Happy August and welcome back to Cherry Jade, everyone! I hope this update finds you well =) My heart goes boom boom uwu with all the support you guys have given me and I want to thank you all from the very bottom of my lungs ❤ Especially to these lovely, lovely people for their generous reviews: Blake 1999, eeeeaud, Cilenia Alsacia, Einklley, Guest, fairydust15, BubbleHearts, ice devil cat demon, and Mango0flh5 ღღღ

So here's a long chapter for you guys! ❤ Wherein Reiya goes face-to-face with her first loves, experiences a minor run-in, and gets an unexpected surprise.

For this chappie's tidbits:

※ "The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself" and "Opportunities multiply as they are seized" are quotes taken from the book The Art of War by Chinese general Sun Tzu. Reiya is familiar with the phrase as she's read the book once. On that note, I'd like to reveal that reading foreign novels, especially English ones, is part of her hobbies.

※ We all know the time travel concept in TokRev wasn't explained properly. It's vague and we were only provided the rules, so it still feels like we haven't seen the full picture of it yet, which is totally understandable as time travel is treated more like a tool than a main focus in the series. But because of that, I had to come up with a few headcanons which'll be dutifully explored as we go along the pace of this story (and if Wakui-sensei ever clears it up I'm totally ready to don on my clown costume).

※ Monaka are traditional Japanese sweets made from light and crisp sticky-rice wafers packed with sweetened fillings ranging from red bean paste, seasonal fruits, or sugared chestnuts.

※ Also I recently made an OC data sheet for Taito on my DeviantArt account and I would love for you guys to check it out. I feel like words weren't enough to truly capture his visuals, so if you wanna get a good eyeful kindly head over to my profile for the link~

〖 Chapter Seven 〗

Re-encounter with Delinquency

JULY 8, 2005

Delinquents. They were known to be irresponsible, violent, and vulgar. Rebellious teens with questionable morals and even questionable fashion senses.

Members of a biker gang were especially worse. They band together in their bikes and uniforms, heralding havoc in the wake of their revving engines and evoking terror in the streets with just the sound of their exhausts.

Anyone with the decency to stay out of trouble would never try to get involved with them in any way, and fifteen-year-old Yunagi Reiya was one such person. So if anyone told her five days ago that she'd be stalking one after school, they would've earned themselves a top place in her 'ignore-forever' list.

But she was no longer the fifteen-year-old Yunagi Reiya of five days ago, and the perilous world of delinquents was a realm she had no intention of staying away from.

Immediately after going back to the past, Reiya had determined that simply observing Kisaki in school wasn't going to be enough to stop him. His operations extended outside of it and school was a place he'd already conquered by covering his sins through charitable acts. He was an opponent that would never be defeated through normal, complacent means. She had to be fast, aggressive, and, much like Kisaki, sneaky.

'The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself!'

And thus, that was how Reiya currently found herself in the neighboring district right behind Kisaki, with him and his two lackeys walking about a dozen meters away in front of her. She'd managed to follow them without being noticed by keeping her distance, navigating her way through crowds and alleys with the stealth and confidence of a seasoned street cat.

On another time, Reiya would never be so foolish stalking him without a disguise. But she had no time to wait or play it safe, her guts pulsing with the need to get moving.

And now she could see her hunch was right.

Reiya had Kuroshima tell her more about Kisaki's delinquent affiliations before she left the campus and managed to gather that he was not yet a member of the Tokyo Manji Gang, but of another biker gang called Moebius.

'So what is he doing in Toman's turf?'

Contrary to what Reiya initially thought, not once did they stop over in any stores or arcades to do whatever delinquents do for fun on the way to the neighboring district, further cementing her suspicions of why Kisaki was heading there in the first place.

It was for business.

The trio went further into a slightly secluded part of town, then down into a tiered clearing that reminded her of an amphitheater.

'This must be their destination.'

Reiya waited at least three minutes before following suit. The closest she could get was by the top of the stairs. There was barely anywhere she could hide behind from the uppermost space of the clearing, and while multiple clusters of trees and shrubs surrounded the area below it was still nearly impossible to get down there without getting detected.

With a deep breath, Reiya slowly approached the cusp of the stairs and squatted down until her knee touched the ground. She kept herself close against the tiered landscape wall by the clearing's entrance and carefully peered around the edge to look below and beyond it. There were five of them now, the trio joined by another pair of delinquents. One of them was a rough-looking guy with a punch perm haircut and a bandage plastered across his nose, while the other boy was taller and lankier with spiked-up hair. She couldn't see his face with his back turned to her, but something about him set her nerves on edge.

Reiya swallowed down her unease and steered her eyes back to Kisaki, who took the rough-looking delinquent aside in a one-on-one conversation. Upon closer look, the guy seemed tense, defeated, as if he had just suffered from a beating and Kisaki appeared to be consoling him, manipulating him. It was like watching the devil at work.

Her eyes narrowed. 'What are you up to, Kisaki?'

Reiya pulled her phone out of her bag with a shaky exhale, heart racing with unpleasant thrills as she opened the camera app. The scene didn't look anything out of the ordinary but she felt she had to capture it somehow. Slowly, carefully, she held the phone with the camera jutting by the edge, zooming in as far as it could go and fitting it at just the right angle when the tall and lanky delinquent suddenly spun around, his head jerking upwards as he surveyed their surroundings.

It was only for a second but Reiya saw his face and she immediately pulled back before he could fully turn in her direction. She ran without a second thought and didn't stop until she reached the bustling, vivid streets of a shopping district, a place some part of her recognized as safe and affable. She slowed to a stop with one hand on her chest, huffing out rapid, anxious breaths as she ducked into a small gap between the serried stores and buildings.

Reiya peeked around the corner and, once she deemed she wasn't being followed, let out a huge sigh of relief. She brought her arms around herself, trying to calm her shaking insides.

That was by far the craziest thing she had ever done. No one would ever believe she'd be so deranged following a delinquent all the way to another district.

Reiya looked down at the phone still clutched in her sweaty fist and broke into a wry smile. Her first stalking operation might not have yielded significant results but she didn't think it was entirely fruitless. Kisaki came to Toman's turf with a purpose. And for now, that would have to be enough.

'So much for trying to get evidence, but it's fine. I'm just lucky I wasn't caught. But that person…He's sharp. He knew someone was watching them but he didn't see me, right? He couldn't have. But he looked…awfully familiar…'

Reiya closed her eyes in recollection, her mouth frowning, tightening, as a similar figure came to mind.

Tall and lanky. Black hair with blond highlights. A sharp pair of eyes…

She opened her eyes and shook the image away before it could complete itself, before the lingering fear she felt after what he'd done to her and after what was done to him could fully rear its ugly head and cripple her composure. She slipped her phone back into her bag and swept out of the alley. The sky above was already waning with the setting sun and people were hustling in their purchases in preparation for dinner, making her hasten to reach home as well.

'Dinner's on me tonight again, I suppose. Mom is going to be late and—' Reiya paused, a pang of searing guilt slowing her movements. She'd been so immersed in her counter-Kisaki strategy that she completely forgot about the brother she left and the brother she was about to meet again.

Her chest tightened as varying snippets of Taito passed through her mind like a filmstrip. Of his cheeky five-year-old self and his seventeen-year-old delinquent form, of his words and his expressions, his concerns and his assurances, of how dependable and brave he had grown to be, and of how adorably gruff he remained; qualities that had always been there since the very start.

But the one thing that never truly changed was how lonely he was underneath it all. She thought about how hard it must be for Taito, who grew up with workaholic parents and an older half-sister who barely had any interest in him. An older half-sister who, did not only leave him once, but twice.

Reiya looked up at the sky as she thought of her brother's future self. 'Taito, I promise we'll see each other again. I promise I'll treat you even better, and I'll start by reconciling with the you of the past.' She looked back down and picked up her pace again, frowning as she remembered what Taito told her about treating him like a stranger again when she woke up from collapsing on him three days ago. 'I can't believe I did that, but it definitely sounds like what my past self would've done.'

She heaved a sigh. She didn't doubt it one bit. She never did stop to think about anything outside of her obsession with Viomaru and the world of classical music during her middle school days. It was all she ever cared about.

It wasn't until the accident when she was forced to accept that the world she knew and stubbornly clung to was, in fact, not her everything. Reiya had only began to accept that after Hina encouraged her to start over again, to see the number of possibilities waiting for her. And it wasn't until she met Manjiro when she discovered what she was truly missing.

Hina opened her eyes and Manjiro opened her heart. Through them she understood that there was more to life than wallowing in tragedies. That while loss was indeed a bitter end, it was also a place where new beginnings can be found.

'But my past self hasn't realized this yet,' Reiya thought reflectively. 'Although I suppose it's only to be expected. The me of this time didn't know about Dad's death yet…She didn't experience loss yet.'

A slow, bewildered smile tugged at the corner of her lips. 'How odd this is. I'm referring to myself but I'm also talking about someone else. Ah, but I am no longer who I was so it makes sense that she and I are entirely different people. To start with, I'm not as rigid as I used to be. I don't think I would've ever fallen in love if I was.'

A nostalgic aroma brought Reiya out of her musings and she turned, halting in her tracks the moment her eyes landed on a taiyaki stall. She went closer, staring down at the neat, delicious rows of piping hot taiyaki inside a glass food display container with soft eyes. She touched a fingertip against the warming glass and for a second she saw Manjiro's smiling face being reflected on the transparent glass before her. So perfectly clear, that it didn't take much effort to maintain it.

'I'm only here because of you…'

The stall-owner finally noticed her and Reiya decided to buy two on a whim. It tasted of chewy red-bean paste, the very same flavor with the ones she ate and shared with Manjiro a thousand tomorrows ago. She gobbled it down and it was so delicious it was starting to make her cry.

Reiya shook her head with a tiny sniffle and forced a smile as she called to make another purchase. "Excuse me, I would like to buy three more, please. For take out." She placed the exact amount on the counter and waited for the stall-owner to wrap them up.

'I'll get some for Taito as a token of my apology,' she decided brightly before taking a bite out of the second taiyaki she bought. 'He does get hungry after going home from daycare. I hope he'll like them.'

Reiya chewed slowly this time, allowing herself a moment to relax and forget about Kisaki, and about the fact that she was currently in Toman's turf.

"Ohh! I made it!" someone nearby suddenly exclaimed, followed by the telltale sounds of a pair of bicycle chains growing louder and closer.

Then she heard a heavy sigh and a drawling, "Sweets before dinner again?"

To which the first voice cheekily replied, "You know I can't pass up on some fresh taiyaki batch!"

Reiya couldn't help but chuckle around a mouthful of cake. She stepped aside as the two boys approached with their bicycles, perceiving that they intended to buy from the very same stall before finally sparing them a glance. The stall-owner finally finished wrapping her taiyaki take-out the very second the two arrived but Reiya didn't even notice, her eyes trained, glued, to the blond-haired boy with a half-up half-down ponytail riding a cyan-colored bike.

Her world spun as she took in his appearance, of the black gakuran jacket hanging carelessly around his shoulders and the wide baggy pants. His companion, a taller blond with his hair styled in a braid and shaved at the sides, was similarly dressed save for the patterned jacket he was wearing and was sitting on a red-colored bike.

Delinquents, her mind alerted, but that wasn't the only reason why the world suddenly felt so small.

Reiya was petrified by the force of her heartbeat, scared to move and scared to breathe as the pale-haired blond suddenly turned his head and gave her his attention, as if drawn by the intensity of her gaze. She saw deep, unfathomable black – blank, curious, and heartbreakingly familiar all at once – before the air around her erupted into an effusion of multi-colored sparks, showering into her eyes and lungs and heart.

For a moment Reiya couldn't see and she had to blink and blink just to clear her vision, but even then he was still a watery blur, his form enveloped in a haze of a hundred liquid stars.

'Jiro-kun.'

His name resounded through her mind like the tinkling of a bell. He was so close, a mere five feet away and her entire soul twitched with the urge to reach for him, to touch him, hold him.

'I missed you, so much...I wanted to see you, so much...'

Reiya took a mindless step forward but froze as the space between them shattered and stretched before her very eyes, showing her the impossible distance of a thousand bygone days. The shock of it wracked through her, smothering the exhilaration in her veins and settling deep into the place where her scars held and festered.

She fought to keep her tears from falling and fought to keep the burn in her throat from consuming her, but ultimately it was a battle she lost when he got off his bike, drew close and asked, "Are you okay?"

Those words, so simple. A query so typical that it shouldn't have had such an effect on her but how could it not when they came from his mouth, his voice, his concern? All of it uttered for her. Only her.

And oh the sound of him. Young, sweet, light and rough-soft. A sound so new, a sound she missed. It pierced through the mire of her thoughts and strung the chords of her yearning soul, filling her, warming her. She couldn't bear it.

Reiya sobbed, the noise sharp and whimpering and making them both flinch. Awareness struck her like a slap, making her realize she hadn't swallowed the taiyaki in her mouth yet. She cupped a hand against her mouth and turned away, cheeks stinging with scorching warmth, her eyes growing even hotter, pushing out more tears as she struggled to gulp the cake down.

She had been steadily choking on her rampaging emotions and now she was literally choking. But once Reiya managed to push it down it was like she gained the strength to push her doubts down with it. She panted into her palm, swallowed again, and frantically wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hands. She needed to calm down, needed to compose herself—

"Hey, what's wrong? Don't you want your taiyaki?"

She winced and froze as Manjiro – no, Mikey – suddenly popped right next to her, his head tilted with questioning concern. Seeing him there and hearing him talk to her, just having him there with her in his current form was too much, too soon.

Reiya geared for her escape, floundering for anything to say and ultimately blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

"Y-you can have it!"

He blinked and his eyes grew wide. "Eh, really?"

She nodded and tried to give him a smile, but it never fully formed for she left that very second.

She took off as if the devil were at her heels and for a moment Mikey simply stood there, intrigued and confused as hell, but mostly confused as hell. It immobilized him. He had wanted to thank her at least, or tell her to be careful and not to run so fast because the wild swishing of her skirt made him see glimpses of her pink underwear.

"What the fuck just happened?"

He barely registered Draken's nonplussed expletive, a sentiment he deeply resonated with.

With a skeptical smile, Mikey turned to face him and replied, "Uh, I got lucky?"

The taller blond sighed and leaned forward with his arms braced on top his bike's handlebars. "Well good for you. Now go get your free food and let's get outta here already."

Mikey gave him a look but did just that. It'd be a waste not to accept, after all. The stall-owner extended the black-haired girl's wrapped taiyaki take-out over the counter and he took it with a "Thanks," but didn't open it right away despite wanting to stuff his mouth full of the cake a few minutes ago. He placed it in his bike's steel basket instead and whisked straight into the direction she went with Draken following closely behind him.

They weaved in and out of the streets, a familiar path they'd passed through countless times before.

Yet today it felt different.

The girl had long since disappeared, but Mikey could still feel the lingering trace of the trail she left behind. He found himself hunting for it, wondering where she went off to, and at this point Mikey couldn't deny that she'd made quite the impression on him.

She was an uncommonly pretty girl, tall and amply, with thick lashes and a dimple that made him want to poke it. But she was definitely a strange one, with her callused fingers, the flashy cherry earrings, and the uniform that belonged to a private school in the neighboring district. Not to mention how she burst into tears before giving him the taiyaki she paid for just like that.

But her actions didn't stupefy him as much as the look in her eyes, a look that was both tender and pained, with an intensity that went beyond strangers.

No one had ever looked at him that way before and it struck. It struck deep.

Mikey didn't open the take-out packet until they reached the quieter, sunbathed streets of town. He took one and stuck it in his mouth after taking a bite, but the warm cushiony cake and the scrumptious thick filling did little to distract him from what just happened. He was supposed to feel accomplished after hanging out with the new friend he made yesterday but that feeling was abruptly replaced by a different one altogether. And now he couldn't even enjoy his free taiyaki anymore.

Half-annoyed and thoroughly confused, Mikey plucked the taiyaki from his mouth and frowned reflectively into the space before him.

"Ne, Ken-chin. Why do you think that Cherry girl suddenly cried and ran away?" he asked, earning a pensive glance from the blond on his right.

"Cherry girl, huh," Draken repeated, sounding amused. Then his voice turned bored and nonchalant as ever as he remarked, "Who knows. Maybe she knows who you are and got scared."

Mikey brought the taiyaki back against his lips as he lifted his eyes upwards, watching the skies above steadily gain its twilight hues.

"I wonder about that," he said quietly. "She didn't look scared to me."

Five-year-old Natsukage Taito was about to win.

His opponent, Kousuke, proved to be tougher than he looked but Taito had him where he wanted him. He huffed and steeled himself, pushing and pushing until the back of Kousuke's hand was a mere three inches away from the matted floor, making his mouth curve into a grin of surefire victory—

"Tai-kun, your Nee-chan's here. You can go home now!"

Taito's eyes went wide. His grip faltered for only but a second but Kousuke took that moment of distraction to overpower his grip and pin his hand on the floor.

"Ha! I WIN!"

"Wha—NOOO!"

Kousuke cackled and jumped up to his feet while Taito stayed on his belly on the matted floor, looking up at the curly-haired brunette with growling frustration.

"Your pudding's mine, Nat-chan!" Kousuke exclaimed triumphantly.

"Whatever. I'll beat you next time," Taito grumbled as he stood up. He went to get his bag from their attendant before she could give it to his sister and Kousuke tagged along as they went to the lobby.

"At least you get to go home before I do," Kousuke said in a conciliatory tone.

But Taito was not the least bit pleased. At first he was surprised but now he was just annoyed. His older sister made it clear that she was done getting involved with him when she went back to how she always was after scaring him shitless three days ago. And today was a Friday. She was supposed to have cram school today. Why was she even there?

"Why're you even here?" He fired the accusing question the moment she entered his vision, but Taito instantly regretted it when he got close enough and really saw her.

Reiya was disheveled. Her hair was tousled and her skin looked clammy, her school bag looked about ready to slip off her shoulder and her uniform was creased. But most of all her eyes were glazed and a little puffy, her cheeks and nose tinted a pale shade of red.

She looked like she had just finished crying, unsteady and out of breath, completely opposed to the cool and pristine Nee-chan he knew and admired.

And yet she was smiling as if nothing was amiss. And she looked at him as if she was truly happy to see him.

"I came to pick you up," Reiya said.

Taito staggered to form a reply. Beside him, Kousuke leaned close to his ear and cupped a hand around his mouth, whispering, "Woah your Onee-chan's huge. And her butt's—"

Taito silenced him with a glare. "Kousuke shut up!" he whisper-snapped.

The curly-haired boy drew back with a pout. He folded his arms behind his head and swept a glance from Taito to the black-haired girl, then back to Taito with a smirk. "Just don't forget you owe me your pudding tomorrow, sore loser Nat-chan~."

Taito rolled his eyes and went towards his sister. He lifted a hand as farewell without looking back, earning a cheery reply in return.

"Bye bye! Nat-chan and Nat-chan's Onee-chan!"

Reiya smiled and lingered to give Kousuke and their attendant a proper farewell before following Taito outside the center. He kept his distance by purposely walking a few paces in front of her as he always did, but he couldn't stop from stealing glances over his shoulder every few seconds or so.

Something was definitely wrong with his Nee-chan today. Reiya appeared composed and readily smiled at him whenever he looked back but her movements were slow, clearly affected by the weight of her thoughts. And yet her faraway gaze didn't seem like the regular kind that never failed to annoy him. She looked mentally absent, but also wired.

Taito had never seen her like this. It was making him feel worried and it was pissing him off. He didn't like seeing her looking so out of it and yet acting all right, but he didn't know what to do and so he decided to be just that: pissed off.

"You look like you just got out from gettin' stuck somewhere! Did you just run here or what?" he demanded.

That got her attention. And to Taito's secret relief, she looked back in the present again.

"Oh. That's because I did. I ran all the way here," Reiya answered sheepishly. She touched a hand to her hair and winced before chuckling self-deprecatingly as she attempted to smooth it down. She hefted her bag on her shoulder, patted her skirt down and then smiled at him. "I wanted to pick you up earlier but I got side-tracked."

That made Taito feel much better, but that didn't mean he approved of what she did. He frowned and fixed his gaze forward. "Who even told you to run here?" he asked irritably. "Nobody's makin' you pick me up."

"True, but I wanted to," she replied in a smiling voice.

Taito felt his cheeks turn red in gratification and he huffed to keep it at bay. They reached the end of the block and stopped by the edge of a pedestrian crosswalk. Only one car and a scooter passed by, but it was customary to wait until the pedestrian signals switched from red to green.

Taito's mind had already wandered towards the snacks and games waiting for him at home, so when he heard his Nee-chan's guilt-ridden apology about what happened three days ago, he was more than a little startled. He turned to listen fully, keeping silent and knowing that this was the Nee-chan who truly cared for him.

"Taito, I'm sorry for what happened when I suddenly fainted by the river. I'm sorry for scaring you like that, and I'm sorry for pushing you away after it happened. I know you might find it hard to believe now, but I meant what I said when I told you I'd try to be here for you…And I hope that you'll let me."

He saw the warmth in her eyes and he felt it, unfurling and bursting forth inside of him. The pedestrian signal flashed green and Taito made his decision that exact same moment.

Reiya immediately noticed the change and steered her gaze back towards the street. "Ah, green light. Let's—"

She broke off as Taito took hold of her left hand, seemingly frozen in place. He tugged her forward, giving her a red-faced frown.

"What? We're about to cross the street!"

Reiya blinked twice before breaking into a huge grin, her eyes shining with pure adoration. "How could I forget?"

She returned the pressure of his grip, soft and warm and snug, and off they went, their paces finally aligned for once. They made it to the other side of the block but Reiya didn't let him go just yet, holding unto his hand until they reached the gates of their home.

And Taito let her, unknowingly strengthening a bond that would exceed even the confines of time.

That night, Reiya took out the red stationery notebook she used on the day she first leaped into the past. She was afraid of her mother happening upon it so she had hidden it, and she hid it so well that not even her past self knew about it. She didn't think anyone would willingly believe her even if she told them she could actually travel through time, but her past self was a different case.

What happened with Taito was proof that every little thing she did had the power to make drastic, unpredictable changes, and Reiya didn't even want to think about how the future would've turned out if her past self learned of the truth at a time that was not yet due.

Yet she also knew herself. It would not take long for her past self to suspect her reality if such a thing were to happen again.

And so with a bracing inhale, Reiya turned the notebook to a fresh blank page. Writing her worries and thoughts after learning the nature of her time traveling ability was unquestionably risky, but she had to do it as both a precaution and a preparation.

She had to trust herself, if no one else.

July 8, 2005.

I've travelled back to the past from twelve years in the future four days ago on July 4.

Today is the second time.

I didn't think returning to the future was even possible in the first place, but that's what happened three days ago on July 5.

From that I have concluded that I'm not here to stay after all. For this body no longer belongs to me, and this time is no longer mine to live.

To the 15-year-old me, I'm sorry for suddenly appearing out of nowhere. It must've have frightened you, how you suddenly woke up with no recollection of what happened or why things are as they were.

Please know I have no intentions of harming you or your future, something that is both yours and mine.

I simply want to protect the things that have become very important to me, to us, and there are things that only I can do, so I hope you can forgive me for this selfishness.

I know I'm here on borrowed time, but it is a time that I will fully claim as mine.

That is why I am writing this. The path I'm about to take is going to be dangerous, and I don't wish to catch you unaware for when the time comes for you to be here again. It might even be more dangerous for you, and for me, if you don't know what's happening or what my intentions are.

Again, I do not wish to put you at risk, but I am here on an important mission.

While I'm grateful, I still don't understand why I'm able to travel back to the past, but so far I've managed to gather some crucial details regarding my ability to leap through time. And they are:

No. 1 - 'Leaping' requires a 'trigger'. Something, or someone, that I didn't have when I first came here. I'm not sure, but perhaps that's why I was only granted a full 24 hours on my first day. I suppose the past recognized me as someone who doesn't belong here anymore so it tried to kick me out through a sudden heart attack. It isn't a stretch to say that I almost died. Again :(

Now that I've thought about it, the ability to 'leap' is something I didn't have until I found a 'trigger'. And now for whatever reason that person ended up being Taito, with the 'trigger' itself being a simple kiss on the forehead. Surprising, I know. I'm not certain how it works, but perhaps it had something to do with the forehead kiss being the last thing I did and Taito being the last person I was with before I could disappear from this timeline?

I'm not certain, and this is what confuses me the most.

No. 2 - Time runs parallel here in the past and in the future. So if I spend a day here, a day will have also gone by in the future.

Finally, No. 3 - It seems I can only leap on the same date and time, whether it be in the past or in the future. I can't choose the specific day, and I can't go back on the same day or go forwards on a much further date. It seems I'm only allowed to travel through a fixed timeframe.

All of these are merely conjectures based from what I experienced, so I wouldn't go so far as to call them facts yet.

You might find this whole time travel business to be quite distressing and confusing, but please bear with me for a while.

This predicament of ours won't last forever, I promise.

However, as much as I would love to know the answers of why time travel was even possible in the first place, finding them is the least of my concerns right now.

Because that's not what I'm here for.

I've come up with a few plans of what I intend to do while I'm here, but to tell you the truth, it still feels as if I'm stumbling around in the dark.

I can't see where I'm going, even though I know what I need to do.

But today I was able to make the first step and it really helped. It helped me a lot.

Would you believe if I said the dark doesn't seem so scary anymore now that I've decided to keep moving, even when I have no idea where my steps would take me?

But perhaps…I can only think that way because I saw Jiro-kun again.

In that instant Reiya saw a vivid image of Manjiro's younger self, making her pause and blush and bury her face in her hands as she squirmed in her seat, her muffled squeals of delight coming out in broken squeaks.

'Aaaaahhhh he was so cute! Jiro-kun with his hair tied like that is the cutest! Aaahhh I love him so much I love himmmm! How can someone be so cute!?'

She released a dreamy sigh and pressed the tip of the pen against her blushing cheek, smiling dumbly at how incredibly lucky she was to see Manjiro standing before her at the moment she missed him the most.

But alas, fate was a double-edged sword. How kind and how cruel, to let her see him at the moment she missed him the most.

The light in her eyes dimmed. Reiya straightened and began to write again, her smile slowly melting away.

Yes, I saw the Jiro-kun of this time today. And I made a spectacle of myself in front of him and ran away! So embarrassing…

He must think I'm some kind of weirdo now…But I missed him so badly and he looked so incredibly cute that not losing even a bit of my composure back there was simply impossible!

I didn't think I'd see him again so soon…

I'm actually taller than him now, too, and it's quite endearing.

But now I can't help but feel the gap even more.

Because he is not the Jiro-kun I know. He is not the Jiro-kun who knows me.

But even so, seeing him strengthened me. He gave me light and hope in a time of need, just as he did in my previous life, and I would do anything to keep him from following the same path in the future.

I still don't know how I'm going to accomplish that exactly, but I just have to keep on moving without looking back.

I have to be brave. Surely I'll get to where I need to be. Just as how I've always had.

I don't know for how long I'm going to stay here but rest assured my problems are not yours, 15-year-old me.

If you ever get around to reading this, I only ask for you to be kind to Taito, and to Mom.

Please don't look away from the things that are truly important.

And please…Don't take the present for granted.

Reiya set the pen down and closed the notebook.

'This is enough for now,' she decided. 'I'm still not sure how long I can stay here or if I even have a time limit in the first place, but I have a feeling I'm not going to be ejected out of this timeline now that I have a trigger. Although I still need to confirm that.'

She stood and picked up the notebook before turning off the desk lamp and carefully navigating her way in the dark towards the bed. Reiya slipped under the covers and hid the notebook in a place that only she, or her past self, could immediately find: under her pillow inside the pillow case.

'I used to flip my pillow at least once every night when I was still a teen, so the past me should find this right away just in case something happens to me tomorrow.'

With a satisfied huff, Reiya settled down on her side and pulled one of the bolster pillows to embrace. Her eyes slid to the side of her bed, then up towards the bedside table where Viomaru laid, the shape of its case bag clear and distinct even in the dark. She'd been so engrossed with her other plans that she'd forgotten about tomorrow's scheduled practice.

"You're first on the list tomorrow, huh, Viomaru…" Reiya murmured. She sighed and closed her eyes, hugging the pillow close and curling tightly against herself.

JULY 9, 2005

For the umpteenth time that morning, Reiya told herself that she was ready. She was currently standing outside one of the soundproofed rooms of the studio with Viomaru on her back, right hand gripping at the door handle, but she found she couldn't open it just yet.

She was all pangs and palpitations, simultaneously excited and apprehensive. The last time she was there had been a dizzying blur, yet a part of her had looked forward to coming back, like an orphaned child longing for home.

It was a feeling Reiya suppressed in light of her new purpose but now that she was there, she couldn't stop from letting it take hold of her.

With a slow, calming breath, Reiya turned the handle and stepped inside the room. She closed the door behind her and stood unmoving for a moment, frozen in awe as she took in the music room's dreamlike familiarity. Everything was exactly as she remembered it; from the lustrous oak wood paneling and abstract art hanging on the walls, down to the expansive wall mirror and black bentwood chairs. Even the air smelled auspiciously evocative, emanating an invigorating combination of balmy wood and piney rosin.

Toshiro and Kuroshima were already inside – the former riffling through a pile of sheet music while the latter currently tuned his violin – and they both looked up the moment she appeared, smiling readily as her gaze met theirs.

Reiya strode further into the room, greeting them both with a small but smiling, "Good morning."

"Good morning, Yunagi-san," Kuroshima replied brightly while Toshiro crossed the room towards her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his gaze gently assessing.

"Excited," Reiya said feelingly.

Toshiro gave an approving chuckle and ushered her near the gleaming pianoforte. "Shall we start with scales and arpeggios first, then?"

Reiya immediately seized on the suggestion. Toshiro might've had her week-long break in mind and meant for her to ease her way through the exercise, but she was extra grateful for it as she was actually years behind. She needed it. Both as a rebound and a primer before taking on the main piece she was to play.

And it was a rather difficult piece: Caprice no. 5, Agitato, of Niccolò Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin. She saw the musical sheets for it inside Viomaru's case bag the day before, and as she took Viomaru out and checked the proper placement of its pegs, Reiya couldn't help but groan internally at her past self's choice for the concours. 'Why did I choose that piece again? Oh, right…Because I was obsessed with Paganini and wanted to show off my bowing techniques.'

"Yuuma-kun's preoccupied with tuning right now so it should be fine to do it here," Toshiro said as he went to one of the nearby shelves. He twisted his head to the younger male and asked, "That fine with you, Yuuma-kun?"

Kuroshima nodded. "I'm almost done, anyway." He paused and flashed Reiya a winning smile. "Besides, I want to hear Viomaru again. The studio just isn't the same without you two, Yunagi-san."

Reiya gave him warm smile before holding Viomaru into position, readying her posture and sighing softly through her nose the moment she placed the bow on the strings, her eyelids lowering dreamily as she delicately slid her fingers over the fingerboard.

'Oh, how I missed this…'

She felt soothed and yet nervously giddy, her body warming and buzzing with anticipation, almost as if she was falling in love all over again.

Toshiro returned to the center of the room, standing close to her with a metronome device in one hand.

"Here we are. Let's start with a simple three-octave scale, Reiya-chan."

The first segment of her practice session that morning went exactly as how Reiya expected it. Having lost her touch, she faltered quite a bit during the first few exercises, her motions creaky and stiff, as if she were a mechanical doll that hadn't been oiled in years.

And it didn't help that she had been especially conscious of her left hand. Reiya tried not to think about it, but there were moments where she could actually feel the non-existent tingles thrumming through her fingers. She steeled against it, shaking it off the more she played until finally, finally, she regained her rhythmic stability – her confidence, her wings – commanding every note and chord as though she was soaring.

She was nearly breathless by the time she finished with the exercises, her pupils blown wide. Reiya felt intoxicated, fulfilled, and yet simultaneously unsatisfied. She needed more, and that much was clear to both Toshiro and Kuroshima, the older male smiling fondly with a shake of his head while the younger sat back with a pleased gleam in his eyes.

"Now that you've had your fill of appetizer," Toshiro began, "ready to move on to the main course, Reiya-chan?"

Her eyes went to his, then to the protruding pages of sheet music inside Viomaru's case bag, her heartbeat quickening the longer she stared at it. Reiya had felt something else when she played, twining all through her like flowering silver vines, and from it she heard a whole new melody.

In the past, just being able to play and perform had been her soul's greatest pleasure, her heart's greatest purpose. To bring a certain piece alive, to impress and deliver, playing and performing for the music, for the glory and the pride, for herself.

But now she wanted to play for someone else.

"Toshiro-sensei, may I make a request?"

The dark-haired man's manner was receptive, but his eyes were clearly confounded as he answered, "Of course."

Reiya looked down on Viomaru, her features softening. And then she met his gaze without blinking. "Since I didn't send a recording for the concours yet…Can I change the piece I am to play?"

Toshiro's eyebrows lifted. Reiya heard Kuroshima's bewildered reaction next but she kept her eyes on their instructor, patiently hoping for a positive response.

"Of course you can," he replied at the same time Kuroshima abruptly imposed, "But Yunagi-san, we already decided on Paganini's 24 Caprices, remember?"

Reiya turned to pin him with a mildly startled glance. Kuroshima looked vaguely disgruntled, and up until that moment she was reminded at how demanding he tended to be. She'd always known him to be someone who was always friendly and kind that she'd completely forgotten.

In her previous life, Kuroshima always took charge when it came to their joint practices, going out of his way to prepare complex regimens and pushing her to the limit. And Reiya used to like it, like him, mistakenly seeing his subtle domineering ways as a means to become a better violinist. His technique was undoubtedly more polished than hers, his musical sensitivity stronger, but she would not allow for that admiration to turn into chains.

"Are you saying I can't?" she questioned softly.

Kuroshima shook his head as he came to her, now looking hesitant and entreating. "I didn't mean it that way, Yunagi-san. I'm just surprised. Caprice No.5 is the best piece to showcase your current skills and you've already gotten it down pat a week ago, so why do you suddenly want to change it?"

"Do you already have a specific piece in mind, Reiya-chan?" Toshiro broke in calmly.

His encouraging inquiry was indirectly and yet so completely opposed to Kuroshima's dubious one that Reiya couldn't help but smile. She gave him a grateful nod and confidently stated the name of the piece she intended to play, earning his gratifying nod of approval.

"It's not the type of piece that's often pitted against the others," Toshiro said. "But depending on the rendition, it can become quite the contender."

"That's exactly what I'm going for," Reiya replied cheerfully. She slid a glance to the contemplating boy beside her and amiably asked, "What do you think, Kuroshima-kun?"

"It's just as Toshiro-sensei said," Kuroshima relented, making her smile even wider before adding with a delicate but obviously displeased, "But that'll squander your chances of winning."

Reiya's smile softened, conceding the point. Acclamation had definitely been her priority in the past, but even then she remembered placing only second to Kuroshima. The piece she chose might land her in a solid sixth or fifth place at best, but this time Reiya felt no desperate desire to even win.

"That's all right," she finally said, smiling at him with a radiance that rose from the very bottom of her heart. "Because I'm in it for the love."

Mid-afternoon and the day remained bright and rosy, the wind warm and brisk against her skin and hair. The next destination Reiya had in mind wasn't too far from the studio but she couldn't restrain herself from breaking into a run, her heart thumping excitedly with every lunging stride.

Someone was waiting for her and she could see her now, the light ruddy-pink of her hair glistening like a lodestar amidst the sea of people. Reiya stopped short when there was only a meter in between them, breathless from the force of her emotions. Hearing her voice over the phone yesterday had felt too good to be true, and now she could hardly believe to see her standing in front of her.

"Hina-chan…"

The name was uttered in her softest voice but Hina heard it, turning around with a sweet and ready smile, her twinkling eyes locking unto Reiya's watery ones.

"Rei-chan, you're here!"

Reiya rushed forward and caught her in her arms, dwarfing her in her tight embrace. "I missed you so much! I'm so glad to see you again!"

"Ah you're squishing me!" Hina cried, squirming and laughing as she tried to hug her back. "Geez, we just saw each other last Wednesday!"

The taller girl drew back with a sheepish giggle and held her by the shoulders. Hina looked endearingly the same, vibrant and beautiful and alive.

Reiya reached for her hands and held them in both of hers, smiling wide to keep her tears at bay. "Hina-chan, don't you know? Wednesday was a long time ago."

Hina gave her a bemused smile. "I guess? Well, you did take the day off from cram school yesterday so it does feel like I haven't seen you in such a long time."

"Thank you for agreeing to see me today," Reiya said earnestly.

"Anytime," Hina said just as warmly. Then she tilted her head, giving her hands a light squeeze as she asked, "By the way, Rei-chan. Why did you take the day off yesterday?"

Reiya stiffened slightly as the shorter girl searched her face for an answer, feeling some part of her tug and throb urgently against Hina's warm and patient gaze.

'Oh, Hina-chan. There are so many things I want to tell you. So many…'

Reiya gently released her hands and gave what she hoped was a convincing smile. "That's because I had to go on an important errand."

"An important errand?"

"Un." Reiya dipped her chin and casually steered her towards one of their favorite go-to places: a dainty but trendy bar café known for its dynamic menu of traditional Japanese sweets and retro vintage drinks. "So, what did I miss?"

Hina automatically launched into a detailed account of yesterday's lessons, with Reiya prudently taking notes as soon as they settled in one of the café's wayside booths. The café was a serene and much-needed refuge from the bustle of the day and the tarrying summer heat. Afternoon sunlight filtered through the windows, casting its standout décor of Zen aesthetics and 90's pastel patterns in a nostalgic light, evoking memories, evoking feelings that are bittersweet.

Reiya couldn't stop from smiling fondly at the girl in front of her, chuckling softly when Hina immediately latched on to the striped straw of her melon cream soda the moment it arrived. She had missed this, missed her, but at the same time Reiya felt wistful, her chest heavy with a myriad of sentiments, secrets she longed to share but could never convey.

Hina released the straw with a happy sigh. She reached for a monaka but paused before taking a bite.

"Rei-chan, you've been stirring your drink nonstop for the past two minutes."

"Hm?" Reiya's eyes immediately flicked down to her cherry limeade, her hand stilling. With a sheepish smile, she looked up and teasingly asked, "You've been counting?"

Hina answered with a chuckling, "No. But my point is you're going to melt all the ice in your drink before you can enjoy it." She paused, her eyebrows furrowing gently. "Is something wrong? What were you even thinking about?"

'About you,' Reiya thought. 'About how we still used to come here when we were older, and about how silly we were when we were finally old enough to have the alcoholic drinks on the menu. This is where we had our first alcohol experience and I could still remember it, Hina-chan…It was a Brandy Alexander for you and a Mint Julep for me…Oh, if only I could have that right now…'

"I'm all right." Reiya looked down on her drink and took a bracing sip of the sweet and zesty beverage. It didn't have the satisfying rush of mint and the sweet kick of bourbon, but it gave her the support she needed to meet Hina's worried gaze with a sunny smile.

"I was just thinking about how it's been a while since we've been here," Reiya said.

"It has," Hina replied with a touch of wonder. "I think the last time was about a week ago, before you had to prepare for the concours." She ate her monaka in one bite, chewed and swallowed and said, "That reminds me. How was today's practice session? I'm guessing you had a lot of fun?"

Reiya relayed what happened during practice and just as she expected, Hina was understandably surprised at her decision to change pieces. But when she heard what she intended to play, the shorter girl's eyes instantaneously glittered with excitement.

"Ooohh that's one of my favorite pieces ever!" Hina enthused. She leaned over the table, her lovely features softening reassuringly. "It might be considered as a weaker piece compared to Paganini-san's Caprices, but that's not what's important. It's the heart. And as long as that's what you truly want to play, I'm sure it'll turn out beautifully, Rei-chan." She smiled. "And I can't wait to see you play."

The words shone on Reiya like sunlight, warming her chest and cheeks, melting her worries away.

"The concours is on August the 3rd, isn't it?" Hina asked, drawing back in her seat and bringing her cream soda with her.

Reiya nodded, hand reaching for the mitarashi dango she ordered. "Around four in the afternoon, I think. Can you make it?"

"Sure! We don't have any classes that day because of the Musashi Festival, so I can definitely come. I have other plans, actually, but it isn't until later in the evening so it should be fine."

"Really?" Reiya looked up after eating her dango and regarded Hina with mild concern. "I wouldn't want to impose on you if you already have prior engagements…"

Hina waved it off with a delicate flick of her hand. "It's fine, it's fine. It's not even official yet." She reached for another monaka off the plate and sat back with her cheeks turning pink. "I haven't asked him yet…but I really want to go to the festival with my boyfriend."

Reiya's eyes widened slightly and she sat up straighter, curious and simultaneously startled. She'd forgotten about that and for a moment she internally scolded herself. How could she forget about her best friend's important relationship? More so when it was Hina's one and only, with the one man she had never truly forgotten, the only man she ever loved.

But then Reiya remembered how he broke Hina's heart and she frowned a little. But it didn't last long as she stared into the other girl's hopelessly enamored face.

"Is he being a good boyfriend, Hina-chan?" she queried softly.

"Oh, yes," Hina answered immediately, finally breaking away from her reverie. "Takemichi-kun is very kind, and brave. He even stood up to two really scary-looking delinquents for me yesterday."

Reiya had begun to smile as she picked up another dango stick but paused when Hina mentioned her boyfriend's name, and ultimately froze when she got to the last part.

"W-wait, what?" Reiya placed her dango back on the plate and gaped at Hina with rising alarm. "Something like that happened to you yesterday?"

"Yes but I'm okay, I promise! Takemichi-kun stood up for me, and nothing terrible happened because they were actually his friends. Now that I think about it, they weren't all that bad, either."

Reiya curiously tilted her head. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I slapped one of them in the face but he was totally okay with it."

Reiya spluttered. Hina had uttered the words in such a casual way that one might've thought she was talking about the weather.

"You did what!?"

"W-well, I thought they were bullying him!" Hina replied defensively. "I was so angry thinking they were hurting Takemichi-kun, so I ended up jumping to conclusions. But I already apologized and he already forgave me."

"Oh my god…" Reiya breathed out. "Did he really leave you alone? He didn't say or do anything mean to you?"

"Un. On the contrary, he said there's no way he'd ever hurt a girl. He even gave me some really good advice."

Reiya shot her a disbelieving look before shaking her head and releasing a relieved sigh. "I'm glad he didn't retaliate, but what you did was incredibly careless, Hina-chan. I understand you were just trying to protect your boyfriend and that's very brave of you, but things could've gone horribly wrong. Don't be so rash next time, okay? Especially when you don't know who you're up against."

"Okay," Hina echoed with a penitent pout. She was quiet for a while, drawing the straw of her drink back between her lips before giggling around it. "You know, that's exactly what he said!"

Reiya let out a soft huff through her nose, smiling in spite of herself. 'So respectable delinquents actually exist?'

"Do you think he's a respectable delinquent?" she found herself asking. She picked up her drink while the shorter girl mulled over what to say, taking slow, deep sips as she awaited Hina's two cents.

"I think so," Hina finally said. "They said he was actually Toman's leader, but he—"

Reiya dropped her glass back on the table with a careless thud, startling Hina into silence.

"Toman's…leader?" she repeated in a whisper, a sharp hum crackling in her ears. She quickly composed herself, marshaling her thoughts into order.

Toman's leader should be none other than Manjiro, and apparently Hina already met him (she internally winced at the thought of Hina hitting him in the face) and her delinquent boyfriend was actually friends with him.

This changes things, opening up a whole new path of possibilities that Reiya never could've imagined.

"Sorry about that, um…they call him 'Mikey', right?" she ventured.

"Yeah. That's what Takemichi-kun called him," Hina answered.

Reiya's eyes gleamed but the other girl missed it as she carried on, "I thought he was scary at first, but he really isn't that bad. In my opinion, at least."

"No, I…I totally agree with you," Reiya said, her heart swelling with sincerity. "He didn't try to hurt you back, and he even went out of his way to give you valuable advice." Her eyes softened. "He is definitely someone who is truly kind..."

Hina studied her for a moment, curious and perceptive. She didn't say anything about what she saw, however, and instead brought her attention back to her forgotten monaka plate.

"I think so, too," she concurred matter-of-factly. "There are a lot of really bad delinquents out there, but there are some good ones, too." She paused with a proud grin. "And my boyfriend is one of them."

Reiya smiled. She placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward with her chin resting atop her plaited fingers. "He sounds interesting. Takemichi-kun, was it? Is that his first name? So you two are already on a first-name basis, hm?"

Hina flushed. "J-just within this week, actually..."

The taller girl chuckled, contemplating her with a mixture of fondness and dismay. "I see..."

What she was about to do and ask out of her best friend did not sit well with her, but Reiya was teeming with possibilities, feeling as if she was standing in front of a brand-new door, a brand-new course that offered the opportunities she needed.

It would be no different from the counter-Kisaki strategy she initiated the other day, but if Hina trusted this 'Takemichi-kun' enough to love him beyond the heartbreak he gave her, then there was no need to fear, or even hesitate.

'Opportunities multiply as they are seized.'

With a delicate inhale, Reiya caught the other girl's eyes and held it with a smile.

"I'd like to meet him."