Chapter 1

3 YEARS

-TOMOYO-

I had suspected the date, three years ago. I wrote it on one of my notebooks two years ago, and finally, had memorized it just last year. October 10th. If my calculations of these past three years were correct, my counter would change the very next day.

I still had my doubts. After my dad's passing, mom had decided for us both to move from Tokio, to this tiny town called Tomoeda. During the whole summer I feared those changes would affect the timing for my counter; the idea of it not moving from "7 years" to six, even made me unable sleep during some nights.

That year I had started middle school, and to be honest, I soon became one of the most popular girls. Maybe it was thanks to my personality, since despite my dad's passing, and the sudden change our lives had had, I was still a happy, bubbly and kind person. A girl in love of love. After all, looking at my counter filled me up with an enormous happiness when I thought of it pointing towards a future where I would only be happy, and such happiness belonged to me only.

I would finally find that special person that would love me and me only, and I would love him the same way, no resentments, no secrets, always and forever, until it was time to say goodbye. I hoped that would occur when we both were old, since I can see it in my mom: havint to say goodbye to my dad being still so young, still hurts her to this day.

Or maybe, I was popular in middle school thanks to my physical appearance. After all, Daidouji genes mean perfection. I got porcelain skin, long greyish hair, violet eyes, pink cheeks and red lips. Sometimes I even caught some of the school boys saying I was the prettiest and would love to know me better. I could only smile. It flattened me, but to be honest, I would never give them a chance. It was no use, since there was someone already destined for me. My counter had told me to wait, and that was what I was going to do. No matter how handsome or kind these other boys where, my counter had given me the instruction that I still had seven years of waiting.

Six, considering my calculations of it changing the next day.

October 10th. I woke up early, since it was sports day at school, and we'd be busy. I got dressed with the sports uniform, and walked downstairs to have breakfast. Last year, when I was still in elementary school, I had forgotten to keep an eye on my counter, and when classes where over, I noticed how it had changed, saying I had year less of waiting.

As I was waiting for the school bus to arrive, I kept on thinking about the information I had collected during last year, and I was to confirm that day; still nervous about the fact moving to this town had somehow altered everything. If my calculations where correct, my counter would change between one and three pm, and if it was still six years away, that would mean it would hit zero in my first year at university, and the end of my classes. Since I already knew I would go back to Tokyo, that could only mean…

My daydreams ended when the bus stopped right in front of me, and I got no other option but to get on.

"Tomoyo, here!"

"Daidouji, I saved you a spot."

Some of my classmates asked me to sit with them, but I decline them all in a polite way, as I smiled, and walked halfway, where two people were also waiting for me.

"Good morning, Sakura, Eriol."

"Good morning, Tomoyo!" Said my best friend in her cheerful voice. Eriol, as shy as usual, he replied in a whisper. I couldn't help but smile at them both.

There was something about Eriol that caught my eye. Not in a romantic sense, since my counter hadn't reacted at all when I met him a month ago, nor the fact that he was incredibly handsome; but for his personality. He was very hermetic, and maybe the reason he accepted us both as his friends (or maybe he didn't even think about us that way, we just didn't know) was because we basically insisted in talking to him, spending time together, and because we were in the same class. Anyway, Eriol kind of tolerated us and let us spend time with him, although if we tried to talk about his counter, he would shut himself down again.

I just didn't get it. For me, the counter was a dream come true of a wonderful future. I knew it was still long for it to change, to reach zero, but I just couldn't stop looking at it. Eriol, on the other hand… he always had it covered. And asking him why was never an option.

"Will you participate in any competition?" Sakura's question brought me back from my thoughts, and so I couldn't help but be surprised at the fact we were already at school grounds.

"I'm thinking of joining the relay race, although I think I'll be way busy with the support team."

"I forgot how much you like to administrate and organize things, Daidouji." Eriol said, making me smile at him.

If he showed signs of getting interested in something, that was more than enough for making me happy. Just as Sakura, we both wanted him to get involved in anything, and expand his social bubble.

"That's true." I said as we step down the bus, and walked inside school. "I got no problem in organize the whole event, coordinating the sound system team, or the MCs…"

Since the festival has a huge event, classes were cancelled that day. So, as soon as we changed our shoes for sneakers, instead of going to our classroom, each one of us walked towards the place we would be working that whole day. Eriol would join the football team, Sakura would be with the cheerleaders, and I would be with the sound system team, making sure they had the whole program memorized so there would be no issue with the announcements and timings.

Despite the busy schedule, I took my time to keep on checking my counter. "7 years" was still there, as it had been these past 364 days, and I just couldn't wait to see it move down. A whole year had passed, another year of waiting for my true love; one year closer to meeting him and never be apart.

When it was lunch time, I checked it once again. I knew it would change at any moment, and if I'm honest, since the festival was so lively, I had an adrenaline rush. I tried eating as slowly as I could, letting the time go by. Still, I soon had to go back to work, and as I saw my 7 years' mark, I tried to be patient, and focus on what I had to do. Still, the afternoon activities were even more intense, and thus I couldn't keep on looking at my counter as much as I wanted. When the clock announced five pm, and the sun was setting down, it was when I remembered I had to check on it.

Still, I was confused.

"7 years"

The date hadn't change. I asked myself if I had messed up and calculated a wrong date. If those last three years had just been a coincidence. If the long trip from Tokyo to Tomoeda had something to do. If something had happened, if I had taken something for granted…

I couldn't eat that night. I also couldn't sleep. Next morning, since it was a weekend and I was exhausted due to the festival, I woke up late. And yet, when I raised my arm to see my wrist, my counter showed me the exact same date.

"7 years"

It just didn't make any sense.

The whole weekend I spiraled down in a series of negative thoughts. I just couldn't stop asking myself what had I done to fuck up my counter so badly. Was it broken? Could counters break? Had i done something that had altered the mechanics of its existence, causing it to stop? I mentally retraced my steps from last day, and just couldn't find any logical explanation, so, tired of it, I went to see my mother.

"Mom…" I said in a weak whisper, as I disrupted her in her office.

She was at the phone, so she signaled me to wait.

Trying not to make a sound, I walked in to the living area she had where she usually offered her clients a cup of tea or coffee, and waited.

Five long minutes that felt like an eternity.

"Is something wrong, Tomoyo?" She asked as soon as she hung up.

Seeing how I was unable to answer, she hurried and sat next to me, holding my hand.

"It's… my counter." I finally admitted in a whisper.

She turned my wrist, and saw my tattoo.

"You still got seven long years of waiting, my dear. There's nothing to be worried about."

"It's not that." I replied in a hurry. I was starting to hyperventilate. "It had to change two days ago." She gave me a confused look. "I've been checking it since the last three years. I already had the exact date, October 10th, and an approximate timing, between three and five pm, but the date has come and passed… and my counter hasn't moved."

My mom was thinking the same I was thinking. The counter was such a mysterious science. Nobody knew exactly how it worked, but everybody knew it was just never wrong. All I needed was my mom to tell me what was wrong with me.

What I didn't expect was for her to hug me.

"There are occasions… They're not as rare as we would like them to be, but…" She sighed deeply, trying to clear her mind, and letting me go from that embrace, she held me by the shoulders. "There are times where a counter stops before hitting zero."

"Why?" I hurried to ask.

"Because… The person who you were destined, is no longer part of this world."

"What?"

"Is impossible to meet someone who's soul is no longer part of this world."

I looked at her, visibly confused. Was she trying to tell me that…?

"Tomoyo, the person who was destined to you, has died."

My mouth slightly opened. I looked at her, although I wasn't able to see anything. I was also unable to hear how she kept explaining.

"The counter tells us when we will meet that special someone, although it actually points when we'll interact with their being. A counter will not keep going and hit zero if this person is no longer alive. Wouldn't it be too depressive to hit zero as you see a coffin, an urn of ashes, or a tombstone? That's why, just as the physical body of that person somehow still remains in this world, the counter just stops, since the essence of the person is no longer here."

I got sick.

I stopped eating for several days, and I even threw up the two or three times my mom forced me to eat something. I could barely sleep at night, despite feeling exhausted, and my body ached all the time.

I wanted to die. If my special someone was gone forever, I wanted to die too.

I was angry towards the world, for taking away my opportunity of just meeting him. I thought of my mom, and how she had been happy with my dad for fifteen years. She had had the chance to meet him, and be happy by his side; despite life taking him away so soon, she had lived with him. She had been happy with him! They even had me! It's there any bigger act of love, tan having a child together? And life had just taken my destined one away from me, without even being able to know who he had been!

"Tomoyo, get up." Said my mom in a warm tone.

She held me in her arms, and I held onto her, as if my life depended on it.

"We're going out."

She helped me to get up, and even helped me bath. I just let her do her thing, as if I was nothing but a rag doll. Before I even noticed, we were already in the back of the car, towards God knows where.

It was a short trip. We headed towards downtown, and finally our chauffeur parked the car in the parking lot of an expensive private hospital. We stepped down, my mom took my hand, and we walked in. A short conversation with a nurse took us to the third floor, at the end of the hallway, where a private room was waiting for us. I frowned. I just didn't know what we were doing there.

My mom knocked on the door, and just three seconds later, a tall man, with long black hair opened. Smiling at us (just his lips, since his eyes looked sad), he closed the door behind him and greeted my mom, before talking to me.

"So you must be Tomoyo."

I nodded. The man exchanged some more words with my mom, before turning back at me once again.

"Want to go in?" He pointed to the room he just had walked out of, and I could then see his counter.

"5 seconds"

I didn't understand what was going on. Why was he talking to us, when he was mere 5 seconds away from meeting the love of his life?

But I still nodded.

He smiled again, and opened the door. The three of us walked in, in silence.

It was a room designated for long stays. Easy to tell since there were a lot of personal objects scattered around. Photographs. Books. It seems the man also slept there regularly, since there was a couch and some blankets that showned someone had recently napped.

There was only one bed in the middle of the room. Someone was sleeping, connected to a lot of tubes, and a monitor that emitted a constant soft beep. I looked at my mom, and the man, and they both told me I had permission to get close. I did, unsure of what I was looking at.

It was a sleeping woman. Skin, white porcelain as mine, she had a long silky black hair. She looked so peacefully, and I coulnd't help but wonder who she was, and what sickness she had that had trapped her there.

"Her name is Ichihara Yuuko." The man explained, standing next to me, and without saying a word, he showed me his counter.

"1 sec"

"1 sec"

"1 sec"

I just didn't get it. Why wasn't it moving?

"Let's have a talk outside." He said in that smile that felt so sad. "Let's not bother her."

We went back to the hallway, and with his right arm (I noticed his counter and it was now moving forward, saying now 7 seconds!) he pointed at some chairs, were we both sat side by side.

"Who is she?" I asked. "Who are you?"

"My name is Clow Reed. The woman in the bedroom is the love of my life."

"But your counter doesn't work." I couldn't help myself. "It hasn't hit zero despite you already seeing her."

"That's because the magic of the counter only works when both people meet each other. I know Yuuko…" And he sighed deeply. "I know her since years ago. Still, she doesn't know me. You see…" And sighed once again. "Yuuko has been in coma for more than five years. She's not alive, but she's also not death. She's in a limbo where we can't reach her, and where only she can decide to come out of it."

"How did you knew… know, she's the love of your life?" I corrected myself, trying to not be rude.

"Well, I've lived in Tomoeda all of my life. A normal, peaceful life. Until exactly five years ago, when my counter started acting strangely. The last coherent thing it said was that I had 2 years more of waiting, and then, one morning, it started to count in minutes. I just didn't get it. Shouldn't it first show me months, then weeks, days, hours, before reaching minutes? Before showing me such an specific timing? Still, that wasn't the only strange thing. My digits didn't go in a countdown, towards zero, but sometimes it went forward, sometimes the minutes just didn't move, or suddenly they dropped drastically. The only conclusion I could come up with, was that my counter was a compass."

"So you decided to follow it all the way here?"

"It took me some weeks, but yes, the compass brought me here. It was hard for me to be granted access, after all, it's a private hospital, and the security is tight. It was hard to convince the doctors nurses, and the administration. But in the end, they finally allowed me, and that's how…" And he looked at the door. "That's how I found her."

I too looked at the door. My heart shrank. It was such a sad story: he knew she was the love of her life, but it seems as she would never figure it out. I wondered why he spent so many nights sleeping in that uncomfortable sofa, and just didn't go home. Wouldn't it be easier to go back to his daily life, and wait until his counter stopped behaving as a compass, and went back to normal?

But I just knew that was impossible.

That man, Mr. Clow, he knew Mrs. Ichihara was the love of his life, and he was not going to let her go. Despite death had basically already claimed her, and her life held of a thread.

Was that a destiny even worse than mine? To find that special someone, but being unable to be happy by their side, since they're not really here? An anguish wait, to see if they come back, or must you let them go forever…

I couldn't help but ask myself what kind of sick world was this, and who could ever think having a counter was something good.

For people like me, a counter didn't symbolize love, but loss.

I everybody!

It's been a hectic week at work, so I feel this chapter still has a lot of typos and mistakes, that I can't see since I'm so tired :c

I had promised you guys I'd update on Thursday, so that's why I'm posting it despite not being 100% satisfied with it, which means from next chapter and so on I'll update on Saturdays.

So, see you guys next week.

XOXO, Ribo~