"My parents have taken loans for the surgery." Ren keeps lying and she believes him without a question. "My brother will get well soon. His surgery is next month. Rie chan, don't think about those things. Tell me. Does it hurt anywhere? Your head is okay?"
She touches her forehead. "I will get back my memories, right? I feel uneasy that I forgot so much. The world hack series is canceled. My grandmother went to see my father. Your brother is getting surgery next month. We are on a trip. We also got into an accident. I feel like I am an old person who lost something important."
Ren's lips tremble. He can't meet her eyes. Kiyohira texted him to keep pretending. But, how long can he do that? Lying to her feels worst when she is looking at him like that. He left this Rie when he went away. This Rie who loved him wholeheartedly. She would only look at him. Her gaze is sweet. It makes him feel bitter. He lost something precious because he was a coward.
"You didn't bring me the juice." She scowls at him. "I am thirsty."
"I am sorry. I will get it now."
Ren finds Kiyohira outside. Kiyohira silently hands him the juice.
"You brought it." Ren thanks him and runs back inside. After giving her the juice, he leaves the room immediately and sits beside Kiyohira. Both have a lost look on their faces. Rie drinks the juice slowly and admires silver outlines of the mountains in the sky.
***
"We meet again." Dr. Umezaki points at the empty seats in front of him. "Take a seat."
Kiyohira frowns at him. "You are that homeless man?"
Dr. Umezaki grins at him. "You recognized me. I was on a vacation. Fortunately, I am not homeless."
"Both of you know each other?" Ren raises his brow. The doctor seems a bit odd to him.
"Ahahaha! He left quite an impression. Jumping from the bridge to get to his woman... If only you have applied a little caution and care when you were dealing with your woman, we wouldn't be seeing like this." The sarcasm in Dr. Umezaki's tone could even cut the iron. "Are you curious about why she has amnesia?"
Kiyohira stares at him. Ren gives him a nod.
"She locked herself in her mind," Dr. Umezaki tells the men with a polite smile. He has heard the entire story from both men. When he met the girl on the train, he already knew that she was at her limits. If she had listened to him and agreed to get the prescription, it could have been delayed a bit.
Perhaps, not. Looking at these two fools, he is sure that the girl suffered a lot.
He points at Kiyohira. "You gave her a shock when you destroyed her safe place. Then, you forced her to go to unfamiliar places. She didn't turn into a hikikomori because she was a lazy person. Did it never occur to you that she must have been hurt by the world and that's why she isolated herself in her house? You judged her for her life and destroyed that life in a second."
Kiyohira doesn't look away. He listens to all of his mistakes. He can't deny a single one. He has destroyed the woman he loves.
He continues, "When she was barely adjusting, you gave her another shock by changing her job. You were going to force her to cooperate with your friend, Chisa. Then, you gave her the third shock when you tried to force her to go back with you. You should have understood the sign when she blacked out for the first time at the restaurant. She's in this condition because of you."
Dr. Umezaki glances at Ren who is looking down at his hands like a puppy. "You are no better. You gave her a shock when you told her that you left her because she was broken. She was already going through a hard time. Under these circumstances, even a normal person would break into pieces. What have you been doing a person who already needed all the love and care in the world? Her mind went back to the year that was probably the most peaceful year of her life. Even if it was only for a single moment, she must have been happy that day."
"How do I help her?" Kiyohira asks him quietly.
"Give her time. I will start the treatment. It's better if you don't take her back to T city. Her illusion can't be broken suddenly. We have to help her come out gradually." Dr. Umezaki doesn't feel any sympathy for these two men. "Don't make any mistake. Your one mistake might further break her. Keep her away from anything that triggers her trauma."
Kiyohira's chest tightens. So, he can't appear in front of her.
"Take her to this address." Dr. Umezaki gives Ren a card. "It's a farmhouse in F city. She will be safe there. If you don't mind, Mr. Kawamoto, stay beside her for a while. Tell her that I am your uncle or something and you are helping me out with something. Makeup something. She seems like she will believe you even if you say that the earth is flat."
Ren takes the card. "Dr. Umezaki, isn't this too much? Letting your patient stay at your farmhouse is a bit..."
"I treat my patients like my family members." Dr. Umezaki smiles kindly. "She reminds me of my daughter. I wouldn't be able to sleep if my daughter was in that condition. This is the only reason. Mr. Kiyohira, if you want, you can also visit her. I hope that you don't use your real name when you see her."
Rie crosses her arms. "I don't want to talk to anyone who fixes minds. My mind isn't broken or wronged. I don't need to be fixed. Ren, why did you bring this person here? I hate doctors like him."
"I-I..." Ren is tongue-tied. He didn't think that they would be caught the moment she saw the doctor. Rie is too experienced when it came to seeing psychiatrists.
"Say, did my grandfather make you promise something before he died?" Rie gets closer to Dr. Umezaki and whispers, "You are only wasting your time. There is nothing wrong with me. I am fine."
Umezaki Yushiro laughs loudly. "Young woman, you are an interesting one. Do I look like a doctor?"
She nods.
"You are right about that." He laughs again. "Young woman, I didn't meet your grandfather. I don't know what you are talking about, but you don't look mentally ill to me. You are as healthy as my nephew here."
She widens her eyes. "Ren, he is your uncle."
"I-I..." She will kill him after she gets her memories back. Ren can imagine his state. "He is my uncle. Remember I told you that we will be visiting my uncle's farmhouse after visiting the H island? He has a huge vegetable field. He asked me to help him on the field."
She looks at him with a dull expression. "What else did you plan? Tell me right now."
"I don't know what you don't know," He says quickly. "We are going to his farmhouse today."
"I don't want to." She leans closer to Ren, "I know that he's your uncle, but I dislike psychiatrists more than I love you. Can I go back home?"
He whispers back, "I am sorry, but I promised him that I would bring my girlfriend with me."
"I am your girlfriend now?" She chimes happily. "Really?"
"Yes." He hopes that she doesn't hate him for this after she remembers. "This is my reply to your confession. You are my girlfriend now."
Dr. Umezaki has told him not to hurt her.
"I will go to the farmhouse." She smiles coyly around him. Ren blushes and looks away. Rie chan is cute.
"Alright." Umezaki Yushiro claps his hands. "Let's go to the farmhouse. One of my students might join us at the farmhouse. Don't be surprised if you see a brooding boy lurking around."
Rie doesn't think much about it. They immediately leave for F city by road. Rie falls asleep in the car.
***
Grandmother Kamiyama thunders at Kiyohira. "You were gone for two days. You didn't pick up your phone once. Is that how you are supposed to treat your elders?"
Kiyohira listens and replies nothing. Grandmother Kamiyama scolds him a little more for being an irresponsible person. She has been worried about him. Her grandson is going crazy for that girl. What if he decides to marry that girl?
"Kiyohira, I told you that she isn't our responsibility. If she wants to leave, let her leave. Her father will take care of her matters."
"When is he coming?" Kiyohira breaks his silence. "I want to meet him."
"He will arrive the day after tomorrow." She observes her grandson. The sadness in his eyes reminds her of her son when Kiyohira's mother died. "Is that girl okay?"
"No."
"What happened to her?"
"I hurt her."
She inhales sharply. "Let the girl go. She's still not in love with you. That's good for her. Marry a good girl from a good family. You are the elder son. The entire Kamiyama Groups and this family depend on you. Your wife should be someone who can share the weight of being a Kamiyama with you. Though Kamiyama Hitomi surpassed my expectations, her daughter is not anything like her. I have observed her when she was here. She isn't the right person for you. You can't marry your stepmother's daughter."
Kiyohira looks at her solemnly. "Even if she wasn't her daughter, you would have never accepted her. Didn't you reject Kamiyama Hitomi and forced my father to marry my mother? When she reappeared in his life, you tried to oppose the marriage again. It was only after she was found pregnant when you let her marry your son."
She looks away from him. His words are correct. "It doesn't change the fact that Hitomi married your father for his money. Otherwise, she wouldn't leave her daughter behind. Kiyohira, don't make any mistake like your father. What you think is love might be temporarily lust. The difference between the two of you is big. She didn't even go to university. Can you show her to your friends and relatives? One thing doesn't change. She is still Kamiyama Hitomi's daughter and Takeshi's half-sibling. If you marry her, how are you going to explain it to the world? It will be another scandal."
Grandmother Kamiyama could come up with 100 reasons why Takeuchi Rie was bad for Kamiyama Kiyohira. Kiyohira wouldn't care about one.
"You don't have to worry. I won't marry her against your will." Kiyohira tells her quietly, "That doesn't mean that I will marry someone else against my will. I will stay alone for the rest of my life. I can't imagine being with someone else."
"Kiyohira!" Grandmother Kamiyama shouts in anger. "You will marry the girl I am going to choose for you. After her father comes back, I would make an engagement announcement."
Kiyohira smiles lightly. Is this what his father faced back then? The elders always try to control the younger one's life. He can't even choose his woman to marry. But then, even if Grandmother agreed, could he marry Rie? He has done something unforgivable to her. He can't forget the way she looked at him. He thought that being hated was fine as long as he can occupy that heart. He was wrong. When she kneeled and looked at him with fear and desperation, he felt like he was dying for a thousand times.
"You can make the announcement to the world. I won't stop you. Don't forget that I have to be present at the wedding ceremony and it would be me who would sign the marriage certificate."
Kiyohira walks away, leaving his frustrated Grandmother behind.
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