CHAPTER 30: SYNCHRONICITY

Compared to the spacious expanse of the Academy she left behind, this Academy's library felt cramped. It was nearly suffocating with the sheer amount of volume-laden shelves packed as tightly as possible into three floors while still allowing just enough space for a person to maneuver between. Kyoko eyed the stacks that stretched from floor to ceiling and suppressed a sigh before approaching the circulation desk.

Kuu had nodded in assent to her soft-spoken request that morning and contacted the library in advance of her arrival to let them know that she was allowed to use the facility with his permission. There were two questions that she knew she could not answer by using the data in Kuu's archives. Her first question would be rather easy to answer. It was her second question that might require a more creative solution. One she was hoping the attendant would be able to concoct.

Getting turned around only twice on her way to the maps and atlases section was considered an achievement as far as she was concerned. She settled at a vacant table nearby with an oversized atlas, spreading it open and carefully turning the large pages until she found the map she was looking for. Her fingers dragged across the page, through the valley made by the spine and on to the facing page. Once she found the two points she wanted to reference, she began to count, checking the markings along the vertical lines that ran from the top of the map downwards, slicing through land and sea alike in mostly straight lines.

One finger slid closer to the other and she kept counting until they met. Then she repeated the process one more time to be sure she had counted correctly. The result was noted on a small scrap of paper, she would compare it to her notes once she was back in Kuu's office. At first, she thought to bring them with her but decided against it at the last minute. She had no idea who else would be in the library and there was no accounting for prying eyes catching a glimpse.

Sliding the atlas back onto its shelf, she wandered over to the circulation desk to find the attendant waving a hand towards her, beckoning her over. She wondered how wide and hopeful her eyes must have looked to the attendant at the moment when she approached the desk for the second time that day, but their face betrayed nothing. They explained to her—in the quietest monotone she had ever witnessed in her seventeen years—that they contacted another Academy library regarding her request and that they agreed to forward copies of archived images of a local newspaper. They would arrive early that afternoon. Kyoko thanked them as profusely as she could, given the location, and promised to return after lunchtime.

Hours passed with all the speed of treacle falling from a spoon. She busied herself by browsing through some of the minutiae she chose to overlook during her early perusals of the project data. For the most part, she only half-looked at them, mostly to appear busy and far less anxious than she actually was while waiting. The notes she brought back from the library confirmed her suspicions as to her first question so the wait was all the more agonizing now that only one more piece to the puzzle remained just out of her reach.

That afternoon, as all afternoons before it, did eventually arrive and Kyoko wanted to give in to the urge to sprint towards the library. She managed to rein it in before leaving the office and took measured steps the entire way, counting as she went along to distract herself. A different person sat at the desk when she arrived; a student from the looks of it. Her heart performed a few downward swoops when the new attendant seemed unfamiliar with the arrangement she had with their precursor. Still, she managed to convince the student that, yes, she was allowed to be there and the paper-clipped sheets on the counter behind them that had the name Kuu Hizuri written on a small note on the top were, in fact, for her.

She hugged the papers tight to her chest the entire way back to the office, partly to reaffirm that they were real and partly to ensure they would not fly away in a sudden gust of wind. A brief scan of them all but guaranteed that she now had her missing piece. Still, she wanted to be sure. Unfortunately, her impatience had an adverse effect on her legs and the walk between the library and the office was suddenly the longest it had ever been.

The excitement she felt upon confirming her hypothesis eclipsed any trepidation she had about waltzing up to Kuu's desk and slamming two sheets from her notepad on his desk. Was it bad form? Yes. Excessive? Most likely. Necessary? Well, as far as she was concerned, very much so.

To think the answer was right under her nose the entire time. To think that she could have made a wild guess using her situation as a reference and she still would have been correct. Instead, she spent five days wading through data and jargon she barely understood. At least, this way, she had hard evidence to back up her claim instead of some wishy-washy excuse obscuring her personal history. She had a feeling he would not let her get away with a gut feeling as her reasoning.

"They Awakened at the same time," she declared in triumph when Kuu looked at her bemused.

"And you know this because?" he asked her flatly.

She jabbed a finger at the dates and times she'd written on the top sheet. "Well C and D were probably the most obvious once I thought about it. It just took me a while to realize that D was in a completely different time zone than C. Even though they were technically fifteen hours apart, they still Awakened at the same time."

He wore a featureless expression on his face, giving no indication that she was right or wrong so she forged ahead.

"A and B were going to be the most difficult because of the whole DARR thing, but I found an article about the festival A mentioned and it takes place on the same weekend every year." Kyoko pushed aside the sheet that lay on top to reveal the paper just below it. "I checked the dates it would have been held around the time Subject A would have been thirteen and it matched up with the same weekend in the same year that Subject B Awakened. I can't say for sure if it was the same day or time but I guessed that it was close enough for a connection."

What she could not add was the fact that it jived with her personal experience solidified her theory. Hopefully, the information she managed to find would suffice without including that particularly damning detail.

She realized she was still staring down at the papers on his desk and blinked twice before looking up at the man sitting across from her. A stoic face regarded her for what felt like a small eternity of moments and they stared at each other in uneasy silence. Then he smiled. And that particular smile on that particular face—looking as similar as it did to the much younger version she left behind—produced a mixture of joy and despair in her gut.

"I'm glad I was right about you," he admitted.

The twisting in her stomach paused for her to take in his words. She frowned, confused. "What?"

"I knew you'd figure it out. Kotetsu wouldn't send just anybody here if he didn't think they could get the job done."

"So you were testing me?" She did not bother to keep the betrayal she felt from her voice.

His head bobbed from side to side. "You work with Kotetsu Uesugi, I doubt you expected me to spoon-feed it to you. Mostly, I wanted to see if you could prove you were capable of critical thinking."

"Why?"

"Because now that you've discovered what I did, you can probably infer what would happen if this information fell into certain hands."

He had a point. It required no mental gymnastics to figure out what any Academy would consider were they armed with that knowledge. Still, the logistics of it sounded fairly daunting and cumbersome. Kyoko frowned again.

"There could be any number of people Awakened on the same day but—" When the discomfiting truth formed in her mind, her lips sealed themselves shut before she could complete her thought.

"But the number of people who Awakened at the same time is significantly smaller," Kuu finished for her.

While Kyoko was both relieved and grateful that this was the man who happened to make the connection instead of someone else, she was also saddened. If the world was a different place, Kuu would not have had to abandon his study. The pursuit of knowledge was halted in its tracks by politics and it left a bitter taste in her mouth as sure is it must have done to him. She told him as much and he let out a rueful laugh.

"This was the price we paid for progress, I suppose," he lamented.

"Well, I'm sure it was a step forward for some at least," she snorted, rolling her eyes.

Kuu shook his head and sighed. "Anyway, you didn't come here to commiserate. We had an agreement and, since you've held up your end of the bargain, it's time for me to do the same."

He rolled back his chair and bent low behind his desk. Kyoko heard the faintest click of something being unlatched and springing free not long after his head disappeared. When he sat back up, he had a cream-colored folder in his hands. It was no thicker than maybe the width of two of her thumbs and the edges were worn and starting to curl. Stared at it open-mouthed when he held it out to her.

"Is this…"

He nodded. "This is what was left out of the official study. It's not much but maybe there's something helpful in it that you and Kotetsu can use."

"I don't—you're giving this to me?" her lips fumbled the words as they left her mouth.

"Not to keep, obviously," he added, "but you're free to look through it for the remainder of your time here and see if any of it is useful. As I said, I'm holding up my end of our agreement."

"But I didn't do anything special," she protested, reluctantly taking the folder from his hands. "I mostly lucked out on a hunch and took the logical path from there. Honestly, anyone could have figured it out. I'm surprised no one has."

His answering smile held no mirth to it. "You figured it out because I gave you a very important clue. I told you there was something else you needed to look for. Without that, you would've been buried under data for days without ever seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. That study was one of hundreds in a journal that was one of thousands."

"You hid it in plain sight," she concluded.

"For the most part, yes."

Kyoko nodded at this while her brain made the connection of a very similar tactic used by another member of the Hizuri family. Truly there was no end to the similarities between father and son. The folder in her hands suddenly felt twice as heavy. The knowledge of what it was and what it represented causing it to feel less like a stack of papers and more like a handful of lead.

"Well, I suppose I have my work cut out for me… again."

"I wouldn't recommend diving into that today." He waved a dismissing hand in the air. "Let's leave early and you can help me make dinner. It'll give your brain a chance to rest."

Admittedly, she was stunned by Kuu's abrupt attitude change but she took it mostly in stride. There was little choice in the matter as she had limited time. Furthermore, it was not her first time dealing with the transition from a gruff, standoffish person to someone who would talk her ears off if they were given the chance. She thought of Kuon again and shook her head to herself with a hidden smile.

Genetics is a hell of a thing.

Kyoko returned to her room much later than usual that night after the most animated dinner she had the privilege to witness followed by a conversation that involved her speaking more in one evening than she had in months. Both Kuu and Jullie were brimming with a myriad of anecdotes about their coworkers, their friends, and each other and they repeatedly asked her to contribute her thoughts or similar experiences related to the (ever-changing) topic. She was physically and mentally exhausted by it all and could only offer silent praises and blessings to Julie for noticing and insisting she get some sleep.

She leaned against the closed door behind her, letting her head fall back against it. The silence that surrounded her brought about the realization that he lively evening succeeded in distracting her. There was little time for her to fully process what she learned that day, which was probably what Kuu was trying to accomplish in the first place. Now nothing remained to divert her attention and all she could think about was an ominous summer day some ten years past, a senseless argument, and a boy who wished only to save her from falling out of a tree. She felt her knees buckle underneath her and she let them slide her down, down, down to crumble into a pile on the floor.

Ren could still feel the burn of the drink in his throat despite the glass sitting empty on the floor beside him. He wanted to commend himself for only filling it once but the generous portion he poured counted as a double serving at least. His hardwood living room floor was uncomfortable beneath him but he had no interest in sitting on the sofa. Instead, he leaned against it and let his head loll forward with a deep sigh.

The densely clouded skies in his mindscape had become a permanent fixture, making it easy for him to ignore it most of the time. That night, he stared up at it for a long moment before shutting his eyes tight. He regretted coming here. After the conversation he had with Kimiko the day before—if one could call their exchange as such—and the tense talk he had with Lory and Yukihito only a few hours prior, this was the last place he should be. It only served to remind him how alone he was.

Because there he was, and there she was not. Try as he might, he could never forget that fact.

He sat on the same bench where he would while away the time with his enigmatic younger self and stared into the vast distance. Buildings and trees lost definition as they sprawled further out until they merged into the gray vastness of the sky. He was unsure how long he sat motionless before a familiar tabby cat jumped into his lap. Another sigh worked its way out of him and he ran a gentle hand along the cat's back. It did little to calm him.

"I think things are only going to get worse from here," he said to the animal now purring in his lap.

The cat said nothing in return, which he expected. It merely turned in a half-circle before plopping itself down onto his thighs like a misshapen donut.

"I don't know what's going to happen but, whatever it is, I feel like it'll be happening soon." He scratched behind the cat's ears, ignoring the deep rumble of thunder overhead. "But I'll do anything it takes to keep Kyoko safe."

"Even if it puts you in danger?" asked a voice beside him.

There was no point in looking to see who it was. The voice alone told him everything he needed to know. Besides, he was unsure as to whether or not he could stand to look at her face just then. So, he nodded his head and kept his eyes focused on the cat.

"Even then," he confirmed. "You deserve a life away from all of… this."

"But that includes a life away from you," the voice pointed out with a longing lilt.

His answering laugh was hollow. "My mental projections sure do a lovely job of telling me what they think I want to hear."

"Was that not it?" she asked, surprised. He shook his head.

The humidity in the air slowed the path his fingers made through the cat's fur. He could taste the moisture with every breath he took.

"It is, but not really," he said. "That wish only exists in a world far more idyllic and far less troubled than this one."

Ren finally looked over to find his imaginary Kyoko sitting there, looking just like the real version did when they last saw each other. Her arms were crossed and she had an expectant look on her face as if she was waiting for something. Not knowing what it could be, he frowned. So did she.

"You shouldn't be here."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't change the fact that I am." She looked up at the sky. "By the way, love what you've done with the place. It's very broody."

"If anyone ever finds a way in here and see you, that could be the end for both of us."

Her smile was grim and flatter than it was curved. "They'd have to know what they were looking for first. I take the form of whatever fits your needs at the time. I don't think this look would be suitable in the event of an invasion."

"It's not suitable now either," Ren groaned in frustration.

"Your subconscious seems to disagree with you."

He scoffed. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"Guess I'll leave you to your brooding then." She got up from the bench, running a hand over her clothes to smooth out nonexistent wrinkles. "Since my presence is obviously upsetting you."

Lightning flashed overhead, casting her entire face in shadow. He closed his eyes against the blinding burst of light. When he reopened them, she was gone. The temporary four-legged resident of his lap had also departed during the light show and he was left alone.

"It is," he agreed, his quiet words floating off on the sudden breeze that picked up. "Because it hurts too much to have this version of you when it's not the real one."

Thunder boomed again; louder and closer this time, shaking the ground beneath him. Above him, the laden clouds could bear their burden no longer

And it began to rain.

WOW IT'S BEEN... A REALLY LONG TIME. Holy moly cow, I didn't think it would take me two months to write this but here we are. I blame... well... [gestures vaguely at everything].

Anyway, I hope this was worth the wait.

AUTHOR OUT