Episode 7: Back to the Back to the

Finally, The Day had come.

It was the day to triumph over all the other stupid days!

It was New Years’ Eve, 2015.

Doesn’t that line send a chill down your spine? If it doesn’t, you need psychological help.

Oh, wait. That was Mimori, she needed help. But why?

Why?

… W… h… y?

“‘Aieyaieyai~!’” Mimori sang, spinning around in her hot pink desk chair. “‘Say you love me, say you love me~!’”

That’s “why” right there. She was just all too excited for New Year’s Eve. I mean, we freaking get it! The crappy year was coming to a close! No need to invite your friends over and… oh wait.

That’s exactly what she was going to do.

Crap!

It was approximately two minutes until her stinkin’ backup band was supposed to arrive, and she was horribly, horribly ecstatic.

She’d invited her BFFs Kasumi, Tomo, Mari, and Naoko. Sadly, no Erica because she was still suffering in Michigan, the Land of All Four Seasons in One Week. (Or, at least that’s what Erica always called it. But it sounded like a great place to live in Mimori’s opinion.)

No later than sooner did that darn bell ring, signaling that one of her friends had arrived. But which one? she wondered.

Turns out, it was Kasumi! Yay!

“Glad you could make it,” Mimori said excitedly. “There’s only an hour left until it’s the New Year! Are you planning to go to the shrine? Mom and Dad and Kotori are.” (Just FYI, Kotori was the name of her younger sister.)

Kasumi smiled and nodded. “Peter is, too.” She stepped inside the house and took her shoes off, being overly polite. “Hey, can you believe it’s almost 2016? Isn’t that crazy?”

Mimori gulped. “Uh huh, it sure is.” Just the thought of another year passing by made her feel like she was about to cry, but she still wasn’t sure why…

★

The feeling of anxiety still persisted even when all her friends were there, gathered around the TV, intently watching the clock count down on the lower left of the screen to the ball dropping.

But wait— again, why wasn’t she excited?

Mimori was trying to sort it out in her mind. She was assuming that it was the contradiction of her wanting the year to be over but her wanting to go back in time simultaneously.

I’m a walking contradiction…

But, alas. That was the extent of her self-analysis, as it was time for the Big Countdown.

Gulp. It’s time.

“Five! Four!”

Mimori’s cheeks began to blush, the words she was parroting wobbling in her throat.

If only I could go back…

“Three! Two!”

No, forward! Forward! What’s in my future?!

“One! Ze—”

❤

All of a sudden, time seemed to freeze for a second. But then, in a flash, everything seemed to...

Speed up?!

“—ro! Happy New Year’s, Honey!”

And then, as if time was being controlled (well, by Mimori’s powers, no less), it once again resumed. But…. something felt horribly off.

Did someone just call her “Honey”?

Mimori felt pressure on her lips as if somebody was kissing her—and it certainly wasn’t anyone’s lips she recognized.

Mimori opened her eyes, sweating forming in her palms.

And there, right in front of her, was an unfamiliar-looking man.

The one that had just kissed her.

The one that had called her “Honey”.

“I can’t believe it’s 2026 already! Isn’t that crazy?!”

All that poor Mimori could do was stare at that man in pure, dull silence—well, as silent as she could get. (If you listened close enough, you could hear her trademark tea kettle sound.)

2026. Holy crap.

Mimori’s beautiful, beautiful probably husband stared at her confusedly. “Is something wrong, Mori-chan?” he said.

Now that she thought about it, that guy that was sitting next to her looked an awful lot like Chris from Charmed, even more from his side profile.

Say something! her mind screamed. Or risk making The Pretty worry!

“2015,” she mumbled.

Her husband turned off the kinda-TV-kinda-tablet, still looking concerned. “What’d you say?” His brows were furrowed.

Mimori perked up. “Two-thousand-fifteen,” she said again, this time more slowly, her eyes wide.

I suddenly feel like I’m gonna die from embarrassment.

The cute guy put a hand on her shoulder, also standing up. “What about it?” he wondered.

Mimori blushed profusely, still not believing what was going on.

I have to find out what’s going on here.

Then, she asked him a dumb question.

“What’s your name again?” she cocked her head to the side.

Expectedly, a new wave of worry had washed over her poor, very real, very pretty, and very lamented husband.

“It’s Andrew. Always has been. You used to call me Andy for short because you said ‘Drew’ reminded you of someone else, a celebrity or something.” Andy chuckled. “Wow, you used to talk about him all the time.”

Mimori giggled. But of course! He might as well be Drew. He even has the same intonations in his voice!

But then Mimori got serious again. Super overwhelmed, the girl (who was now a woman) froze time.

“Alright. So I ended up in the future because I wished for it right when the ball dropped. That makes sense. But my future is this?!” Mimori let out a long squeal, one that if she unfroze time would probably ring back and crack all of the windows.

“It’s too unreal. Way, way too unreal. How did I end up with a guy that looks exactly like Drew? Why does my house look so nice and grown up?!” Well, she already knew the answer to that one. It was because she was grown up now.

Something happened in Mimori’s body that made her begin to breathe raggedly.

Wh-what’s happening to me now?!

Well, it was self-explanatory—it just hadn’t happened in a while. In fact, it hadn’t happened since she was at the movie theatres with her dad when she was twelve. The time he flipped out on her because he didn’t understand.

She was having an anxiety attack.

I just gotta breathe in, breathe out… like that song I really like yet make fun of…

But I need comfort.

Mimori let a shaky breath out and unfroze time.

Andy noticed her sitting there, shaking and struggling to breathe, and put his hand on her shoulder. Mimori noticed that he didn’t seem too terribly perplexed as to why she was suddenly like that, but she assumed that it was because they had been living together for a while and he knew her schtick.

“Breathe in… breathe out…” he instructed her. Huh, I guess he knows the meme too? Nice.

After a repetition of that for a few minutes, Mimori finally calmed down.

“Good, good,” he said, smiling in a way that (admittedly) made her heart flutter.

Mimori took another deep breath in to cleanse herself once more and got up from the seat and stretched. “Ahhhh! That was so refreshing, thank you so much Boo!” I can’t believe I just called my husband that. I’ve always wanted to though, so there’s that…

“Shhh,” Andy said, finger to his lips. “Our baby’s sleeping. Wouldn’t wanna wake her.”

Once again, Mimori’s brain was on overhaul—she felt like she was going to sleep well tonight, what with all the mental gymnastics she was doing. “W-we have a baby?”

“Yeah, and her name is Rikka!” Andy said, grinning as he picked what looked like his phone, but it was extremely slim, almost like a napkin. It kinda gave her the creeps.

It then occurred to her… how far in the future was this?

She looked at the TV and saw that, in this part of the future, TVs were just as flat as the phone that Andy was holding. Nothing else, however, looked very futuristic.

How old am I? If I have a baby, I’d be a bit older, unless I had one when I was really young, which I can’t imagine because right now I have, like, no interest in sex, but yet again my sex drive probably hasn’t even kicked in yet… or will it ever?

Where did I meet Andy? Did I go to school with him? Does he know the CDAC, my friends? What about my friends?

“I’m getting a migraine,” Mimori said aloud while rubbing her temples, trying to be mindful of the volume of her voice. “Are mirrors real? Are eyes real? Ugh… tell me dreaming.”

To make sure, she pinched herself. It hurt.

Dammit.

“What’s wrong?” Andy asked her, and Mimori felt like this was going to be a running gag of sorts.

“My brian hurts,” Mimori moaned, curling up into a ball. She noted that as she did that, she felt her breasts press up against her legs, which felt really nice… and also they grew quite a bit more from when she was fifteen. Also nice!

“Then go to bed,” her husband whispered. Mimori thought that was the best option, despite a little voice in her head saying that she should return home at some point, and wrapped herself up in a blanket that he gave her and dozed off.

I’ll just attend to all these questions in the morning…

★

When Mimori opened her eyes, light from the slightly open curtains flooded into her eyes, causing her to close them again.

“Eh…?” Mimori felt immediately groggy as she rubbed her eyes. Opposite her was Andy, who was in the recliner, on his phone. A blanket was laying on his lap so she assumed that he also slept in the living room.

As if he read her mind, he looked at her and nodded. “Hey,” he said casually. “You wanna eat anything?”

Mimori stuck her tongue out. “Of course,” she added.

“Well, we’ve got cereal, Pop-Tarts—”

“Pop-Tarts!” she said quickly, then quieted her voice. “Is Rikka up?”

Andy shook his head. “Nope, still sleeping. I should wake her up soon though.”

Mimori had a feeling that he meant him considering how she was now—not her older self.

The girl got up, stretched once more, and headed into the kitchen to find some Pop-Tarts. After looking in a few cupboards, she took out a box of strawberry tarts and put them into the toaster. In the meantime, she went into the fridge and poured herself a glass of orange juice (after going through the cupboards once again to find a glass to pour it in).

“Did you eat already?” she asked her husband.

“Yeah, I had breakfast and a glass of orange juice myself,” he said, shrugging.

“Ah. Alright.”

After the Pop Tarts popped out, Mimori took a seat at the table and so did Andy, which she thought was nice.

Well, he is my husband, after all…

That word still gave her goosebumps.

After a couple peaceful minutes where Mimori could hear the birds chirping outside, who were also looking forward to the day, it was time for the girl to ask a few questions that had been brewing in her mind last night—well, earlier this morning, rather like.

“This is kinda random,” she started out, “But does the Can Do Anything Club exists in high school?”

“Oh, that’s not random at all!” Andy exclaimed, waving his hands back and forth. “At least, not to this version of you. Well, from what I remember, when you and the ninth graders graduated middle school, you left your kouhai to take over that club, while you guys made another club in high school or something.”

I could always get to know my husband more, but who cares about that for now! A nagging voice in Mimori’s head shrieked. I wanna know where my friends are in the future!

Mimori’s eyes widened. “Oh, damn. So, um… What about Kasumi, Tomo, and Mari? Are we still friends in this era?”

Andy chortled. “Of course! Kasumi’s a hairdresser—like, a mildly famous one. She does the hair of some famous YouTubers and Internet personalities and stuff. Tomo’s a professional archiver—she archives old, old stuff, but mostly film. Mari, on the other hand, is a stand-up comedian now. You actually admitted to laughing at some of her sketches, even though you hate mainstream comedy.”

“Oh, shit!” Mimori almost spit out her orange juice. “Why are they all basically successful?! What the actual fuck?!” And what does that make me? She wanted to add.

“And in case you’re wondering, Naoko, is investing in her own company right now. What it is, I can’t exactly remember, but it’s probably some lawyer stuff.”

“And Erica?”

“She’s back in America now. You guys talk about it once a week on Discord. I think she’s studying to become a doctor.”

Damn once again.

“And what about Asuka, Behami, Suika and Jopi-chan?” Mimori was impressed at her husband’s wealth of knowledge of what was basically her clubmates’ lore.

“Asuka’s been teaching at the high school for the past few months, Behami is a video game designer, Suika’s a casual streamer, and… who was that other one?”

“Jopi-chan? I don’t know her real name.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about her.”

Mimori finished off her first Pop Tart and started on the next one. Whilst she was chewing, something popped into her head.

“Josephine!” she shout-whispered. Ah, I guess I do know her name after all…

“Ah! Josephine! Yeah, her. She’s a stay-at-home mom at the moment.”

Awww, that’s actually nice. But…

“What about me?” Mimori asked, aware that she probably had puppy dog eyes as she asked that question.

Andy grinned. “You’re a writer for a website,” he said.

Mimori’s mouth dropped open, and she felt like her stomach was kind of regretting eating those Pop Tarts and drinking that orange juice.

Ohmigod. It actually came true?! My dream actually came true?!

That was when her brain started spinning.

I wanna go back. I wanna go back. I wanna go back. This is too much, it’s too much, it’s too much.

I wanna go back to… 1995!

Alright, random year it is.

❤

And bam! She was there.

Well… assumedly.

Because the destination she wished for was so vague, it looked to be at the same time—around nine or ten in the morning, but where she was at, well, that was a different story.

The scenery looked all too familiar. Her brain recognized some of the trees outside because she was just staring at them a few moments earlier… but the area she was standing in was not indoors, it was outdoors.

I guess my house isn’t built yet… makes sense.

“Ahh, right.”

Mimori then realized she was standing in the snow.

Cold, wet, freezing snow.

Well, I’m back in time now and I’m freezing, so that must mean I’m back in my original body and clothes…

Long sleeve purple t-shirt? Check.

Jeans? Check?

Bra and panties? Check.

Socks, but no shoes? Check.

Well, shit. Mimori suddenly felt like she shouldn’t put on shoes before she teleported, but then again, shoes wouldn’t stand a chance against snow, and it’s not like she would’ve known she’d teleport here anyway.

Speaking of time, I could always teleport back to the present day, but… I’d rather chill for a while—er, metaphorically speaking anyway. I’m already chilling right now, holy shit.

But where would Mimori even go? She could just knock on someone’s door, but she was too scared to do so.

Tears falling down her cheeks, Mimori curled up underneath a pinecone tree, certain that her feet were going to fall off at any second.

Mimori was thinking of singing an emo song to further enhance her situation but she was far too cold to do that.

Suddenly…

“Hey, you!” a voice yelled about a few feet away from her. “Need a place to stay?!”

Mimori’s body perked up, hoping she could have a nice place to stay for a bit while she dried off and hopefully warmed up.

And then I’ll go back home…

Mimori tried her best to get up from the snowy ground, but was luckily helped by the woman that yelled at her—a woman in her mid-thirties who, the time traveler girl had to mention, was super mid-nineties looking.

“I opened up my blinds and I saw you sitting under this tree! I feel so bad for you, would you like to come inside for a while?”

Mimori nodded slowly, a pained smile on her face.

★

Mimori got to take a nice, warm shower and got to change into nice, not cold, and wet clothes. She was now laying on the couch while the woman (whose name was Mrs. Shiraishi) was having a smoke.

If only she wasn’t doing that… then this situation would be perfect. Oh, and if she was a cute dude.

“So what’s your name, honey?” Mrs. Shiraishi asked. “And where are your parents?”

Mimori fidgeted under the woman’s big (well, for her) t-shirt. “M-my name is Mimori Hamasaki, and I know this is gonna sound stupid, but I’m from the future.”

The woman chuckled, then quieted herself down. “Very funny,” she muttered. “Well, you’re too innocent-looking to do any drugs, even the tame ones, so I’m assuming you’re just bluffing because you’re too ashamed to talk about your actual situation.”

Mimori blushed heavily. “Ah, um, sure.” A growing feeling welled up inside of her that this woman was very blunt, even more than she was.

I know I just got here, but I wanna go home.

Even the desire to watch old MTV wasn’t enough to make her want to stay any longer.

The dryer sounded, and Mrs. Shiraishi stood up, but Mimori did so faster than her.

“I’ll get them!” she chirped and dashed off to the room where she knew they were. When she got into the mudroom, where the washer and dryer were, she took her clothes out and ran into the bathroom. There, she took off the ones she had on and put on her old ones, which were still incredibly warm, but yet again that was better than them being cold and wet.

Closing her eyes, Mimori thought of the present day, January 1st, 2016, and was gone.

❤

When Mimori got back she ended up teleporting back when it was morning, but she didn’t mind. At this point, whenever she disappeared from Current Time, her friends always assumed she was going on an adventure anyway.

After yawning, Mimori looked around and saw that all of her friends were still sleeping, except for…

Kasumi-chan?

Mimori’s heart skipped a beat until she heard the running of the shower from a distance away.

Stealthily, Mimori tip-toed out of the room, hoping that her parents didn’t see her, and went straight to the bathroom (once again, huh?).

Right as she closed the door to it, she could hear her friend gasp.

“Mimo-chan! Can’t you at least knock first!?” she shrieked. “Pervert!”

Mimori decided to ignore that insult. “So did you guys miss me? I gotta know.”

Kasumi shrugged as she turned the water off. “I mean, I guess? We were all really tired so we just assumed you were going on an adventure for a while and then we all went to bed.” She reached for the nearest towel to wrap herself up in, then stepped out onto the floor towel. She noticed that her friend’s chest was flat at the moment.

“Ah, okay.” Mimori blinked.

“Thank god your family was sleeping over at their friend’s house, otherwise you would’ve been in big trouble.”

Mimori breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, too true. Guess my life is just a big coincidence.”

Kasumi chortled, then straightened her mouth. “I’m gonna dry off and get dressed now,” she warned. Mimori turned to face the door at her cue.

“Where did you go, though?” she wondered.

Mimori gulped, and her face felt warm. “Well, um, I traveled to the future by accident and met my future husband.”

“Oh?”

“And then I, um, went to the past, to the mid-nineties. And then I left because the woman was kinda mean.”

“Um, okay. Was that it…?”

Mimori decided not to tell her about the part where she was in the middle of the snow, wearing just her lounge clothes and socks. “Yup.”

“Damn. I was gonna say that was lame, but it actually wasn’t. Good job, Mimo-chan.”

★

After a deliciously hearty meal of pancakes and sausages (that they had when Mimori’s parents and sister came back), the group decided to visit the local shrine, as they did every year.

“You look good Mari-chan,” Naoko said, blushing slightly.

“Don’t I? I look simply divine!” Mari responded in her over-the-top posh woman voice.

All the girls arrived there in kimonos that they packed, which were also colored-coded in their respective good colors. (It was like a huge inside joke with them now.)

As the girls were standing in line to pray, Mimori decided to make conversation.

“So, what are you guys gonna pray for?”

Tomo put a finger to her chin. “Slightly unrelated, but I wish Erica-chan was here,”

“Same,” added Kasumi.

“I’m glad she’s not here for a change,” Naoko chided in her monotone voice. “We don’t get to be bossed around by anyone. One sin subtracted.”

The girls laughed, and Mimori was getting tears in her eyes.

Never before have I been so glad to be in the present time…

And so began a new year for the Can Do Anything Club girls, whether they liked it or not.