I forgot how dang long this bus ride took. How did I survive this originally?

Opening my eyes, I groggily looked out to see that Nagazora was much, much closer than before. It was the peak of the afternoon, and I vaguely remembered that this was around the time of day that I first stepped foot in Nagazora.

Soon enough, the bus stopped at a large station full of people and vehicles coming and going. Right at the edge of the city where things were a mix between urban and metro. The sight was painfully nostalgic.

"You done feeling somber?"

And that was one thing that wasn't nostalgic.

I yawned, shuffling my backpack and trying to fit my way into the line forming to get outside. I nudged people, shouldered them, and pushed past some grandpas to get my breath of fresh air. Fresh 2014 air.

If I could forget that it was 2014 for just a second, I would.

Unfortunately, I wasn't living in a dream (I've pinched myself enough times already) and I've had the entire bus ride to try and process (keyword being 'try') what happened. It's not working out, by the way.

My mind had been preoccupied with the final battle with Kevin, what we could have done better, should have done better, then later on with the Cocoon, why did it go and—

"I said, are you done feeling somber?"

Try to think about a young girl's heart here! I'm sad.

I couldn't see her, and she didn't have a physical form right now, but Sirin was definitely scowling. I could hear it in her voice.

"Stop being sad," the Herrscher in my head commanded plainly.

I swallowed.

I…I'm trying, okay? Hmph.

It's hard to let my mind wander away from this. Mainly because every waking moment kept reminding me that I shouldn't even be here right now.

"Try not to break down in front of everyone here," Sirin suggested, her voice oddly stiff, was she trying to sound kinder?

"You'll…have a pillow to scream into at your apartment, so get there first."

Oh, that was true. First things first, I gotta get to my place! My old place, at least. Then…

Got to cut that thought short, I just received a notification from my phone.

"First day at Chiba Academy…" I murmured to myself, "Hope to see you…there?"

I gave my phone a doubtful, hard look, but the number that texted me never apologized for having the wrong number. I lifted my gaze up to the crowd of people at the station wearily, things were going fantastic. Hooray for school.

Someone bumped into me, quickly tip-toeing away while remaining lowkey. Oh, this was the person who tried to steal my wallet. When first arriving in Nagazora, I just thought that he must have been in a rush or he just wasn't aware of where he was going. That mistake in judgment led me on a goose chase around the entire station that I would rather not repeat.

I barely pried my gaze off of the towers and skyscrapers in the distance while my hand grabbed onto the thief's wrist and twisted it, making him scream out loud and drop my wallet. At least my reflexes still seemed to be intact.

"Thanks," I mumbled, walking off to go look for a cab to a deeper part of the city. Shouldn't have messed with this time travelling Kaslana. Glancing to my right, I found the guy who tried sexually harassing me when I asked him for directions into the city, so that was a no-go. To my left was the guy who demanded way too much money for a short cab ride…

Wow, was my first moments in Nagazora this crappy?

"Now you understand why I hate these insects," Sirin said smugly, "Humans are always so useless."

Without humans, you wouldn't have cup noodles!

"What makes you think I like…those?" Sirin asked, sounding offended.

Cause I like 'em, hehe. I replied, feeling smug, though you should try them, Sirin.

I walked over to where people were waiting for cabs to take them into the city.

"Right, I should try cup noodles, because I clearly have the body to do so," Sirin grumbled dryly, "Funny, really funny. You should become a clown with how good your jokes are."

Aw, don't be like that Sirin.

While Sirin rambled away in my head (did I tick her off that much?) I finally spotted a free taxi and began my walk there. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone else speed-walking towards the cab I had my eyes on. Nuh-uh, whoever this person was, they are NOT stealing my ride!

I immediately flew into a sprint. People gaped at me as I sped past them, lugging all my stuff with one arm and swinging the other as fast as I could. I mentally apologized to everyone that I bumped into, sorry you all, but a girl has to get out of here!

The guy tending to his taxi looked up tiredly and widened his eyes when he saw me sprinting full speed at him. I dove for the handle, opened the door, and swung myself in with one smooth motion. I might have scratched it a bit, but just a bit.

Outside, I saw the person who had been competing with me sigh in disappointment, sorry.

"Miss, where you headed?" The taxi driver asked me, looking like he'd do anything but drive an eccentric young girl in a city.

I thought for a moment, going through my phone to see where I saved the address.

Turns out I didn't.

Was I this irresponsible?

"Yes."

You didn't have to respond to that.

"Uh…Why don't you just take me near Chiba Academy?" That's right, my apartment complex wasn't that far away from Chiba. It was only twenty minutes away.

The driver raised an eyebrow at my suggestion but started up his GPS and began driving. The ride to Chiba Academy was silent, traffic was unbearable, and I counted at least five different occasions where I almost nodded off.

"Miss," the voice of the driver made me jolt upright, "this a good spot?"

I looked out, and sure enough, we were right in front of Chiba Academy. Okay, not right in front, as he was parked a little ways away from the main gate, but still.

"This is good enough!" I chirped, grabbing my wallet so I could pay him. After our transaction, I stepped outside the taxi and surveyed the school ground, as much as I could see anyways.

This sure was a nostalgic sight. The campus grounds were as vast as I remember them being, and the large school buildings made it clear that this was rich kid central. The gardens were in all the same places, usually by corners or in open patches kids normally wouldn't walk on since everyone was advised to follow the walking paths set around the school grounds.

I sighed, unable to tear my eyes away from the school. It's not like I had gone to school for a long time or anything, but I did feel a degree of connection to this place, knowing this is where everything began.

"Let's go," Sirin said, "You'll have plenty of time to look at it later."

"Mhm," I exhaled, turning away from Chiba and walking down the street.

Oh, that's the wrong way.

I reluctantly turned around and walked by the school's gates, not so subtly gazing past it.

"It's after school, she's not going to be outside."

Hey, a girl can dream!

Feeling thoroughly embarrassed by the callout, I waited for the light at the crosswalk while racking my brain for directions. I took out my phone to search for directions to the apartment, which I probably should have done sooner. Yeah…definitely should have done that sooner.

Seeing Chiba Academy was nice, so I didn't mind the detour that much.

Of course, I was walking in a direction that was not in the direction of my apartment. So now I had to turn back and follow a new route while navigating around all the people busily walking back from school, a store, work…the list goes on. The point is, the original twenty-minute estimation was most likely not true considering this traffic.

After following my GPS and bumping into more people than I could count, I finally found my apartment complex. Twenty minutes away from Chiba, just as I remembered. I rushed up the stairs and side-stepped out of a delivery man's way before making it to my room. My reflexes were definitely still intact because I remember bumping right into that guy and breaking whatever was inside his box. I was a rash girl back then, and we nearly brawled right then and there over the incident.

Stopping in front of my door, I flinched when I heard a thud followed by a break. Moments later, two voices yelling at each other began to echo from the floor underneath me. Guess I wasn't the unlucky soul to run into him this time.

"So noisy, ugh, men are such noisy, loud-mouthed, cheaters."

…That was a bit uncalled for.

"It's true."

Why did the Herrscher in my head have to be a misandrist?

"I'm not a misandrist, I hate all humans equally."

Gee, that makes things a lot better!

Diving into my bag for the key to my apartment, I listened to Sirin state her claim on why men are cheaters (and not in the relationship sense) and also found my chameleon hairclip. Tuning Sirin out for a moment, I stared at the hairclip fondly. Definitely had to make a mental note to leave it on my nightstand so I don't forget to wear it the next morning.

Now that I've got my key, and— wait, that's the wrong key. That was my laundry key, oops. I shifted the keys around to a golden one, and the door clicked open. For some reason, stepping back into this place… made me nervous in a way.

What awaited me upon opening the door weren't puppets, Herrschers, mechs, or stupid Archbishops. It was an empty living space, indicative that it was waiting for that certain someone to step in and make it home. This is where I started, right here in this empty room when back then I just thought about searching for my dad.

"..."

I swallowed, it's just a small space. Stepping in, I felt closed in with the walls around me. I'd lived in worse, but I think what I was feeling was claustrophobia. There was the bathroom to the right, and the kitchen was off to the left…there was the small living room which also doubled as my bedroom.

It wasn't as open as the buildings and areas on the moon. Wasn't as vast, wasn't as alien. It was just normal, super normal. But I knew it wasn't normal. My being here wasn't normal.

I suddenly found it hard to breathe. My throat felt tight, and my heart was pounding loudly in the back of my head.

"Stop," Sirin's voice startled me, making me seize up in place, "What are you doing? Get a hold of yourself, you can't let a single room defeat you."

But…

"No," she snapped, making me flinch, "You're going to be fine, no buts. You're here now, aren't you? You have a chance to make it all better, so stop making me say these things, because I'm supposed to complain about helping others. You're supposed to be the hero, so get up and scream into your pillow already."

…

Thanks, Sirin.

It was a pretty laughable attempt at uplifting someone, and I don't think a lot of people would appreciate being told things like that.

"Hey."

But I wasn't like most people. Coming from the future, with the weight of the world possibly on my shoulders…that's like a dream some kids might have, going back and doing things better.

Yet I was living that dream. It's kind of unfair, but I'm a Kaslana, I'm basically part of a lineage tasked to do these kinds of things. So it's okay, I'll…be okay, I think so.

"You've been putting off the reality of the situation all day," Sirin huffed, "why didn't you realize that you're just making it worse?"

Okay, okay, I'm sorry!

"Apology not accepted."

What a tough girl to please.

I inhaled, walking deeper into my old-new home. Before I decided to do anything or set my mind on anything, there was one thing that must be done first.

Walk into the bathroom, wash off the light layer of makeup I had on (it was mainly just the eyeshadow), and dry off my face. Do my hair a little, get some pyjamas on, and then make my bed up and add the bedsheets. Get the pillow ready, set up my blanket…

Finally, flop onto the bed, face-first into my pillow, and let out a muffled scream.

Phew, that felt cathartic.

"I stare at the space through the starlight, up above the earth so high."

Wha…?

"I divide the sea and wait my guest with prosy wind."

Where is…that coming from?

"Look subtle visitors, welcome you arrive my place…

…Now come to stay with me."

The calm, serene voice of the lady singing previously took a drop in pitch and got far louder.

My eyes snapped open in fright, and I jolted upright in my bed. There in front of me…

…Was my phone, blaring a song at six in the morning as my alarm. Oh, I remember now, this was a song that I used to be obsessed with at the time, and it did sound good, but I quickly grew tired of it when I set it as my alarm. That was partly due to hearing it every morning, a time when I'm easily susceptible to being annoyed.

Staring at my phone groggily, I decided to let some of the song play out, just to listen to it again.

"What is that noise…? Ugh, shut it off!"

Good morning to you too. Seems like I wasn't the only person who was cranky upon waking up.

I finally shut my phone up by swiping down on the alarm interface, hoping that I didn't set it on snooze. Yawning, I opened my blinds, gazing out at the familiar sight of the morning in Nagazora.

I slept for a long time. I vaguely recalled waking up in the middle of the night for a drink of water, but I still slept for way over eight hours, geez. Guess that's what time travelling did to a person.

Ah, the fortune of having a window placed conveniently where I could gaze out at the slowly illuminating city, birds flying through the buildings and the first traces of human life riding bicycles or running outside.

Seeing that productivity brought me to a question: what was I doing up so early?

"You have somewhere to be," Sirin replied.

What, when?

"When do you think school starts?" Came the irritated reply.

School…that word reverberated through my head for a moment. Ah right, the text, the white uniform that was tucked into my bag, and my time in Nagazora revolved around the same thing: Chiba Academy.

I needed to get ready. And quickly, because I had to get there before the rush started!

Shutting my blinds (I don't want creeps peeking in my room) I rushed over to my bag, flinging out tons of stuff I'd have to clean up later. There at the bottom was my uniform, stainless and…incredibly wrinkled.

I went into my second bag, lugging out the iron and plug.

"You're a disaster," Sirin said, appalled at the apparent lack of organization right before our eyes.

"This isn't my fault," I complained out loud, "I blame it on my younger self!"

I grabbed my uniform, iron, and package of bread (how did that even fit in there?) and ran over to the kitchen area. I shoved the bread into the toaster, carefully watching it as I set it to a specific time.

"It's just a toaster," Sirin groaned, "it's not going to blow up."

Oh Sirin, you sweet summer child.

After the toast was inside and getting toasted, I turned my attention to the uniform that I needed to iron. I set the uniform on the counter, plugging in the iron into the nearby outlet and getting to work immediately.

I wasn't the best at this kind of stuff, but I could get it done. I worked the iron over my uniform, diligently eliminating the creases it must have gained from being stuffed at the bottom of my bag. I hummed to myself, this was actually kind of fun.

"Hey," Sirin called out to me, snapping me out of my zone, "Hey! The bread is burning!"

My nose picked up on the smell of burnt bread not a second later, not fun.

I scrambled to check the time on my phone, and I winced at the fact that 10 minutes had passed. I reached over in a panic and shut the toaster off, smashing the button used to turn it on.

I stared at my poor toaster, mouth agape. The electrical circuitry buzzed and steam began to ooze from my toaster, oh no…

"How…" Sirin muttered in awe.

"Water!" I cried out, "I need water!"

I swung open one of my cupboards, thankful that this apartment had come with a clean set of appliances. Not sure why it did, though. But that didn't matter! My eyes darted through all of the cups, trying to pick out the largest cup I could use.

My hands fluttered over the cups, and I decided to grab one of the large mugs. I could smell the oncoming disaster my toaster was about to unleash, and my bread was still in there!

My feet wouldn't stay off the ground, nervously running in place as I prayed that the water could fill the mug faster.

"You should probably just throw the water on there, and get more cups," Sirin suggested.

Deep breath, Kiana. Sirin is right, I need to do that!

I flung the water onto the toaster, dousing the smouldering inside of the machine. I grabbed a ton of cups, filled them up haphazardly and poured all of the water onto the toaster.

I wiped my forehead, a job well done. The toaster looked fine now.

And then the insides began to flash and I could faintly hear the electrical circuits dying, essentially. The inside of the toaster exploded, and all I was left with was a bunch of smoke in my apartment.

Fun.

I walked over to the toaster, grabbed my burnt bread and mournfully stuffed it into my mouth.

At least my uniform was looking nice. And on that note, I should move it to another room. Munching on my toast, I put away my uniform and gathered my things for a shower. I had just half an hour to shower, do my hair, and all the other crap girls my age did. I say that, but it wasn't that bad making myself look good. It was tedious when I had to do it on a freaking time crunch.

Sirin sighed, "At least you got your breakfast."

At the expense of my toaster, yeah.

"Could've been worse."

Now it was my turn to sigh, the day hadn't even started and it was already a rollercoaster. I waited for the water to turn hot in the shower, grabbing my comb and shampoo, conditioner, and other stuff I just brought along. I missed having my magical Herrscher hair.

Wash my hair, put some conditioner in, and leave it in for a solid minute, then wash it out. Comb any knots out of my hair, then stylize it outside of the shower once I had dried off enough.

"Should I put my hair into two drills?" I wondered out loud.

"Hey, Sirin, what do you think?"

"Do whatever you want."

'Kay, the two drills it is. I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so why not? I looked cute with that style too.

And…I guess the blue eyeshadow wouldn't hurt. Personally, I wasn't sure what compelled my younger self to choose that colour, but it looked good on me.

Alright! I'm all set, even though my toaster is gone, and all I've had for breakfast is two pieces of burnt toast and emotional exhaustion, it's time to head to school!

I checked my phone after putting my uniform on, eight twenty-six.

Sirin snickered faintly. Must be so nice when all you got to be is a presence inside my head.

"Kiana's my name," I mumbled, "and speed's my game…"

A little cardio hurt no one, right?

I take it all back, cardio is hurting me right now.

I'm feeling sweaty in my uniform, and running past all the people commuting to either work or school was worse than I expected. I could avoid the sweat by going slower, but it was my first day and I don't want to be late…

Well, I was late when I first arrived at Chiba. But this was different! I'm different, and part of being different is not being late to class.

If I was lucky and a little early, I could make myself smell a little nicer and touch up my face if it got really bad. I dashed past students around my age and middle-aged men in my run to the school, running all the crosswalks and almost getting run over, twice.

I was a Kaslana, if I got hit by a car I'd be fine.

"Daredevil over here."

All for the sake of being on time.

I spotted the fence lining around Chiba, and much to the shock of the students walking through the front gate, I threw my bag over the fence and began to climb up the fence, kicking off the wall rapidly as I cleared it. I landed gracefully on the other side, grabbing my bag and continuing on my way.

Eight thirty-nine. Yes! I just made it, those two close calls on the crosswalk were worth it.

I pulled out a tiny mirror to check my face and then sniffed my armpits and uniform. Not bad, but I'll use a little perfume, and my face was fine. Looks like I'm off to class.

"I'm actually kind of impressed, you made it on time," Sirin complimented.

Yeah, I'm good at this kind of stuff, I replied smugly.

I expected a rebuttal from Sirin, but instead, she laughed.

"There's still one challenge left."

One challenge left…? I made it to school, the trial should be over. Mission accomplished, basically.

Eight forty-two, I met the teacher by the door, who just like the first time, had been expecting me here.

"Hello, Kiana Kaslana," she greeted stoically, "welcome to your first day at Chiba Academy. Once the class is gathered, we can introduce you to everyone."

I nodded and walked a little bit away from the door to the classroom. Students whispered to each other as they walked in, no doubt suspecting that I was the new student they must have heard about. The teacher left, closing the door and most likely taking attendance right as school started.

The clock struck eight forty-five, it was my time. The teacher opened the door for me to enter, beckoning me to follow her.

And then Sirin's words hit me.

Front row, neatly organized desk, just like how it was back then, and at St. Freya. My eyes saw a lot, over twenty kids and the windows beyond them with a grand view of Nagazora. But while my eyes may be physically gazing at all of this, I was only focused on one.

Her purple hair was tied with the same ribbon, the one with white polka dots. Her uniform was black because I was technically a first-year in a second-year class. Her purple eyes looked friendly, and inviting, tempting anyone to just waltz up and talk to her about anything and everything.

I swallowed. Come on Kiana, it's just been one day technically…one day. Just a day since you last saw her. But it wasn't really one day, right? Not anymore, now it was just…

Never. It never happened. I never talked to her, never met her until now. This girl wasn't the one I knew, and that truth stung my heart in that brief moment of realization. I tried to do anything to tear my eyes away from her and to the teacher, who was introducing me to the entire class. Don't frown, Kiana, just give a good and easygoing smile…

"Uh, hello everyone! My name's Kiana Kaslana!" I greeted, emulating the same energy I did once before, I saw the boys' eyes light up and the girls interrogate me with their eyes alone.

But my eyes only remained on Raiden Mei, and I really hope I hadn't been too obvious about it.

"You were way too obvious about it."

Shut up.

"Kiana, why don't you sit beside Raiden Mei?" Mrs Takahashi suggested, much to the shock of the class.

I knew it was going to happen, but I still tried to act a little surprised, just for appearance's sake.

"Sure!" I chirped, eagerly walking to my desk and plopping myself down. I got out my notebook (which I actually remembered to bring) and opened my mouth to introduce myself to Mei and—

There goes my voice, dying before I could utter a sound in the face of Mei's smile.

"Hi," Mei waved slightly at me, "my name's Mei, it's nice to meet you," she smiled with just a touch of shyness, the girlish charm still present in her voice. I mentally melted, trying my hardest to just act, act natural. You can do it Kiana, don't screw this up.

That's right, totally natural. Hm…Dad told me that there was always this one way of making an impression on women, specifically women.

"Don't use advice from that guy!" Sirin interjected angrily.

"Hey babydoll, you wanna learn how to pick up women?" Siegfried laughed, his eyes twinkling at the way I must have looked so curious.

"How do I do that? I asked innocently.

He laughed again, "It's simple, I'll give you an example…here's how I asked this real special woman to marry me," he got up and patted down his jacket as if preparing himself.

Siegfried then walked over to me, "So first, you have to look confident, be suave…deepen your voice, girls love it— they'll swoon over you. Next, look 'em right in the eye, let them know you're serious! Girls like it when you can look them in the eye because it gets them flustered."

Siegfried crouched down, bumping me on my shoulder, "Then, once you're looking them in the eye and all calm and collected…you gotta just say one thing, let them know your vibe."

"What's that?" I asked, curiously.

"Watch closely, babydoll. Just like this."

Siegfried took a deep breath and put his large hand on my shoulder. He looked me straight in the eye, and an easygoing, calm smile tugged at his lips.

"Hey."

I cleared my throat, the teacher had her back turned to us, seemingly disinterested in the class as the kids studied around us.

I looked Mei in the eyes calmly, staring into that deep purple I was so familiar with. She looked back and began to grow flustered. Her cheeks reddened, and that's when I knew. Knew what I had to do.

"Don't you dare—"

I put my hand on Mei's shoulder, parting my lips ever so slightly. I blinked at Mei, a smile tugging at my lips just the way my Dad did it.

I took a breath, a single, hot breath. Calm, suave, deep voice.

"Do you like women?"

Wait. Wait I wasn't supposed to say that—

Mei blushed cutely and looked away, casting shy glances at me.

What.

"That WASN'T supposed to work! Why did it work?!"

I don't know.

"Kiana? Are you studying?" Mrs Takahashi asked, her eyebrow raised.

I groaned internally.