Love and the Time Travel Paradox
07:10AM
She woke up to an open window, and a view of the sky blanketed by clouds.
For the first time in ages, she felt like spending her day outside.
Maybe her old student had the right idea. A change of pace wouldn't be such a bad thing.
One step at a time.
Today she was feeling particularly sluggish, but she figured that she only felt that way because of her decision to go out.
Even her own body was rebelling against her.
07:40AM
The hot water felt so good on a chilly morning like this... too bad it stopped working about half way through.
08:08AM
Breakfast.
Nope, not for her.
It costed more effort than she was willing to give this morning.
Just like a lot of other things, actually.
And besides, why waste time cooking when she couldn't taste a single thing.
08:16AM
Her bag was ready. She looked presentable enough.
No more procrastinating.
The clouded skies were beckoning.
Out the door and into the big, open world.
08:17AM
Okay, not really. Not yet, anyways.
The door was open, but instead of taking the required steps forwards, she leaned against the jamb.
She had to get her act together.
Otherwise, she would never be able to get out of her apartment.
08:22AM
Barely five minutes and she was already feeling the irresistible urge to flee back into her nest.
But resist she must.
08:32AM
She didn't even know where she was going.
She'd focused so hard on just leaving her condo, she didn't have an actual destination in mind.
08:33AM
For starters, that convenience store looked ready to be raided.
08:49AM
She would have left that place sooner if the cashier hadn't paused every few seconds to give her a funny look.
He was holding up the line, too. How very rude of him.
08:55AM
That could have gone better, in her opinion.
Now what to do.
More specifically, "where could she stuff her face with beer and chocolate in peace" was the question. It had to be a place where nobody she knew would pass by on their own accord. She didn't want to talk to them. She just wanted to stuff her face with beer and chocolate. In peace.
Yeah, she wasn't feeling guilty for doing this at all.
Leaving the apartment had been hard enough. So she should be allowed this much.
09:19AM
She wasn't up to taking the rooftops, and she avoided the open-air market by taking the long way around.
Before she knew it, her feet had taken her to the playground near the old hospital building.
She lingered at the entrance, bags in hand.
A lot of children came here with their parents almost every single day, back then. But with the new hospital, and the bigger playground, this one had fallen to disrepair. To her knowledge, there were no plans to convert this playground or the old hospital building into anything else. Not yet.
...She hadn't been here for almost two years now.
Time to fix that.
09:25AM
The trees and grass looked overgrown. The weeds were especially fierce. Overhead, the clouds were getting darker and heavier.
Deserted, yet still beautiful. That was what the playground looked to her.
When she plopped down on her usual swing, the support groaned loudly, and made her pause.
It looked like her old friend was giving up soon.
The first beer was popped open.
She toasted to this brave piece of iron that had withstood two wars and an invasion for sake of children and adults like her.
09:30AM
That first can went down the hatch too fast.
The best things in life never seem to last for long. Shinobi knew this like they knew the backs of their own hands.
Men and women of her profession were also prepared for the worst, at all times.
So it was a good thing that she bought three more cans to enjoy.
She might have gone for the six-pack instead of just buying four of them individually.
But she was trying to cut down. She didn't want to touch her savings for her vices. It was strange, to save up for no reason. Then again, she was strange like that and she didn't feel like explaining herself to anyone.
So she had to cut down before she ran out of money and she was forced to run a mission earlier.
Which meant she'd have to cut down on the chocolate too.
09:50AM
Today was the first time she'd gotten those chocolates with alcoholic content. It was always the same old chocolate bars, chocolate cookies, and chocolate truffles for her. She was again glad that she'd listened to her old student's advice about getting a change of pace.
...That probably wasn't what he meant, though.
This box was awfully fancy-looking. If it really was going to rain today, she wouldn't want it to be destroyed.
With a flick of her nail, the paper sticker sealing was rendered obsolete.
She popped one into her mouth without hesitation.
A grin broke out slowly across her face.
They were every bit as delicious as she imagined. She almost didn't mind the idea of running a mission earlier. But she couldn't let herself eat them all. They were ridiculously expensive and she wanted to savor them.
So after eating a second one, she closed the container and put it away in her bag.
The third beer opened just as easily as the fancy chocolate box.
10:01AM
Both of her boots were now lying haphazardly in the grass seven yards away. Even without chakra, she had pretty good kicking strength.
Emerald eyes flickered left to right, as if watching for anyone who was watching.
She wiggled her toes. And wiggled them again.
A giggle escaped from her mouth, and she nearly dropped her can to the ground from mirth.
Maybe it was the beer, but she thought wiggling her bare toes was the most hilarious thing that she'd done in a while.
10:03AM
A faint footfall at the very edge of her periphery jerked her out of her laughing daze.
She tensed, but not visibly. In a way that only experienced shinobi like her could do, she held herself calm and still.
The footsteps were very light, and languid. They came from the direction of the playground entrance. So they weren't sneaking up on her. Most likely someone had the same idea as she, and came to this dilapidated playground for some peace and quiet.
But she was already in fight or flight mode, and her mind was heavily favoring flight.
She wasn't ready to talk to them yet. She still needed more time.
If this intruder in her little paradise was somebody she knew, she would leave.
The footsteps came closer.
They hesitated just beyond her line of sight. Most likely sensing her presence and deciding on whether or not to turn back.
After a heartbeat, a figure finally stepped out of the trees.
Emerald met jade.
She paused, beer can in hand.
The man froze, too.
Her mind automatically sized him up.
A solid stance. An unyielding presence. A... children's paperback book in his hand.
The man was clearly doing the same thing as her, zeroing in on her features with incredible intensity that almost made her want to shield herself. Or maybe he was admiring her beauty. She couldn't tell, her social skills were rusty from disuse and impaired by her drinking.
After the longest of minutes, his eyes slowly trailed from her to the only other available swing.
Her gaze followed his.
Both her handbag and the plastic bag from the convenience store were there... oh. It all made sense now. The book in his hand, this abandoned playground, the way he eyed the swing. He came here to read in peace.
As an avid bookworm, she hardly wanted to get in a fellow reader's way of the sacred past time.
She hurriedly put down her drink and cleared away her things.
He stepped out of the shadows and approached the swing. He gave her a polite bow of gratitude before settling down to read.
10:17AM
The playground remained quiet and serene. Only the occasional rustle of plastic wrappings, or the flick of a page, broke the stillness.
She finally found it within herself to relax completely. The man was lost in his own little world, focused entirely on his paperback, and paid no heed to her or her discarded boots. And if he did, he wasn't going to draw any attention to it, which she was grateful to him for.
The third beer can was now empty, and she didn't feel like eating any more chocolate.
But she was still up for drinking the last can.
As she reached for the plastic bag, her eyes landed on the cover of his paperback.
Mysteries of the Universe, vol. 20
No doubt about it, it was a children's science book. She had her own copies at home, and adored them when she was younger, but she never got past the sixth volume.
10:18AM
She couldn't help but gasp when her fingers knocked over the unopened can, which rolled out of reach.
And then a different hand, much bigger than her own, caught the can easily.
"Here."
It was the first word she'd heard from him. The man's voice was soft. Deep. Modulated. She thought that she wouldn't mind hearing a voice like his even when she was suffering from a hangover. It was just that nice to listen to.
He gently placed the beer can onto her waiting hand.
She smiled at him.
"Thank you."
He returned her smile before turning back to his book.
10:35AM
At the back of her beer addled mind, something tugged at her memory.
Instead of enjoying the scenery she was trying to put a name to his face.
She didn't know she had spoken aloud until he raised his head up, shifting his attention from his book to her.
It was already out, and he was nice enough to listen so she plunged ahead.
"I'm sorry, but have we met before?"
He blinked, and his jade eyes became thoughtful.
Eventually, he answered her.
"Perhaps."
She had to admit, he had a good point. These past couple years, her village had been expanding so rapidly with the advent of technology. A lot of new faces had flowed in through the gates after the alliance was set in stone, looking for a new beginning.
She didn't know every single person in the village even before it had progressed, and she certainly didn't attempt to learn every single newcomer's name either.
If they'd actually met, then she was probably nothing more than a brief, unimportant footnote in his life.
So she shrugged, and he turned back to his paperback. Silence and stillness returned.
10:55AM
The can had long since been emptied, but she had really enjoyed staying at the abandoned playground.
She gathered up all of the remaining uneaten chocolate and tucked them into her handbag. All of her trash went into the plastic bag.
Maybe she could come back. Tomorrow.
The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea.
It was definitely different from staring at her television or laying about inside her bedroom.
The man paused in his reading to watch her as she fixed her things.
She flashed him a smile and made to leave.
"Would you stay?"
His voice stopped her. She turned back to him. Jade met emerald once again.
"If it rained, until the end of the world, would you stay?"
She didn't know what he was talking about. He did not explain himself.
Eventually his eyes dropped back to his book.
Slightly off balance, she walked away from the swing set and exited the playground.
11:30AM
Back inside her bedroom, just in time to hear the sound of thunder from outside.
She flopped on top of the comforter, her feet tingly from all of the walking she did.
11:32AM
The rain began to fall.
01:00PM
She must have dozed off without realizing it.
Her body protested, and this time she heeded its complaints. She didn't feel like moving again for a long, long time.
02:10PM
Sleeping, drinking, eating chocolate.
The occasional mission.
Hot baths.
And taking care of her son.
These were the only activities that she was interested in.
Television was numbing.
She never liked doing chores either, even as a little girl.
These days, the trash bags in the living room just seemed to multiply without ever stopping.
The kitchenette hadn't been used in ages, except the sink.
The air inside her condo had always felt comforting, but now it was stifling.
Going to the old playground had helped alleviate her burden. Helped a lot more than she thought.
Her ex-student would get his free ramen. She owed this new breakthrough to him, after all.
06:00PM
She wrote down the man's parting words to her on a scrap of paper.
It was just a sudden impulse she had.
If he'd said it to her at any other time, she probably would have forgotten it. As it was, she found herself intrigued.
It was lyrical, structured. It could be a riddle.
After double checking to make sure she got all of the words exactly right, she put it down on her nightstand and headed off to the bathroom for her second bath that day.
06:20PM
She'd completely forgotten that the hot water wasn't working anymore.
Woe.
07:00PM
Maybe she could try her hand at cooking dinner, for once.
The kitchenette stood off against the western wall, looming above her head. It was daunting.
Unfortunately she couldn't muster enough motivation to plan a menu, or prep the ingredients.
So she gulped down two bottles of water and called it a night.
09:20PM
The television was still on in the living room.
She'd fallen dead asleep before getting underneath the comforter.
TBC...