Chapter Text
Day 2, Night
The first thing Takumi felt was rough carpet. He pushed himself to his feet.
“I… I’m back…?”
He glanced at his limbs. They were all in the right places.
“Ngh…!”
He collapsed to the floor again. This phenomenon- they called it “phantom pain”. It tore uncontrollably through his nerves, a burning, singing pain…
And then, it stopped.
“Oh, right.” Takumi forced himself to his feet and looked at his reflection in the mirror. “It’s Day 2 again.”
It was a strange feeling. He usually wasn’t conscious of the time loops on the night of Day 2. This time, he was. The Takumi staring back at him in the mirror had the fresh face of a man who’d only recently been ripped out of his old reality- but the mind behind it…
Takumi remembered the ending of the last timeloop. It had ended painfully- so, so painfully. His entire body had been ripped apart by an explosion that vaporized him and all of his friends at once- all of them, right in front of him. He wanted to collapse on the ground and cry- it had all been for nothing, yet again. Now, he had to put up with 100 more days of hell.
Hiruko’s face was fresh in his mind. He remembered her smile, filled with confidence and hope, from the SF timeline. “I have a good feeling about this timeline,” she said.
How many more times would she say that to him? How many more times would she be wrong? Could his heart bear that- the pain of her being wrong again?
Dammit.
He pulled himself to his feet and stumbled out of his room- his hab on the roof, so familiar but so foreign. The night air was cold- the chill soothed his pain, if even a little bit.
I don’t know what to do… about any of it…!
His mind traveled through the possibilities he’d uncovered, before he suddenly arrived on one. It was the book- the book he’d never had the chance to read himself. There was only one person he knew through the timelines who’d gotten their hands on that book, and he was-!
“Is that… the moon?”
Takumi felt a familiar presence behind him- burning, pulsing, warm. He turned around.
A familiar boy, his body made of purple flames, stood in front of his hab. Takumi stared at him in silence.
“You…” The boy’s eyes widened. “Can you… hear me…?”
Takumi could, of course, but he wasn’t sure how to respond.
They only stared at each other before suddenly, the boy took a step forward, holding his hand out.
No! I can’t! There’s no time!
Takumi shouted and ran- ran all the way downstairs. He’d already wasted too much time here. For all he knew, SIREI could be dead by now, again…!
He only realized during his detour to the War Room, after shoving his Infuser into his chest, that he hadn’t given a proper reply to the Undying Flame boy. In other words, like the first timeline, he probably thought they couldn’t communicate. He cursed himself for it as he barreled down the stairs, before throwing open the doors to the Gym.
“Takumi…?!”
The familiar sight of SIREI’s back facing towards Eito, who held his weapon behind him. The familiar expression of surprise.
SIREI turned his body towards Takumi. “Huh? Sumino?!”
“What are you doing here?” The same reaction as always- the same reaction he remembered.
Takumi gave a sigh of relief. He hadn’t been too late this time.
He breathed in and out as he tried to formulate a plan. Only a few seconds- only a few seconds was all he had- for a chance to talk with Eito for longer-
“Um, I’d like to train with you, if that’s fine.” Takumi gave an innocent smile, trying to hide his exhaustion. “I overheard Eito would be training with you tonight, SIREI. Honestly, I’m not feeling too confident about my skills either, so I wanted to join in.”
Eito stared dumbfoundedly at Takumi, who offered a sheepish grin in return.
But then, he smiled. His kind smile, the one Takumi had come to recognize as anything but genuine.
“Of course you can join us, Takumi!” He held his hand out, still keeping the scythe behind his back. “I’d love to learn from you!”
“Sure, why not?” SIREI held his arms out in a mock shrug. “I was prepared for a one-on-one, but a bit of friendly competition won’t hurt anyone, right? Just keep things civil. Don’t want to have to detonate anyone’s bomb, after all!”
“Sounds good.” Takumi nodded.
…
“HAAH-!”
“HIYAH-!”
SIREI had set up Invader-shaped training dummies for Takumi and Eito. They took turns swinging at them, covering them in slices. SIREI watched them both, offering comments on their technique.
“Sumino, perfect form! Just avoid the run-and-gun. Stop, head lock, swing. Just like that!”
“Aotsuki, excellent rhythm! Get some practice with hand-eye coordination! Nice work!”
Their training went like that for another couple of hours before both of them collapsed in exhaustion. Takumi held his hand over his heart, feeling the empty hole where a ribcage should have been. Eito, too, was bent over, his face covered in sweat.
More importantly, between swings, Takumi had figured out his next steps. Already, the history of the future past had changed. This Eito would neither be incarcerated nor reduced to a husk. Instead, he’d be wandering free within the school, with no one the wiser as to his true nature. Furthermore, while Takumi was never quite sure how Eito had requested for SIREI’s training, he was sure he’d done it in private. There was simply no way Takumi should have been able to know about it. And given the reasons Eito targeted Takumi in his first timeline, there was no way he wasn’t on his radar now.
At some point, Eito would approach him- and then, Takumi would hit him with the truth and make a demand. As for a reward for helping him, he already had one in mind. One Eito wouldn’t refuse.
“Nice work, you two!” SIREI clapped as the two boys turned to face him. “You’re practically seasoned warriors already!”
“It was nothing.” Eito beamed, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “Just now, I felt a surge in my hemoanima- it gave me the confidence I needed to take this on! Thank you for your help, sir!”
“No problem!” SIREI flashed him a thumbs-up. “I hope Sumino learned something from you too. Education is a two-way street, after all! Okay, head back, you two- make sure you get some rest for tomorrow.”
“One more thing.” Takumi stopped him. “About the higher-ups…”
“Er…” SIREI suddenly flashed a nervous expression.
“I mean,” Takumi said, “I’m just curious if you have clearance to tell us or not.”
“Oh.” SIREI nodded. “Well, I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you boys. I got permission. You’ll all hear the truth from me tomorrow at breakfast. Okay, now get some rest before tomorrow! That’s an order!” He sped away.
Takumi gave a sigh of relief as he turned to Eito, who watched SIREI recede with a hint of concern on his face.
“Ready to head back?” Takumi asked. He held his hand out- Eito’s clapped against his in a lazy high-five.
“I am.” Eito’s voice sounded as normal as ever. “You’re a really strong guy, Takumi. Are you excited to hear about the truth tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I am.” Takumi wiped the sweat off his neck with his glove. Of course, he’d already heard the truth. But this would be his first time seeing Eito’s reaction to the truth, told in front of everyone there as it should have been.
The two climbed up the stairs to the roof in near silence after dispelling their hemoanima. Once they were up on the roof, Eito stretched his arms out and took in a deep breath of cold, night air, staring out over the edge of the roof.
Takumi took the opportunity to sprint back to his hab and open the door. “Good night!” he shouted, before closing the door. After a few seconds of contemplation, he locked it. And then, after a few more, he moved his trash cans in front of it. No way a murderous, humanity-hating serial killer would get to him with those in the way.
Then, he collapsed into bed.
“Tomorrow,” he muttered, “I’m going to get the truth out of him. And then, just 97 more days, and I’ll be done with it forever.”
Of course, Takumi mused to himself, there were a hundred ways things could go wrong. But as long as it brought him closer to the end of eternity, he wouldn’t complain.
“Good night!”
Eito’s head whipped around when he heard Takumi’s shout. Then, he heard the sound of his hab’s door slamming shut. And a few seconds later, he heard the lock click.
Eito gave an exasperated sigh as he strolled back to his hab.
It was supposed to be an easy kill. First, SIREI was clearly the linchpin holding together this mission’s relationship to the fate of humanity. If he was destroyed, the group (who he was almost certain had none of the same inclinations he did) would be in disarray. SIREI also said that if the school fell before Day 100, and if the item behind the Defense Room doors was obtained by the enemy, humanity would perish. Their group was the last line of defense keeping it safe. In other words, destroying the last line of defense would doom humanity.
It was supposed to be easy. With the death of the leader, the subordinates, none of which clearly had any interest in war, would be easy prey. He could go after their food supplies or destroy their vital infrastructure. Humanity would perish after that- whether with a bang or a whimper, he didn’t care which.
But at the last moment, that hideous, tomato-red creature had kicked in the doors with a stupid, innocent smile on his face-
Eito entered his own room before locking it shut with violent force.
How did he find out, anyway?
Eito had already figured out that the rooms were mostly soundproof. While in his room, in the late afternoon, he called out for SIREI, and watched him appear. Then, he asked for a private training session. SIREI was only too happy to oblige- anything to get more warriors on the field. Unless Takumi had somehow snuck into his room (and Takumi wasn’t bright enough to do that) there was no way he should have known.
Takumi knew it too. That’s why he locked himself inside his room just now. Clearly, whatever it was, he didn’t want to give Eito a chance at knowing.
It’s okay. He tried to remind himself of that. It’s okay. It’s not the end. There are still 98 days until the end of your stay here. You can always try again tomorrow.
His mind drifted back to Takumi.
Maybe I’m assuming too much. Maybe I was just unlucky today. But if he’s going to be a thorn in my side…
In the darkness of the Defense Room, the figure of a newborn baby was illuminated by a golden glow. SIREI wandered up to it.
“Hey, son,” he said, “are you awake?”
A voice, radiating from the machine that held the baby, answered him back. “Yes, I’m awake.”
“Sorry I couldn’t check in. One of the soldiers wanted an impromptu training session, and wouldn’t you believe it, another one overheard and showed up too!” SIREI laughed. “It went well. They’re diligent kids- practically best friends already. For what it’s worth, I think you’ll be in good hands.”
“I’m glad.” The voice sounded happy. “I would have loved to meet them both.”
“You know you can’t risk leaving the Defense Room.” SIREI sighed. “Listen, I know it’s hard. I really do. But your task is to fill up the missiles with your Undying Flames. Do that- launch the final attack on time- and you’ll save humanity. All of humanity.” His voice dropped. “Including the kids who are here, risking their lives to protect you.”
“I see.”
“Tomorrow,” SIREI said, “I’ll tell them about you. I know they’ll want to meet you. They’re a friendly bunch, after all. I have no doubt they’ll get along well. Unfortunately, it’s not to be. I know you’d love to fight, train, and laugh together, like Sumino and Aotsuki did just now. But it just wasn’t in the cards.”
“I understand.” The voice grew downcast.
“For what it’s worth, Shion,” SIREI said, “I really am sorry. But I’m sure they won’t forget you. They’ll carry on your memory. So please, won’t you make it happen? Make sure the final attack fires, and humanity can have a fresh start?”
The voice was quiet for a long time before it finally returned. “Of course I will, SIREI. And… I’ll do it for you too. So please don’t worry.”
“You’re too kind, son.”
“But I do have one more question… ”
“What is it?”
“Who in the world is Shion?”
“Er…! Don’t worry about it!” SIREI waved his arms in a panic. “I-I’ll be going now. Good night!”
Day 3, Morning
ding-dong bing-bong
Takumi’s eyes peeled open.
“Up and at ‘em, troops! Time to rise and shine! Get ready for your third day of active service here at Last Defense Academy! Prepare to spend another day enduring the unendurable and suffering the insufferable to pave the way for humanity’s future greatness! Be ready to give your lives to protect our beloved school from the vile and barbaric enemy!”
Another day. He pulled himself out of bed.
Things were already completely different from any timeline he’d endured before. At least this time, he wasn’t going in totally blind. Still, he thought to himself, it would be nice to see everyone again. It was… maybe the only good part of having gone through so many failed timelines. The fact that he could always see them again.
With those thoughts in mind, he made his way downstairs, ready to greet his friends.