Part 20: Soul traveler.

I wasn't sure what was going on right now but he did know more than anyone else.

"Wait! Hold up! Your mother is a soul traveler?! So that means you are also a soul traveler?" My overexcited self couldn't stay calm.

"Jeez, that's loud for a small girl like you." He seems to shock.

"…and yes, my mother used to be but she's no longer a soul traveler."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's put it this way when you begin to experience all this supernatural power and you will attract much more entity towards yourself. It's like you're the only diamond in this world and bad things will try to snap it off from you. They would tell you all the pretty lies, just to get your gift. My mother lost her gift when she had me, she couldn't handle the stress and the bad things. Bad things were coming to me day and night, I remembered when I was 12 an old man dragged me away and almost killed me but my mother protects me. They won't stop hurting the people you loved for them to get your power. So she shut her gift by casting the lock on memory. She locks her gift and now she living a completely normal life."

He end the topic and looked at me.

"So now, your mother is still alive? You said she's been hunted but if she locked her memories, that means they can still get to her?" I asked.

"No, it doesn't work that way. The more you engage in something, the more you'll become aware of it. Losing or locking your memories helps you to hide your identity. They can't sense her anymore. So eventually they thought she's dead."

"but she's not dead yet." All this conversation made me think if I could meet his mother. Maybe she can help me with this soul guardian. I took a few minutes and stay silent. The sun started to rise and we both looked at it. Watching the sunrise with the shaman guy.

"By the way, my name is Hikari Mayumi. What's yours?"

"My name is Ethan, Ethan Junior. It's nice to meet you, Mayumi." I smiled when he says my name. It's weird but his voice made me feel calm.

"So, I was thinking if I could meet your mother. Is that okay with you?"

"You really are moving fast." he chuckles and smiles.

"I have to do it fast 'cause the soul guardian is coming for me." My words came out on their own and Ethan's facial expressions change the moment I mention the word 'Soul Guardian.'

"The soul Guardian? They come after you too?" He seems frustrated with it.

"Yes, I mean they have every right to come after me since I agreed with them. They helped me by saving my sister's soul and I kinda don't give a damn about what they want. Like hey, it's not a bad thing to join them right?" I sounded bullshit. I want to run away from them but here I am saying it's okay to be with them.

"Sounds like you already made up your mind." Ethan sounded mad.

"It's not like I made up my decision. I need to know about them before joining." I try to explain it in the right way and tone.

"Still, you reconsider it."

"Haa... I don't know why you have been so quiet about it but I have my right to learn about them. So could you please take me to your mother?" I need to find the answers to them.

"Don't worry, I will come and pick you up this afternoon." He stands up and picks up his scarf.

"Okay, thanks. I guess I see you at noon." I stand up and bow as a sign of respect. He walks away from me. The moment he is no longer in sight, I seat back and relax. I feel happy and relieved, knowing that someone else has the same gift as I am. I finished up my hot drinks and onigiri, and before I left I took a few pictures of the sunrise view. The sunrise was beautiful.

"That's a good start." I pick up my rubbish and throw it into the disposable trash bin.

When I got home, my mother was already up early and she was surprised when she saw me walk in.

"Where did you go, young lady?" Her eyes wear examines my outfit.

"I went out for a walk and watch the sunrise at the temple." I take off my jacket and hang it on the hanging stand.

"You know, you still need to be careful. Especially with the last bloody incident. For now on, you're not allowed to go anywhere without a friend." Says, Mother. She's stricter than Dad.

"Mom, I'm fine. I just need a little time to myself and let go of all the negativity. You know that I'm gone viral, right?" I showed her the video and all the comments. She looks worried for me but I'm fine.

"Oh, honey. I'm sorry. But whoever put the video up, we could report it." says Mother.

"Mom, it is okay. I'm not affected by this silly situation. We both know it's their fault. I can completely ignore it." I don't want her to get all worried about me.

"Alright. If you'd say so." Mother continues with her cooking and getting ready for breakfast. Soon after Dad join us as well as Hanabi. She wasn't allowed to hang around alone anymore. Mother made some decisions about meals and pack lunches for Dad.

"Oh yeah, Hanabi you should come with me this afternoon. I'm going to spend my entire evening at the library."

"What? Sorry, I'm not in the mood for reading. My energy is not allowing me to communicate with people. I'm tired to talk." says Hanabi. She gets burnt out pretty quickly.

"Come on, it's better to be somewhere else than stay at home." I try to persuade her to come along with me.

"Lazy!" Says Hanabi.

"Hanabi, go out with your sister. You can't keep staying at home and getting lazy," says Mother. She interrupts our conversation. I knew Mother will be on my side.

"Your sister is right. Go along with her." support Dad. The ultimate force.

"Fine! I wish I have a baby sister so that I could stay at home and babysit her," responded Hanabi. Mom and Dad looked shocked when Hanabi mentioned it.

"You want a little sister?" ask Mom.

"Yes! So that I boss her around like how Nee-san doing it to me. I wonder how it feels to be superior." She completely being sarcastic.

"You feel good actually, 'cause you have a minion," I replied with a smile.

"Oh, stop it," says Dad.

"I'm serious, Dad." Says Hanabi.

"Yeah, me too. I want to have another baby sister." I put pressure on them. It's time to tease them.

Mom and Dad looked at each other and smiled which is cringe for us to just stare at them.

"Eww. Okay, stop it! I can't seat here anymore second if you two flirting. I'm just going to finish this and head back to my room." says Hanabi, she swallows and eats her breakfast pretty fast and left the table. She keeps on pretending that it's weird to flirt in front of her. We laugh and I quickly finished my food too. Before I left the kitchen, I need to drop the last bomb.

"I wish I have a baby brother. Maybe you two could start making one." I tease before I left. I knew their expressions. Leaving the two of them to get all lovely. I ran to Hanabi's room and force my way into her room, she was staring at me and blinked a few times.

"What?" she asked.

"I have great news." I close the door and lock it. Then I pull Hanabi's chair and sit. She completely ignores me and scrolled her social media.

"I met with Ethan this morning." I start with an unfamiliar name to get her attention.

"Who's Ethan?" She keeps on scrolling.

"The shaman guy. We're going to his house later." I smile, Hanabi stops scrolling and looked at me. Her facial reaction was enough for me to feel like I'm being judged by her.

"You met with the shaman guy and his name is Ethan, also we going to his house?! What is going on?" She finally gives all her attention to me.

"Yes, Ethan. He invite me to his house or maybe I invited myself to his house? Anyway.—" I tried to continue but Hanabi cut my words.

"Shhh!! Wait! Do you force him to invite you to his house?! Are you insane?!"

"Yes, I suggest so. We going to meet his mother!"

My voice slowly hit a high note due to excitement.

"What?! Meet his mother?! Oh my god! But why?"

"Well, because his mother is gifted like me. Like exactly my gifts. And they knew about the soul traveler, the soul guardian. I mean his mother."

"So his mother is a soul traveler like you? she knew the soul guardian? Great! Feels like we got some new info." Says Hanabi.

"Yeah, it's a good thing that she knew about them but there's something else…" I pause.

"What?"

"She locks her memory? Is that make sense to you?"

"Lock means… like the lock, lock? secure? She can put her memory in a vault?!" Hanabi was overreacting.

"No, idiot! No human can do that!"

"Well, how do I know?! I've been a part of your dark world and everything from nonsense becomes sense to me."

True, I don't blame her. Life hits differently since we both learn about the other world. It wasn't easy for us to accept it as it is.

"she lost her memories. And she lose it because she wanted it to happen." I explained.

Hanabi's expression changed as she understand the situation.

"If I were her, I would do the same thing," whisper Hanabi.

Or maybe I misunderstood her words.

"Anyway, we go together. You need to come with me." I left her room and headed to my room.