Chapter II: Disappointment and Hope

Disclaimer: I don't own The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The phone rang shrilly, shattering the otherwise peaceful silence. It rang for a while before a messy head shuffled, an arm reached out and finally a groggy voice answered it.

"What?" the voice snapped sleepily.

"You are late. Again." the crisp voice on the other hand said shortly.

The black eyes flew open, all sleep vanishing as a girl with messy black hair sprang into sitting position, "Oh God! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

"Yeah, that's what I think so too." the caller sounded smug.

"I - I will be there in a minute." the girl promised as she yanked her clothes off and started running her hands through a pile of clothes scattered all around the room. Subconsciously, she missed the comfort of school uniform that relieved her of any such worries as to what to wear that day. That could be related to the fact that she wasn't a great dresser, nor does she have a good sense of what goes with what, "Just - just distract him or something."

"Ok, you're an idiot and that's impossible. I can stop him for ten minutes - tops. You will never be able to arrive by that time." the girl on the other end sounded annoyed and impatient.

"Oh God, why today of all days!" Makoto mumbled in panic, "Just - just wait, okay?" she pleaded.

"I will try my best. You know that." the girl said and Makoto could visualize her shrugging.

"Okay. See you later." Makoto said quickly and ended the call, putting on black trouser with her other hand.

It was not unusual of Makoto Konno to get late; she spends most of her life being teased by her family and classmates about her morning sleep-in habit. It was just as normal of her as being unsubtle, which was other thing she was unfortunately good at. But that day was kind of a big deal. She had to present her thesis that day which would determine her grade of master's degree in Physics. She was suppose to be there half an hour ago to set up all the equipment and necessary tools before the teacher and the guest arrive, but she was drastically late.

Pulling on a marginally cleaner shirt than others, she pulled her hair back in a ponytail and stuffed her feet in the shoes without bothering for socks. Swiftly brushing her teeth, she tried to revise all that she had to explain that day. Snatching the keys, wallet and her bag from the table, she ran out the door, slamming it loudly behind her.

She was later than the ten minutes margin Suzano was able to give her, as expected, and she approached to a very agitated and watch-watching Mr. Fujiama, her course in charge.

"Where were you?" he asked in a furious whisper.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry!" Makoto whispered sheepishly as she and Suzano arranged her papers. Mr. Fujiama glared at her for a moment before giving up as a lost case, "You got five minutes." he growled.

"Okay, okay." she said frantically. All the way from her home to the University, she had cursed herself for sleeping in, for getting late, for switching off her alarm in her sleep and now she was panicking as she realized that she wasn't as ready for this big moment as she'd liked to be.

I'll be waiting for you.

The voice hit her like a punch and she gasped, her hands coming to a halt momentarily.

It happens. It always happens the same way. Right in the midst of everything, when she wasn't ready, when she least expected; his voice, the promise, would always come back, jarring her grip on present, her grip on her life. And then following it, her own voice, the promise she made.

I won't be long. I'll come running.

In that moment she could recall exactly how it felt as he turned her around, his grip gentle on the back of her neck, his hand rubbing her hair, and she would shiver, the wish to escape reality suddenly appearing with sheer ferocity.

"Makoto? Makoto!"

She started and few papers slipped down to the floor. She looked up to find Suzano looking at her with a mixture of anger and frustration.

"Sorry." she mumbled as she scrambled for the papers.

"It's time." Suzano pointed out to her watch. Makoto straightened up and nodded.

"Okay, let's go." she said with more determination than she felt, the echo of his voice still fresh in her mind.

x-x-x

Makoto Konno had always dreamt herself with her two friends; Kosuke and Chiaki, leading a crazy schedule, grumbling, complaining, whining about things, they making sure she doesn't get in too many troubles, she taking care of them, making sure some fun still remains in their lives. She had imagined that wherever they'll go, whatever they'll do, they'll be together. Always looking out for each other, making funny nicknames of each other, sharing their lives in some sort of huge friendly bubble.

The first blow came in the form of Chiaki's reality, a hole opened up in her otherwise perfect if slightly confused life and she was forced to let him go. She lied about him to everyone; even Kosuke and it gets harder and harder for her to cope with his absence. She missed him like a part of herself, something went missing in her after he left and she had never been able to fill up that hole ever since, tried as hard as she had.

The next and absolute blow in her plan came in the form of Kosuke going to Medical College, studying to become a doctor, and she being unable to follow him. It was like there was a huge abyss in her life, appearing out of nowhere that stopped her short. Despite Kosuke's long conversations about how it's okay to go in different directions, how they are still friends and there for each other, Makoto found it hard to do anything other than wishing to leap back in time and relive the part of her life where both of them were with her.

It was with a dull sense of depressed anger and anguish at her inability to make things go her way that she decided to ignore her feelings, ignore Kosuke and forced herself to forget Chiaki's last words. She decided to take revenge against her own life, her very fate that scattered all three of them apart no more than like straws, and chose a completely different field than Kosuke's, either to show him that she doesn't need him anymore or to prove that to herself. She ignored Kosuke's calls, his messages, replied him shortly if he, once in a long while, would come to see her, pushed herself away from any lingering memories of Chiaki, threw away her baseball gloves, and pulled herself away from any person having any connection to her high school. She had gone into the darkest phase of her life, where everything seemed to go bad for her, where she couldn't find a piece of soft emotion inside her for the world, where all she had became was anger and revenge and hatred, directed at people and at herself. Time used to drag itself for her then, consuming her body and mind and emotions. She would scarcely smile. There was a constant hint of anger in her eyes and a slight frown on her forehead, her jaw clenched most of the time.

It took almost two years but it passed. Finally. That phase of her life ended, slowly at first, then quickly at the end. She came out of it feeling exhausted but relieved. She learned to forgive herself and her friends; Kosuke and Chiaki. She went to meet Kosuke and though he was very busy with his studies, he put aside his books and talked to her and finally she realized that they were still friends, not as close as before but still an important part of each other's life. She spent that entire evening with Kosuke, talking stiffly at first but then relaxing, smiling, laughing and for the sake of old times, teasing. He had been with a few girls, but now he was completely into this one girl; his junior, with brown hair and green eyes, and the way he described her made Makoto laugh hysterically and made Kosuke annoyed as he threw pillows and stationary at her. It was some time well spent and it blew away most of her depression from last few years. At the end, they promised to keep in touch and Kosuke scolded her for giving up previously and she hung her head as he lectured her and wondered if that's what felt like being scolded by a big brother for acting stupidly. He gave her one of his baseball gloves and threatened to kill her if she lost it. She promised, eagerly snatching it out of his hands. They finally said goodbye and she got on the bus as he waved at her. Later, she realized that Kosuke's presence made her feel like a naughty, little girl and wondered if that's the reason why she acted so immaturely around him and that could be because Kosuke acted so big-brotherly and mature around her, scolding her for being stupid, teasing her over little things as a way of his appreciation and wondered why in the first place she gave up on him. He was like her family.

Coming to terms with Chiaki's departure was harder. She reminded herself that she sent him in the first place; she restored his time leap and thus made sure that he stays alive. She told herself that it was a good idea, that they had no other choice anyway and that Chiaki was alive, wherever or whenever he was. But still, there was this hollow feeling in her that intensified whenever she was treated with a sweet reminder of her high school life, of their days together, of Chiaki's rich voice introducing himself that first day of his arrival, his awkward proposal for a date, everything. And it hurts to know that he was out of her reach, no longer able to hear her, tease her, see her in a Yukata. And she felt incomplete, like there's still something of her left behind.

Makoto Konno, a girl of dreams and wishes, of small gestures of care and love, of fake complaints and lots of life, was disappointed by life.

x-x-x

For the people of his time, everything was a struggle for the existence of humanity. For about fifty years or so, the poisonous air of the huge explosions during The Great War had limited them to underground living quarters, breathing heavy, humid air, getting short exposures to sun, making sure the poisonous environment doesn't affect them, all the while struggling to find a way to clean the air above, to make it habitable. It took decades but finally, a few generations back, the scientists came up with a slightly difficult but reasonable solution to the problem and invented a type of liquid that could be sprayed in the air to detoxify it. His uncle was one of the two hundred healthy humans to volunteer for the job and he and his fellows detoxified an area large enough for them to come above the ground and live in sun and blowing air. But due to precautions, he never married to make sure no lasting effects of the poisonous air to his body pass to his children. For Chiaki, he was a hero. He sacrificed his love for humanity and Chiaki had hero-worshipped him all his life. He was the kind of uncle who is a friend of every kid; cracking jokes, showing tricks, bringing small gifts, wild stories, lots of loud games. A throbbing presence in his otherwise dull and empty life.

Soon the purifying chemical was given to other areas of the world so that whatever little land there was not flooded with sea was made habitable. People started making houses above ground, growing crops in sun, starting life back on Earth.

But the haunting scenes of War had sobered them to the limit of a robot. Each step they took was to do something productive. Each item they spent their money on was absolutely essential and nothing less important. They became humans without an extra emotion to spare, any extra effort to put that wasn't for the environment and their survival, any soft words to say that weren't suggesting a solution for the population. They became quiet and seemed to be under a grieve burden from a century old War. They started helping selflessly, talking in dim tones, moving about their business quietly, the loud noises of a century earlier still echoing everywhere around them.

Everything was precisely calculated; food, clothing, medicines, appliances. The concept of luxury and relaxation left them as they refused to treat themselves for the guilt of their ancestors and the burden of establishing a new, more stable society.

As much as Chiaki and the others of his generation were appreciative to that sense of responsibility forced by burden of guilt, they weren't at as much peace with it as their elders might have wanted them to be. There was a growing restlessness among people of his age; a kind of boredom accompanied by slight irritation at the silent way their elders move. But the feeling was still too wide apart. Chiaki had never been in the company of more than two teenagers; mainly because there were so few people left, a single generation never contained more than a hundred kids and they were spread over a large area. There were no occasions of public union, no sports, no picnic points, not even the idea of Christmas or New Year. They were taught the subjects of Science at homes; the idea of school or college too extravagant or a waste of time and place for their elders.

It was too lonely in his time. Chiaki Mamiya longed for some human contact, someone called friend. It was around the time of his tenth birthday that the first time travel took place.

It gave him hope.

x-x-x

A/N: A small chapter – a brief history of each character. Review please.