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Yuuma Isogai wakes up once more to a world he no longer belongs in and prepares to leave again. Suddenly, he is flooded with memories he does not recall.
He doesn’t understand what’s happening. Why is it different? How?
He tries to recall any recent memories of this loop, starting with last night. But suddenly that came to a stop very quickly, not even going past a day. Because he was suddenly met with a memory of-
His breathing quickens and his eyes well up with tears.
He remembers someone that was supposed to be dead, his father. His tears threaten to spill out into a never ending waterfall. He’s alive?
He can’t believe it. Is this some cruel joke by the universe? Is this going to be a one time thing? Will his father be dead in the next loop?
(They frown. No, that wasn’t their intent. They just wanted a happy ending for the star. He just needed the push into the right direction. They decide to send a message.)
He suddenly feels a comforting presence of unknown origin and looks around the room, seeing that it’s empty. He is very confused. What was that? Still, it seems to have worked as his breathing slows and the tears stop.
He needs to find answers somehow. But how? Time loops are not known to the general public. He sighs, he should look through his memories to see if there’s anything else that changed.
So he continues to search his brain for information about this timeline and stumbles upon another interesting fact. He’s not going to be in E Class, instead it would be his third year in A Class.
He’s not that surprised though, it makes sense. The only reason he was in Class 2-B in the original timeline was because he got distracted from his studies due to the death of his father near the end of first year. He would also never end up in E Class since he wouldn’t have to work, his father is alive and well. He realizes that his recent memory of his mother shows her well and healthy, so he wouldn’t worry about medical expenses either.
He smiles, at least he’s getting a mostly happy life this timeline. It’s been so long since he has seen his father in person, he’s starting to forget a lot of things about him, only knowing basic information and some small details about him. At least he’s refreshing his memory of him before the timeline resets back into the original loop. If he could, he would thank the universe for letting him be with his father for one last time.
(Their frown deepens, that was not their entire intention. They didn’t want this to be the last time the star’s father will be here. They wanted the star’s happy ending to happen. They don’t want to separate them again. They have grown too attached to this star.)
He feels comforted again by that unknown entity. He takes a deep breath, continues to search and finds something else, something surprisingly nice. It was sometime during the last day of school, he was on the school roof with a friend, that surprisingly being the one and only Gakushuu Asano. They exchanged a few words, and he can’t help but notice the other’s soft smile and how warm he feels at the thought of that smile being directed at him. He doesn’t understand where this sudden feeling came from, perhaps it was from the residual feelings of this timeline’s Yuuma? He supposes it makes sense since there are a few big changes from the original timeline but he can’t say for sure since this is the first time an alternate timeline happened.
He’s curious about how soft Asano is during that time.
Should he call him Gakushuu? It seems this timeline’s Yuuma calls him by his first name, not even Sakakibara gets to call him that if he recalls some brief interactions.
He searches his brain for more interactions with Asano?, Gakushuu?, and finds that they spend a lot of time on the roof alone during lunch, always exchanging soft smiles and glances, he finds the warm feeling growing. It seems that Gakushuu becomes more soft and genuinely nice when the two are alone, it’s really cute. It also seems that he himself shows a hidden side with the other, he notices how more sarcastic and blunt he can be with Gakushuu around. It’s obvious to see that the two of them are much more comfortable with each other.
He wonders how that came to be, so he continues the search. He finds that they both felt normal, human, with each other, not worrying about reputation and the pressures their acquaintances give them due to their status in the school. Gakushuu and the alternate timeline Yuuma found solace and peace with each other. It was… it was nice how soft and wholesome their friendship is, he.. he felt a bit jealous at that. He wished he had that solid and honest friendship with Maehara but he felt that the other wouldn’t fully understand masking one’s feelings, the guy never hid his relationships for more than a day after all.
It was comforting that at least one version of himself gets to have a mostly happy life during his time in Kunugigaoka.
What should he do in this timeline?
His warm and happy mood was suddenly lessened at the thought of that. He has a year’s worth of new memories with his father if he decides to stay and he even has a friend he could entrust with some non-loop related feelings. But he isn’t sure how well he could deal with interacting with human beings again, that isn’t superficial interactions. He also doesn’t want to leave his forest friends, they’re going to worry in a few hours once they realize he isn’t there.
Is this some sort of sign that the universe is tired of his cowardice?
(They shake their head. They don’t think of what the star has done as cowardice. They think of it as healing. They noticed that the star was overworking himself, trying to save everyone but himself.)
The weirdly comforting presence from before comes back. He wonders if it was the universe trying to tell him something, it happened every time he thought about it, them?. He wonders what the universe prefers.
(They chuckle at the star’s curiosity and begin to do something akin to telepathy to him. It’s so rare for them to do such big things for just a mortal being. Mortal beings like the star remind them as to why Nature loves mortals so much.)
His eyes widen at the words he hears in his head. The words spoken to him were kind and soft, akin to a kind and gentle adult. He asks questions and they answer back softly, as if to not overwhelm him with their presence. He supposes it makes sense. They are a deity of sorts after all. He hears a distant chuckle, it seems they are pleased.
He has one last question and they turn quiet. What should he do in this timeline?
(They smile and tell him to confide in others. They tell him that he’ll know who to talk to, there are reasons this timeline is the way it is.)
He nods at the words spoken to him. He knows who to talk to now.
So for the first time in forever, never?, time is such a fickle thing, he decides to stay. He’ll be visiting his forest friends after he fixes himself for a bit of walking.
(They look at the scene with soft eyes and a small smile on their lips. Perhaps this time the star will be able to move on and create a better future for himself, his friends, and his family.)