There were very few people in the world that could say they have died and came back. Death was the final ultimatum to life's end for most people. However, Yui Narumi was not like others. Far from it, she was a living, breathing fact of defying the circle of life.
Six months ago, she stopped a robbery at the Tsukuba Bank. To all of Japan, she single-handedly ended the worst crime of last year. Only she knew the truth. No one, not even her husband, could ever know or believe that she had died. Yui remembered the memory of her death as clear as day. It happened while she going down an elevator and when it opened, the other crooks pelted her with bullets as soon as the doors opened. By all rights, she should have stayed dead. However, she did not. Instead, she met an angel in the form of a child. He defied the laws of time and life itself, giving her the second chance she needed to make things right by sending her back before her first death. She succeeded in averting her earlier fate and put an end to the heist. All of Kasukabe saw her as a hero. She was given the nickname 'Kasukabe's Little Heroine' for her courage and bravery.
Yet she felt like she did not deserve it. If anything, the true hero was the child, the nameless angel beyond reality. She had never received the opportunity to thank him. Even when he came back one last time, there was hardly a moment to spare for him. He had appeared only to give her one last task before disappearing forever: Reunite Kanata Izumi with her family. She did not know how he did it, and frankly, she did not care. Nearly two decades had passed since the day her aunt disappeared from their lives and presumed dead once the trail on the kidnappers went cold. Yui fought to keep the case open, but failed to give any evidence or clues that could keep the investigation team going. She abandoned all hope of finding Kanata after eight years, and then this child appears of out nowhere and takes her straight to the train station where she was alive and well.
Kanata did not come alone. Sig Asgrimur and Kishor Draggarh, who were Special Assault Team officers, the elites of the police force, escorted her back home. It turns out they were friends of Konata from online gaming and have been for a very long time. She found it funny that Konata never mentioned to her that she had gamer friends who were in the police force. Even more surprising was that they were the ones that found Kanata in the house of a serial killer. Kanata's kidnappers had also been with the serial killer. They were all convicted and sentenced to jail for a very long time, to Yui's delight. How she missed this piece of news was beyond her.
The Izumi family found its missing piece. There was no longer an aching gap in their family and Konata could have a bond with her real mother. It was a happily ever after for the three and she could not be happier for them.
So why was she so unsatisfied?
Yui lay awake in her bed, unable to sleep. Thoughts of the angel boy had started plaguing her every night for the past two weeks. Who was he? How did she come to him? Why was he able to bring her back to life, but not himself? She had so many questions, but not a single answer for any of them. Yui had been content to leave the mystery alone after the boy said his final goodbye to her back at the station. So why was she thinking about him now?
I might as well stay up. It is not as if I work tomorrow anyway. She told herself.
Pushing the blanket off, she got out of bed and turned on the lights in her room. Putting on her glasses, she sat down at her computer desk and turned it on. Nanako Kuroi, who was practically her best friend, suggested a role-playing game for her to download. She was not a hardcore gamer like her, but she certainly enjoyed it when she could. Today was one of those times.
Huh, it looks like Sig Asgrimur is on. Wonder if he is busy…
"It's rare to see you on, Narumi." Sig said as she approached him. "What's up?"
"Nothing much, I just couldn't sleep, so here I am." She answered, shrugging her arms. "You're not busy, are you?"
"No, Kishor and I just finished up a dragon hunt with Misao and Konata. They logged off for the night, but since you're here, I might as well stick around." He leaned back against the fountain behind him.
"That's great; I've wanted to get these old quests done, but I never got around to them."
"Well, we're not going to get anything done sitting here. Let's go."
With that, the two left town to finish Yui's missions.
Sig and Kishor were nice people. Konata always seemed to know how to pick the right people to befriend. Kishor was pretty much Konata all grown up, that is, if she ever considered going into the force. However, he did have a surprisingly deep philosophical view on life and that without Sig he would be alone and depressed. Sig was practically the brother he never had. As for Sig, he was good man with a depressing past; he had no family to fall back on unlike everyone else. His parents were dead. All he had left was his friends. She could not help but feel sad for him. Were it not for his friends, he would be truly alone in the world. Loneliness could do terrible things to one's mentality. She read that in a book once on how people can go crazy without social interaction. That, in essence, is what humans are: Beings of socializing.
In two hours, with Sig's help, they breezed through her quests and she leveled up along the way. Every time they entered the towns, Sig would always receive some attention from other girls every time she went to a shop. If there was one unique characteristic about Sig, it was his ability to attract flocks of women to him. Yui had to admit she had some initial dirty thoughts about him the more she remembered his face and body. He was definitely husband material in single women's minds everywhere. The woman who gets him will be one lucky girl!
Still, the fun ended, as they both knew they needed to sleep. Yui was actually starting to feel tired now. After saying goodbye, she shut down her computer, took her spectacles off, shut the lights, and finally hopped back into bed, ready to embrace sleep.
That is when she heard an echo of a voice. One she knew all too well.
"You must be very special, I am sure…"
Her eyes shot wide open. In her hand was a very familiar necklace. It had the cross with the exact words 'Don't screw up' inscribed into it. She saw this piece of jewelry break down before her very eyes back at the train station! What was it doing back in her possession?
Suddenly, a very loud thud came from downstairs. Fatigue instantly vanished from her body as heart began to beat rapidly. Getting up from her bed, she took her sidearm from inside her closet. Stepping out into the hallway, she slowly moved towards the stairway, sticking very close to wall. She explored every inch of her house to make sure nobody had invaded her home. When she felt the place was safe, she relaxed. Deducing that the only place left she had not looked was the front door, she made her way to it and peeked through the peephole. There was nobody there as far as she could see.
Huh, what was that noise? She wondered.
Yui opened the door and glanced left and right. The sound of snoring from below made her look down. She gasped and took a step back.
It cannot be…
Lying on her front doorstep was the boy who saved her life half a year ago. She switched the safety on her firearm, holstered it inside her pant pocket, and knelt to check his pulse. He was alive and breathing; he was just sleeping. She noticed the boy lacked wings now and his skin tone was healthy-looking compared to the last time she saw him. To leave him out here would be shameful; especially after all he had done for her and her family. Picking up the small child in her arms, she carried him inside, kicking the door shut behind her.
She put the child in her guest room bed. After locking her door and hiding away her handgun, she grabbed a chair and sat herself down in front of the sleeping kid. The questions that had nagged at her seemed to fade away from her mind. Perhaps it was because she knew she would finally receive some answers once the boy awoke. Releasing a small smile, she placed her hand on his head and ruffled his hair.
"I never got the chance to say it before because you left so quickly…" She spoke, closing her eyes. "Thank you for saving me…and giving Konata her mother back. I'll always be in your debt."
There was no response from the boy. He kept sleeping. She stood up and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
She slept peacefully that night.
The next morning, Yui woke up feeling strangely refreshed despite sleeping late. When she checked on the boy, she saw he was still sleeping. While she wanted to wake him up, Yui felt that would be rude, as she knew next to nothing about that boy. All she knew was that he was not human. Last she checked, no human was capable of resurrection. In addition, she remembered him saying that he was capable of giving others chances at redemption, but not himself. It made sense in a way, that he would not be able to bring himself back from the dead. That only raised the question on how he came back because he certainly was not responsible for it.
I guess I will find something to do in the meantime…something that does not involve staying in the house all day.
Just as she was about to leave, the home phone rang from the living room. Now who could be calling her this early in the morning? She went to pick it up and saw it was from the Izumi family.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Yui, it is me." Kanata's voice came from the other line.
"Ah, hello, Kanata; is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong. I am sorry this is so sudden, but I was wondering if you could meet me at the park if you are not too busy…"
"Oh, sure that's no problem at all. Today's my day off anyways."
"Thank you, Yui. I will you see at noon."
She hung up the phone.
Well, that sure was convenient.
Unbeknownst to Yui, who just walked out of the house, the boy began to awaken. He opened his eyes, dazed to the world around him. The child sat up on the bed and slowly scanned his surroundings. He placed his hand over where his beating heart would be and felt its periodic thump. The boy sprang from the mattress, entering the hallway, opening every door until he found the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, bewildered and confused. He opened his mouth and uttered one word.
"Why?"
At Ryoo High School, Konata was in her home-room, talking with her friends about her latest online adventure. Misao and Ayano had also tagged along with Kagami and the brunette was quick to join Konata in the tale on the account that she had been there too. Ever since the two found common ground with each other in video games, they got along rather well despite the beginning animosity between the two over the 'possession' of Kagami.
"So what Misao did to avoid getting killed until we got there was that she jumped from a really high cliff and into a small lake!" Konata said, gleefully remembering the event.
"I thought I was going to drown in there because I had heavy armor on, but Sig and Kishor made it in time to pull me out." Misao continued after her.
"They had to fight a three-way battle between the dragon, giants, and a pack of bandits. It was one hell of a free-for-all until I got there." Konata declared proudly, pounding her chest in pride
"Oh please! I could have easily taken out the bandits myself. It was just hard to do that when you're trying not to get flung into the air by giants with their huge clubs." Misao pouted, crossing her arms. "And besides, you had that new ability to push bad guys away with your voice just by shouting! How could you! Getting a skill power before me."
"Ah, I couldn't resist! I was raiding a dungeon at the time on my own and one thing led to another..." Konata laughed. "Come on, don't give me that look. Look, next time we're in town, me and Sig will find a place of power for you. Sound good?"
"You better make good on that promise!" Misao wagged her finger at Konata. "Or I'll tell Kishor what really happened with all his buff potions from the guild inventory!"
"Wait, please, there's no need to resort to that!" Konata waved her hands frantically.
"As usual, I have no idea what you two are talking about..." Kagami said, completely oblivious to what they were talking about. Tsukasa agreed with her sister, nodding her head.
"That's because you've always refused to play that game, Kagami!" The two shouted at the same time, causing the pig-tailed girl to flinch and step back. "Come join us!"
"Hah, no way." Kagami shook her head. "If anything, you two should join our study session. Have guys done anything to prepare for the upcoming exams?"
Misao and Konata both looked off in different directions, earning a victorious smirk from Kagami.
"That's what I thought." She said before looking at the class clock. "Well, it's about time we head to our own home-room before we're late."
Kagami, Ayano, and Misao all waved goodbye as they left the classroom. Miyuki, who had been silently looking over her work the entire time, turned to Konata. The short girl sighed, her head hung low at the thought of the upcoming tests. Miyuki got up from her seat and approached her from behind. She wrapped her arms around the girl and Konata gasped in surprise. She looked up at Miyuki, blushing ever so slightly.
"M-Miyuki..." She said, embarrassed at the affectionate gesture when there were so many people around. Not that she didn't mind it.
"How about setting down your game time for me, Konata? We can study together..."
The way Miyuki whispered it in her ear just sent shivers down her body. Konata nodded her head eagerly, earning a giggle from the pink-haired girl.
"Maybe after...something more?" Miyuki released Konata from her hug and walked back to her desk.
Konata's cheeks burned scarlet.
Dang it, Miyuki...I had no idea you had such a confident and sexy side to you! Konata shook her head furiously. How does she do this to me?
Tsukasa, who had sat at her desk, was curious of the exchange between the two.
Those two have gotten really close since this Christmas... Tsukasa thought, tilting her head slightly. I wonder what happened?
The boy stepped out of the bathroom, no longer wearing the white shirt and blue pants he had on before. He now wore a dark blue pinstripe suit with a brown t-shirt underneath. His trousers matched the same color as his suit while his converse shoes were the same color as his t-shirt. The boy pulled out a pair of framed glasses from his pocket protector and put them on. "
This place...feels familiar... He thought as he walked down the stairway and into the living room. Ah, now I see why...
On a shelf was a picture of Yui Narumi and her family. He allowed himself a small smile as he picked up the portrait.
I was right after all...You are very special, Yui Narumi.
He put the photo down. In that instant, his ivory eyes flashed blue. He looked at the clock. It was the afternoon now.
Time just shifted forward...Why did it do that?
The child looked back at the picture. His eyes hardened on one particular person in the photo. He turned and ran out of the house, shouting a single name.
"Yutaka Kobayakawa!"
"Hold on, if what you're saying is true, then-"
Yui's phone rang, breaking up her conversation with Kanata. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID.
"Hang on, I have to take this." She said, standing up and flipping open her cellphone. "Hello?"
"Narumi, it's me, Iori! Listen, you've got to get to the Ryoo High School quick! There's been an accident!" A frantic male voice shouted over the sounds of police sirens on his end. "It's your sister, Yutaka!"
"What happened!?" Yui asked, practically screaming into the phone.
"Your sister and another kid are on their way to the hospital."
Her eyes went wide.
Another kid? She prayed to god her assumptions were wrong.
"Can...can you describe the kid?" She asked.
"Yeah, he had white hair and eyes-Hello? Yui? Yui?"
Hi everyone, Wings of Reparation here to wow and impress you all with the newly revised Times of our Beginning! I promised to do better, and I think I can safely say I've done my very best. I hope you all tell me what you think of this story in a review!
Okay, for those of you, who do not know, to understand this story, you must read the following stories in the following order: Raid Night, Missing Piece, and then One Heartfelt Gift.
The reason this story came pass was from this single review from Flygon Master!
"I really want to know who that kid is... Will you go more in-depth later?" - Missing Piece, Chapter Eight
I hope to hear from you! After all, you inspired me to create this installment. Anyways, I'll see you all in the next chapter.
Well...assuming you all are actually reading this. Heh heh...heh...oh, I'm so lonely. Dx