"What do you think about fate?"
That was the first line which came out from her mouth after months. Sitting on my desk , the crimson eye girl, who looked so compose when asking such bold question, scrutinized me thoroughly. She crossed her leg and let her chin rest on her left palm.
"Huh," I, who just came back from school, couldn't help but fell confused,"What do you mean?"
It was Monday's afternoon. My routine had devoured me with unpleasant mundane. Surprisingly, my extracurricular activities were really consumed time and energy. I had planned to spend my afternoon with sleeping.
"You want to change the course of future, right? I can't change the history. But intervening the future is different," she retorted confidently. "We will back to the past."
I took a look to the clock which resting on my desk. It was 4 PM. It couldn't be if I was dreaming. I was one hundred percent wide awake.
"You look like disappointed with your current state. Although you had tried your best to find the culprit of those bizarre murdering cases, through investigating Midnight Channel and defeating shadow-of course, but still your perseverance is fruitless," she sighed, making it dramatic.
"You leaved Inaba with unresolved case. Your little cousin is comatose in hospital. That's too bad if your effort is wasted away," she said it out of pity, maybe.
"Don't you want to fix it, the future?" She asked me persuasively."Don't you want to safe Nanako-chan, do you?"
She is really a suspicious girl. She had firstly appeared from nowhere, then went to exterminate all of shadows in front of me. She rescued me from shadow's assault party. What did she want from me with lending her hands. I asked myself soliloquy. It was not her problem so why this girls want to help me. I couldn't comprehend her but still the offer is tempting.
"I do can help you. I will bring you back to the past. Then, you can start from the very beginning. I'll bring you to the day when you arrived at Inaba."
"Wait," feeling hesitant with her offer, I asked her again. "I'm not quite sure with your mean. You said that you can't change the history but contradictory, you came up with idea of back to the past. How could I trust you?"
"Yes, I'm intervening the future with bring you to the past. The old past is intact. Your friends-Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie-everyone, your school, your surrounding-Midnight Channel-is remained same as your first came, but your old experience and ability are brought along with you to the past."
"How do you know about myself and my past?" I straighten my grip to my bag strap, assessing her explanation.
"I know everything, by the way," she replied with flat tones. Her reactions really scared me.
"First of all, who are you?" I can't stand not asking several question to her, changing the subject of conversation out of fear."Where are you came from? Why do you want to help me? Besides, what is your intention?"
"Easy, pretty boy. I came with peace. It seems that my approach is confusing you, isn't it? I'll explain everything, Yu-chan."
It seemed that she mistook my fear with confusion. She who mysteriously came to Inaba just called my name like a close relative. Yu-chan. It's sound so sissy. She, who called it casually, was more than dangerous.
I felt worried but still nodded, "You had appeared out of nowhere, then offered me with journey to the past. How could I'm not feel suspicious on you."
She, smirked, "Sorry, Yu-chan. I've been caught of situation. Then, let me introduce myself."
Suddenly, my room abruptly changed into big flashy living room. As I could see, there were two wooden chair and one table in the middle of room, leaving another space empty. Even there were a china set of tea with a full tray of different muffins, serving on the table.
Pulling out one of the chair, she sat, then continued introducing herself, "My name is Emu. I'm not human nor your persona. I'm an alien. By the way, please have a sit, Yu-chan."
Her explanations were so intriguing. I blurted out, "You are not greenish."
"Why alien has got to be green? Alien can be appeared as cute and petite megane girl whose reading the book all the time," feeling annoyed with my comment, she resumed her talks, "So, as you can see, I'm an alien, I came from another dimensions. You don't have to caught on guard toward me because I'm harmless."
She added it,"Your world is vulnerable but I have no intention to occupy earth or to scheme some are not the girl who apparently wears pant, easy to be afraid, right?"
She is really unpleasant person, even if she is truly an alien. I was still unconvincing. I retorted, "Why you suddenly bring anime. Precisely, there is no alien in Haruhi. Yuki is android. She was made by data storage. If I'm not mistaken."
She was frowning. It was bad. I led the conversation became worse.
"But still, she is an ALIEN," She kept insisting even emphasizing her opinion.
I can't help but deadpan.
"However, leave it aside, this is not an anime or a manga. Please, chill out," she said plainly."Why we don't have a good conversation while enjoying these muffins? Have a seat, Yu-chan."
This time, I obediently took her offer. She poured the black tea into my cup. The steams leach from the tea, dancing weakly.
"How much do you want your sugar."
"One spoonful."
"Do you want to mix it with fresh milk?"
"No, thank you."
She had stirred my tea then offered it before me, "Here it is."
I gulped my tea even though it was hot and put it back to its saucer on table, waiting for her explanation.
"I know everything about you through my reading mind ability," She continued to talk, picking up one of the muffin for observing.
"I've been watching you for months as well as reading your brain's activity including your past memory. That's how I know your circumstances."
She then bite the chocolate chip one. She must be a sweet tooth. Grimacing, the muffin was really look too sweet for me.
"You know what, I know how to leap through time because I'm an alien,"
"That was impossible. You must be pull string of lie," I said worriedly
"Why it has to be a lie?"
There is no way I took her word casually. Alien who came from nowhere. Had not spoken for months. Bring about time leaping out of thin air. Importantly, asking out of fate nonchalantly.
My surrounding abruptly changed again into another weird environment. I've fell from my chair. Hovering in empty space, black spot everywhere, as far as I gazed. Fortuitously, the chair and tables disappeared like was devouring by black hole. It then turned into outer space. I might was drifting to galaxy nebula. The formations of gas, dust, and other materials clump together to form larger masses. It was really beautiful yet perilous.
"There is no doubt that time leaping is possible. But it is uncommon. Rather than a taboo, it's well known as fantasy. A Bed time story," she started her first thesis.
"Sure, time leaping is a radical idea even to many physicists because it appears as violation on common sense. People don't buy cheap naivete. However, common sense is based on everyday experience with neglecting the idea of universe as a whole."
"But, how much do you know about the universe itself?" she asked me with mocking tone.
She also hovering in galaxy nebula along me, taking the sitting pose. Strangely, she kept holding her tea cup on the left hand and her another chocolate caramel muffin on the right hand. We also did not loss of breath. "Is it an illusion?" I astonished.
"In fact, there is no ultimate theory about universe. What we know are infinite sequence of theories that describe it more precisely." She sipped her tea.
I stared to my new surrounding. It was enchanting. The Pillar of Creations. In the real world, the pillars may already have been destroyed by a supernova explosion, but it's still a hipnotize object. So bright with solid yet grotesque pillars.
The tea cup was disappeared, she then bit her second muffin,"In my world, time leaping is ordinary. Nothing special. We are traveling back and forth to the future. If we don't like something, then we change the future course by turning back to the past."
"What happen in future has happen. I can change the future that I didn't fall to the ground but the fact that I ever had fell to the hole before is intact."
"I still remember about the bruises, the ankle that might be sprained, or the ashamed of falling in front of people. In other word, I'm not against the tide. Accurately, I can change the future that I haven't touch before with back to the crossroad of future."
"It's difficult to comprehend," It was really hard to catch her idea. It was as elusive as the future itself.
"Oh god, why I have to explain it from the basic," she started loathing to explain the things. She paused then sighed. She finished her muffin then stretched her arms. "Is I'm a that stupid?" Somehow, I began to think about it.
"You know, the future itself is branched. You have multiple future by your choices. If you do this then it will lead you to the A future. But if you don't do that, you will lead to the B future. Or if you don't took that both choices, you will lead to the C future. However, you keep moving forward no matter how because the time itself is moving."
"If I'm not wrong there are thesis in human world that tell everything is moving forward through the time course. The time itself is moving forward through constant direction."
"It is common knowledge. Everybody know if the future is moving forward." I plainly added it.
"Arrow of time. Corrected. Stephen Hawking. The theory of everything."
"I'm not reading Stephen Hawking's theories a lot."
She snorted, "you are handsome but unfortunately not very smart, do you? Hardly to believe that there is scratch on yours."
Wanting to refute her words, I concluded that she really has sharp tongue and sting words. Don't want to make a hassle with her, I kept listening her explanation.
"So, how we can travel through time?" I change the course of conversation as moving forward as time course.
"we will sail through the time courses."
"The time courses? So, the course of time isn't solely, it has a friend," I mocked on her explanation
"As I told before, the time course is moving in constant direction to the future. However, the time course itself not only one. It has its pairing. That's why we can go to the crossroad of future."
"Morning and Night, Black and White, Men and Women, Lose and Win," she paused
"Forward and Backward. If there is course of time which moving forward to the future, then there's must be one that moving backward to the future."
"Luckily, our races has developed the technology that harnessing the backward course of time,"
"It's ridiculous. Do you think I'm going to buy such a cheap lie?"
The scenery was changed again. Suddenly, outer space has turned into white flashy room. Balloons was gradually popped out from nothingness, filling the empty room.
"Until the advent of modern technology, all knowledge in the world are obtained through direct observation, direct contact. Things are described through human senses then the input from our sensory organs are interpreted by brains which the output is model of world. Sugar is sweet, wound is painful, thorn is what we called as reality."
Surprisingly, each balloon contained different interesting color which very attractive. She played with the balloons while kept babbling, throwing up the unfortunate balloons then squeezing it. She had grabbed the blue coral one then stretched it. It was really bugging me, how she changed the scenery as her amusement.
"Thus,everything has grown more than expectation through invention," She continued to explain, "We found proton-neutron, electromagnetic waves, data storage, many more. Even human set his foot on the moon. Do you think we finally reach an end point of ultimate model of the world itself through invention? Luckily, both of us have had experiencing the shadow related things. So, the reality itself is extremely expanding."
Sadly, the balloons exploded.
She continued to convince me, "Nothing is impossible even time travel thing."
Here, she explained about invention and etcetera with circumstantial evidence. "Honestly, I don't care about your physicist explanations. I just want to know your motive." I asked her straightforwardly, "Have you get any advantages from helping me?"
I cant't help but feel doubtful with her true intention. It seems so dubious when stranger willingly help you without naming any reward. She had no obligation to give any assistance yet she kept forcing to lend a hand, led into the compromising cooperation.
"Who cares about reasons, explanations? I just know that it's fate. So, nothing we can do, right?" She sang out of blue.
Finally, the scenery back to the normal. My normal room. The only haven I have, very private place of my own, my own territory. Somehow, I felt a bit relieved.
"You are lamenting about future, right? I'll help you to change the fate with all resources. Just take it."
She locked my gaze with her dark red eyes, again, citing fate as her reason, "What if, I help you to change the course of future because I've been bound to do that by fate."
"You must be a dangerous person, very manipulative, do you?"
She shrugged, "Who knows. Just find it out later, silver hair. However, lets call it all as a fate."
Then, with suspicious tone, she offered a new engagement, "Now, can we make a contract?"