high school because you signed a contract to go pro."

"Really?! Was I any good?!"

"I'm... not sure, to be honest," she admitted.

"Huh?"

"I haven't kept up with your pro career, Akaya-kun. I've been busy."

"Ah, gotcha. University must suck, huh?"

"O-of course..." she replied as her voice trailed off.

Kirihara was rather perceptive of her sudden shyness. "-chan, is something wrong?"

"I-it's nothing!" she quickly responded.

"Are you sure? You seem like you wanna say something."

"W-well..."

"I won't get mad. Promise! I don't even remember you, so if I did something to hurt you in the past, I'm sorry."

"Akaya-kun..."

"-chan."

There was an awkward silence beginning to grow in the room. wasn't sure if she wanted to say what was on her mind when Kirihara was in such a vulnerable state. The doctors had warned her in advance that she should not put his mind under any unwarranted stress, but she had a lot of questions and no one to answer them. The one person who could answer them couldn't remember who he was.

Kirihara let out a frustrated grunt. "Man, not being able to remember things fucking sucks!" he cursed. "-chan, sneak me out of here. I'm dying to play tennis right now."

"But, Akaya-kun, the doctors said you needed to rest! They don't even know if you've suffered any other major injuries from the accident," she pleaded.

"Ah, who cares about that? You're not Yanagi-senpai," he scoffed. "Wait... Yanagi-senpai!"

"W-what about him, Akaya-kun?"

"Can you get in touch with Yanagi-senpai and tell him to come next time?! I just know he'll remember everything," he asked rather innocently.

felt a dull pain in her chest upon hearing those words. "I... I can try?"

Kirihara grabbed and held both of her hands tightly in his. "You're the best!"

A beep on the hospital intercom system interrupted their conversation. "Visiting hours for today are now over. Visitors, please make your way towards the sign-in desk to sign yourself out. Thank you."

"Aw, man! I'm gonna die of boredom again," Kirihara grumbled to himself.

giggled. There was something bittersweet about seeing Kirihara behave like he used to when they first met. "I'll come visit you tomorrow."

Kirihara grinned from ear-to-ear. "I'll make sure to stay alive, then."

After she had left the hospital, felt numb. She couldn't believe that her ex-boyfriend from high school had gotten into an accident and lost all of his memories. It had been almost five years since they had broken up, but the heartbreak from it never went away. To see Kirihara Akaya—the arrogantly wild team ace of Rikkai's middle and high school tennis teams—confined to a bed with the mental age of a thirteen year old was just sad to see.

Her mind wandered back to his request to get his old teammate and their senpai, Yanagi Renji, to come and fill in the missing gaps. Even though she knew they were good friends and he had no recollection of her, it still stung that he chose Yanagi over her. Kirihara hadn't seen Yanagi since the latter graduated from high school and he probably knew less than she did. She didn't even know how to reach out to her aloof senpai; she was never very close to him to begin with.

On the train ride back to her apartment, she racked her brain and combed through her contact list to see if there was anyone who could possibly help. Unfortunately, her social group and his group of friends did not overlap and she had no way of reaching out to someone who knew him.

"Knowing Yanagi-senpai, he would be able to figure out if something happened to him," she pondered to herself as she got off the train.

As she weaved her way through the sea of people, a thought came into her mind.

"The photos!" she exclaimed out loud, causing some passersby to look at her in confusion.

She had almost forgotten that she painstakingly captured and developed thousands of photographs of their days in school together. She was a photographer, after all, and he had always been her favourite model. If anything, those photos were the only thing she had left to try and kickstart his memories. She hurried home to sift through the hundreds of albums she had compiled over the years, praying that they were with her in her apartment and not at her parents' place in Asakusa.

Her tiny spare bedroom had become a storage room for all of these photos. With how digital everything was, she still preferred to have printed versions of her best shots. Of course, back then, physical copies were more common than they were now. She had lost track of how much money she spent on prints over the years. There was something nostalgic about flipping through her old work. cringes just looking at some of the shot compositions she had captured in those early days, but she could immediately see the improvement as she continued to flip through all of the albums.

Finally, she found the album with a crudely written "MS 3 - Tennis" label stuck haphazardly on the front. This was the year she transferred to Rikkai and when she started taking photographs for the school newspaper. Inside the pages were photographs of the school's tennis team playing in various tournaments and winning the National title once again. Smack dab in the middle of almost all of the photos was the smiling and bumbling idiot known as Kirihara Akaya. Whenever he was looking at the camera, he had the silliest grin that warmed her heart. The pictures that she took of him while playing tennis painted a different story. There was something refined and cool about him when he was serious and was impressed that she could even manage to capture shots like those back when she was an amateur.

Though it had been a decade, she felt like she was reliving through the Kanto Regionals all over again as she looked through the book. When she got to the section where all of the Nationals photos were, she noticed a bunch of photographs that were put in the book by mistake. They were just innocent pictures of the two of them back when their friendship started, but it stung a little to look back at the time before they even started dating. She looked so different back then compared to now, but he looked like he hadn't changed much at all.

"It's better if he didn't see these," she told herself as she started to remove the photographs from the album.

couldn't bring herself to show these photos to him. Though they were tame, she worried if they would hinder his recovery if he were to remember too many things all at once. Part of her didn't want him to remember what happened between them either.

After all, it was his idea to break up with her to begin with.

While his malleable and vulnerable brain tried to recover those lost memories, Kirihara spiked a high fever that required several cooling blankets to bring him back down to a temperature that wouldn't fry whatever neurons were left. Unfortunately, the sudden fever left Kirihara dehydrated and physically weak. He was stuck in his uncomfortable bed yet again, staring at the ceiling. Just as he was about to groan in agony over his boredom, reappeared. His expression immediately lit up just as her expression darkened and grew more concerned.

"Akaya-kun, are you alright?"

"Better, now that you're here, -chan!" he grinned.

"You look terrible," she blurted out.

"Thanks! I still barely remember anything and woke up with this fever. The human body sure is crazy, don't you think?"

took a seat by his bedside yet again. "Have you learned anything new since we last spoke?"

Kirihara nodded. "I can recall that I did play tennis these past ten years, but I don't remember much else."

"Perhaps this might help you recover something, Akaya-kun," she smiled as she held up the album. "I brought photos from those days for you to look through."

Kirihara seemed overly giddy about this. "You took photos?!"

"Y-yeah. I'm a photographer," she admitted, sheepishly, as she handed the album over. "You would always let me take photos of you back then."

He took the book and started flipping through the pages. "Wow, these are really good!"

"Thank you. You really liked them back then as well."

Each photograph started to fill in the finer details of the events that occurred, making Kirihara feel a sense of nostalgia. The book itself was filled to the brim with a lot of interesting shots and compositions, but he couldn't help but notice that it looked like some of the photos were removed.

"Say, -chan, what's up with the blank spaces?" he asked as he continued to flip through the book.

"Ah! I just went through this book last night and took out some of the irrelevant photos," she lied.

"Aw! I wanna see them," he pouted.

"M-maybe at a later date," she answered.

Kirihara noticed the slight twinge of sadness behind her eyes. "You don't look like you want me to see them, -chan."

"They're really not that relevant to your memories," she lied again.

"Why?"

"They're just random shots I miscategorized and put into this album by mistake. I forgot I even put them in there for archiving until I went through them. Not anything interesting."

Kirihara gave her a dirty look before returning his gaze to the photos. "Man, I look so cool! I can't believe I don't remember this stuff."

"Isn't it hard for you to not remember things? Seeing you like this... I don't know. It's strange," she admitted.

"Well, yeah, but what can I do about it? Not my fault I was hit by a car or whatever the doctors told me," he shrugged. "Having you here puts me at ease, though."

"R-really?"

"Yeah," he smiled weakly. "Say, do you have other albums like this?"

"I do. All three years of high school as well."

His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas getting everything he wanted from Santa Claus. "Can you bring them next time?!"

"I'll... see what I can do," she answered, reluctantly. "I might be busy these next few days, so you might not get them for a while."

"You're not dating anyone, are you?" he asked out of the blue.

was taken aback by the sudden change. "N-no... Why are you asking?"

Kirihara leaned back into his crunchy pillow and closed his eyes. "Just making sure I'm not keeping you from your boyfriend. The last thing I want is an angry guy trying to beat me up when I can't fight back."

She smiled sadly. "I'm single, Akaya-kun. There's nothing to worry about."

He was already drifting off into a slumber and failed to hear her response. When she realized he was unconscious, the tears she was holding back came pouring out. Her round face was becoming a mess of snot as she used her sleeves to wipe it all away.

"Akaya-kun... Why me...?"

It would be another few days before visited him again. She had found and gone through the albums from their high school days, removing all of the photos of them ever being together and stashing it away in a box that she would bury somewhere else. She had willed herself into believing that it was in Kirihara's best interest to not remember her. She did it for selfish reasons; she hoped that if he never recovered those memories of their previous relationship, then he would no longer be distraught over it. From what she knew, Kirihara did not handle the split well either.

When she had arrived at his room once again, Kirihara was already with someone, talking without a care in the world. Upon seeing at the door, his eyes sparkled the same way they used to whenever he looked at her.

"-chan! You came!" he waved at her as she entered.

"?" The other person turned around to look in Kirihara's direction.

"Yanagi-senpai, is that you?" she asked.

The other person nodded. "-san, I am... surprised to see you here."

"Eh? Yanagi-senpai, you know -chan as well?" Kirihara asked his slightly expressionless senior.

"Yes, I do," he answered. "Akaya, do you remember who -san is?"

"She's my friend, of course!" he said, matter-of-factly. "Plus, she takes so many cool photos!" He reached over to his bedside table, where he had placed the album she had brought the other day and flipped through the pages. "Just look at how cool I am, Yanagi-senpai!"

"Friend?" Yanagi repeated, perplexed. "Do you remember anything about her, Akaya?"

"Who cares? My memories will come back if she's a friend of mine," he pouted. "Besides, we were close enough to be on a first name basis, so that must count for something!"

Yanagi turned to look at , who was sweating profusely and felt like the world was suffocating her. "-san, may I speak to you outside?"

"O-of course, Yanagi-senpai," she stuttered. "Here, Akaya," she placed the other photo albums on his lap, "these were from high school. Take a gander while Yanagi-senpai and I talk."

"Aw, sweet! Don't mind if I do!" He eagerly picked up the topmost album and started flipping through it, admiring all of the unique action shots she was able to capture.

Yanagi led out of the room and gently closed the door behind them.

"I can explain—"

"There is no need to," Yanagi interjected. "The doctors must have told you not to overstimulate his memories, correct?"

She nodded slowly, afraid of saying anything else.

"-san, I do not mean to be rude, but why exactly are you here?"

"I... wish I knew," she sighed. "The doctors at this hospital called me one day and said I was Akaya-kun's emergency contact. I don't know why, but I couldn't just leave him here. I was certain that someone who knew him would come and find him, but I haven't seen anyone, other than you."

Yanagi nodded his head as he listened. "And I presume you have been helping him with his amnesia?"

She nodded slowly again. "I wasn't much help, though. All I did was bring him my old photo albums."

He frowned slightly. "Give yourself more credit, -san. It seems as if he has recovered most of his memories, thanks, in part, to your photos."

"Really?"

He nodded. "The only things he cannot seem to remember are things not related to his professional tennis career. I've filled him in as best as I could, but even I do not know much about his personal life; not after graduating high school, anyways."

"I... see..."

"So, am I correct to assume that he does not remember your relationship with him?"

She nodded as she bit on her lower lip.

"I see," was the tepid response.

"Are you going to—"

"It is not my place to say," he interrupted, once again. "But, I do think he has a right to know. It was a big part of both of your lives."

"I know," she reluctantly admitted. "But, he looks so... happy now. He was a mess when we ended things... I can't just take all of that away from him—especially right now."

"I do understand where you are coming from, -san," he calmly stated, "but, I do believe that you will need to tell him sooner, rather than later."

"I know," she sighed. "When he gets discharged, I'll tell him."

"Tomorrow, then. The doctors are processing the papers for it as we speak."

The sudden news alarmed her greatly. "Tomorrow?"

Yanagi nodded. "He is physically fine. They do not expect the amnesia to last once he gets out and has his neurons stimulated again with familiar environments."

The knot in her stomach only grew as she hunched over to try and alleviate her discomfort.

"-san? Are you alright?"

"I... I need to go," she replied as she hastily walked away from him.

Her mind was racing at the speed of light. How could she possibly tell Kirihara what had happened between them on such short notice? There was no way she could mentally prepare herself in time. Yanagi could only watch her run off with concern. He knew it was not a good idea to go after her. Instead, he opted to return to Kirihara's room, where the younger man was staring intently at a photo in silence.

"Akaya? Is something wrong?"

Kirihara turned to look at Yanagi before looking right back down at the photo. "Yanagi-senpai, was -chan really my friend?"

"She was," he responded, vaguely.

"Did we stop being friends at some point?"

"Why do you ask, Akaya?"

He grabbed at his chest, as if to soothe the ache he was feeling. "I know she's hiding something from me, Yanagi-senpai. I just don't know what."

Yanagi felt himself reach out to ruffle his kouhai's untamable tangles. "She will tell you when the time is right."

"Man, I hope so. This amnesia thing fucking sucks!"

Thanks to Yanagi's methodical questions and meticulous storytelling, Kirihara was able to remember almost everything without any additional stresses to his brain. By the time morning rolled around, he could recount every recent top four finish at the tennis tournaments he played in and his history-making win at the Japan Open the year prior. He felt like everything was slowly falling back into place as he remembered who he had been for the last decade. The picture was almost whole now, but he still couldn't figure out where fit in.

Worried about her little boy, Kirihara's mother brought him back to his childhood home instead of letting him stay alone in his city condo. Normally, he would complain, but this gave him the opportunity to see if he could find anything in his room about . Plus, there was the added bonus of having a home-cooked meal and no paparazzi in sight. After settling down in his old bedroom, Kirihara went digging through whatever he could get his hands on. Dusty old boxes started falling apart as he tore through the content, hoping to find a yearbook or something. His spotless room that his mother had spent days cleaning up had now been dirtied in less than five minutes of him being in there. No matter what book he opened or papers he sifted through, there was nothing. He scratched his head, wondering how he was friends with someone for so long and did not have anything to remember them by.

Frustrated, he plopped himself back onto his bed, but hit his head on something hard.

"Ow..." he winced as he reached underneath his head to see what it was.

His phone—with the screen cracked beyond repair due to the accident—was there. He turned on the screen to see if he could still use it. His lock screen background instantly caught his attention, since it was a simple photo of standing underneath the infamous "confession tree" on campus, camera in hand, taking pictures of something far off in the distance. His mind started to recall the circumstances surrounding that photograph.

It was that strange period before the Regionals when Kirihara Akaya first noticed how cute the new transfer student in his class was. He was terrible with names and couldn't be bothered to learn her's when she was first introduced at the beginning of his third year of middle school. He figured he would find out over time. She was part of the newspaper club, but he could never seem to find her name attached to any of the articles because she was just the photographer. He debated asking Yanagi, but decided against it to save her from his scrutinizing and invasive data collection.

Nearing the end of practice one day in preparation for the tournament, Kirihara was mindlessly wandering around the courts, only paying half a mind to what was going on. Everyone else in the club was cleaning up the courts so that the high school division could use it next and he had nothing else to do but watch. As he made his way around the area, he couldn't help but spot that transfer student standing underneath the campus "confession tree" with her camera in hand, pointing directly at the courts. As he approached her, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by the way the sunlight caught on her hair and made it glow in an ethereal manner. The look of concentration on her face as she aimed her lens on her target was adorable.

He wasn't sure what compelled him to pull out his phone and take a picture of the scene, but he did. Unfortunately, his flash was on, which immediately caught her attention just as the shutter closed.

"Shit!" he cursed.

"Did you just take a photo of me?" she asked, mildly offended.

"N-no! You just happened to be in the way; that's all," he lied with conviction.

"Show me," she demanded. "I want to see it."

"Why should I?" he retorted back.

"So, you are admitting that you took a photo of me."

"I did not!"

"Then, why can't you show it to me? You said it wasn't a picture of me," she pointed out.

He gulped. "Why don't you show me what you've been taking photos of instead," he deflected.

Without hesitating, pulled up the images and showed him the shots on the tiny digital screen. "I'm practicing with the 'sports' filter. The school's famous tennis team was the perfect subject."

"Hey, those are actually really good," he complimented as he got a closer look.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"Wow, is that really me?!" he exclaimed as she started parsing through shots that only contained himself. "I never knew I looked like that..."

She laughed. "Capturing the sides that no one really sees is my specialty."

"No kidding..."

"I showed you my shots. Show me yours, Kirihara-kun," she smirked.

He groaned as he fished out his phone and opened up the photo to show her. "There. Happy?"

Instead of laughing like he thought she would, looked impressed. "I must say, Kirihara-kun, you are quite skilled at compositions."

"I have no idea what that means, but thanks," he replied.

"So," she began as she started fidgeting with her camera settings, "what business does the team ace have with a member of the newspaper club?"

"N-nothing in particular," he answered. "Just needed to make sure you weren't a spy for another school."

"I might be a transfer student, but my loyalty lies with Rikkai," she affirmed. "I am simply just trying to practice my photography."

"Practice all you want, but just don't take pictures of our team when we are practicing," he huffed. "If you really need someone to practice on, I'll model for you!"

She giggled. He couldn't help but feel his heart melt a little at the delicate sound. "Don't trust me? Alright, then. I'll agree to your terms, Kirihara-kun."

"J-just so that we're on the same page, I'm Kirihara Akaya, Tennis Team Ace," he declared, hoping that she would also introduce herself.

" , Newspaper Club Photographer," she giggled.

'Damn, what a pretty name for a pretty girl,' he thought to himself.

"Whoa... That was fucking weird..."

Unfortunately, for him, the touch screen did not function anymore and he would need to get a new device. It would have to wait until the next day, seeing as it was already getting late. Now bored, he went over to his desk, where his laptop was perched. Upon turning it on and logging in, the desktop was littered with file folders and stray photos not categorized.

"Man, there's a lot of shit on here," he said to himself as he started to go through them.

While chaotic, the folders had a logical naming scheme to them, making it easy for him to know when the photos were taken. A lot of them were just digital versions of the photos in the albums left with him. There was one folder, however, that was password protected with a specific date written on it. He started typing in the same three passwords he would recycle for all of his accounts, hoping that he could social engineer his way through. When that didn't work, he started typing in random words that came up in his head until he got frustrated.

Just when he was about to give up, he figured he might as well try typing in her name to see if it would work. It did.

The password protected folder was, surprisingly, not his porn collection (apparently, that folder was just labelled as 'porn' and did not have the same level of security). Instead, it was just full of pictures of and himself together. All of them seemed to be from their high school days. They looked like they were a happy couple, but no memories of those times seemed to come back to him like they did with the tennis photographs. This perplexed him, but he felt a stinging sensation in his chest as he continued to parse through them.

Later, at dinner, Kirihara decided to ask his parents if they knew anything about her.

"Hey mom, do you remember ?"

"-chan?" his mother repeated. "She was such a sweet girl..."

His father nodded in agreement. "She had a good head on her shoulders—that's for sure."

"Why do you ask, Akaya?" she inquired.

"N-no reason," he stuttered as he began to shovel his bowl of rice into his mouth.

He couldn't sleep that night either, as his mind continued to think more about her. He now knew they must've been close enough for his parents to know of her existence, but it was frustrating when no one would tell him anything. He felt guilty for forgetting everything about her and angry that everyone else was keeping this information from him. He decided it was best to confront her as soon as he could, and that would begin with getting a new phone.

was barely able to focus on her current photoshoot, given what had happened in the last 48 hours. Her attempt to preoccupy herself with her work was failing miserably, as her shots were not turning out the way she nor the client wanted. There was no point in attempting to continue for the time being and everyone decided it was better to regroup in a few hours. Dejected, she packed up her camera and headed back to her car, but was surprised to see that someone was waiting for her on her way there.

"Akaya-kun!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Yanagi-senpai said you would be here," he answered as he scratched the back of his head. "Is now not a good time to talk?"

She shook her head. "We're on a break for a few hours. The shots were not great, so I'm hoping time will fix it."

"Do you want to go somewhere then?" he asked. "With me?"

She felt her cheeks flush. "Um... Where exactly?"

"A surprise," he answered. "Don't worry—it's not far from here."

"A-alright, then" she agreed rather hesitantly. "Just let me put this stuff away first."

"Here," he said as he reached for her heavy equipment, "allow me."

"T-thanks," she mumbled. "Are we walking to this place, Akaya-kun?"

"Yeah. It's really not that far from here."

After they placed her equipment away in her car, Kirihara unconsciously reached for her hand and started to drag her to their mysterious destination. was taken aback by the sudden hand-holding, but she did not protest. She had missed feeling his strangely calloused hand in her's. They walked for less than ten minutes before they arrived at the front entrance of Rikkai's campus.

"Akaya-kun? What are we doing here?" she asked with a sense of worry behind her voice.

"To get my memories back," he responded, firmly.

Autumn was slowly starting to creep in and all of the trees on campus have started to lose their leaves. It had been a good six years since either of them had set foot on the familiar paved paths, but they both remember them as if they were still students there. Kirihara was heading straight for the largest tree on the property, which was known as the "confession tree" due to its popularity for people professing their love underneath it.

"Akaya-kun?"

"I'm not confessing, okay?" he reassured her. "I just wanted to see it."

She blinked. "Why?"

Kirihara took out his new phone and showed her his lock screen, which was the same picture as the one from his old, cracked phone. "Because of this."

She gently took his phone and looked at the photo. She wanted to ask him why he had this, when did he even take this photo, and why did he use it as his lock screen—of all things, but she knew he didn't remember the answers to those questions.

"-chan, be real with me for a second," he began. "Were we just friends in high school, or was there something more to our relationship?"

She sighed as she handed his phone back to him. "We started off as friends in our last year of middle school, but somewhere along the way, we began dating."

"My hunch was right, then!" he exclaimed. "I just knew someone as pretty as you couldn't possibly be just a friend of mine."

The compliment only flustered her more. "Akaya-kun, I think you are misunderstanding our current relationship."

"What do you mean by that?"

She felt herself choke as she tried to maintain her composure. "That was the past, Akaya-kun. We broke up."

"Huh?"

He could not believe what he was hearing. Was that the reason why everyone was being so sensitive around him every time he brought her up? Was the breakup that bad, to the point where everyone decided to hide it from him, including her? While shocking, the revelation did nothing to jog his memories; he still couldn't recall a thing about her.

"Akaya-kun, I'm sorry, but I can't—"

started running from him as she tried to hide her tear-stained face. She couldn't do it anymore. She didn't want to see him like this. She never wanted to come back into his life in these circumstances. It was too much for her to deal with.

Kirihara wanted to chase after her, but he hesitated.

It had been a week since he last saw , but he did not bother to try reaching out again. He was still nowhere closer to remembering who she was to him, but he had been racking his brain trying to piece together the mystery. He knew that she was a transfer student in middle school, became classmates, then friends through tennis and photography, then became a couple, but now, they're both single. From the way she interacted with him, it seemed like they had been broken up for quite some time.

Now that he was mostly recovered, he got straight back into practicing tennis again. The Japan Open and Shanghai Masters were right around the corner and he had missed out on quite a bit of practice due to the whole accident. He felt out of shape, but he was determined to at least finish in the top eight; defending his title was probably out of reach with how much time he had lost. Playing again brought a sense of fulfillment to his life and he allowed himself to get lost in the rush of endorphins and lactic acid. All of this escapism did not stop him from thinking about his woes, however. He was now more lost than ever.

Days before the start of the Open, Kirihara was invited by Marui and Jackal for drinks at an izakaya. Unlike their eccentric kouhai, neither of them opted for a career in the pro scene, having instead exchanged their rackets for more normal jobs, such as being a pastry chef and restaurant owner. It had become a tradition of sorts ever since they went their separate ways and Kirihara loved catching up before playing in the tournament.

By the time he had arrived, Marui and Jackal were already one drink in respectively. Kirihara sat down beside the self-proclaimed genius, who had already ordered him a glass of apple juice.

"Marui-senpai, I'm 23! I can drink," he pouted.

This statement only made the both of them laugh. "No way in HELL are we letting you drink," Marui snickered.

"We wouldn't want a repeat of the last time you had a sip," Jackal added.

"Last time?" he asked. "What happened last time?"

Marui laughed harder. "Oh man, Yanagi really was serious about the amnesia thing?"

"Hey! I remember everything now," he lied.

"The last time we went out for drinks, you wouldn't stop crying the entire time," Jackal explained. "It's been five years, Akaya. When are you going to get over your ex?"

"Or, better yet, when the hell will you grow a freaking pair and take her back?" Marui added.

"W-was I really like that?!" he shouted.

Both of them nodded their heads in agreement.

"I've never met a more miserable sod that kept a lockscreen of his ex and her number for more than a month," Jackal cried as he clutched his sides.

"'Oh, boo hoo, I'm the World Number One in tennis and I can't get over a girl I broke up with!'" Marui mocked as he took another gulp of the beer in his hands. "Is she seriously your emergency contact still? You're unbelievable! Why wait until you're dying to tell her you care?"

Kirihara suddenly felt something click in his brain. "Fuck!"

He quickly stood up from his seat and dashed out of the establishment, leaving his two senpais to wonder what had gotten into him.

They were two months from graduating high school when Kirihara got a phone call from a scout, offering him an amazing contract to go professional in tennis. He wasn't surprised when he got the call either; he had spent his entire high school tennis career going for the top and winning as many tournaments as he could enter. He had been on the radar of pro tennis scouts for a while thanks in part to his performance at the U-17 World Cup back in middle school and his placing in amateur singles tournaments throughout Japan. Winning the high school Nationals in his second year was just the icing on top. He had grown exponentially as one of the best up-and-coming players in the sport and this was the next logical step in his career goals.

It was Valentine's Day when he broke the news to . By that point, they had been together for roughly three years. The two went out for ramen after school had ended for the day. could tell Kirihara had something exciting he wanted to share because he wouldn't stop bouncing up and down the entire time.

"Jeez, Akaya-kun, do you need to go to the bathroom or something?" she joked.

"Nuh! I'm just excited to share something amazing with you, -chan!"

She giggled. "You really are adorable when you get this excited, Akaya-kun."

After sitting down at the counter and ordering their respective bowls of noodles—tonkotsu for him, black garlic for her, and a takoyaki to share—Kirihara leaned in and kissed playfully on the cheek.

"Akaya-kun, really," she laughed nervously, "what's the big news?"

"The great Kirihara Akaya has just received an offer to go pro," he answered, proudly.

"Really?! That's so wonderful, Akaya-kun! Congratulations!"

"I know, right?! And, what perfect timing too!"

's cheery face suddenly disappeared. "Akaya-kun, don't tell me you're still serious about dropping out. You're, like, two months away from finishing high school!"

"Aw, don't give me that look, -chan! I can survive another two months of this," he reassured her as he ruffled her hair. "As long as I have you."

She smiled. "It would be a shame if we're not standing beside each other during the graduation ceremony."

It was only a week later when learned that she got accepted into her dream school to pursue photography. The couple were hanging out in Kirihara's bedroom when she got the email. She was so surprised that she started crying uncontrollably, which only freaked him out.

"-chan! You got in! Why are you crying?!" Kirihara exclaimed as he embraced her in his muscular arms.

"I-I'm just so— relieved," she sniffled. "I thought— they were going to— reject me!"

"Any school dumb enough to reject you will never understand your talent!" he affirmed as he gently kissed her on her forehead.

"Thanks, Akaya-kun," she smiled as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"Man, look at us go! I'm going pro and you're going to some fancy-smancy art school... I can't believe how fast high school went by," he lamented.

"Yeah... Me neither," she agreed.

There was a blissful silence that passed as the two remained in each other's arms. It was comforting, yet nerve-wracking. Both of them had the same thought on their mind: what would happen to them? Neither of them wanted to be the first to start that conversation, but they both knew they had to talk about it sooner or later.

The frustration got to Kirihara first.

"-chan."

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to do? About this?"

She knew this topic would come up, but she never gave it much of a thought. She was too worried about trying to find a time to bring it up. "I... don't know."

"Your art school's all the way out in California, but I'll be stuck in Tokyo..."

The two sat in silence as they combed through their brains to figure out a solution.

"Long distance?" she asked.

"Will that work?" he answered with another question.

"We can try."

Graduation came and the two soon started to head in opposite directions—both figuratively and literally. Training had become brutal for him. His new coach, while kind-hearted outside of the court, was a complete hard-ass that worked him to the bone. He never complained once—he knew he would have to work hard if he wanted to climb to the top. There wasn't a day that went by where he didn't think about and how much he wanted to see her, but he no longer had the luxury of time. Days turned into weeks; weeks into months and, soon enough, he couldn't remember the last time he spoke with her.

, on the other hand, struggled to adjust to a new life in America. English wasn't too difficult for her, but the isolation she felt being away from all of her friends and family back in Japan was tough. It didn't help that the time difference and Kirihara's busy schedule meant that she had no one to talk to when she was feeling down. It had always been her dream to attend art school for photography, but a semester in was enough to tell her that it wasn't the place she wanted to be in.

When they were finally able to catch a break, the first thing Kirihara did was call her.

"-chan."

"Akaya-kun."

It had been such a long time since he last heard her voice that he didn't know what to say.

"Akaya-kun?"

"Sorry—got distracted," he admitted.

"How's training coming along? I hear you're playing in Shanghai in a few months."

"It's good. How's art school?"

"Also good," she lied.

The conversation died. They didn't know what else to talk about.

Seeing all of the people in his social media feeds posting photos of their significant others began to irk Kirihara. He was jealous. He wanted to join in as well, but that was difficult, given the circumstances. What made him more ticked off was seeing pictures of having fun in America. He never knew how hard of a time she was having and that the smiles were fake; it was impossible to tell from the terrible filters covering everything.

The next time they called each other was the last time they would ever speak to each other.

"-chan."

"What's wrong, Akaya-kun?"

"Listen, I've been thinking about this for a while now, but maybe it's better if we broke up."

There was silence.

"-chan?"

"Why?" was her simple, one-word response.

"This isn't working out—the long distance," he admitted. "I don't want to hold you back anymore. Sorry."

He waited for a reply, but was met with the sound of the dial tone instead. She hung up on him without another word.

was spending another late night in the studio, editing photos and going through the ones she had taken earlier that day. Her nth cup of coffee had gone cold as she meticulously erased the stray hairs from the model's face. She felt like she was seeing double by that point and had to take a break and look at something else. Her head turned to look out of the large glass window, where she could see the city streets winding down for the day.

"I need to go for a walk," she mumbled as she stood up and grabbed a light jacket to put over herself.

She couldn't get him off of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. She still worried deeply for that immature manchild—especially when he forgot everything about himself. She felt compelled to run and find him, but the city was huge and there was a lot of ground to cover. Luckily for her, Kirihara had the exact same thought, but he had the advantage of knowing where she was and showed up at her studio, breathless and disheveled.

"Akaya-kun!"

He held up a finger as he took in large breaths. "Sorry—"

ran into the studio's kitchenette area and brought him a glass of water. "Drink this," she said as she handed it to him.

He drank down the contents in one inhuman gulp before exhaling. "You're a lifesaver," he smiled sheepishly.

"Akaya-kun, why are you here?" she asked, nervous to hear the answer.

Kirihara threw his arms around her and held her tightly. "I messed up. I'm sorry."

was more confused than ever. "Huh?"

"All those years ago... I hurt you, and I don't know why I did either," he rambled. "I guess... I guess I just didn't know how to tell you that I need you."

She felt her eyes starting to water. "Akaya-kun, what are you going on about?"

"I remember, ," he said. "Fuck! I should've known you were hurting— I just—"

Her voice was quivering. "Akaya..."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her so that he could look directly into her forlorn eyes.

" , I made the mistake of not realizing how you really felt, and an even bigger mistake letting you go all those years ago. I'm a fucking idiot, but—"

couldn't maintain her composure and started sobbing uncontrollably. "Akaya—"

He pulled her in and buried her face into his chest. "I love you. Take me back," he whispered into her ear.

slowly moved her arms up towards the small of his back, which surprised him. "Akaya, I have to apologize too..."

"What for?"

"For hiding the past from you."

Now, Kirihara was the confused one. "What?"

"Come with me," she sighed as she turned around and headed back to her desk. "You remember those gaps in the albums, right?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with any of this?"

bent down and opened the bottom drawer in her desk, revealing a box. She picked it up and handed it to him. "I kept these from you when I shouldn't have. Sorry."

He accepted the box and took off the lid, revealing the stacks of photos he had not seen before. Rather than go through them, he replaced the lid and handed it back to her.

"I don't need to see them," he said.

"Why?"

"You had your reasons for hiding it, right? To protect me from getting hurt again?"

She said nothing, but he knew from the direction her eyes were looking that he was right. He pulled her back into his arms again.

"Besides, that's the past. I want to make new memories with you—not dwell on what we did do."

She was unsure of what to say to that. "Akaya... I..."

"Let's run away somewhere," he suggested. "Tennis might be fun, but winning means nothing if I can't have you beside me."

"Don't throw away your career so freely," she scolded. "It's your life... Your world!"

"You are my world," he corrected. "I'm tired of running from you. I want to be with you, ."

"I want to be with you too, Akaya, but I can't accept this," she sighed. "For you to give up everything you worked so hard for just for someone like me..."

Suddenly, another thought popped up in his head. "Wait! What if you quit your job and travel the world with me as a sports photographer instead? You can't be happy working at this miserable place—it's not even in an industry you like!"

laughed, defeated. "Akaya, you're getting ahead of yourself."

"Ah! You're right," he sighed. "I still don't know if you're going to take me back yet or not..."

She jumped up to kiss him playfully on the lips. "Does that answer your question?"

He reached for her chin, tilting her head up so their eyes would meet. "No way!"

He quickly pressed his lips onto her's, holding them in place until he felt like he had made up for all that lost time.

"I love you, —and this time, I swear we will make things work out," he promised. "I'm never going to let you go."

She couldn't hold herself back from being emotional. "I love you too, Kirihara Akaya."

There was a long road ahead for the both of them, but they could now face it together, rather than struggling through it alone. They sealed their new promise with another kiss, optimistic for what will come.