《Memory Fragments》 Memory. 0 My name is Ishimaru Makoto (it was written in its traditional romanji form with a format of surname then given name), but those who are close to me calls me ¡°Maa-kun¡±. My name family¡¯s name, Ishimaru, meant round stone, and my give name, Makoto for sincerity. I have a very black hair, and it was often coined by my friends as the blackest hair they¡¯ve ever seen. Whenever I hear those, I just laugh my ass out. I¡¯ve been living here in the crowded part of Tokyo and lately, I am having this weird dreams that somehow talks about my so-called ¡°past life¡±.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. It just doesn¡¯t make sense. In this dream, everyone were blurry, voices were cracked and they were difficult to understand. All I know is that they are my own. How could I know that? Simple, there is just one phrase I seem to hear very clear. ¡°Somehow, we get to meet again.¡± The voice was of a girl, and I just heard them a month ago. Ever since then, I¡¯ve been a little bit curious and somehow, something bugs me. Do all of these are real? I sometimes asked that to myself. I ask myself those things in this cold 24th of January. Well, right now, I¡¯m on my way on a date with my girlfriend, if you can call it like that. Memory. 1 – Relics from the past (A month ago) Everything in this world seems weird. People, sometimes they were gone, and when the time comes that they were found, they don¡¯t seem to remember the people around them before. It seems like, they have new life. Well, the same thing happened to me once. The problem with my case is that, I remember everything except for 10 years ago, in the months of July to December. The year now is 2028 and everything is different in the past century. Technology took over the working industry and every person seems to rely on machines so much. The doors were machine operated and don¡¯t need extra movements just to open it, it just requires your eyes to be scanned and it must recognize your voice. Almost everything, the cars were driven by AIs now and it¡¯ll take you to your desired destination. Huge difference at the time when cars were created. For that reason, human became lazy. At this very moment, I am driving on my way to a restaurant where I work. Well, you can say that it is a place where I work, but not as a crew, but as a manager. You might wonder why I drive the car. It is because; I am different from the others. I prefer to drive on my own, and not even the machines will stop me in doing so. In the place I managed, I ask my fellow workers to do everything by themselves and not to rely on to machineries. The reason why I don¡¯t trust machines so much is still unknown even for me. It might have something to do with the thing I forgot last 10 years. Now that I reached the front of the restaurant that was called Backdoor Restaurant, which is a very hideous name for a 3-star restaurant, I asked the valet, Motohama, to park my car in the usual spot. I entered the restaurant in the staff¡¯s entrance and wear my uniform at the locker room. Our locker rooms are supposed to be separate from each other, but it is weird for the head office to prefer a co-ed locker room.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°How can we build each other¡¯s trust, which is a vital part in every crew, if we got our locker rooms separated from each other, no?¡± That is what my perverted father, the owner and president of this restaurant said. It is to be expected to come out of his mouth, but I am surprised that the whole board of directors agrees, without even one objection except from me. Nevertheless, the crew here is the best crew I ever had. Well, that¡¯s it if I never had any crew before that I¡¯ve forgotten. Haha. Now in my work attire, I greeted everyone inside with a smile on my face as I head on where my crews are waiting. They greeted me with a smile on their faces, full of confidence and are ready for the new battlefield set outside the staff room. Today, we¡¯ll be serving 15 pairs who rented the restaurant for the night for their Christmas party. And before I forgot, I did not even mentioned that is already Christmas Eve, and here we are, working our butt for the Christmas Party of a VVIP people, as my father ¨C er, I mean the president said. We still have the rest of the night so, I decided to throw our own Christmas party after these ¡°VVIP¡± people are finished with theirs. I took a peak to check if the guests have arrived. I am surprised with what I saw. The guests are not your ordinary VVIP people, but they looked normal from what I expected. From how I will describe them with how I analyze things, they looked like workers from a company just like we do. So, I wonder why the president of this restaurant identified them as VVIPs. Among those guests, a girl in a silver hair shone above all of them. She looks younger than almost everyone, except from the blond guy, or girl ¨C can¡¯t identify which. The silver-haired girl wears a simple dress and a brown hat. Silver hair. Silver. Si ¨C Something blocked my sights. It is as if someone¡¯s hands are covering my eyes. It feels soft, so I guess it is a girl¡¯s hands. Among the crews, there is only one who has the guts to do this. ¡°Mary. Stop it already.¡± My sight was finally freed from that darkness. But now, the silver-haired girl was gone. ¡°Pfft. You¡¯re no fun, boss.¡± Mary complains. ¡°Did you forget that we are on our duty? You should stop messing around. Geez.¡± She mocked me, which always pisses me off. Mary is my onee-san. She¡¯s my elder sister but she acts immaturely every time I became serious. ¡°So, who are you stalking just now?¡± She continued from mocking me. Stalking? What the hell she was talking about? I¡¯m not stalking anyone; it is just that her presence stole my attention, that¡¯s all. ¡°What are you talking about, onee-chan?! Stalking?! How could I do that?¡± She just smirks, and run away from me. I took a gaze upon the clock, and it was already almost time. ¡°Okay, guys! One minute before the time starts. We should do our best this time!¡± And then, the countdown drops into zero. Memory. 1 – Relics from the past Exactly when the countdown hits zero, everyone became busy. They are so busy that I can¡¯t find the right time just to talk each one of them. Everybody was tensed up, like it seems that they feel uneasy with the guests. That must be the first time I see my crew this all tensed up. I tried to help Mea-san, the one who waits in a table near the kitchen, but I was surprised that the guests were quite weird. By means of weird, they are weird in a good way. You see, my crew is used to getting shouted by customers and a lot, for there are many rude customers, especially the VVIPs, but these VVIPs were so kind than we anticipated. It felt weird for me too, and awkward, for when I stepped out of the kitchen; it feels like everyone stared at me. I walked slowly, retreating back to the kitchen room without anyone noticing, but was stopped by an unknown fellow. My eyes were blinded as if someone blocked my sight with their hands. I get it; these hands belong to a girl. With the soft feeling of the hands, and it is warm too, I knew it was Mary fooling around again. ¡°Geez! Stop it already, onee-chan!¡± I yelled at my onee-chan without hesitating on how the guests would react. My eyes were finally free from the blinding, but I was shocked when I see the hands, they weren¡¯t the hands of Mary. ¡°Pfft! I know I look like an old hag, but I am younger than you by a year you know, Gin!¡± Gin? I don¡¯t know what or who is she talking about. She might mistake me from someone, I guess. I looked behind me, and a beautiful girl with blond hair appeared right in front of me. Her lips were crimson red, just like a blood, and her skin¡¯s white as a paper. ¡°Uhmm¡­ I think you¡¯ve mistaken me from someone else, miss?¡± Her face became red, you can notice it quickly. It might be because she made a mistake and don¡¯t know how to apologize properly. ¡°No, I am sure of it! You are Gin, we worked together, remember? Te ¨C¡° She can¡¯t finished her sentence that time because one little guy, I think her little brother because their hair is the same and they look alike, shut her mouth and dragged her towards their table.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The both of them argued with each other for a minute, and their argument were inaudible for me. Not that I care for what they are talking about, I am just curious for what is she talking about. Moments later, the little guy returned to me. Her onee-chan looks a bit disappointed, and a bit sad. ¡°Sorry for the trouble, Mister?¡± I was spaced out for a moment until I realized that he was waiting for me to tell my name to him. ¡°Ah! I am called Ishimaru Makoto.¡± I reached for my hand just to show a sign of formality. ¡°Sorry for the trouble Mr. Ishimaru. My onee-chan is not feeling well so she thought that you are her doctor. I promise it won¡¯t happen again.¡± He bowed his head before me. He won¡¯t budge till I asked him to raise his head. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t matter. You can lift your head.¡± He looked up, and his face was saddened for a moment. He smiles, as if I did not see him in his sad face. ¡°By the way, the name¡¯s Cloud. My sis¡¯s name is Cleo. Nice to meet you, Mr. Ishimaru.¡± He smiles again, and wave off his goodbye. He returned to their seats, and their party is supposed to start now. I wander around the whole place. The setting is not new to me yet, it feels somewhat new. Probably because of the way they wished to design the whole area. From what I¡¯ve experienced before, VVIPs requests the most a fine dining, much less a French inspired theme, or Elizabethan theme, other themes that suits their palette. I am very glad that these VVIPs act normal enough for normal people. Somehow, I recalled on how Cleo called me before. Gin. Gin means Silver in Japanese, right? Gin. Silver. Gin. Sil ¨C That is right! I saw something, er, no, someone, somebody from before we start the event. A girl with a silver hair. That makes me thinking, I haven¡¯t seen her around from sometime. I wonder where she could be from here on. I wander around the whole establishment, hoping I would see where she is. I tried to get back on asking Cloud or Cleo for the whereabouts of a girl with a silver hair, but each time I approach them, they seem to be avoiding my presence. It is hard for my part, seeking for the unknown. Well, my memories hit me as I remember that there are still holes from my memories. Now, I give up, for real. I¡¯ve decided to give up and try to get a fresh air in the balcony. I opened the door, and a sweet scent of fresh air greeted me. Other than the fresh air, outside the balcony, it was noisy because of the honking of the cars outside. There are commotions between the cars below me. Putting aside the negativity ¨C the noisy honking; the view was full of scenery. A city in the eve, full of flashing lights caused by the Christmas lights. The stars, they shine so bright in the middle of the night. ¡°Aren¡¯t they beautiful? The stars?¡± A voice of a girl whispers into my ears. The voice itself was so soft and sweet. I wonder if it is my big sis this time, but I have to be careful now not to make the same mistakes. ¡°Yeah, they are.¡± I uttered that moment. At that moment, I don¡¯t care who might that be, I was just caught by the stars. ¡°So, how long will you keep looking for me all over the place?¡± Crap. I think this must be the girl with the silver hair! My body was trembling in a short moment. I try to look at her, just to confirm if it really was her or not. I thought I was wrong in that moment. I thought. Memory. 1 – Relics from the past So, how long will you keep looking for me all over the place?¡± That was the last thing I want to hear, especially for someone they just met that day. I don¡¯t know if I will be ecstatic since she noticed or will I crap the hell out of me for being so obvious. ¡°Uhm¡­ he he, I ¨C I just want to see¡­ Yeah, the stars, I want to see the stars.¡± Crap. As far as I want to tell her that I¡¯ve been looking for her, I ended up denying it. Well, it can¡¯t be helped since we were strangers with each other. I turn around only seeing the beauty of her face. As I expected, her hair was silver. Gin. Her eyes were as green as the leaves at spring. Her skin, it is as white as snow goes by the peak of winter. Her lips, they were like a pale cherry. Not to mention, her pretty face goes with her petite body. Ahh¡­ If I will ever get a girl, this will be my type of girl.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Crap! Before I forgot, I have my girl waiting for me to mail her. ¡°Well, I think I have to go now?¡± I uttered without any hesitation. ¡°Well, before you go, my name is ¨C¡° Then a loud honk burst out in front of our store. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to hear the last part. Before I got the chance to go near her, a man in white suit, blond hair, appeared in front of me. ¡°Well, if you¡¯ll excuse me. This place was off-limits for you sir.¡± The blonde guy seems to be foreign. From Europe, I guess. ¡°But, I haven¡¯t heard that notice. And I am the manager of this restaurant.¡± He smirks. ¡°Well, it was an order made by your father, Mr. Ishimaru.¡± His face pisses me off. And what the hell?! That perverted father of mine, what is he thinking? Making decisions without me knowing? ¡°Well, let me just ask ¨C¡° The blonde guy stops me from talking. I took a glimpse behind him and saw the silver-haired girl hiding her face, away from me. ¡°There will be a wedding proposal to be held here, so we need a privacy here. That is the reason why your father, the president and CEO did not mention this from you.¡± Shit. Now, I have no reasons to show my face here then? If my father just told me something about this, I shouldn¡¯t have bothered finding her then. ¡°O ¨C okay! I¡¯ll walk away peacefully if that¡¯s what you want. Geez. What¡¯s wrong with you, guys?¡± I walked away, disappointed that I didn¡¯t get a chance to hear her name. Memory. 1 – Relics from the past My name, my real name is Akimoto Chiyu. Ten years ago, I met a man who is two years older than me. His name, is Gin. ¡°Chiyu - senpai, Gin is already gone.¡± That, it is my underclassmen in our line of work. His name is Geo, he¡¯s been there for me after the incident ten years ago. He is a blond guy, he is an Italian, and right now, he is wearing a white suit.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Thanks, Geo. I don¡¯t know how to react as soon as I heard that Gin was working here. Unfortunately, he won¡¯t remember me.¡± Gin, he is the one who gave me reason to fight again. He goes by the name of Ishimaru Makoto as what I¡¯ve heard of Cleo.