Epiphany || Izana Kurokawa

7 • Sweet Pea

"If the Universe came to an end every time there was some uncertainty about what had happened in it, it would never have got beyond the first picosecond. And many of course don't. It's like a human body, you see. A few cuts and bruises here and there don't hurt it. Not even major surgery if it's done properly. Paradoxes are just the scar tissue. Time and space heal themselves up around them and people simply remember a version of events which makes as much sense as they require it to make."

-Douglas Adams

-·~•♪°♪•~·-

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The sound of water dripping, colliding with the cold hard ground.

Takemichi finds himself leaning against a wall at a random alleyway with no idea how he got there.

'What on earth... am I doing here?', the blonde thought to himself as he remained leaning against the wall. He brought his hand up to his forehead and began massaging his temples. He was at lost on what to do, he didn't know where to start. And where was he anyway?

Ignoring the aching feeling that he felt as he stood up, Takemichi used the wall as his support as he slowly walked out of the alleyway. Blinding sun light shone upon him as he exited the dark and gloomy alleyway. The blonde, for some reason, had the sudden impulse to punch himself. And so he did just that. Well, that certainly woke him up now.

"Okay, first things first. What to do?" Takemichi said to no one in particular. He did creep himself out by suddenly talking to himself.

No...

Something felt... wrong.

The blonde time traveler, feeling extremely sore, decided to sit on a nearby bench to think for a moment. Currently, he had no leads on how to proceed. His goal was clear though, prevent Minamoto Y/N from seeing Manjiro "Mikey" Sano. But how exactly was he going to do that? That, he does not know. He already knows when will Y/N see Mikey for the first time and fall deeply in love with him but where will she see him? JAPAN IS TOO BIG. Moreover, he does not even know of the Lady's existence until she wreaked havoc in the future. Takemichi basically has no idea who he's dealing with because he doesn't know the Lady very much. In short, guessing where the unfortunate event will occur based on "Y/N's most likely to visit place" is totally out of the question. He knows a thing or two about the Lady but that's about it. Takemichi is going to find someone he doesn't know where to find. How funny.

"My cousin's birthday is on February 25, help me find a gift!" A random passerby exclaimed to her best friend as they walked past the slightly dazed blonde. "Ooh, how about this coloring book?", both the bestfriends stopped just right beside Takemichi. Apparently there is a book store at the blonde's left side which he failed to notice the first time. "Isn't your cousin about to be 11? Do you think he still likes coloring books?", the black haired girl said as she crossed her arms at her best friend. "Huh? He's still 9. He's about to be 10 on his birthday.", the one with bleached hair replied. "But wasn't he born on 1994?" "1994- Oh, you're right! He is 10 right now! Let's just go find some other gift then!" "Seriously, you forgot?!", the two argued as they walked away.

The weather is beautiful. The sun shining, the kids playing, and people enjoying life. Takemichi's expression of terror was totally out of place for such a wonderful day. Based on the two girls' statements that he had accidentally listened in on, a child born on 1994 is about to turn 10 years old on 2005 which is factually incorrect because the child should be turning 11 instead of 10. Maybe those two girls just miscalculated it, maybe not, but Takemichi panicked. Takemichi ran as if his life depended on it and ran to the girls, yelling a loud and boisterous "EXCUSE ME!"

The two girls were surprised as they saw a weird man running towards them but nonetheless they stopped. The one with bleached hair immediately grabbed her friend and made the one with black hair stand behind her, acting like a shield in case this weird man that ran to them is some sort of creep.

"Yes? Do you need something?", the one with bleached hair asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"I just have a question. What day is it today?"

The two girls looked at each other before the one with black hair replied, "Oh, today is February 22, 2005."

~•♪♡♪•~

"February 22... February 22...", Takemichi mindlessly muttered as he walked down the streets like a fool.

He had time leapt, yes.

BUT HE LEAPT TO A TIME WHERE HE WASN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT HE COULD LEAP THROUGH TIME.

It was so wrong. So so wrong. Just until now, he has been going back and forth from the past to the future with 12 years time interval. But now, somehow, he had leapt through time around 8 months earlier than expected.

"Wait... Is.. Quintus a time leaper too?", Takemichi thought as he suddenly slumped at the ground and leaned against the wall. Everyone was looking at him but he paid no attention to them as tried to sort out his thoughts.

"No, not a time leaper. But Quintus made me go back in time 12 years AND 8 months, how did they do that? Gift giver? Miracle itself? Or is this some sort of travel glitch?!"

Takemichi had already been used to having restrictions on his power. As far as he knows, his time travel ability only allows him to go back in time exactly 12 years and he should be unable to affect any events that occurred before then, but now, he has gone back to a time where he's not even supposed to be there because at this time, he's yet to be aware of this abilities. Everything was so messed up, Takemichi had no idea where to start.

Messing with time is truly a terrifying thing.

But the time traveler has no choice, this was the only way to prevent the lives that were lost in the near future.

Then it hit him. This was no mere accident or some sort of time leaping glitch.

"February 29th", Takemichi remembers as clear as the day.

If today was February 22, that could only mean one thing. Somehow, Quintus made Takemichi go back in time, exactly a week before the unfaithful event of Y/N seeing Mikey and instantly falling in love with him.

But this meant Takemichi only has a week to find the lady and prevent her from seeing Mikey. As stated by Quintus, Lady Y/N had not interacted with Mikey at all until a few years after, so messing with the current timeline shouldn't cause anything. At least that's what Takemichi is hoping would happen.

The butterfly effect that occurs because of messing with time has long been thrown out of the equation anyway.

First things first, "Where do I find Lady Y/N?", Takemichi said with a determined look on his face but it soon faltered as realization dawned upon him. He has no idea. His sweat dropped as he thought about what he should do.

"For now I have to go back home. I need to rest-", Takemichi said to himself as he stood up but he had accidentally bumped his head into someone else's and they both stumbled to the ground. The both groaned in pain and Takemichi rubbed his forehead because of the pain and as he was about to apologize, the life on his eyes practically drained as his blue eyes met with E/C ones.

-·~•♪°♪•~·-