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“Amane, your sins have been forgiven. You will be sent back home to your respective timeline and continue to live your life from that point on.”
Current Year: 2011
Location: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
She jolted awake in her bed. She was shaking and sweating, eyes darting around her dimly lit room. A room she hadn’t seen in a while. It smelt the same… at least she believed so. Could all of it have been just a dream…? The straitjacket she had worn for so long was no longer on her, the hat she had carefully crafted with her disciple was gone.. Her disciple was nowhere to be seen. It could so very possibly have been just a dream.
She slowly stood up from her bed and headed for her door. It felt as if she was sleeping for years… she had almost forgotten how her house looked like. For a brief moment she passed by a mirror. Something was off. She stopped in her tracks and stepped back to check her reflection again.
Her hair…
Her hair is cut…
HER HAIR IS CUT!
Not neatly… it was..
It was horrible. It was messy.
It was just like how she remembered Fuuta cutting it. That meant it must have been real. Which means she really did do that to her mother… She repressed the thought, she did not want to be concerned about that. She needed to focus on that MILGRAM really wasn’t a dream, and that it was all true. She immediately remembered Fuuta telling her his address so that they could meet up if they made it out.
She quickly jolted it down on a piece of paper so she wouldn’t forget. She wanted to go to Tokyo as soon as possible! She ran out of her room until she suddenly remembered Fuuta mentioning something.
“It’s 2019, is it not?”
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“What? 2011? But that… But I was only 11 around that time!”
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“Milgram is really weird.. These trials… these… the weird barrier protecting Es”
____
“We’re not from the same timeline then.”
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2019 huh..? If she were to go to him right away, he wouldn’t even remember her… No.. he wouldn’t know her yet… She pondered for a moment. She could wait 8 years, right? She wouldn’t forget about him! She’d never! Not her very own follower!
Until then, her only options were to live her life and to not forget…
Year: 2014
Amane was now 15. She was cleaning up her room one day. As she was gathering the things she found a piece of paper, one she promised herself she wouldn’t lose. She stared at it for a moment, trying to remember what it was for.
“Ah right! Fuuta!” She gasped out loud. It had been a while since she thought about him. She felt somewhat bad that she had forgotten him so simply; yet now that he wasn’t a part of her life, it was hard to not forget.
She continued to clean up her room, and decided to put the paper inside her wallet just in case. She stared at herself in the mirror. Will he even recognize her when they meet again? She had changed so much… and he wouldn’t for her. Would he be the same from her memory? Her memory of him was starting to get fuzzy. It hadn't been that long… Just a while since he’s come up in her brain.
Year: 2017
It was a bit after her 18th birthday and Amane was preparing to move out to her own house. It’d still be near her fathers. She was gathering her stuff when she found her old wallet, one she was sure she’d use forever. She checked inside for any forgotten cash, but found something else forgotten.
“It’s.. ah! I can’t believe I forgot again..!” She muttered to herself. She felt almost ashamed.
Though their bond they once had, she did not feel so strongly anymore. He could very much be from her imagination, and everything that happened in that prison was made up. Could she be remembering wrong? Was Fuuta even a real person? Would someone even follow her while she was only 12? Did she just want someone to be her disciple so badly? Perhaps she was the one who horribly cut her own hair.
She was starting to even forget what he looked like, as if he never existed in the first place. What was his eye colour? She thought, what did his voice sound like? How long was his hair again? Which one of his eyes was blind? It has been too long. She wondered if she should just meet up with him now. Sure he wouldn’t know her… but maybe she should prevent him from going to Milgram in the first place. He would never go blind and-
But then they would have never met.. And he’d never learn his lesson…
She sat down on her empty bed and stared at the address… only 2 more years… to meet someone that could possibly not exist. She didn’t understand why she wanted to see him again so badly… especially when their relationship they once had was practically non-existent. But she could remember seeing him like a brother. Maybe that was enough to keep her from fully giving up on the idea of reuniting with him.
Year: 2020
Location: Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
It was January of 2020, it was a nice day to be outside. Amane had planned to go on a trip to Tokyo for a few months while she was there to make the most of it. Her main goal though was to find someone she once saw as her brother. She waited 8 years for this… She wasn’t as… excited as she thought she’d be. 8 years ago, she couldn’t wait to see him again outside of prison, but now, she felt indifferent. The sibling love she felt for him was practically gone… even her allegiance to her religion was weakened. She was more passionate about it when they were in MILGRAM. When she sees him, he’ll probably be that passionate. She was not the same little girl anymore…
She walked over to the neighborhood of the address she was given… She stared at the paper again… when he sees her, would he know it’s her…? If she sees him… will she even remember it’s him..?
She hated that MILGRAM messed with their timelines. It made this process all much harder. After a while of walking, she finally found the house of the address. Next to it, there was a house with many flowers on the outside. It looked like they were placed a while ago. She took a deep breath before finally knocking on the door.
Amane waited 5 minutes… knocked again, 10 minutes, knocked once more, 15. She figured he wasn’t home and got down from his porch. She walked down the sidewalk and stared at the crumpled, smudged piece of paper in her hand. This small piece of paper was so important yet not at the same time to her. It was only her younger self who was clinging onto the idea of this ginger kid in her head. While staring at the paper she bumped into someone.
She stumbled back a few steps and rebalanced herself. She stood up straight before closing her eyes and bowing forward, “My apologies! I should have been watching where I was going!”
…
He’s not responding, she thought. What is he waiting for-
“Amane..?” He said softly. That voice… she… knew it..? It was like hearing an old song you listened to when you were a kid but forgot about.
She lifted her head and her eyes widened, “Fuuta?”
Suddenly all the memories from MILGRAM came rushing back. It really was real. Her big/little brother was real. All the emotions that she had forgotten, the bond that they formed that she couldn’t remember, the care they once had for each other… it all overwhelmingly crashed back onto her.
He ran up to her and gave her a hug, “Yeah, it’s me! I can’t believe I get to see you so soon!”
So soon… That’s right, he probably was just released from MILGRAM.
“You’re older now… and taller.” he looked up at her. He was so used to being taller and older than her so now that it wasn’t the case and that she was… well not 12… it was strange.
“Fuuta, you know… I had to wait 8 years for this..” His eyes widened at what she said. They released from the hug and stood awkwardly.
“What now…?” He asked. Amane pondered.
“Well, I can tell you about my life while I was waiting for you to be released.” She suggested, to which Fuuta immediately nodded his head.
It went as if they were never separated in the first place, since that was what it was like for Fuuta.
Idk THE END