Author's notes:

Hey guys, welcome back for another chapter of Rewinding Heart. I'm having a tonne of fun trying to get into the mindset of a man coming up with ideas to save Sotoba, and then picking the plan to pieces. It's an interesting little exercise and if I miss an obvious solution I can just go, "Hey, maybe he didn't think of that." Perfect trump card.

Septorex101: Congratulations, you are my first fan! Thank you so much for your review Mate, you have motivated me to continue this story (I'm terrible at staying motivated, keep nagging me!) I have already thought of your proposed arc, maybe, maybe not :)

Alright guys, enough of that, enjoy the show!

11th of August, 1994

It was one thing to resolve yourself to save a village, but another story entirely when it came to actually doing it. How was he going to do it?

Did he go to Doctor Ozaki and trust him to deal with the plague before it even began? No, that wouldn't work. The Doctor only began to really realise what was happening after he-

… After he murdered Natsuno.

The pen he was holding to a notepad where he was attempting to recollect his memories dropped against the page as he reached up to grip his head on either side. It was a miracle that he could return to the past to try and fix all of his mistakes and maybe even save all those he cared for, but he could never forget the feeling of biting into his friend. The feeling of his teeth slowly sinking into Natsuno's neck, his hot blood flooding into his mouth. The slowing of the purple haired teen's heartbeat each time he did it, his breath hitching when his fangs met skin. The dying boy smiling up at him with so much understanding, as he cried cold tears that soaked into his friend's final resting place. He would bear that guilt for as long as he lived, a sin that would be forever irredeemable.

A sharp knock on his bedroom door caused him to snap his head in that direction with a start, "Yes?"

The door opened to reveal his father, Takeshi Mutou, standing in the doorway with a grim expression. "Shimizu's daughter has gone missing and the people are going to comb through the forest for her, I'm going to help them look. Could you help your mother and sister with dinner?" He asked as he checked the batteries in his flashlight before departing down the hallway.

Megumi had gone missing this early? Scrubbing a hand through his hand in frustration, Tohru berated himself internally. Megumi was going to die all because he could remember the date of her death! He may not have gotten along with her, hell, it's safe to say that he hated her for what she did to him and Natsuno but she hadn't committed those sins yet. She was innocent in this life, and because of him she would die and become a monster once more.

She will kill him, again. He will kill Natsuno, again…

No…

He could still save her, if he could just keep Chizuru Kirishiki away from Megumi, he could stop the chain of death from beginning. But how could he hope to stop her? All the jizo statues have already been desecrated and he sure as hell can't sculpt one himself. Would her family notice a crucifix above her window? No, that's not the problem. Kirishiki would just enter through another entrance, and he couldn't possibly cover all of them unnoticed.

What if he put a crucifix on her person? He could probably get in as her classmate dropping off homework, wait… No, that wouldn't work. Shimizu was close with the Tanaka girl at school, so she'd be the one to visit her with any missed schoolwork. Could he act as a concerned admirer? Yeah nah, she isn't worth butchering his pride over… Oh great, there's the guilt again…

Would he be able to sneak into her house whilst her family was at work? Her window would be unlocked thanks to the shiki's compulsion, it would be so easy to climb in. He'd know, he had to do it for a living for a few months in his last life. The crucifix would be easy enough to make, even the ramshackle one that Natsuno used on him had him reeling in terror. He could make one, but would a shiki as old as Chizuru be effected to the same extent as the newborn he had been? There was no way of knowing without trying, and needless to say he was not willing to experiment with people's lives like a certain madman.

That left one option, really…

He had to kill Chizuru Kirishiki…

Shiki had heightened senses to a degree but you could still sneak up on them as long as they weren't jinrou. If he could manage to knock her out from behind while she was distracted by Megumi, he could hammer a stake into her heart and be done with it… But, could he really do it though? He finally had a life that didn't require blood to be shed, but was that really the case. If he chose to spare Chizuru, Megumi would die and rise up. Released of the consequences of retribution, she would kill him in spite of his friendship with Natsuno. His best friend would investigate his death and grow suspicious of Megumi until he garnered the attention of Sunako. And finally, Tatsumi would offer him that horrible choice once more.

Who was more important to him? His family or Natsuno?

Such a choice could only have one favourable selection… Don't choose at all. Find another path and if that doesn't work, find another and another and another after that. Tohru would be Earth's worst coward if he didn't walk the path set before him. Chizuru Kirishiki will die…

"Hey Dad, wait up!" He called to his father, running down the carpeted stairs of his family home as he pulled a flashlight from the cupboard beside the exit before catching up to his father down the road. "Megumi Shimizu is a classmate, I'll help with the search."

12th of August, 1994

The sun had long ago set, giving way to the rising moon as it too reached it's peak and began to fall once more. Stepping under a low hanging branch, Tohru made his way through the pitch black forest with only a single ray of light to guide his way. Anywhere outside of this cone of safety was dark as the abyss, housing monsters that would latch onto him and sink their fangs into his neck. His heart beat like a drum against his ribcage until it ached, one of the downsides to life he mused in the back of his mind. The rest of it was numbed by fear of the dark, funny how he was never scared of the dark but he could be forgiven his new weakness. No, he couldn't. He would need to conquer this small fear if he was to save Megumi, he would need to slay a being of the night in order to deliver Sotoba into the light. With another rush of resolve steeling his nerves, he pushed onwards into the night in search of the pink haired horror.

For hours they had searched and found no signs of the flashy girl. For hours he had been battling his newfound phobia of the darkness for the crabby girl. For hours he had convinced himself that the hateful demon that killed him was worth the effort. However, he knew they would find her eventually. He knew that the search party had found her on the first night, he just hoped to be the one that found her first so that he could just so happen to notice some unusual insect bites on her body. Surely the villagers would be curious as to what bug would create such large bites.

His thoughts were interrupted as he rounded at particularly large fir, its rough bark offering him comfort as he traced a hand along it. The teen had to stop himself from screaming at the sight beyond the mighty tree. Three pairs of glowing red eyes floated in the darkness, accompanied by the deep rumbling of a hound growling at its prey. His flashlight passed over their forms causing them rear back onto their haunches, still snarling as they prepared themselves to lunge at him and tear him limb from limb. Their black fur was filthy and matted with dried blood, drool spilling from their snapping maws with unnatural volume, falling to the ground in long wet globs. Their shining red eyes staring into his own light brown, staring straight into his soul laying his sins bare before him. With a bizarre unity the pack slid their front paws forward in the mud slightly, coiling their bodies into themselves ready to spring onto him the second he moved a muscle.

"I FOUND HER!" The liquor store owner's son bellowed nearby, echoed by voices through the forest. The hellhounds ears perked up at that as they began to slink back into the darkness, the rumbling in their chests the only indicator that they were still in the area until that too faded into the night.

No birds chirped in the dead of night.

There was no breeze to cut through the trees.

Only the cold silence and the bellowing and cries of men in the distance.

Tohru collapsed to his knees in relief, the adrenaline flooding his veins disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving him exhausted on the ground panting for breath. He had seen what those beasts could do to a human many times in his nights as a shiki. They would pursue, hobble and tear apart any escapees from the Yamairi cabins. The mess that they left behind… Gods, it made him feel nauseous just to think about. Seishirou and Tatsumi's twisted pets that prevented all attempts to escape through the forest in the event the shiki cordoned off the roads.

Using the tree as a handhold, Tohru pulled himself up with a grunt of effort before dragging his feet over the nearby ridge where Atsushi's voice came from. There he saw her, cradled in the giant's arms limply. Moonlight danced off her pale skin in a way that he would have describe as beautiful if it were Ritsuko in her position. Her gothic yellow dress clung to her shapely body courtesy of the sweat dripping off her. His eyes followed the curve of her shoulder down to just above her elbow, where a single pair of insect bites like two rubies in a sea of pearls...

Author's notes:

What do you guys think on Tohru's thought processes. I'm trying to keep up his gentle soul but he has seen some shit. As we saw as the anime/manga progressed, Tohru's personality got darker and darker. Do you think he could take a life so early in his relife, or would it take even more trauma before he resolved to violence?

Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll be working on this project most week days, but not on weekends unless I'm really fucking bored.

Cheers guys, have a good one.