A/N: A little reply to Haru-san-senpai and rajdiangelo: I haven't actually watched Steins; Gate. What a coincidence. Well, since the story is on a subject of time, I guess there are bound to be similarities. Now, with that over, enjoy the chapter! :)
The questions I had was about to be answered in details, but new knowledge always brings with it even more questions. Rather than trying to answer each and every one of them, people are less likely to get lost had they only choose the few that are meaningful.
Looking past Shizuka, I gasped at the presence of the one that I would never have thought I'd meet again. The dark blue vest over the lighter blue shirt, the height, the facial features and even the cap – the appearance of the man at the cabinet's door completely matched the one of the same police officer who attacked me months ago. On one hand, I wanted to tell Shizuka so that she could've quickly ran away, but on another, I just wanted to charge in. It was as if my body had completely frozen; I was too scared to make any decision.
By the time he took his first step, my body was already drenched in sweat from the pressure, and when he took his second, I felt like I was going to faint. The only thing that kept me intact was the knowledge that if, much like last time, something would've happened to me, then there would be no one to protect her. I still don't exactly know how we survived then, but clearly, luck was working in our favor.
Making his third step, the officer went with his weird battle stance, similar to the last encounter. Finally, with his fourth, he started running. In a heartbeat, he was already behind Shizuka, ready to stab either of us. Because I did not have the luxury of time for any thought, I acted from my reflexes: I grabbed Shizuka and rotated myself until my back was to receive the blade instead of hers.
I anticipated a very sharp clash between the knife and my flesh, but what I got was a loud thud instead. Knowing immediately that steel probably should not have made that sound, I felt a bit reassured, but I was still worried about the rest that happened. I returned from seeing complete darkness, to seeing the an unbelievable sight. To the left of my eyes, I saw an arm that was stretched from the back of my head with it fist clenched. And in front of me, I saw the officer being knocked back a few feet, his right cheek a bit dented.
"Hi- Hikigaya-kun.. what just happened?!" Shizuka said, looking up to me.
I turned my head as far back as I could, and there stood a middle aged lady.
"Greetings, Hikigaya-kun," said the lady, "sorry for making you wait, I'll be taking care of that guy now"
The lady ran passed me through my left toward the officer. Then standing in front of him, she threw an uppercut, knocking him back even more. What happened after, I could not describe exactly, but she kept throwing punches at him, all the while dodging any one that came her way. There were about a thing or two happening between them every time any one of them made a step. It was similar to seeing those middle school boys suffering from 8th Grade Syndrome, but a lot more realistic.
"Hikigaya-kun, it's that officer again" said Shizuka, her voice slightly trembled in fear as she held me even tighter.
"It's alright, Shizuka. That lady – she's good – I'm sure she could take care of that guy easily" I said.
As I was captivated by what was in front of me, I did not have any attention left to pay to what was going on behind me.
"Hikki.." the nickname I have not heard in awhile was said from behind..I recognized who it was standing behind me, even if I did not have to analyze the quality of the person's voice. It's one of those moments when you knew who was behind you, yet you wouldn't want to go through the trouble of turning back to see who it was, and usually you'll ended up pretending that you didn't hear. This is kind of like that, but times a million.
I turned back once again, this time making sure that I'd be able to see every single person that was behind me.
"Yui.. gahama" I said.
Upon realizing that I was still holding Shizuka, I quickly released the grasp and backed off from her a little.
"Yu- Yui-chan?" Shizuka said in confusion, "Hikigaya-kun.. is she really-"
But before she could've finished, Yuigahama made an eighty degree turn and ran off into the other cabinet.
"Yuigahama!" I called out to her, but she did not stop. But as I was about to set my foot back and start running after her, both Shizuka and the lady called out in unison, "Hikigaya-kun!"
Being put in such as dilemma, I stopped. Not wanting to waste any time in that critical moment, I came up with a simple, yet effective solution.
"Shizuka, please go after Yuigahama" I said.
"Hikigaya-kun, what is the meaning of this? What is going on?" she said.
"I ask of you, Shizuka, please go after Yuigahama – I promise, I'll explain everything you want to know later" I said.
I did not get a proper reply from her, but she nodded, indicating her approval. Already facing the other cabinet, she ran off, trying her best to catch up with Yuigahama, all the while calling her name, telling her to stop.
I shifted my attention back to the two adults who were flailing their arms at each other, waited for the right moment, and charged in. When I was a certain distance away from the officer, I lept in and successfully caught him, pushing him down to the floor.
The lady was startled, but she was able to recollect herself immediately.
"Lady, now's your chance!" I said, trying my best to contain the police.
"Just give me a moment" she said, taking out a handkerchief from one pocket, and a small corked glass bottle containing a clear colored substance from the other. With one hand, she used her thumb to push out the cork from the bottle, and poured the contained substance on to the handkerchief. It was probably very inappropriate of me, but I did find it very pleasing the watch.
Right before the officer could have regained enough strength to push me away, the lady place the handkerchief on the officer's face. He started flailing his limbs violently, so much so that I was pushed back, but eventually, whatever was on the handkerchief knocked him out.
"He should be down for at least an hour or two," the lady said, "Hikigaya-kun, I want to go check on the girls. I know they won't get thrown into another timeline while running that pace, but I still want to make sure"
I do not consider myself an easily infuriated person – I wanted to, at any cause, stop myself from becoming like those social heads who whine just because things don't go their way. But having been sent back ten years earlier for three full months, one would tend to change.
"Wait" I said, quickly standing up and grabbed her by the wrist, preventing her from making another step.
"What is it, Hikigaya-kun?" she said.
"You know what I'm going for" I said, slowly tightening my grip, "There are things I've been wanting to ask since first meeting you, lady."
"Hikigaya-kun, It's hurts.."
"Stop it. I finally get to see you – I'm not going to let this chance slip by"
"Hikigaya-kun.. time doesn't have an effect on your personality, does it?" she said, "I see that you are the same as ever, always refusing to put yourself in someone else's shoes"
"How about you put yourself in mine!" I said, releasing all the built up emotions in one shot, "You know full well since the beginning what I've been through, yet you decided to hide everything from me. In the first place, why was I sent back? And what does the fact have to do with you? Who in the world are you?"
"Let go of me!" she yelled, swinging side by side the bounded arm.
"Answer me then" I murmured, expressing my emotional pain unsuited for a lone wolf like me.
As if feeling somewhat guilty, she averted her eyes.
"You were already well off being a Japanese teacher, Hikigaya-kun.." she said, "Yet, perhaps because of your stupidity, you followed him"
"What do you mean?" I said.
"Years after you became a teacher, East Japan Railway Company put up a poster around Chiba, advertising its new job that doesn't require a degree from any specific field, and pays really well. Too well, in fact. Let's just say you wouldn't have to work at all for the rest of your life once you get paid."
I had almost no idea what she was talking about, yet it all made sense. Working for an organization was what I had been working to avoid getting myself into doing for the rest of my employed life. Had I really become a teacher, I don't see why I wouldn't accept such an offer. Sobu High may be a public school, but it is funded by the government – to me it's no different from working for any traditional corporations.
"That police officer I just knocked out – Officer Hanasaki Kazunari – he was your colleague in university. You both agreed to each other to go for the for the job together, and you did, but.." she said, trying her best to swallow the words down her throat.
"Since I'm already in this much trouble, I don't think hearing about the cause of it would be a problem. It won't get any worse" I said, trying to stay firm on the topic.
"You.. never came back. The reason the company was willing to pay so much is exactly because of the possibility that may happen. They never told us anything, so I decided to take on the job myself. I found out later that Hanasaki left you in some other place in order to get your portion of the payment, and he's planning to do it to you again."
With that statement done, little tears started dripping from her eyes one by one. It didn't take much time that those little tears became unstoppable, and eventually she started sobbing along with it.
"When I said 'try putting yourself in someone else's shoes', I really mean it" she said, "I've been jumping back and forth for more than two decades, trying to stop Hanasaki from going to your time, but he eventually found his way there – it's why I brought you here in the first place"
My mind was in a state of confusion; to think that a person would have spent twenty years trying to make you of all people safe, it all seemed too fictional to be true. I was not convinced that was the whole story – who would devote a quarter of their life in doing something like that. I ran through the endless possibilities in my head, taking every possible variable related to her into consideration, from her talking style, her purposes, and even her appearance.
But when I took a look at her face carefully, my body went into a state of shock as I made a certain realization I should've made the first time I met her.
"You.."
The slightly grey colored and long hair; the chilly-blue pair of eyes; the speech pattern; I knew it since the beginning, looking at her, that she resembled a certain person I know, but I thought it was all too trivial.
"Yukinoshita" I said, calling out the name that I thought belonged to the lady, but rather than giving off a relieved expression, she smiled slightly and shook her head.
"After you were reported as missing, she could've changed it back to that, but she decided not to. That's why I'm not Yukinoshita" she said.
"What are you talking about?" I said, responding to the vagueness of her statement, "if you're not Yukinoshita, then who are you?"
"I am Hikigaya Yukie" she said, "having kept it to myself all these years – it was really painful, you know? Finally getting it out to you somehow made me feel at ease"
There was no need for any insightful analysis of the statement as there was only one possible interpretation. All of the things she said that I thought was extremely vague, they somehow turned into very coherent explanations. It should come to no one's surprise, then, that my initial reaction was anything but calm.