Chapter 2: One More Time

Airi woke up at the sound of her alarm clock going off. She got out of bed and changed into her school uniform, which consisted of a white collared shirt, red neck ribbon, black argyle skirt, thigh highs, and her shiny black shoes.

“Good morning Airi.” called out a voice as she ran down the stairs.

“Morning mom. Morning Dad.” Airi replied.

Hideaki and Evalynn Himura, Airi’s lovely parents. Her father is a wealthy retired Japanese man, while her mother is an ex-model from America.

The trio sat and ate a traditional American breakfast made by Evalynn.

“You planning on going out with Makoto after school today?” asked Evalynn.

“Yeah. I think we’re going to the arcades in Akiba.”

“You need any money then?” asked Hideaki.

“Sure. I could use some spending money.”

“Well, that’s too bad. Ah, I’m just kidding. Here you go, princess.”

Airi’s father handed her an envelope with a decent sum of money in it.

“Thanks dad! I’m going to school now. Bye!”

Airi ran out of the house before her parents got the chance to say goodbye.

On the way there, a familiar voice called out to Airi.

“Yo, Airi! Wait up!”

“Mako-chan! I got some spending money for later from my dad.”

“Figures. There you go being a rich kid again. So, are we gonna hit up the fighting games first or the crane games?”

“Well, actually…”

Makoto nervously looked at Airi, who had a big Cheshire grin on her face.

“No, I know that look.”

“Come on Mako-chan. You know how much I like checking out all of the retro games. Please?” Airi said, now pouting to get her way.

“Ugh, fine. We’re still going to the arcade afterwards though. I finally got the hang of the Spinning Bird Kick input. I’m totally gonna kick your butt this time.”

“Woohoo! Alright! You’re on. We’ve gotta get to school first though.”

The two hurried on to class. What ensued next was another boring day of school. However, today was no ordinary day, it was Friday, meaning as soon as the final bell rang, it was officially the weekend.

After school, Makoto and Airi made their way for Akihabara via train. Airi was messing with the egg-shaped device, which she’d been keeping in her backpack.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, just something I got from my grandpa.”

“Hmm? Aren’t those things like, out of style now?”

“Probably, but you know me. I’m a retro gal.”

“True. What’s up with it though?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve been watching you for the past five minutes and you haven’t even set the time yet. Is it busted or something?”

“Ah, no, it’s perfectly fine… I think… I’m just, uh, trying to enter a cheat code. Yeah, cheat code…”

“Those things have cheat codes? Please Ai-Ai, you’ve gotta be joking if you think I’m gonna believe that.”

Before Airi had a chance to explain herself, the train came to a stop and the doors opened. A deluge of school kids poured from the train and into the station.

“Ah, who cares. Come on. Let’s get you to the retro stores before they take all of the good stuff.”

“I thought you didn’t really care about that place though.”

“Well, I care about you, and besides, I still like some retro things here and there.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Well, there’s the WonderSwan for one, and uh…”

“WonderSwan? You’re interested in that too?”

“Well uh, yeah. I kinda saw it in a movie once, my favorite character had one, so now I want one too. They’ve been a bit hard to find since then though.”

“Movie? Oh, you mean Eva, don’t you? Didn’t take you as a mecha fan.”

“Hey, I have good taste too you know!”

“I know, I’m just teasing you Mako-chan. Come on, we’re here!”

The pair looked around a retro game store for over an hour, spending a large amount of money on old video games and consoles.

“Man, I can’t believe they actually had one in stock. In pearl white too! This is the best day of my life!”

“It must be. I’ve never seen you this happy before in my life Mako-chan.”

“Well, any day I get to spend with you is a good day, but THIS made it even better!”

Airi smiled as she watched her friend skip around happily.

Just then, a cacophony of crashing and screeching sounds pierced through the air like a speeding bullet. Airi looked on in horror as she saw a crumpled up car fused to a nearby pole, a pool of blood slowly creeping its way out from underneath.

“No… This can’t be happening.”

Airi slowly inched her shaking body closer and closer towards the vehicle. Underneath it she saw the one thing she’d hoped wouldn’t be there.

“M-Mako-chan? Mako-chan?! MAKOTO! No, this can’t be happening! MAKOTO!”

Airi’s screams rung out through the otherwise silent streets. Her tears streaming from her eyes like waterfalls. She’d just witnessed her best friend die a gruesome death right in front of her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I should have been there to save you. I wish I could see you just one more time. Wait… Maybe I can fix this. I can bring her back. Please, this has to work. It has to!”

Airi fumbled around with her bag for a second before pulling out the egg-shaped device. She frantically set the time, her vision still blurred from the tears. She punched in a time just a few minutes into the past and hit confirm.

Everything went white. Airi instinctively closed her eyes from the blinding flash, but once she opened them, she recognized where she was. She was back inside the retro game store, and just a few feet away from her was Makoto, paying for her items.

Airi stepped outside and Makoto soon followed. Airi burst into tears again and threw herself at her friend, knocking her to the ground.

“Woah, Ai-Ai, what’s wrong?”

“I’m so sorry Makoto. Please never leave me again.”

“What? You’re the one who left before I could finish paying.”

“N-no, that’s not… I can’t explain. I thought you were gone for good.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but it’s ok, I’m here for you.”

Makoto wrapped her arms around Airi to comfort her. Airi held on tighter.

“Please, promise me that you’ll never leave me.”

“I’ll always be with you Ai-Ai. Always.”

A few moments later, a car went screeching by, nearly hitting a nearby pole as it did.

“Jeez, idiot drivers. They could have totally hit somebody being reckless like that.”

“Yeah… idiot…” Airi muttered faintly, her tears finally starting to subside.

Airi and Makoto stood up and made their way to a nearby arcade. The two spent some time playing crane games, winning some plushies and figurines, before heading upstairs where all of the fighting games were.

Round after round, Makoto managed to win every time. She looked over at Airi, who had been blankly staring into the screen the entire time.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me. We both know I never beat you at this game. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That bad, huh? Maybe if we go somewhere more private you’ll feel more comfortable talking?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Alright then, let’s get going.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

Makoto grabbed Airi’s hand and led her out of the arcade. After about ten minutes of walking, the two arrived at a park. There was nobody else around, save for an elderly couple sitting at a bench on the opposite side of the park. The pair sat down on a set of swings, Airi staring into the ground.

“Alright, we’re alone now. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

Airi sat silent for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

“I… I saw you die.”

“Huh?”

“It was earlier today. When we left the retro game store, you were so excited that you weren’t paying attention and jumped out into the road as a speeding car went by. You… You didn’t make it…”

“Hold on, we heard that car go by, but it was while you were busy crying on the ground. Did you hit your head or something?”

“No! I saw what happened! It’s been eating away at me all day. I… I couldn’t bear to lose you, so I… I went for a long shot, and it worked.”

“Ok? So let’s say that I did in fact die earlier today. How could I still be here sitting next to you then?

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Heck, I don’t even believe it myself.”

“Alright then, try me.”

“You’re sure?”

“Ai-Ai, we’ve known each other since we were kids. I’m sure whatever you’re about to say will make total sense.”

“Ok then, here goes. So yesterday I went to visit my grandpa and he gave me this but then at night when I was messing with it I accidentally traveled back in time to earlier that day, and things were super confusing. Then earlier after you got hit by that car, I thought about what happened and wondered if maybe, just maybe, I could somehow get it to work again and bring you back, and it did. It worked.”

“Woah, uh, ok. That’s a lot to unpack.”

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me…”

“No no no, I didn’t say that. Here, let me see if I can get this straight. This little thing can take you back in time and you used that so I wouldn’t die, is that right?”

“Well, basically. As far as I understand it at least.”

“That’s insane. I mean, I don’t think I’d believe it if it wasn’t you who told me this.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, I got emotional and didn’t know what else to do.”

“Sorry for what, saving my life? Listen, I wouldn’t have known about this if you hadn’t told me. You went back and saved me, Airi. Thank you. I mean, it’s gonna take a bit getting used to the fact that I’m supposed to be dead right now, but I’ll get over it.”

“Thank you too, Mako-chan. I really needed to hear that.”

“So, you got a name for it?”

“For what?”

“You know, the whole going back in time thing.”

“No, I don’t. I wasn’t even sure I could control it until today.”

“Hmm… Alright then, let me think.”

Makoto grabbed the device from Airi and stared at it for a bit.

“I’ve got it! Timeagotchi!”

“What?”

“You know, because it’s one of those egg-shaped digital pets, but it also lets you go back in time. Timeagotchi!”

“That’s pretty lame, but since you came up with it, that’s what I’ll call it.”

“Hey, I know. If you wanna prove that it works to me, how about I tell you a secret that I’ve never told anyone, and you go back a few minutes and tell me what it was. I’ll have to believe you then.”

“O-Ok then, if you say so.”

“Alright, but you’ve gotta promise never to tell anyone else. So, you know how I had that old beat up plushie as a kid that I’d always cuddle when I went to sleep?”

“Yeah, I remember that. Didn’t you get rid of it once we got to middle school though?”

“Nope! I told everyone I did because I wanted to seem cool and tough, but I never actually got rid of it. I keep it under a blanket, and I still cuddle with it when I get scared.”

“That’s so adorable. Here I thought the brave and powerful Makoto didn’t need it anymore.”

“Haha, very funny. Now, use your Timeagotchi to go back in time and tell me that.”

“Alright, give me a second.”

Airi looked at the screen of the device, which read “RECHARGING.”

“Come on, what’s taking so long?”

“I can’t do it. It says it's recharging.”

“Well how long does it take to recharge?”

“I don’t know. I heard it beep around midnight and it said it was finished, so maybe it only works once a day.”

“Oh. I see. So wait, I just told you that secret for nothing?!”

“Calm down Mako-chan, it’s not that big of a deal. Plenty of people still sleep with plushies.”

“Yeah, but none of them have the reputation I do.”

“Yeah yeah, sure. Hey, it’s been a long day. We should get back home.”

“Alright, let’s get going then.”

The duo made their way back to the station and got on a train home. Before saying goodbye for the day, Airi wrapped her arms around Makoto and hugged her tight.

“Thanks for cheering me up. I really needed it.”

“No problem. You know I’ll always be here for you.”

“I know you will.”

As the two parted ways, Makoto turned around and shouted.

“Hey, don’t forget to text me if you wanna hang out or something tomorrow! Maybe we can figure that thing out.”

“Ok! See ya!”

Airi left for her house. Makoto stood there watching her friend disappear around a corner.

“I’ll always be here for you. No matter what.”