Chapter 3
As I left the house, my mind was anything but calm and collected. The events of the last day were causing my brain to be overwhelmed, to the point that I didn't even know where I was headed. The sounds of someone speaking to me finally registered amongst all of the chaos.
"... so are you gonna buy anything or just keep looking into space kid?" I got my mind back together and looked up at the shop owner in front of me. Somehow I had made it to a phone store. "I'll just take whatever is the cheapest, sorry." The owner looked at me for a moment before picking up one of the cell phones from the case.
"Well this one here won't be able to do anything fancy, but you can call and text on it. Just no picture messages. It's 5000 yen since no one else seems to want this model." I dug through my pockets, finding the cash I had grabbed. Pulling out the requested amount, I handed it over. He counted it, making sure I wasn't shorting him.
Satisfied, he put the money away and handed over the phone with a charger. "Sorry kid, but I don't have a box for it. But the sim card works and has some minutes on it at least." I nodded, and thanked him. As I walked along the sidewalk, I wondered what to do next. I almost didn't even notice how far I had walked until I noticed a cafe further up the road. The same cafe I was supposed to meet Sakura.
Inside I could see someone at the counter, wearing what looked a lot like my clothes and bag. It wasn't until they turned around to head towards a seat that I realized it was me, the me of yesterday. I hide, not realizing I still had plenty of distance between to two of me.
What should I do? Why is there two of me? When I woke up this morning, there was just me. How did the nap cause this split? The earlier confusion that had filled my head started to come back, but I fought back this time. Finally getting myself under control, I realized that I could try and warn myself. Pulling out the new phone, I typed in my number and began a text message.
"Hey I'm you from the future and I need your help." Staring at the words on the screen, I realized immediately that wouldn't work. I'd just ignore a text like that, unless it came from Sakura. She'd probably pull some kind of joke like that and think it was hilarious no matter I responded. What should I say to myself?
Why had I come back? That question popped into my mind as I wrestled with what to say, and then I knew what I had to say to myself. "You have to save her." There was only one "her" that I truly wanted to save, even before this morning. "There's no way I wouldn't understand that" I thought to myself. Hitting send, I waited for my other self to jump into action.
And I waited. Why wouldn't I put the book down? Tired of waiting, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Pulling out my phone once again, I pressed the call button this time. Looking back up, I saw my other self finally pull myself out of the book.
"You can save her." I needed to get the main reason out of the way, otherwise I knew I'd end up going in circles and wasting my time. But clearly this wasn't going to be easy. "Save who? Is this a prank call?" Hearing my own voice come back through the phone was not easy to get past, but I had to keep trying. Her life depended on this.
"It's not too late, you can still save Sakura!" By the end I couldn't contain myself anymore, all my emotions and frustrations taking away my caution. But it was all for nought, as the other me responded. "I'm afraid I don't understand, who is this?"
"I'm you, I don't understand it either but I'm really you." So caught up in what I was saying, I didn't realize that the call had ended before I even said anything. Trying to call again, this time a womens voice filled the receiver. "You are out of minutes, if you wish to make a call please add more."
I hung up the phone in defeat, and began to walk again. If past me couldn't do anything, then I would have to. But what should I do? At this point in the day, I had no idea where Sakura was. She would have already left her house by now, and knowing which streets she would take was beyond me. But I did know where she would end up.
Recalling what was said on the tv last night, I began heading to where it would all happen. Recalling the streets that would take me there, I began to pick up my pace the closer I got. As I got closer, I thought I saw someone turn the corner a few streets ahead. I could'nt see their face, but it looked like a dress I had seen before.
When I finally reached where they had turned, I saw them further down the street. It was a woman, and some guy talking to her as she walked toward the street. Something about it gave me worry, maybe it was how she kept walking yet he kept trying to stop her. That's when I saw his hand reach behind him and pull out a knife.
Suddenly I felt cold, no not cold. Frozen like I had turned the corner and ended up in Antarctica. In that second I realized what was about to happen. I ran forward, praying that I could do something in time. But as I got closer, the sounds of someone running must have reached them. The woman began to turn and realize something was wrong, but it was too late. The man raised his arms and then it was over.
By the time I reached her, the man had already run off. Her eyes were closed, but I could see the pain on her face. Her chest barely rising as she layed there on the street, the knife handle shining as blood pooled out from where it had entered her body. I was too late.
I reached out and touched her hand, lightly grapsing it. Her hand responded, but the movements of it were so light that I knew it wouldn't be long until she was gone. Tears filled my eyes and ran down like a waterfall.
"I'm sorry Sakura, I was too late." The words left my lips and I felt her hand move once more. I grapsed hers a little tigher, and saw that her face looked a little more peaceful. As I started to say more, I felt her hand become lighter in mine. She might not be able to hear my words, I thought, but it doesn't matter. "I will save you, I promise. No matter what I have to do."
I let go of her hand, and stood up. Realizing that no one was around, it might not look good if someone came around the corner and saw me with a body. I debated on going to someone's door, but how would I explain things to them, let alone the police? Looking around, I saw a public phone. Thankful I still had some change, I picked up the phone and dialed the police.
"Is this a prank call, if it is you're in big trouble." The officer on the other line sounded gruff. "No sir, if you come to this corner you'll find her." The line was silent for a moment. "You just wait there and someone will be there soon. They'll want to ask you some questions." Of course they would, but how would I explain things?
Instead, after the call I found a spot nearby that I could watch without being spotted. 2 squad cars as well as paramedics arrived shortly after. I watched as the paramedics tried to bring her back, but it was too late. The police had cordoned off the area, and began going around asking if anyone had seen anything. By that point, I had begun to head away from the area.
Maybe I should just go home and explain things, but how? How do you explain to your parents that they have two sons that look exactly alike? Then the memory of my yesterday flashed back to the call and text. What if I could'nt communicate with my family and my other self?
Realizing going home wouldn't work, I began to head towards the city. I could find a hotel or something to spend the night. But then I remembered that the other me had my ID, so getting a hotel was out. The only option was sneaking into my room once everyone was asleep, grab my ID and some necessities, and then find a place to sleep.
After hours of waiting, it was finally time. At 2 in the morning, it was mostly silent in my neighborhood. The distant sounds of cars driving by and cicadas were the only sounds that could be heard as I opened up my front door. Thankfully it had some affection shown to it lately, as it made no noise as it opened. Heading upstairs, I was careful to avoid any steps that would creak and give myself away.
In my room, I saw myself dead asleep, finally passed out from the tragic news. I grabbed my ID, some clothes and toiletries, and threw the later into a travel bag. Thankfully I had bought one after the trip I had taken with Sakura, though this was not how I imagined it would be used.
Heading back out, I saw a 24 hour net cafe. At this point, I was too tired to be picky about where I was sleeping as long as it wasn't on the streets. I paid at the counter, and headed where I was instructed. At this late, the few there were wrapped up in the computer in front of them that no one even noticed me walking by.
Laying down, I thought about everything that had happened. "I really wish this was all just a bad dream, because I don't know what to do." I wished I still had the book, and cursed myself for not grabbing it when I grabbed my ID. Maybe it could have given some insight to what was going on. But I could always just go buy another copy, or even better just research at the net cafe in the morning. Closing my eyes, I drifted off into the sweet bliss of sleep.
"...are you awake?" A voice from above me called out. I slowly opened my eyes to see an employee from the net cafe standing over me. "You know you have to pay to stay here right? Where did you sneak in from?" I was puzzled, as I remember paying at the counter last night. "But I did pay, the guy at the counter last night would remember. It was Kazumo I think was on his nametag."
The employee got even more upset when I said this. "Lying isn't going to save you here. Either pay up or I'll call the police." I tried looking for the reciept I had gotten, but it was nowhere to be found. "But I did pay last night, I swear." I pleaded with the employee but it was to no avail.
"I know you didn't, because Kazumo wasn't working last night. Maybe you should have scooped this place out better and you would have known that he works tonight." The employee held out his hand. "So either pay the fee for the night or I'll call the cops. Final chance." I reached into my dwindling funds, and handed over the fee.
Satisfied, the employee began to head back out. "Can I just ask one thing?" I called out as he was walking away. Turning around, he was clearly annoyed. "Yeah, but make it quick. And you'll have to head out soon, we need to clean that space and you're paid time is almost up." "What is todays date?"
Looking as though he was expecting something else, he sighed. "It's August 19th. Anything else?" I shook my head, and he left. So I was stuck back here, instead of moving forward. "This means there's still a chance to save her." This thought dawned on me and my mood began to rise. "Breakfast first, and then research," I told myself.
Getting myself cleaned up, and tidying up the space I rented, I headed to the desk. The same employee that had woken me up was there. "Oh it's you. Do you need anything?" He asked me, almost surprised I'd show back up. "I need to rent a computer for a few hours." I placed the money for the time needed on the counter, and waited for the assigned computer. "If you want snacks or drinks, you can order them at the station and they be brought over, or you call a local shop and have it delivered."
Thanking him, I went to my station and noticed it had no one near it. Thanking the employee again, I ordered some food from the menu and began looking up the book I had read that day. As I ate the food, I got absorbed into the material on screen. The cafe began to fill with customers, and my row slowly started to become occupied.
"Quantom physics huh, you don't see someone reading about that very often." A voice from my left called out. I looked over to see a girl wearing glasses and a lab coat seated next to me. "Oh well it seemed interesting so I thought I'd read some." My pathetic excuse sounding even worse out loud than it did in my head. She smirked, and laughed. "You really should get better at lying, or maybe don't. Honest people are rare."
She scooted closer to me, and I instinctively moved slightly back. "I can see it in your eyes, you're going through something and you don't understand, do you?" I stared back at her, and nodded. It was too much to handle alone, and I truly had no one else to lean on. I was tired, and needed a respite. She sighed, "No matter how many times it's still such a bother. Well at least this can be payback to him for all those times, even if he did help me."
"I'm sorry, but who and what are you talking about?" I was confused, because this girl sounded as though she understood. And if that was the case, how did she understand when something like this happens? She gave a sad smile, making me realize that maybe she really did understand. "Have you ever heard of Adolescence Syndrome?" She asked.
The Authors Desk
Wow this chapter went for a lot longer than I anticipated. I had a lot that I wanted to fit into the chapter, and I didn't want to rush anything or cut something out that would take away from the story. So hopefully you can bear with me on this one. This one may raise more questions than it answers, but I promise the answers are coming. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter, and also enjoy the little crossover with Seishun Buta Yarō.
Thanks for reading, and hope to see you back for the next chapter.
