1 File 1: Investigation of the Forest

Haruto was driving his car with his friend sleeping in the passengers seat. They were both in college and summer break had just started however, Haruto wanted to continue working in any way possible since he loved learning. The reason he had found his love for learning was because he had trouble remembering things, with that in mind he created an idea were things he didn't like he forgot and things he liked he remembered.

"Hey, we're here."

Haruto hit his friend awake and yawned when he opened his eyes.

"Really? Felt shorter then I thought it was going to be."

"Well, you slept most of the way."

"Fast travel my man. Just like a game."

"Shut up."

Haruto continued to drive through the town until he reached the address that he hadn't seen in years. It was his childhood home, he kept trying to remember the layout but couldn't remember any of the rooms inside. Once he parked the car he stepped out and gazed at the old house that he could no longer remember.

"I wonder what I did when I lived here…I can't remember a single thing…"

His friend came out and wrapped his arm around Haruto's neck.

"So this is it? Just like I remember it, nothing changed."

"So you remember it. Strange considering I'm the one who lived here."

"Hey I practically lived here too, don't you remember all the times you invited me over?"

"Not really…"

"Must suck not having memories, I feel for you man."

"Thanks. Now the true trouble will begin."

He went up to the door and there was no doorbell for some reason so the only option was to knock. After awhile the door opened and his mother came and hugged him.

"It's been so long since I last saw you! Oh and Hachiro you too! It's been so long I hope you're doing good."

"Yeah we are. Sorry I haven't visited in awhile."

"It's fine, you're here now so that's all that matters, right?"

"I-I guess so, yeah…"

They grabbed their things from the car and went inside. The next one to great them was Haruto's father.

"How have you been? You better not be a playboy or anything."

He winked at Haruto and gave a small laugh.

"No, no…I don't have any kind of relationship going on right now and I think I'm not suited to be a playboy."

"Any man can be a playboy, just know that single fact and your set for girls for life."

"I guess I'll keep that in mind…"

They went to the second floor and put their things in one of the rooms. Haruto and Hachiro sat down on one of the beds.

"You remembering anything yet?"

"Nope…Hard to believe I've been live this for about 10 years now…"

"Maybe there's someway you can fix that. If so maybe you'll remember that Important Thing."

"…Maybe, I can make it out vaguely but can't quite get the full picture…I wonder what it could be…"

"Who knows, I mean you've been saying that since your memory went to wack."

"I wonder if it has something to do with it…"

Haruto stood up and grabbed one of his notebooks and a backpack that had most of his stuff inside.

"I'm going to try and learn some information on the forest, that's why we came here, right?"

"Yeah, I'll stay here though…Tired as shit…"

"Haha and yet I did all the driving and you just slept the whole way."

"Sleeping's a lot of work, makes me tired doing it."

"Anyway I'll be off. Should be back in a couple of hours unless I find something major."

"See ya."

Hachiro jumped onto the bed and went to sleep while Haruto walked out of the front door. He walked around town asking the townspeople about any information on the nearby forest and this was his only information-

"You shouldn't go there, people disappear when they go."

"Hmmm…Oh I think I heard that I heard something about monsters? It's probably just a hoax though so you shouldn't need to worry about anything."

"I went there once, lost my way instantly and ended up back at the town. Tried again several more times but kept just flipping around."

"It's dangerous there that's all I know, found blood stains leading into the forest, could be murderers there for all we know."

"I never see anyone harm the forest, I guess it's seen as a bad omen because of all the rumors."

"Sorry, I just moved here and don't really know much."

He closed his notebook and sighed. He took a nearby bench and remembered what his professor had told him.

"Try and debunk a hoax or rumor, they always start from somewhere so maybe you'd be able to learn something you like."

He gave out another sigh and walked into a nearby store where he bought a popsicle. There was a girl at the register and she was in her phone waiting for someone to check out. He walked up and placed the popsicle on the counter. The girl looked up and went wide eyed.

"Haruto?"

"Huh? Y-Yes…"

"So it really is you Haruto! It's been quite some time!"

"Ahaha, sorry who are you again?"

"Ah right, you have trouble remembering things. I'm Chihiro, it's been awhile but we went to school together, senpai."

"Senpai? So you're younger than me? Well it's nice to see-meet-see? What do I say here?"

"I'm fine with whatever you say, just be sure to not forget me again!"

"I'll be staying her throughout the summer so I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"Be sure too, I'll be sad if you forget me again."

"Maybe I'll invite you over at some point."

"Yeah, I'll be looking forward to it!"

She was waving while he walked out of the store and he opened his popsicle in the mean time.

'If I forgot her maybe that means I didn't really like her…'

He walked back to his house but stopped halfway. He looked at the forest nearby and put his popsicle wrapper inside of his bag.

"Why the hell not. Might as well give it a try…"

He walked towards the forest and stood at the ominous darkness in front of him. The sun was reaching sunset so it was going to be an in and out operation. He took out a flashlight and walked into the forest now with the dark all around him.

'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…I should have waited until tomorrow, guess I'll head back…'

He turned around to be faced with confusion. Everything was different from when he had passed just earlier.

"What's going on?"

He walked forwards and then began to enter a sprint. He had completely lost his way and couldn't find how to get out of the forest. He started doing turns all over while avoiding trees without a single thing being familiar. He eventually ran out of breath and started panicking.

"Well that's great, I can't remember a single thing…I should have waited to come with Hachiro!"

After getting his breath back he thought to climb a tree instead to try and get an aerial view. He started climbing but after getting about halfway up the branches he was holding onto snapped and he fell to the ground. He threw his bag to the ground and tried again. He managed to reach the top but didn't see the town anywhere, just forest everywhere.

"How far did I go?"

He looked around and then noticed something strange. There were floating islands and buildings behind him. The buildings were like nothing he'd ever seen and was strangely mesmerized he their appearance.

"The hell?"

Nothing seemed to be electronic, he couldn't even describe what it was he thought he saw. While looking at the strange structures before him an arrow suddenly came to him and hit him in the arm causing him to fall from the tree. He blacked out on the spot and lied on the ground as the pain in his arm slowly faded away.