The First Day

The front door clicked shut behind them.

Akira stepped out into morning air that felt too clean to be real.

Aira walked beside him like she'd been doing it for years.

He kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. Her hair caught the light. Her eyes were bright enough to look unnatural.

"You're acting weird," Aira said.

"Sorry," he said automatically.

Aira narrowed her eyes. "Don't 'sorry' me. It's the first day. You're supposed to be nervous, not... haunted."

Haunted. The word landed too perfectly.

They reached the crosswalk.

"So... why are we walking together?" Akira asked carefully.

Aira turned slowly. "Because we promised. At the park. The night you moved here."

The memory slid into place. The swing set. The cold air. The voice behind him.

"Why are you here so late?"

Aira continued casually, "You looked pathetic. So I told you I'd be your first friend."

They started walking again. Aira adjusted the strap of her bag. The hem of her skirt shifted slightly.

Akira's adult instincts reacted instantly. Too short.

His eyes dropped for half a second. Aira stopped walking.

"What," she said flatly.

Akira raised both hands. "No. I was thinking it's too short. Dangerous."

Aira laughed. "You sound like someone's dad. That's why you're walking me. To protect me from creeps."

"Yet you made me feel like I was the creep you needed protecting from" Akira replied.

They both stopped to chuckle at the interaction.

Finally, they reached the school gates. Fourteen again. First day.

The homeroom bell buzzed.

The teacher began calling names.

"Kisaragi Kana."

A girl near the window flinched and stood. She was small. Clean uniform, worn cuffs.

"Kisaragi Kana," she said softly.

"Orimoto Akira."

Akira stood.

"Partners will be assigned by me." the teacher continued. "Kisaragi Kana and Orimoto Akira."

Kana froze. Aira turned around with a grin.

Kana stood carefully to move desks. Halfway across the gap, the papers she was holding slipped.

They scattered.

Kana dropped to her knees instantly. "I'm sorry—"

Akira crouched down to help. "It's fine."

He handed the papers back. She accepted them like they were fragile.

She sat beside him.

"Kana, right?" Akira asked.

She nodded.

"I'm Akira."

"I know," she said softly.

A girl from the back approached.

"Kana," she said gently. "You forgot your pencil case."

"I'm Sato Mei," the girl said to Akira. "Kana and I went to the same middle school."

Mei gave a small acknowledging nod. There was something protective in the way she stood beside Kana.

"Kana gets nervous," Mei said matter-of-factly. "She's better once she gets used to people."

The bell rang.

At lunch, they sat on the concrete steps. Mei unpacked lunch. Kana opened a small container of plain rice.

Akira nudged a piece of his food toward Kana. "Trade."

Kana hesitated before accepting.

Aira leaned back on her hands. "The first day isn't so bad, right?"

Mei shrugged. "It's normal."

Akira looked between them. Just normal.

And for now that was enough.

Day two passed quietly.

Day three, Kana was quieter. During math, she stared at the board longer than necessary.

Day four, Kana didn't come to school.

When the teacher called attendance and paused at "Kisaragi Kana," he simply marked the clipboard and moved on.

At lunch, Mei sat alone on the courtyard steps.

Aira waved at her. "Where's Kana?"

Mei shrugged. "Not sure."

Day five.

Kana's seat was empty again. The teacher called her name. Silence. A line was drawn.

At lunch, Mei sat in the same place. Alone.

Akira hesitated, then walked over.

"Mei," he said casually. "Is Kana sick?"

Mei's brows drew together faintly. "Who?"

Akira blinked. "Kana. Kisaragi Kana."

Mei stared at him. No recognition.

"...We don't have anyone named Kana in our class," Mei said.

Akira laughed lightly. "Yeah, we do. She sits next to you."

Mei's expression didn't change. "I sit alone."

Aira tilted her head. "Akira, what are you talking about?"

He turned sharply. "You remember. First day. We were paired. Kana."

Aira frowned slightly. "We were paired. But it was just you and me talking most of the time."

Akira's stomach tightened.

"Are you okay?" Mei asked, concerned.

Akira looked toward the classroom. Kana's seat was empty.

He walked quickly back to the room. The first-day worksheets were pinned to the board.

He scanned them.

Name: Kisaragi Kana Hobby: I don't like to bother people.

The words looked small. Unremarkable.

He tore the sheet down.

"Akira!" Aira rushed in behind him. "What are you doing?"

"Explain this," he said, holding up the paper.

Aira looked at it. "You wrote that."

"Yes."

"But I don't know who Kana is."

His pulse spiked.

His stomach curled.

That was when Akira began to remember something. This timeline is the second time he was seeing it, but this time as a first hand witness.

The Mist Killer. An urban legend from his original timeline. A serial murderer whose victims were never identified. No one ever claimed them.

Akira's breathing grew shallow.

He turned and ran toward the theatre wing. The first body had been found there in the original timeline.

He reached the heavy doors and pushed inside.

The theatre smelled of ozone and burnt dust. A dry, static scent that made his teeth ache.

He moved toward the side stairwell.

And saw her.

Kana lay on her side in the hollow beneath the stairs. Eyes closed. Body still. No blood. Just... absence.

Akira didn't scream. He simply stared.

"Kana."

Behind him, Aira's breath caught sharply.

"Akira..." she whispered.

For the second time since he woke up, the world had diverged.

The school closed for three days.

Official statements were vague. "An unidentified female student."

Unidentified.

Akira's jaw tightened. He identified her.

During the closure the principal contacted Akira’s parents.

Mandatory counseling for Akira. School policy they stated.

The counselor’s office smelled like rain and old incense. Damp. Ancient.

“How ironic” Akira mumbled under his breath as he waited to be let in.

When he got in he was surprised by the familiar voice that called his name.

“Orimoto Akira?” she asked.

Dr. Arisu Erisawa looked up from behind the desk. Same face. Same posture.

He sat.

“You don’t remember me?” he asked suddenly.

She tilted her head. “Should I?”

“I met you before,” he said quietly. “You gave me two pills. Red and blue.”

Her expression did not change. But something behind her eyes did.

“Red and blue?” she repeated, with a finger on her chin looking confused by the random comment.

He stood abruptly. “You sent me back.”

The air shifted. The scent of rain grew heavier.

Dr. Erisawa smiled. Not kindly. Knowingly.

“Well,” she said. “That didn’t take long.”

“What are you?”

“A goddess.”

She placed two coins on the table. One shimmered gold. The other was darker, fractured.

“They are called God Coins,” she said. “They alter reality. I sacrificed my own to rewind your life.”

“Why me?”

“I want you to be my knight. To play the Gods Game on my behalf.”

Akira’s stomach churned. “And the girl? Kana?”

Arisu took a moment to decide if or how she should reply.

“That... Was not my doing. The one who killed her is likely Blessed.”

“Blessed?” Akira asked

“Blessed are what we call people who make a wish with a god coin for its power” Arisu replied

“So the one who killed Kana… They are playing this God Game?”

“Yes.”

“If I defeat him… The Mist Killer… Will… Kana come back”

“If you mean, remembered, yes. But for the record bringing back the dead, that costs more than just 1 of these coins.”

Akira stepped back. “There were four victims in my original timeline.”

“I know two now,” he said. “Kana. And Aira.”

Her gaze flicked. “So you do remember.”

“I’ll find them myself,” Akira said.

She slid a coin toward him. “If you speak their names, you expose yourself. The killer’s blessing revolves around erasure.”

Akira didn’t touch the coin.

“I’ll find them before they get to the next one.”

He turned to leave.

Her voice followed him. “You don’t know which number Aira is.”

He froze. Then opened the door.

She was right, Akira knew it.

He didn’t reply, he just left, with his mind set and now determined to find this Mist Killer.

“The game has begun,” she whispered.