Chapter 2.

The sun streamed through the small curtains of the bookstore. It was a particularly slow day. Aside from the regulars whom I had lovingly named The Golden Girls I had not seen a customer in over two hours. "If I stand here any longer, I think my arms are going to fuse to this table." Carefully pulling my arms from the countertop my mind went to Ludwig. "I wonder what he's doing right now? I cannot believe I am finally going to learn about my past." The daydream was cut short by the ring of the bell at the front door. I perked up at the sight of a small bobbing head float along the isles of bookshelves. "Welcome to Bargain Books! Just let me know if there is anything, I can help you with." I called out to the figure. Squinting my eyes to look at the shelf tags they were either looking at the world history section or the cookbooks neither of which was my specialty. Finally, the figure popped around the corner in view from the counter. He was a shorter man of Asian descent. He wore a blue cotton tee-shirt and khaki shorts. Judging by his outfit he seemed like a tourist checking the downtown of our small town. As he made his way up to the counter, I could not help but get lost in his eyes. They were two expressionless brown pools that made the hair on my neck stand up on end. "Excuse me miss, but I was wondering if you had a particular book in stock." I rubbed the back of my neck trying to shake this uneasy feeling I had. "What is the title of the book called? I asked. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and said, "The Book of Yokai." He replied sliding the piece of paper across the counter. "Let me quickly check our online inventory to see if we have it in stock." I said taking the piece of paper. Our computer was ancient, every keystroke felt like an eternity. I quickly typed in the title with the help of the slip of paper for spelling. The computer made a weird noise and as the page started loading the entire screen went blank. Slapping the side of the screen out of sheer frustration it appeared it would not be waking up anytime soon. I turned my attention back to the man at the counter "I'm sorry sir, our computer system is down right now. I would me more than happy to direct you to the section location where that book might be located, but unfortunately I cannot guarantee that we will have the book in stock." I said in a disappointed voice. The man chuckled "Oh technology can be quite the fickle mistress. A general location would be much appreciated." I smiled and walked around the counter directing him to the isle location. "If you cannot find it, once I get our system up and running again, I can put it on order for you if you'd like." He bowed "That would be lovely." I went back to the counter to battle with my enemy the computer. After several of my usual attempts it seemed to boot back up. As the screen stirred back to life the man from before came back up to the counter shaking his head. "It would appear that you do not have the book I am looking for in stock." The man said. "I am truly sorry to hear that, if you leave your name and a phone number to reach you at, I would be more than happy to put it on order for you." I replied grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil from the desk. The man cleared his throat and said, "My name is Kiku, Kiku Honda and my number is (231)-555-7864." I could feel a lump starting to form in the back of my throat making it almost impossible to speak. "Kiku was it, well I will be sure to place your order as soon as possible and it should be here in a couple of days." He smiled "Thank you" he paused looking down at my name tag. "_." I nodded "Have a great day!" I replied in a shaky voice.

My heart felt as if my heart was going to beat out of my chest. Ludwig's words echoed in my ears. "That was definitely one of the men Ludwig had described to me." I wiped the sweat off my forehead and walked into the office where my boss was writing this month's expense report. He looked up at me with a concerned look on his face. "Hey _, is everything alright? You're looking a bit pale." My mouth felt as though I had just licked a piece of chalk. "I am not feeling too well, and since we are having a slow day I was wondering if I could go home early?" Feliks glanced at the clock and then back down at his workspace shoving some of the documents inside a folder before closing it. "Sure, I hope you get feeling better soon." I gave a small smile and grabbed my purse and coat of the hanger and swiftly headed for the door.

The sun was bright, its beams blinding my vision. I grabbed my sunglasses from my purse and waited for my sight to adjust. Across the street was a small coffee shop and sitting outside on the patio was Kiku sipping a coffee and reading a newspaper. I quickly tried to skirt around the corner hoping that he did not notice. My eyes stayed locked on him as a whipped around the corner when they should be been in front of me. My shoulder crashed into very solid mass. My cheeks flushed pink as I adjusted my sunglasses. "Oh my god, I am so sorry I really should have paid better attention to where I was going." I said in a nervous tone. The man grinned back at me smoothing his hair back only to have a giant curl bob out of place as if it had a mind of its own. "_!" the man yelled as he scooped me up into a tight hug. I felt my feet lifting off the ground and my only thoughts were "Am I being kidnapped?" before I even realized what I was doing I shoved my elbow hard into his chest. His grip loosened at I managed to squirm out of his arms and bolt to my car. The moment my butt hit the soft seat of my car tears started streaming down my face. My chest felt tight and my throat felt like it was closing. I knew I couldn't stay here, but I was also in no condition to drive, but I peeled out of the parking lot as fast as I could and tried to find somewhere to park and get my composure. I pulled off near a park close to my house and stared out into the lake. I tried to take some deep breaths, but I could not calm myself. Glancing over at my purse on the floor of the passenger seat I grabbed it and searched for my phone. With a shaky hand I dialed Ludwig's number. "Hello, this is Ludwig." Before he could say anymore words started to pour from my mouth. "I saw them, well two of them. I was too panicked to go home. I stopped by a park near my house, but I'm worried they might have followed me." I blurted. "When and where did you see them?" Ludwig replied his voice itching with aggravation. I tried to gain some composure before answering "At work, the one named Kiku came in and asked if I could help him find a book. I really did not think too much of it at first, until I needed some information about ordering. I panicked a little and asked my boss if I could leave early, he said yes and then on my way out he was right across the street at the coffee shop as if he was just waiting there for me. I tried to run to my car, but then I ran into one of the other guys you told me about with the brown hair. He knew my name and I think he tried to kidnap me. I punched him in the gut and somehow managed to get away. Ludwig, I'm really scared what should I do?" I explained in a shaky voice. "Just get yourself home, lock your doors and take a deep breath, I will be there soon." He replied in a calming tone. "Okay, I'll text you my address. See you soon." I placed the phone back in my purse and checked my surroundings. There were no other cars in the parking lot, and I did not see anyone walking around. I started my car again and drove home.

As soon as I shut the door behind me my body collapsed to the floor. I began crying again, harder than before. Why was all of this happening to me? All I wanted was my memories back.

"Hey man are you okay?" a voice called out from down the street. Clutching my stomach, I tried to stand. A pair of black shoes stood in front of me offering a hand. I look up at the person offering and frowned. "Quite an arm they've got; did you see that maneuverer Gil?" He smirked "I sure did." "Hey! Don't look so happy about it, that really hurt!" I exclaimed. Another pair of footsteps came up from behind us. "Feliciano, I think your tactics were a little too much for this mission." A familiar voice called out. "They wouldn't even let me hug them properly" I cried folding my arms firmly across my chest in a pout. Kiku gave me an annoyed look before patting my shoulder. "And what about you Gilbert, how did you fair?" Kiku asked. Gilbert chewed the inside of his cheek "Ludwig must of spoke to them already. Before I could even approach, they were peeling out of the parking lot. "Well what did you expect? Feli almost attempted a kidnapping and it's not exactly like _ remembers who we are." Kiku replied. Gilbert was silent for a moment, "I know, I just hoped that by talking to them again I could trigger something." Gilbert replied in a defeated tone.