Chapter 6: Double Time

The next day at school was largely uneventful. Nobody caused any trouble, everybody kept to themselves. That was, until lunchtime.

Airi was sitting alone texting Makoto, who wasn’t responding. Airi assumed that she was still asleep. A pair of people walked over to Airi. It was Akira and Mari.

“Hey Himura, what’s up?” Akira asked.

“Hey Akira. Just sitting alone since Makoto isn’t here.”

“Oh yeah, sorry about that.”

“Well I’m not! She broke my nose, that brute. I seriously don’t understand why you hang out with such a delinquent.”

“She’s not a bad person, and besides, you kinda deserved it.”

“I what?”

“Maybe we should go, Mari.”

“No, actually, I think I’m gonna sit here and chat with Miss Himura for a while. Wouldn’t want her to be all alone for lunch, would we?”

“Well, how about I stay too then? I’d love to catch up with her after such a long time.”

“No! I mean, we’re hungry. Would you mind going and getting us some melonpan please sweetie?”

“Alright, I’ll be right back then.”

“Thanks!“

Mari smiled until Akira went out of sight.

“So, let me ask you something, what’s the deal with that friend of yours?”

“Makoto? Nothing. I don’t even know what you mean.”

“She’s so defensive of you, it’s not normal. I mean, it’d be fine if she just yelled or something, but she’s so, how do I put this, aggressive.”

“Well, she’s not usually that way. You provoked her, so it’s kinda your fault.”

“I provoked her? No no, she’s just too sensitive. She has a short fuse. I was simply talking to her and she hit me.”

“From what I remember, she said you were talking bad about me.”

“Oh yeah, I did do that. Well, you deserved it, princess.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, you act so prim and proper, so perfect, and why, because you’re some rich kid with a parent from America? You think that somehow makes you better than everyone else, huh?”

“You’ve got some nerve, projecting your problems onto me.”

“What did you just say?”

“I never said I was better than anybody else. I’m not acting perfect either. That would be you. You act like this sweet girl around Akira, but when he’s not around, you show your true colors. Everyone knows you’re this way, except him. I wonder what he would think if someone told him.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Mari stood up quickly, offended and defensive.

“Oh, but I would. All you do is cause problems for other people and manipulate your boyfriend. Besides, who do you think he’d believe, his childhood friend or someone he just met half a year ago?”

“You’re both the same. You and that dirty good-for-nothing delinquent.”

“Stop insulting Makoto. I may not look it, but I’m perfectly capable of defending myself and my friend.”

“Is that a threat, Himura?”

“Why don’t you come over here and find out, Miss Perfect?”

Mari took the challenge and swung at Airi. Airi dodged backwards and readied herself. She delivered a right hook directly into Mari’s nose, breaking it yet again. A shrill shriek emanated from Mari, but she wasn’t giving up so easily this time. She delivered a gut punch to Airi, who reeled back in pain.

By this time, a group of kids gathered around with their phones out, recording the entire event.

Airi threw herself at Mari, knocking her to the floor. She delivered several blows to her before coming to her senses. Her bloodlust had taken over her, and she had to stop herself.

Airi took off running, grabbing her Timeagotchi from her bag as she ran to the girls restroom. She set the time back to just the start of lunch and hit the button. A white flash enveloped her before she found herself back outside. She glanced at her phone screen to confirm she had indeed gone back in time. She made her way to the rooftop to sit alone without having to deal with Mari again.

“What is wrong with me? I ended up just doing what Makoto did. Maybe she is a bad influence on me.” Airi thought to herself.

It was true, Makoto had been rubbing off on her more and more recently. She was starting to do things she’d never have even thought of doing a few years ago.

“No, I can’t blame her for my actions. She may be a bad influence, but she only influences me as much as I let her. I need to have more self control.”

Airi was startled by her phone making a buzzing sound. She checked it to see a text from Makoto.

“Yo, what’s up?”

“I’m just sitting alone on the rooftop.”

“For real? I didn’t know you liked it up there.”

“The air is nicer up here, and I can get away from everyone else.”

“That’s true. So anyway, I was wondering if you’d used the Timeagotchi yet today.”

“Yeah, why?”

“Damn, I wanted to try something. Oh well, save it tomorrow until after school, k?”

“Why, what are you gonna do?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Come on Mako-chan, tell me!”

“Nope! You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Ugh, fine. We gonna hang out after school today?”

“Sure, but we’re gonna hang at your place and play games.”

“Alright, see you then. I’m gonna lay and watch the clouds for a while.”

“Oh, good idea. I’ll go out onto my balcony and do the same. Then it’s kinda like we’re together, but not, or something like that. You know what I mean.”

Airi put her phone away and laid back, staring into the sea of clouds. The fluffy white shapes slowly crept their way across the sky, bits and pieces coming and going as they moved. She took this time to clear her mind of all thoughts, not letting anything ruin this moment.

The next day after school, Airi saw Makoto waiting outside for her and holding a bag.

“What’s in there?” Airi asked.

“Don’t worry about it for now. Come on, let’s get to the park before anyone else shows up.”

Makoto seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood today, like she was expecting some big news or a package in the mail.

Upon arriving at the park, Makoto hurriedly sat Makoto down before reaching into the bag and revealing two melonpan.

“Alright, what are those for? You got hungry on the way here or something?”

“No, just wait. Give the Timeagotchi.”

“Alright, whatever. Here you go.”

Makoto unwrapped her melonpan and sat there holding it for a while.

“Why aren’t you eating yours?”

“You’ll see. Just keep looking at it. Focus on it. Don’t let your eyes wander away from it.”

“Is this some kind of magic trick or something?”

“No, just trust me.”

After about a minute or two of just staring at the bread, Makoto viciously started eating a large portion of it.

“Seriously? You made me wait all this time just to watch you wolf it down like that?”

“No, just be quiet and watch. You won’t even remember this anyway.”

“What?”

A bright light enveloped the area before fading away.

“Woah, what happened to it? A huge amount of it just disappeared!”

Makoto looked at Airi’s dumbfounded face as she stared at a mostly eaten melonpan.

“Yes, it worked!” Makoto cheered victoriously.

“Wait, what worked?”

“Hehe,” Makoto snickered as she stood up. “I can use the Timeagotchi too!”

“Woah, seriously?! So that’s why half of that thing just disappeared out of nowhere. Wait, can we both use it once a day?”

Airi grabbed the Timeagotchi from Makoto and looked at the screen. It was in recharge mode.

“I guess not. Bummer. Hey, at least we know this isn’t just something I can do, but it’s still mine, so I get first dibs at using it.”

“Yeah yeah, I get it. I just wanted to see if it would even work for anybody else.”

“You know what this means though, right?”

“That I can kick people's asses without getting in trouble now?”

“No. Well, yes, but no. I mean we have to keep this away from people like Mari.”

“Ugh, her. Just her name alone is enough to make me feel weird. You’re right though, who knows what would happen if she got ahold of it.”

“Hey, Ai-Ai, I just thought of something.”

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s just that… what do you think would happen if we both held that thing at the same time when trying to go back in time? Do you think it’d work? Oh, or maybe we’d switch bodies like in the movies.”

“Freaky. I don’t really know what would happen though. I guess we could always try it some time.”

“How about tomorrow?”

“I can’t, tomorrow is when I go to visit my grandpa, you know this.”

“Well, what if we met up right after school and tried it before you left to go see him?”

“Nope, can’t do that either. I have a very strict schedule I stick to.”

“Since when?”

“Since right now.”

“You’re scared, aren’t you?”

“Well yeah, we don’t know what might happen. And besides, what if we need it for something else?”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Come on, please?”

“Alright fine, but I don’t want to be late going to visit my grandpa.”

“You won’t. Hey, actually, why don’t I go with you?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’d like to see the old man too, and it’s not like I have anything else to do.”

“Alright, but you better be here as soon as school’s out. Oh, and don’t wear anything too revealing either. We’re going to a hospital, not a party.”

“Yeah, I got it. Only the best long sleeve turtleneck for you madam.”

“That’s hilarious. I doubt you even own a turtleneck. And madam? What is this, some sort of fancy tea party?”

“I’m just messing around with you. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ve gotta get home and help my mom with dinner. See ya!”

Makoto ran off towards the station.

Airi’s mind sparked to life as she imagined what Makoto would look like in a tight turtleneck. She’d be completely covered up, yet her form would still be visible. It was enough to make the imagination run wild.

The next day after school, Airi was running late since she had to help clean up the classroom. Makoto kept texting her with no response. Eventually, Airi came running out of the front doors and grabbed Makoto’s hand before making her way for the station.

“Woah, slow down. What took so long?”

“Cleaning, sorry. We’ve gotta get going, we’re late.”

“What about the thing?”

“We’ll do it later. It’s not like it matters when we do it, right?”

“I guess not.”

At the hospital, Airi and Makoto entered Airi’s Grandpa’s room.

“Ah, Airi. I was beginning to worry about you. I thought you’d stood me up today.”

“You know I’d never do that grandpa. I just had some stuff to take care of after school.”

“And who is this young lady you brought with you?”

“This is Makoto.”

“Ah, Makoto. I haven’t seen you in many years. You’ve grown quite a bit since I saw you last.”

“It’s been a long time, old man. Nice to see you again.”

“Hey, you can’t just call him an old man. I mean, he is, but it’s not nice.”

“Well what else should I call him? He’s your grandpa, not mine.”

“Haha, oh, the joys of youth. Airi dear, it’s quite alright for her to call me an old man. I’m not exactly youthful now am I?”

“Look, it’s great here and all,” Makoto whispered “but when are we gonna try the thing?”

“After we leave here. Just be patient for once.”

“Lemme see it then. I wanna check if there are other things it can do.”

As Airi was handing the Timeagotchi over to Makoto, her grandpa caught sight of it and spoke up.

“Oh, is that the gift I gave you?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Be careful with that now. Wouldn’t want to break it.”

“It’s fine, I know what I’m doing.”

“Hey, grandpa? Did anything… weird happen with this thing when you had it?”

“Weird you say? Well, there was one thing. Though, I suppose by now you’ve already figured it out.”

“What do you mean?”

“The rewind feature of course. Is that not what you’re talking about?”

“Yeah, it is. How did you know about it?”

“I tinkered with it a bit and thought I nearly broke the thing one day. I was surprised when the nurse brought me in the same meal I’d just finished an hour before. At first, I thought I was finally losing my mind, but after a few days of experimenting, I figured it out.”

“Did you ever use it for yourself, Grandpa?”

“Of course. Every Thursday, I used it so I could see my dear granddaughter again. I never knew which day would be my last, so I wanted to spend as much time with you as possible.”

“Grandpa…”

“Hey, that’s great and all, but is there anything else this thing can do that we don’t know about yet? You know, like maybe a way around the whole same-day restriction or something?”

“Well now, let me think… Nothing that I can remember. As far as I’m aware, that’s all it can really do.”

“That sucks. Guess we’ll just have to mess with it too.”

“Makoto, no. Who knows what’ll happen if you break it.”

“I too have wondered that. Perhaps something catastrophic would happen if you were to break it. Maybe you’d be doomed to repeat the same day over and over again for all of eternity. Or perhaps the same tragic fate would befall someone else. Or maybe nothing would happen. It’s hard to say really.”

“Gee, thanks for the confidence old man.”

“Don’t be mean. He’s right though, anything could happen if we broke it by accident. We need to be careful with it.”

“Now, if I recall correctly, I remember hearing mutterings of ‘trying a thing’ with it?”

“Oh, you heard that?”

Makoto seemed nervous at the thought of being heard while trying her best to whisper.

“What exactly is it you two are going to try?”

“We’re going to see if both of us can go back in time at the same time.”

“Oh, that sounds exciting.”

“Would you like to try it with us grandpa?”

“Well, I supposed it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

Airi and Makoto got closer to Airi’s Grandpa’s bed. The three all took note of the time and grabbed the Timeagotchi. Airi hit the button and a flash of light enveloped the trio. Once the light had subsided, they looked at the clock. It was a success.

“Fascinating. So multiple people can use it at the same time if they all touch it. I wonder what the limit is.” Airi’s Grandpa remarked.

“I didn’t actually think it would work! And we all made it out in one piece.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want to mutate into some freaky amalgamation if things went horribly wrong.”

“Makoto, you need to not worry so much about these things. Also stop watching so many horror movies.”

“You two act like an old married couple.”

Airi and Makoto looked at each other, both of them blushing at the statement.

“Ah, anyway, thank you both for giving me such an eventful visit today. It’s about time you two should head home for dinner, isn’t it?”

“Oh, it is getting late. Are you parents going to be worried about you being out so late Mako-chan?”

“Nah, they don’t really care when I get home, just as long as it’s before the trains stop running for the night.”

“Well, my parents are gonna start worrying soon. We should go. By grandpa, I’ll see you next week!”

“Later gramps.”

“Goodbye you two. Don’t get into too much trouble.”

On the train back home, Airi and Makoto talked about their new discovery.

“Think about it Ai-Ai. We could totally get away with anything. We’d be an unstoppable crime duo, because there’d be no crimes committed! We could have anything we want!”

“That’s just like you, thinking of all the things you could do without getting in trouble. We have to be responsible.”

“Man, you’re no fun. You’ve gotta live a little. Come on, just once?”

“No. I’m not changing my mind on that, got it?”

“Fine, fine. It was worth a shot.”

“Tomorrow is the last day of school without you. You’ll be coming back after the weekend is over.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Hey, why don’t we use our power to beat the shit out of that smug Mari?”

“Well, that is a tempting proposal.”

“Right? Right?! Think about it, we could totally get away with it too.”

“I still think we should be responsible with it, but I’ll consider it.”

“Yeah!”

As the train entered the station, Makoto and Airi said goodbye for the day and went their separate ways.