Aoi was a careful driver; she went at the allowed speed without rushing, so the trip was very relaxing indeed. Goldshi was the copilot, and I could hear them speak as I watched through the window as the city scenery began to change.
"Yeah, so to pass everyone, I have to..."
I smiled, even on a free day like this, they were talking about strategy for my training. Aoi was focused, but still she seemed as if she was taking mental notes. Gold Ship is the voice of the experience of success with this quirky running style. I still felt a little tired after all the emotions of yesterday and the physical effort, so slowly, slowly as I heard them talk, I drifted to a deep slumber once again.
...
...
...
"Daddy!!" I cheerfully said as I leaped into the arms of a poor man who almost fell on his back, but managed to lift me up, causing laughter.
"Godness... Meek, I told you to be careful with daddy," I heard the same sweet voice as in my last dream. "You must be careful with other people."
The room was filled with laughter, as I was placed again on the floor with tenderness, I was able to observe over a desk a small collection of trophies.
[Happy Sunrise, 3rd place]
[Happy Sunrise, 2nd place]
[Takanashi Subaru, employee of the month]
And some family photos, most were of both of them a little younger, but in front of all those memories, there was a family photo of the three of us under a cherry tree. And in a corner, I was able to see a photo of Aoi alongside my Mom, both were just teenagers, smiling and posing for the photo. Actually, Aoi looked a couple of years younger than my mom...
'Did Aoi know my mom when they were young?'
As Happy Sunrise noticed, I was looking at the trophy collection, she puffed her chest with pride.
"Hehehe~" She laughed, "Mommy is pretty amazing, isn't she?"
"But dear, didn't you say you wish you had won the... ouch!" The foot of my father was suddenly crushed by a stomp of my mom.
"Sorry, darling, I must be really tired today, you were saying?"
"I... I mean, you are such an amazing runner! I bet little Meek will be impressive when she grows up!"
...
...
...
"Meek!" Goldshi suddenly woke me up, "Look at this reel! Oh, you were sleeping, sorry!"
Being jolted awake, I was a little scared at first, but then I grabbed the phone Goldshi was holding up in her hands. On the screen, I could see the cursed realist face of a horse from my world, and I screamed again.
...
...
...
"Aaaaah!!"
"Aaaaaaaahhh!!!"
"Kyaaaaaaaa!!"
I screamed, being suddenly awakened by that nightmarish view, which startled Gold Ship, and in consequence, Aoi was distracted and lost control of the vehicle for a moment.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!" x3
"What!?" Asked, Aoi was still startled with her heart racing.
"A" I managed to calm down after the vehicle got stabilized. "It was just a dream..."
"Hahahaha!" Gold Ship erupted in laughter, "Good one, little sis! I must do that to my team on our next travel!"
"Please don't do that, Gold Ship..." Said Aoi, sighing, "What were you even dreaming of... waking up in such a fashion?"
"Huuuh... Something about a monster?" I said with doubt in my voice.
"Uuughh... please, Meek, don't watch that kind of show before sleeping from now on... I know you like anime and that kind of stuff, but please refrain from the content you watch..."
"Okay..."
"Oh, we are here!" As she said that, we passed a traffic sign 'Welcome to Kamakura'.
As I saw that I felt really happy, or more accurately would say that my body felt really happy, this was homecoming for Happy Meek, and my tail betrayed me, swaying from one side to another like a dog. The town looked peaceful, the kind of place you would seek to get away from the busy Tokyo, the mountains looked green and pretty, and the air was fresh.
'So I'm a countryside girl, huh?' I thought with a soft smile on my face.
For a moment, my eyes flashed with mirror images, maybe just fantasy, but I could see a little version of myself playing with other children on the streets of this peaceful place. This was a place of memories, happy times. But then again, a sense of dread hit me even worse than last time. I could feel my heart sinking, and my smile turned into a grin of pain. Aoi noticed this through the car's mirror but chose to say nothing as we finally stopped in front of a small house. The weed had started growing in its garden.
"Huh, it seems this place needs a little gardenering~" Said Goldshi, looking at the rundown house, then, when the engine was turned off and both Aoi and I got out of the vehicle, she changed her speech, "I mean! What a pretty place!"
Being a totally rational person, I grasped the situation. I felt my shoulders heavy, and my legs too, but I had to make sure. As I walked through the garden, I noticed what Goldshi had said and smiled once again.
"You are right, this place is a mess."
It felt like a sensation of deja vu, felt like I have been here endless times, as if I lived here, if everything here was so familiar, yet this were the feelings of Happy Meek, yet they were mine as well, I was a stranger in this place too, but once again, I was not, it's nearly impossible to describe it with words. When I opened the door and stepped inside, the smell of stagnated air hit me, but that was okay... it was a little sad to see everything covered in dust tho. I stopped in front of the trophies, medals, and photos covered in dust and felt a sting in my heart. All those trophies that in my dream felt as the most amazing things in the world were from small countryside races, and not even one was in first place, yet in the pictures, Mom looked dashing and happy; she had worked hard for that.
"You truly are amazing," I said, looking at the old memories.
As I looked to a corner of the room, I saw it, a small shrine with some used incense, in front of the black stone with some inscriptions on it, two photos, of both Happy Sunrise and Takanashi Subaru. I walked toward the small shrine, both Gold Ship and Aoi looking at me.
"Mom, Dad, your daughter has come to visit," I smiled, kneeling in front of the small altar.
Then I remembered it.
The night. Heavy rain. Everything was so dark, and then the truck lost control and crashed into our car. Everything from that moment seems like a daze, covered in a dense fog; even the memories were soundless and in black and white. I was in a hospital room, some local newspaper talking about the miracle of my surviving with minor injuries, the burial... My head stung like hell; it was a massive headache, the closest thing I could say to describe it is af if a bomb exploded near me, I couldn't hear anything and felt so confused. My other life and Meek's life mixed... I felt as if I was falling into a deep pit.
"Gotcha," I felt both of Gold Ship's hands on my shoulders. I was indeed falling back, but her reassuring smile pulled me back to reality.
"I know it's a bit opportunistic, but could you help me get this place in order?" I smiled faintly. I'm grateful that they are here with me.