Client 0017
Title: Client 0017
Author: nidesux a.k.a moi~
Length: One Shot
Pairing: Satoshi x Kazunari a.k.a Ohmiya. (Mentioned Sakuraiba & Junba)
Genre: Romance, Drama (With happy ending!), Psychological.
Rating: R
Warning/s: Mentioned disorder/s (such as depression), mentioned abuse, loss.
Summary: In Ohno Satoshi's Memory Department, one can pay to playback memories and regain shattered ones. But some clients are more clever than the others.
Note: Remember that Memory fic I wrote months ago for Sakuraiba? Nino was only mentioned there, so of course I just had to make a backstory (and since I read through the comments again and got a few ideas there) This can work as a stand-alone (sorta) but I do recommend you reading the " first part" if you haven't because it might get a bit confusing near the end (shameless advertising lmao!) Also, there is this unanswered question I left off at the first part, that may or may not be answered here. Ohoho. Unbeta'ed. Fiction-desu~!
"How's business going?" Toma, a friend of Satoshi's, asked. The taller male wandered around his office, looking at various paintings he bought over the years. Satoshi looked up from his paperwork, watching as his friend moved around the room.
"Still a bit slow these days,"
"How many clients have you had after me?" The male poked at the windchime hung near the window, the soft sound of it echoing throughout the room. "And why don't you just display your paintings here? They'd look nicer."
"I haven't painted that much since I moved offices," Satoshi replied, turning his focus back on the papers in front of him of profiles of people who came to him for memory-related inquiries and sessions. He reached for his pen that managed to roll near the edge of his desk then wrote down some progress on his current client from the session they had just a few hours ago. Once Yokoyama Yu's profile was placed aside, he pulled out Toma's profile from under the small pile, scanning the page before averting his gaze to look at the person himself, currently staring out the window.
Client 0001 - Ikuta Toma
Case: Loss
Request: Memory Playback
"Requested for Memory Playback of wife who had recently passed away. Still suffers from depression
but is already consulting with a psychiatrist as of 2/15/2014. Total number of sessions: 5"
Satoshi adjusted his glasses, drank the remaining of his cup of coffee, then broke the silence, "Wanna head out for some coffee? There's this new exhibit just near the coffee house, a few blocks away."
-
"Thank you so much, Ohno-san," Yu smiled at him before excusing himself. Satoshi closed the door behind him then headed back to his desk; he sat back down on his office chair, pulled out his client's profile, and then jotted down the progress from their last session.
Client 0016 - Yokoyama Yu
Case: Shattered Memories
Request: Recovery
"Requested for recovery of memories, particularly around the time before getting involved in a car crash.
3/25/2014, started regaining fragments of said memories.
As of 4/13/2014, fully regained memories and will now consult with a psychiatrist.
Total number of sessions: 6"
-
Satoshi set the profile aside when he heard knocking on the door; he told the silhouette to enter, and soon the door was opened ajar. A soft "Excuse me" was heard before the door was pushed open even more, the windchime nearby making a sound as the figure entered his office and appeared before him.
"Saw your ad on the paper that said you can playback memories," the male in front of him said. Satoshi's gaze moved from him to the small, cut out piece of his ad from the newspaper; he drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair then stood, moving towards the door and shutting it.
He faced the man again before asking, "May I know your name?"
There was a hint of hesitation in the man's eyes, but he answered immediately, introducing himself as Ninomiya.
"I'm sure my surname is enough for now, doctor," he said. They both moved from where they were just standing to the chairs beside them. Satoshi reached over for his clipboard and pen, which were placed at the other side of his desk; he then proceeded asking the male questions---the reason why he was there.
"Like I said, I saw your ad that had "memory playbacks" on it," Satoshi noticed the man tightening his grip on the piece of paper, causing it to crumple, but replied nothing and instead asked which specific memory he'd like to see.
Again, there was hesitation, but only for a second, "Memory of someone I love," said Ninomiya, "Loved," he added, though he sounded unsure. Satoshi wrote it down then excused himself to get the projector and other things needed for their session. When he came back, he saw Ninomiya looking around his office; looking at the different paintings and poking the windchime that hung near the window. It reminded him of Toma.
His nose twitched a bit before announcing that he's back, which immediately got his client's attention. "Your paintings are cool,"
"I... didn't paint those," Satoshi adjusted his glasses with his free hand while he hugged the projector to his chest; he set it down on his desk, grabbed the projector screen and assembled everything in under five minutes. "Excuse me," he said, taking a ring-like object that's attached to the recorder and projector, and then slipped it on Ninomiya's index finger.
"Wow, doctor, you could have asked me first to marry you," their gazes met, and Ninomiya's sly grin faded, "You're too serious, you know?"
He wanted to point out that he put it on his index finger but apologized instead; he got up, moved behind his desk and sat back down on his office chair before operating the recorder and projector. Meanwhile, Ninomiya fidgeted on his seat as he stared at the screen.
"Tell me when you see the right memory," said Satoshi, leaning back on his chair and watching the memory playing on the screen. It was currently a puppy on a leash, running. There was a kid laughing, and he guesses it was Ninomiya when he was still young. The latter averted his gaze from the screen and looked at him.
"We can hear sounds from the memories, too?"
Satoshi nodded, and told him that they can, albeit only for certain memories that he can still clearly remember, otherwise the sounds won't be too clear or they'd hear nothing at all. The next memory that played was at an arcade; the sound of video games, talking and laughter echoed around his office. Ninomiya's memories, as he observed, were always filled with laughter---distant sounds of it or not---and video games.
"That's it," his client stated ten minutes later of going through different memories, from different points of the man's life up to that moment. Satoshi tightened his grip on his pen while he watched the screen: It was a woman laughing, but the only sound he could hear was the ticking of his wall clock. The woman was then staring at them or rather at Ninomiya. Neither one of them said anything. Satoshi's client was just staring at the screen while he jotted something down on his clipboard.
"Who is she?" Satoshi asked after a few minutes, breaking the silence of the room. He set the projector to play the memory on loop. It took Ninomiya a moment before answering.
"An ex-girlfriend," the words softly fell out of his mouth. The man kept his gaze on the screen, but before Satoshi could question him again, he looked at him; eyes looking slightly red. It was a very different sight from the one Satoshi saw of him a while back.
He cleared his throat, "May I ask why you two... separated?"
"It was over something stupid," Ninomiya answered, moving his chair so he could face his desk. "I don't really remember why or how we broke up---hell, I can't even remember her voice anymore!"
"Why don't you try reaching out for her?"
There was sudden silence between them. Satoshi glanced at the projector screen---at the woman smiling lovingly at Ninomiya. And after what felt like hours, Ninomiya spoke, "How could I when she's already gone?"
Satoshi thought of Toma again, the similarities between his current client and his close friend: loss. He noticed Ninomiya breathing heavily, as if trying not to break down in front of him.
"I loved her, you know? Months after we broke up, I realized that I did love her. But turns out she found this asshole who kept abusing her. I was too late," Satoshi stared at the man still with the same neutral expression he had. Ninomiya then started chuckling, which confused him. "Why am I even telling you so much? You're just... some sort of... memory reader,"
He didn't reply, and instead played another memory: it was the woman again, but just like the first memory, there was no sound. Ninomiya watched the screen from over his shoulder, then took off the ring from his finger, causing the screen to turn blank. Satoshi stopped the recorder, turned off the projector then placed them aside.
"I should go," Ninomiya stood, pulled out his wallet and took out 10,000 yen, placing it on his desk before turning his heels to leave. Satoshi watched him for a second before looking down at his clipboard.
Client 0017 - Ninomiya
Case: Loss
Request: Memory Playback
"4/13/2014 - Requested for Memory Playback of deceased ex-girlfriend. Possibility that client is suffering
from depression. Unsure if consulting to a psychiatrist."
-
"I'll be coming back, by the way," Satoshi averted his eyes from the clipboard before he could finish writing Ninomiya's profile. The latter was staring at him, hand on the doorknob. "I'm sure I can remember her voice, if we look into it more."
-
"You painted this, didn't you?"
Satoshi moved closer to where Ninomiya stood, looking at the canvas in front of them; he shook his head, then told the man that they should probably get started. His client eyed him suspiciously the moment they both sat down on their seats, and he stared back, emotionlessly.
"I saw you draw the same picture at the bottom of your clipboard two sessions ago!"
"Fine, maybe I did paint that," he cleared his throat then operated the projector and recorder. They've done five sessions in total over the past two months, and he's surprised how Ninomiya could remember such trivial things.
"Are you uncomfortable with me, Ohno-kun?"
"I am not," Satoshi replied, taken aback at the sight of Ninomiya extending his arm out for him to slip on the ring; he took his client's hand and did so. After half an hour of watching the woman on the screen smile, laugh inaudibly and wave at them, he heard a sigh leave the man in front of him.
"I just want to hear her voice one last time..."
Satoshi felt a sudden tightening on his throat; he didn't say anything for a few moments, but decided that he should just go on with his question. "Do you not have any recordings of her?"
"If I did, then I wouldn't be here now, would I?" Ninomiya turned his gaze to him, smiling bitterly. "Say, if you're not uncomfortable around me, then why are you so serious?"
"I... I guess it's just the way I am, Ninomiya-san,"
"Well you should at least smile. It'd make your clients more comfortable around you," his client then turned his focus back on the screen. Satoshi on the other hand, instead of watching and taking notes of the progress, practiced smiling. It was difficult, very difficult. It hurt, even. He tried to hide his "smile" when Ninomiya turned towards him again, but failed. The latter burst out laughing.
-
"When you said you wanted to hear her voice one last time... what did you mean about that?"
"I'm not going to do anything extreme, don't worry," Ninomiya chuckled. "I mean, I guess if I hear her voice again... I can finally move on. It just sucks how I don't have any voicemails, videos or anything of her talking,"
"Do you still love her?"
"A part of me still does, I think. I just can't seem to grasp the fact that she's gone, you know?" the man turned his head to look at the projector screen, "Even her mere laughter is enough... Have you ever been in a relationship, Ohno-kun?"
"I haven't," he forced a smile on his face. Ninomiya frowned, then removed the ring from his finger, making the projector screen turn blank.
"Well, once I do hear... her voice, the both of us should go on dates," Satoshi swallowed the lump in his throat and was about to say something when his client spoke again, "I should go. I'll see you Friday and will pay you for the past three unpaid sessions we had."
Ninomiya was out the door before he could even say anything.
-
Of all the clients Satoshi had over the past few months he's been in that department, Ninomiya has the most sessions done with him. He started to doubt his job and feel bad over how much Ninomiya has been paying him over the past eleven sessions. Now he's at his twenty-first client while he and Ninomiya were at their twelfth session. But what confuses---and amuses him sometimes---is how persistent the man can be. To have someone try their absolute best just to remember one's voice again...
After their session that day, Satoshi played one of Ninomiya's memories: the woman was mouthing something, and no matter how hard he tried to read her lips, he can't make up what she was saying. The recorder played a different one afterwards, it was a memory of a teenage Ninomiya staring at his reflection on a mirror, trying to see if his fingers were at the right chords of his guitar; his gaze kept going from the mirror, to his guitar, then to his mirror again. And when he started playing, Satoshi shut his eyes and let the music---though Ninomiya kept messing up---take over.
He clicked his tongue once the playback of that specific memory was over; he took off his glasses and, though he hesitated at first, pressed "delete" on his recorder, deleting the guitar playing Ninomiya from the device's memory.
"You can't."
-
"I wrote a song the other day. Wanna hear it?"
"Sure," Satoshi replied almost immediately. He already expected his client to play a song when he walked in at the start of their session, with a guitar bag on hand. Ninomiya was his last client for that day, anyways.
The latter pulled his guitar out from its case and cleared his throat before singing. Satoshi focused on his face and voice while he sang. The thing he felt for Ninomiya playing the guitar was different from what he felt for him, singing. He was speechless by the end of it, which made Ninomiya smirk. "Was I that good?"
"...Un," he nodded. "The lyrics... I mean, what did you name your song?"
"Mata kyou to onaji ashita ga kuru," replied Ninomiya, placing his guitar back inside his bag. "It's not yet finished, though. I'm still working on the music. The pace is faster, with what I have in mind. And it's not on the guitar... I want it to be like those vocaloids, you know?"
"I don't,"
Satoshi wasn't sure what he liked more: Ninomiya's singing voice or his laughter. But if possible---he'd go with both.
-
"I'm Kazunari," Ninomiya---Kazunari---told him on their sixteenth session. "It's nice to meet you,"
Satoshi smiled---a genuine one---and he knew Kazunari could tell that it was when the latter's smile widened. The projector screen, which was showing the same woman and same memory of her mouthing something, suddenly changed to a very different memory. He checked to see if he had set it on loop, and he did, which meant that Kazunari must have remembered that specific memory for it to change the settings of his device like that.
And after sixteen sessions, they finally heard something from the woman. She wasn't saying anything, wasn't laughing, she was sobbing. Satoshi guesses that that particular memory was from the day they broke up, but Ninomiya told him that it was when she was already dating "the asshole". He observed his client and saw a tear roll down his cheek. His chest started aching, so he decided to turn it back to a much-happier memory, but before he could do so, they heard the woman choke out an apology.
"I should have known..." Kazunari said, looking at him and placing his hand atop his to stop him from changing it. "But hey, at least I can finally move on, right?"
"You're... alright?"
"I can handle it. Besides, you've got my back, don't you?"
Satoshi examined Kazunari's face for a moment. "...I do,"
-
When he started that department, he swore that he will never use memory erasure on any of his clients unless the reason was acceptable. He never included it on the ads, never once brought it up with any of his clients. Satoshi thought that Kazunari had recovered---had moved on already, but two weeks after their last session, the man came back, suddenly demanding for his memory---at least partially---to be erased.
"I don't do memory erasures," he stated, and Kazunari, moved behind his desk, pushed his chair back a bit, and then opened his drawer, pointing at a white folder. "You went through my documents?"
"I didn't mean to, I was looking for that pen you told me to get!" Kazunari pushed his drawer closed, then spoke again, "Please, Oh-chan... Hearing her voice backfired on me. I can't forget about the sight of her crying and the sound of her apologizing to me even when she did nothing wrong!"
"But Ninomiya-san..."
"Just erase my memories of her, please," his client's tone of voice changed and it was obvious from it how desperate he was to just forget. Satoshi, though he appeared calm, was already panicking inside, wondering if he should or shouldn't give in. "Satoshi..."
"You can't erase your feelings for someone, Kazunari,"
"I don't love her anymore, alright?! The guilt is eating me alive!" he snapped at him. "It's my fault that she died!"
The room fell quiet after that, although Satoshi could feel his fast heart beats. "...Alright. Let's do it."
-
"Your memories of him will be gone once you wake up tomorrow. It won't effect anything else in your life, meaning you'd still remember me---and mutual friends you have with Aiba-san---but won't remember that I erased your memories."
"Thank you, Ohno-san," Sakurai Sho bowed politely in thanks before leaving his office. Satoshi slumped down on his chair, took his glasses off then shut his eyes for a few minutes before finishing his recent client's profile.
Client 0239 - Sakurai Sho
Case:
Request: Memory Erasure
"7/2/2016 - Requested for Memory Erasure."
-
Satoshi looked up from his clipboard when he heard the sound of the windchime that hung near his door. And there he, Client 0017, Ninomiya Kazunari, stood with a sly grin on his face. "That guy's memory you just erased? Give him a year, two years tops, he'll come back to whoever he wanted to forget,"
Kazunari stood in front of his desk, opened and closed his mouth a few times before choking out, "You erased my memories of you too, Satoshi."
-
"I have something to say," Satoshi noticed Kazunari's hands were shaking as he lie on the bed, the helmet needed to erase his memory was already attached to his computer.
"What is it?"
"I don't have any feelings for her anymore,"
"I know,"
Kazunari moved his head with slight difficulty, a small smile making its way to his face. "Thanks for ruining my confession, doctor,"
The words that came out of his client's mouth made him look up from his computer monitor, but instead of saying something about the man's confession, he announced that he'll be starting the memory erasure.
"Wait!" said Kazunari. "Don't you ask your clients if they think it's going to be worth it? I mean... doing this,"
"You're the first one to ask for this, Ninomiya-san,"
"Then ask me,"
Satoshi moved from his computer to the bed where Kazunari was at; the latter took his hand, gently stroking the top of it. He swallowed the lump in his throat, then asked:
"Do you think it'd be worth it if we do erase your memories?"
He met gazes with Kazunari, and after a long while of silence, he smiled, "I do... I like you a lot, Ohno-kun," Satoshi forced a smile in return. He wasn't even sure if the man knew it was fake or not, but as he took heavy steps back to his computer, and carefully selected the specific memories of Kazunari's ex-girlfriend and even of his he had managed to find in his client's mind.
"I'm sorry, Ninomiya," he whispered, remembering the way the woman on the screen apologized, then pressed "Enter" on his keyboard.
-
"It didn't work?"
"Oh, it worked, but I think it had a time limit," Kazunari folded his arms over his chest. "It took me two years to remember you. Why did you erase my memories of you in the first place?"
Satoshi got up from his chair then strided towards the man; he pulled him in for a tight hug. "I was scared. I'm sorry. Forgive me... I like you too. I always have."
"Be glad your equipment sucked," he felt Kazunari chuckle before nuzzling against his neck. "Hey, can I see my profile?"
He looked at the male, confused at his sudden question, but nodded, pulling away from their hug and moving back to his desk to retrieve the profile from inside his drawer. Kazunari took the file, grabbed his pen, then wrote down something before handing it over:
Client 0017 - Ninomiya Kazunari
Case: Loss
Request: Memory Playback & Erasure
"4/13/2014 - Requested for Memory Playback of deceased ex-girlfriend. Possibility that client is suffering
from depression. Unsure if consulting to a psychiatrist.11/11/2014 - Progress after 16 sessions.
11/25/2014 - Requested for Memory Erasure
Total number of sessions: 17
9/15/2015 - Fragments of memories keep flashing.
10/28/2015 - Remembered ex-girlfriend, albeit no more guilt felt.
3/26/2016 - Memories of Ohno Satoshi flashing.
6/9/2016 - Fully regained memories of Ohno Satoshi.
7/2/2016 - Met Ohno Satoshi after(almost)two years.
-
"What you did was a jerk-move, doctor," said Kazunari, but his expression softened almost immediately, "But I like and miss you too much to stay mad."
--
A/N: It's been a while. I actually started on this a month ago, but I've been feeling ew @ my WIPs recently, so. Haha. I'm surprised I got to finish this, to be honest. Hopefully it wasn't that confusing. Thanks for reading! :)
Author: nidesux a.k.a moi~
Length: One Shot
Pairing: Satoshi x Kazunari a.k.a Ohmiya. (Mentioned Sakuraiba & Junba)
Genre: Romance, Drama (With happy ending!), Psychological.
Rating: R
Warning/s: Mentioned disorder/s (such as depression), mentioned abuse, loss.
Summary: In Ohno Satoshi's Memory Department, one can pay to playback memories and regain shattered ones. But some clients are more clever than the others.
Note: Remember that Memory fic I wrote months ago for Sakuraiba? Nino was only mentioned there, so of course I just had to make a backstory (and since I read through the comments again and got a few ideas there) This can work as a stand-alone (sorta) but I do recommend you reading the " first part" if you haven't because it might get a bit confusing near the end (shameless advertising lmao!) Also, there is this unanswered question I left off at the first part, that may or may not be answered here. Ohoho. Unbeta'ed. Fiction-desu~!
"How's business going?" Toma, a friend of Satoshi's, asked. The taller male wandered around his office, looking at various paintings he bought over the years. Satoshi looked up from his paperwork, watching as his friend moved around the room.
"Still a bit slow these days,"
"How many clients have you had after me?" The male poked at the windchime hung near the window, the soft sound of it echoing throughout the room. "And why don't you just display your paintings here? They'd look nicer."
"I haven't painted that much since I moved offices," Satoshi replied, turning his focus back on the papers in front of him of profiles of people who came to him for memory-related inquiries and sessions. He reached for his pen that managed to roll near the edge of his desk then wrote down some progress on his current client from the session they had just a few hours ago. Once Yokoyama Yu's profile was placed aside, he pulled out Toma's profile from under the small pile, scanning the page before averting his gaze to look at the person himself, currently staring out the window.
Client 0001 - Ikuta Toma
Case: Loss
Request: Memory Playback
"Requested for Memory Playback of wife who had recently passed away. Still suffers from depression
but is already consulting with a psychiatrist as of 2/15/2014. Total number of sessions: 5"
Satoshi adjusted his glasses, drank the remaining of his cup of coffee, then broke the silence, "Wanna head out for some coffee? There's this new exhibit just near the coffee house, a few blocks away."
-
"Thank you so much, Ohno-san," Yu smiled at him before excusing himself. Satoshi closed the door behind him then headed back to his desk; he sat back down on his office chair, pulled out his client's profile, and then jotted down the progress from their last session.
Client 0016 - Yokoyama Yu
Case: Shattered Memories
Request: Recovery
"Requested for recovery of memories, particularly around the time before getting involved in a car crash.
3/25/2014, started regaining fragments of said memories.
As of 4/13/2014, fully regained memories and will now consult with a psychiatrist.
Total number of sessions: 6"
-
Satoshi set the profile aside when he heard knocking on the door; he told the silhouette to enter, and soon the door was opened ajar. A soft "Excuse me" was heard before the door was pushed open even more, the windchime nearby making a sound as the figure entered his office and appeared before him.
"Saw your ad on the paper that said you can playback memories," the male in front of him said. Satoshi's gaze moved from him to the small, cut out piece of his ad from the newspaper; he drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair then stood, moving towards the door and shutting it.
He faced the man again before asking, "May I know your name?"
There was a hint of hesitation in the man's eyes, but he answered immediately, introducing himself as Ninomiya.
"I'm sure my surname is enough for now, doctor," he said. They both moved from where they were just standing to the chairs beside them. Satoshi reached over for his clipboard and pen, which were placed at the other side of his desk; he then proceeded asking the male questions---the reason why he was there.
"Like I said, I saw your ad that had "memory playbacks" on it," Satoshi noticed the man tightening his grip on the piece of paper, causing it to crumple, but replied nothing and instead asked which specific memory he'd like to see.
Again, there was hesitation, but only for a second, "Memory of someone I love," said Ninomiya, "Loved," he added, though he sounded unsure. Satoshi wrote it down then excused himself to get the projector and other things needed for their session. When he came back, he saw Ninomiya looking around his office; looking at the different paintings and poking the windchime that hung near the window. It reminded him of Toma.
His nose twitched a bit before announcing that he's back, which immediately got his client's attention. "Your paintings are cool,"
"I... didn't paint those," Satoshi adjusted his glasses with his free hand while he hugged the projector to his chest; he set it down on his desk, grabbed the projector screen and assembled everything in under five minutes. "Excuse me," he said, taking a ring-like object that's attached to the recorder and projector, and then slipped it on Ninomiya's index finger.
"Wow, doctor, you could have asked me first to marry you," their gazes met, and Ninomiya's sly grin faded, "You're too serious, you know?"
He wanted to point out that he put it on his index finger but apologized instead; he got up, moved behind his desk and sat back down on his office chair before operating the recorder and projector. Meanwhile, Ninomiya fidgeted on his seat as he stared at the screen.
"Tell me when you see the right memory," said Satoshi, leaning back on his chair and watching the memory playing on the screen. It was currently a puppy on a leash, running. There was a kid laughing, and he guesses it was Ninomiya when he was still young. The latter averted his gaze from the screen and looked at him.
"We can hear sounds from the memories, too?"
Satoshi nodded, and told him that they can, albeit only for certain memories that he can still clearly remember, otherwise the sounds won't be too clear or they'd hear nothing at all. The next memory that played was at an arcade; the sound of video games, talking and laughter echoed around his office. Ninomiya's memories, as he observed, were always filled with laughter---distant sounds of it or not---and video games.
"That's it," his client stated ten minutes later of going through different memories, from different points of the man's life up to that moment. Satoshi tightened his grip on his pen while he watched the screen: It was a woman laughing, but the only sound he could hear was the ticking of his wall clock. The woman was then staring at them or rather at Ninomiya. Neither one of them said anything. Satoshi's client was just staring at the screen while he jotted something down on his clipboard.
"Who is she?" Satoshi asked after a few minutes, breaking the silence of the room. He set the projector to play the memory on loop. It took Ninomiya a moment before answering.
"An ex-girlfriend," the words softly fell out of his mouth. The man kept his gaze on the screen, but before Satoshi could question him again, he looked at him; eyes looking slightly red. It was a very different sight from the one Satoshi saw of him a while back.
He cleared his throat, "May I ask why you two... separated?"
"It was over something stupid," Ninomiya answered, moving his chair so he could face his desk. "I don't really remember why or how we broke up---hell, I can't even remember her voice anymore!"
"Why don't you try reaching out for her?"
There was sudden silence between them. Satoshi glanced at the projector screen---at the woman smiling lovingly at Ninomiya. And after what felt like hours, Ninomiya spoke, "How could I when she's already gone?"
Satoshi thought of Toma again, the similarities between his current client and his close friend: loss. He noticed Ninomiya breathing heavily, as if trying not to break down in front of him.
"I loved her, you know? Months after we broke up, I realized that I did love her. But turns out she found this asshole who kept abusing her. I was too late," Satoshi stared at the man still with the same neutral expression he had. Ninomiya then started chuckling, which confused him. "Why am I even telling you so much? You're just... some sort of... memory reader,"
He didn't reply, and instead played another memory: it was the woman again, but just like the first memory, there was no sound. Ninomiya watched the screen from over his shoulder, then took off the ring from his finger, causing the screen to turn blank. Satoshi stopped the recorder, turned off the projector then placed them aside.
"I should go," Ninomiya stood, pulled out his wallet and took out 10,000 yen, placing it on his desk before turning his heels to leave. Satoshi watched him for a second before looking down at his clipboard.
Client 0017 - Ninomiya
Case: Loss
Request: Memory Playback
"4/13/2014 - Requested for Memory Playback of deceased ex-girlfriend. Possibility that client is suffering
from depression. Unsure if consulting to a psychiatrist."
-
"I'll be coming back, by the way," Satoshi averted his eyes from the clipboard before he could finish writing Ninomiya's profile. The latter was staring at him, hand on the doorknob. "I'm sure I can remember her voice, if we look into it more."
-
"You painted this, didn't you?"
Satoshi moved closer to where Ninomiya stood, looking at the canvas in front of them; he shook his head, then told the man that they should probably get started. His client eyed him suspiciously the moment they both sat down on their seats, and he stared back, emotionlessly.
"I saw you draw the same picture at the bottom of your clipboard two sessions ago!"
"Fine, maybe I did paint that," he cleared his throat then operated the projector and recorder. They've done five sessions in total over the past two months, and he's surprised how Ninomiya could remember such trivial things.
"Are you uncomfortable with me, Ohno-kun?"
"I am not," Satoshi replied, taken aback at the sight of Ninomiya extending his arm out for him to slip on the ring; he took his client's hand and did so. After half an hour of watching the woman on the screen smile, laugh inaudibly and wave at them, he heard a sigh leave the man in front of him.
"I just want to hear her voice one last time..."
Satoshi felt a sudden tightening on his throat; he didn't say anything for a few moments, but decided that he should just go on with his question. "Do you not have any recordings of her?"
"If I did, then I wouldn't be here now, would I?" Ninomiya turned his gaze to him, smiling bitterly. "Say, if you're not uncomfortable around me, then why are you so serious?"
"I... I guess it's just the way I am, Ninomiya-san,"
"Well you should at least smile. It'd make your clients more comfortable around you," his client then turned his focus back on the screen. Satoshi on the other hand, instead of watching and taking notes of the progress, practiced smiling. It was difficult, very difficult. It hurt, even. He tried to hide his "smile" when Ninomiya turned towards him again, but failed. The latter burst out laughing.
-
"When you said you wanted to hear her voice one last time... what did you mean about that?"
"I'm not going to do anything extreme, don't worry," Ninomiya chuckled. "I mean, I guess if I hear her voice again... I can finally move on. It just sucks how I don't have any voicemails, videos or anything of her talking,"
"Do you still love her?"
"A part of me still does, I think. I just can't seem to grasp the fact that she's gone, you know?" the man turned his head to look at the projector screen, "Even her mere laughter is enough... Have you ever been in a relationship, Ohno-kun?"
"I haven't," he forced a smile on his face. Ninomiya frowned, then removed the ring from his finger, making the projector screen turn blank.
"Well, once I do hear... her voice, the both of us should go on dates," Satoshi swallowed the lump in his throat and was about to say something when his client spoke again, "I should go. I'll see you Friday and will pay you for the past three unpaid sessions we had."
Ninomiya was out the door before he could even say anything.
-
Of all the clients Satoshi had over the past few months he's been in that department, Ninomiya has the most sessions done with him. He started to doubt his job and feel bad over how much Ninomiya has been paying him over the past eleven sessions. Now he's at his twenty-first client while he and Ninomiya were at their twelfth session. But what confuses---and amuses him sometimes---is how persistent the man can be. To have someone try their absolute best just to remember one's voice again...
After their session that day, Satoshi played one of Ninomiya's memories: the woman was mouthing something, and no matter how hard he tried to read her lips, he can't make up what she was saying. The recorder played a different one afterwards, it was a memory of a teenage Ninomiya staring at his reflection on a mirror, trying to see if his fingers were at the right chords of his guitar; his gaze kept going from the mirror, to his guitar, then to his mirror again. And when he started playing, Satoshi shut his eyes and let the music---though Ninomiya kept messing up---take over.
He clicked his tongue once the playback of that specific memory was over; he took off his glasses and, though he hesitated at first, pressed "delete" on his recorder, deleting the guitar playing Ninomiya from the device's memory.
"You can't."
-
"I wrote a song the other day. Wanna hear it?"
"Sure," Satoshi replied almost immediately. He already expected his client to play a song when he walked in at the start of their session, with a guitar bag on hand. Ninomiya was his last client for that day, anyways.
The latter pulled his guitar out from its case and cleared his throat before singing. Satoshi focused on his face and voice while he sang. The thing he felt for Ninomiya playing the guitar was different from what he felt for him, singing. He was speechless by the end of it, which made Ninomiya smirk. "Was I that good?"
"...Un," he nodded. "The lyrics... I mean, what did you name your song?"
"Mata kyou to onaji ashita ga kuru," replied Ninomiya, placing his guitar back inside his bag. "It's not yet finished, though. I'm still working on the music. The pace is faster, with what I have in mind. And it's not on the guitar... I want it to be like those vocaloids, you know?"
"I don't,"
Satoshi wasn't sure what he liked more: Ninomiya's singing voice or his laughter. But if possible---he'd go with both.
-
"I'm Kazunari," Ninomiya---Kazunari---told him on their sixteenth session. "It's nice to meet you,"
Satoshi smiled---a genuine one---and he knew Kazunari could tell that it was when the latter's smile widened. The projector screen, which was showing the same woman and same memory of her mouthing something, suddenly changed to a very different memory. He checked to see if he had set it on loop, and he did, which meant that Kazunari must have remembered that specific memory for it to change the settings of his device like that.
And after sixteen sessions, they finally heard something from the woman. She wasn't saying anything, wasn't laughing, she was sobbing. Satoshi guesses that that particular memory was from the day they broke up, but Ninomiya told him that it was when she was already dating "the asshole". He observed his client and saw a tear roll down his cheek. His chest started aching, so he decided to turn it back to a much-happier memory, but before he could do so, they heard the woman choke out an apology.
"I should have known..." Kazunari said, looking at him and placing his hand atop his to stop him from changing it. "But hey, at least I can finally move on, right?"
"You're... alright?"
"I can handle it. Besides, you've got my back, don't you?"
Satoshi examined Kazunari's face for a moment. "...I do,"
-
When he started that department, he swore that he will never use memory erasure on any of his clients unless the reason was acceptable. He never included it on the ads, never once brought it up with any of his clients. Satoshi thought that Kazunari had recovered---had moved on already, but two weeks after their last session, the man came back, suddenly demanding for his memory---at least partially---to be erased.
"I don't do memory erasures," he stated, and Kazunari, moved behind his desk, pushed his chair back a bit, and then opened his drawer, pointing at a white folder. "You went through my documents?"
"I didn't mean to, I was looking for that pen you told me to get!" Kazunari pushed his drawer closed, then spoke again, "Please, Oh-chan... Hearing her voice backfired on me. I can't forget about the sight of her crying and the sound of her apologizing to me even when she did nothing wrong!"
"But Ninomiya-san..."
"Just erase my memories of her, please," his client's tone of voice changed and it was obvious from it how desperate he was to just forget. Satoshi, though he appeared calm, was already panicking inside, wondering if he should or shouldn't give in. "Satoshi..."
"You can't erase your feelings for someone, Kazunari,"
"I don't love her anymore, alright?! The guilt is eating me alive!" he snapped at him. "It's my fault that she died!"
The room fell quiet after that, although Satoshi could feel his fast heart beats. "...Alright. Let's do it."
-
"Your memories of him will be gone once you wake up tomorrow. It won't effect anything else in your life, meaning you'd still remember me---and mutual friends you have with Aiba-san---but won't remember that I erased your memories."
"Thank you, Ohno-san," Sakurai Sho bowed politely in thanks before leaving his office. Satoshi slumped down on his chair, took his glasses off then shut his eyes for a few minutes before finishing his recent client's profile.
Client 0239 - Sakurai Sho
Case:
Request: Memory Erasure
"7/2/2016 - Requested for Memory Erasure."
-
Satoshi looked up from his clipboard when he heard the sound of the windchime that hung near his door. And there he, Client 0017, Ninomiya Kazunari, stood with a sly grin on his face. "That guy's memory you just erased? Give him a year, two years tops, he'll come back to whoever he wanted to forget,"
Kazunari stood in front of his desk, opened and closed his mouth a few times before choking out, "You erased my memories of you too, Satoshi."
-
"I have something to say," Satoshi noticed Kazunari's hands were shaking as he lie on the bed, the helmet needed to erase his memory was already attached to his computer.
"What is it?"
"I don't have any feelings for her anymore,"
"I know,"
Kazunari moved his head with slight difficulty, a small smile making its way to his face. "Thanks for ruining my confession, doctor,"
The words that came out of his client's mouth made him look up from his computer monitor, but instead of saying something about the man's confession, he announced that he'll be starting the memory erasure.
"Wait!" said Kazunari. "Don't you ask your clients if they think it's going to be worth it? I mean... doing this,"
"You're the first one to ask for this, Ninomiya-san,"
"Then ask me,"
Satoshi moved from his computer to the bed where Kazunari was at; the latter took his hand, gently stroking the top of it. He swallowed the lump in his throat, then asked:
"Do you think it'd be worth it if we do erase your memories?"
He met gazes with Kazunari, and after a long while of silence, he smiled, "I do... I like you a lot, Ohno-kun," Satoshi forced a smile in return. He wasn't even sure if the man knew it was fake or not, but as he took heavy steps back to his computer, and carefully selected the specific memories of Kazunari's ex-girlfriend and even of his he had managed to find in his client's mind.
"I'm sorry, Ninomiya," he whispered, remembering the way the woman on the screen apologized, then pressed "Enter" on his keyboard.
-
"It didn't work?"
"Oh, it worked, but I think it had a time limit," Kazunari folded his arms over his chest. "It took me two years to remember you. Why did you erase my memories of you in the first place?"
Satoshi got up from his chair then strided towards the man; he pulled him in for a tight hug. "I was scared. I'm sorry. Forgive me... I like you too. I always have."
"Be glad your equipment sucked," he felt Kazunari chuckle before nuzzling against his neck. "Hey, can I see my profile?"
He looked at the male, confused at his sudden question, but nodded, pulling away from their hug and moving back to his desk to retrieve the profile from inside his drawer. Kazunari took the file, grabbed his pen, then wrote down something before handing it over:
Client 0017 - Ninomiya Kazunari
Case: Loss
Request: Memory Playback & Erasure
"4/13/2014 - Requested for Memory Playback of deceased ex-girlfriend. Possibility that client is suffering
from depression. Unsure if consulting to a psychiatrist.11/11/2014 - Progress after 16 sessions.
11/25/2014 - Requested for Memory Erasure
Total number of sessions: 17
9/15/2015 - Fragments of memories keep flashing.
10/28/2015 - Remembered ex-girlfriend, albeit no more guilt felt.
3/26/2016 - Memories of Ohno Satoshi flashing.
6/9/2016 - Fully regained memories of Ohno Satoshi.
7/2/2016 - Met Ohno Satoshi after(almost)two years.
-
"What you did was a jerk-move, doctor," said Kazunari, but his expression softened almost immediately, "But I like and miss you too much to stay mad."
--
A/N: It's been a while. I actually started on this a month ago, but I've been feeling ew @ my WIPs recently, so. Haha. I'm surprised I got to finish this, to be honest. Hopefully it wasn't that confusing. Thanks for reading! :)