"Amnesia?"
Kiana's expression faltered for a moment when Xin Yu mentioned his memory loss. Then, as the girl carefully observed the youth before her, she realized his appearance was quite abnormal. His hair, though white like hers, was the lifeless white of an old person. His skin was also poor, giving off a pale, sickly look like someone recovering from a major illness.
"Mm, yes."
Xin Yu dipped a french fry into the shop's spiciest dipping sauce, put it in his mouth, and chewed for a while. He found that even the spicy flavor, which represents a form of pain, was undetectable to him.
I vaguely remember that spiciness is essentially a type of pain. Logically speaking, even if I lost my sense of taste, I should still be able to perceive spiciness. But why can't I even taste spiciness?
"Sounds like we're both pretty miserable. My old man abandoned me when I was very young, and now I don't know where he is, so I have to run all over the world looking for him. You don't seem to have any family either, and you've lost your memories. Plus, you don't look too healthy right now..."
Speaking of which, Kiana suddenly wondered if it was possible that she had been so focused on the fried chicken in her hand earlier that she hadn't noticed someone bump into him...
And this someone was a poor soul who looked like he'd had a major illness and lost his memory.
And she had apparently made this pitiful person pay for her meal.
Wait, under those circumstances, it was highly likely that neither of them noticed the other, which is why they collided.
She hadn't noticed because she'd had a string of bad luck all day and was focused on eating her fried chicken. So why hadn't this youth noticed?
Someone with amnesia should be looking around, paying more attention to their surroundings. So, did he not notice himself bumping into her because he was too focused on his surroundings?
So, what if the youth hadn't just lost his memory...
"Is there something wrong with your body?" Kiana didn't notice her tone had become somewhat cautious.
"Mm, perhaps I'll probably die soon."
Xin Yu looked at the extra spicy dipping sauce he had finished. Still unable to detect any unpleasant taste in his mouth, he felt a bit regretful. He thought he might finally taste something different, but it was still nothing.
While he cared about his life and death, possessing a desire and instinct for survival, honestly, it wasn't particularly strong.
If he could live, he would try his best to live on. If he could only live until that time, then there was nothing more to be done.
I've done my best; having no regrets is enough.
"..."
Kiana's pupils trembled as she looked at the youth before her. I see. The reason for the amnesia might be because he experienced something incredibly hard to comprehend.
Could it be that this youth originally had a family, but after they learned he had some incurable terminal illness, they abandoned him? And because of his illness and the abandonment, the pain caused him to lose his past memories?
How could that be! What am I even imagining!
"I wonder if I have any kind of guardian or supervisor. After all, my house is quite large, fully equipped with furniture and appliances, and there's quite a bit of cash. But I should be the only one living there; the other rooms are pretty empty."
Xin Yu couldn't be sure if his identity included any parental figures. His memories were truly fragmented, with no impression of such things. Besides, he didn't know the background settings for the identity arranged by that entity for his predecessor.
...Oh no! What I imagined might actually be true!
"Alright, it's getting late. I need to head home now. I still have to figure out how to get to school tomorrow."
Xin Yu stood up, picked up his backpack, ready to leave.
"Wait!"
Kiana stood up and called out to Xin Yu, who was about to leave. A sense of guilt gnawed at her, telling her that if she didn't do something, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
Kiana thought for a moment and decided to try voicing her suspicions. Perhaps this way, the youth before her might recall something. Although the past memories might be cruel, dying without knowing anything seemed somewhat cruel too.
Xin Yu listened calmly as Kiana explained her wild speculation. Although Xin Yu knew this guess was completely unfounded, he didn't want to let the girl's good intentions go to waste. After all, she seemed troubled because she thought she had extorted a meal from a dying person due to her guess about him having a terminal illness.
After thinking for a moment, he smiled and said.
"Whether this guess is true or false, I don't know. But if it's true, then that's actually a good thing. At least my relatives won't have to waste any more money on a terminally ill patient like me. I can understand them, and I can forgive them."
"If your guess is wrong, it doesn't matter either. That way, at least my death won't bring sadness to anyone, right?"
Xin Yu smiled, preparing to leave. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he stopped at the door, turned back, and said to Kiana with a smile, "In case we never meet again, good morning, good afternoon, and good night."
The smiling youth left the fried chicken shop, leaving Kiana sitting there, her face filled with a sense of loss and wistfulness.
...
"No! That's wrong! What are you doing? Quickly, chase after him!"
As Kiana (2018) finished recalling this memory, she immediately shouted aloud. She understood now. That youth likely possessed some extremely special ability or constitution that allowed him to traverse time, something fundamentally impossible for anyone else.
Time travel was likely something genuinely achievable for him. Her own past history was being changed; new memories were emerging.
If the past could truly be changed, who wouldn't want to alter those regrets?
For Kiana, the biggest regret in her life was undoubtedly the teacher who died saving her.
But now, the chance to change the past was right before her, yet that person seemed to be suffering immense backlash from this ability, likely facing death very soon!
...
"...Changing the past is indeed still a very difficult thing."
Xin Yu walked alone on the way home. He looked up at the sky. Night had fallen, and a crescent moon hung above, emitting a soft glow.
"Daddy! The moon in the sky is curved! Look! Like a cookie I took a bite out of!"
"You little glutton, everything looks like food to you, haha! Mommy has already finished cooking at home, just waiting for you to come back and eat. Eat fewer snacks. If you can't eat dinner later, Daddy won't help you persuade Mommy, okay!"
"Then I'll tell Mommy that Daddy bought me the snacks!"
"You little rascal, selling out your old dad, huh? No more snacks for you in the future!"
"Daddy, I was wrong! Please don't stop buying me snacks!"
"You, oh you!"
"Daddy, carry me!"
"Alright, let Daddy hug you, you little piggy."
Xin Yu watched as a father carrying his son walked past him, listening to the sounds of their joyful laughter.
He shrank his neck and rubbed his arms.
The night wind felt a little cold.