Family Methods (Part 2)

My mother might not have been able to do much to help me, but at least she had taken a pragmatic approach to the problem at hand. The next day, it was my father’s turn, and I agreed to meet him bright and early in the living room for whatever he might have had planned. Honestly, I had to admit to a slight curiosity as to what he might have come up with, after the incident with the trumpet.

With Daiki and my mother still sound asleep, the two of us sat around the living room table, my father wearing a robe resembling that of a monk. The man had not said a word since we had awoken, and even now he did not break his silence as he produced a porcelain figurine in the shape of a tengu and carefully placed it in the center of the table.

Next, he retrieved a long stick of incense from somewhere within his grey robes, and lit it with a match, placing it on the backside of the tengu figurine which turned out to actually be an incense holder. Within moments, thick white smoke began to pour out of the nostrils of its long nose, and a perfumy scent filled the air.

I was about to ask what he was up to when he held up a tiny bell, and struck it with a wooden hammer, allowing the high-pitched tone to ring out while he intoned, “Aromatherapy has been used for generations to treat all manner of ailments. Breathe deeply of the incense, and allow your mind wander. Feel your consciousness expand.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, my voice dripping with disbelief, only for the man to insist harder.

“Expaaand…”

“Fine,” I muttered, adopting a pose more suited to meditation. I had a feeling he’d come up with something ridiculous, but at least this is better than his last idea. I did as he said, and took slow, deep breaths, allowing the woody and floral odor of the incense to fill my nose.

“Relax your body, clear your mind. Do not try to remember what you’ve lost; instead, allow it to slip into the cracks, and come back to you.”

He struck his tiny bell once more, and after a while I fell into a rhythm. Breathe in, and hold it. Breathe out. Breathe in…I recited in my mind, in an attempt to focus my mind and stave off my boredom. Breathe…wait, is it just me, or is it starting to smell too smoky in here?

I curiously opened one of my eyes to take a peek, and immediately toppled over backwards, waving a cloud of black smoke out of my face. Upon the table, the incense holder had gone up in a blaze, the porcelain cracking and paint crumbling from the heat as it tried to burn its way into the tabletop.

“D-dad! Hey, wake up!” I exclaimed, noticing that the man had meditated himself into a sound slumber. Shaking him back to his senses, I gestured to the blazing inferno and shouted, “Do something!”

Before he could act, however, my mother appeared, slamming her foot down on the edge of the table and tearing the pin out of the extinguisher she held before spraying the flames into oblivion. As the foamy remains continued to smolder, she turned towards my father with an expression that made his face go pale.

“Sa-to-ru~” she sang dangerously, and the man scampered around to cower behind me.

Breathing in my ear, he insisted, “I-I think she’s got this under control, don’t you, son? Let’s leave this to her, and go somewhere else. Anywhere else.”

“Oh, leaving so soon?” She mused, the vein popping out on her forehead belying the forced smile she wore.

My father yelped, and began to drag me towards the front door as he assured her, “W-we’re actually behind schedule, dear! We’ve got a busy afternoon ahead of us, after all. There’s no need to follow us, or look for us, or even think about us for the rest of the day.” As we drew abreast of the staircase to the upper floor, he shouted, “Daiki! Scenario forty-three!”

There was a series of crashes and frantic footsteps from the floor above in response, and I barely managed to slip into my shoes before he pushed me out the door and quickly shut it behind us, ushering me towards the car as Daiki appeared from around the side of the house, apparently having gone out the window.

We piled into the hatchback and peeled out of the driveway, my father keeping a white-knuckled grip on the wheel and frantically checking the rearview mirror until the house was no longer in sight. Only then did both he and Daiki heave a relieved sigh.

We drove the rest of the way to our destination in silence, none of us having the courage – or, in my case, the wherewithal – to say a word.

Eventually, we parked in front of what appeared to be an onsen. My father turned and looked at both of us, his former terror apparently forgotten as he chuckled, “Well, boys, looks like we’ve got the rest of the day to ourselves. Might as well make the most of it!”

I followed as he led the way into the establishment, wondering if he was alright in the head. Come to think about it, what was I like, before? There’s no way I was that crazy, right?

My thoughts were interrupted as he continued, “So the incense thing didn’t pan out, but don’t you worry Takashi; that was only the first stage of my master plan. See, people have been touting the healing properties of hot springs for thousands of years, so there’s gotta be something to it. I wager everything will come back to you after a good soak!”

“Sure,” I agreed, not entirely convinced. Still, it was a trip to a hot spring! I wasn’t about to argue with him.

We changed and entered the springs, and I had to confess that the warm water did work wonders for my still-achy body. After a while, my father grabbed my arm and pointed towards a wooden door with a picture resembling a rock with three lines of steam rising from it; a sauna room.

“I don’t know…” I began hesitantly, but the man ignored my protests, pulling me out of the warm water and dragging me along behind him.

“Live a little, Takashi! The springs are nice and relaxing, but maybe what you need is to push your boundaries a bit.”

We entered the tiny room, only to find that we were the only ones around. Immediately, sweat started to bead upon my brow, and as we took seats opposite each other, my father splashed water upon the heated rocks, filling the room with thick, white vapor.

“Ahh, yeah. That’s the stuff,” he groaned, and asked, “So, how are things going over in Obihiro, anyway? Your mother worries.”

The way he said it left no room for doubt that it was he who was worried. Still, I scoffed at the question, “I’d tell you, if I knew! Amnesia, remember?”

“Oh, right. My bad.”

We sat in silence for a while, and I could feel my muscles relax as droplets of moisture ran freely down my bare skin. Maybe he was right; this is pretty nice, I admitted, and thought, I guess I could ask him what I was like before.

“Hey, uh, dad?”

“Hmm?”

“I’ve been thinking, and…Do I seem any different to you? Since I lost my memories, I mean. I don’t remember what I was like, and I’m not sure that I’m still the same person I was, you know?” I waited for a reply the never came, and wondered, “Dad?”

Peering forward through the steam, I found the man lying listlessly upon the wooden bench, his eyes rolled back into his head. It was his idea to come in here, and he couldn’t even handle the heat! I thought angrily as I grabbed him and dragged him outside, tossing him into the cold bath for a period of recovery.

Later, as we decompressed in the room he had rented out, he apologized, “Sorry, Takashi! I should’ve known I’d have trouble with the heat; always have, ever since I was young. But now that we’re through with that, let’s get started on stage three of your road to recovery!” He grinned, and held up a clear plastic tube full of what appeared to be tiny needles.

“Don’t tell me you mean acupuncture?” I asked incredulously, and the man nodded.

“That’s right! Now, don’t you worry, Takashi; I was professionally trained, I swear! I know what I’m doing.”

“I-I don’t know…” I protested weakly, trying to back away as he took a step forward. Every time he tells me not to worry is when I start worrying the most!

As he took another step towards me, he tripped, barely managing to catch himself before he hit the floor. However, the tube he carried tumbled out of his grasp in the process, and we all watched as dozens of needles slid free of their enclosure. They gleamed in the light as they sailed point-first towards the floor, and embedded themselves firmly into his foot.

That had to hurt, I thought, exchanging a pained wince with Daiki. But for his part, the man simply stared at his speared skin for a few moments, his expression devoid of any emotion, before he let out a long, shaky breath.

Retrieving a bottle of vibrant blue pills from his pocket, he stared at them sadly, and said, “Well, this is all I’ve got left. Bottom’s up!”

He held out the vial towards me, but I made no move to take it, instead asking, “What is it, exactly?”

The man shrugged, and answered, “No clue! But the guy online claimed they work wonders for memory loss –”

“There’s no way I’m taking some weird drug!” I snapped, and he let his arm fall limply to his side.

In a defeated tone, he whispered, “Then, I’ve done all I can. Daiki, it’s up to you, now. You are our last hope. Go, and make our family proud, my only son.”

“I’m still your son, even if I don’t remember anything about you!” I growled, pausing as Daiki tenderly pulled at the back of my robe.

“Takashi, let’s go. I wanna visit the park before it gets dark.”

Sighing with resignation, I conceded, “Alright, sure.”

Together with my brother, we left the onsen, opting to walk the town for a bit. Looking back at the sprawling structure, I couldn’t help but wonder, Is Dad planning to spend the night here? I guess he might as well, with how mad Mom was this morning.

Daiki seemed like he did genuinely want to help, but he was also just a little kid, and it was clear that he had no concrete ideas on how to do so. As we got closer to the park and his excitement continued to build, I realized that he had also completely forgotten why we were there. As such, our outing ended up with the two of us just playing around. Which, considering the chaos my father had put me through, was a welcome change of pace.

The next morning, I awoke and hurriedly packed my things, hoping to catch the early bus back to Obihiro. The three of them were waiting for me when I went downstairs, downcast expressions on each of their faces. This vacation was anything but relaxing, for me. Still, I do feel kind of bad for them, I thought sadly, They tried so hard to help me, but in the end, nothing worked. It’s no wonder they seem so defeated.

“Hey, come on you guys. It isn’t your fault, really! I’m sure that it’s just going to take some time for things to come back to me, that’s all. So don’t beat yourselves up over it.” When none of them seemed moved by my words, I added, “Hey, is this any way to see me off? I probably won’t get to see any of you for a while, you know.”

With a heavy sigh, my mother relented, “Takashi’s right. We should see him off properly.”

“You’re only saying that because he remembers you,” my father muttered under his breath, and she immediately shot him a warning look.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” He exclaimed quickly, nervously laughing before turning to me and insisting, “Well, see you later, Takashi! Maybe I’ll come visit you in the city one of these days.”

If you keep pushing Mom’s buttons, you might have to, I thought, and bade them all farewell before I embarked on the return trip to Obihiro, and my old life.

Whatever that might have entailed.