Fading Memories

The group of office workers let out sighs of relief. Their eyes glimmered with hope.

In front of them was their beautiful savior, Satsuki.

They saw the way Satsuki could lift that spirit up with her telekinesis. If she could do that, then taking the spirit out would be a piece of cake.

We’re saved! One of them thought.

Their savior glanced at the group and pointed right at them.

“You folks over there,” she said. “Scram.”

She pointed over her shoulder towards the exit.

The people didn’t need her to elaborate any further. They moved towards Satsuki, but the spirit still sat in front of them.

With caution, they moved away from the corner of the room and tried to run around the spirit but stopped when the spirit tried swinging at the group.

“No!” he yelled. “Don’t you dare run!”

The spirit feared that if they all got away, then his death would come in an instant. He needed a hostage. He needed time.

Some folks shrieked and stood still, paralyzed with fear, while others regained their composure and ran off.

The spirit tried to reach out to the folks in front of him. It was a pair; one woman, one man, but before the spirit could get anywhere near them, the same force from before stopped his body.

He couldn’t move anything, not even his head, but he could move his eyes.

Standing with both arms outstretched, Satsuki used her telekinesis on the spirit.

The man and woman stood still with their mouths open in shock. This was their first time seeing a spirit hunter use their powers. It was a sight to behold.

But to Satsuki, this was painful. The spirit was damn heavy.

“What are you two just standing there for?! I said scram!”

The two got back to their senses and ran away, leaving Satsuki, Ryoma, the spirit, and two others within the room.

The spirit moved his eyes again. In front of him were Ryoma and the woman with shiny black hair—the same woman he had loved before his passing.

He saw how the woman held onto the boy’s hand with such gentleness and how tender her reply was when Ryoma asked if she was okay.

Anger ballooned in the spirit’s bloated biceps.

“You! Boy!” the spirit croaked. “Get your dirty hands off my woman!”

The lady winced, but Ryoma glanced at the spirit, unafraid of his angry demeanor.

“I’m sorry,” the boy said. His voice was sincere. “I didn’t realize you two were together.”

Tugging on the back of Ryoma’s thin jacket, the woman said, “We aren’t.”

Her voice was shaky.

“Don’t lie to me!” the spirit spat. “I know it’s true!”

Ryoma didn’t know what to believe. The boy glanced at the woman, striking her with a questioning look.

“Were you actually with this man?” The boy asked.

The woman shook her head.

“We were coworkers,” she said. “That’s all.” Her tone of voice was sweet, despite how harsh her words were for the struggling spirit.

“That’s a lie! A dirty damn lie!” the spirit screamed, causing the woman to wince once more. “What about all those times we talked with each other, huh?! Or all those times we cracked jokes and laughed together?!”

“T-that was just small talk between the two of us…” the woman went on to say. “You were a nice guy, and you were nice to talk with, but that was ‌as far as our relationship went. So, if you really do have feelings toward me, I’m sorry to say that your feelings are one-sided…”

Watching from a few feet away, with her powers focused on the spirit, Satsuki couldn’t help but verbalize her thoughts.

“Wow, that’s got to be a bummer,” she said.

What brilliant words to de-escalate the situation…

The spirit balled his fists and clenched his teeth, showing it for everyone to see.

“Urgh!” He groaned.

Fighting against Satsuki’s telekinesis, the spirit forced his hand to his head through sheer strength and willpower.

Satsuki struggled to keep him still, but saw that the spirit wasn’t trying to attack. Instead, his head hovered over the floor. He seemed to be lost in thought.

“This can’t be right!” the spirit screamed, though it was clear in his voice that his loud projection was to mask what he really wanted to do: cry.

Tears streamed down the spirit’s cheeks. He tried to dig through his memory. He wanted to relive those tender moments with the woman once more to confirm that the lady had lied, but he couldn't revive those memories, no matter how hard he tried.

“This can’t be right…” the spirit croaked. “I was so sure of those feelings between us…but now, I can’t remember them. Why can’t I remember them?!”

Satsuki’s eyes flickered with empathy.

“It happens to a lot of spirits,” she told him. “They come back to the living world with their memories, but with each second that passes by, those memories go away.”

She glanced at the woman with shiny black hair.

“But I want you to know that whatever feelings you have towards this woman are real. But you need to face the facts. That woman doesn’t feel the same way toward you. She said so herself.”

And that was when reality hit the spirit.

He was crying. Tears dripped onto the office floor and evaporated in less than a second. But through it all, the spirit never made a sound.

He then raised his head, staring toward the woman with shiny black hair, but not directly at her.

His eyes were on Ryoma. The boy clutched the handle of his wooden katana.

“I’m sorry about your memories,” the boy said. “And I feel bad for you. No one chooses to become a cursed-spirit—believe me.”

The spirit stayed quiet. He didn’t want to be in this situation anymore, but knew that he himself was the reason why things escalated this far.

Ryoma walked forward. Raising his wooden katana, the boy activated his psychic powers before speaking to the giant spirit.

“If you have anything you want to get off your chest, then I’ll be glad to listen. That way, you can rest with minimal regrets.”

The spirit didn’t say a thing, yet ‌something was stirring inside that jumbled mind of his.

The spirit clenched his fist. The psychic pressure that was placed on him felt brittle.

Satsuki noticed the spirit’s strength and how it opposed hers. It was as if her arms were being pulled forward.

“Ryoma, watch out!” she cried.

Although Satsuki feared her words had come too late, Ryoma showed that there was nothing for her to be worried about.