Satoru Fujinuma
I laid down in my bed after another day of writing manga. I was excited about the anime adaptation coming out soon, and I hoped they didn't change the plot or anything. I looked up at the roof, and started to think about my past. I had been 10 when I drowned due to Sensei-I mean Yashiro-and lost about 15 years of my life. At least, in my third life. The first time, Kayo had died without any friends, all alone. The second time I had such a long Revival, though now Kayo had friends, she had again died. The third time, I managed to save her, but I never saw her again until I woke up in the hospital 15 years later. And she had a baby.
Kayo married Hiromi. And any slim chance I had left of reconnecting the relationship we had when we were 10 was gone. I'm fine with our friendship now, but it still hurt so much that she moved on so quickly. I understand that a girl's gotta move on, but she went so quickly she already had a child.
Stop being jealous. Move on, Satoru. Don't you have Airi now? I chided myself.
But I don't like her in that way, just as a close friend that I respect. Plus, there's the huge age gap in between us. And I don't even want to think about the yaoi ships that I've read in between Yashiro and I. (Honestly, though, in my opinion, that ship isn't actually that bad, but I still ship Kayo X Satoru :D) I sighed and pulled the covers over my head.
Before the covers completely covered my eyes, I noticed a blue butterfly flying in through the open window.
Revival? I thought in surprise. No, it can't be. Going back to save Kayo was my last Revival. I'm just imagining things because I'm tired. Now hush, child. Go to sleep.
(OMG, I'm sorry, I like making him talk to himself)
The butterfly settling on my desk where a new manga chapter had been abandoned due to the fact that I need to sleep was my last image before I fell into a deep sleep.
*8 hours later*
"Satoru! Wake up, or you'll be late to school! Plus, Kayo might leave before you!" A voice said.
I…..what!? School? But…..I….It can't be another Revival, that should've been the last one… I thought in shock.
And yet, when I ran to the mirror, there I was, a little 11-year-old kid, hair sticking straight up.
Kayo Hinazuki
I woke up, feeling the soft blanket against my skin. For a second, I sat in shock as I found myself in a bus seat. Then I remembered that I had left my house, and Satoru and his friends saved me and brought me here to live. And yet, why does even that memory feel hazy in my mind? I snuggled deeper into the comfy blanket and sighed. I thought deep into my mind, but couldn't figure out why. Suddenly, I remembered a quite frightful scene. Last night, a stranger had come inside. He could have been an abductor, in which case I was in serious trouble.
A while later, after delving into the depths of one of the books Kenya let me borrow to be distracted from my earlier thoughts, three knocks hit the door of the bus. I knew it was foolish, to fear that it could be the stranger again despite the fact that Satoru even said he would knock thrice if he were to come and visit me on the bus.
"Hinazuki!? Are you there? Kayo?" A familiar voice asked from the door.
I relaxed. That was Satoru, not that stranger from before.
"Come in!" I called out to him in relief.
Satoru walked inside, smiling blissfully. In that moment, a big rush of strange images filled my mind. I gasped as they finally took shape, and though only some of them were clear, the ones that were there carried images that I didn't want and couldn't imagine.
I saw myself in a car, looking out the back to see Satoru running behind me; I saw an image on a TV of a truck half-drowned in water, with Satoru's face off to the side, where the voice drawled about how his life had been taken in the incident; I saw myself talking to someone, though the face was too blurred to make out, with a so voice familiar and yet so unfamiliar; and finally, an image of me holding a baby, kissing…..Hiromi!?
Without even thinking, I leaned forward and hugged Satoru.
"K-Kayo!?" he exclaimed, his face red as my jacket. "What's wrong?"
I was shocked by my actions, and quickly sat back. "Nothing," I lied, looking for an excuse. "I was...um...scared because a stranger came in here and kicked around." At least that was partly true. I was terrified of him, but that wasn't why I hugged Satoru.
"Really!? Where? Is there any evidence of him here?" Satoru asked, clearly alarmed.
"The only thing he seemed to have a connection to was that box over there." I stared pointedly at the box on the very top of two other boxes. "He kicked it. Also, he dropped a backpack off in here."
Suddenly, the door clicked open. Satoru and I immediately froze, our hearts racing.
"Satoru, Hinazuki! We came!" Chimed the voices of Kenya and Hiromi.
I sighed in relief, while Satoru walked over to them. "Guys, I told you to knock three times, or we'll think you're some stranger or something!" He said, sounding half angry and half relieved.
"O-oh, sorry, Satoru. We forgot.." Hiromi apologized, leaning forward to touch his knees, his long hair touching his cheek.
"It's okay, just remember next time." Satoru breathed, smiling. "Anyways, Kayo said a stranger came in." Hiromi and Kenya exchanged shocked glances. "She said the stranger kicked that box over there. Let's see what's inside."
"I hope it's just dirty magazines." Kenya remarked as Satoru picked up the green backpack.
Satoru Fujinuma
I emptied out the contents, and the items that spilled out were; gloves, boots, a rope, a mask, and worst of all, a spray that could help someone freeze to death quickly. Everyone else but me seemed clueless, other than Kenya, whose expression showed that he could faintly trace the idea, but I knew exactly what that stranger was going to do to Kayo.
"Again, just like last time?" I muttered very quietly under my breath.
Nobody seemed to hear me at first, until i noticed Kayo giving me a sidelong glance, indicating she heard what I said.
"We need to get out of here." I said immediately.
"Well, yes. We wanted Kayo to be found, but this is kind of creepy." Kenya said as he investigated the rope and mask.
"And we need to get out of here before Kayo is found in a way that would be negative." I said.
I opened the box he had kicked, and found a briquette, infuriating me further. I ripped at the walls in fury.
"Calm down, Satoru. That doesn't matter right now. Right now, we need to get out of here before something bad happens." Kenya said, and I made a mental note that what he had said was different than my third Revival with such a jump.
"You're right. I shouldn't have lost my head. Let's go." I said, walking outside.
After that, everything seemed to go smoothly, the way it had in the past. We all headed back to my house ate curry, and then all said goodnight. Mom and Kayo took a bath, and I listened in, the little rascal I was. I was happy that Kayo had such a good time while she was here. All three of us slept together, sharing each other's warmth, and I made the same mistake of telling my mom that she was in the way, resulting in me getting repeatedly hit in the head by my mom, which hurt, even if she was only doing that because I sounded like a pervert.
We ate breakfast the next day, with Kayo, once again, crying over having a meal made with such love and care, a feeling she never really received until now. But since this was a Revival, I changed my actions. I hugged her and comforted her while my mom stroked Kayo's hair, and I felt bad how I always got my mom's care and good meals while Kayo never got any of those.
After school, we went over to Kayo's house to spring our plan. When Kayo's mom almost slapped Kayo, mom and I stepped forward, causing her to freeze in surprise. Afterwards, she almost instantly started yelling at us and making threats. As my mom calmly reasoned with her, Kayo's mom just got angrier and angrier, causing her to pick up her shovel and swing her arms towards my mom. But I didn't want to cause any more harm to her, so while Kayo did her best to pull her mom back, I ran in front of my mom, and when the impact hit, I was thrown backwards, the breath lost from my chest.
"Satoru!" Kayo and my mom yelled in unison, followed by Kayo's mom screaming at Kayo while my mom helped me stand up again.
My mom continued to calmly point out Kayo's mom's flaws with conviction while Kayo's mom struggled, trying to get Kayo off, and I held on to my mom's arm, trying to get breath in my lungs. Kayo's mother shot back filthy insults against my mom and I.
"Shut up!" I yelled, rage filling every single word that came out of my mouth. "What kind of parent throws her daughter in a shed and doesn't do anything after she's gone for three days!?"
"You have no idea about the pains and responsibilities of being a parent, brat, so you shut your smart mouth!" Kayo's mother caterwauled, and then threw Kayo off of her at last. I quickly ran to Kayo's side, and helped her up. Any changes I made to the future were changes I wanted and decided to make.
After we'd been arguing back and forth, the moment that all of this build had been building up for had arrived. The Child Consultation Center stepped forward. Everything has been going as planned….Until, that moment. When Akemi, Kayo's mother, watched her own mother crying and blaming herself, instead of piling herself on top of her mother, Akemi…...She hit her mother. Kicked her, yelling to the heavens about how she should've helped, how she should've done everything she could. I was frozen, what was I supposed to do? Something like this happening…..It wasn't inconclusive, but it wasn't anything I expected. I glanced at Kayo, who was so shocked she couldn't move, since she never really had a close relationship with her grandmother. After being quiet for a couple more seconds, the people from the Children Consultation Center stepped forward, and pulled Akemi off of her mother. Though her mother seemed to be okay, bruises and shock were the battle scars she bore. Sachiko, my mother, immediately picked up Kayo and I into the crooks of her arms, and walked in the direction of her house, wanting to shield us from the scene. I heard yelling, screaming, sobbing, and police sirens from behind, and I tried to turn around, but Sachiko stubbornly held on.
(Author's Note: Minna-San, hai! I must fix this anime! I shipped Kayo X Satoru so much, so I will fix this mess that the ending had made. Please read and review, and if you don't have an account here but you have a YouTube/Google+ account, my name is Firestarisawesome L. (Because I never ended up changing it :P) and we can talks about ERASED and how I can fix this! So help me!)