The One Who Remembers, Part II

“They’re four of them.” I note.

“Not for long.” Longwei confidently notes in turn.

    Above our heads, the lanterns light up one after the other, casting their orangey glow over the darkened street.

    As the impatient monster hurls itself at me, I channel just enough mana to cover my fist. The moment he gets too close for his own sake, I send a blow his way. It hits his cheek, the mana foil unleashing an impulse which makes him wobble a few steps back.

“How much do I have left? How much do they remember me?”

    I can’t help but wonder, now. I can’t afford to lose it on random Jikininkis, not before finding Mr. Izawa.

    For his side, Longwei doesn’t waste his time either. A near glowing shop sign now wrapped in mana emits a grinding noise before falling onto two Jikininkis. If one avoids it in time, the other is cursed by the crimes of a past lifetime as he gets pancaked on the pavement under its weight.

“Behind you!” I yell.

    A Jikininki hurls herself at him, jaws wide open. Longwei does not even turn back. A few skewers left near the food stands levitate before getting mana-shot at the monster, piercing arms, neck, and head. Enough to slow her down, but not to defeat her.

    Of course, Longwei is fully aware of this as he makes a swift move to the left, his long ice-blue hair floating in his trail.

“W….her..e….”

    The growl is close, and as I see the two remaining Jikininkis walk towards me, I wince.

“Can I handle them both? Can I… without spending too much mana?”

    Turning back on my heels, I start running in the opposite direction.

“How many people still remember me?”

    Shit. That’s not the moment to doubt.

    From time to time, I glance back at the monsters, making sure not to run too fast. The last thing I want is for them to turn back to Longwei.

    As I bypass a shop of goma dango, I grab the standing sign near it and spin on my foot to smash the sign against the monster about to catch up with me. A sesame dumpling painted with a joyful expression thus makes him groan as he steps back only to resume his assault, aiming his claws at me.

“Iza...wa…”

    Pulling the goma dango sign in front of me as a shield, a metallic sound accompanies the scratches made over it.

“Prrrrr...of..essss...orrrr”

    I almost freeze in place at the words I distinguish, moving the sign up just in time to deflect the blow aimed at my head.

    Professor?

“w..herrrrr..”

    As much as I try to step back at each blow, the sign pushing into my palms, the other Jikininki grows disturbingly close to us.

    Having soon to dodge two pairs of arms with my half scratched to pieces street shield, it doesn’t take long for a Jikininki arm to push through it.

    I barely have time to let go off the goma dango sign. In a ridiculous attempt to put distance between us, I stumble and fall back with a muffled slur.

    Leant against my hands, I raise gritted teeth at the monster reaching down at me…

“Megumi!”

    Longwei’s scream echoes to me but, as I glance in his direction, he’s still far behind. He won’t reach me in time.

    Stupid as they are, the sound of his voice distracts the Jikininkis enough to let me roll out of his touch.

“Urrghh…”

    I choke out a groan the moment an arm pins me to the ground, its fingers tightening their grip over my neck.

“I can’t avoid it forever…”

    Extending my hand, I grip a small bowl of mana freshly formed before hurling it at the monster. Unsurprisingly, the moment she loses her ear and half her cheek, she releases her grasp on my neck.

    Rolling on my side, I begin to crawl out of reach until a sharp pain goes through my ankle.

“Holy sh-”

    I uselessly try to bite back a cry as I glance back at the monster, his freaking fingers half-sunk into my ankle.

    But that’s also the moment I spot metres away the red lanterns now glowing blue… The threads keeping them in place break one after the other. The lantern-dragon until now held captive snakes in the air. His pace growing faster with each undulation, the dragon’s jaws catch the Jikininki at my leg before it can make a move.

    Continuing its now erratic race through the street, the monster’s body snaps between its teeth before the dragon’s head bumps into the remaining Jikininki.

    With a roaring thud, they crash into a nearby stall.

“Megumi!! Are you alright?”

    Longwei kneels by my side, hurrying to undo the ribbon loosely tying his hair, wrapping it around my ankle.

    The remnants of my pride dissolve the moment he pulls on it, making sure it’s tight enough.

“Aaaagh!!”

“I’m sorry.” He replies.

    Sitting before him, I clutch the dust at my sides.

“No… I’m sorry, Longwei.”

    A moment of silence follows, almost unreal after the commotion.

“It was stupid. I hesitated, when I could’ve gotten rid of them if I used enough magic…”

“On the contrary, I’m glad you rely more on me.”

“Definitely not!” I bark. “It’s you who used more mana because of me.”

    Reaching his arm, he places his hand over my shoulder. It doesn’t hurt, but he presses enough to make me meet his gaze.

“Megumi. It could have been far worse. They were four against us. If you weren’t by my side, I would have lost far more. Besides…”

“Besides?..”

    He hesitates, his lips repeatedly biting the air.

“Save your magic for now, there’ll come a moment when you’ll really need it. Until then, there’s no meaning for you to take too many risks. We don’t exactly know what will happen in your case… It’s uncommon, at the very least. Memories of you to vanish instead of your owns… In a sense, you’re risking more than us.”

    His worries are sincere, there’s no way for me to deny it.

“But you also have something precious.” As he speaks, he leans back, releasing my shoulder to reach out to his pocket. “You can remember.”

    He soon extends in front of me a wallet he opens on a picture. It must have at least a few years. I can tell not because it’s damaged — it’s been kept in a perfect state, even the corners are barely aged — but because Longwei looks a bit different in the photo. Still kind, but maybe a bit… more serious? Grumpy? Grumpy.

    By his side, there’s a woman with long, straight black hair held in two ponytails. She seems happy, her hands keeping Longwei’s arm prisoner. She has a big, round belly.

“Is she your wife?” I ask.

“I don’t know.”

    At his words, I glance back at him.

“I guess she is, yet I can’t know for sure. A sister? An unrequited love? All my memories from before I joined the circus are gone. By now… It has even become blurry for me, the reason for which I joined the circus. But I kept this picture all this time, so I think…” he shakes his head, “deep inside I feel that she’s precious to me.”

    I’m a fool. I’m unable to find the right words to tell him, only capable to stare at him.

    And since I’m a fool, Longwei resumes.

“All I know is that I want to keep helping the troop. To keep fighting the Jikininkis by their sides.” His expression grows more pained. “But, just like I forgot her, I might end up forgetting people I met so far. I’ll end up forgetting Tatsuya. And I’m not the only one. Rubeus, Edward… They’ll end up forgetting his name. So, please, can I ask you a favour?”

“Which one…?”

    I’m weak. I can’t keep a quiver from lowering my voice.

“Remember him. Remember us.”

    At his words, I cover my eyes with my arm. But as my shoulders begin to tremble, I know it’s kinda pointless to try concealing the tears rolling down my cheeks.

⋆༺♱༻⋆

    On our way back to the Clockwork Dolls Circus, Longwei helps me to walk. Unwillingly, I keep my hand over his shoulder, trying to disregard his hand over my waist. By the end, I don’t even notice it any more.

“Do you know what the condition to awaken to magic is?”

    We’re not that far from the tent, when Longwei glances at me.

“There’s a particular condition?” I ask. “I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Well, for obvious reasons, it’s an information kept secret by the authorities. But, if it’s complicated to tell at which point it happens, there’s one trigger.” He pauses. “All magic holders experienced an important trauma.”

    We exchange a long glance.

    For one of the rare times in my whole life, I feel like we can understand one another without words.

    They’re pointless.

    Silence can be a bond, and our lingers until we pass the entrance of the main tent.

    When I spot Tatsuma, Longwei helps me to walk in his direction. I wanted to bring him something, and we ended up taking a bunch of chukaman.

“Tatsuma, we brought you something. Do you like steamed buns?”

    The orange-haired boy makes a few steps towards me.

“Steamed buns?” He smiles innocently. “That sounds tasty.”

“Then let’s eat them together.” I pause, knowing that it’s gonna be awkward, but… “About Tatsuya…”

“Tatsuya?” The remaining twin blinks, slowly glancing up at me. “Who is Tatsuya?”

    The genuineness in his voice makes me release the plastic bag I’ve been holding. It falls to the ground with a thud as I lean down to wrap my arms around his waist, pressing Tatsuma into a clumsy hug.