The Rising Hero - Ryo

“Like I said, I managed to convince them to let you stay for a week, to give you time to find a new place.” They had dropped off Hiro’s girlfriend at her parents house. Now they were on their way back to the house they shared with their band mates.

Or, in his case, former band mates.

“Why did you have to say it like that?”

“It was the truth.” Not everyone liked his honesty, but he couldn’t help it. If someone asked for his opinion, he gave it to them. He had stopped filtering his words when he broke free from his dad’s experiments.

But neither being kicked out of the band nor having to find a new place to live was on his mind right now. “How are you holding up? That was her, wasn’t it?” Hiro Mukai and Ryo Miyagawa had been friends since their late teens. Hiro had been the one to take him in when he got stuck here twenty years ago.

“Yeah.” Hiro almost never talked about her, and Ryo didn’t really understand the whole connected persons thing, it hadn’t been a thing in his time. But he knew that Hiro and his person had a fallout right before Ryo arrived.

“She was cute.” Ryo elbowed his friend. “She didn’t seem to be over it yet though.” He put the lollipop back into his mouth.

“Don’t even think about it.” Hiro bumped him back. “Not that I really have to worry. You’ve become quite the bum these past years.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Hiro was right. These past few years, Ryo had lost most of his motivation. Not to mention his inspiration. Maybe it was the band going in a different direction, maybe staying out of sight of the system stressed him too much. Or maybe reliving his former time travels every night had finally caught up to him. But he struggled to bring himself to do anything that didn’t go on autopilot lately.

“I’m actually thinking about writing a new song.” This was also an over used response to Hiro calling him out. But today his fingers did tingle a little.

Something about the girl, with Hiro’s person, had awoken something in him. He hadn’t seen her caramel hair and golden eyes in a long time, not since he stopped traveling. But he had recognized her immediately. She was a time traveler, like he had been. Only, she wasn’t stuck, as he was.

Had she recognized him? She had always seem to find him whenever their travels collided but she never said anything. But even despite that, he had been what, fifteen, last time he traveled. There was no way she would recognize him now.

He didn’t hate this time. When he had realized that he couldn’t return, he had actually been happy. He was finally free to do what he wanted, instead of what his father wanted him to do. He could play all the music he wanted, and no one ever knew him as the first time traveler, or some kind of hero, like they did back in his time.

It had been a dream come true when Hiro had suggested that they started a band.

The irony hadn’t been lost on him when they named it The Rising Hero, but it had been overshadowed by the fact that it had been a joke. A play on Hiro’s name that the other members had seen as a serious suggestion, and loved.

“Haven’t I heard that one before?” Hiro laughed and unlocked the door. “Now go write that song and maybe I can convince the others to let you stay.”

Ryo slumped down at his bed, guitar in hand. He wasn’t writing a song about her. Doing so would risk exposing himself. But that didn’t stop him from being curious. He had always had a small crush on her. How could he not? She was cute and he had been a teenage boy. But she made him curious. What did she think about the awful things she had seen. He knew about them because he’d been there. He didn’t always see her but when he did, it had always been in awful futures.

Did she also have nightmares about them? Did she even think about them when she returned?

He shook his head. Thinking about it made him want to know more, and he had sworn off the time traveling business when he got stuck. He had managed to lay low for twenty years, he wasn’t about to get involved and risk being discovered now.

Still, his fingers moved across the neck of his guitar as smoothly as they used to. Creating new melodies and riffs like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“You’re writing?” Masaichi peeked into his room around midnight. “What’s the occasion?” Masaichi was the second, now only, guitar player in The Rising Hero.

“I just felt like it.” Ryo hadn’t told anyone other than Hiro about his past, so he couldn’t really tell Masaichi about the girl. “Want to join me?”

“No, he needs to sleep.” Chiko’s blue haired head popped in. “And so should you.”

“Another time then.” He waived his former band mates off. He would miss them.

Masaichi was a skilled player and since he was also the second insomniac in the group, Ryo and him had spent a few nights awake together.

And Chiko had been there since they started the band. Though it had taken a few years before he stopped being their temporary drummer and officially joined the band. He was also skilled, but his best feat was probably his playful attitude.

The two of them seemed like polar opposites from a distance, but they fit together perfectly.

Thinking on it, the only person he struggled to get along with was the vocalist.

He did feel bad for being kicked out, but he couldn’t blame them. They all had their reasons for going the more commercial route and he had been nothing but a bother for this past month, and he hadn’t written any new songs in almost a year.

He fell back onto his bed. He really did have to find a new place to live. Even if he wrote a hundred songs, they wouldn’t take him back. They shouldn’t take him back.

***

After another sleepless night, Hiro had suggested looking into people renting out their guest room, another thing with this time he never fully understood, but it seemed like his only option. He had lived with Hiro for twenty years and while there were systems in place to make sure everyone had housing and food, they all required a registration and he did not want to risk blowing his cover.

Ryo played with the lollipop in his mouth while he walked to the train station. If he went far enough from the city, maybe he could find someone who was willing to take a risk on a stranger. But it wasn’t like people needed help with rent in this day and age, that was already covered for.

“You’re that guy from the other day?” A woman with shoulder long silver hair and green eyes called out to him.

“You’re Hiro’s person?”

“So you know about that?” She chuckled nervously. “How is he?”

“I thought you didn’t care about him?” He found himself looking around the street. Was she here alone?

“If you’re looking for Aki, she’s on the way.” The woman giggled.

“I’m not…” Was he looking for someone? “I’m Ryo Miyagawa, by the way.” He held out a hand towards her.

“Kumi Shiraki.” Her handshake was firmer than he had expected. “And the girl running over there is Aki.” She nodded behind him.

The time traveler came up to them. Aki? It suited her.

“Sorry, Kumi. I had some trouble…” Her eyes grew wide when they met his. “It’s you, isn’t it?”

So she did recognize him? “I would say ‘long time no see’ but we did see each other yesterday.” He held out his hand towards her. “I guess I should finally introduce myself, Ryo Miyagawa.”

“Aki Hiraoka.” She took his hand, and he became very aware of how soft her skin was. “You like candy?”

“Huh? I guess.” Was she judging him? Why did she ask that?

“That explains the smell.” She shrugged and turned to her friend. “Shall we go?”

“Nice to meet you, Miyagawa.” The silver haired woman called to him when the time traveler pulled her away.

He just stared at them as they walked away. What smell? Who comments on people’s smell? And was it a bad or good smell?

And why did he let it bother him?