Aki stood her ground, staring resolutely into Mr. Onigawara's flame red eyes. He sighed, breaking her gaze but maintaining his composure. "I've told you-it simply isn't possible."

"Bullshit," Aki countered, eyes narrowing accusingly. "If you have the power to drop an entire school into another dimension, reroute a curse and project the past then you have enough power to take us all back to before this whole mess began. Everyone has been through so much, if you gave them a second chance I'm sure they could change!"

Oni turned his gaze away as though he were considering it before casting her a rueful look. "Even Hideki Sohta?" Aki's gaze faltered for a moment as the glow from her teacher's solitary grave flickered in the darkness. "Everyone."

Mr. Onigawara smirked at the girls blatant naiveté, walking back and forth over the swampy ground, a squelch resounding with every step. "Who's to say history will not simply repeat itself? You will be faced with a very delicate situation. No one else will be aware of the events that lead you to this moment. All will be as it had been before Misao was murdered. She may simply be murdered again, under the same circumstances." Aki balled her hands into fists at her sides. "I won't let that happen." Oni stopped his restless pacing in order to give the girl another condescending look. "You?"

Aki's eyes practically melted her contacts. "Let's make a wager then, if you're so certain I'll fail." Oni started pacing again, stifling a bored yawn with the back of his hand. "Oh?" he drawled lazily. "If I lose I have to stay in this dimension with you."

Onigawara didn't even blink. "A servant I have. I see nothing to be gained in this venture." "Really?" Aki pressed, determined not to let her resolve slacken. "Because the way I see it, it's a win-win situation for you. If I lose you'll gain a servant, but even if I win at least you'll be entertained for a little while, right? It's got to be awfully boring being stuck here with nothing to do."

Oni sighed again. "Oh, very well," he consented. "But let's up the stakes a little, shall we?"

The relief that had been building in Aki's chest lodged uncomfortably in her stomach. Oni's eyes glistened malevolently, seeming to mirror the eerie glow coming from the tombstones. "Your failure will cost you not only your own freedom but those of any and all descendants you might have. After all," his grin widened. "The human lifespan is extremely…limited." Aki gulped. "Seems fair."

"Then we have an accord." Oni chuckled darkly as the red glow from the tombstones grew to blinding and then suddenly died all at once, leaving them in total darkness.

Aki sat up in bed with a start, trying to get her bearings as her eyes readjusted to the dark. The glow from her digital clock told her it was March 14th, 2:13 AM-exactly one week before Misao went missing. "I've really gone back…" Aki murmured incredulously. As realization dawned on her that her bet with Onigawara had not been a dream, a lump formed in her throat making it difficult to swallow. "It's a little late for me to worry about this plan now," she said to no one in particular.

She rolled over on her side, determined to save her strength for the task ahead. But try as she may Aki's nerves kept her up, tossing and turning as the threat of tomorrow loomed over her head like a guillotine. Despite her one-manned attempts to push back the night, the sun rose ignorant of her plight.

Far less confident than she had been the day before (or rather that one day that was now erased from everyone's history but her own weeks in the future) Aki dressed for school with a heavy heart and then trudged downstairs for breakfast.

As she slowly nibbled on her toast the energy she had expended thrashing around the night before gradually returned to her and with it her positive outlook. It was far too early to give up yet!

Taking a pen out of her school bag she sketched out a rough diagram on her napkin. These events revolved around Misao, so as expected Aki drew a large circle encompassing her name with three lines falling downwards from that focal point. Aki scribbled names at the end of each line, addressing the issues that had to be resolved in order for everyone to survive the aftermath of the next few days.

Done with the initial sketch, Aki eyed the first name on her list: Yoshino. She would be easy enough to deal with. Aki had dealt with her kind before in the past. If she'd have known that this kind of thing was going on she would have ended it a long time ago.

The next name on the list was Tohma. After a few seconds consideration Aki extended the line and wrote "Saotome" underneath it. She may not have been specifically involved in the incident, but she still became a victim of her boyfriend's heartless behaviour. Aki had to find a way to convince Misao that Tohma was bad news before he broke her heart again. There were at least two ways she could accomplish this: by shutting Tohma up before his fake confession could take place or by finding someone else Misao could get romantically involved with. Aki snapped her fingers in a moment of revelation and wrote yet another name on the same thread. Kudoh! She remembered when he had conveyed his true feelings for Misao on the other side and smiled for the first time that morning. He was a much better match for her than that deceitful creep. In the best case scenario, Aki would just have to get them to reconcile. Of course she was going to chew Kudoh out for not standing up for Misao when she needed him most, but although Misao had wanted Kudoh to shield her from bullying Aki figured it would turn out better if she dealt with Yoshino and Tohma herself and did not get Kudoh personally involved in reforming the bullies. Aki pouted a little bit, crossing her arms as she grumbled, "I wish Oni had given me some magic powers or something to make them do what I say." After a minute she sighed and let her arms drop to her sides. Even if she magically wished everything better that didn't mean anything would change. She had committed herself to improving their situation, and that meant she was ready to roll up her sleeves and help out as best she could.

Aki hesitated as she read the last name on her list. Out of everyone, he was the one she was the most concerned about. She wasn't sure where she could even begin to remedy all the pain and suffering surrounding that one individual. Before she realized what she was doing Aki had formed a thick, deep groove encircling the last name: Hideki Sohta. Her scrawling doodle looked far more menacing now than it had a minute ago, but taking a brief glance at the clock, Aki folded the napkin and shoved it into her pocket. She wouldn't linger on that dark spot bleeding through the napkin like a death sentence, but she did have to admit: she had her work cut out for her.

*AUTHOR'S COMMENTS*

Heeeeeeeeeey everyone! Super excited to have finally started this fic. Although I'm not too sure about how other people feel about some Aki x Sohta action… ^ ^; *MANS THE BATTLEMENTS OF HER SHIPPING FORTRESS* D: "TO ARMS-!"