Ch7 Call Me Crazy

Satoru was back at his old school in no time. Except for this time, Kayo wasn't in her usual seat anymore, much to his sorrow and relief. Although he was happy that she was with her Grandmother once again, he was sad to not be around her and proceeded to sulk for almost the entire period. 'I'm technically 43 years old, and I'm still acting this way," he chided himself. 'I suppose that although I'm older, my maturity is still that of my 11-year-old self.'

"Ahh, buck up, buddy!" Kazu said, slapping Satoru on the shoulder. "She'll be fine. It's not like she left the country. You can still see her someday."

The rest of Satoru's friends, Jun, Hiromi, and Kenya joined in their attempts to alleviate his melodramatic grief. And he was grateful for it. But he really needed to talk to Kenya.

Suddenly, Satoru felt his lungs constricting and after a few blinks, he saw himself submerged in the car once again. The interior appeared a little clearer than it did the first time. As clear as it could be for seeing underwater. He was still fastened to the seat by his tampered seat belt and attempted to riggle himself free. He couldn't get out. It was too tight.

At this moment, Satoru began to panic again and he again felt an electric shock surge through his spine. Then he caught himself reeling from his desk back in his homeroom class. He threw himself so hard that he actually fell out of his chair; bumping the back of his head on the desk behind him before hitting the ground.

"What was that?" Satoru loudly questioned. "Why was I underwater again. In the car."

Kenya's ears perked when he heard these words. Young as he was, he always took notice of unusual details. And this coming from Satoru was VERY unusual indeed.

Satoru's friends gathered around him. Kazu and Jun helped to lift him off the ground as Hiromi asked if he was alright.

"I- I don't know," Satoru stuttered. "What happened?"

Jun answered, "You were lying your head on your desk when you just suddenly yelled and fell out of your chair."

Satoru finally got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head from the pain. Then Kenya grabbed his shoulder and asked, "Can we talk after school?"

This caught Satoru a little off guard, but he replied, "Sure thing, Kenya. I actually need to talk to you about something too."

Once classes were over, they both walked to their usual spot in the stairwell. They promised to meet with Kazu, Jun, and Hiromi at the Hideout in a bit. Kenya sat down on the top step and posed his question. "Satoru, what really happened back there?"

"I don't really know," Satoru replied. "I was sitting in my chair while you and everyone else were talking, and then all of a sudden I felt like I was underwater and I couldn't breathe."

Kenya paused for a moment, looking him in the eyes, then asked, "Then why did you mention a car? And why did you say, "the" car instead of "A" car?"

'As sharp as ever,' Satoru thought. He was both pleased and worried that he picked up on that detail. He didn't know how to respond. 'I can't tell him about Yashiro. That he tried to murder me by dumping me into a frozen river. And I can't tell him about my Revivals either.' But then something struck him like a load of bricks. 'Can it be that the reason why Kayo, Kenya, Sachiko, Kumi, and the others died at Camp Sasanqua because I didn't tell Kenya about his revival before?' This thought deeply troubled him. If he continued down the same path he walked on his last revival, the same thing would likely happen again. Satoru couldn't allow that to happen. Not ever again. So he decided to tell Kenya the truth. All of it.

Before Satoru could begin his story, Kenya imposed another question, "Has this "dream" happened before?"

"Actually Kenya," Satoru started, "it has. But not in a dream."

Kenya shifted his position and placed his hand on his chin; looking both puzzled and attentive. "What do you mean?" he inquired.

Satoru sighed, steeled himself, and said, "You'll never believe me. But everything I'm about to tell you is one-hundred percent true."

"Go on," Kenya said.

"That 'dream'," Satoru began, "of me being in a car underwater isn't a dream. It was a memory, or will be a memory."

Satoru paused and searched Kenya's face to find a reaction. There was nothing. He was silently sitting there with his ears open; ready to hear whatever insanities that'll come out of Satoru's mouth.

He continued. "In my past, you and I saved everyone. Kayo, Nakanishi Aya, and Hiromi from the kidnapper… however, he found out that I knew about his plans and tricked me into driving with him. He tampered with the seatbelt, so I couldn't unlock it and drove me to a frozen river before a bridge. He unrolled the windows, got out, and dumped me into cold water. I essentially… drowned… but someone found me in the car and managed to save me. I was in a coma for 15 years. Then after I woke up, I reconnected with you, Hiromi, and Kayo. But a year later, you, Kayo, my mom, and many others die anyway, by the same man who tried to kill me."

Once Satoru finished, he searched Kenya's face again to find some kind of reaction. Laughter, scorn, perhaps a little worry, but his face was vacant of any expression aside from that studious mask he nearly wore at all times. During the entire explanation, Kenya didn't bat an eye, but sat there and drank everything in.

After a worryingly long period of silence, Kenya finally made his response. "Assuming everything you said is true," he started, "why are you here now and why do you have these memories? Are you telling me that you can travel back in time or something?"

Satoru blushed a little from embarrassment and looked away. "I call it Revival," he weakly replied.

"So you are saying you can travel through time," he said whilst standing to his feet.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me," replied with a defeated look on his face. If anyone would believe Satoru's secret, it would have been Kenya. And to him, he failed to convince Kenya.

As Satoru stood there, Kenya walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Call me crazy," he said, "but I'll believe you."

Satoru quickly looked up; staring at his friend with a mix of hope and stupid disbelief. "You do?" he asked.

"Don't misunderstand me," Kenya replied. "Your story sounds irrationally insane."

Satoru lowered his eyes and said, "Oh."

"However," Kenya continued, "Because of your newly-found drive, we were able to save Kayo from her mother. That is something I was too scared to tackle, and there is no way in a million years the"Satoru" I knew would have done it either. But this "new you" went and took this problem head-on."

Satoru lifted his eyes again at Kenya's encouragement. He continued. "Although I find this "Revival" ability yours to be suspect, I'll buy it for now. But I have one question that needs an answer."

Satoru was afraid of what he was going to ask. "Well, what are they?"

The next few words confirmed his fears. "Who is kidnapper?"