IAM- Ch 8/8
Chapter 8: Ino Chiaki
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With puff eyes, she faced his friends. They were all in silent. Standing outside his room, Kobaysahi Mika was there, present. She was comforting her friend, stroking her back. She was still sobbing, but there wasn’t enough tears to cry.
"He rushed here after you hanged up the phone. On his way... a big truck accidentally hit his car, it was all wrecked... And..." One of them informed, that statement rung on her head.
There was no one to blame, his mom said. Still, at the back of her mind, she was in deep pain, thinking it was all her fault. This would not happen if she didn’t act like that.
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She sat in daze in her bed. She grasped her phone which was located at the top of her bedside table. She hastily called the only number on her mind.
"Hi this is Yamashita Tomohisa, my phone is either dead or I’m on unrestricted area..."
She started to sobbed. She removed her phone from her ears and started to press some buttons.
Then held it back to where it was placed earlier.
"Hi this is Yamashita Tomohisa, my phone is either dead or..."
"Hi this is Yamashita Tomohisa..."
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Spring 2010.
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Blankly she was staring at the floor, walking. She accidentally passed by her father's office. Her dad stared at her with pain. He stood on his chair and peek outside. He called her name. But she did not look back. "Chiaki!" He yelled it much louder this time.
She snorted and shook her head. She faced at her back and tried to smile as she saw her dad. "Otou-san."
"Chiaki... Are you okay?"
"Yes... No need to worry about me." she feigned her smile. Her father was amused that she could even lie at him.
"Are you sure really okay dear?"
She laughed breathlessly. "Of course, I have moved on." Her answer sounded out of the line at the same it was the only statement that her father wanted to hear from her.
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Summer 2010
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Waking up from a deep slumber, she opened her eyes for the first time. She smiled sweetly; he was caressing her hair, placing it at the back of her ear.
She stared at his eyes and got lost inside. "Pi... I'm tired... What should I do? I feel like quitting."
"If you quit... what would you do?"
"I don’t know... Can I just be a bummer for the rest of my life?" She tried to joke. Tears stared to flow on her left eye. "Well... I've finally proved I'm not capable of being doctor... I've save many lives... but I didn’t get the chance to save the life of the most important person for me."
"Things like life are beyond our control." then he gave her a half smile. "Do something you've always wanted to do... "
"I want to write... I want to write our story." Pi nodded his slowly and wipes her cheeks. "I miss you."
The door slammed on the door and it open wide. It was Kobayashi Mika. "CHIAKI! You’re door isn’t lock, so I came in... Do you have a visitor?" No one answered. She started pacing inside her apartment. On her bedroom, she saw Ino Chiaki smiling alone on the thin air, as if she was talking to somebody.
Mika covered her mouth. Somehow she felt in pain seeing her friend like that.
Still delusion by his death.
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Fall 2010
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Weeping while running towards her father’s office, he exactly knew what it was about it. He has witness this picture two times already. He removed his eye glasses and wiped it. The wind chime on his office dinged. It was his daughter, running closer to him giving him a big hug and sobbing on his shoulder.
"Pa... When mom left, she said she'll be back after 10 days... I waited and waited but she didn’t come back. I could still remember when she left the house with you, but... but...but... she never came back....She left me... Then just like mom, Ayame left me too... She promised me that after I went home from school, we would play... but she did not wait for me... She didn’t even say her goodbye to me... After they left us, I’ve told myself I won’t let anyone die near me, so I studied hard... then I met Pi... Just like mom and Ayame, he left me too... doesn’t he love me? He said he'll come to me... b-but... Pa, I'm sorry, I lied! I'm sorry! I told you I have move on, but the truth is, I haven’t really gotten over him... The truth is, I'm still waiting... waiting until he would come to me."
"Dear... Calm yourself... I know how you feel..." He hugged his daughter much tighter, stroking her back to comfort her and to let her compose herself.
"I can’t breathe... I can’t breathe..."
"Let’s go outside and take a walk."
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Staring blankly at the wipe out document page in front of her, Ino Chaki heaves a sigh and smile. Clicking sound from the mouse, typing sound from the keyboard, her fast fingers started to press something, typing the three word phrase she called, title.
Illusions and Memories.