Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Where Your Shadow Falls- Part 2: Forget Me Not ❯ Flowers for a Girl ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6: Flowers for a Girl

 

 

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“…gonna change my name
maybe you'll leave the light on
just in case I like the dancing
I can remember where I come from"

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- Mother By: Tori Amos

 

“Who—Who are you?” She whispered, staring up at the unfamiliar boy holding her head. “What are you doing?”

“Rin?” He asked in a soft voice, a confused expression frozen on his face.

“Rin? Who's Rin? My name is Isuzu.” The boy just stared down at her. She sat up, looking around. “Where am I?”

“Rin, how can you not…why do you only remember…?” The boy stuttered.

“I already told you. I'm not Rin. I'm Isuzu. And would you mind telling me where I am and who you are?” She said, staring at him.

“I—I'm Haru. Don't you remember me?” He asked, his face looked scared; confused; hopeless.

“I don't think I've ever met you before. Why am I in a closet with you, Haro?”

“Haru,” he corrected his eyes full of sadness, “You're at the Sohma main estate. Do you remember that?”

“Yah,” she said, getting to her feet and brushing off her black jeans. “Why wouldn't I. I remember everything besides how I got in here with you.”

“Do you remember the curse?” Haru asked, barely audible.

“What curse?” She stared down at him like he was crazy.

Hey, he's really cute, she thought to herself.

“Never mind,” he said, getting to her feet to stand in front of her.

“How do you know me?” She asked, looking him in the eye. “Why are you here?”

“I—” He stopped for a minute, as if thinking about something. “I don't know if I should tell you.” Just then, the door burst open.

“Rin?”

“Why is everyone calling me Rin?!” She exclaimed.

“I'm sorry,” the man said.

“Gure-nii?” She asked, blinking at the man standing in the doorway.

“You remember him?” Haru asked incredulously.

“Of course I do,” Rin scoffed. “We grew up together.”

“That's right, Isuzu,” Shigure agreed, catching on. Haru turned to Shigure, his eyes blazing with anger.

“You'd better take me to Hatori right now!”

“Tori-nii?” She said, looking at Haru, before turning to Shigure. “How does he know Tori-nii?”

“Yes, yes, all in good time,” Shigure said passively.

“I'm not kidding, Sensei. Now!” Haru growled.

“Jeez, calm down, kiddo,” Rin said, giving Haru a weird look. He looked over at Shigure, eyes frightened.

“Sensei…how can this be possible,” Haru's voice was only a whisper.

“Ha,” Shigure chuckled, “Ha'ri messed up!” Haru's eye grew wide.

“What did Tori-nii mess up on?” Rin asked. Why wasn't anyone explaining anything to her? It was all so confusing. Like they were speaking a different language.

“R—Isuzu,” Shigure started, correcting himself, “Would you go on home to Kagura's? Haru and I need to talk about some things.” Rin gave him a strange look.

“Okay…”

“That's a good girl,” Shigure said, placing his hand on her shoulder and griping slightly. “I'll see you around.”

“All right,” Rin said, stepping out of the closet. “Bye Gure-nii!”

“Goodbye, Isuzu,” she heard him call as she shut the door behind her.

Well that was weird, Rin thought, walking through the halls to the front door. She strode through it, out into the gardens. It was late spring, so the flowers were just beginning to bloom.

“Hello, Isuzu,” one of the maids called. She had always thought they were so friendly.

“Hello,” she called back. “Nice day isn't it?” For some reason, the maid looked taken aback by her response. She just shrugged it off.

Everyone's acting a bit strange today…Oh well. I wonder what Kagura's mom is making for dinner. Mmm…I hope its oden…

“Want to try some oden?” A half forgotten voice from a long ago dream echoed in her head.

“…I'll try some…” She heard her own voice say. “Is it hot?”

“Yah, it's hot,” the other voice said.

Rin steadied herself against a garden wall, her hand pressed to her forehead.

What was that? She wondered. She started walking again, trying not to think about all the things that had happened today that didn't quite add up. Oh, well,

She took her time, skimming her hands across the tops of the flower boxes. When she reached a box of light purple flowers that caught her eye, she stopped, bending over to smell them.

“Mmm, these smell really nice,” she commented to herself. Rin looked around. Finding no one was watching her; she plucked two of the small flowers and carried them in her hand.

Rin walked slowly down the streets, taking the time to enjoy the warming effect the sun's rays had on her skin.

Oh! Now I remember what these are called, she thought, smiling to herself as she looked down into her hand at the two small, fragile flowers she carried. Forget Me Nots…

* * *

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“Long live the car crash hearts

Cry on the couch where the poets come to life

Fix me in forty-five"

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- Thriller By: Fall Out Boy

 

“Goodbye, Isuzu,” Shigure called as Rin shut the door behind her. Suddenly, Haru had him by the collar.

“You'd better tell me what the hell is going on here,” Haru growled.

“I really have no more clue than you do. And would everyone stop taking me by the collar and shouting at me? Seriously,” Shigure said playfully.

“I'm not kidding, Sensei. You'd better tell me what happened if you don't want your face to go through that wall.”

“I told you, Haru-kun. I'm not the one to ask. You'd better hunt down Haa-san, if you want some answers,” he advised.

“Rin—” Haru started.

“Haru-kun…Rin doesn't exist anymore. All the memories that made her Rin…they're gone. I'm not exactly sure what she remembers and what she doesn't, but it's obvious the procedure wasn't completed, so some of the last things Haa-san was trying to erase weren't. But I'm not sure. Again, you should probably go ask Mr. Hypnosis himself. I think he's probably cowering in his office.”

Without responding, Haru wrenched the door to the closet open and took off down the halls, veering around corners.

“Haru-kun…Rin doesn't exist anymore.”

No. Haru shook his head. Certainly that wasn't true. She had to be in there somewhere. Underneath all the false memories …the real ones had to be there somewhere…right? Haru reached Hatori's office (on the other side of the estate) in five minutes flat. He burst through the door, causing all the patients and nurses in the lobby to turn their heads toward him.

“H—Hatori,” Haru gasped, out of breath, “I need to see Hatori.”
“Do you have an appointment with Dr. So—” one of the nurses started to ask before Haru cut her off.

“I don't need a frickin' appointment. This is important. I need to see him now.” Haru snarled.

“I—I'm sorry, but it is protocol that all patients must have an appoi—” The nurse began. Haru could see she was afraid of him. He was so close to turning into Black Haru it wasn't even funny.

“Fuck protocol,” Haru growled, causing a mother to put her hands over her daughter's ears. “I need to see him now!”

“Young man, I'm sorry, but—”

“I know you're in there, Hatori! Come out here, you chicken! Stop hiding behind your pretty nurses. Come out or I swear to God I will kick your door down and beat the answers out of you! What the hell did you do to Rin?!” A long silence stretched before Haru started to walk swiftly towards the door to Hatori's office. He was about to kick the door in, when it swung open and Hatori appeared in the doorway.

“I would have appreciated it if you had not disturbed my work place,” Hatori's voice was low and stern.

“I would have appreciated it if you had not erased Rin's life.” Haru shot back at him. Black Haru was on the verge of breaking through. Hatori just looked him up and down, sighed, and stood aside to let Haru into his office.

Once they were seated on either side of the desk, Haru staring at Hatori intently, he said:

“You'd better tell me every last thing you did, Hatori.”

“Why should I do that?” Hatori asked coldly.

“Because if you do, I might consider not smashing your face into this desk.” Haru threatened, his eyes darkening.

“Touché,” Hatori agreed. He sighed. “I supposed I'd better start from the beginning. As you have already sensed, Isuzu has been released from the curse. She was not the first, of course. Kureno was freed a number of years ago. Akito roped him into deceiving all the rest of you so no one would find out the curse was coming undone.”

“Are you serious?” Hatori just stared at Haru. He looked down. “Fine…go ahead.”

“Thank you,” Hatori said, standing up, and turning to face the window, hands clasped behind his back. “Rin came to see Akito last night. He…had a session with her.” Haru's eyes widened. “It was after he left that the curse broke. I was sent in to check on her. The moment I stepped in that room, I could tell she was no longer one of us. Somehow, I stupidly let Shigure convince me I should tell him. Akito ordered that Isuzu be put on drugs to suppress feeling. She herself was not supposed to know. But somehow, Shigure got in and told her.”

“That bastard,” Haru spat. Hatori continued as if he hadn't said anything.

“I found out, and realized that Akito would realize Isuzu knew of her freedom. It was the same with Kureno. Isuzu would either have to stay by his side or Akito would eventually end up killing her. I couldn't—I wouldn't let that happen. So I took Isuzu to the closet, and tried to convince her to run, since the curse was not holding her back. She refused to leave, something about “I won't leave him.””
Him…could that…no. She doesn't love me anymore. Why would she risk her life to stay with me?

“Anyway, I tried to convince her. She wouldn't see that she had to. I couldn't let her throw away her life when she had the choice to leave. Unlike the rest of us, she had the choice and wouldn't take it. I couldn't accept that.” Haru's hands slammed down on the table.

“It was her choice! Why couldn't you just let her do whatever she wanted with her own damn life?!”

“Because…” Hatori's eyes flashed, “It had only been her life for fifteen minutes.”

“So you chose for her?” Haru's voice was low and rough.

“Yes. It is better for her this way.”

“To not remember anything?!” Haru shouted.

“Oh, she remembers quite a bit, Hatsuharu,” Hatori objected, sitting back down in the chair, “You see, the way memory suppression works, is like deleting files from a folder on a computer. It tackles the biggest files, the ones that mean to most to a person, first. Then it goes to the smaller and smaller files until finally all the files you selected have been deleted. Only with memory suppression, they aren't really deleted. They're just stored in a hidden, pass-worded folder that is somewhere, concealed on the hard drive.”

“So the things about where she lives and what her name is…those were the “files” that didn't mean much to her?”

“I supposed not. But the things that held a central place in her life—the memories of anything related to the curse (and that includes what her parents did to her), for instance—were the first to be tackled, therefore, they were erased before you so rudely interrupted me.”

“Why, you—” Haru said standing up.

“Sit down, Hatsuharu,” Hatori ordered, “If you wish to know what I think.” Haru reluctantly settled back into the chair.

“What do you think, then,” Haru spat.

“I believe that since the procedure was interrupted half way through, the files that I did manage to erase were sloppily taken care of, since the pathway between her immediate memory and the place where the suppressed memories were to be stored was still open when the connection was cut off.”

“Does that mean that there's a chance her memories might come back?” Haru asked, his heart soaring.

“It depends. From what I could tell, there were only two “file folders” I erased before you came barging in. The two largest ones. The first one, the largest, most meaningful to her, you might not be able to retrieve.”

“What do you mean?” Haru asked.

“If you put two packages, all the same size, in a cubby that is only tall enough and wide enough for the package, but twice times as deep, the first one you put in would go the furthest back, correct?”
“Yah, so?”
“Then it would be the hardest to retrieve without damaging the other package.”

“What if you took out the second package first?” Hatori sighed.

“With memory suppression, it doesn't quite work that way. The package isn't moved from the cubby. If the memory comes back, it makes a copy of the memory and puts in back where they mind can access it. The package is still there, so if you try to forcefully bring the other memory back, it might cause Isuzu considerable pain and psychological trauma.”

“And what exactly were the things most important to her?” Haru asked, swallowing hard.

“The second thing—the one I barely erased before you came—were her memories of things concerning the Sohma Curse. And the first thing, the one I completely erased, and the thing, it seemed, was most important to her…were her memories of you.”

 

End of Chapter 6:

Flowers for a Girl

 

A/n: It was fun to come up with all the technical stuff for memory suppression. ^_^ I have no clue how that all came together in my mind, but I hope it makes sense to all of you.

Haru: That was sooooo confusing T_T

Me: Really?

Rin: You made me NICE! T_T

Me: Deal with it, Rin

Haru: Don't be mean to her! >.<

Me: Deal with it, Haru!

( See ya next chapter! ^_^)

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