Akashi!
Dark. Within this seemingly never-ending silence, I existed. Doing nothing, I simply stood by.
Aka...
Fear. I felt all alone in this world. I felt trapped, and couldn't help but reach my hand out, wishing to get out of this darkness.
...
There was no sense of peace at all. This silence—it felt as if something was lacking. Something, something that was with me always. But for some reason, I can't remember—just what can it be—
Light. I found my left eye open at the next moment, gazing up to an unfamiliar ceiling. That frightening dark, it was nothing but a nightmare.
I opened my mouth, trying to speak, but,
"Cough, cough!" The dry coughs were all that came out. Then arrived, the pain. Frowning and gritting my teeth, I had to endure the pain that pulsed from all around my body.
Creak. The door nearby me opened. Upon hearing my coughs, someone—probably the one who took care of me and restored my health—entered the room hurriedly. And I couldn't help but freeze.
Beyond the opened door where the man came in from, there lied a blue sky. The bright orange thing was shining so bright from beyond the mountains, basking the whole world golden. Its sight made me forget all the pain that was running around my body.
And for some reason, I felt a tear dropping from my lone eye.
"Oh thank god, you finally woke up." The old-aged man, who entered the room, quickly inspected me, who was still busy staring at the outdoor view.
"Let's see. I changed the bandages just two hours ago... yes, still fresh. Awoke consciousness, that's a good sign. It means that your body is healing. As for the rest of the injuries... no sign of abnormality."
Finally turning my sight to his man, I inspected his features. A frail old man with short height. White hair and white irregularly grown beard.
Turning around, the man momentarily left the room, before coming back with a bowl of water.
"Here, drink slowly."
He lifted up the bowl for me, and slowly, I quenched my hoarse throat. I drank vigorously, finding the water sweeter than any other that I've tasted in my life—
—life? Any other?
I felt a pain in my head. Letting out a cough and causing some water to spill on the bandages that were wrapped around my body, I raised up my arms and grabbed my head.
What am I doing here? Where am I? How did I get here?
Multiple questions popped up in my head non-stop.
"H-hey, are you alright, boy?"
The man's words didn't reach me. Something was wrong. Shaking my head in fright, I tried to think and think, to know,
"Who... who am I..."
My arms fell back down powerlessly. I, with hollow eyes, stared at the man who looked at me with concern, "D-do you know who I am?"
I can't remember.
"What... is my name?"
The man's expression darkened. He lowered the bowl containing water, and adjusted my body so that I was lying back down.
"Take some more rest, boy. You can think later."
My eyelid felt heavy. Heeding to the words of the man, I fell back to the world of dream.
__________
It was early in the morning. Unlike the previous day, my eye willingly opened with ease.
...I've accepted my fate. The memory regarding my life before coming here, for some reason, was gone. Perhaps, it was gone forever.
Using my utmost strength, I endured the pain and stood up from the floor. I almost fell right after, but by quickly grabbing onto the wall, I managed to avoid the catastrophe.
Step by step, with my wobbling legs, I walked to the exit of the room. Then, just as the man has done the day before, I creaked the door open by sliding to my left.
A cold wind breezed past me. I, for whatever reason it may be, held my hand out with its palm facing up, before retracting it back with a confusion.
For what did I hold my hand out?
Finding a stick that was lying nearby, I slowly walked up to it and grabbed it with a difficulty. Using it as a support, I took few more steps forth, and finally, sat on a rock.
"...What now?"
I asked to myself. In this cold world, what could I do?
"Live forever in dark, without knowing who I truly am?"
I lowered my gaze and looked at my chest, wrapped around by renewed bandages.
...I knew. Judging by all these bandages around my body, and judging by the severity of the injuries that I've received, I probably wasn't living a good life.
However, it no longer mattered.
"Truth. I want to remember."
And,
"I want to become strong."
The first thing I came to realize, after waking up in this fearful world full of unknowns, was that I was weak. I cowered. I cried in pain. I relied on the help of another, and fainted without any control.
So I've decided. In order to protect my oblivious self in this world, I will become strong by whatever means. And I will then remember, of who I really am.
Light. There it was. The bright orange light-containing circular thing. It once again revealed itself from behind the mountains, enriching the entire sky in gold.
"Sun. That's the sun." The old-aged man, who made his way here who-knows-when, said at my side with a gentle voice, "And the sunrise. This phenomenon of sun rising is known as...
dawn
akatsuki."
My eyes widened. My mouth parted open, and my hands trembled for whatever reason.
"...Akatsuki." I whispered in a shaky voice. Turning to the man, I, with a tear falling from my lone eye, stated,
"...Akatsuki. I'd... like to have that as the placeholder for my name, until I remember."
The man smiled and leaned down to match my eye-level. Ruffling my hair, he replied,
"That's a good name on its own."