Chapter 8: First Time

Makoto woke up from a restless night of sleep. She couldn’t help but be excited for her trip to the beach with Airi that day. The temperature that day wasn’t terrible either. Not cold, but not hot either. A nice comfortable temperature with an occasional breeze.

Airi was just the same as Makoto. She hadn’t gotten much sleep in anticipation for their upcoming outing, and had spent most of the night thinking about which swimsuit she was going to wear.

Airi and Makoto met up at the station near the beach.

“You’re ten minutes late Makoto. You better have a good excuse for this.”

“Nope. I’ve got nothing. Sorry Ai-Ai.”

“Well, at least you showed up. That’s all that matters. Come on, let’s go get changed.”

The two went into the changing area together, a bit awkwardly.

“Uh, so, are we gonna like, look at each other?” Makoto asked nervously.

“Well, I don’t see why not. We’re both girls, and besides, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Airi and Makoto both got changed quickly into their swimsuits. Airi wore a red two piece with frills, matching the color of her hair. Makoto wore a black two piece that had material forming an x around her waist.

“Woah, cool tan lines!”

“Really? I wouldn’t really call them cool, but thanks I guess.”

The two continued talking as they left the room.

“You’ve got some awesome abs too. How often do you work out?”

“Every day when I get the chance. I don’t do much though, just some sit-ups and push-ups.”

As Airi admired Makoto’s features, something caught her eye.

“Hey, what’s that?”

“Oh, this?” Makoto said, pointing to a large mark in the area between her chest and abs. “It’s a scar. Got it in a rough fight about a year ago.”

“Did it hurt? I mean, what happened during the fight?”

“Some local punks caught me while I was out late one night and we sort of got into a knife fight. Obviously I made it out in one piece, but I got this as a result. Bastard sliced right through my favorite shirt too.”

“Oh, so that’s why you have that one shirt with holes cut in it. But wait, if the shirt has multiple holes, why do you only have one scar?”

“I cut the other holes myself to make it look intentional.”

“Wow, so you can be smart sometimes.” Airi said, teasing her companion.

“H-hey, what’s that supposed to mean? Just because you get better grades than me doesn’t mean I’m dumber than you.”

“Well, which one of us is always getting into fights?”

“That has nothing to do with my intelligence, it’s my emotions that make me do that.”

“I know, I’m just messing with you. You’re so cute when you get defensive.”

“No I’m not.” Makoto said pouting, clearly playing up how upset she was.

“See? I told you.”

“Whatever, let’s have some fun.”

“How? Most of the food places are closed this time of year, and there aren’t a whole lot of people here. If we came earlier in the year, there’d be people everywhere and no shortage of entertainment.”

“Well,” Makoto said while reaching into a small bag she brought with her “I brought these!”

Makoto presented a pair of large water guns.

“Alright, you’re so on! I’ve been practicing my aim at the arcades recently, so you’d better be ready, Mako-chan!”

“Don’t get cocky kid. First one to get hit has to buy lunch.”

“Deal. Let’s do this!”

The pair ran towards the water and filled their guns as quickly as possible. They then ran around trying to shoot each other.

Airi viewed herself as the protagonist of a video game, making dramatic dodges to avoid getting hit.

Makoto acted like a badass movie character, holding her gun at strange angles in an attempt to look cooler.

“You know, for someone who doesn’t get out much, you sure are fast Airi.”

“You’re pretty fast yourself. I guess you do have an advantage though since you work out regularly.”

“Got that right. I wasn’t just born with these muscles, I earned them.”

“Impressive, but let’s see how far just muscle alone gets you.”

Airi and Makoto ran between buildings, not disturbing anyone since they were all closed for the season. Makoto rushed in head first without a second thought. Airi however was more tactical, choosing to climb up high and hide, waiting for Makoto to come to her.

After what felt like hours, Makoto turned the corner of one of the buildings and was blasted from above.

“What the hell?!”

“I win! You’re paying for lunch.” Airi said as she slid down the roof.

“Hey, that’s cheating!”

“We never had any rules against climbing. All we said was the first person to get hit buys lunch, and you were the first one to get hit.”

Makoto aimed the water gun directly at Airi and let loose.

“Hey! Not cool.”

“Well I wanted to have some fun too.”

“Fine, let’s head back to the water. My tank is empty.”

“Race you there.”

“I hurt my leg a bit getting off of the roof, I don’t want to risk damaging it even more by running.”

“Alright then.” Makoto grabbed Airi in a bridal carrying position and started walking. “Let’s go, princess. Can’t have you getting hurt.”

“This is so embarrassing. But thank you.”

“Any time, Ai-Ai.”

Makoto carried Airi all the way back to the water. The two refilled their water guns and unloaded them on each other. After about an hour of doing so, they went back to a pair of towels they had laid out earlier and rested.

“Hey, Airi. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Why do you use it?”

“Use what?”

“The Timeagotchi. What do you use it for?”

“Well, you pretty much know everything I’ve used it for. If something bad happens, I go back and make sure it doesn’t happen at all. Why do you ask?”

“I dunno, don’t you think that like, maybe you could use it for something else”?

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you use it to stop bad things from happening, but bad things will always happen. Why not use it to re-experience good things instead? You know, like your gramps did.”

“I’d thought about it before, but only briefly.”

“Well, I think it’d be nice to just be able to have a good time all over again, don’t you?”

“Yeah, it sounds nice. Why mention it though?”

“I just, I want to spend more time with you.”

“Where’s this coming from all of the sudden?”

“To be honest, I’m worried about not being able to spend more time with you. I had a nightmare the other night with a horrible thing telling me I was supposed to be dead. It’s true, I should be, but I’m not. It made me realize that I could die at any moment, and I’d regret it if I didn’t spend more time with you before that happens.”

“Makoto…”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, really. I realized that life’s too short to not have some fun, and you gave me a second chance at life to figure that out. It’d be rude of me to not repay the favor someday.”

“Hey, don’t mention it. I did what anyone would have in my weird situation. All that matters is that you’re here with me now.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s live our lives together.”

“Alright. Well, I’m hungry and somebody owes me lunch.”

“Man Airi, you really know how to break the tension. Alright then, let’s go get changed and head somewhere for lunch.”

The two walked back with their things, Airi holding onto Makoto’s arm, partially because her leg still hurt, partially because she wanted the warmth and closeness.

After getting changed, the two took a train to Shibuya and went to a nice little place for lunch.

“Man, this place is so boring.”

“Well, I chose to eat here because you have to pay, and I don’t want you to go broke buying me lunch.”

“I guess. Well, since I’m paying you’d better enjoy it.”

“Of course I will. I’m not so picky that I’d despise eating some place like this. Besides, like I said, I was the one who decided to eat here. Why would I ask to eat somewhere if I hated it?”

“True. Anyway, school starts again tomorrow. I’m gonna miss my time off. Maybe I’ll deck Mari in the face again to get another week off.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Maybe.”

“Cut it out Mako-chan, that’s not nice. I mean, I’d love to punch her too, but you know we can’t do that.”

“Or can we? What if we use the-”

“No.” Airi said, cutting her off. “We’re not using it for something petty like that.”

“Alright, fine. Anyway, I had a nice time at the beach today. I don’t usually like going and getting covered in sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. But, having you there made it a more tolerable experience.”

“Well I’m glad you had fun. Admittedly though, I just used it as an excuse to see you in a bikini.”

“At least you’re honest about it. I don’t really mind.”

“I mean, come on. Those abs, the tan lines, it’s enough to make anybody jealous.”

“Good to have somebody take notice. I put a lot of effort into how I look. It’s something I’m proud of.”

“You should be. That kind of body is killer.”

At that moment, their order number was called. Makoto got up to get their food, leaving Airi behind to daydream.

“Man, this food is so unhealthy, but it tastes so good.”

“Since when were you concerned about health, Airi?”

“I’m not, it’s just something that I think about every now and then.”

“Well, maybe you could come work out with me some time.”

“Let’s see… Seeing you in shorts and a sports bra glistening with sweat. Yeah, sign me up.”

“You’re such a little weirdo, you know that?”

“I am not. I just appreciate the work of art that is your body. It’s like it was chiseled by the gods themselves.”

“Airi, you’re a degenerate. Not like I care though. I like the praise. Keep the compliments coming my way, you perv.”

“Oh come on, you don’t need to call me out like that.”

“You know I’m just teasing you. Anyway, eat before it gets cold.”

The pair continued to chat while they ate. Before they left, Makoto came up with an idea.

“Hey, Ai-Ai. Lemme see the thing.”

“Alright, here. What’s up?”

“Grab my hand.”

Airi grabbed Makoto’s hand and a flash of white engulfed the two girls. When the world came back into view, they were back in the station at the beach.

“Ok, so we’re back here, but why?”

“Remember how I said I wanted to spend more time with you, and how you should use the Timeagotchi to experience the good times again?”

“So you brought us back to earlier in the day so we could hang out longer.”

“Exactly. But uh, I don’t really feel like doing the whole beach thing again. Maybe if it was the busy season, sure, but there’s nothing really to do right now.”

“How about we go to the arcade instead?”

“We always go to the arcade though.”

“Then let’s go on a date.”

“Isn’t that what we already did today?”

“Well,” Airi thought for a moment, “technically we haven’t done that today, so we’d be going on a date for the first time.”

“You’ve got me there. Alright then, what should we do?”

“Oh, let’s go to the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto.”

“Why there of all places?”

“I really want to see all of the beautiful torii gates.”

“Isn’t there a walking path through them too?”

“Yeah, but I heard it can take a couple hours to get through it all. I don’t really want to walk the entire time.”

“That’s fine, I’ll carry you, my princess.”

“There’s no reason to call me that, but I’ll take you up on that offer. To Kyoto we go!”

The pair set out for Kyoto and made their way to the famous Fushimi Inari shrine. Airi walked for about ten minutes before Makoto had to start carrying her, which she did by carrying Airi on her back. Airi continued to marvel at the sights while also being impressed by Makoto’s strength.

The two were happy to experience such a magical time together.

“Hey, Mako-chan?”

“What’s up?”

“Don’t think I forgot about you still owing me lunch.”

“What?! But I already bought you lunch.”

“Yeah, but we went back in time, so you still technically haven’t bought me lunch yet.”

“You sneaky little… Hey wait a minute, I don’t owe you anything.”

“Oh yeah? Why not?”

“Since we went back in time, we technically never made a bet, and you technically never shot me with the water gun.”

“Aw man, alright fine, you win.”

“Besides, can’t you ever think about anything other than food, Airi?”

“Well I can, but what fun would that be?”

“To each their own I guess.”

The two continued on the path, experiencing all of the wondrous sights and sounds the trail had to offer.