8Chapter Two
He was going insane. That was what the problem was. He had lost his mind and was going crazy. Still, even if he had become as deranged as he felt, it didn't make any sense to him how he could remember Kyoko and yet the world couldn't. Kyoko was, she had always been real. He hadn't been schizophrenic and he hadn't just imagined her and their relationship. Maybe he had a little insanity within him but not enough to make someone like her up.
He just didn't understand why everyone was torturing him this way. Had he done something to hurt them? No. Nobody could have orchestrated a prank this large in scale. Still, there was something wrong. Ren wasn't the type of person to really believe in the dark arts or magic or curses but without those elements, all of this didn't make sense. Where was his girlfriend?
He closed his eyes. As much as he hated to admit it, maybe he should go to Akitoki the next day and find Fuwa and ask him what he knew about Kyoko. As for tonight, Ren checked his watch, yes. As for tonight he could go to Daruma-ya and ask if they knew anything about Kyoko and whether Kyoko might be trying to escape from him, he could also go to the Moz Burger she used to work at as a very last resort.
Grabbing a jacket, Ren made sure he had everything he might need, put his shoes on and ran out to his car. Even if the whole world had seemed to forget her, he hadn't, he still remembered her. He just needed to find her. She had to exist She couldn't just have never been real. She couldn't be a hallucination. That idea didn't make any sense to him.
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Kyoko looked around her as she stayed in the forest, as much as she loved this place, she had to move. She pushed herself up and looked around feeling nervous about what had happened. The fairy had said that she would only be remembered by her true love, Prince Corn, but did that mean everyone? She had to come from somewhere so she had to have a past and she knew the direction to the Fuwa ryokan. Maybe she would have to swallow her pride and go there. Maybe they wouldn't make her stay there and realize that she still wanted to be an actress. Wait. All of the work that she had done, was that gone? Kyoko wrapped her arms around herself, pained by that idea.
She took deep breaths to steady herself and then made her way in the direction of the Fuwa's inn. She felt the rain on her face and hoped that she could at least get a place to stay for the night. As she went to the front of the inn, she could hear the noise inside of cooking being done and that meant the guests were probably receiving their meals.
She stood outside and her back straightened as she found a young woman to come over to her. This must be one of the employees, "Hello? Are you a guest?" the woman asked and Kyoko shivered. She shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself because of how cold it had become.
"No, but I know Fuwa-san," she said and the woman looked at her suspiciously before opening the door and pointed to the waiting area.
"Please wait there," she told Kyoko before going off in the direction of the kitchen. Kyoko looked around the entrance way. There were a lot of differences than when she remembered last being here but that had been a couple of years ago. Still, she could feel her childhood. She could smell those familiar smells, feel the tatami mats under her feet, hear the sounds of her and Shotaro laughing together, playing together.
They had to know her here. Kyoko waited in the entrance way and then when she saw Yayoi, she bowed down deeply to her. "Good evening," she said in a very formal way. As she rose, her eyes widened. Yayoi was looking at her as if she were a complete stranger. Kyoko opened her mouth to explain but she knew that it probably wouldn't make a difference. The way that the woman was looking at her made her feel that it wasn't worth it.
"Who are you?" Sho's mother asked and Kyoko stiffened but then bowed again in a very formal manner. If she was rejected from here then she was doomed. The fairy might not even tell Corn that she had been forgotten by everyone and then she would have nobody to turn to. She took a deep breath but knew she had to be strong, she had to ignore her emotions and beg for somewhere warm to stay for the night.
"I knew Shotaro from school," Kyoko said quietly and his mother smiled.
"Okay," she nodded and Kyoko rose to look at her. Had she said something that would make Sho's mother just believe in her? Wait. Only people who were close to Sho said his full name and that was the clue that she wasn't just a fan of his but had known him from school and not from his fame. "I'll get you something to eat but why are you here?" she asked and Kyoko looked away.
"I didn't know where else to go," Kyoko replied and Sho's mother nodded. Kyoko knew that the chances of Ren remembering her were probably zero. Nobody else remembered her and that fairy had told her that the only person who would remember her was Corn and she didn't know how to contact Corn. Kyoko looked down the hallway and then looked at Yayoi guiltily. "May I use your phone?" she asked and the woman nodded.
Kyoko took a deep breath in. She didn't want to be called a stalker or asked how she got this number, she didn't want to hear that her own boyfriend had forgotten her. It would break her heart if Ren didn't know who she was. She knew that she didn't know his real name but for him to not know anything about her.
She took a deep breath in and then dialed. He wouldn't recognize the number. Would he let it go straight to voicemail? Would he even listen to voicemail from a number which he didn't know? She felt panic through her but she wanted an answer to this. She went to the phone and picked it up. She had memorized Ren's cell phone number by heart, now she hoped that he had memorized her by his heart.
As Ren picked up the call, she was really surprised to hear that he was somewhere noisy, crowded, a public place. What was he doing there? She froze. She hoped that his life hadn't been messed up too because of this fairy. She bowed her head, "I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san, you might not kno-"
"KYOKO!?" Ren yelled and Kyoko paused. How did he know her voice? Shouldn't he have completely forgotten her. No, she didn't know why she was arguing against this. It was a miracle that Ren knew her at all. What she wanted was for Ren to be able to remember her, she had gotten lucky or maybe the fairy hadn't had the power to erase Ren's memories. "Kyoko? Mogami-san? Kyoko? Is that you?"
"Yes," she choked. That fairy must have made an error in judgment and told her that she would only be remembered by Corn because she would only be remembered by the person who loved her most who was obviously Ren. She felt the tears down her cheeks. "Yes, it's me. You remember me?"
"What do you me-" he tried to argue before his voice softened, it was a fair enough question to ask, everyone else seemed to have forgotten her. Maybe it was because of how much he loved her and how this curse wasn't going to break that love he had for her and that gratitude for her being a big part of his life. "Yes." He said as he tried to sound more confident, "Yes. I remember you. Where are you? Can I meet you somewhere?"
"I…" Kyoko shifted, "I don't have anywhere to stay. I feel like my past has been erased," she paused before biting her top lip. She would feel incredibly guilty to ask him to come all the way down to Kyoto in order to meet her. It would take hours to get here and back and then he would miss some of his work, was she more important than his work. "I don't -"
"Where are you?" Ren asked sounding desperate and Kyoko took a deep breath.
"I'll be okay," she said sounding as if she were acting as a salesgirl and Ren could hear through this immediately.
"Where are you?" he asked and Kyoko paused. She felt guilty for making him worry about her and she knew that once she told him this that he would come to get her immediately. It didn't matter if she was in a different country or part of the world, she knew him. If she needed him, he would come to find her. She was still very surprised that he knew who she was when nobody else did. Yayoi Fuwa had known her for many many more years than Ren had and yet she didn't know who she was and Ren did. Had he met Corn, had Corn been able to preserve his memories of her because Corn wanted her to be with someone who could actually be with her. "Where are you?"
"Kyoto, near Corn's forest," she said. "The Fuwa ryokan," she said and then started to breathe quickly. "They forgot me," she told him feeling the deep pain through her.
"Well, I haven't forgotten you," Ren told her. "I promise. I'll come get you right now, I just need to get out of here but I'll be on the road as soon as possible."
Kyoko gave a sob of relief as she listened to him. She finally felt that she had gained some peace but what if he forgot about her when he was on his way down here. She bowed her head and saw teardrops fall onto the mat under her foot. "Where are you?"
Ren started laughing and Kyoko froze nervously, she wasn't sure what to expect any longer. The fairy had said that only Corn would remember her but Ren definitely seemed to remember her. That must mean that Ren truly loved her but how long would it be until he forgot her too. She didn't want to wake up one day and find out that he had forgotten all about her.
"I'm at Moz Burger," he told her honestly. Kyoko blinked in surprise. Sure, this was a much smaller shock than realizing that people didn't remember her but what was he doing there? Ren wasn't the type of person who would go out to eat fast food late at night. Besides, he would be out in public and not at a fancy party but somewhere people would not expect him.
"Why?" she asked slowly.
"I wanted to try anything to find you," he admitted and Kyoko blushed. So he really did remember her?
"Thank you, Corn," she whispered and heard the silence on the other end of the phone. "Do you think you could come? I can get to the train station if that's easie-"
"Stay where you are. Tell them that you're having someone meet you. I'll be sure to bring enough money so get something to eat, just stay there," he told her. Kyoko nodded. Was Ren's love stronger than fairy magic? Wasn't Corn supposed to be the only one who remembered her?
End of Chapter Two
Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated
Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter One
Besma0003, Erza, H-Nala, Kaname671, Ladygraywolf, midori144, paulagato
