"Wow Semi, you kind of have terrible fashion sense." Said Tendou wincing when they saw him.
"Why do you always have to be so rude about it?" snapped Semi. He glanced down at his clothes: a red and white stripped shirt, a pair of brightly colored floral pants, and hiking boots. He thought the clothes were quite pretty and these were his favorite shoes. But no matter what he wore, Tendou always had this vaguely horrified look on him.
"What do you mean by 'always'? I've literally never said anything about it before." Blinked Tendou.
It wasn't actually. It was the 37th time he'd said that to 37 different outfits. All had been rejected. Not that Tendou knew that. As far as they could tell, this was the first time they'd ever said something.
"Whoa, dude, are you, like, crying?" Tendou asked slightly panicked.
"No." snapped Semi though his eyes were prickling with heat. He hated being an angry crier.
"Hey, hey, Semi, I am sorry. Really, dude! I was just teasing you, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Tendou rambled worriedly, "You might not be good with clothes but it's, like, part of your charm."
"It's fine. I am not- you're fine Tendou." Semi sighed trying to pass off brushing his hair behind his ears and also get the little bits of excess water and the corners of his eyes too, "Sorry, I've just- It's been a shit month."
"But you were in such a good mood yesterday." Tendou said frowning.
Well- on Tendou's yesterday- he had been. He'd managed to go 5 whole days without a "incident" happening and he'd thought… damn it he'd started to think he might be getting better.
"I just- I need a little space." Semi said waving him off and hunching his shoulders defensivly.
"Okay… take you're time. You'll talk to me tomorrow though, right?" Tendou asked uncertainly.
"Yeah. Sure. Tomorrow." Semi said with a trace of bitterness. If they were both having the same tomorrow then he'd certainly be in a better mood.
Otherwise he supposed Tendou would teasingly insult whatever his choice of clothing was.
Semi wandered off idly through the city. He passed the neighbor who was yelling their roommate again. Semi had all the words of it memorized. He passed the couple that was soulfully confessing their love under the cherry blossoms for the 37th time. He passed the car that blew out its tire as it was driving and jerked into the curb. The cat's that chased each other onto the wall.
37 times Semi had repeated this exact day. Nothing changed. Except him… And he couldn't fucking make it stop.
"Wow. Those are some pretty sick pants." Semi's head snapped up and stared at the man standing in front of him. Messy bedhead streaked with white and a wide Cheshire grin.
But more than that, this man had never been here any of the other 37 repeat days.
"Hey, you okay?" the guy asked worriedly. Semi couldn't speak, the day was still repeating but even so something had broken-
"Hey Tetsurou, keep your eyes open, I am pretty sure we're close-" a beautiful man appeared next to the other, cutting off as he spotted him. Another man who wasn't supposed to be in this repeated day.
And he was looking at him with such intensity that Semi felt like he was being x-rayed.
"You're the Witch." He stated.
"I-" Semi's voice cracked, he glanced between them swallowing, "What's going on?"
"My name is Akaashi Keiji," the man said ignoring his question, "I am a Kairos as well."
Semi tried not to gape at him. What did he mean? He was like Semi-?
"We need to speak. But first," Akaashi said reaching out and laying a hand on Semi's head, and gods he'd thought the other's eyes were black but on further inspection they were a dark, dark, green flecked with gold, "First, this loop needs to end."
Akaashi didn't move, but suddenly Semi's knees buckled as the world seemed to lurch violently forward very fast.
"Kid, you alright?" the messy haired man is leaning over him worriedly and Semi realizes he's laying on a couch somewhere with a cool cloth pressed to his forehead. He must have blacked out.
"Don't call me kid, we're like the same age." Semi grumbled, though he glanced curiously at the white hairs streaking the other's fridge. They seemed to come right from his roots. Semi didn't ask.
"Ah, kid, age is just a number. Even less then that actually in the circles we run in." laughed the other at some kind of private joke.
"We?" asked Semi apprehensively.
"Yes, we." Said Akaashi coming back in with a cup of tea, "Drink this, it will help settle your body back onto a more normal time track."
"I'll give you two some space." The other man said quickly giving Semi's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before ducking out.
"What happened?" asked Semi uncertainly, he felt a bit like the other two were speaking a different language.
"I came to find you because the elders in the community caught wind of loop that had been created in this part of time for the past month or so. They ordered me to bring you in for trial." Said Akaashi bluntly.
Semi swallowed. This didn't sound good. He knew he'd screwed up, but honestly usually everybody was so stuck on repeat that they never remembered how badly he'd screwed up.
"You don't seem malicious to me though," said Akaashi tilting his head, "Just inexperienced. I'll file up your excuse so you should be fine provided that you don't do something like this again."
"What if- What if I can't control it though?" Semi asked. His emotions were a mess. He felt scared. He felt angry. He felt confused. Not necessarily in that order.
"You'll need to learn." Akaashi said simply, "Loops are dangerous for all involved, especially if they go on for as long as this one did. You're going to have to find a method to keep yourself in check or next time another Kairos finds you they are going to put you down."
"That's not fair." Semi protested, "I don't even know what I am doing that is making this happen. How can I be expected to not do it again?"
"Your gift is a rare one, I don't believe that there are any other Kairos that can loop in this century to teach you. They're all probably wandering around somewhere in the past. I am sorry but you'll have to figure out the specifics of your talent on your own. It's not something that anyone else can truly teach you."
"But you can help can't you?" Semi insisted almost angrily. Or it probably looked angry. On the inside he was panicking, "You clearly know a lot more than me. And you made it stop even when I couldn't."
"I can force time to resynch regardless of your presence." Agreed Akaashi, "But I am very powerful, if I were to do that often your body wouldn't hold up under the strain."
"Then at least teach me what you know." Semi demanded, begged. Akaashi had called what he could do a gift, but honestly Semi saw it more as a curse and frankly he was desperate for any way out at this point.
Akaashi stared at him with what might have been pity.
"Please!" insisted Semi.
"Okay." Akaashi said softly.
"Okay?" Semi asked blinking in surprise.
"Yes, okay." Akaashi repeated, an odd look in his eyes, "I'll make you my apprentice and teach you what I can, but I make promises on the results. That will be up to you."
"Thank you." Semi let himself slump slightly, "Thank you, I promise I'll work hard."
"I believe you." Said Akaashi but his expression was grim.
"I am sensing there is a 'but' in there somewhere." Semi noted with apprehension.
"Indeed." Agreed Akaashi, "Because we will not get very far in lessons if I am always having to force you out of one loop or another. You'll end up spending more time unconscious than conscious if we do that. You'll need some measure of control first."
"But how?" Semi asked hoarsely, "I've been telling you I can't even-"
"I know." Said Akaashi and suddenly he smiled. Strangely, the sight made Semi very uneasy, "Which is why I am going to send you to spend some time with a dear friend of mine first. If you can't gain some control of yourself with him, you won't ever be able to. Mmm, but I think you'll do fine with him."
Semi had a feeling his fate had just been sealed.