1 One

"Akane! Akane, where are you?"

I could hear my mother's frantic voice. It was faint and far away but I could still hear it. She was looking for me.

Mama...

I tried to focus my vision on the light that poured in through the spaces between the rubble. I could see the light but nothing else clearly. People were screaming and running. It was hot. I could smell smoke.

"Akane!"

Papa...

They were both looking for me. I wanted to call out to them too but I couldn't. I wanted to reach out towards their voices but I couldn't feel my arms or legs. In fact, I couldn't feel my body at all.

What had happened?

I was running towards a friend of mine when a very loud sound shook the whole world.

Where was I?

There was a scraping noise. More light poured into my haze of a vision.

Mama? Papa?

Someone was there. Someone was looking at me. I couldn't see... Hey. Could you tell Mama and Papa that I'm okay? They're looking for me.

I was lifted up into that someone's arms. A deep voice resonated in my ear. "Tch. You aren't supposed to die here, you brat."

Who...?

I felt something brush against my neck. My body felt like it was burning. Then the same voice echoed in my head. "I will come get you when the time comes."

I could see only the light and whatever was blocking that light- probably the person who was carrying me.

"Oh, Akane!" A voice shrieked.

Mama?

"She will be alright if you get her to the best doctor you can find as soon as possible." The deep voice said. I was handed over to someone. My father's voice came from above my head.

"Yes, we will. Thank you so much."

"Take care of her." The deep voice said again. Someone touched my head. "She's a precious little girl."

I'm a precious little girl.

I stared at myself in the mirror in the washroom. Moving my black hair away from my neck, I took a good look at its side. A little while back, there was this unexplainable pain in that area. There was nothing there though. No cut, no rash, no discoloration- nothing. It still hurt. Rather than hurt, it was a dull ache. This was not the first time that it was happening though. It had started aching on and off recently but it was never so much that I thought it necessary to consult my parents regarding it. It was still a mystery to me but as long as it did not lead to much else and did not hamper my daily life, I had chosen to ignore it.

Standing there thoughtlessly like that for a bit had somehow brought back the painful memory of that particular day. I was five years old and had gone out to a nearby restaurant to eat with my parents. The memory of that day itself was hazy. I could only remember that I had happened to see a friend of mine entering the restaurant immediately after we had left and I had run right back to greet her. Just as I reached her though, there was an explosion. In between the smoke, panic and the fleeing people, my parents had completely lost sight of me. Then the three-storeyed building itself collapsed. I was apparently caught in the debris. A kind young man had found me, pulled me out and handed me over to my parents. I was deemed extremely lucky because among all the people within as close a radius to the explosion as I was, I was the only one who had survived.

Nearly fifteen years later, I was still trying to figure out what exactly had happened. The one thing that I could clearly remember was the deep voice of the said kind young man who had saved me that day. I had never spoken about what I was told by him though because I myself was not exactly sure about what I had heard. I was five and barely alive. I was traumatized. In fact, I barely even spoke till I was well over ten years old after that day.

There were occasions such as this when I spaced out and my mind wandered off to the vague happenings of that day. The incident had left a long-lasting impact, justifiably. I tried my best to not let it haunt me but there was only so much that I could actually do in that regard.

I had left the classroom partly because of the irritating dull pain in my neck and partly because I was feeling stiff all over and needed to stretch my legs. The ache was a complete mystery and it was very clearly there at that one particular spot but there was nothing on my neck to explain it.

What on earth was going on?

Still as perplexed as ever, I returned to my seat in class. Recess was nearly at an end. There were two more hours to go before we were free to go home.

I was tired already.

"Akane-chan!" Miyazono Shibata-kun slapped his palms down on the desk before me, making me jump. "What? You're spacing out?" He chuckled. "What happened?"

"Nothing." I sighed. "Just tired."

"That won't do." He shook his head, causing his messy mop of hair that always looked more brown to me than black to dance just a little. He was always so full of energy that just watching him made me feel all the more tired. "Tomorrow, you're turning 20. You have to be at the peak of your energy."

"Twenty, huh?" I looked up at the ceiling. "I'm growing old."

"We all are." He sat down on the seat before mine and grinned, his honey brown orbs nearly disappearing into the slit his eyes formed. "So, what is your plan?"

"What plan?"

"Oh, come on! Rich girl. Birthday. Best friend." He pointed at himself. "Treat."

"I'm not... rich."

"You live with your parents. I live alone. That makes you rich and so you had better treat me good."

I shook my head. "You really don't change, huh?"

"I don't want to change." He shrugged. "You have tonight to come up with a good plan. Let's celebrate tomorrow like it's our last!"

"Uh..." I didn't like the sound of that, especially given that I knew exactly how unpredictable life and death could be. He didn't know anything about that though and I wanted it to remain that way. "Okay."

"Good." He stood up. "Now, I know that you won't come but do you want to bunk class with me?"

The following hour was statistics and he hated statistics. "I'm not bunking."

"Too bad." He said. "Then, tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." I nodded and watched him leave. I had better come up with a good plan. More than just because he asked, I wanted to celebrate the day with him. Shibata-kun had always been this cheerful person who pulled me through the darkest of my days even without knowing the reasons behind my sporadic lows. He was half the reason I even attended college regularly and looked forward to the coming day, even if it meant that he would ditch me whenever statistics was on the timetable. To be fair though, he always asked me to go with him. Maybe I was the one ditching him? In that case, I decided to bunk the second half of the coming day with him. We could celebrate all we wanted then.

After dinner, I said goodnight to my parents and retreated into my room. Tucking myself into bed, I took my mobile phone and began browsing through the various options I had- the places to visit, the restaurants to eat at and the best places to watch the sunset. I felt like I was planning the perfect date. The thought made me muffle a laugh. Shibata-kun and I had known each other for over a year and a half and, save for my near-death experience, he knew everything there was to know about me. I daresay that I knew everything there was to know about him as well.

A date, huh?

I wouldn't mind that at all if it was Shibata-kun.

Soon, I found myself searching for the best places to go on a date with someone. The change surprised even me. I had long been aware of how close the two of us were and I couldn't quite say that it was love just yet but I did want to stay close to him and possibly even get closer.

While I was planning the perfect treat, I was pretty sure that, knowing him, he was preparing the best gift. That was just how we were.

I turned on my side and briefly looked out the window. My vision clouded over for a brief moment. I put my phone down to focus my eyes on the clear sky outside. At that instant, a sharp stinging pain shot through my neck. I pressed my palm to the same point where it always hurt and squeezed my eyes shut to suppress the pain. It was different from the usual dull ache that I felt. This time, it felt as though a dagger was being stabbed right into my neck. Burying my face in the pillow, I drowned out a cry of agony that I couldn't hold in. I could have just called out for my parents who were probably still downstairs but I didn't want to alarm them. From past experience, ignoring the intensity of the pain, I knew that it would last for only a few seconds and once it had passed, I could go tell my parents about it. I could not keep this to myself anymore.

The pain lasted for a good minute or more. I kept my palm pressed to my neck the whole time. When it subsided just enough to allow me movement, without making too much noise, I stumbled out of bed and waddled over to the closed door of my room. When I reached up to unlock the door, however, I froze. I couldn't move. I wanted to and I willed myself to move but something was stopping me. Then, I felt movement behind me. A breeze tickled my skin. Slowly, I turned towards the window.

Someone was there.

A silhouette against the clear night sky- a young man wearing a jacket with the hood down, his hands stuffed into his pockets. His grey eyes were trained on me. The breeze made his black hair brush the tips of his ears softly. As I stood there completely taken by the unnaturally serene sight of the stranger, his lips moved and a deep voice reached my ears faintly but surely. "The time has come, Akane."

That voice...

"Who... are you?" I was held in place by those unwavering eyes. A stranger had just come into my room through the window and yet, I felt more confused than scared. That was weird. What was weirder still, however, was the fact that there was a constant breeze in the room but neither the leaves on the trees outside my window nor my curtains were moving. It made no sense to me. "The wind..."

"Time is being rewritten." He spoke. The deep voice was definitely his. It was far too familiar for me to have forgotten. In front of me was the very young man who had saved me from under the rubble when I was five. That was fifteen years ago though and my parents had told me that I was saved be a young man. How was he still a young man? Why was he in my room? 'The time has come'? And what did he mean by 'time is being rewritten'? I had so many questions that I was completely lost. I couldn't form the right words to speak. I was entranced by how sudden and unreal everything was.

The man walked over to me. I would've backed away but my body was refusing to move again. Something told me that he was the one keeping me from moving. How though? What was going on?

He came to a stop right in front of me and reached out to move my hair from my neck. Then, he nodded slightly. "You're coming with me."

I'm... coming with you? "D-Don't just- I'm not... going anywhere." I said despite myself.

"This place... You don't belong here anymore." He said and looked around. Following his eyes, I did the same. The sight that I saw shocked me. The room was barely furnished- just an unused bed, an empty table, a dresser and a wardrobe. All of my belongings were gone.

This was no longer my room.

"Wha-What did you do?" I barked at him. At that point, I was beginning to feel the fear. What was happening was far beyond my levels of comprehension.

"I told you already- time has been rewritten."

"Th-Then this... is from... before I was born?" I asked, not quite understanding what he had meant with that statement.

"It's been rewritten, not rewound. You turn twenty tomorrow, don't you? That will happen. To the rest of the world, however, Kirishima Akane does not exist anymore."

Does not... exist?

"You died at the age of five in a bombing at a restaurant."

"No..." It made absolutely no sense. I remembered what had happened clearly because that day has haunted me since, not letting me forget the feeling. I was the sole lucky survivor. "The death toll was... fifty-six. I survived. I was... the only one who survived."

"You didn't." He said bluntly.

"But... I did." Why was I even having this conversation with a stranger who just randomly showed up through my window and apparently just REWROTE time?! "I'm turning twenty tomorrow. You said so yourself!" Wait. Why did he even know that?

"You are."

"Then..." What the damned hell?!

"You died at age five but I kept you alive." He reached out and touched my neck. "This has been bothering you off-late, right? That is proof that shows that you are tied to me."

"Hah?" Tied to... What?!

"I gave you my life force. You're living because I gave you life."

"No..." That was impossible. What sort of fairy tale were we enacting here? He... gave me his life force? Impossible! "D-Don't mess with me. What sort of... trickery is this?"

He did not reply- just silently watched me.

The dull ache had returned, a little more intense than before. The seriousness in the man's eyes certainly did not betray his resolve. But then... "No way... This can't possibly... I mean, I've lived a very normal life thus far and... the people I know... Mama and Papa and... Shibata-kun-"

"They do not know you anymore." He interjected.

"Wha..." What rubbish! They were my parents and... Shibata-kun! They won't... "They can't... forget me."

"You do not exist to them. It isn't about forgetting. To your parents, you died at the age of five. You met Miyazono-kun in college, didn't you? If you never went to college, you couldn't possibly have met him."

"No." Shibata-kun and my family... I died at the age of five? Then... who or what am I? What the hell was this lunatic saying? He didn't look like it but... was he just a drunk and delusional man? But he knew things about me and the people around me that a drunk and delusional man wouldn't have known. "No. No. No. You can't- This can't be happe..." I snapped. "You can't do this! Stop messing with me! This is outrageous! Stop fooling around!"

"I'm sorry." He took hold of my arm.

Before I could say anything to it, he reached over to the back of my neck. Then everything went black.

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P.S.: The names are written in 'surname first-name' format. Therefore, for Miyazono Shibata, Shibata is his given name and Miyazono is his surname.