Erased: Rebirth

Been a while. In any case, I'm pushing a large number of updates to all my fics in a week-long spree, including posting a couple more stories to celebrate my Mega-Versary, for writing a MILLION words. It's been three years since I started, and I've never regretted coming to write fics on this site, not for a second. Thank you for your support, and enjoy.

~ M. Ray 4 The Win.

- This is, truth be told, a one-shot fic I'm writing to sate my disappointment of the main character never ending up in a shipping with Kayo Hinazuki, or even Airi. In a world where time-loops exist for the M.C., this was really upsetting, as they could've worked any way around this. Lemme try something.

Rebirth

'…Would you kill someone for my sake?...'

When he had first started-… not that he knew when it actually started…- he had only a determination to put a stop to tragedies before they happened. The might of a supernatural force was on his side.

'Revival…'

Indeed. Perhaps it was no accident, but maybe the universe knew what it was doing when it chose him to bear this ability. It could've known that he was self-sacrificial and fiercely dedicated to doing whatever it meant if it kept the potential victim safe. However, when one of these such times lead to him getting sent back through time to that of his childhood, this wasn't the thing that surprised him the most; rather, the least expected thing was his falling in love with one of the would-be victims.

'Kayo…'

He didn't know why-… it was most likely because of their extensive relations. But if one thing was sure, he knew when that started.

They were in the park. It wasn't an extremely cold night, but a frigid one regardless. It was when Kayo had pressed her hand against his; it seemed like such a confusing gesture, but when he was finally gifted a pair of gloves, the very same made from the measurements she had gleaned from said 'confusing' gesture, the feelings that he had been cultivating for her since then had grown. For Kayo, the girl who lived under such misery, had cast her own needs for comfort aside to knit a pair of gloves for the sole boy who took interest in her wellbeing.

It went to show how much she actually cared, despite hiding behind her walls of indifference. Now that he'd seen her for the person she really was, would he ever get to see her again, he wondered? Already, his mind was going blank… even his memories were beginning to fade. The last thing he was conscious of, was the ever-present metaphorical film-reel in his mind begin to get corrupted, and his future begin to burn, corroding its way back to the present.

'No! It's not the end! No!'

It was of no use. The film was ever burning; the memories he had, the feelings he had, the bonds he had, they were going, they were gone. It was all destined to happen, anyway, as he rewrote the film from the beginning. It was as if he had never been an adult. His last shout-… his taunt to Yashiro…- what was the use of knowing the future if it didn't exist anymore?

Wait… He had once been an adult? Didn't feel like that…. Where did that thought come from? Were any of those thoughts his?

'Keep it together, Satoru! This isn't over yet!'

But it was over. Water was filling his lungs, the psychotic Yashiro had won and his future was lost. Didn't that mean he was about to die?

It was with his last thoughts of denial that his mind fled from him, and his body went limp in the physical and spiritual icy waves of the rolling surf.

…

…

…

'…Would you kill someone for my sake?...'

"I would," he answered, his voice was but a low whisper.

"Hmm?" Another voice seemed to hum from afar off. "…Satoru-kun?" A small voice called his name-… it reminded him of long nights which were warded off by warm companionship. Yet, the question still buzzed in his mind, as if the same voice he heard was the very one speaking to him from the reaches of his mind.

'…Would you kill someone for my sake?...'

"I would," he whispered again. "I would do anything for you."

"Satoru-kun?" the voice from afar off called again, but this time it sounded a bit closer, as if the owner was running after him-… or Satoru himself was running after the voice. "Are you awake?" the voice was awash in hope.

'My name? My name is Satoru?' he asked himself in his mind. Suddenly, he had had enough of all these questions, and how they seemed to get more and more prevailing, yet he still had the unconscious yearning of trying to get closer to the more 'solid' voice that seemed to be concerned for him… if his name was 'Satoru', or whatever. "Satoru?" the boy finally spoke out loud with full consciousness. "Not sure… who that is… but is Kayo alright?"

"Satoru-kun…?" the small voice asked as if it were about to break-… not from a bad realization, but from a joy becoming realized. "You're awake…?!" The voice was excited now, the former sad undertones having completely disappeared. "You're awake!"

His eyes had begun to creak open, and the newfound light came roaring in, chasing away the darkness he had resided in. It took a while for him to gather his bearings, and his windows to the world still could not manage the radiance. "I-… I'm awake," he repeated dumbly, before his eyes finally opened fully. A smile was already on his lips as soon as he saw the person, and his mood rose. "Kayo… you are alright…"

He did not recognize her by the clothing, for she was attired differently. He did not recognize her by voice, for her voice had become somewhat richer, a little matured, so to speak. He did not recognize her by face, though it was the almost the same and still framed by short brown hair. It could have been because of her concern for him. It could've been the small smile she always had when they met one another. It could've been a lot of things, but he just knew that it was her. At this point, he was willing to think that he recognized her because their fates had intertwined, whatever that meant.

It did not matter. It was her, and that was all that was important. To her, however, all that matter was that Satoru had woken up, and despite all the uncertainties, it was certain that he hadn't changed, at least, none at all in the ways that mattered.

"Yeah, Satoru-kun," Kayo answered as a small smile on her lips began to grow in tandem with her happiness. "I'm alright."

=X=X=

Sachiko silently watched as her son struggled to bring the spoon of curry to his lips. "It's perfectly alright for a mother to feed her own son, Satoru-chan."

"I'm growing up!" Satoru grumbled in annoyance. "I can't have you spoon-feeding me all the time, okaa-san!"

With a small sigh, said mother sighed as she continued to watch his pitiable efforts; most of the food kept falling off of his spoon as his hand shook in weakness. "While it is true that you've been trying to get your strength back for almost three months now, you're still only eleven and you're still my son. I think it's a right for me to feed you."

Finally, Satoru's spoon found his mouth and he took a bite of the small food that still remained on top of the utensil. He savored it-… he enjoyed the dish and although it was rather poor fare, it was his favorite. Not that he'd ever let his mother know that. "I have a right to my independence."

"Funny. I don't hear you telling that to Kayo-chan. Someone would think that you had a crush on her." To his credit, the boy didn't rise to the bait, knowing that his mother was referring to herself when she said 'someone'. This wasn't the first time he had gotten teased about this subject, and could only remain silent as his mother continued to elaborate about how the she was the first person he recognized, how he was concerned for her welfare for no good reason, even though he was just coming out of a nine-month-old coma.

"I do have a crush on her… I think."

His mother narrowed her eyes, not out of suspicion but rather out of petty displeasure. "Hmph. You're no fun, Satoru-chan."

"And you're all fun, okaa-san," he muttered as he continued to try to feed himself.

"Good to hear. Anyway… I know it's been a good while since you woke up… do you remember anyone else yet? Any more friends? Any more elders, perhaps?" With her question asked, she watched as his eyebrows seemingly wandered around his eyebrow in hazy memory before he shook his head. "So, no one else, huh? What about Jun… err, I mean 'Yuuki', as you liked to call him. Or Kenya? He's a close friend of yours, isn't he? Not even your teacher, Yashiro-san? He visited last week."

"I-… I'm sorry. I hope I'll remember them soon," Satoru finally responded after what felt like a while. "I keep seeing people in my memories, but I'm not seeing their faces. I just can't place the faces on them."

"I know the feeling," Sachiko remarked as she dropped the matter. There was no use in reminding him, and perhaps that was for the best. It'd be of no help to remind him of a person who had only recently been killed. In fact, it'd been this morning since it was discovered that his throat had been cut from ear-to-ear with one of his shaving razors. If anything could be said about it, according to rumors, it was that the man's face had frozen in recognition of the person who had killed him. That was all, and there was hardly any evidence to implicate anyone. Furthermore, if her son didn't remember the man, there would be no grief for him to bear, and she didn't wish to add to his burdens.

Unknown to her, the silence caused by her was starting to make her son uncomfortable, and for good reason. In the privacy of his own mind, he recalled the night before how he'd feigned going to the bathroom to answer the call of nature, and left through the window, making a beeline to his teacher's house to slit his throat in his sleep. The man had woken to the pain of his death, and as Satoru watched the life fade from his eyes, he felt no pity. Truth be told, he had remembered everything, and had successfully played it off that he did not, even going to the extremes of 'failing' to remember others in his life just to support the lie. It hurt to lie to his friends, but soon, he wouldn't have to anymore.

Especially now since the man who wanted to hurt the people closest to him was now dead.

Satoru helped himself to his food once more, his mind leaving last night behind. There would be no more revivals. He'd been comatose for nine months-… now, there would be rebirth.

"Hmm?" Sachiko stared at her son, almost in a sort of suspicion. "Satoru-chan?" To this, the boy began to break out in a sweat, already growing afraid that she was catching on to his ruse. His mother was a sharp woman, and he was hardly able to keep anything secret from her.

"…Yeah?" he stammered.

"You just ate your food. Your hand didn't even shake that much."

Satoru's eyes widened in realization, before looking down. Oh crap, he did. He'd forgotten to keep up his façade of weakness. He had to let everyone continue to think he still needed rehab, at least for another month to ensure that no one could possibly suspect him for his Yashiro's death. But there was nothing he could do about it anymore. This facet was lost, but he could still pretend that he was still overall to walk too far. "Really? Guess I should've been eating food on my own sooner. I'm getting stronger already," he said casually.

"Bah," his mother snorted, "I bet that when Kayo comes by tomorrow, you'll let her feed you." At this, they both began to laugh, and it was with this that the boy thought that everything would be all right after all.

=X=X=

"Do you remember Yashiro-san?" Kayo asked as she walked alongside him through the hospital.

"I think that's the name of the teacher everyone keeps trying to get me to remember. What's up with that?" the boy mumbled as he continued to use his walking cane like a third led. After a second's hesitation, he pondered if he could lie to her-… he had said that he wouldn't lie to her anymore. "I remember him, I guess. But since you all are trying to get me to remember him specifically, why hasn't he come to visit me again or sent a card?"

"He passed on," the girl said hesitantly, "and there's already even been a funeral."

"Oh. That's why."

"It's not your fault."

'That's what you think.' "I guess there's not much I can do about that. You needed some cheering up?" the boy asked candidly.

"No. I grieved already," Kayo explained. "I just thought you should know. Anyway, what're you planning to do for your birthday coming up tomorrow? You're gonna be twelve."

"Don't you mean 'our birthday'? 'We're going to be twelve'?" Satoru asked rhetorically. "I think it's kinda sad for me…"

"How come?" the girl asked in surprise.

"I fell asleep in winter, only to wake up again when winter was starting up again. I feel like I missed a year of my life."

"Are you an idiot?" she deadpanned. "Don't think about it like that. Think of it like hibernating. You slept through the year to fast-forward to your next birthday."

"…Huh… right. I didn't think of it like that. But I didn't like being asleep like that. And yet, most of the time I felt like people were talking to me, mostly you, but I couldn't talk back for them to hear."

Almost immediately, Kayo blushed rosy-red in embarrassment. "H-how much did you hear?" she stuttered.

'Cute,' the boy thought in his mind. "I can't say that I really 'know' what you were saying, it's like sitting in class and not listening to the teacher even though you're supposed to be learning. For the most part, I kept hallucinating about when you asked me if I would kill someone for your sake."

"You still think about that?"

"I think I have my answer," he rebutted, "and I know I would do anything for your sake. And…" For a moment post this, they both walked in silence, before a small smile graced his companion's face.

"That's a weird way of saying that you don't know what to get me for my birthday."

"I… that's one way to put it, but it's not exactly what I was talking about," Satoru admitted carelessly. Finally, they stopped walking, as they had come to the front entrance of the hospital, although to their perspective, it was the exit. "You were leading me here the whole time, weren't you?"

"Mm-hmm." She grasped his hand firmly and smiled. "Can I kidnap you?"

Kidnap… no… did she mean that she wanted to take him on a date? Satoru grinned when his mind finally grasped this.

"Sure." Hardly had this been said had the cane fallen from his hands and clattered to the floor, yet he stood strong as she supported him. It was quite the reversal of events seeing that he had done all he could for her sake, but he liked this change. She was no damsel in distress, as she was strong in her own right, but now…

What now?

Rebirth… right… Not a repeat of past casualties, not re-do of actions, not a revival of changing future events. No, it was a rebirth, to begin afresh and to begin anew. As he held her hand while they departed from the hospital and went down the steps, he couldn't help but wonder what the future held in store for them.

There was a tree close by; there were no leaves on it, yet there was movement on of its branches. Satoru's eyes fell on what looked like a glowing blue cocoon that seemed to sway gently, a phenomenon that was impossible in wintertime and logic, though Satoru had long lost his willingness to trust only in reason. This cocoon's quivering soon came to a stop, as something began to hatch from it. The idea behind this wasn't lost on him, but he could only gaze in wonder as he watched a mystic blue butterfly crawl out of it and began to dry its wings, preparing itself to take off.

Not a revival… This was rebirth.

The future looked bright.

And that's that. For those who dig the romance/friendshipping between Kayo and Satoru, there it is.

Yeah, I'm also talking about myself too. Duh! With this, I have my closure. Anyway, take care.

Valete omnes,

MRAY 4TW.