Leyon didn't know why his head was hurting as if a big truck had run over it when he woke up that morning. The first thing he could make out from his cloudy vision was the figure of a small girl sitting beside the bed where he rested. Her eyes were fixed on him, but he had no clue who she was.

Leyon blinked a couple of times to shake off the blurriness and to get a clearer look at the girl, but she suddenly stood up in an alarmed manner as if shocked to see him awake and ran out of the room before he had the chance to identify her. A few minutes later, the door to his room clicked open, and his ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching him. His vision cleared, but the same could not be said for his throbbing head.

"How are you feeling?" a man wearing a white coat asked him. Judging from his appearance, Leyon guessed he was the doctor who had been tending to him. So, he was in the hospital? What had happened to him? He couldn't recall anything, and his head hurt, even more, when he tried to force himself to remember. Maybe he should ask the doctor. An explanation from a medical professional would probably be more helpful than anything his mind could come up with at the moment.

Leyon could feel the weight and pressure of his throbbing head raining down on him as he rose to a sitting position on the bed. The soft pillow acted as a cushion for the upper half of his body as he leaned back, with the doctor helping to adjust his body posture before starting to examine him.

"Eyes normal, tongue? Open your mouth, please. That's it. Everything seems to be fine. Nothing serious," the doctor continued, his gloved hand inspecting the bandage that was wrapped around Leyon's head. After he was done checking Leyon's overall condition, he turned to the person beside him and smiled.

It was the girl from before; Leyon identified.

"He's all good now, little girl," the doctor said to the girl.

Leyon was all the more confused. That little girl looked to be around the same age as him. Did he know this girl? His mind didn't give him an answer. The door to his room opened once again. A lady wearing a classic business outfit entered the room. In her hand was a small black file case. Her heels clicked loudly on the tiled floor as she made her way toward him.

"Hi. My name's Susan," she greeted the doctor, extending her right hand.

"Yes. And you are?" the doctor asked, squinting his eyes as he shook Susan's hand.

"I'm the boy's caretaker. I come from the orphanage," Susan replied. "I've been looking for him everywhere. Good thing I came here, otherwise, I was about to file a missing child report," she added.

"I see. Well, you don't have to worry about him now. He just needed a few stitches," said the doctor. "I'm afraid it'll leave a scar but he'll be fine after taking enough rest."

Shifting her gaze to Leyon, Susan shot him a blank look before adjusting her eyeglasses and moving toward him. She stopped right beside his bed and stood there. "Do you remember me? I'm Susan," she said to Leyon.

Leyon slowly nodded his head.

"Little girl? Why are you standing silently over there? Don't you want to say anything to him? He's awake now," the doctor said to the girl, catching both Leyon and Susan's attention in the process.

Leyon would have forgotten the existence of the little girl had the doctor not addressed her presence any sooner. Leyon trailed the little girl's movements as she approached him with teary eyes. She stood close to the other side of his bed and smiled at him. Weird. The girl was really weird. "Who are you?" Leyon asked. The little girl's smiling face instantly paled at his question.

"What are you talking about, boy? Do you not know her?" the doctor interrupted him.

"No. I don't," Leyon's replied.

"Do you remember how you got hurt?" Susan asked.

"... No. I can't... remember," Leyon answered.

"That's strange," the doctor muttered, coming forward to check up on Leyon again. "Can you tell me your name?" he asked.

"My name is Leyon."

"Good. Do you know about your family?" the doctor continued asking Leyon.

"My parents... died in a car accident. I came to live here with my granny, but she died too."

"Tell me what happened after your granny died," the doctor went on.

"I remember her funeral. I remember the villagers. They were there at her funeral. And... and... I can't remember." Leyon clutched his head, wincing in pain.

"It's okay. Don't push yourself." The doctor comforted him.

"How did I come here? How did I get hurt?" Leyon questioned the doctor.

"So, you don't remember why you're in the hospital or how you hurt your head? This is serious!" Susan interrupted their conversation. "Ahem. Excuse me," she said awkwardly.

"Come, Miss Susan. We need to talk. Let's go look at his test results." With that said, both Susan and the doctor left the room.

Now that Leyon was alone with the weird little girl, he decided it was the right time to ask her some questions. "Do I know you?" Leyon asked but received no reply. "Are you Susan's daughter?" At his next question, the girl furiously shook her head, implying that she was not Susan's daughter. "What's your name?" Leyon continued. "Can't you speak? Hey, where you going-" Leyon wasn't able to finish his sentence as the girl suddenly rushed out of the room, shutting the door loudly behind her.

Room-3B: The Doctor's Office.

"So, you're telling me that he has selective amnesia?" Susan said to the doctor.

"Yes. That seems to be the case. He's developed selective amnesia, which could be the result of severe psychological stress at the time he was injured."

"I don't understand. Can you please explain further?" Susan asked.

"Selective amnesia...well, it's a kind of amnesia where the patient loses certain parts of their memory, meaning the patient will forget some events that occurred in his life, events that could have been traumatising for him. Like, for example, he could lose his memory of a particular person if that person served as a triggering factor for him," the doctor explained.

"So, you're implying that the little girl was a triggering factor for him?"

"Maybe, but we don't know for sure."

"I see."

"That boy, Leyon is his name, right? He seems to be in a lot of psychological stress before as well."

"Yes, that might be true. I heard he went through a lot. I can't imagine how much he must've suffered witnessing so many deaths at his age. First his parents, then his grandmother," said Susan.

"Oh yes, I heard his grandmother passed away in our hospital just recently." The doctor sighed.

"And now he's lost his memories."

"It is a pity."

"Wait. Doctor, could you tell me how exactly he came here hurting his head?"

"I'm sorry, I should've notified you sooner." The doctor cleared his throat. "He was admitted here last night. I heard from the staff that a little girl came with a barely conscious boy. They immediately notified me and I became his surgeon. I thought the boy wouldn't make it but he's tough, I'll tell you that."

"I'm glad he made it. Any idea on how the two kids ended up in that situation?"

"We can't ask Leyon now that has no memory of it. I tried asking the little girl but she seems to be mute. Do you know who she is?"

"I'm sorry I don't." Susan shook her head.

"I see. That kind of leaves us in a tight situation."

"They're only children. What could possibly have happened?" Susan muttered to herself and turned her attention to the doctor.

"Maybe," the doctor continued, "the scene Leyon had witnessed before he got hurt was something he never wished to see. So, his mind wanted to forget and that's why his memories relating to that incident have been completely wiped out. In that case, if we think the girl was involved in the incident too, it's possible his mind wiped away the memories associated with the girl as well," he finished.

"It seems the only way to find out the truth is to let the girl explain," said Susan. "Will his memories return, though?"

"It's hard to say. Sometimes the memories are temporary, and they do return on their own with time. But sometimes they're permanent. We can only watch and observe for now."

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Hikari's gaze was fixed on the torn picture of her and Leyon on the table in the living room of her house. She grabbed the sellotape that was next to the torn photo and got to work. Three minutes later, she accomplished her task. Though the picture didn't look as good as new anymore, at least it was saved. All she needed to do now was to show it to Leyon. Maybe then he'd remember her. The photo was the ultimate proof of their relationship, proof that she had been a part of his life, even though it was for a short while.

Getting up, Hikari turned to leave the house. Delaying any further would only lead her to encounter her father and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Finally back, eh?" came a gruff voice.

Hikari halted her steps. Someone up there must really hate her. Luck was never on her side, and she wondered why.

"Looking at you now, I reckon that boy's not dead," her father taunted. Hikari could picture him standing behind her. "Are you going to see him?" he questioned even though he already knew the answer. "You're not going anywhere, girl."

That day, Hikari deeply regretted ever coming back to her house. What she didn't know was that that day marked only the beginning of what was to come next. She never would've predicted the train of events that would soon follow.

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One entire week passed. Leyon had been recovering fairly well. As for his lost memories, there was still no hope. He hadn't met the little girl since that day, but he didn't think much about it. Susan had been persuading him to go back with her to the city; he would have a better chance at life there, she had said. She'd also mentioned something about her office being in the city and how her superiors were now raging at her for neglecting her duties. Apparently, Susan had been away for far too long.

"Are you all set?" Susan asked Leyon who was getting dressed up to leave. The entire week, Susan had been his caretaker. As for Leyon's mental health, there was nothing Susan could do. She was told not to mention anything about how Leyon was brought to the hospital by the girl the night before he was admitted there. The doctor had been hesitant to tell Leyon about the past incidents for fear of negatively impacting his mental health. He'd said it would be dangerous for the boy to force himself to remember events he couldn't recall as it could lead to a disastrous outcome and worsen his condition.

Susan could care less about Leyon's memory loss, though. That wasn't included in her responsibility. Leave it to his luck; if the boy was lucky, his memories would eventually return someday. Besides, the little girl had somehow magically disappeared since that day and never returned. Susan took that as a green light to further execute her plans. What she needed to do now was to take Leyon to the city and put his name under the childcare unit of the orphanage where she worked. That was her job - the sole purpose of her whole trip.

"I'm done. Let's go," Leyon replied, snapping Susan out of her thoughts. Soon, he would be leaving for the city with Susan.

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"Get in the car. Hey, are you okay?" Susan asked as she was preparing to get into the car. Seeing a hesitant-looking Leyon staring at the road behind him made her stop for a while.

"I'm fine," Leyon replied. He kept staring at the straight open road, his expression unreadable.

"Do you remember something?" Susan asked again.

Leyon shook his head in response. He had long discarded the thought of ever regaining his memories. He felt he didn't need them. Nothing would change in his life even if those memories returned. The doctor told him he lost those memories because his mind didn't want to remember the things that happened prior to that. So, what was the point of trying to remember something he wanted to forget?

"Let's go," Leyon finally said. As he got into the car, his eyes failed to notice the figure of a small girl running toward him from afar.

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The first thing Hikari did when she finally managed to escape from her father was run to the hospital. She needed to see Leyon. She needed to show him the picture. But by the time she arrived at the hospital, it was already too late. She couldn't find him anywhere. When she met the doctor who treated him, he told her that Leyon had left with Susan.

It can't be, thought Hikari. Leyon... you can't... you can't leave. Her mind broke down as she felt warm tears cloud her vision.

As soon as Hikari left the hospital, she caught sight of a car parked in the distance and saw a boy who looked a lot like Leyon climb into the vehicle.

Clutching the glued photo in one hand, Hikari ran as fast as her little legs could carry her but the distance between her and the car was too far apart. The further she ran, the further the car sped past, away from her. Even so, she kept trying to reach it until her legs gave up on her. She collapsed on the hard, dirty ground. Covered with cuts and bruises, she lay there helplessly, her legs unable to lift her body off the ground.

"Get up. Get up," Hikari commanded her legs as she willed her mind to get up, but her body responded angrily at her by inflicting more pain instead. Her knees were badly injured, and there were also other open wounds on her body, but she couldn't identify them all at the moment. Feeling weak and powerless, she wasn't able to control the parade of emotions spilling from her chest.

Unable to soothe her aching heart, Hikari finally burst into tears. Tightly clutching the photo to her chest, her bruised fingers digging sharply into her palms, she silently sobbed her heart out in utter agony.