Family Methods

Over breakfast, my mother, father, and brother all argued about the best way to help me regain my memories, with each of them having wildly different ideas on how to proceed. After a bit of negotiating, my mother declared with a tone of absolute finality, “Enough! Takashi’s only going to be here for two more days, and there’s three of us. I’ve got a bunch of things planned for today, so that means that you two can do whatever you like with him tomorrow.”

They’re acting like I’m some sort of object, I thought amusedly, opting to stay quiet and let them figure things out amongst themselves. I doubted I would’ve been able to get a word in edgewise, regardless, even if I had spoken up.

“Hey, why do you get him for a whole day? We’ve got tons of ideas, too!” My father protested, and Daiki immediately agreed, nodding his head emphatically. I had to suppress a chuckle as I spotted the red lump in the middle of his forehead from where my alarm had clocked him.

“Because,” my mother explained in a restrained tone, “I know what you two are like, and I’m sure that whatever it is you have planned, it’s going to be a ridiculous waste of time. I’m going to take him around town to sightsee, and hope that it helps him restore some connections. You are both welcome to come along of course, but no offense, Satoru, I’m afraid it’s not like there’s much of anything for him to remember about you, anyway.”

My father immediately crumpled, returning to a bout of pouting at her words. “I guess you have a point, dear,” he grumbled defeatedly, and let the matter drop as he slinked off somewhere out of sight.

Daiki was similarly unimpressed, and begrudgingly relented, “Fine, but tomorrow, he’s all ours! Just you wait, Takashi!” As he ran off, I began to wonder exactly what he meant by that.

The rest of the day was spent with my mother, as she drove me around all over Ashoro. She was bustling with upbeat energy, and the first stop on her list actually surprised me. Instead of going somewhere that would have been familiar, we instead pulled up in front of a mobile repair shop.

Seeing the confused look on my face, she held up the plastic bag filled with the shattered remnants of my old phone and said, “What? It’s not as if you can get by without a phone, nowadays. I figured we might as well get it taken care of while we’re out and about. I’m sure it would’ve slipped you father’s mind. So much does.” Her cheerful tone faltered for only a moment as she uttered that last remark, immediately restored as we walked into the shop.

Unfortunately, it turned out that there was nothing the service technician could do for my old phone. When my mother handed him the bag of electronic components, the man simply gave each of us a blase look, before sadly shaking his head. I sighed, not exactly surprised by the news. It did mean, however, that I would never be able to access any of my former chat logs, as helpful as they might have been. I had been hoping to at least be able to learn a few names before being thrust back into my day-to-day life.

My mother instead insisted on buying me a new phone, but even after the clerk had gotten things set up, I still had no access to any of my former accounts, with the passwords having been lost along with my memories. Presumably, I had saved or written them down somewhere, but even I had no idea where that might have been!

Still, with new phone in hand, we got down to business, our next stop a tour through the local museum of paleontology. As we observed the massive skeletons and exhibits, I could not help but wonder, Did we come here on a school trip, or maybe a family outing? I’m not really sure why this would trigger any memories for me, otherwise.

“So, anything yet?” My mother asked excitedly as our tour concluded, and I shook my head. Her confidence wavered for only a moment before she urged, “W-well, that was only our first stop for the day, after all! Shall we keep moving?”

Next, we went to the local visitor center to review the history of the town and surrounding area. The information was admittedly interesting, but overall, not very helpful to my predicament. Over lunch at the included restaurant, my mother raised an inquisitive eyebrow at me, and I answered her unspoken question by sadly lowering my head.

After being ferried around to various unfamiliar monuments and landmarks around town, she took me up to nearby Lake Onneto, where we stared out thoughtfully over the brilliant green water. Today was pretty much a bust, I thought sadly, watching as the sun sunk closer to the distant mountains. I mean, I had fun, and Ashoro’s a really relaxing place with plenty of natural wonders, but none of it did anything to help recover my memories.

It seemed that I was not the only one who had become introspective after our long day, as my mother’s mood began to sour as well. Our final stop, on the return trip, was to take a break at a rest area and overlook a field of tall butterbur plants, which were apparently the town’s pride and joy. We stood there for a time in absolute silence, until at last she muttered defeatedly, “Let’s go home.”

Upon entering the house, we found my father and brother waiting for us at the dinner table, with everyone’s places already set. It was pretty obvious they were hungry, and had been waiting for a while. Ignoring both of them entirely, my mother shakily asked me, “W-well, did anything today seem familiar, dear? Anything at all?”

It was clear that she was vainly trying to grasp onto any last shred of hope she could find, and I realized, I think she’s taking this even harder than I am. Trying my best to break it to her delicately, I slowly replied, “Well…no, not really. But I still had a great time!”

Looking at me with an unimpressed gaze, she murmured dispassionately, “Is that so? I’m glad to hear it. Well, if anyone needs me, I think I’m going to go to bed.”

As she turned and made her way upstairs, my father yelled desperately, “Haruki! No! What about supper?”

He jumped as I shot him a disapproving glance, and he and Daiki grabbed ahold of each other, cowering beneath my gaze. His teeth chattering, Daiki stammered, “I-it seems that Takashi’s mind is a formidable foe, huh, Dad?”

Replying in kind, my father told him, “Indeed it appears so, my only son. It takes more than an average level of disappointment to make your mother admit defeat! That’s why she stuck it out and married me, after all.”

“You’re disowning me, now?” I snapped, and the duo yelped in response. “And why do you sound so proud when you’re practically admitting that mom settled for you?”

“Big bro’s scary when he’s mad!” Daiki whined, and ducked out of sight beneath the table, while my father straightened his back and crossed his arms thoughtfully, regarding me with a resolute stare.

“Listen, Takashi. These are confusing times, and nothing seems to make sense anymore. I mean, my own flesh and blood doesn’t even remember anything about me. It’s times like these that really make a man ask himself some important questions, like, ‘Do we have any instant ramen?’ or, ‘Does the cheese store deliver?’ But the one thing I do know for sure is that your mother is far too good for me, and that’s something that’s never going to change, you hear me? So yeah, of course I’m proud to admit it! Someday, you’ll find someone that won’t give up on you, either, and that’s when you’ll finally understand what I’m talking about.”

“Wow,” I said, genuinely impressed by his words, “That was almost good advice.” He nodded and grinned as if I had given him the greatest compliment ever, and I sighed, “Come on, let’s see what we can find in the fridge.”