Chapter Text
“Are you done yet?”
Teru stared at Akane, the front of his jacket bunched up tightly in Akane’s fist. His eyes flashed with rage and his teeth grinding together so hard that Teru could almost hear it. Teru swallowed the blood pooling in the back of his mouth, not wanting to spit it out and let Akane feel the satisfaction of seeing him like that. As soon as he stepped foot into the far shore, he had been dreading what would come after. Of course, he knew it wouldn’t be easy, but there was no way he could have expected it to end like this.
Akane shoved him against the wall, but it wasn’t the same strength he normally had. Teru had watched Akane fight before, and he was by no means weak even as a human. And yet now, his force was a fraction of what it once was. It was a mere spark, a dying ember rather than a raging inferno that threatened to scorch everything in its path with its anger.
Teru recovered quickly, correcting his balance within seconds. He had grown up fighting much stronger supernaturals that truly did want to hurt him. This was nothing compared to that. He followed behind, not even having to jog in order to keep up with Akane. The journey must have taken a lot more out of him than he realized.
“What are you going to do?” He already knew what the answer would be, but he wanted to hear it from Akane himself.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Akane only spared a passing glance back to Teru before speeding up his pace as fast as he could. His whole body ached, but he refused to slow down now. His senses had all sharpened to a razor point, a focus fighting its way through the cloudiness. He could feel everything; the gusts of warm, stale air on his skin, the heaviness of his footsteps as they resounded in his ears, everything. He had to keep going while he still could before it all muddled together.
“I’m going back to where Ao-chan is,” Akane forced himself to say through gritted teeth.
He could feel his wound reopen under the bandages. Aoi had warned him not to exert himself too much, but he hadn’t listened, and now he would pay for it. His hand came away from his chest covered in his own blood, but that wouldn’t stop him. He just needed to keep going for a little bit longer. One foot in front of the other no matter how much it hurt and how much he wanted to stop.
“I’m sure I can still make it on time.”
As soon as Akane got the sentence out, he lost his footing and tumbled to the floor, just barely managing to land on his arm instead of on his face. He coughed roughly, trying to expel the blood that had bubbled up in the back of his throat.
Teru was beside him in an instant, grabbing Akane’s arm as he still tried to crawl forward. “Aoi…”
“Let go!” Akane screamed at him, his voice breaking off into a hoarse whisper at the end. He tried his hardest to wrench his arm away from Teru’s grip, but it was no use.
“It’s no use,” Teru said. It was just a calm statement of fact… So why did it feel so much like an accusation? Like blame?
“As if I could ever leave her in a place like that!”
Thoughts of Aoi trapped all alone in the far shore flooded into Akane’s mind. Would she think that he had abandoned her? Maybe he had… but it wasn’t on purpose! He just had to get back to her, and everything would be alright. All the pain would be worth it if he could just make it back in time, if he could just see Aoi for one last time to say goodbye properly…
“I have to hurry!” Akane crawled forward, cringing at the sound of blood, his blood, hitting the floor.
Teru stared at him, anger overcoming him all at once. It was just so like Akane to do that, to ignore all common sense and logic when it came to Aoi. Of course, he would throw his own life away just for her. He wondered bitterly if Akane had ever even imagined what his life could have been like without devoting it to Aoi? All of the things he could have done, the person he could have become, the things he had given up on because it didn’t suit Aoi’s needs. Maybe he didn’t. Even now, maybe the thought had never crossed his mind. Maybe he would remain a willing victim in a gilded cage of his own creation to the end.
His mind and senses were both completely clouded by fury as he grabbed the front of Akane’s jacket, pulled him upwards harshly, and slammed him back down onto the floor. He wasn’t sure why he was so angry, why the thought of Akane throwing his life away had bothered him so much, but all he knew in that moment was that he was seeing red.
Akane curled in on himself, coughing and sputtering with an awful choking noise. “What are you doing?”
Teru’s gaze focused on his blood-smeared fist. The sight of it was sobering, pulling him back down to Earth. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Regret crashed down upon him in waves, each one stronger than the last. Why had he done that? Was hurting people really all that he was capable of?
“Just what do you think you can do with that dying body?” Teru kneeled beside Akane and offered his hand to him. “Besides, the passage we used to return here has already closed. Going back there is impossible.”
“Shut…! Shut up!” was the only thing Akane could yell at Teru as the truth finally seemed to set in on him all at once. He grabbed Teru’s arm and held onto it painfully tight like it was his only lifeline holding him together still. “Why did you bring only me back?”
The desperation and anguish in Akane’s voice wasn’t lost on Teru. Despite what anyone might have thought, he wasn’t emotionless and was far from perfect. He, too, had wanted to save Aoi. She was his classmate, and he took her loss as a personal failure on his part. He hadn’t been there to protect her or protect Akane either for that matter.
Of course, he wanted to help her in any way he could, but he had to be realistic too. Aoi had no longer been one of the living the second she fell into the far shore. Akane would have shared the same fate if he hadn’t been part supernatural. When he arrived in the far shore himself, having to forcibly drag open a boundary and connect it to where they were, he had one person dead and the other dying (albeit slowly). He did the best with the short amount of time and the limited resources he had. He had managed to save Akane’s life even if it was against his will.
He would never regret the decision to save Akane. Even if Akane hated him for it.
Something glimmered in the corner of Teru’s eye and his vision snapped to that instead. A grotesque looking monster had manifested in front of them. The creature wailed, its appendages trying to grab for whatever it could. Teru acted quickly, placing his hand on top of Akane’s head and pushing him further down onto the floor gently. He adjusted his position so that Akane would be shielded from the monster and grabbed his sword with his free hand.
“Aoi. Stay right there.”
Teru stood abruptly, his sword already drawn in front of him. Lightning sparked around the blade and he could practically feel the electricity in the air.
“Come on,” he baited the creature, wanting it to focus mainly on him rather than on Akane who would be a much easier target. Thankfully, his ploy worked and one of the creature’s mouths lunged for him.
He ducked out of the way just in time to avoid the creature sinking its teeth into his arm. It surged forward again, not even giving him a second of respite before trying to attack once more. Viscous spit dribbled down from its gaping maw and it looked as if it would attempt to strike again when…
The creature froze mid-lunge. Teru froze in place too, staring in confusion and then horror as the beast began to fracture into pieces of glass. The cracking noises continued as more and more pieces chipped off of the supernatural, progressively getting louder and louder. Teru quickly slid backwards as the monster shattered into a rain of broken glass. He managed to catch one of the stray fragments that had fallen near him and he studied it intently for a few moments before it disappeared into thin air.
Suddenly, the air he was breathing in felt like ash filling his lungs.
Teru knew what this was.
He had always known it was a possibility, but never did he expect it to come to fruition. All he could do was stare at the place where the monster he had just been fighting was a few moments ago, completely at a loss for words.
Akane struggled to sit up, having to lean on his forearm for balance. “President…?”
Teru couldn’t stay in that dumbfounded state for long; he had to act quickly. Akane would be fine as long as he was in his supernatural form, but without any of the supernaturals left… Akane would die.
He had hated that Akane was a supernatural for so long. It gave way to too many uncomfortable thoughts. It made him question too much about the way he had been raised for so long. Yes, he hated anything supernatural, and yet… He was just so glad Akane was alive that he didn’t care if it was just because of that form.
There wasn’t any more time left to think about that though. He grabbed the back of Akane’s shirt and began dragging him down the hallway.
“Oi, what was that?” Akane asked.
“Get up, Aoi. We need to treat that injury quickly. Let’s go meet the Clock Keepers.”
Akane stared blankly at Teru. He knew from personal experience just how much Teru hated and distrusted supernaturals. Teru had been lenient with Akane in the past because he was still human but…. He still couldn’t imagine Teru ever going to a full supernatural for help unless the circumstances were absolutely dire. His head hurt and he was so confused.
“It seems we’re out of time.”
Well, that was certainly ominous.
Akane forced himself up to his feet once more and walked alongside Teru, mostly because he was tired of being dragged. “What’s going on?”
Teru didn’t answer, just holding on tighter to the sword at his side.
“President?” he prodded again, more hesitant this time. He knew it couldn’t have been anything good if it left Teru of all people speechless. He wasn’t quite sure if he could really take any more bad news at that moment either.
“It’s the severance,” Teru said, nudging Akane to hurry up, “We don’t have much time left. We need to get to the Clock Keeper’s boundary quickly.”
“You say that like I’m supposed to know what that means…”
“I’ll explain everything later when I have the time! Just focus right now,” Teru snapped at him.
Akane was far too stunned to be offended. Never in their years of knowing each other had he seen Teru lose his cool like that. He kept walking in silence, not wanting to agitate the other boy further, as they got closer and closer to the Headmaster’s office where the entry to the boundary was. The Clock Keeper’s boundary was well hidden and only people who already had prior knowledge of its location would be able to find it.
When they reached the second floor, Akane froze. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He could feel his supernatural form begin to fade away, but he hadn’t done anything to trigger it. He glanced down to his arm where his jacket sleeve was starting to disappear and he could just barely make out his school uniform underneath. He must have let out some sort of gasp because Teru turned around instantly. He only looked at him for a second before turning back around and beginning to run, still holding onto Akane’s arm.
What little strength Akane had left began to ebb away. He had barely been able to keep up with Teru’s pace before, but now it was nearly impossible. Black spots began to form at the edge of his vision, threatening to overtake him completely.
“Talk to me, Aoi,” Teru said, but it came out more like a command, “I need to know that you’re still awake.”
“She saw me in that form…”
“Who did?”
“Ao-chan…,” Akane said, swaying unsteadily, “I couldn’t understand why at the time but- I just- How could I have not put two and two together? How could I not save her?”
“She wasn’t supposed to die. There would have been signs.” Teru isn’t sure whether the reminder is for Akane’s sake or his own. Maybe it doesn’t matter.
“Then why…?”
Akane leaned forward, almost falling onto Teru from behind. The fuzziness in his mind had taken over. “...’m tired.”
Teru squeezed Akane’s wrist, hoping that maybe the pain would bring him some clarity through the haze again. “Keep going, Aoi. Don’t fall asleep, or I’ll make you walk on your own. I don’t care if you can barely stand; I’ll make you walk alone.”
“I’m sorry, Ao-chan,” Akane said, and his body went limp. He was far too tired to keep going.
Teru caught him before he fell and guided him down to the floor gently. Maybe this was always inevitable. What had Teru expected to happen really? He knew there was no way their relationship would end in anything other than tragedy. Perhaps it was all just a matter of time…
But he thought that he would have just a little bit more time. More time to hear Akane’s laugh, to watch him as he planned his confessions, to just be with him.
No, he couldn’t just let things end like this. He wouldn’t let Akane get the last laugh by leaving forever. He grabbed Akane’s arm and slung it over his shoulder, bearing most of his weight like a soldier carrying a comrade off of the battlefield. They were almost there! Akane would just have to hold on a little bit longer.
Teru rushed towards the room as soon as it came into view. He laid Akane down in the headmaster’s chair before turning to the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. He still remembered exactly what Akane had told him to do to enter all those years ago. Carefully, he slid the glass paneling off the face of the clock and reached for the hour hand. He set the hour hand to 12 o’clock and the minute hand to exactly 37 minutes.
The clock chimed twice to signal the correct code.
Teru wasted no time in replacing the glass cover and grabbing Akane again before entering the boundary. The world dissolved around them in a bright white light before the boundary appeared before him. He started moving again as soon as his feet were back on solid ground even if they were now submerged in water up to his knees. Clockwork and gears lined the wall, all moving at different speeds. The ticking sounds coming from all around rang in his ears
“Clock Keepers!” Teru called out to them, dragging Akane along at his side. He could only just hope that the other two Clock Keepers had not disappeared yet.
Mirai came into his view first. She hopped along the path excitedly, seemingly unphased by being in the first stage of disconnecting.
“What happened to him?” Mirai asked, prodding Akane with his finger, “Wake up, sleepyhead!”
“Where’s the other one?”
“Right here, my boy,” Kako said, appearing beside Mirai, “It seems that we’re in quite the predicament. And poor Akane looks worse for wear.”
Teru had to bite down his snarl of disgust. He hated just being in their presence. He hated that he was going to them for help most of all, but he had to. If he didn’t get their cooperation, Akane would die and Teru would be left all alone. And so, he swallowed his pride and gestured towards Akane. “Can you help him?”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Kako kneeled over Akane, inspecting his wounds. Even then, Teru fought the urge to smack Kako’s hand away. He just had to keep telling himself that this was for the greater good.
“Akane’s not going to run out of time, is he?” Mirai asked, looking up almost pleadingly to Kako, “I want to keep playing with him!”
Kako picked Mirai up and placed her on his shoulders. “Do not worry. I will do what I must.”
Teru spared one more glance at Akane only to see that he had stopped breathing. “Hurry. Please.”
Kako stood still as the face of a clock appeared above them. In a blur of light, sound, and motion, time began to reverse. It was slow at first, but quickly sped up. Teru felt almost as if he were floating as time turned backwards.
He could no longer feel the pain in his cheek where Akane had punched him earlier, nor his grip on Akane’s arm, or the floor beneath his feet.
“Good luck, boy,” Kako said one final time before everything faded away.
---
Teru opened his eyes once again, allowing for his vision to refocus. He stumbled briefly as his feet were back on solid ground once more. The only thing keeping him from falling face first onto the floor in his disorientation was a pair of hands planted firmly on his shoulders. He blinked a few times, not sure whether or not to believe what he was seeing. Akane was standing in front of him, looking mildly annoyed but very much alive.
“What’s up with you?” Akane huffed quietly
“You’re… alive?” Teru frowned even as he said that. That wasn’t how this memory was supposed to go? Confusion battled with relief in his mind as he was still unsure of what was going on.
Even through the confusion, he couldn’t help himself. He hugged Akane, surprising both of them. It was brief, however, as Akane pulled away and shoved Teru off of him after just a few seconds.
“Of course, I’m alive,” Akane said, quirking an eyebrow at him. He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And to him, maybe it was. “Why wouldn’t I be? Did some supernatural hit you upside the head one too many times?”
This wasn’t how this memory was supposed to go. Akane wasn’t supposed to say that and Teru wasn’t supposed to hug him. The only explanation for it was that maybe it wasn’t a memory?
Just the thought of that made his head hurt and his stomach lurch. It had to be a memory. This had already happened before, hadn’t it?
“I… I need to go check something.” Teru pushed past Akane and made his way into the hallway. Akane stared at him in confusion but didn’t try to stop him.
The first thing that caught his eye was a group of mokke stacked up on top of each other. How was that possible? The supernaturals had disappeared…?
He didn’t want the realization that followed the question.
He remembered the severance, although it was somewhat hazy now. He remembered going to the Clock Keepers, but then what had happened? There was a white light and then nothingness.
“I’m in the past,” Teru whispered to himself, and he took the realization much better that time. That was the only explanation to how he was remembering the future somehow.
He turned to the bulletin board that had today’s date on it next. This… was months ago. Almost at the start of when this whole mess began.
And if this was months ago, then he had already messed the timeline up by leaving the student council room early. If he remembered correctly, he was supposed to talk with Akane about the proposed budget for at least another 15 minutes before leaving to go find his brother to go home for the day.
Teru stood there in the empty hallway, at a loss for what to do. This wasn’t supposed to have happened. He wasn’t supposed to be reliving this and yet here he was.
Now what would he have to do next?