"Do you mind telling us why exactly you're late Mr Ishida?" The man who I can only assume is my teacher asked in a stern voice that may have intimidated me if I was actually a child and not a grown man. Fortunately I was the latter and wasn't the least bit frightened by his little mask of authority.

My mouth instantly sprung into action as the whole class looked at me rather expectantly." I got lost and asked around to find my way to this classroom but they seem to have lied to me since I ended up in class 3-B not 1-B. Sorry about being late sir, it won't happen again." Hey I even surprised myself at how good I was at smooth talking whilst lying.

The teacher stared into my eyes with a look that seemed to be breaking me down, searching for any minor giveaway that I was lying straight to his face. Yet he came up empty and just sighed in annoyance before grumbling." Just make sure that it doesn't happen again. Take that seat over there and be quiet."

I ignored his overall rudeness in favour of just taking my bag and sitting down next to bespectacled ash-blonde haired girl. I took notice of the fact she seemed to look at me with apprehension, plus there's the fact that behind that mask she seemed to put on in front of the class her eyes couldn't lie. She was... somewhere between scared of me and nervous that I'm here. That's strange, did she know me?

As class waged itself on it continued to become increasingly apparent that whoever the girl next to me was, she wasn't a friend of mine, I'd even go as far as to say that she outright dislikes me but she chose to keep it hidden for some reason. You might be wondering how exactly I can tell all of that just from a few side-glances but when you're in the business world long enough you just kind of learn to see these things. I can see them even clearer now for whatever reason.

At any rate I had to be careful when talking to this girl, if I misspeak then my entire façade could unravel like a shoelace, but how could I even hide the fact that I am literally not whoever was in this body before I came along, it's not like I have any behaviour that I can mimic, it's like I've been given just a few pieces of a puzzle and I'm being asked to tell someone what exactly it looks like assembled. I need a few more pieces of this puzzle before I do anything about what the hell this body had done before I took control.

Unfortunately, assuming that the information that I got from those bullies wasn't a lie and the behaviour from this girl who seems to know me... am I a bully? Was whoever 'Shoya Ishida' was a bully?

The thought actually made me slightly uncomfortable, whilst I know better than to blame myself over something that I didn't do and have no intention of doing my moral compass can't help but flare up at that little chunk of information. Whilst I'm not the best person I would never purposefully go out of my way to harm another human being. It goes against what I believe, and whilst I am more than okay with using physical force to defend myself and give someone else what they deserve, I do have a problem with using violence to get what I want. It's simple minded behaviour and using your mind to gain the upper hand is a much better way to hammer in your point. So being held accountable for horrible physical behaviour is... well it makes me cringe a little bit.

Still I have no idea how far I could go to defend my actions if I have no idea what actually happened. For all I know these people could just be spewing a bunch of made-up crap to make me look worst than I actually was. It's an imbalance in information that I need to overcome by learning just how far my actions went when it came to bullying.

I just hope that, for my own sake, it wasn't too bad.


2010. I was over a decade in the past.

I pinched myself to make sure that I wasn't dreaming before staring straight ahead at the date which the teacher had oh so helpfully put on the board for the class to write down. Time Travel is... well in theory actually possible and probably more likely than jumping into a new body but it's still a really weird concept. I was an entire decade in the past, it boggles my mind just thinking about the predicament that I was in.

If I was actually in the past... then that makes building myself up infinitely easier. I could literally just go online and mine myself a large amount of coin, store it on a flash drive and wait for it to be worth millions. I might not know a lot about the history of the Japanese economy but as a business man- and just in general a man from the future- I have inside my head possibly millions worth in 'original ideas'. It was cheap but since when have I ever cared about something as trivial as originality. I'd rather work smart than work hard.

But ignoring the fact that I'm technically a time traveller, my first day of Japanese education was... extremely boring. It was a lot like regular school only you need to maintain sharp focus and perfect manners most of the time or else you get called out for it. Okay maybe that's an exaggeration but you get my point. I have no doubt that it'd be better if I was more Intune with the culture of this place, however most just look at me and assume that I'm just being purposefully rude to them by being oblivious to all these manners and honorifics, so instead of just shrugging it off they make a big deal out of it.

However, those two boys were also in my class and lucky for me they didn't so much as look at me the wrong way after my little impression that I wasn't a guy that they could push around.

The lessons were no big problem for me, given that I've already been through school once with flying colours, however Japanese history was a new thing to note. I had a good memory though so I just made sure that I was paying attention when that particular lesson took place, other than that though I had exactly zero difficulty with what was placed in front of me and I get the feeling that the kids around me understood that. however, I didn't feel like getting noticed. Skipping grades would be a pain, as much as I complain about being a kid I have have no complaints for this carefree life I have at the moment, for now at least I'm content to just sit back and enjoy my life. Well it's technically not my life but you know what I mean.

These coming years I'd need to do as much as I can, unfortunately in this thirteen year old body that really isn't all that much, but the only big question is: just how much can I really do? I can't purchase my own property, start my own official business like I did previously, or even get a drivers licence. But there has to be something that I can do with my time.

I pulled up a seat in the school's library in front of a computer. I need to search up a few things.


Miyako could tell that something was very off with her son today.

Ever since her son... well bullied that deaf girl and she had to pay that money back he's been completely different, he's reserved, rarely complains about anything and is overall just... depressed looking. Miyako doesn't really know how to feel about any of that. On the one hand it shows that Shoya does indeed feel guilt for his actions and is realising the weight of what he's done, but... seeing him look so sad all of the time was enough to make her heart feel like someone shoved a needle in it.

What her son did was horrible and his actions unforgiveable but... no mother wants to see their child look like that. She also has suspicions about what life was like for him at school after that since Shoya was always coming home with drenched and ruined school supplies, it made her anxious and worried in many different ways. It's ironic that her son went from bully to being bullied in a twisted way.

So you can imagine her surprise in the morning when she found her son acting... well not like himself. Instead of looking down in the dumps and depressed he seemed to be just... well she can't really say what he was thinking. He's not the old him or the current him. Miyako supposes that this will be the new him.

But, she isn't sure what exactly to think of the new him.

Shoya is usually home straight after school, however when she came home at six she didn't see him anywhere. It was the strangest thing. At first she started to worry that maybe something happened to him, that perhaps his strange behaviour was some sort of a warning that she should have taken more seriously. However, her actions of worry were proven unwarranted when he walked through the front door not half an hour after she arrived home.

That didn't mean she was going to let him go without chiding him though.

With a voice full of relief and partly anger she spoke as he took his shoes off and placed them in the hallway." Just where have you been young man?!" Oh she was just going to chew his ear off for simply running off to wherever he wanted like that.

He seemed to flinch away at her words as he turned towards Miyako and looked at her in surprise for whatever reason and then said in an even voice." I was just out trying to look for a place to work. I wanted to earn some cash."

Hearing those words Miyako's expression instantly softened significantly. She could guess what he meant by that in reading between the lines, Shoya has promised to pay her back eventually for the money that those hearing aids cost, they were not cheap afterall, and she was more than happy to take him up on that promise. So him looking for a place to work was slightly touching and generous on his part. She could appreciate that and that fire of anger she felt from before dwindled down significantly.

She smiled a little." Alright I suppose I can't be too angry with you, but please make sure to take your time when it comes to paying me back. There's only so much that a child can do afterall."

Her words seemed to ignite a spark of confusion in his eyes that almost went unnoticed by Miyako- almost- but as soon as it entered it was covered up and replaced by a simple." Yeah." As her son looked to the side.

The blonde woman had to hold back a frown at her son's actions. What was that look in his eyes just now? he couldn't have somehow forgot what he was paying her back for could he? The thought was downright impossible in her view, he looked so guilty about it earlier that him not remembering is just something her son should be able to do.

Ignoring her own thoughts Miyako then changed the topic of conversation." So, what do you want for dinner tomorrow? Pedro, Aika and Maria are coming around for dinner so expect some company. I'm thinking of just doing some bacon and eggs."

Again that same spark seems to be hidden in her son's eyes as he responds with a." Sure that sounds amazing. Also, before I forget, can you take me to get a haircut tomorrow?" His words are plain, as though he didn't just say the most offensive thing that his mother had heard in her life.

Miyako's mouth literally hung open at his words." If you want a haircut then you could just ask me, did you somehow forget that I'm a hairdresser?" She laughs a little but secretly gauges his reaction in curiosity for if her eyes were deceiving her before.

Hearing her words he rubs the back of his head sheepishly and just says." That's what I meant, I just kinda want to change my hairstyle. it's a new school year, you know?"

His words make Miyako do a doubletake, Shoya has never really cared about how he looks, it's the reason he has a permanent bedhead every single day, yet now suddenly he wants to change things up right as he starts acting like a new person.

Did something happen to her son?

Internally the blonde woman reassures herself, Shoya isn't gone he's just... matured a little that's all. It might be sudden but that's a good thing. She's overreacting.

Miyako grins in response to his words though and takes her mind off her traitorous thoughts." Alright well what do you want? I could do it right now if that's alright."

In response Shoya looks a little surprised at her words but just nods along and goes with the flow." Alright. Well I'd like a-

Shoya's mother is surprised by what he asks for but cuts his gravity defying hair anyway. She just hopes he doesn't stick out too much.