Jun, or that’s the name everyone called him while Nino was the only one allowed to call him J, dropped the box on the floor and wiped the dust of his hands on his shirt. It was a long day, a very long day since Nino told him they were moving to an apartment. He found it strange that he agreed to this in the first place, but after seeing a signed contract in Nino’s hand, he saw that he wasn’t lying.

At first, he thought that Nino was a strange adult, someone who loved to be clingy and annoying. After a day of explaining everything that he was supposed to remember and must have lived through, half of him believed Nino. He was even dragged into the bathroom, was forced to look into the mirror to compare the child and teenager in the photos he apparently must have taken with Nino. Though he still couldn’t remember, half of him told him to listen to this crazy talk.

“J, are you finished?!” Nino yelled, his voice ringing loudly through the empty hallway.

“Yeah,” he responded slowly, his eyes still overlooking the wonderful view huge window in their living room. It was really wonderful. He never imagined the city Nino told him he was born in was this big and breathtaking.

“J? Did you hear me?” This time, Nino was behind him his breath tickling his exposed neck.

Jun jumped forward in surprise, almost attaching himself to the window until Nino pulled him away from it. He caught a small glimpse of worry on Nino’s face but disappeared when he caught himself in the act.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “I was just looking at the city.”

“It’s ok,” Nino shrugged, “Now are you finished or what? There are still boxes outside you know and I can’t handle it all.”

Jun rolled his eyes. Despite his friend having so many memories of them together, he didn’t have much muscle in him. Pushing past Nino he grabbed the rest of the box, which was surprisingly light, and placed them all with the other boxes in the kitchen. “There,” He clapped his hands together to get rid of the dusts, “Finished. You know, you could have helped.” Instead of finding his friend lazing around the empty living room, he found him sitting on one of his boxes with his DS in his hands.

“Sorry,” Nino apologized, “Too busy playing. I need to defeat this boss before tonight.”

“That’s not important,” Jun told him disappointedly, “What you need to do, is unpack all your stuff before tonight.”

“Don’t worry,” Nino smirked, his eyes never leaving the small screen, “I’ll have this finished before tonight.”

“Whatever,” Jun scoffed, “I’m going to shop for groceries.” With that said, Jun grabbed his wallet and put it in his back pocket before leaving Nino all by himself. He couldn’t understand why his friend was so interested in those video games. All they ever did was strain your eyes, and have characters that the real world can never have. Closing their new apartment door behind him, he headed towards the market he and Nino passed by earlier.

Jun pondered. He didn’t know if he should pick between two brands: the Vermont curry or the Golden Curry. But it didn’t matter right? Since they were all curry. Picking the one called Vermont, he pushed it on the basket before moving to the produce section of the market. They all looked very fresh and he was tempted to buy every single one. However, he just needed the ingredients for curry and some for Nino’s hamburger (he’s heard him mention a thousand of times that he liked it) just in case. After picking up every ingredients, he was about to leave for the cash register when he saw a man clumsily drop the oranges from his basket; he didn’t seem to notice so Jun went after him.

“Sir,” Jun called for the man after picking up all the oranges off the ground, “You dropped this.”

“Oh thank you,” the man turned around, grabbing every single oranges from his hands, “I-- Oh! Matsumoto-kun!”

“Do I know you?” He asked him after hearing him mention the name he was using.

“Well yeah! I’m your high school’s animal caretaker,” The man told him, “You’ve forgotten about me already?”

“I never went to high school,” he told him, “But Nino told me I did though.”

The man cocked his head to the side, “What? But you did, I was--”

“Masaki, I found your favorite chips,” another man with a deeper voice interrupted them. He had a rather nerdy look for a strong looking man, and his face almost resembled a chipmunk when he smiled.

“Matsumoto-kun, I wasn’t supposed to see you for another month. What are you doing here all alone without Nino?”

“And am I supposed to know you too?” Jun asked him, completely confused as to what was currently happening. How can these people know him when he didn’t know them. Nino has never mentioned them once either.

“Why don’t you visit our house today? I’m sure Nino-kun will understand.”

“But I don’t know you people,” Jun told them, slowly backing away from the strange people. He never should have helped the man with the oranges and just left him clueless.

“Then how do you supposed Masaki knows you and I know you have various scars on your body, but biggest one is on your stomach,” The man told him in such a sure voice.

It was impossible. Only he and Nino were the ones who knew about it, and how he’s gotten it since Nino told him after he discovered it. “Then, do you know how I got it?”

“An accident,” the buff man told him at the same time the brown haired man besides him gasped, “Now come, we need to make dinner before I go to work.”

“But--”

“Let’s go,” the tall man walked behind him and pushed him towards the cashier, “I wanna hear the reason why I never heard of this.”

“Sorry,” he heard the buff man apologize, “I kept forgetting.”

He eventually came home together with the both of them, feeling out of place when they were all lovey-dovey with each other. They didn’t even look back at him, asking him if he was ok so he could answer by telling him they were weird and were nothing but strangers. However, they didn’t look back at him or ask that question as the car came to a stop in front of an apartment complex. Jun didn’t want to go out when the tall man offered his arm to help him out. But he was starting to feel like he was acting like a child and instead stepped out and was led into an apartment.

“Sorry,” the chipmunk-like man apologized as he kicked a few trash and clothes to the side, “Masaki forgot to clean again, and we weren’t expecting a visitor.”

“No it’s ok,” he mumbled though his focus was more on the pictures hanging on the wall. They all had pictures of the two of them together. One of them, the buff-man was wearing a white pharmacy suit while the tall man was wearing a red plaid polo with blue overalls over it all. They were definitely strange, but he could see the love playing in their eyes.

“Are you guys a couple?” Jun asked them straightfowardly, receiving a strangled cough from the buff man.

“Yes,” the man nodded his head, “We are. We met when I came to give you journals during high school, and we hit it off after that.”

“Sho!” the tall man hissed, “Not in front of him.”

“He’s already an adult,” The man sighed, “And that reminds me, you need more journals.” After the man said so, he disappeared as fast as lightning, and the tall man was asking him to take a seat on the living room couch. Their place wasn’t as big as his and Nino’s, though it might be that way for now since they didn’t even have furniture yet.

After settling down the couch, the man came back with three journals in his hand and the tallest of them came back with a tray of three cups, and a teapot in the middle of it. Once the two of them were seated, the tall man poured him a cup of tea which he gladly accepted because of his dry throat.

“I’m Sakurai Sho,” Sho introduced himself before handing him the journals, “And this is Aiba Masaki.”

“You don’t need to introduce me, silly,” Aiba giggled, his hand smacking the back of Sho’s head. “We already know each other.”

“I don’t think he knows you,” Sho told him, “He doesn’t even remember the first time he talked to you.”

“But... how is that possible? I talked to him once during his high school year, though I don’t remember the reason why he suddenly disappeared one day...”

“Masaki, you heard of amnesia right? Matsumoto-kun has it and it’s the worst case yet.”

“What?” Aiba gasped, “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, after he had the accident, he couldn’t recall any of his past memories, he couldn’t remember himself and he forgets all the memories he’s formed recently. It’s just random, he never knows the cycle himself and he forgets memories he’s made so far once he wakes up.”

“What?” Jun knitted his eyebrows together, “You mean I got this from the accident Nino told me about?”

Sho nodded his head. “As long as you write your memories you had, I mean the recent memories, then if one day... If one day you can miraculously regain all your memories again... For now, this can help you.”

Jun looked down at his hands. It was the journals the doctor had given him, and it was starting to make sense. After Nino had told him they were going to move out he saw a journal one day, dating back before the 2000’s, that repeated the name he was using, and Nino’s name several times. He read through it once only, finding it boring because it repeated the scenes from the first page till the end of the journal.

“Well if that’s all you have to tell me,” Jun stood up, “I think it’s best if I go back to Nino. He must be worried.”

“Ok,” Sho nodded his head, “But make sure you write! And tell Nino-kun to remind you everyday.”

“I will,” Jun said before picking up his stuff, and heading back out on his own.

On his way, he almost got lost since he really didn’t know the streets well. After getting directions from various people, he finally found his way back home by nighttime. As he expected, Nino was on the phone, his fingers tapping on the island and was pacing back and forth. Dropping the stuff on grocery on the floor, Jun was surprised so himself when he wound his arms around Nino’s neck. The latter turned around, obviously surprised then mad because he didn’t answer his phone (He forgot he turned it off earlier).

“Nino,” he whispered, putting his head between Nino’s head and neck, “Do you want hamburger or something else?”

“Ha-hamburger,” Nino stuttered, “And J, why are you like this?”

Jun shook his head before pulling away. “It’s nothing, I just... it’s nothing.”

“Ok. But don’t be mad at me... I didn’t get to unpack my stuff.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jun smiled, “Do you want it with mustard or no mustard?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Nino shrugged. “As long as J makes it, it’s fine by me.” After saying so, Nino left him in the kitchen, his hands leaning on the counter. He felt guilty for doing this to Nino since he was the only one that could remember everything and not him. After learning from Sho that his condition led him to forgetting everyday, it all made sense because he couldn’t recall what he did before he woke up and met Nino. It must have been hard for Nino, telling him everything he’s forgotten, asking himself why Nino wasn’t tired of him yet and just showed him a smile on his face. Walking back to the entrance, he retrieved the grocery before cooking Nino the best hamburger he could cook. If Nino told him he liked it, he’ll consider writing the memories he made in the journal even though he found it strange.

TBC