In the Future - Aki

Him being from the past made so much sense. It explained why she saw him in her travels and why he didn’t share her dreams. The one thing it didn’t explain was why she was connected to him but she would probably never get an answer for that.

It also explained the nightmares. He must’ve seen some really horrible things. The things she’d seen was probably only the things he hadn’t prevented.

She had wanted to ask him about the nightmares, but that would mean telling him that he was her person. She was not ready for that. Especially after she had said that he would deserve her nightmares. Absolutely not.

“How did it go?” Kumi attacked her as soon as she entered the office. “Tell, me, everything.”

“I got my answers so I don’t think I’ll need to see him any more.” While it was true, something in her felt bad about it.

“You’re a terrible liar, Aki.” Kumi wrapped herself around her arm and dragged her through the corridors. “So, you got answers about the nightmares?”

“Kind of.” She didn’t want to talk about it here. Not when this was the one place that could ruin Ryo’s cover. “It’s complicated.”

“You still have the nightmares?” Her father appeared before them as they rounded a corner.

“These are different ones.” Out of all the people in this world, he was the last one she wanted to explain herself to. “Completely work related and they’re not really bad now when the future is peaceful.” She tried to talk herself out of the confrontation she knew would come. And it was a good cover. Time travelers was one of the few groups still known to have nightmares.

“Good to hear the future’s looking good.” He smiled but she could see that he had seen right through her. “And good to see you’re getting some sleep.”

Her eyes moved to the floor. He let it slide? “Thank you. And it’s good to see you’re doing well too, sir.” There had been a time when she referred to him as dad, but even then, she never did so at work.

“We should have dinner again some time. It’s been a while, Aki.” And with that he disappeared around another corner.

Kumi raised an eyebrow. “I told you he cared about you. Now let’s get to work. You have a future to visit.”

It was only a few years into the future and the city was more lively than Aki had seen it in a while. There seemed to be some sort of festival going on, but she didn’t know what it was for. Maybe Kumi could answer that.

She headed for the office, only to see that it was in the middle of the festivities. And the statue outside made her heart drop. It was Ryo.

“I need to speak with the hero.” She stormed towards the confused receptionist. But eventually was met with a nod as the girl called for him.

“Someone wanted to see me?” He stopped when he saw her. “Oh! Travel?” He was so thin. And he almost seemed sick.

She nodded and he led her into one of the conference rooms. “What happened?”

He chuckled and his hand moved to the back of his neck. She had seen him do that before. “I didn’t find a new place to live. So I kind of got caught.”

“You look awful.” She hadn’t meant for it to sound so rude.

“I feel awful.” He gave her a forced smile. “How long after we met did you come here? I mean, could I ask you to fix this for me?” He glanced towards the door. “I’ll survive, but you’re not really doing well. And neither is your father.”

“What happened to dad?” She almost forgot his first question. “And it’s the day after for me.”

His smile relaxed for a moment before he dropped it. “When it got known that I was back, some people weren’t happy with the attention I got. And I don’t blame them. But the city has been in a bit of a chaos since and your dad got caught in one of the uproars.” He turned his attention towards the floor. “He didn’t make it. And that’s about the time I started to hear about you loosing sleep and having even worse nightmares.”

“And how bad are your nightmares, compared to before?” She tried to ignore the lump forming in her chest at the thought of loosing her father too.

“My nightmares?” So he didn’t know? “Wait, how do you know about my nightmare—Oh!” He looked up at her, his wide eyes meeting hers, as he sat down on one of the chairs. “You’re connected to my dreams?”

She nodded and sat down on the chair beside his.

“So that’s what you meant when you said I smelled like nightmares?” He buried his face in his hands and laughed. “Of course.”

She moved her chair closer and put a hand on his shoulder. “What can I do to prevent this?”

He looked up at her and with him being so close, she couldn’t stop her heart from racing. “I don’t know. Help me find a place to stay. Or at least give me more time in some way. Tell Hiro or something.”

“Would you be okay with me? My guest room is free.” She felt the blush spreading. That would mean living together. “I mean, I did almost offer it to you yesterday, but I didn’t.”

A genuine smile spread across his face. “So you were considering it?” He was still close. She could feel the sweet smell coming from him, though it wasn’t as strong as it usually was. “I’d live in your closet if it meant preventing what happens here.” He locked eyes with her and pushed a strand of hair away from her face. “If you’ll let me, I will gladly move in with you. Especially if it prevents our nightmares getting worse.”

Her heart was racing. Why did his hand movement feel so gentle? Why did he look at her like that?

She stood up. She needed to go back. She needed to get away from him. Her hand reached for the switch at the back of her neck, but she stopped herself. “I won’t be able to report this without exposing you. What else have happened?”

“Right.” He shook his head, like he also needed to get what moment they had away to be able to focus. “Hiro’s ex died during a travel about three days after I was at your place. Would that work?”

“Rika? That’ll do.” She reached for the switch again.

“By the way. If I do move in with you… Actually, it doesn’t matter.” His smile was the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes and returned.

“Welcome back…” As soon as their eyes met, Kumi’s smile faded and her hands flew to her mouth. “That doesn’t look good.”

“Not at all.” Aki threw her gear off. “Rika died during her next travel.”

“That can’t be all.” Kumi grabbed the gear. “You wouldn’t care about her that much.”

“That’s about all I can actually report.”

Kumi dropped the gear to the side of Aki’s traveling pod. “It’s one of those?” She grabbed her hand. “Do what you have to do, I’ll take care of everything here. And tell Rika to take the week off.” She turned Aki around and pushed her towards the door. “And please tell me when, and if, you can.”

Aki hadn’t ran in the present for years. But she needed to contact Ryo as soon as possible.

As soon as she was out the door, she called the number he had called from yesterday. She hadn’t even hesitated.

“One moment, I’ll give the phone over to Ryo.” Was that Kumi’s person? Of course, he wouldn’t have his own phone.

“Hello?” Ryo’s voice was so similar to the version of him that she had seen only minutes before. Her heart started to race again, and not from her running. “Hello?”

“Right.” She answered him. “You can take my guest room. I can’t have you homeless.”

“Wait? What?” She suddenly remembered that he had considered telling her something before she left. What had that been? “Bad future?”

“You could say that.”

“Me and Hiro will be over as soon as possible.”

When she hung up, realization washed over her. She wouldn’t be able to escape his impact on her if they lived together. But she also couldn’t see him like that. Or lose her dad.