The House on the Wrong Street

After Ringomori's Sports Day, I took my midterms exams. It was a stressful and tiresome week, but I knew I was – at least – average in all the subjects. A respite of two weeks followed and it was the fourth of November.

"Well Chamaru-kun, after the past few assessments, I can safely conclude that your mental health is to the point where you won't have to take antidepressant pills any longer."

"Oh, cool. I just got a refill though, so what do I do with the remainin' eleven I still had?"

"Feel free to throw them away, or you could hold onto them if you feel like you're not 100% there yet. Just be careful with them."

"Of course, thanks Shizuko-sensei."

I left his office and walked away when he called my name from behind once more. Turning around, I saw his head peering from his office door.

"By the way, happy early birthday," he said with a wink.

Puzzled for one second, I displayed a rusty smile.
"R-Right, thanks sensei. Means a lot."
I bowed to him as he nodded and reentered his office.

I headed to the front door and was going to open it when the knob was already twisting from the outside. I heard a loud and familiar voice cheering on the other side and took a step back. As expected, Delilah bursted into the house and just stopped herself before crashing into me. She looked up and saw me.

"Ah, Matcha-kun! Hello~!"

She waved at me, but my eyes were focused on her hairstyle. I had never seen her with pigtails before and was slightly taken aback by it. I narrowed my eyes and blurred my vision to see her matching the similar stature of the pigtail girl from my memories.

"H-Hey there, Delilah…" I responded. "D-Did you do that hairstyle y-yourself?"

She shook her head exaggeratedly and said, "Yasumi-chan did it for me this morning."

I tilted my head.
Yasumi… Right, that's Ringomori-san. I didn't know she styled hair, and it's kind of a coincidence that she did the same hairstyle as the one I've been seein' recently.

Delilah was happily waving her pigtails around like lightsticks.

I said, "It looks nice on you."

"Thank you, Matcha-kun!"

Behind her, coming up the stairs into the house, was Dr. Takashi. We exchanged a greeting and I informed her that I had just finished a session with her husband. I stepped out of the house and was closing it when they reached out to me.

"By the way, Vieira-kun, happy birthday."

"Happy birthday Matcha-kun~!"

I thanked them both for their respectful courtesy with a bow. Once they closed the door, I made my way back to the orphanage. I was thinking about Delilah's pigtails, making an excessive effort to find a connection between her and the girl from my memories. As I did so, I felt a small migraine deep within my brain. I decided to shrug it off before hurting myself any further.

I did the normal routine of walking while listening to RONDselia and not really paying attention to which roads I was supposed to turn on. Because of that, I instinctively found myself turning three streets ahead of the orphanage and I was back to the magical street that entranced me.

I expressed my disappointment with a, "Way to go again, idiot."

I was in the middle of turning around to return to the correct path, but stopped myself to look at the time on my phone.
I have time to spare before my kitchen duties start. Maybe it's time I figure out what's up with this road?

My feet began taking me down the street. At first glance, it appeared to be like any other street in the city, with modern houses and cleaned sidewalks.

I thought, I'm probably overthinkin' about there bein' somethin' special about this place. Guess I just have a bad sense of direction after all.

That was what I had believed, until my migraines emerged once again. I only felt these when a memory of my childhood resurface in my mind, but for some reason they became more painful. I was looking at the ground and wincing, unable to step forward. I put my hands on my knees to stabilize myself as the pain grew. My head lifted, and I saw a house painted white with red undertones…and remembered something about it.

➼ ➼ ➼

A kid again, I entered this white and red house and saw the interior. For whatever reason, each wall was painted a different color. Red, green, yellow, it was like that in the entryway.

Then I found myself in the backyard, then laid facing the sky on the front lawn with other people. I was sitting at a table and drawing with colored pencils. I'd be walking past the house early in the morning and coming back to it in the afternoon; I was holding onto a backpack. I saw that house almost every day.

I was teleported back into the living room followed by a trip to a pink room upstairs. During both trips, I heard RONDselia's special vinyl song…and the pigtail girl was with me. The first memories of the house replayed, this time with the pigtail girl being there too. She was also at school and was the only one with me during free time.

Subsequently after those memories came one that I had already seen before – when I first woke up from my coma. I looked out the window of my dad's car and saw the pigtail girl on the other side of the windowsill. Her face was still a silhouette, but her dark hair and white shirt had become apparent. Of course, that memory ended with the accident.

Shifting my focus from the house to the pigtail girl caused one final memory to play out. It was different from the previous ones because it was actually after my accident, during my new life.

I was in the hospital room, probably only a few days after I had woken up from my slumber. My surroundings consisted of gray walls, a few balloons, and items on the trolly. There was also the doctor standing by the doorway with the pigtail girl cowering behind him.

I couldn't remember her face, but I do remember saying to her,
"Wh-Who are…you?"

She didn't respond verbally, but rather turned around and ran away.

➼ ➼ ➼

I fell to my knees as my jellied legs gave out. My head felt like it was being drilled through by a thousand worms, and I vigorously gripped my hair and pulled it over my face as my upper teeth peeled my lower lip.

The memories soon faded, and I realized that I hadn't been breathing when my vision clouded with stars. I took several deep breaths and recollected my thoughts. With chills shivering through my body, I looked at the house again.

H-How many memories did I have of this place? Y-Yet at the same time, I-I didn't know it existed until now. Wh-Whose house is this?

I knew it wasn't my old house, because that was further west and more derilict in comparison. The front lawn had green trees, and appeared to be growing something from their branches. The entire structure was properly taken care of, even better than in my memories.

My memories returning was a good thing, but the way they suddenly bombarded me had done some mental damage. The fears that I told Dr. Shizuko about their return were coming true as the chastened feelings grew inside me. From not breathing at all, I found myself hyperventilating due to the overwhelming stress.

I-I need somethin' to calm me down… Dammit, I left my pills in my room. I-I need…I need them!

I picked myself up and rushed to my room. My focus was elsewhere, so I nearly tripped and ran through red pedestrian lights several times. I arrived at my room safely and dropped everything on the floor to find my pills.

With my headaches worsening, I couldn't even walk straight or comprehend where I had already searched. I made a mess of my room as if earthquakes had consecutively struck it. I eventually found the pills and frantically opened the container.

I took one pill. Then I took another. And then I took another. More would have been taken if I didn't slip on my schoolbag and drop the container as I plopped onto my bed. My hands covered my face while I tried to reorganize myself before I self-destructed any further.

Oh gosh…I'm already feelin' those effects. Wow…

I sat myself up on my bed with my back to the wall and arms wrapped around my legs. I stared up at the ceiling as the stars returned. I was shaking, trembling from head to toe as the memories came back, and I didn't have the energy to fight.

This isn't bad. This isn't bad. This isn't bad, I told myself.

If I was going to rationally piece myself  together, then I would need some peace and quiet. Just as I came to that conclusion, there was a knock on my door. It was a caregiver.

"Vieira-san? I need you to come out right now!" she commanded.

I didn't need distractions.
"I'm busy right now! Come back later––"

The caregiver's knock deepened, which startled me to look towards the door. There was a change in her voice, sounding more panicked.
"You need to come out!"

For once, I had grown annoyed with the substitute adults in my life. I grumpily got out of bed and opened the door.
"I said I'm––"

The caregiver didn't hesitate to get up close to my face.
"Vieira-san, it's an emergency! Ringomori-san experienced another depressive episode and passed out in her room!"

Those words entered both ears, and struck my head. I was frozen.