Here is the second January update. I am sorry that it came late. Not only later than I usually update on the day I say I will but the whole timeframe. College Classes started up and I had assignments that I had to finish. I didn't get a chance to post until now.
Chapter Eighty: Remember
[Takuya's P.O.V]
I glanced at the clock when it chimed, five thirty. Dad was late and tonight was Shinya's birthday. I looked at the clock before looking to Shinya. Shinya had his nose stuffed in the comic that I had gotten and given to him earlier in the day. He's been reading it since the TV wasn't working which meant that there were no video games.
"Oh honey, you can't be late tonight! It's Shinya's birthday!" One glance at mom who was making Shinya's favorite for dinner told me she was very unhappy with dad.
"Tell dad I want something big. A forklift!" I snickered hearing Shinya say that and the look he got from mom.
We both knew that Shinya was joking but mom wasn't in the mood. Dad's been working late for a while now, something about he got a promotion since his higher up got fired. Mom didn't understand why he kept working late since before now dad had been doing the job plus his last since his boss was slacking and he was forced to catch the slack.
"Shinya, I'm not in the mood tonight." Once mom had turned around I reached for the cake.
Dinner wasn't done and I was hungry. Just one strawberry wouldn't hurt, right? There were strawberries all around the edge of the cake. It wasn't like Shinya hadn't stolen one earlier on.
"Don't you even think of eating that cake Takuya." I cringed and looked at mom, she hadn't even turned to look.
Does she have eyes in the back of her head or something? I looked at Shinya when he laughed. He stuck his tongue out at me. I got up but the moment I did so did Shinya. He took off running and I gave chase. Mom shouted something about not running in the house but I pretended I didn't hear it. I caught up to Shinya pretty easily and he managed to corner himself in the living room.
I smirked and started to approach him, "Takuya, don't."
"Aw, come on buddy it's your birthday. Don't you remember what you did when it was mine?" Shinya gulped and pressed himself into the wall.
"G-give you candy?" I smiled at his response but shook my head.
"Nope, I believe you."
"Come on! I know you're busy but it's your son's birthday!" I frowned and looked back towards the kitchen.
I wonder if dad will be able to make it back before Shinya goes to bed. Dad's been pretty busy despite having done it before but I guess there might've been other things that he had to do that he hadn't before. I wasn't even completely sure what dad all did at work.
I looked to Shinya when he tugged on my shirt, "Dad will come home tonight, right Takuya?"
"Of course he will! Knowing him he's probably at the store trying to get you a present, he probably forgot to get something until last minute!" I ruffled Shinya's hair.
"Dad probably just doesn't want to tell mom since she's been reminding him and he doesn't want to admit he forgot." Shinya smiled before racing back to the kitchen.
I laughed and shook my head. When I ran my fingers through my hair I unconsciously must've sought out the old scar. I do it sometimes when I think about how things could be different. I still never did remember the rest of that night after I got lost. I remember what people call an 'out of body experience' since apparently I had actually died but got brought back. The doctors weren't completely sure why I had suddenly reacted like I did, they think it was due to a medication allergy actually.
"Takuya, your phone went off!" I headed back to the kitchen when Shinya yelled the words, knowing he'd steal my phone if I left it for too long.
When I got to the table I picked up the phone, it was a text. I accepted the text and it popped up.
"Takuya Kanbara, it's time to decide your future." I stared at the phone, which was letting out the odd voice.
"Wait a minute, who is this? What do you mean my future?" I stared at my phone.
"Your destiny is calling. Take the 5:45 outbound train." I stared at the message and looked at the clock, it was already 5:37.
I sighed and exited the text. It was probably one of those stupid chain messages that my friends have been sending to me recently – they did some freaky stuff to try and creep me out. Besides dad would probably be home soon and if I wasn't here when he got here and they had to wait on me I would never hear the end of it from mom.
"Getting an ugly tie for a meeting isn't important!" Mom shouted the words while Shinya and I laughed.
We shared a knowing look. Yeah, dad totally forgot to get Shinya a present and was probably at the store right now trying to get something – refusing to tell mom the real reason as to why he was late. I looked at my phone when it went off again and I accepted the text. I shook my head after reading the text from one of my friends who decided to remind me that school started next week.
"Mom, he's probably embarrassed to admit that he forgot that it was Shinya's birthday and he had to run and get something." I entered the kitchen as I spoke.
Mom looked at me before sighing. I opened the fridge and got out a bottle of water and when my mom facepalmed I knew that father had probably told the truth now. I smiled as I left the kitchen, taking a drink of my water.
"Call me when dad gets here, I'm gonna head over to Shima's real quick." I head for the door.
"Be careful Takuya." I waved as I left.
I yawned as I headed down the porch stairs. I walked down the street as I texted Shima telling him that I was coming over. Shima always welcomed me since we've lived close together since we were born. He was the only kid my age on the street so we're practically brothers actually. Shima just told me that I owed him a piece of cake tomorrow but I knew that I could get him invited over since he was kinda a part of the family as well his parents weren't around often. He had often ended up getting watched by my mother years ago before he was old enough to stay home by himself. The walk was only five minutes and that's because I was walking slowly. I knocked on his door and seconds later he opened the door.
"Hey dude, haven't seen you for a while, Mr. Summer Cold." I rolled my eyes as I entered, slipping my shoes off.
"That wasn't my fault." He laughed and headed to his living room, I kicked the door close before following after him.
"Uh huh, sure it wasn't. I don't know anyone but you who will play soccer in the rain Takuya." Shima flopped on his couch after the words.
"That's because it was dad's day off and my parents wanted Shinya and I out the house. Shinya went over to his friend's house while I didn't have a place to go." I sat on the couch, glancing at the TV.
Shima had been watching an anime but it was paused. I smiled seeing it, it was that one with the silver haired dog demon. I've been meaning to watch it since Shima talks so much about but I haven't had time to sit down and properly watch it.
"You could've come here you know." I looked back to him, giving him a flat look.
"I did, you were having a bad day and yelled at me to go away." He tilted his head, thinking.
"I did? Oh crap, you came then." He gave a suddenly nervous laugh as he rubbed his arm.
"Sorry about that, my parents were actually home and they were the ones who weren't having a good day. They were just being annoying and they were pretty rude to you the last time you came over. Didn't mean to take that out on you." He smiled but I shrugged.
"Its fine, besides it was nice to play soccer." Shima sighed before getting up.
"So, what brings you over here anyways Takuya? I figured you'd be at home gorging yourself on cake." I sighed but watched as Shima switched his TV over and booted up his GameCube.
"Dad's not home and we can't eat till he gets home. I didn't have anything to do but still, couldn't I just come over and hang out with my best friend?" Shima looked at me over his shoulder.
"I guess you could, even though we haven't hung out much since last year." I looked away and gave a nervous laugh in response to his words.
"Sorry 'bout that man. I don't know what happened really." He walked back and handed me a controller which I took.
"Its fine, it's partially my fault since I stay in the house most of the time and you have a problem sitting still and we beat all the games that we have between us." As Shima spoke Super Smash Brother's Melee loaded up.
I grinned seeing the game, "Been a while since I last played this."
We started the game and it barely took time to start the match. Shima chose Kirby, a character that he used to always play so I wasn't surprised. I choose Bowser since he was one of the only characters that I could remember how to play at the moment. It was pretty interesting, we did a stock match of five. We were going head to head but despite it being a while since I played I wasn't doing too badly.
"Aw come on, how are you winning!" I yelped as Shima shoved a hand into my cheek – it also caused me to drop my control.
Shima took the opportunity to start beating up on Bowser. I went to grab my controller but he kicked it away real quickly. I glared at him but he smirked at me. I slapped his controller from his hands. He glared at me but I smirked.
"Player One Defeated." We both looked at the screen.
Kirby was flying away in the background, Jigglypuff running from where Kirby had been. I started to laugh but soon I was laughing too hard. The NPC Jigglypuff had sent him flying. Shima ran to my controller and I watched as he made quick work of tearing Jigglypuff a new one with Bowser.
"I can't believe I lost to Jigglypuff of all characters!" I laughed as I watched Shima rage.
I didn't bother to try and get my controller back because it was funny watching Shima rage against Jigglypuff and poor Dr. Mario. I watched as Shima made Bowser grab Jigglypuff and butt drop off the side of the Temple Stage. Bowser came back, two more lives, and charged right at Dr. Mario.
"Come here and I'll give you some medicine you Tetris knock off quack!" I fell back onto the couch as Shima continued to shout at the TV.
Shima had me wheezing for air by the time he was done with the match – needless to say Bowser won. Shima stood proudly in front of the TV. He looked at me after a couple of seconds. He cocked his head to the side.
"What's wrong with you Takuya?" I stared at him.
"Do you remember any of the things you shouted at the TV?" He actually seemed a tad confused for a couple of seconds – then he went as red as Roy's hair.
Shima turned away from me and crossed his arms. I recovered after a couple of moments but it felt good laughing that hard. I missed hanging out with Shima. Why did I ever stop hanging out with him? I looked to Shima when he flopped down on the couch. He sat the controller on my face since I was laying on the couch, my legs hanging over the arm.
"Come on, let's play some more. This time, don't get me killed by Jigglypuff." I took the control off my head and sat up.
"I'll try." I sat up and as I was about to choice my character when my phone went off.
I pulled out my phone, it was home. I sighed, a bit upset that it was time to go already. I haven't even got to hang out much with Shima. I answered my phone, glancing at Shima when he heaved a sigh.
"Takuya, your father is home so come on. Hey, hands off that cake!" I heard Shinya laugh when my mother yelled.
"Guess you gotta go?" I nodded at Shima's question.
"I'll be right over mom." She sighed and hung up, starting to say something to Shinya as she did so.
Shima took my controller before I could move. He sat them where he had been sitting and headed for the door, I followed after him. He looked back at me as he opened the door.
"See ya at school Takuya." I nodded and high-fived him as I left.
I headed back home and folded my hands behind my head. I paused outside of the house, looking in the direction of the train station. I wonder what would've happened had I ran off to the train station instead of staying home. I shrugged and went up to the front door.
"I'm back." I called out the words as I slipped my shoes off.
My mom left the kitchen, food in hand, "How was Shima?"
I followed her to the dining room, Shinya was on the floor looking at the toy that dad must've gotten him. Dad was sitting at the table eying the cake.
"Shima seems to be doing fine. He hates Jigglypuff but yeah he's doing fine." My mom looked at me when she put the food down, she looked confused.
"Why does he hate Jigglypuff?" She asked it while Shinya looked.
"We played Melee and he got taken out by Jigglypuff, one of the weakest characters." Shinya laughed hearing that while mom just nodded as if she understood.
"Well, you two go wash your hands and we'll have dinner." Shinya ran to the bathroom but I just back tracked to the kitchen.
Next Week, at School
I yawned, walking through the halls to my class half asleep. I looked to Shima when he sneezed.
"Allergic to school?" He shot a smirk at me when I said it.
"Probably, I always seem to get sick at school." He covered his mouth as he yawned.
"Takuya!" My shoulders dropped.
I sighed and looked over my shoulder. I waved to the girl who ran to me, she was smiling away. She was a tad annoying then again she tried way too hard to get my attention and tried to act like she liked the same things as me.
"Hey Mika, I thought your family was moving this summer." She smiled at me but glanced at Shima, edging away from him before looking back to me.
"Aw, were you worried that you wouldn't get to see me again?" She grabbed my arm, smiling at me and I did my best to keep my eye from twitching.
"See ya later man." My head whipped to Shima, he was walking away.
"Ah, wait!" I wanted to catch up to him but Mika didn't release my arm and that kept me from moving.
Shima rounded the corner and Mika let out a sigh of relief, "I'm so glad that he's gone. Why do you hang out with him anyways? He's creepy with those eyes, who has white eyes?" I glared at Mika but she didn't notice since she was giving me a closed eye smile.
"Why did the school even let him come back? He should've been expelled after he got into that fight, I mean someone was sent to the hospital." She opened her eyes and she flinched seeing my glare.
"Did you forget that Shima's my friend?" She narrowed her eyes at me, frowning.
"I know you try to be everyone's friend Takuya but there is no reason you have to be his friend. If you have time to waste with him then why don't we go out on a date?" I took a step back and yanked my arm out of her grip.
Everyone stopped to look because Mika had lost balanced and fell to her knees. There were whispers and even if a part of me hated how I reacted I couldn't find any reason to care. Shima was my friend. I know he had a bad reputation but Shima wasn't a bad person. It wasn't his fault that his appearance drew attention, attention that ended up with him getting into fights against his will.
"I don't know why you act like that, Mika. Shima's been my friend since we could walk, I'm not going to ditch him for someone who has a bet with her friends to see if she can get me to fall for her." I turned away from her and started to walk away.
"Not cool, he could've at least apologized." I looked to the blonde haired girl who muttered it as I passed her.
She leveled a glare at me, her blue-green eyes were icy. I paused before I rounded the corner. Something about her seemed familiar, like I knew her. I shook my head and cleared the thoughts from my head.
"Zoe!" When the blonde haired girl turned I glanced, plus the voice was familiar.
A scarlet haired girl had approached Zoe – the scarlet haired girl was Amelia if I remember correctly, we've shared classes for years. I turned away though and continued on my way. I should probably find my class. I just hoped that this year I wouldn't have class with Mika and instead had Shima in my class. I reached the room that housed my class and when I walked in I grinned. By the window was Shima but our other two friends were also there.
Tatsu smirked when he noticed me, "Well, look at this. After two years we're all in the same class."
"Oh, this year is gonna be nice!" Shouhei laughed.
"Great, we get Mika to." Shima muttered the words, his white eyes following her more than likely.
I looked over my shoulder, Mika was fidgeting and rushing along behind the blonde haired girl from the hall way. So those two were friends? Mika left Zoe's side and went to two of her popular friends while Zoe approached the school's quiet guy. I watched the scarlet haired girl enter the room.
Tatsu laughed, "Well, that's not a sight I ever expected to see."
The scarlet haired girl had entered via back door of the classroom. She had snuck up behind the quiet kid and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, smiling and even giving a quick peck to his cheek.
"Amelia!" The quiet kid snapped but not out of anger, embarrassment more than likely since his cheeks had flushed red.
"What I wanna know is how he, Koji Minamoto, ended up with Amelia Chasen doing that. The two didn't even speak last year despite sitting beside each other the whole year." I looked at Shouhei and he gave a nervous laugh when he noticed that.
"Why do you know that Shouhei?" He hung his head while Tatsu laughed as he slung his arm over Shouhei's shoulders.
"Its cause Shou here has a crush on Amelia, should've seen him when they talked. He was a stuttering mess." Tatsu kept his voice quiet but our group heard him, then we also heard him groan in pain since Shouhei nailed him in the side.
"Shut it Tatsu! You said you wouldn't tell anyone about that." Shouhei hissed the words and I started to laugh because it wasn't often that Shouhei got embarrassed and he being angry as well just made it funny.
"Both of you need to behave, we have the jerk who suspended me for self-defense." Shima hissed the words and I looked to the teacher.
The teacher was glaring at us, Shima in particular. He's always hated Shima for some reason. Suspended Shima last year for a defending himself when he got jumped, even when Shima was sent to the hospital for a broken arm. It was clear to everyone who saw it that Shima had defended himself but the teacher didn't believe it while the kids who jumped Shima got off.
"I would say he'd need a good reason to get us in trouble but he doesn't seem to care about that tidbit." Tatsu sounded annoyed, we all disliked him to a degree for what he had done to Shima last year.
Two Months Later
I sat at my desk, staring out the window. I was really hating the year so far. Well, I hated Mr. Akamori who I had for homeroom and the first class of the day. Mr. Akamori had decided to split my whole group up from the very first day. He's one of the only teachers that actually had assigned seating and was so harsh on it despite having a good class. Tatsu and Shima sat in the very first row but at the ends, Shima by the window and Tatsu by the door. Shouhei and I sat in the last row, Shouhei by the door while I was by the window.
"Attention everybody." Mr. Akamori's voice was rough and I tore my eyes from the window.
Mr. Akamori stood at the front with his arms cross. He was pretty much glaring at the class. He was strict, too strict since he got people in trouble for the smallest of things. In fact, he even had the good kids hating him since he's written up one the 'best behaved' students for simply talking in class. Even if that was because they got a sudden bloody nose and needed to go to the nurse's office but apparently they hadn't raised their hand and waited for him to acknowledge them.
"First, there will be no shouting out and no questions asked." Sometimes I wondered how Mr. Akamori was a 'well respected' teacher since he doesn't even seem to have kids getting good grades in his class.
"Second off, we have a transfer student." I was a bit surprised.
A transfer student? It was kind of rare to get a transfer student. I shrugged and waited, wanting to see this transfer student now.
"Come in now." The door opened a couple seconds after Mr. Akamori's command.
My eyes widened. I stared at the girl who walked in. She had long white hair, it was tied back. Her eyes stood out since they were red. Her eyes had settled on me and they held a determined gleam in them. She wore white shirt that had a red sun on it with a pair of black cargo pants.
How is she?
"Introduce yourself." The girl didn't flinch under Mr. Akamori's rough demand.
"Chrono Aleksander." She was still staring at me.
For some reason I felt like I remembered her. I felt like I had lived through this before. This was an odd sense of Déjà vu but something also told me that it had happened differently. Something told me that things were different.
"You'll sit beside Takuya, raise your." Mr. Akamori stopped while everyone stared.
Chrono had already started to move and she walked straight to my desk. There were two other desks besides the one that was beside me. She didn't take a seat however she stopped and stood beside my desk. She stared at me before suddenly the serious face broke and she smiled at me. Her eyes lit up while she gave a brilliant smile.
"Found you Takuya." I was confused.
"I d-don't know you." She shook her head.
"I'll help you find your way this time Takuya." What was she talking about?
"I don't know how they do things in America;, Aleksander but I do not tolerate things like this. Take your seat this moment or I will write you up. I'll let this slide but you just used your newbie pass." Chrono's eyes narrowed and she tossed a glare over her shoulder but since Mr. Akamori had turned he probably hadn't noticed.
"Never did like you." She muttered the words as she took her seat.
Class dragged on, especially since Mr. Akamori decided to harass me and make me read multiple passages aloud. Mr. Akamori taught History and there wasn't any real need to make someone read aloud but he loved doing it because it annoyed kids I think. Nothing eventful happened during class besides the kid in front of me cursing Mr. Akamori out under his breath after he got written up. By the time was over I wanted to go home.
"Takuya." I looked to Chrono, her hands behind her back.
"Can I help you?" Even if I should be uncomfortable since I didn't know her, I didn't feel uncomfortable for some reason.
"Who do you have next?" I gave a nervous smile as I stood up.
"Mrs. Minami, why do you ask?" She shifted, nervous on her feet.
"I was wondering if you could help me find my way. I also have Mrs. Minami next." I nodded slowly.
"Yeah, sure just follow me." She nodded and followed after me.
I was met by Shima outside the door though, he also had Mrs. Minami next. He raised his eyebrow seeing Chrono.
"Chrono this is Shima; she has Mrs. Minami next as well and needs some help finding her way." Shima shrugged and started to walk ahead of us.
"She should've asked someone else besides being creepy and attaching herself to you. She acts as if she knows you when you obviously don't know her. She's probably friends with Mika." That bothered me because while Shima may be rough around the edges he's never been out right rude like that before – it was as if he's one of those characters that were poorly written in that moment and went out of character.
"Perhaps it is odd how I 'attached' to Takuya but he does know me, he just doesn't remember me. We met before his accident and apparently his memories of me are gone." I froze when she said that.
I knew her before the accident? No, that didn't make sense. I remembered everything besides that night at the fair. Chrono got a few steps in front of me before she stopped and looked back. She seemed worried.
"What's wrong Takuya?" How would she know of the accident though if she hadn't known me; the only people who actually knew about that accident besides my family was Shima.
"How do you know about his accident? No one knows about that besides me." Chrono glanced at Shima.
"How did you know that I actually forgot things because of that accident though because, I guess you could've found out if you talked to people who lived by the street but no one knows that I lost my memories of that night when I got hit?" Something flashed in Chrono's eyes.
"We need to get to class, I'll answer your questions when we have time." She started to walk away, as if she knew the way to Mrs. Minami's class suddenly.
"Something ain't right with her man, you should stay away from her." I nodded.
"Yeah but, I do feel like I know her so maybe I really did know her and forgot her somehow." Shima sighed but we rushed to class, passing Chrono in the front of the classroom once there since she was talking to Mrs. Minami.
I took my seat in the back of the room, Shima beside me this time. Chrono sat on the other side of the room by the back door. She sat beside Amelia who sat in front of Koji. I found that I kept watching Chrono, she was working on something instead of paying attention to class. The way she had her head rested in her right hand and glaring at the page told me that much. I was surprised when I realized that she was left handed.
"Takuya." My eyes snapped from Chrono to Mrs. Minami.
"What's the answer?" I was lost.
"They waited at the bus stop for their father when the forest spirit showed up." Shima's voice was quiet, I barely heard it.
"They were at the bus stop waiting for their father and the forest spirit showed up." Mrs. Minami nodded and turned around.
"Dude, stop spacing out." Shima hissed at me.
"Sorry and thanks." He stared at me before sighing.
Don't trust that witch, she's not to be trusted!
The day went on and I found myself watching Chrono in every class we shared, much to Shima's annoyance. The classes I had with Tatsu and Shouhei that also had Chrono proved to be annoying to them to. Something bothered me though. The more I focused on Chrono the more I felt like something wasn't right.
"Hey." I snapped out of my thoughts when Shouhei spoke.
"What's up?" He raised an eyebrow.
"You ok man? You've spaced all day, now you've missed the fact that the final bell rang." I noticed that everyone was in fact getting up and leaving.
"Yeah, I've just been thinking about things." I stood up and shoved my books into my bag.
"Maybe you're getting sick." I nodded, Shouhei was probably right.
"Probably." As Shouhei and I left the room I paused.
[insert page break]
I stared at the doorway, it was ruined thanks to -, yet there stood a white haired girl. She looked our age yet she had white hair. The long sleeve white top she wore had half a sun design on each sleeve and the sleeves were even long enough to hang over her hands. Her red eyes stood out. In her hands though was a bow that was made out of white light.
[insert page break]
I grabbed my head and nearly dropped to the floor. My ears rung and my head pounded suddenly. What the heck was that? What memory was that? That white haired girl, it was Chrono. I know that was Chrono. Something was missing from that memory and that bothered me.
My shoulders were grabbed, "Takuya, are you ok?"
Shouhei's voice swam and I tried to claw at the source of the pain. I wanted more of that memory. I wanted to know more of that missing memory. Why had I forgotten something recent? Was Chrono referencing a recent accident that I didn't even hold the memory of?
"Shouhei, what's going on?" Shima's panicked voice was more in focus than Shouhei's voice had been but still distorted.
Don't fall for the lies.
"Back up, given him some room to breathe." That voice was startlingly clear.
I lifted my head to find that Chrono had stepped in front of me. She had shoved Shima but unlike usual I wasn't bothered. I stared into the red eyes the belonged to Chrono. Something about them seemed desperate below the determination that they held. Shima was going to grab her but he stopped, frozen almost.
"Have, we met before?" I asked it and I saw her start to smile.
"Yes, yes we have Takuya." That was a hopeful look in her eyes.
"Come on, you should go home." Shima grabbed my arm suddenly and jerked me away from Chrono and started to pull me along.
"Shima, stop!" Shima did stop and he looked at me.
"You're obviously out of it. You need to go home and rest." I pulled my arm out of his grip.
My arm was grabbed by someone else, "Come on, run!"
Chrono shouted the words out, laughing as she ran past me with my arm in her hand. My legs moved on their own and I was running along behind her. I didn't know where she was leading me either. I heard shouting from behind us but I didn't look back. Something urged me to follow her. Something urged me to trust her.
Stop!
The crowds seem to part for us. We were out of the school in no time and she was leading me somewhere but she wasn't slowing down at all. She was laughing slightly and we came to stop at the train station. She looked back to me when I started to laugh slightly. For some reason I spotted Zoe, Amelia, and Koji walking into the station – something about that was off and I was told that there was something else that was supposed to happen.
"There's a fair downtown, do you wanna go with me?" I looked to Chrono when she asked that suddenly.
"How do you know there's a fair?" She smiled and I felt something twinge in pain in my head.
"A friend told me." My eye twitched as there was a flare in the pain.
[insert page break]
I looked away from -, who was walking in front of us and I could tell he was pissed off just by how he walked to behind me where ~~~~ and **** was. They were having a hushed conversation, which actually made **** smile. Since she was attacked her smiles were either forced or very small yet she was smiling like nothing had happened. I noticed something but before I got to ponder on it I ran into someone. I heard a girl let out a surprised squeaked. I quickly looked to who I had bumped into and I was surprised. A familiar white haired girl was now rubbing her forehead which I guessed had hit the ground.
"Sorry Chrono." She jumped slightly and she looked over her shoulder at me, her red eyes were widened slightly.
"T-Takuya?" I quickly stood up and offered her a hand up.
"Hey." She laughed slightly but she accepted my hand and pulled her up, I did notice that she was kinda easy to pull up which meant more than likely she was on the light side.
"Again sorry 'bout bumping into ya Chrono." This time she wasn't startled but she adjusted the strap of her bag slightly.
"It's ok, I shouldn't have zoned out." She gave me a smile and for some reason I couldn't help but smile back.
"Where are you headed?" She shrugged.
"I was wondering where I should go for the day, I was looking for something fun to do but since I'm new I don't know where to go?" I placed my hands behind my head and smiled a bit more.
"Did you also forget we have somewhere to be, Takuya?!" I jumped and I looked to -, he glared at me slightly but I saw a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"Ah sorry but I gotta go." She nodded and I turned to leave but I turned, still walking backwards though.
"There's a fair downtown and something at a shrine tonight." She was confused but I turned and I quickly made my away over to them and I got into the elevator, **** was giggling slightly.
[insert page break]
"So, do you wanna go?" I wasn't sure what was going on but I nodded.
She smiled, "Great come on."
She started to pull me along behind her once more but we weren't running this time. Chrono looked back to me real quickly for some reason but when she raised our hands I found out why. For some reason I had shifted her grip from my arm to my hand. We were holding hands. I blushed and I was going let go but she tightened her grip and smiled at me.
"You unconsciously remember me don't you Takuya?" I gave a nervous smile.
"I think so. I feel like I know you but I don't really have any concrete memories of you." She nodded and looked away from me, letting our hands drop to in between us.
"Your memories, they'll come back if you stick around me Takuya. I'll make sure you remember everything." Her voice was firm and I noticed her free hand curled into a fist.
Stop following her!
We reached the fair that was set up. Most of it though was geared towards younger kids. There weren't many people present since school had just let out. The families that were present had little kids that were too young to have attended school or the parents having been kind enough to pick kids up earlier.
"Chrono, when did we meet?" I looked to her and she looked at me.
"A couple months ago." I tilted my head.
"How is that possible if you just transferred in from America?" She looked away from me.
"We met in the Digital World." I narrowed my eyes in confusion.
"The Digital World?" What was she talking about?
"Come on, surely you haven't forgotten the Digital World. You're the Warrior of Flames." She looked at me but I shook my head.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Her eyes widened.
"You, don't remember the Digital World?" I shook my head.
"Didn't you go to the Digital World shortly before school started, it was your brother's birthday. You told me about how you came to be a DigiDestined one time when we were talking." I bit my lip.
"The only place I went on Shinya's birthday was to Shima's place because my father was late." She frowned.
"Takuya, don't let her take your memories away. You need to remember." I let go of her hand and took a step away from her.
"What are you talking about Chrono?" Shima was right, something wasn't right with her and I had to be getting sick actually.
"Takuya, please. Remember everything. I don't have the strength to completely unravel this when it's so strong. You have to remember and weaken it for me to offer any help to you." I started to back away from her but she didn't come towards me but she stared sadly at me.
"You have to remember soon, before she finds a way to eject me. If she ejects me then you may never wake up." What was she talking about?
"Chrono, are you mental?" She gulped and curled her hands into fists.
"No, Takuya I'm not. You have to remember now." There was no reason I would've forgotten meeting her if we met a couple months ago.
Turn, leave the crazy girl behind.
Yeah, Chrono has to be crazy. Had we met years ago at that fair then I could understand not remembering her. I mean, I was hit by a car on the way home. I nearly died from that. I wasn't in any kind of accident recently that would've wiped a whole person from my memory. Not only a person but every event that concerned the person as well.
"I, gotta go." I turned and started to walk away, I should've just let Shima take me home!
"Takuya, don't!" I stopped because hearing Chrono cry the words at yanked at my heart.
"You walk away now, you're turning your back on your friends!" My friends were at school or probably looking for me since I ran off with Chrono.
"Your friends need you Takuya! You have to remember or else you're leaving them behind. Don't you remember Kari? Koichi? Koji?" I knew Koji but we weren't friends, we only had classes together.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know a Kari or Koichi, Koji's only a classmate and we never talk." Why wouldn't my body move and let me walk away.
"Takuya, please. They need you. We need you. I need you." I looked over my shoulder when I heard something hit the ground.
"Please Takuya, you're the first human friend I had. You have to remember." I stared at Chrono, she was on her knees on the ground with tears streaming down her face.
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I stared up at Belphemon. I didn't even know what to do at the moment. I was afraid for once in a very long time. I wasn't ready to clash with a Demon Lord but I should've expected this to happen sooner or later. I watched Kari ran to Angewomon while her brother also ran towards his partner.
"Weak, you people are so weak! I don't know how you people are supposed to defeat us!" I gritted my teeth as a part of me got angry.
My anger got worse when I watched Kari's partner shatter and the data that was her partner vanish. Kari sat there stunned while her arms had gone limp. Kari was like a sister to me and seeing her like that, it pissed me off.
"Puny Digimon and puny humans need to learn they are only good toys!" Belphemon roared the words out but I turned to look when a light caught in the side of my eye.
Koji was glaring at Belphemon while light pulsed around him. His cracked D Tector was pouring out light and as he let out a growl that didn't sound completely human. Fractal Code surrounded him that turned to pure light. Was that the new version of Spirit Evolution?
"Our reason really was tiny." Koji's voice sounded from within the ball of light and then it shattered.
Koji moved faster than I even processed because he was long gone from where he had been. I stared where he had been. Looks like that form can move at the speed of light. I looked towards Belphemon guessing that would be his target, this time I noticed that what looked like an arrow of light was zipping through the air – probably safe to assume that's Koji.
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I was surprised by the sudden memory that slammed into my head. Little pieces of memories were shifting around and helping that to make sense but I was mostly confused still. Why had I been watching Koji attack something that's a Demon Lord and Kari, who appears to be really close to me, suffer? Why wasn't I doing anything?
You'll only remember pain if you press it anymore.
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I watched as Koji's armor from his Spirit Evolution crack. I looked to my hands, to my D Tector. The screen was broken and didn't even show a sign of being functioning. I gripped it tightly and watched as a small crack became a bit bigger. I had to do something. I couldn't leave Koji to fight alone. I wouldn't let Belphemon get away with hurting Kari.
"Just a little please." I begged my D Tector, knowing that it wasn't alive but I couldn't find the ability to call up any Fractal Code.
I removed my hand and was going to let my arm drop uselessly to my side when the Fractal Code appeared, swirling around my hand. I noticed that the Fractal Code glitched slightly which wasn't a good sign but I didn't care at the moment. I had to do something. I had to protect my friends. I couldn't leave them alone against the Demon Lords. I scanned the Fractal Code and it caught fire but I didn't feel any danger from the flames, I was the Warrior of Flames after all.
"Fusion Evolution: Aldamon!" I called it out as I spread the wings and shot through the sky, I had to get Belphemon's attention on me before Koji got seriously hurt.
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I turned around and took a step towards Chrono. My memories were starting to fall into place. I was starting to remember things.
"Takuya?" Chrono called my name, sounding pained.
She's playing with your memories! Don't trust her!
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I forced myself up while my eyes kept drifting between a defeated Kari who had shut down. She wasn't responding to Tai at all. Yet I kept looking at Storm as well. Storm didn't even look like she was breathing at all. I tried to hold tight to my D Tector but my hand wasn't working the way I wanted it to, I knew my D Tector was slipping out of my hand. I looked to Koji to see what state he was in. He was standing but his legs shook, they looked ready to drop him at any moment. I watched as Koji's D Tector slipped from his hand, it shattered into nothing before it even hit the ground. I looked back to Belphemon.
Belphemon was laughing and I felt the fire of courage just rush away. I wanted to drop to my knees and actually cry. Why did I think I could do anything?
"From the beginning, this wasn't a fair fight." There was no way we could beat someone like Belphemon, one attack from him pretty much defeated us.
I looked down when my D Tector slipped from my hand. I watched as it cracked more and more as it fell. It hit the ground but it broke. It shattered just like Koji's had done. There was no way for us to fight now. Belphemon won this. There was nothing that we could do now.
"This is the end of the line!" Belphemon yelled it but I just closed my eyes, waiting for what I knew would happen.
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I was stunned as the memory played back. The helpless feeling that I had had. I couldn't believe that. As that memory settled in I took a step back. Why would I go back to something so horrifying? Why would I choose to go back to fight a battle that couldn't be won? I could stay here where life was easy, the worst thing I had to worry about was Mika trying to get me to love her and annoying teachers who assign too much homework.
"Takuya." She said my name and I watched as Chrono started to disappear, fading away at the ends of her body.
"I guess, I can't blame you for wanting to live in this peaceful dream instead of facing reality." She hung her head.
"I thought you wouldn't run away but you are. You're the Warrior of Flames, not the DigiDestined of Courage like your cousin is." My hands twitched, cousin?
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I was still surprised that we beat Belphemon. However that wasn't the only surprise that I was greeted with. My father was a DigiDestined. He was a former Runner. He was from Kari's original world. Kari's mother was his younger sister. That meant that Kari and Tai were my cousins.
"That explains why you took me in with no questions asked when I showed up." My father smiled at Kari's comment.
"Yelp, I already knew you'd show up one day. It was only a matter of time in truth, ever since Takuya disappeared five years ago and ended up coming back with fragmented memories of the time he was 'missing' I knew what happened though I had hoped that the Demon Lord battle was done then." I sighed remembering back to the days when I didn't remember Kari and the others.
I never wanted to go back to those days. I wouldn't trade the bonds that I have for anything. I knew some people might think I was crazy since if I traded those bonds away I probably wouldn't be in the middle of this fight. However, I would miss them. They meant too much to me now.
"Are we in for a long lecture? We all could use a nap right now, we just defeated Belphemon too." I wanted to sleep but I might actually only have nightmares about the Belphemon fight.
I still couldn't believe that we defeated Belphemon. It looked hopeless there for a while but once everyone came together, especially when Rin showed, we found some kind of power and was able to fight. We were able to defeat Belphemon and now we're able to use the other Spirit Evolution whenever we wanted to since our D Tectors could handle them. With that new level it seemed like we were put onto fair grounds to fight this battle. Perhaps it wasn't equal footing but we were up against the Demon Lords so had it made us equal then it wouldn't be a battle that would make people afraid of it.
"I have to agree with Takuya on this one." The fact that Koji agreed with me made me want to laugh but I didn't have the energy to laugh or even crack a joke about Koji agreeing with me which was rare.
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I found myself running to Chrono's side. I dropped to my knees in front of her and I grabbed the shoulders that had nearly completely faded away. She lifted her head in surprise. She stared at me. Could I actually throw away this 'peace' and go back? No, this peace was an illusion and crafted by someone that worked with the Demon Lords. I knew it now. My memories were rushing back. From the very first battle against them that I fought when I was young up to when we were walking down that hall.
"Chrono, I remember everything now." I was surprised though how far Chrono had gone to try and get me back.
"That's good." She smiled at me but she didn't stop disappearing.
"It's too late though, she's ejecting me and it's taking everything I have to keep myself together and only getting erased from this dream and not from existence itself." My eyes widened hearing that.
I had to do something. I had to help Chrono somehow. I gripped her shoulders tighter as I thought but then something surprising happened. I watched as flames sparked around us and Chrono became fully solid. What was surprising though was that revolving around the circle of flames were the two Spirit Totems that belonged to the Spirits of Flame. Agunimon and BurningGreymon, they seemed to be chasing away the influence of whatever this was.
"Takuya, you awakened the one of old." I was confused by what she meant.
She reached up she removed my left hand from her shoulder. She held my hand gently but she flipped it over so my palm was facing upwards. The Symbol of Flame was there in the center of my hand. She stared at it before brushing her thumb over the marking and looking to me.
"Takuya, we need you." I nodded.
"I know, I remember just how powerful we are when we're all together." I blinked and stared at Chrono.
She had released my hand and was now hugging me. She held me tightly and I blushed slightly. I hesitated but I wrapped my arms around her slowly. I wasn't sure what was going on but with everything going on and what had nearly happened maybe she was just afraid.
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I leaned on the railing, my back resting on it since I was staring up at the sky. Everyone else was just relaxing. For the moment everyone just put what was going on out of their minds. We all just wanted a moment of peace after the battle with Belphemon.
"Takuya, why are you out here alone?" I looked to Chrono when she stepped out of the living room.
"Just thinking about what's going on. Now that we're not in the middle of the battle I'm thinking on everything that happened." I was bothered by a lot of things.
"Like what?" She leaned on the railing beside me.
"Rin for one, she's the DigiDestined of Temperance and she 'tamed' the Demon Lord of Gluttony. What if, there are other DigiDestineds that represented the Demon Lords traits and are able to tame them?" If Rin tamed Beelzemon, was it possible for the others to be 'tamed'?
"You mean if there are DigiDestineds of what, the Seven Virtues?" I nodded after a couple of moments.
"If there were then we could potentially end this battle a lot easier. What if we just located them and work on finding out how Rin 'tamed' Beelzemon? We could save ourselves the trouble of fighting the Demon Lords like Lucemon and Daemon who seem wholly overpowered." She sighed.
"Chronomon thought about that possibility, he knew about there being a DigiDestined of Temperance and Beelzemon being tamed actually. I didn't know that until Lotusmon told me, she said it in riddle so I only figured it out a few hours ago." I looked at her.
"Chronomon was looking for the DigiDestineds that might hold titles such as Chasity, Charity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness and Humility." When she mentioned Kindness I remembered what Kari had said.
"Kari said that one of her friends was the DigiDestined of Kindness." Chrono nodded.
"Chronomon found other DigiDestineds of Kindness however none held the same potential as the DigiDestined of Temperance did. Beelzemon was tamed through a combination of being defeated and something that my mother and Storm's mother did apparently. I think, it was fluke that there is a DigiDestined of Temperance Takuya." I frowned because I didn't know what we were going to do against the other Demon Lords if all the fights were going to be like the one we had against Belphemon.
"I was also thinking about how Nori knew that Rin and Kari could create the D Tectors and not only the fact that they were reformed but upgraded." Nori seemed to know too much for someone who was locked in the Dark Ocean by the Demon Lords.
"The funny thing is, I don't think Nori knew they could. I think Nori held out hope that they could since Temperance and Harmony are two DigiDestined Titles that haven't been held by any single person before." That surprised me.
"Also, I don't think Rin and Kari did create the D Tectors. I think they opened some kind of path and acted as a medium. I'm thinking, something else helped those Digivices form. The fact that Kari had concentrated on those but managed to upgrade her Digivice as well tells me that there was something else working there." I sighed and closed my eyes.
"There's something else on your mind." I opened my eyes, staring at the stars once more.
"I didn't expect to find out that my father knew about Digimon let alone that I'm related to Kari." I wanted all of these thoughts to stop for a while.
"Plus, the marks on your hands." I looked at Chrono and she laughed a bit at that, raising her hands.
"You noticed them?" On her right hand was a white sun design that was encased in a white circle while her left hand bared the same marking but it was completely red instead of white.
"Yeah, I'm not really sure why though." She glanced at me.
"I've had them since I was born but they were hidden by something that Chronomon, had cast years ago when I was younger." I was confused.
"What do you mean?" I wanted to know more but she shook her head.
"Nope, I'm not telling anymore." I frowned.
"Aw, come on, tell me please? You can't just dangle something and then refuse to tell it." She snapped.
"Sorry but I don't want to talk about it right now, that spell should keep you quiet plus it should quiet your mind so you can sleep maybe." I stared at her.
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I don't know why I remembered that now but I laughed slightly remembering how that had backfired on her. Chrono hadn't seemed surprised at how much I thought about things or that I even thought about future plans. Chrono pulled back after a couple of moments and she smiled at me.
"It's time that you wake up now Takuya." She placed her hands on my cheeks, I was surprised when the markings that were on her hands glowed.
"Whatever this is that she used has weakened. I can help you wake up, you've fallen so deep into this dream that you cannot wake up on your own. My magic, it should be able to make a door for you." I nodded.
"What about you though?" She shook her head.
"Once you're awake this will collapse however I'll be slipping through the door I open for you as well." She pulled her hands away and she placed her hands together.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and tilted her head, "Where are your goggles Takuya?"
I thought about that question. I actually had no clue where my goggles were. The whole time I had been here I don't think I have even seen them at all. Even back on Shinya's birthday, when my hat was on the chair, I don't think my goggles had been present at all.
"I haven't seen them the whole time I've been here." She frowned hearing that.
"I thought something was missing, you need your goggles back." She spread her hands apart and with a pop of a white bubble my goggles appeared in her hands.
I was surprised because I hadn't seen her actually use her 'magic' before. The goggles looked the exact same as usual however on the black band there was a strip of white that went all the way around in the center of the strap. She smiled at me and offered me my goggles.
"Take them Takuya." I reached out and I took my goggles from her hands.
"Thank you for coming to get me Chrono." She shook her head, we were starting to be swallowed by light.
"You're my friend Takuya, you're special to me." I blushed slightly hearing her say that.
"Besides, you showed me the way once before right?" I nodded, remembering the true day that she had transferred into my school.
"Showing you to class is a lot less dangerous than entering some odd dream that could've erased you from existence." She laughed and I watched as she started to fade away yet also drifting away from me.
"Then how about once everything is done you treat me to some ice cream?" I found it odd but I nodded, laughing.
I don't know what I would've done without Chrono.
1.) If it was written as well I hope it was it was hard to tell at first that this is actually a second 'nightmare' that Takuya has.
2.) Anyone like the idea of Takuya potentially not originally going to the Digital World? (As I wrote this an idea sort of formed that follows the timeline I hinted at in this chapter besides obviously Chrono coming in. In my mind, this potentially represented a parallel universe, one where Takuya didn't go to the Digital World. It is a story I thought about writing but not only would it be more than I could undertake at the moment but I didn't know what people would think since it see Takuya not going in at first and going in later - OCs as well would be present.)
3.) If anyone catches a reference that I slipped in then you get a cookie. (It is a very subtle hint as well, one that could potentially be overlooked.) Well, there are two references, one to an anime and the other is the very subtle reference.
4.) Well, that's it for this month. March, I'm just going to say you guys will have two chapters. I'm not gonna promise a specific date or day of the week. I'll only promise two chapters.
I'm sorry if this chapter sucked or didn't make sense.
Takuya can not hear words like this so that is why he did not acknowledge them.