He found himself awake. Beneath all that thick and fluffy bed cover.
He was in his room.
He looked around. This room was in a mess...or at least a part of it. Near his computer table, loads of paper has been stacked against the scanner. His work-table is in a better condition; as gadgets are strewn about, some half-open from their casing, and some completely disassembled. He needs to reassemble them later.
There was a blinking light attached to his door. Strange. Why the light-
The door opened without a noise. A women, probably on her late 20s entered the room. Her mouth flapped open and closed---but he can't hear anything.
Come of think of it, this room feels unnaturally...silent.
He can see the woman makes a sigh, but can't hear it. What is wrong with my ears? He tried picking them, but the woman seems to be confused. She walked next to him, taking something placed on the top of the night-table directly beside the bed, and handed it out for him.
It was...a strange-looking headphones. It is made from mostly metallic parts, with not even a trace of plastic on it. Even the cable connecting the jack to the main part is covered not by rubber or anything usually used to, but some kind of weaving made from steel mesh.
He is confused. What should I do with this? The woman, however, gently took it from his arms placed it on his head.
Suddenly, sounds.
The passing car's engine. The crunching sound and cheerful noises made by the kids playing in the snow. The roaring sound of a passing jetplane.
Also, a roaring siren, which probably comes from his door's direction.
How could he missed all that? And how could putting on an UNPLUGGED headphones can help?
"Rei honey, did you feel sick? Usually you always wear that headphones all the time!" said the troubled-looking woman.
"I...wha..uh?"
"See! You probably get too cold and get delirious because of it!" She grabbed me and took my temperature using the old 'forehead-to-forehead contact', but withdraw herself with a frown. "That's weird-your temperature is a-okay. Not hot, either. Hmm."
Seeing the way she frowned, an arrow of guilt pierced my heart. Why must I cause mom to be distressed-
Mom? As in, mother?
My mother?
"It's...all right! Last night my ears' getting all hot and pained from being compressed all time, so I took it off. I must've forgotten to put it back on..."
I tried to talk my way out, but her expression's getting more and more tensed. "-how could you forget putting on this headphones? Now that didn't make any sense. At first, 'I' was the one who didn't believe how putting a strange-looking headphones could make you hear again, after the...bad monster inside your head ate your hearing."
Bad monster? Inside my head? Did she wanted to say the cancer without making me feel...
...cancer?
"No no no no! It's not like that! No, I swear this is not the work of the cancer! I was feeling...delirious! Yes, that was it!" I said confidently, perking up my face- "With all of this snow, I got too absorbed to looking the children playing, so I kinda...uh...forget to put the headphones on?"
Something tells me that my mom didn't buy that story.
"It's okay, sweetie. Together we can beat that monster out of you. The chem is working okay, didn't the doctors said that the last time we visit the hospital for check-up?" Said her again, now hugging...err, near-strangling me.
I can feel her warmth. Hear her heartbeat. Smell a faint tea-like scent from her hair.
Must be the new herbal hairwash she bought. I hugged her back.
"It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. When they told me your hearing would be impaired because of the chem, it was like the end of world for me. How could I even accept that? My son, who I have give birth to without illness or defects, is now going to lose one of his senses..."
"-mom. Getting crushed here." I patted her back lightly, because she has been unknowingly tightening her hug into a strangling move of wrestling fame. Noticing that, she released me while smiling sheepishly. "Oh, your breakfast already on the table. Wash your face, brush your teeth, and after that we'll be going to the depts for a little Christmas shopping!"
"What about dad? Can he make it home this year?" I asked. My dad's overseas job has made him in a status of 'unreachable even during holidays' in this small family.
? Why did I remember that just now?
Mom's frown is growing. "Well, you know his line of work, sweetie. With that natural disaster of highest scale happening, the chance is very slim that he could make it in time for Christmas..."
I remembered the news from at least one week ago; something about a major earthquake in some foreign land...
That's right. My dad's a worker in a major trading company. He was sent overseas because he can use that nation's language-
I remember now.
I am Rei Matthew Springers.
My dad, Sigmund Matthew Springers. Full american.
My mom, Anna Otonashi-half japanese.
14 years old this year. Soon, 15 in February.
I was diagnosed with brain tumor half a year ago. The progression from the mass has severed my auditory nerves, rendering me deaf.
But by some coincidence, I picked up these pair of headphones. A...magical one.
By putting it, even without jacking the plug into anything, I can hear again. Not just sound, but also emotion.
For example, my mom has the gritting sound of 'stress' building over.
The guy that lives next door is WAIT HOW DID YOU TURN THIS OFF AUGH MY PURE EARS!
"Rei?"
"-nononononoo! That guy next door is doing IT again! I'll have to take this off!" I panicked and took the headphones off. Silence returned.
...
"Eh?"
I found myself standing before a pedestrian crossing. The green light was blinking, soon will be turned into a red.
A child, standing at my side is staring at me open-mouthed. "Hmm? What is it?", I said, lowering my head.
"That's a cool headphones! Where did you get it!?" He asked.
If I say I picked it from the dumps, would you believe it?, I thought, smiling awkwardly to him---
Knock.
Suddenly, all sound is lost.
Something knocked my headphones off. I looked to the direction of the bump and saw a middle-aged man, his looks said that he was now apologizing to his error---
But it soon turned into a face full of terror. He looked past me and opened his mouth. From his strained face, it seems he was shouting...to what?
I turned my head and almost froze in terror.
That child from before. Ignoring the obvious red pedestrian light, he walked into the road, picking up something from the middle of the lane-
I can see the unusual cord, wound in metal wires instead of plastic or rubber. It's my headphones. The child must've chased it and picked it up.
I looked to the left side.
A car is speeding. I can see the driver is doing the forbidden act of text-and-drive. It was obvious that he didn't even see the child crouching in the middle of the road.
I jumped.
I pulled the child forcefully from the lane and flung him into safety using centrifugal force. Now my mom's judo lesson come in practice.
At least he was safe.
I only felt a sharp burst of pain---
And awake with my vision locked on the grey-colored sky. I can't move my neck. Why?
And there's that stinging pain.
Oh. I get it.
I must've been hit by that car.
I can see unknown faces gathering around me. I can see the old man who knocked my headphones off...as well as the small boy and a woman who seemed to be his mother.
He still had my earphones in his hands. I tried to move my dominant hand...err. Nope. not moving. The next hand...
There. It was painful as being pricked with spears (I don't honestly know what it will be like, though. Just an analogy), but I can move it.
I took the headphones from his hand and puts it on. Sounds returned, albeit too noisy. There were yells, sound of klaxon, hysterical screams...
But in the middle of that, I remained calm.
Why?
"I'm sowwy mister! Because of me you...yyou!" said the boy, crying his eyes out. His mother, otherwise, is getting all scared and like. "Don't worry. I won't sue him or something like that. My days are already numbered." I croaked to her mother, feeling a coppery taste on my mouth. That hit must have ruptured my lungs or so, because I can't draw my breath well.
Well, that's partially true. I am recovering from the cancer, but...
"Kid, I have saved your life for this once. I can't do that again, so be careful next time." I said, in which the child nodded. "Now go away before the police came." I said to his mother, who after nodding her head in a rapid succession, grabbed the boy's arms and took him away in a dash.
I can't believe I just done that.
But it was probably from the blood loss.
I listened closely to the sound coming from the headphones. Sometimes a bit of static is mixed in. Did it got broken from the fall?
Darn. I'm getting sleepy.
Oh. I have an idea. Can my hand still move?
Yes.
I rubbed the ground, searched for something...and found it. The loose jack, unplugged.
I have experienced jacking into trees and objects before.
Now that I'm on the Death's door, this small experience sure would not hurt, right?
I slipped the jack into my clothes---
And jacked into my chest.
Thump, thump, thump.
I can hear a quickening beating sound. It was probably my heart, compensating the loss of volume with raising the frequency of pumping.
Hmm. If this is all, then it was a disappointing result.
Then, silence.
The end.
Sorry, mom.
But at least, I can protect someone...
"!?"
Eir awoke with a sudden jerk. In his hand was the very cup of tea that should have been fallen to the ground, covered with this world's equivalent of snow.
He placed the cup, now empty, on the white table.
Then he noticed something. It appears to be a small book...something like a log or something?
He flipped the pages. It was empty.
He looked at the cover.
[The Tea Diary: Brewing the perfect Memories]
Somehow, that print made him recall the image of the Goddess who baked him a cookie. He smiled for a bit. That one Goddess is sure an odd one.
He opened the first page, and found the text is written in very playful, delicate printing occasionally littered with hearts at the dot of each 'i'.
How to: (Page 1)
The Tea Diary will help you obtain the most complete of memories to become a Goddess. A Goddess is nothing without their treasured memories, as are their candidates. In this tea pot in front of you is one of your treasured memories. But it is just one, and your goal is many. Look behind you. There are so many other tea pots and your cup is empty. Will you not taste them all?
He flipped the page.
Tasting Teas (Page 2)
Tasting a tea is simple. Simply take a teapot from the table, any that is not yours, of course, and take a small sample. Then record on the next page your Tea Passport Log, the taste of this tea. This is the most important part! Experiencing memories, new and old, is how you will become something greater!He again flipped the page. Empty.
"So I was supposed to taste other's tea...of memories..."
Somehow this task is alot harder than it looks at the first time. But how can he-
He looked around, and found his table is now surrounded by HUNDREDS of tables. Each with its own tea pots.
He sincerely thanked whoever made shadows this way-cannot feel hunger or full. In his hand was the cup, and he made his round around the tables...
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