Chapter 1: Point of No Return
Tokyo, March 2006
"Shall we go to the library?"
It had been a long time since Mai went to the local library, so she invited her friends to come along with her. However, one of them had other plans. Shiozaki Satomi was searching for a part-time job to support her living and excused herself. She parted ways with them after they exited the social service centre building.
The library was quiet. It smelled of old books and magazines. Some university students had gathered around a table and studied in silence. The literature section was close to the entrance on the first floor.
Taniyama Mai and Ezawa Haruka strode down the aisles of the young adult section.
Mai didn't have a particular book she was looking for. Nor did she have a favourite genre. She simply looked for any titles that sparked her interest and read the summary. Mai glanced over multiple rows of books, but there was only one book spine that caught her attention. Mai had seen it before. She pulled it out of the row and looked at the cover. It was in a reasonable condition despite its old age.
Her mother used to have this on her bookshelf.
"I'll read this one."
She said that without thinking.
Her friend scurried over and glanced at the book.
"This is...?"
"It's a book about a girl who jumps back into time."
Mai tried to smile, but only an awkward expression surfaced. However, her friend didn't notice; Haruka kept staring at the book.
"If you could go back in time, would you save your only family?" she asked.
"Huh?"
It was so sudden. Mai didn't expect her to blurt out such a question.
Her friend looked up at her.
"Would you do it?" Haruka asked with a serious face.
Mai stared down at her feet. She had one answer, but knew it was completely impossible.
"I would."
Those words were etched in her mind after Mai watched the girl walk away from her. They had visited the library a few weeks ago. Mai had borrowed the book from the library, because she couldn't bear to go through her mother's possessions to find it. Her death was still fresh in her mind. The last time Mai went through her things she had cried all night.
Mai stood in front of the social service centre building. Today was their last so-called "group therapy" session. Mai made friends with some girls in the group who shared the unfortunate fate of being orphans. She did not know if it helped, and she certainly did not know how long those friendships would last - but at least she knew in her heart that she was not the only one who felt like this.
Lonely.
Her chest tightened. She wanted to meet them again. Even if it was just one of them.
She puffed her cheeks and raced ahead.
"Haruka-san!"
Mai turned around the corner and found the girl with black hair in a ponytail next to a mailbox. At that moment her hand pushed an envelope into a slot - international mail. Haruka looked at her and smiled. Had she been waiting for her to come?
"Remember this."
Mai breathed in and out. White breaths formed in the cold air.
"Why?"
"That's a secret."
Haruka made a sad smile and turned around.
"Goodbye, Mai-san. Let's meet again one day."
Mai stared after her until she faded in the crowds of the street. Then she put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and searched for her gloves. She didn't know what to make of that girl in the end. Haruka was a little odd, but not a bad girl. After gazing at the dark sky above her for a moment, she looked down again to put her gloves on her hands.
Then Mai turned around, sniffing her cold nose a little.
Now it was time. Time to live on her own.
Cambridge, April 2006
The smell of rain lingered in the dark hallway.
Eugene Davis took his shoes off and kicked them one by one into a corner near the front door. If it were another day he would be yelled at for leaving things all over the place, but today was not that day. Gene slicked his wet hair from his face. He heaved his shoulders, then looked up at the ceiling as he tried to calm down.
His eyes closed and his ears listened for any sounds inside the house, tuning out the rain outside the front door. The house was quiet. Behind him Martin and Lin muttered quietly to each other in the kitchen. Lin calmly informed his father about what happened during the case - specifically about what had happened to his brother to cause him to return in a such a dire state. He was only there to return the twin brothers safely to their home and inform their parents.
Gene dropped his head. He had hoped it would not happen again, because he never knew what to do in these kind of situations. He tightened the grip in his hands, and relaxed it again. Breathe in, breathe out. There was no point in getting frustrated. Gene opened his eyes again. There was a drenched coat on the floor. He picked it up and put it on the coat rack. He wasn't sure whether it belonged to himself or his brother.
Well, not that it mattered anyway.
He noticed an umbrella on the floor. Lin had dropped it while carrying his twin into the house several minutes ago. Gene had not bothered coming out of the hallway since then. He sat down on the staircase and waited with the umbrella in his hand. Luella was currently taking care of Noll in his bedroom. There wasn't much he could do right now, so he slowly folded the umbrella in a daze. The cold moisture dripped from his hands and seeped into his jeans.
The door of the kitchen opened.
A surprised expression came over Lin's face when he saw him on the staircase.
Gene handed him the umbrella.
"Good luck."
"Thank you," Lin said.
He gave a wry smile. "Will you be okay?
The man said: "Don't worry. We'll take care of the aftermath."
Gene nodded.
Lin exited the home with an umbrella in hand and closed the door behind him. Outside a car engine started. Its noise mixed in with the heavy rain until it disappeared.
Gene scanned the small table next to the staircase. An envelope with red-blue striped borders caught his attention. He stood up and took it in his hands. It was addressed to his brother, but the country of origin was rather unusual. Gene looked up to the second floor, then sighed; Luella had not come down yet.
Gene walked to the kitchen, but didn't find anyone there.
He found Martin in the living room. There was a deep frown on his father's face. His blue eyes intensely gazed at the half-empty cup of tea in front of him.
"Do you think they'll be okay?"
Martin looked up and blinked.
"...Madoka and the others, you mean?"
He nodded.
"I'm sure they will," he said. "But I am more worried about your brother. Did Noll show..." He paused. "Did he tell you anything?"
Gene shook his head.
"No. He told... Madoka, who told Lin."
He was sure Madoka told the others after they left the premises. To tell the truth, he felt a little left out. Every time something like this happened, Noll would block the channel to prevent him from seeing anything. Depending on the subject he would tell Gene about it or not. Sometimes it didn't happen. Like just now. Even worse, nobody informed Gene. It drove him mad not to know. He wanted to know what his brother had experienced. It killed him that Noll would have to live through this alone without him knowing.
As if he could read his expression, Martin said: "Don't bother him about it."
His father's voice was unusually thin.
Gene was unable to restrain a scowl which formed on his face.
"...Does that mean he has to suffer alone?"
Martin shook his head and took the cup in his hand.
"Be there for him. Just... don't push him. Please."
Gene made a disgruntled voice, but nodded.
"Thank you," Martin said. "I understand it's difficult for you too."
At that moment they heard footsteps from the staircase. Their gazes simultaneously moved to the door which opened. Luella didn't say anything when she returned to the living room. Her eyes looked weary. She had a dry towel in her hands.
"Dear, how is he?" Martin asked. He put the empty cup back in the saucer.
Luella shook her head. "Still in pain."
She walked up to Gene, put the towel over his head, and rubbed his wet hair.
"Can I go see him?"
His voice was small.
"Of course you can. He's still awake."
Gene looked down from her somewhat pained smile.
"I hate this."
"I know," she said.
Luella's hands left his head. She placed her hands on his upper arms and pulled him into a hug. Gene buried half his face against her shoulder. The room went quiet.
Eugene knocked on the bedroom door and paused before opening it. The blinds of the window were closed. The light from the lantern poles outside slipped through the gaps and faintly lit the desk near the window. He let his eyes wander into the rest of the room and stopped his gaze at the bed.
"Noll?"
The sheets stirred a little, but there was no reply. Gene waved an envelope in his hand.
"This letter arrived while we were away."
(...Put it on the table.)
The voice through the line sounded tired and weak. That was the first time he spoke with him through the connection between them ever since they left the case.
"Hm."
Eugene closed the door behind him and walked over to Noll's desk. He placed the envelope on the table, then he looked back at his brother.
"... Can I sleep here?"
Gene waited; it took long for him to reply.
(Yeah.)
He no longer had to change as he had already changed into pyjamas before entering the room. Gene moved to the bed and looked at his brother's face. Black hair fell limply against his closed eyelids. His breathing was soft, but shaky. Gene crawled beside him on the bed and entered the sheets. Noll stiffened a little when he wrapped an arm over his waist, but relaxed within a few seconds.
When they were still living with their biological parents the twins would sleep together in one bed; the family had been too poor to afford two beds. In the orphanage they did have their own beds, but it took the twins a very long time to sleep independently from each other. The caretakers would sometimes separate them at night by force, but one of them would crawl back into the other's bed anyway. Noll started to get used to it after a short while, but Gene himself took over a half year to get used to sleeping alone.
Of course, by the time the Davises adopted them, it was no longer an issue. The twins had been given the choice of having separate beds in the same room like in the orphanage, but both of them agreed that it was better to give each other more space. So the times they slept together in the same bed lessened over time. When they became teenagers it became awkward to 'sleep together'. Not to mention that the one person-sized bed started to feel a bit cramped as they aged.
Still, it was comforting to Gene. It was reassuring in some way. Noll appeared to feel the same way, because he never complained about it. It was a force of habit. Well, they shared a womb at one point in the first place, so it seemed natural rather than just a habit.
Noll's breathing was still shaky.
"You're not okay, are you?"
His twin did not respond.
"Tell me."
Gene didn't feel like he should be protected... as the older brother he should be the one to protect Noll... Or at the very least suffer together. Noll kept things to himself, but Gene was more of the type to scream out his emotions through the line. He would feel bad about it afterwards to Noll, but it felt so good to let it all out.
"I don't want to think about it..." Noll finally said.
"I'm sorry." Gene breathed. "I'll talk about something else."
"Go on."
He closed his eyes.
"I'm thinking of going to Japan this year during summer holidays. For three weeks, or maybe a month." Gene said, "Do you want to come with me?"
"...I'm not interested."
He smirked.
"Hm, thought so. I'll go alone then."
A long time passed until Noll spoke again. In the meanwhile, his breathing steadied and returned to normal. Gene nearly dozed off when he heard his voice.
"Why did you bring that up all of sudden?"
Noll's voice had returned to his normal volume.
"Well, what do you think?"
"The letter," Noll correctly guessed. "A request?"
"No, I don't think so. It was sent to our home."
Letters requesting missing person searches were usually directed to SPR's main office in London.
"Your paper was translated into Japanese, right? Maybe it's fan mail."
That was doubtful. Those were also directed to the main office.
Noll sighed.
"Go get it."
Gene shuffled off the bed and turned on the lamp on the desk.
"Alright, I'll show you then."
He watched his brother sit up slowly, but he did it with great difficulty. He hunched over and breathed hard after the attempt. After his psychometric vision just earlier today, Noll had suddenly lost the ability to move his legs. That's why Lin had to carry him into the house.
"Does it still hurt?"
"…No," Noll said, looking up at him with a wry smile. "The painkillers are kicking in."
Gene sighed a little and stared at the envelope in his hand. He read out loud.
"To: Oliver E.C. Davis."
Then he flipped to the back of the envelope. "There's no return address."
Only the stamp and postmark indicated its country of origin.
Gene continued: "What if it's hate mail? There's been a lot of that too."
"...Hn, let me see."
Noll reached out, but Gene held the envelope a little higher. He frowned.
"You sure about that?"
Noll sighed. "It's just an envelope. A quick feel will suffice."
Gene held out the envelope.
"I'm not going to be held responsible for this."
His brother touched the tip of the envelope, and pulled back immediately. Usually it meant that strong emotions are attached to the item. An instant synchronisation with a vision would occur if the emotions were very strong. But Noll was able to pull away from it for some reason. Probably because the envelope had a 'light fingerprint' from its previous owner.
Going by Noll's face it didn't appear to be pleasant or unpleasant. His face was completely blank.
"Well?"
Noll frowned. It seemed like he was able to pick up a few things.
"...A girl sent this. She's around our age."
Gene had to let the sentences sink in for a few seconds.
"A GIRL?!"
"Don't yell." Noll grimaced.
"Wow. We totally need to open this," Gene said in excitement. "I can't believe the idiot scientist got a love letter!"
His brother sighed.
"It's not a love letter..."
Gene laughed a little.
"Yeah, yeah. We'll see about that."
"Her emotions were not directed to me," he insisted.
Gene looked up quizzically.
"Who then?"
"Another girl."
"Oh."
He raised an eyebrow and showed an amused smile.
"So, Doctor Davis... When did you start your career in love counselling?"
His twin rolled his eyes.
"There's no romantic inclination if you were hoping for that."
"...I wasn't hoping for anything. It just caught my interest. That's all."
"Sure you did."
Gene looked down at the envelope.
"Shall I open it?"
Noll nodded. "Go ahead."
He opened the envelope and pulled the letter out.
"Then I'll have you read it first."
He showed the writing to his brother first.
"It's upside down."
Gene turned the letter clockwise, but a deep frown crossed his brother's face.
"...It's addressed to you, Gene."
"What?"
Gene turned the letter in his hand and read:
Dear Eugene Davis,
Don't go alone.
Haruka Tooyama
It was a short and simple letter, written in English.
"Uh... I don't understand this," Gene said. "Why did she write my name?"
"Give me the envelope again. I need a closer look."
He shook his head.
"Noll, I think you did enough for today..."
"It's not a bad vision."
"Still, what if you pass out?" Gene said as he put the letter on the desk and went back with the envelope.
His brother shrugged.
"Even better. I had trouble trying to sleep."
Gene sighed, wondering if his brother was a masochist.
"Alright," he said and sat down next to him on the bed. "But take me with you, okay? Or else I'll tell Martin and Luella."
His twin sighed. "Fine."
As Gene pressed their foreheads together, Noll focused on the envelope. They used this particular trick to shorten the distance of the twin channel, and experience the vision together. It had no other use than to shorten the delay Gene had. To his relief Noll instantly connected to the vision without trouble, soaking up a particular memory latched onto the envelope. It resulted in a short, but vivid scene from a city he had never seen before.
It is late in the evening... The sound of cars... A very urbanized city... Tokyo? Yes, Tokyo. She is walking with the envelope in hand, wondering whether to post the envelope or not. She arrives at the red mailbox in front of her... and hesitates for about half a minute. The moment she posts the letter, everything will change.
Doubt. Compassion. Doubt. Compassion. Doubt.
'I want to save her family, but it could vanish in a moment.'
Doubt.
She lowers the envelope. 'What should I do when I see your face again?'
She turns around and a girl approaches her from a distance.
"Haruka-san!"
It's decided.
She pushes the envelope into the slot.
Noll awoke hours later to his brother sitting on the edge of his bed. Gene had already dressed up. He wore a light blue shirt and black jeans. His head turned and a pleasant smile crossed his face.
"Good afternoon, Noll. How do you feel?"
Noll took a moment to analyse the state of his body.
"My legs still feel numb."
His mouth felt dry.
Gene sighed and rose from the bed.
"Then I'll take your breakfast... err, brunch up here."
In truth he still didn't feel like eating so he made a half-hearted nod. Gene left the bedroom and Noll looked at the clock on the wall. It was slightly past noon. Then his gaze wandered through the rest of his room. From the window until the desk. Save for a few books and a glass of water, the desk was completely empty, and void of any envelope or letter.
Noll sighed. He had been careless yesterday. Noll had synched with an antique watch found in the treasury of the victim. It immediately sent him into a full-blown torture scene between the murderer and her victim. Said torture scene involved the decapitation of certain limbs and appendages. Before he realized what was going on, the murderer appeared to be halfway through her task already. Noll never made it to the actual killing. He was already on his way out then.
For better or worse, the only way to deal with the experience was to rationalize everything and become desensitised to what had happened in the vision. Regrettably, forgetting what happened was not something he could do. He had the disadvantage of having a very good memory.
Gene returned holding a tray with toast and a cup of tea. He set the tray on the night table next to his bed. Noll looked at it for a while and reached out for the cup. He carefully positioned the cup in front of his mouth and sipped. At least the fingers on his right hand still worked. He had to give up on his legs today.
After he wet his lips a little and placed the cup back on the tray, Noll glanced at Gene.
"Where is the letter?"
Gene threw up his hands.
"The letter is off-limits. My gut tells me the letter itself will be particularly draining."
Noll couldn't disagree. He still had to recover from yesterday. So just to be sure, he would have to postpone reading the letter if he still had the desire to 'read' it. He took the toast from the plate and started eating it.
Gene sat down again. He looked at the window.
"What did they mean with 'Don't go alone'? The only thing that comes to mind is my trip to Japan. But that's just impossible."
"Did you tell anyone about it?"
He shook his head.
"No, that's the thing. I haven't even told Madoka whether I take up her suggestion or not."
"But you will go."
Gene nodded.
A Japanese acquaintance of an important benefactor had requested for an exorcism. For some reason he specifically asked for the assistance of Eugene Davis. Madoka thought the trip would be a nice personal experience for Gene himself as well. However, the exorcism would have to wait until summer holidays because of school. Despite that the acquaintance didn't seem to mind waiting.
They received no further details about that case, but since that benefactor was involved it would be wise to accept it in order to guarantee further donations.
"So it must mean something else." Noll said. "Any other trips in the short term?"
"No, not even a school trip," Gene said, and then blinked. "Oh, but probably a date!"
Noll groaned.
"You're not going alone on a school trip... or a date for that matter."
"True," Gene said. "It's obviously about the trip to Japan. The letter is sent by a Japanese girl in Japan. And it has to do with a different Japanese girl."
Then he stared straight into Noll's eyes.
"And I don't have anyone who's coming with me."
Noll looked away. He already told him he wasn't interested.
"Then there's the envelope itself... Why was the envelope addressed to you, and not me?"
He shrugged.
"Who knows."
Noll received a blank stare.
"Isn't it obvious? She wants you to become my travel buddy."
Noll groaned.
"No, it's not. Why me, Gene? Anyone could go with you."
Gene pinched the bridge of his nose.
"The girl who sent the letter... Let's call her Haruka as she claims to be. Haruka is friendly with the other girl. ...and she wants to save that girl's family!"
His eyes widened in a sudden realization and stared at Noll who raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I see."
"What?"
"She's playing matchmaker."
Noll put the half-eaten toast back on the plate. He had lost his appetite. All Gene could think of was having girlfriends, going on dates and other terribly unimportant things. Noll wasn't in the mood for this type of talk.
Gene continued, "Hm, it's a pity we didn't see her very well."
Noll was ready to send him away.
"Get out of my room. I have things to do."
His brother raised an eyebrow.
"Will you be okay? Need help with dressing up?"
Noll shook his head.
"Put a change of clothes on my bed. I'll deal with it myself."
"Okay."
It took less than a minute for Gene to pick out a combination of clothes from his closet. His twin was useful for those kind of things.
Gene stared at the clock on the wall.
"Well, I guess it's about time."
Noll frowned.
"Where are you going?"
Gene showed his teeth as he smirked. "Did you forget? I'm going on a date. Or... do you want to come with me?"
Noll gave him a death stare.
"Get out of my room."
After his recovery came to an end, his life more or less resumed in a similar manner as before. Noll spent his days reading books and doing research. He was content keeping things as they were. There was very little about his life that he would have wanted change.
On the other hand, Gene was very different. He wanted to go out and experience new things, and didn't hesitate to step out of his comfort zone to do so. Even if it meant leaving the country.
Noll had no such desires.
So no, he hadn't touched the letter yet. There was little reason to do so. So why would he even bother?
Even Gene no longer pestered him about his upcoming trip. If anything the letter gave his fiercely independent streak even more resolve to go forward with the trip alone. Both Martin and Luella supported his step towards a more independent life (from his twin). Though they were worried about letting their son go off alone to a country he had never been to before.
To Noll it simply meant that his life would be somewhat quieter while his brother went away.
It seemed like Haruka Tooyama's primary intention had collapsed like a house of cards.
And so the letter in the envelope remained untouched, forgotten between the pages of a school book on Gene's desk.
Author's note
Thank you for reading the prologue and the first chapter. I hope you enjoy the fic so far!
The main characters of this fic are Oliver and Eugene Davis. For various reasons I decided to use the years of the anime broadcast 2006-2007 as the starting point of the story. In this fic the Davis twins are born in 1990. They are 15 years old in this chapter, and will turn 16 in September.