A Book Can't Be Judged By The Cover

Chapter 93: Repressed Memory

Once Hajime reached Aoi Umi Dormitory, he started asking around where Akamine-sensei was.

"She’s by the dining room with all the other teachers."

Thanking his classmate, Hajime headed straight to the dining room. He totally forgot that the teachers were having a brief meeting at the moment and that he shouldn’t disturb them. There were no doors by the dining area so by the time he stepped foot in there, it was already too late. All the teachers had already seen him.

Fortunately, Akamine-sensei was quick to act and she immediately stood up, excused herself from the other teachers, and then went toward Hajime as if everything was pre-planned. On the other hand, Hajime saw it as his cue to bow to the teachers and excuse himself. Everything went natural and smoothly and all the teachers even began doubting whether Hajime was a delinquent or not. He even spoke in a hushed tone so as to not disturb the meeting even though he accidentally interrupted it.

After going out of the dining room area, Akamine-sensei grabbed Hajime by the hand without speaking another word. At first, Hajime dreaded the thought that Akamine-sensei was infuriated by his thoughtless action but after seeing her expression, he realized that such wasn’t the case at all. Akamine-sensei was composed, and her face softened. "So, what made you interrupt our meeting?"

Ah.

Wait.

Hajime’s mind short-circuited for a second as soon as Akamine-sense spoke. He was too preoccupied with the current situation that he forgot to come up with a reason as to why he was looking for Megumi.

"Um, I need to ask Megumi something, do you know where their group went?" Hajime asked while maintaining a straight face.

In a snap of a finger, Akamine-sensei’s calm expression transitioned into a smirk. She then rummaged through her pockets, grabbed her reading glasses, and wore them. All this time she kept the same smirk on her face while tilting her head slightly downwards. "Hoh~ you’re going to ask her something, huh... very interesting."

’I’m fairly certain that she’s misunderstanding something but this might work so let’s just leave it at that.’ Hajime reminded himself, nodding towards Akamine-sensei in the process as if to implicate that what she was thinking was entirely correct.

"She told me that their group is going to a nice Parfait Stall by Ueno Park. If you can’t find them there then maybe go to Ameyoko?" Akamine-sensei responded, grabbing him by the shoulder before heaving a sigh.

"Sigh~ you’re a hopeless case, aren’t you? Well, do your best. Compared to other students, I’m pretty sure you have a good chance. Break a leg on this one, all right?"

Judging from Akamine-sensei’s reaction, Hajime could tell that she was really misunderstanding everything. Still, he just nodded, thanking her before turning around to head straight there. At first, Hajime thought that maybe Akamine-sensei would step in and dissuade him from going there without his group but no, Akamine-sensei did the exact opposite, even giving him a cheer from the sidelines.

"Don’t come crying if it fails, all right?"

Hajime didn’t need any telling twice because that wasn’t his goal in the first place. After receiving the confirmation from Akamine-sensei and receiving a green light that his group didn’t have to go with him, Hajime then headed to Ueno Park which was just a kilometer or so away from Aoi Umi Dormitory.

...

Ueno Park is mostly known for its variety of trees including the cherry trees which are an attraction to see whenever spring comes and viewing is available. There are an estimated eight hundred of these cherry trees which makes Ueno Park a sight to behold whenever cherry blossom season is around. Adding to that, there’s the Shinobazu Pond and shrines. This may be a natural park but there are stalls lined up in some of its pathways, giving tourists and park-goers lots of options when it comes to the food they eat. The queue could get a little bit congested though since Ueno Park is mostly filled with people, especially on an afternoon like this.

Still, Hajime believed that it would be fairly easy to notice Megumi in the crowd since most people don’t eat while walking— adding to that, Hajime had a height advantage so scanning through the park is a ’walk in the park’ for him.

Hajime had a considerable amount of experience running away from debt collectors, honing his skill of recognizing anyone even in a crowd. The crowd in Ueno Park may be dense, but it was nothing for Hajime.

"How was it, delicious?"

"Come here, let daddy carry you," freewebnσvel.cѳm

"Mom, I want to go there next!"

"Uwah~! Cotton candy!"

While looking for Megumi, Hajime could overhear the children in the park, enjoying the sights, the food, and the company of their parents without a care in the world. Even though it was getting rather late in the afternoon and the sweltering heat of the sun was reaching its climax, the children were still as cheerful as ever.

Rolling through the grass, eating cotton candy, and snapping photos with their parents— Hajime felt nostalgia all over again as he decelerated, slowing down his pace almost to a halt.

’Now that I think about it... my family... we never went to the park... ’ Hajime’s thoughts trailed off as it automatically put the thought of Megumi in the back. His mind then began dwelling on the memory of the accident.

.

.

.

Unrecognizable faces, indistinct voices, misinterpreted sounds.

The smell of iron wafting in the air.

The whirring of automobiles, an uneven tire slowly rolling around as if to hypnotize.

The distant lights. Police cars. The sticky reddish liquid flows on the asphalt.

The sight of the overturned truck with its driver slumped on the driver’s seat, blood seemed to trickle down his head.

The sight of a masked man... going down the truck and disappearing into the distance while Hajime’s family helplessly dangled on their upside-down car. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

The truck’s detached tire, rolling slowly to the opposite side of the road as the cloud darkened— an indication of the coming of the rain.

.

"HAAH~!" In the middle of the crowd, Hajime grabbed his head and knelt down as a stinging headache suddenly hit him. Simultaneously, a repressed memory resurfaced, causing Hajime to remember. Granted it was a traumatic experience and Hajime’s mind took the subconscious precaution of locking the memory away. But now, it was unlocked and the key that Hajime missed after all these months had finally appeared out of nowhere, triggered by the sound of the joyous children who were prancing about in the park, reminding him of the trip that was supposed to happen but didn’t.

The masked man going down the truck... there was someone else in the accident!