The Lost Archives

Reunion After Death

“Hello hero? Man, are you sure you're okay? I've been calling out to you for as long as I can remember, honestly thinking you were dead," Sana said, her brow furrowed with concern.

Akira blinked, his mind still reeling from the sudden shift in time. He looks around a bit and then at his hands and then at her. "Sana? Why are you here? Wait - why do you look so much younger?"

Sana rolled her eyes. "Oh, please don't butter me up. It's probably the moisturiser. Also, it's the 8th of September, for your kind of information, and we have a test coming up. So I thought I'd wake you up. You should be thankful to me, kiddo."

She sits on his table and wiggles her legs while looking at him in confusion if he’s still half sleepy.

Akira's heart skipped a beat. ‘The 8th of September? Isn't that the date when Yumi transferred into our class? Wait - if that's the case, then-’

"I'm back in time?" he blurted out, unable to contain his thoughts.

"You're back in what now?" Sana asked, her eyes narrowing and expressions concerned about his words.

"Nothing, nothing. Just my inner self speaking random things out," Akira quickly covered, his mind still trying to figure out things.

Sana shrugged and returned to her seat, leaving Akira to his thoughts. So he was back in time, at the very beginning of when he first met Yumi. This was evidently his second chance to make things right, to prevent the tragedy that had haunted him in that empty space .

Akira took a deep breath, trying to calm the swirling thoughts in his mind. If this was real, if he truly had been sent back in time, he couldn't afford to mess it up. But then again there were so many questions, so many things to consider, but one thing was clear - if there is a God, he had heard Akira’s plea.

Akira couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that he had come back in time despite his eyes showing him exactly why, to him it was like a dream that’s on going.

For what reason would he be back in time at this particular date when he first met Yumi, his mind was racing with questions yet he had answers for none. He stayed still and then gave up after thinking for a good amount of time.

"Dude, you better not be getting sleepy, just stay up for now. We've got a transfer student coming in any second, and since you're my best friend, I'm letting you in on a secret," Sana whispered, leaning in closer with the chair half in the air.

Although he knows about everything yet he didn’t remember Sana telling him about Yumi, maybe this was one of the possibilities of his reality already changing since he had travelled back in time.

She pulled Akira's ear closer and continued, "I hear it's a girl that's a trainee prodigy for the Nexus Company, you know the one that creates idols."

Akira's heart skipped a beat. Okay act cool don’t act stupid and definitely do not give a weird answer. "Yeah, I know." And f**k my life.

"Yeah, so- wait-” Sana’s expressions widened. “What do you mean you know? It's not even announced yet who's coming."

Akira inwardly cursed his habit of speaking his thoughts aloud. "Uhh, well, I mean I know that someone is coming, obviously. I don't know who, but that doesn't mean I don't know what goes on around school. You don't think the boys are that silent, do you? They gossip too."

Sana hummed, her expression thoughtful. "Hmm, that's fair. Even though it ruins my chance to be a cool person, I'll let it go." Sana stares at Akira for a good few seconds more and then looks the other way.

Akira wiped his seemingly forming sweats around his head and continued to listen to her talk. It was the usual of what he was used to hearing from her even in the future, some tantrums and whines, some rants, some this and that but he felt at ease.

Akira couldn't help but feel grateful for Sana's presence. She was still the same, unchanging, and her antics were helping to keep his mind off the more pressing matters at hand. At least for now, he could focus on the reality in front of him and not get overwhelmed by the implications of his time travel.

As the classroom door slightly opened, his breath caught in his throat. He saw the teacher come inside with the doors still open. This was it - the moment he had been waiting for, the moment that would set the course of his life. With a renewed sense of determination, he steeled himself for what was to come, ready to seize this second chance and change the future.

The door opened a bit more, Akira's eyes couldn’t believe what he was currently seeing. There she was, Yumi, just as radiant and captivating as he remembered. His heart raced with a mixture of excitement and sadness , knowing that this was his chance to change the course of their tragic fate.

She entered the classroom and walked towards the front of the board and wrote her name and turned around and gave the students a polite bow. “My Name is Yumi, I have transferred at quite an unnatural time I believe but I’m pleased to meet you all, I’ll be looking forward to making new friends, thank you.” She chuckled and gave a smile.

From her speech to her smile and her behaviour, she has not changed either. Akira started getting teary eyed but quickly hid it so nobody sees it and simply gazes at the love he couldn’t save.

The teacher then went on to explain the reason for her transfer where she’s from and told us to be nice to her. That goes without saying, It was quite an emotional moment for Akira, a reunion after death.