...Ending...

Today, I woke up around 10, feeling a lot better than before. Its 14: 26 right now. Watching anime since morning, kind of keeps my mind occupied with the story, thoughts don’t drift off much to Sachi and all that.

(Phone ringing)

Who is it? Hina…

*Picks up

Just as I put the phone near my ears “Do you know anything about Sachi? Where is she?” is what Hina asks…

“What happened?”

“She hasn’t been replying nor answering her phone”

“She must be away”

“Since this morning”

“Have you asked Eiji?”

“I did… nothing”

“Wait, I’ll try contacting and see if she picks”

“The call says her phone is dead”

“When did you last talked to her?”

“Last night, she was completely fine”

Takahashi: should I tell her or not? Sachi told me not to tell anyone... but now…

“Have you gone to her home yet?”

“No, I haven’t tried that yet. Thought if you guys knew anything, I should check”

“I don’t know. Yesterday I went to meet her. she looked really down but nothing serious.”

“What? When? She didn’t tell me anything”

“In the morning, she messaged me that she wants to meet me. She told me not to tell anyone”

“Do you think___”

“I don’t know, but I hope she didn’t”

“Think about it, why did she wanted to meet you?”

“It was 2nd January, she couldn’t have”

“Maybe. we can’t be sure”

“Yeah, I’m going to go check on her house.”

“I am going too”

“Tell Eiji too”

“I think he left already”

“Okay”

What the hell happened. I don’t want to think that she lied. But if she has left today… what can I do… she left. I should try calling her just in case

*Calling Sachi
.
.
.
*Call ended

Shit… it doesn’t go through. I’m going to take the bike; I hope that she’s still here

(Upon Arriving at Sachi’s house)

Eiji is already here

“Did you check?” (Takahashi)

“I tried ringing the bell, no one answers the door” (Eiji)

“What the hell happened… (Takahashi Starts banging on the door)”

“STOP! This won’t make her come out if she isn’t even here anymore”

“How do we know? How can we be sure?”

“What happened?” (Hina just arrived)

“No one is answering the door either. The house looks locked”

“Then she’s…”

“Hey kids, what are you doing there?” (Neighbor on the right came out of his house)

Takahashi: he must have heard me knocking at the door so loud

“Do you know anything about Sachi and her dad that lived here?” (Hina)

“They left from here in the morning”

“Huh…” (Takahashi)

Takahashi: so, it is true… she left without telling and she lied about the date… OR

“Maybe they had to leave early than 2nd January and now maybe the plane won’t crash” (Takahashi)

“What are you talking about kid?” (Neighbor)

“Sir, thank you for the information, we’ll be going now” (Eiji)

Takahashi: oh… I shouldn’t have said that here

“What were you thinking idiot” (Eiji)

“Sorry… I just thought that maybe the problem is solved… she won’t die”

“We don’t know for sure. It could be that she lied about the leaving date”

“Why… would she lie? I don’t see a reason”

“Maybe she did go early than we expected. We can’t be sure. For now, let’s keep checking the news if we see something about the crash”

“Yeah”

“Takahashi, don’t expect something good to happen, if it doesn’t go the way you expected it to, it will kill you”

“I know but… I just think that she couldn’t have lied about this”

“And if she did?”

“I…”

Takahashi: it’s middle school all over again, isn’t it… NO… Sachi is different. Even if she hid the actual date. She must have had a reason… But what?

“Let’s just go home for now” (Eiji)

“Yeah” (Hina)

“Yeah…” (Takahashi)

I hope she’s safe…

(Reached home)

This curiosity is killing me. Did she lie? Did she move early? Is she safe? What happened to the plane? Why did she lie? What now? If she dies… what then?... if she had to go away in a hurry and couldn’t tell. Then by tonight. She will tell us. That she moved to Kyoto and she’s fine now… I hope.
It’s… who cares what time it is. I’m going to listen to music until night comes. Feel like crying but can’t cry, just my chest hurts… A LOT… is this her fault? NO, she didn’t do anything… I’m just too sensitive, just like she said… why did she wanted to meet me anyways? Last time meeting me before she goes away? Maybe… I can’t be sure. I should stop thinking, overthinking is just going to ruin things more for me…

(Later that day, at night)

Eiji is calling… my heart is pounding so fast right now…

*Picks up

“Hina just told me… She saw it” (Eiji)

“The plane crashes?”

“Yeah…”

Takahashi: what was I even expecting? It was so obvious… My only hope is when I go back now…

“Eiji, I just remembered. When I told Sachi about the crash, Aoi was with me. So, she should know what date I told her”

“Yeah, she can but… what will you do then? This will only make you doubt her more. You don’t know why she did this in the first place”

“I understand but I still want to confirm”

“Ok”

*Takahashi Hangs up

I should call Aoi… I don’t have her number… Hina would know

To Hina: send me Aoi’s number, I want to talk to her
To Takahashi: did you hear about the plane crash? And what are you going to talk about with Aoi?
To Hina: yeah, Eiji just called me. I want to ask what date I told Sachi at that time last year
To Takahashi: I see. Ok, here’s the number.

Ok… Oh wait… this number is already added in my contacts… I must have added her in first year.

*Calling Aoi

“Takahashi?” (Aoi)

“I wanted to ask what date I told Sachi last year?”

“About the crash? Yeah, Hina messaged me, but I haven’t talked with her yet. And it was 2nd January. I remember”

“Oh… Thanks”

*Takahashi hangs up

So, it was 2nd January… and it changed. But how? What happened? And how? Didn’t I tell her after seeing her die on 2nd January? If she died on, what is it today… 27th December… I will tell her 27th when I go back… and I’m not even sure if I’ll go back or not…

Aaaaah… I can’t focus on one thing, there are too many questions. I can’t even think properly… my only option is going back… nothing else… but if her date changed, and she still ends up in that plane crash… what can I even do to save her? staying away? I can’t do that. Because this plane crash isn’t happening because of me… why did the plane crash anyways?

To Hina: what happened to the plane? Did they tell anything?
To Takahashi: engine failure from what it looks like right now. They are not sure, is what I heard
To Hina: How do you know that it was the same plane she got on?
To Takahashi: A plane that took flight in the morning, going to Kyoto… Who else could it be…?
To Hina: What if she took a different plane
To Takahashi: if she took, we could wait. She’ll message that she reached safely… but think about it. You knew about a plane crash. And a plane actually crashed around that time? What else do you want to see
To Hina: nothing… I just hope that she’s safe
To Takahashi: don’t hope for the impossible

Every thought that comes to my mind… I just want to believe that she is safe… but too many things happened to prove that it happened what we have been waiting for the whole year… I should just go to sleep. No matter what I think of… the only solution is to go back

(Next Day)

it’s 7 in the morning… I couldn’t sleep at all. Eiji and Hina messaged to ask me how I was doing. Don’t feel like replying.

It’s 28th December. 3 days until new year… why am I even counting new year now… does it really matter? Nope, it doesn’t now. For now, the only thing important for me is to pass this second year. And then third year, then maybe I’ll go back to first year… A whole year without Sachi… Can I spend that much? Why am I even waiting for first year anyways? I still don’t know if I can save her or not. It’s just a hope that maybe, when I go back to first year myself, I’ll see something that can help me save her. No point in thinking right now. I’ll just listen to music for now… (goes to sleep)

“Takahashi, breakfast is ready. Come downstairs”

Huh… Mom is calling…I went to sleep for a while... what time it is? 11: 12… I don’t feel like eating anything either… she’s probably going to come upstairs. I should lock the door…

There. I’ll go downstairs later, don’t want to show my face like this to my mom… I have been in bed for so long now, I look like shit. Need to take a bath too. Maybe I should reply to them. Don’t want them to bother me later.

To Eiji: I’m fine, was sleeping. Just woke up
To Hina: I’m fine, was sleeping so I couldn’t reply

What do I even do now? I want to talk to her… I should message her

To Sachi: hello
To Sachi: how are you?
To Sachi: probably dead
To Sachi: Haha, see? Death jokes. I can do that too
To Sachi: why aren't you replying?
To Sachi: what should I do?
To Sachi: what am I even doing? This won't reach you ever, you aren't even here anymore
To Sachi: did you lie? Did you hide the date? Did you know you were moving earlier than we knew?
To Sachi: there are so many things I want to ask you but… you know
To Sachi: I think that you had to move in a hurry, but the plane crashed anyway…
To Sachi: am I right?
To Sachi: just a yes… just one word I need right now

When was the last text she sent? I should scroll back.

(Looking at the old chat)

To Sachi: what about others?
To Takahashi: No, just us alone. You know we have never hung out, just us. So, I thought before I go…
To Sachi: okay, where do you want to meet first?
To Takahashi: just like before, come to the school in about 20 minutes. We’ll go somewhere from there
To Sachi: Okay

'So, I thought before I go…' she… did mention that she's going away… why didn't I notice. If I had Asked her what she meant by this… maybe she would have told me that she was leaving early… Even if she had, I would have only thought that her leaving early will save her from the plane crash. Nothing else. What happened didn't occur to anyone.

Aah… I'm tired, I'm going to sleep again

To Sachi: sorry for bothering you with this spam. I'll be going now

(1st January 2020)

2 or 3 days have passed since Sachi passed away. She didn't reply or anything. We are sure that she died in that plane crash. I have slowly started to accept what happened. Although I still spend most of my time in my room. I'm not ignoring anyone. There's still a little hope left in me that the first year will be useful...

Today, me Hina and Eiji are going to the Shrine. I'm going outside my house the first time after I went to check if Sachi was at home or not. I hope that I can focus more on what I'm doing and not what happened

We decided to meet at the Shrine, it's 09: 44 right now. Hina and Eiji are here too.

"It's so crowded" (Takahashi)

"Well, you took your precious time to come here..." (Hina)

"Hina, don't say that. At least he came" (Eiji)

"I wanted to come here. Thought a little change would be better for me" (Takahashi)

"Glad you are feeling better than before" (Eiji)

"Thanks"

I have to go through all these people… ahh, I should have stayed… No, I'm out here. I have to go and pray, get over my fear of crowds.

(After struggling through the crowd, in and out)

"Takahashi, what did you pray for?" (Eiji)

"I'm not telling"

"It was probably about Sachi" (Hina)

Takahashi: yes, it was…. I wished that I can save her next time I get the chance to

"Yeah, just something like that, what did you ask for?"

"For Sachi and you" (Hina)

"Me? What?"

"I wished that you get the courage and confidence to go through any situation without breaking down..."

"Oh… Thanks, and you Eiji?"

"Almost the same as Hina. Just that what you had to go through in past week, I Wished none of us goes through that ever again"

"Yeah, I hope too..."

After this, we all just went home.

School's reopening on 6th January, Monday. School will be better for me since it will keep my thoughts occupied with studies, because I have to pass this year. I haven’t been studying like I used to but it’s not that bad. If I focus on studies, I have enough time to get good grades.

(Somedays later)

I’m on my way to school, it’s 9th January today. I have been feeling a lot better than before. Just the thought of Sachi not being there anymore makes me feel sad. But for that I have to wait till 3rd year ends.

(Takahashi entering the class)

“Good morning Takahashi” (Eiji and Hina)

“Good morning”

“How are you feeling today?”

“Fine, just that Sachi isn’t here feels weird every time…”

“Yeah, I can understand”

“Hmm…”

Everyday has been like this. We don’t talk that much. But I don’t care that much either. I need to study and pass this year so that I can go to third year. And things will get better, I know.

(Months later)

Today is 25th March, last day of second year. Right now, I’m going back home. I have started to enjoy school a little again. Like, preparing for the exams is exciting for me again. I think I’ll be fine spending the next year without Sachi too. Yeah, everything’s fine…

Except when I pass through this park… Every day, when I pass through this park, it reminds me of Sachi. I get sad after thinking about that day. But it’s a not just sad, it’s more of a happy memory now, like there was someone named Sachi I knew, and we grew closer in this park.

Hina is with me too. Eiji, just like before, goes in the opposite direction of us.

And not to forget, Hina is still way better at studies than before, she tries her best for Sachi, is what she said. I’m happy that things are back to normal now.

(Some days later)

Tomorrow is the first day of my last year in high school, 1st April. not sure if I should call it last year… I haven’t even completed 1st year, or I did but I just don’t know.
It’s 22: 58 right now, I’m going to sleep.